ISLAND BOOKINGS SEE SURGE

COMMERCE: Koh Samui and other nearby islands in Surat Thani are enjoying the benefits of the tourism reopening plan set for Nov 1, as hotel bookings surge.

More than 1,000 new hotel bookings have been made since Thursday when the government confirmed its plan to reopen the country to tourists on Nov 1.

Supharoek Thongsuk, president of Surat Thani’s tourism industry council, said the sudden surge in bookings was welcome.

Since Surat Thani began implementing its Samui Plus Model on July 15, more than 1,300 tourists have come from Germany, France, Britain, the US, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Hong Kong and Japan, he said.

That brought in more than 85.8 million baht in tourism income.