Thailand has ordered the island of Phuket to be completely sealed off from the rest of the country

On July 1, the Thai government launched a plan called Phuket Sandbox and opened up the island of Phuket to international vaccinated tourists without quarantine. On July 30, it announced it would seal the island off from the rest of the country.

Under Phuket Sandbox, tourists were not required to quarantine upon arrival, but they were required to stay in Phuket for a minimum of 14 days before being allowed to travel to other parts of the country. All tourists were required to present a series of documents, including a certificate of entry, proof of vaccination, and a negative RT-PCR test.

But now, as of August 3, travellers from other Thai provinces will no longer be allowed to enter Phuket. Overseas travellers, however, will remain largely unaffected.

The rule amounts to a walling off of Phuket from the rest of the country.

Director-general Kajornsak Kaewjaras of the Department of Disease Control (DDC) said the situation in Phuket would be monitored for two weeks to decide whether the Phuket Sandbox can be relaunched, under its current parameters.

The updated restrictions come as COVID-19 cases in Thailand soar: On July 28, the country recorded a daily record of 16,533 cases, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) data shows. It also continues to lag in vaccinations: Only 5.6% of the country’s population is fully vaccinated. In Phuket, meanwhile, the story is starkly different: More than 60% of the island’s population had been vaccinated by mid-July.

The US announced on July 29 that it would be sending 2.5 million vaccine doses to Thailand and Cambodia, with 1.5 million Pfizer doses set to arrive in Thailand on Friday. But the country is already facing down a health crisis, with hospitals on the brink of collapse and COVID-19 patients being moved to sleeper trains to get them out of Bangkok.