Thailand has officially opened the party island of Phuket to vaccinated international tourists, no quarantine required

• Thailand has officially reopened the party island of Phuket to vaccinated, international tourists.
• Travelers are not required to quarantine upon arrival, though they do have to take PCR tests.
• It's a big moment for Southeast Asia tourism, as most countries are still monitoring borders closely.

After weeks of slowly rolled-out updates and after months of border closures, Thailand has officially opened the resort island of Phuket to international vaccinated tourists.

Tourists are not required to quarantine upon arrival, but they are required to stay in Phuket for a minimum of 14 days. After two weeks, tourists will be able to travel freely within the rest of Thailand.

To enter Thailand, tourists must present a series of documents, including, and as outlined on the Thailand Authority of Tourism's site:

• A certificate of entry
• Proof of vaccination
• A negative RT-PCR test result taken within 72 hours of departure for Thailand.
• An insurance policy covering COVID-19 expenses valued at a minimum of $100,000.
• Payment confirmation of a minimum 14-night hotel stay at an approved hotel in Phuket

The launch of what's been dubbed the Phuket Sandbox had been contingent upon the island hitting at least a 70% vaccination rate among locals. Per a June 30 ABC report, 75% of the island has now been vaccinated.

The vaccination rate in the rest of Thailand, however, is far lower: A total of 9.4 million vaccine doses have been administered in the country, per The New York Times vaccination tracker, meaning 9.7% of the population has received one dose and a mere 3.9% of the population is fully vaccinated.

The country has confirmed 254,000 COVID-19 cases and 1,970 deaths in total. Of those, 958 deaths have been in the last month, data from Johns Hopkins University shows.

The Thai government is counting on Phuket Sandbox to inject some sorely needed tourism dollars into the island's economy. The lack of tourism has been devastating for the island, where travel accounts for 80% of the economy and more than 300,000 jobs.

The news comes as some other Southeast Asia travel hubs also consider shortening their quarantine periods. Hong Kong, which previously required 21-day quarantines, is now looking to shorten its quarantine period to seven days for most arrivals. Singapore, too, is looking to decrease the length of its hotel quarantine for most arrivals.

In other nearby countries, however, the coronavirus situation continues to intensify. Indonesia has been described as being on the brink of a COVID-19 crisis with less than 5% of the population fully vaccinated and hospitals near capacity in some areas. And in Malaysia, where ICU beds are also near capacity and 6.9% of the population is fully vaccinated, the government announced Monday that COVID-19 lockdown measures would be extended "indefinitely."