More than 50 tourism operators in Phuket met with the deputy governor on Fridayto petition against the continued imposition of the SHA Plus rules which they argue discriminate against their businesses.
Sangsan Thongtan, president of Phuket Tourism Entrepreneur Development, led the demonstration at the tourism office in Phuket after it was announced that most small hotels will not be allowed to directly receive visitors required to quarantine for 7-14 days and taxis and private drivers may not offer services to these guests either, without certification. However, department stores, convenience stores, restaurants and certain other businesses will not be prevented from providing goods or services to the same group.
The province has now vaccinated 70% of its residents and that should be sufficient, from a health safety perspective, not to need this additional and finanically crippling hurdle to be invoked too, the group told Pichet Panapong, deputy Phuket governor.
They also brought a petition containing more than 160 signatures by tourism business operators affected by the standard. SHA Plus certification is hard to earn, they argued, as there is no call centre for them to reach out to for advice about what they must do to meet the requirements.
The operators said the SHA Plus should be scrapped and the original SHA standards and Sandbox programme would prove effective without discriminating against small businesses. They said they will now voice their concerns to the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Phuket governor himself and the Minister of Tourism and Sports.
Thipsukhon Thongtun, one affected business operator, said the Sandbox programme has mostly been of benefit to large hotels due to the SHA Plus rules, and the further reopening from Nov 1 will not help them if the regulation continues to be enforced.
Mr Pichet expressed his sympathy for the operators and acknowledged that there are over 10,000 small hotels in Phuket that have not received permits and cannot seek SHA Plus approval.
The industry group urged authorities to modify the criteria necessary to earn the certificate and discuss with the Tourism Authority of Thailand a plan under which visitors would only have to stay at special facilities for a single night at most before moving on to hotels of their choice.
Mr Pichet said he will arrange further meetings at City Hall to discuss the issue.
