Five more provinces to welcome touristsThe government is set to reopen five more provinces to foreign tourists next month after the Phuket sandbox pulled in more than 2 billion baht during the past three months. Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said yesterday Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has hailed the success of the sandbox scheme. The Phuket sandbox, which was launched on July 1, was followed by Samui Plus and the Phuket Extension, all of which had contributed 2.33 billion baht to the economy as of Sept 27, he said. As of last Thursday, a total of 43,026 foreign tourists have visited the island province and 779,502 nights of room bookings between July and February next year were made, he said. The spokesman said the government will also go ahead with a plan to reopen five more provinces to foreign tourists on Nov 1.
