Thailand

Immigration authorities have moved to quell rumours of impending border checkpoint closures which had prompted Cambodians to cross into Thailand to buy bottled water. Arthit Yakaew, chief of the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint, on Friday denied that the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak would force the border crossing at Aranyaprathet and Ban Khao Din in Khlong Hat district to close. He dismissed the …

The Thai Chamber of Commerce is calling on the government to come up with urgent measures to help “salarymen” after many companies initiated 15-day leave programmes without pay. The group is also asking for cooperation from its members that are struggling from the adverse impact of the coronavirus outbreak to retain their more than 10 million employees as long as …

The army Thursday morning began spraying roads in Bangkok with disinfectant to combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Army units have been deployed to carry out the daily cleaning from 1am to 5am until the end of the month. The cleaning operation uses water mixed with disinfectant. The spraying, approved at a high-level meeting of army units chaired by …

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand now requires all air passengers, Thai and foreign, to show Covid-19-free health certificates and Covid-19 insurance before boarding their flights to Thailand. CAAT governor Chula Sukmanop announced the condition, and other requirements, on Wednesday as part of government efforts to contain novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).   He said arriving passengers who visited China, Hong Kong, …

The central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, reported no new infections for the first time, while imported cases surged by a record, led by new infections in the capital of Beijing. The new imported infections also accounted for all of the new confirmed cases in mainland China, placing more pressure on authorities to screen …

Australia urged its citizens not to travel abroad and warned those already overseas to rush home as it took unprecedented steps on Wednesday to choke off the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. Prime Minister Scott Morrison also ordered a halt to “non-essential” indoor gatherings of more than 100 people, on top of an existing ban on outdoor events of more …

The Public Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 35 new cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), raising the number of local infections to 212, and warned that lack of personal discipline could make the outbreak uncontrollable. Dr Suwannachai Watanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Disease Control Department, divided the new cases into two groups. The first one of 29 comprised people in contact with …

The government has delayed its decision to buy washable face masks from domestic garment factories, with producers left waiting for purchase orders after the government failed to decide which state agencies would shoulder the expense. The government previously asked garment factories to sell masks for five baht a piece, much lower than the production cost of 50-100 baht depending on …

Tourism operators are urging the state to impose a two-week lockdown to keep the coronavirus from spreading to provincial areas and creating a deeper impact on the economy. It’s not too late to put the country into a complete lockdown, closing both land and air connections for two weeks or up to one month, as an urgent measure to tackle …

The Ministry of Public Health insists there will be sufficient hospital beds to accommodate Covid-19 patients, saying 400 will be ready in hospitals in Bangkok by this week. Dr Somsak Akhasilp, director-general of the Department of Medical Services under the ministry, told media on Tuesday that the public had no reason to worry about a shortage of hospital beds to …