06 May, 2021
PHUKET: Foreigners working in Phuket will be able to register to receive the state COVID vaccination through the ‘Phuket Must Win’ web portal from next Tuesday (May 11), Pracha Asawathira PhD, an academic with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, has confirmed.
The news was delivered during a two-hour live online broadcast last night (May 5).
“The registration for expats will open on May 11,” Mr Pracha said, before handing over to Worapol Ungtrakul to explain the details.
Mr Worapol is a member of the Phuket Tourist Association who is part of the task force assigned to oversee the operation of the ‘Phuket Must Win’ web portal (www.?????????????.com).
“The registration for expats working in Phuket will open on May 11, but they must be registered under the name of the company they work for, which means the HR staff must register for them,” Mr Worapol explained.
“Their work permit must be valid too,” he noted.
“Expats who do not work for any company still have to wait for the next phase of registration, which will allow foreign individuals to register by themselves,” he added.
Registration for Thai nationals 60 years old or older will open tomorrow (May 7), Mr Worapol said.
“Right now, our vaccination system is like ‘Version 2’. Registered people can make their own choice where and when to receive their vaccination injections. If any date or time is full, it will not appear for people to choose,” he explained.
The Official COVID-19 Information Center Phuket this morning (May 6) began posting invitations for people to register for COVID vaccination for specific areas, including Kathu and Phuket Town.
GOOD NEWS
Also present for the live video broadcast yesterday evening were the same team who joined Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew yesterday morning: Dr Chayanon Pucharoen, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at PSU Phuket’s Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism and Dr Withita Jaeng-iam, an epidemiologist at Vachira Phuket Hospital, along with Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, President of Phuket Tourist Association.
Mr Bhummikitti said that he was expecting “very good news” about the delivery of vaccine doses for Phuket.
“From the [Phuket Tourism Sandbox] plan, we need to complete the vaccination for 70% of our people at least two weeks before opening the island for foreigners [fully vaccinated international tourists] on July 1,” he said.
“Today is today. Our team knows how the vaccine delivery is going right now, but I cannot reveal any details at this time. I better let the government reveal it by themselves about what we will receive.
“We have received a sign. Before this [sign], the possibility of the new vaccine delivery [to make the July 1 deadline possible] was 10%, right now it is up to 28.2%,” he said.
“Opening on July 1 is only to create confidence among tourists to come in the fourth quarter of this year. If we can really open, we will have a lot of bookings in our high season for sure,” he added.
“If we cannot open, questions like when we will open or whether we are really ready to open will be raised. I do not want these kinds of questions raised for us on the stage of world tourism,” Mr Bhummikitti noted.
“We have announced the opening to the world, the government and we should try our best to make it happen,” he concluded.
