According to the head of Phuket’s Tourism and Sports Office, Rachadaporn Oin, the island province has seen between 2,000 and 3,000 arrivals per day since the Test & Go program was canceled on May 1.
The number is anticipated to increase to 10,000 per day during the fourth quarter’s peak tourism season, reports state news agency NBT.
From May 1 to May 17, Phuket received a total of 45,806 visitors via 413 international flights. The provincial Tourism and Sports Office now estimates that at least 200,000 international tourists will have visited Phuket by the end of May.
According to the Phuket Airport Immigration Daily Report, 15,224 of the international arrivals from May 1-21 were from India.
Ms Rachada stated that Phuket received 5,207 international flights and welcomed 544,653 visitors between July 1, 2021, when the Phuket Sandbox program for people entering Thailand began, and May 17, 2022.
The Thai government has also tasked Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn and the Tourism Authority of Thailand with organising a number of roadshows in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to invite tour operators and citizens of the Gulf nations to visit Thailand this year.