Thailand Sandbox: Everything You Need to Know
Being a country that’s heavily dependent on foreign tourism, Thailand’s economy has been greatly affected by the closure of its borders due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On the 1st of July 2021, it launched the Phuket Sandbox scheme in an effort to attract visitors once again, offering entry with no quarantine to fully vaccinated travelers. The island province of Phuket was chosen to launch this scheme due to its popularity as an international tourist destination.
Today, the Sandbox scheme is now available for entry to several other provinces in Thailand as well, such as Krabi, Surat Thani, Phang Nga, Chonburi, and Trat. These provinces cover many other popular tourist locales including Pattaya, Jomtien, Si Racha, Koh Samui, Koh Pha-ngan, Koh Tao, and Koh Chang. Though the more recently launched Test and Go scheme offers more freedom, visitors who are only interested to go to these places may still opt for the Sandbox program.
What is the Sandbox?
Originally known as the Phuket Sandbox, this was the first time Thailand offered no-quarantine entry to visitors from abroad since the start of the pandemic. It was launched in Phuket because it was a pilot program jointly launched by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Phuket Tourism Association. Also, in case the new arrivals sparked an outbreak of Covid, the spread could be limited to the island province.
Initially, the rules of the Phuket Sandbox were that travelers had to fly into the country at Phuket International Airport. They had to stay at one hotel in Phuket for their first 7 nights, during which they would take 2 Covid-19 tests, but with no quarantine – which means they can go about the island freely. After 14 nights in Phuket (and after negative results for both tests), they could then leave Phuket and travel anywhere in the country.
Shortly after its launch, the Sandbox scheme was expanded to include other areas. Ports of entry now include Krabi International Airport, Surat Thani International Airport, and U-Tapao International Airport near Pattaya, and visitors could stay in the surrounding areas which include some of the most popular island destinations in Thailand. And the initial stay was shortened from 14 days to just 7 days.
Thailand Pass
Before you fly into Thailand at the Sandbox airport of your choosing, you will need to get a Thailand Pass. This is a QR code that you need to apply for on this website, and you will need to clear immigration once you arrive. Thailand Pass is the current system required for all travelers coming into Thailand from abroad, whether by air, land, or sea. And it applies to both the Sandbox and Test and Go schemes.
You will need to prepare the following documents because the Thailand Pass website requires you to upload them:
- Your passport profile page
- A certificate of full (2 doses) vaccination
- Covid-19 travel insurance with at least USD$ 20,000 minimum coverage
- Confirmation of booking at an SHA+ hotel in the Sandbox area of your choice for at least 1 night, inclusive of airport transfer and fee for 1 RT-PCR test and 1 ATK self-test
The approval process will usually take 3-7 days, so be sure to apply at least 7 days before your date of departure. You will also need Covid insurance coverage for the entire duration of your stay. Our recommended insurance package from AXA Insurance starts at 999 baht for 7 days, and you can get it here: Best COVID Insurance for Thailand
Staying in Thailand
Under the Sandbox rules, you are required to stay 7 days in the Sandbox destination you arrived in. If it’s Phuket, Krabi, or Phang Nga, this means the entire province; if it’s either Koh Samui, Koh Pha-ngan, or Koh Tao, it’s any of those 3 islands. You don’t have to stay at the same hotel for the entire duration, but you may only change hotels twice within the same area.
You will need to show the booking and prepayment of a SHA+ hotel at your destination when you apply for a Thailand Pass, prior to arrival. SHA+ is a Safety and Health Administration certificate issued to hotels that practice adequate standards for preventing the spread of Covid, including full vaccinations for their staff. There is a wide variety of hotels to choose from, but they tend to be the more expensive 4- and 5-star ones, which makes it handy that you can change hotels after just 1 night. You can browse through SHA+ hotels here on Agoda.
The purpose of requiring you to stay at a SHA+ hotel is so that you can take an RT-PCR test there upon arrival. The cost of the test (about 2,100 baht) should be included in the cost of your hotel booking. You will get the test results the next day, and during this time you will be effectively quarantined in your room. But if the results are negative, you will be allowed to explore the area freely. And once you have stayed 7 days, you can then travel around the country anywhere you wish.
ATK Test on Day 5
There is one last requirement – you will need to take an ATK self-test on the 5th day of your stay. ATK test kits are available at any pharmacy in Thailand, and you can administer the test on yourself. The results of the test must be uploaded to the MorChana app, Thailand’s national contact tracing app which you must download once you arrive in the country. The app is available for both iOS and Android and is free for download at both app stores.
How long you can stay in Thailand depends on their immigration rules. You get 30 days if you’re under visa-on-arrival rules, 60 days if you have a tourist visa. You can also extend your stay by another 30 days at a Thai immigration office for 1,900 baht.
You may wonder why the Sandbox scheme still exists, since Test and Go pretty much renders it obsolete. Chalk it up to different governmental departments and provincial versus national authorities. Whichever scheme you choose, Thailand is still a beautiful country well worth visiting now that air travel is becoming available again. You can learn more about the Test and Go program here.
Category: Travel to Thailand
