Phuket Sandbox – What Can You Do? Where Can You Go? Is Island Hopping Even Allowed?
ANNOUNCEMENT – Thailand Pass Rules Update Frequently, The Information In The Below Post Is Now Out Of Date For Latest News Please Visit: https://5starmarinephuket.com/phuket-sandbox-rules-and-updates/
With Phuket and Thailand changing the rules for entry into the Country in January there has been a lot of questions from travelers around what they can and can’t do, where they can visit by boat, and what island hopping tours are allowed.
Shaun took some time to film a video complete with a map of Phuket and its surrounding islands to give you an idea of where you can go. The good news is that islands like James Bond Island, Phi Phi Island, and even Hong Krabi are allowed to visit areas.
Find out more in the video below:
The Ongoing Emergency Food Security Crisis In Phuket
If you are living in Phuket then you would be fully aware of the escalating covid situation here. Cases are going up, workers are being ordered to stay at home, communities are being isolated.
This is not something new, in fact it’s something that countries worldwide have been battling now for almost 3 years. The problem here in Phuket is that we are an island that relies on tourism for most employment and economic opportunities. In fact over 90% of the the islands population are directly employed by tourism or tourism supporting activities.
When cases rise like this tourism confidence is affected, tourism arrivals decrease, tourism employers lay off workers and food security becomes a huge problem. Unfortunately this is also not a new experience here in Phuket. It is something that our team here at 5 Star Marine have been working to support over the last 20+ months.
Over the last few days our phones have not stopped calling with Village Leaders asking for help. As part of our large scale food security operation over the last 20 months we connected with over 130 village leaders and helped them and there community members to fight through and survive with “Life Bags”
We had hoped in 2022 the need for life bags would decline but this is not the case.
5 Star Marine is following its commitment to keeping helping provide Life Bags and is funding 1000’s of life bags a week. This is all being done through the Charitable Foundation that they founded called Living Waters Phuket.
To find out more about Living Waters Phuket and also this latest rise in need for life bags please take a read of this great article by The Thaiger:
Thailand Pass Adventures – What To Do In Phuket If You Can’t Go Island Hopping By Boat!
Join Jay as he takes you on a kid-friendly tour around Phuket’s attractions that are not snorkeling, island hopping. Visit the Phuket Aquarium, Monkey Hill and so much more in this video.
See more here:
Thailand Pass Adventures – Welcome To The 5 Star Marine Office
Join Jay and Shaun (or is it really Shaun) as they tour the 5 Star Marine offices and show you a little behind the scenes of what happens while you are out on tour.
For things to run smoothly on the water the hard-working admin team and management team are always cleaning, preparing, and organizing from the office. In fact, the teamwork such long hours keeping up the 5 Star Marine standards that often a little midday nap is required.
See the full details here:
BREAKING NEWS – Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi Sandbox Open – Test And Go Closed
ANNOUNCEMENT – Thailand Pass Rules Update Frequently, The Information In The Below Post Is Now Out Of Date For Latest News Please Visit: https://5starmarinephuket.com/phuket-sandbox-rules-and-updates/
Apologies for all the updates lately but as we stay on top of the changing nature of entry into Thailand we feel it is important to keep our customers updated. On Friday the CCSA held a meeting to discuss new measures and restrictions as it relates to Thailand in response to the rising case numbers caused by the latest variant.
Get the latest news here:
Thailand Pass – Test And Go CLOSED – Phuket Sandbox Open – THE LATEST NEWS!
ANNOUNCEMENT – Thailand Pass Rules Update Frequently, The Information In The Below Post Is Now Out Of Date For Latest News Please Visit: https://5starmarinephuket.com/phuket-sandbox-rules-and-updates/
With the latest outbreak of Covid starting to affect travel internationally Thailand has made changes to the entry requirements into Thailand. One of the major changes is that the Test and Go system for entry is now suspended indefinitely.
Right now the only way to enter Thailand without 14 days Quarantine is via the Phuket Sandbox program. To find out all the details join Jay and Shaun as they discuss the latest news:
And That’s A Wrap
We are excited to remain open for the entire Christmas and New Year period, and are looking forward to welcoming you on board for a tailor-made and festive private speedboat tour with us during this time!
Reflecting on the last 12 months, we would like to say a heartfelt THANK YOU for the level of support we received from all of our wonderfully loyal, local customers, who have helped us during the past 20 months. Without you, we would not still be operating as we are today, and for that our company, team, captains, and tour guides are immensely grateful.
As a company, we managed to take time to regroup and focus on reprioritizing our efforts, and this meant rolling up our sleeves and getting busy. We keep continuing to support the vulnerable communities and the people around us via our charity efforts, with 5 Star Marine involved in all packing and delivery efforts of essential food relief parcels and bags. We focused on the upside wherever we could see or create one. We wanted to look at where we could add value to our community and what we should be doing during this time.
Living Waters Phuket Foundation was born from this desire to help and continue to support our community; it was set up to build brighter futures for communities in need and provides financial grants for projects around relief areas including sustainable food security, education requirements, renewable energy, and environmental issues. We are excited to report that already in only 6 weeks, 4 major funded projects have been completed and many, many more have applied for funding and are undergoing our impartial review process for approval.
Find out more on the website You can also watch our YouTube video on some of our latest grants:
We were thrilled to see many new destinations open back up for our day tours, and now offer over 11 stunning destinations including the Similan Islands, Phi Phi, Racha, Phang Nga Bay, Coral Island, Krabi tours, Mai Ton Dolphin Spotting plus many more tailor-made options to ensure you had the perfect day out. We saw a rise in popularity of our dual tour to Phi Phi and James Bond Island which literally has something for everyone; plus, we are awaiting the much-anticipated opening of Maya Bay on 1st January 2022.
You can watch more on Maya Bay and Shaun’s personal thoughts here:
Our YouTube channel has gone from strength to strength and we appreciate all the love and support we are getting. If you haven’t done so already, please subscribe and follow here:
5 Star Marine was lucky to welcome so much interest and publicity from bloggers and news reporters – we are grateful for the coverage and interest in our community efforts. Chris Parker, (from Retired Working For You), joined to see our food packing and delivery efforts first hand to see exactly what goes on behind the scenes of each vital life bag.
We also gained and appreciate hugely the support of local and international media, including but not limited to:
During the last year, we also had a chance to more than double the size of our fleet; we now have 15 Private VIP Speedboats and a VIP Luxury Cruiser which is a proud extension to our current speedboat fleet and offers a truly unique experience on the water. In addition, to accommodate our growing fleet size, the domestic market support, and prepare for the return of international tourists, we moved piers and into a new office at Boat Lagoon, Phuket. We love our new glass-fronted office which has been a more welcoming environment for all our loyal VIP customers.
So, to wrap it up – it has been a year of highs and lows, of challenges and new opportunities. We are thankful, grateful, and happy to be where we are and we will continue to help those in the community who need it most; and will always be grateful to our loyal customers for making 2021 the year it was for us.
Thank you,
Shaun and the entire 5 Star Marine Team
As Tourism Starts To Resume Our Food Relief Project Continues.
For over 20 months the 5 Star Marine team has been purchasing dry food supplies, packing life bags, and then distributing them into the community. This project started during the first Covid Lockdown in Phuket. From there it has grown from a few hundred bags a week to a few thousand bags a week.
In fact, just recently the 5 Star Marine team packed over 8000+ super life bags with over 4 tonnes of rice. This project is funded by the 5 Star Marine Founders and is expanding now beyond just food relief.
As tourism starts to return employment becomes available, not at a scale yet where the problem ceases, but it is becoming more accessible. As this return tourism continues the 5 Star Marine team are focusing on projects to help support the community in its recovery.
Find out more in the video below:
Thailand Pass Adventures: Banana Beach, Coral Island And Khai Island, Phuket Thailand.
Join Jay, his little monsters, our crew, and some of our wonderful local customers as they head out on a Private Custom Boat Tour to Khai Island, Coral Island, Mai Ton, and more in this week’s video with Jay.
In the video, you will see Jay find a Message in a Bottle on the beach, after spending more than 30 minutes trying to get the message out, the final reading of the message was…
Well, you will have to tune in and watch this week’s episode with Jay!
ANNOUNCEMENT – Thailand Pass Rules Update Frequently, The Information In The Below Post Is Now Out Of Date For Latest News Please Visit: https://5starmarinephuket.com/phuket-sandbox-rules-and-updates/
Join Jay and Shaun as they discuss the gradual return of tourism to Phuket, how we can tell tourism is returning, and check out one of Jay’s favorite Som Tum Restaurants in Phuket.
Oh and for those who are interested Shaun talks about some of the challenges facing the unemployed as tourism returns.