Foreign visitors in the Phuket Sandbox programme will be able to travel onwards to other attractions in key tourism provinces in the South starting from Aug 1, said the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC).
The cabinet gave the nod yesterday to extended travel by foreign visitors from Phuket to specific attractions in nearby Phangnga and Krabi, as well as Surat Thani, according to Danucha Pichayanan, the NESDC secretary-general.
The extended travel opened under the "7+7" scheme where overseas tourists in the sandbox programme are required to spend at least seven days in Phuket before they visit any of the three onward provinces where they must stay a minimum of seven days.
The specific attractions are; Koh Samui, Koh Phangngan and Koh Tao in Surat Thani; Koh Phi Phi, Koh Ngai and Koh Rai Lay in Krabi; and Koh Lak, Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai in Phangnga.
On Monday, Phuket's provincial communicable disease committee stepped up Covid-19 control measures, which included renewing a temporary shutdown of places with a high risk of triggering a new Covid-19 outbreak. The places include education institutions, football pitches and badminton courts.