A citizen of the United Arab Emirates became the first person to test positive for Covid-19 while traveling under the Phuket Sandbox scheme.
Phuket authorities announced on Wednesday that he was one of the 2,113 persons who had arrived on the island since July 1. He tested positive upon arrival and was transferred to a nearby hospital.
The officials did not identify the traveler's arrival date, but they did say that other passengers on the same flight were quarantined.
"As for people who traveled with him, they will be taken into ALQ [Alternative Local State Quarantine] if they're high-risk close contacts," Koosak Kookiatkul, chief of Phuket's public health office, said.
Phuket reopened to foreign tourists on July 1 after being closed for more than a year owing to the virus. Visitors from other countries do not need to be quarantined if they have been fully vaccinated in their home country for at least 14 days and test negative upon arrival.
They must, however, wait in their hotel room for the verdict. If the results are positive, they will be sent to medical facilities for treatment.
Phuket was the first province in Thailand to reintroduce international tourists without the need for quarantine. This is part of Phuket Sandbox, an experimental tourism strategy aimed to aid the economy's recovery from the pandemic.
Since its reopening, 2,113 visitors from other countries have entered Phuket, and just one has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Aside from being fully vaccinated against Covid-19, international tourists who visit Phuket through the Phuket Sandbox program must also take three tests: one upon arrival, one a week later, and one near the conclusion of their second week.
