Not well thought out

Re: “Sandbox runs out of toys”, (BP, Jan 16).

The Sandbox programme could benefit from further thought. The notion that residents or visitors must arrive at their final quarantine location, Phuket for example, on a direct flight from outside Thailand is simply not well-considered.

Why is a resident forced to fly directly into Phuket from a different country, Singapore or Dubai for example, rather than fly into Bangkok and immediately transfer to a Phuket flight?

Phuket is an international airport and has all the necessary personnel and equipment to process international arrivals. Coming from the USA for example, why is it better to change planes in Singapore than in Bangkok? Upon arrival in Bangkok, why can’t AoT immediately segregate the Phuket transfer passengers and move them safely to the departure gate? These international travellers have already shown evidence of a negative Covid PCR immediately prior to travel, which is more than we can say for people currently travelling within Thailand. If transfer flight timing is inconvenient, the traveller could stay at a local and preapproved hotel overnight.

We recently flew Singapore Airlines and upon arrival in Singapore we were easily transferred to the final flight to Phuket. No drama, an easy transfer.

A better model would allow visitors to fly directly into Suvarnabhumi airport on whatever airline they prefer and make the transfer at time of arrival.

The current system forces people to use airlines they may not particularly like, pay higher transport costs, and in many cases put up with terrible customer service.

We already have plenty of Covid in Thailand, forcing residents to travel through foreign airports to arrive in Phuket is a silly and out-of-date policy. Furthermore, it harms the economics of Thailand’s tourism industry. KEN PHILLIPS