Phuket is reopening for domestic tourism from Sep 8—only to those vaccinated

It’s been a month since Phuket, Thailand’s most popular tourist destination, has decided to step up its COVID-guidelines to the highest level, sealed off main road access,  and only allowed essential workers to enter the island to contain the increasing number of new COVID-19 cases while the Sandbox is still on.

Now, it seems like the clouds have started to clear up over Phuket, which is gearing up to welcome back domestic visitors, Thais and expats, to its beaches and hotels starting Sep 8. 

Don’t start packing your bag just yet: this reopening doesn’t mean everyone is welcome. In the first phase of this reopening plan every aspiring weekender will need to present these three documents—all of them—to be able to enter the island:

1. Proof of vaccination (two doses of Sinovac, Sinopharm, Sputnik V; a mix of one dose of Sinovac and AstraZeneca each; and one dose of AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson&Johnson). You have to be inoculated for at least 14 days prior to your arrival on the island.
2. Negative COVID-19 test result (both ATK or RT-PCR are OK), issued no more than 72 hours before your arrival 
3. Confirmation of your pre-paid hotel reservation issued by the hotel

If you wish to stay on the island longer than seven days, you will need to take one COVID-19 test on Day 5 of your stay. You’ll have to pay extra for this, but it shouldn’t be greater than B2,800/time.

You’re asking whether you can hop on to Phi Phi Islands on a one-day trip. Yes, you can—for now.

We’ll keep updating the info, so please stay tuned.