Coronavirus effect: Phuket now a tourist-free 'ghost island'

Thai island reels from the ravages of COVID-19 with little sign of any recovery soon

Published: October 09, 2020 15:44 AFP and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor

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Phuket's go-go dancers sit playing on their phones in empty bars lining deserted streets as the Thai tourist island reels from the ravages of the pandemic with little sign of any recovery soon. Image Credit: AFP

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Swimming pools are empty, chairs are stacked high in deserted restaurants and normally packed beaches are so quiet they are even seeing rare species of sea turtle arriving to nest. Image Credit: AFP

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A stall with stacks of chairs and mats along Patong beach, in Phuket. Image Credit: AFP

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Foreigners wearing face masks walk past a closed seafood restaurant along Patong beach in Phuket. Image Credit: AFP

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A man walks along an empty Patong beach in Phuket which has seen a lack of tourists due to ongoing restrictions relating to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. Image Credit: AFP

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Last year, more than nine million tourists visited Phuket, the kingdom's second most popular destination after Bangkok. Image Credit: AFP

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Today, nearly all the island's 3,000 hotels are closed and the main town of Patong has become a "ghost town", says local tycoon Preechawut Keesin, who owns five nightclubs and around 600 hotel rooms. Image Credit: AFP

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Thailand has so far remained relatively unscathed from the global outbreak with around 3,600 confirmed cases and just a few dozen deaths. Image Credit: AFP

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But the kingdom's decision to concentrate on beating the virus has dealt a brutal blow to the economy, which is expected to contract 7-9 percent this year and leave millions unemployed. | Visitors take pictures on a set of stairs on Patong beach which has seen a lack of tourists due to ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19. Image Credit: AFP

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In normal times, 80 percent of the island's profits come from tourism, a sector that employs more than 300,000 people. | A DJ playing at the almost empty Kudo club at Patong beach in Phuket. Image Credit: AFP

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Tens of thousands of those who have lost their jobs have returned to their home provinces. | A food vendor waits for customers in front of empty shop houses along Patong beach in Phuket. Image Credit: AFP

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Life is hard for those sticking it out. | A vendor waiting for customers in front of an empty entertainment complex along the popular walking street of Patong in Phuket. Image Credit: AFP

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Before the pandemic, domestic holidaymakers only made up 30 percent of visitors to Phuket, prompting the local tourism industry to rethink its business model. | People walking past a shuttered market area along Patong beach in Phuket. Image Credit: AFP

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Phuket has been due to welcome Thailand's first foreign tourists since April in a cautious experiment by the kingdom, but their arrival keeps being pushed back. | People driving past empty clubs along the popular walking street of Patong in Phuket. Image Credit: AFP

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