Phuket plans to go it alone with private vaccination drive
Phuket doesn’t want to wait for Thailand’s mass Covid vaccination rollout.
The island is planning its own private Covid vaccination program for about 250,000 residents to spearhead a tourism industry recovery.
"The people of Phuket are losing hope," said Phuket Tourism Association President, Bhummikitti Ruktaengam.
Several Phuket industry associations are working together to fund vaccinations for at least 70% of the island’s population.
"We are in talks with three major hospital networks to procure AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines," Bhummikitti said.
He said inoculating at least 400,000 would cover most of the island’s adults befoe the government’s national vaccination dive begins in June.
Bhummikitti said vaccinated foreign tourists should be able to skip quarantine.
"They have immunity, we will have immunity. We talk to each other through masks. The logic works," he said.
Other tourism leaders in recent days have echoed those sentiments.
However, that may not happen until Thailand rolls out its ‘vaccine passport’ which is being discussed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the government’s Covid-19 taskforce.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Marginal increase for New York City tourism in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments