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First China group returns to Phuket

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PHUKET, 1 October 2020: The first group of Chinese visitors are due to arrive in Phuket 8 October aboard a Thai Airways International flight from Guangzhou.

A tour operator close to travel firms in Guangzhou forwarded an outline of the trip details to TTR Weekly that suggested Tourism Authority of Thailand officials in Guangzhou and Kunming had confirmed a group of 150 business travellers for the Phuket visit. They are due to stay for 90 days.

TTR Weekly filed questions with the TAT office in Shanghai, Wednesday, asking for further clarification and confirmation of the details provided by the tour operator.

Details are sketchy, but the message sent to TTR Weekly suggested participants were “business travellers invited by Thailand’s Board of Investment.”

The reliable source identified the guests as “CP Group business travellers” saying they constituted a corporate or “incentive travel group” not your typical leisure tourists.

Some local news reports suggested Thai AirAsia would fly the group to Phuket, but the Chinese tour company in Guangzhou claimed the travel arrangements were managed by Guangzhou Panda Inter Travel Service, while THAI would provide the charter flight to Phuket. The practical details, including visa requirements, are being coordinated by the Thailand Long-Stay Company, a fully-owned subsidiary of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

According to the reliable source who shared details on a ‘Line’ post the Chinese guests will pay around THB173,500 for the 90-day visit which includes 14 days quarantine with three meals a day and three Covid-19 tests during their five-star resort stay in Phuket. The package also includes the THAI airfare, 90 days medical insurance cover and the long-stay visa also for 90 days.

In Thailand, veteran tour operators told TTR Weekly the project was “admirable in concept as something needs to be done urgently to kick-start travel from a relatively safe market such as China.”

But they cautioned: “Business travellers willing to stay 14 days in quarantine who are described as guests of a major conglomerate such as the CP Group technically do not fit what we would consider as being normal tourists.”

Meanwhile, reports surfacing in Thai media claimed a group of 120 Scandinavian visitors are due to visit Phuket, 1 November, travelling on a Thai Airways International flight.

The government has approved more hotels to join the Alternative State Quarantine programme after public health officials visited Phuket to inspect and certify hotels.

There are now nine hotels in Phuket offering 14-day quarantine programmes in cooperation with the Bangkok Hospital Phuket that conducts Covid-19 tests during the stay and assigns medical staff to each property around the clock.

The nine hotels are:
Metadee Resorts;
Laguna Holiday Club;
Graceland Patong;
Senses Resort;
Banyan Tree;
JW Marriott;
Trisara Resort;
Anantara Layan;
Anantara Mai Khao. 

6 COMMENTS

  1. As EdwardV says above, the 150 business and family are visitors from China . They cannot be classed as tourists. The conditions for all entry into Thailand, is a minimum stay of 90 days ( yes, 90 days) 14 days strict quarantine in a hotel costing between 55 000 and 200 000 Baht for 14 nights with meals in your room. There a list of government accepted hotels. All further hotels ( after the 14 days ) must be paid for in advance ! Don’t forget to add flights and all other costs. Who in their right mind ( unless desperate to reunite with their Thai families ) will lock themselves willingly into a room for 14 days at such a cost. I am quite sure this program will fail.

  2. Yes the fact they are really business travelers is a horse Of a different color. It will be interesting to see how well Thailand can draw really tourists while requiring a 14 day quarantine. It was confusing on the cost, the amount for the stay. The story says it’s for the entire 90 days but then explains what it’s covering and leaves out the hotel for the balance after the first 14 days. It seems really cheap for 90 days with all the extra costs, but about what others are currently paying for a 14 day quarantine and flight cost. I think the other hotel costs and meals are not part of the total.

  3. So these will be Chinese Business VIP’s invited by CP a subsidiary of another Chinese business in China. Makes me think there is another pay off under the table. So, back to numbers, 150 Chinese business executives = actually 50 business persons and their family members of 3 people= 150 total… Now, who will monitor these individuals Just another bunch of Chinese / tour operators looking to get their worth for the price of local thai population.

  4. Well.i live in the US and traveling to thailand on my vacation witch about two weeks and to stay in quarantin for 14 days will be crazy.so i think i will pass on that and wait on the country to fully open.plus if i have paper that proof i had the corona test.so why i should st
    ay in quarantin.dose not make sense.

  5. As long as still have 14 days quarantine. I my personal opinion will have no normal foreign tourists
    to visit Thailand

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