The first cruise ship to arrive in Thailand in three years docked at the Patong pier in Phuket today (Monday), to allow about 800 passengers to come ashore for a one-day sightseeing excusion.
Phuket Governor Narong Woonsiew and head of the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Nanthasiri Ronnasiri, boarded the ship, Spectrum of the Sea, to welcome the passengers.
The ship, which had arrived from Singapore, is carrying over4,500 passengers of 55 nationalities, but most are from Singapore, Malaysia, India, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Nanthasiri said that this is the first cruise ship to arrive in Phuket after three years of COVID-19, adding that the arrival of cruise ships and yachts will help boost tourism in Phuket,as most of the passengers have high purchasing power.
In 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak, 154 cruise ships, carrying 485,598 passengers, docked in Phuket.
