Reader mailbag: Why are we still doing “Sandboxes” for tourists in Thailand?!?!

[The Pattaya News]

The Pattaya News
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The following is a mail from a reader. His statements, opinions, and thoughts are entirely his own. Why sandbox for tourists?? You can ask yourself that. What is the purpose? To play in the sandbox, you must be fully vaccinated and have a negative PCR test before the trip. Is this not enough? The infection […]

Reader mailbag: Why are we still doing “Sandboxes” for tourists in Thailand?!?!
-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-
The Pattaya News - Real. Unbiased. Impactful. In the moment.

Click To View The Pattaya News Website

[Billy Shears]

I guess he doesn't know that a person can still catch and spread covid, even if fully vaccinated.

[timbota]

38 minutes ago, WhiteThai said:

I guess he doesn't know that a person can still catch and spread covid, even if fully vaccinated.

True.  Allowing clean, fully vaccinated foreigners into Thailand only greatly increases the likelihood that these individuals will not be a burden on the Thai Healthcare system if they become infected.   

I think his point will become more valid once the Thai population is sufficiently vaccinated.   Whatever constitutes sufficiently. 

I suspect that many people fail to realize that the sandbox is still an ongoing experiment.   Understandably everyone is impatient, but the whole reopening process of Thailand to foreigners is going to be painfully slow.  Slower than anyone cares to imagine. 

[LASportsNut]

I can understand the point a little.

You musts have a negative test to get on the plane.

If they made it where only those who are vaccinated can fly, then what is the point.

The problem is not everyone is vaccinated on the plane.

He is also indicating that those who come to Thailand who are vaccinated and have negative test are much less likely to have Covid versus all the other Thai population running around unvaccinated and never getting tested.

Of course it is not 100% fail proof.

[plyboard]

I think the issue is that foreign tourists are far more likely to travel within  Thailand. If infected, they will be carrying the virus to new populations. I can't understand why they don't make foreign visas region specific, and redo the testing procedure before transfer to another region.

[bangna]

58 minutes ago, plyboard said:

I think the issue is that foreign tourists are far more likely to travel within  Thailand. If infected, they will be carrying the virus to new populations. I can't understand why they don't make foreign visas region specific, and redo the testing procedure before transfer to another region.

I'm not sure I agree with you. Many foreigners stay in one place after arrival, the majority of travellers on inter city buses are Thais. Consider the spread of Covid around the southern provinces and darkest Issan, also the number of domestic travellers eager to get to Phuket for the employment opportunities.