No national lockdown in Thailand: Prayut

[webfact]

No national lockdown in Thailand: Prayut

 

 

Prime minister Prayut said on Thursday there is no national lockdown order planned for Thailand, although the government will “intensify” measures following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Samut Sakhon.

 

Speculation had mounted in recent days that Thailand would be plunged into lockdown after more than 1,000 cases had been reported in the country since Saturday, the majority of which are linked to an outbreak amongst migrant workers in Samut Sakhon.

 

However, speaking ahead of the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration briefing, the PM said there were no plans to place the whole country in lockdown.

 

Instead, a new category system will be implemented in order to declare areas of risk throughout the country.

 

 Red [Highly controlled]: High infection rate and at more than 1 location. 

 

Orange [Controlled areas]: Located close to the red zone or more than 10 cases or growing rate of infections

 

Yellow [Under high surveillance]: Less than 10 cases

 

Green [Under surveillance]: No cases

 

Provinces in Red zone [Highly controlled]: 

Samut Sakhon - requires urgent contact tracing, use of tracing apps, restriction of business opening times, close of non-essential business and cancellation of events and public gatherings. Check points remain in place. 

 

Provinces in Orange zone [Controlled areas]: 

Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Nakhon Pathom & Bangkok - No cross-provincial movement of migrant workers. Mass events are discouraged, but not banned, 

 

Provinces in Yellow zone [Under high surveillance]: 

Angthong Ayutthaya, Chachoengsao, Chainat, Chaiyaphum, Kamphaeng Phet, Khon Kaen, Krabi, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Sawan,Nonthaburi,Pathum Thani, Petchaburi, Phetchabun, Phichit, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phuket, Prachinburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Samut Prakan, Saraburi, Suphanburi, Surat Thani, Udon Thani, Uttaradit - Less restrictive than previous measures, people advised to work from home where possible but not mandatory.

 

Provinces in Green zone [Under surveillance]:

All remaining provinces - Regular COVID-19 measures in place

 

At the time of posting there has been no announcement regarding restrictions on the sale of alcohol or the closing of bars, pubs or restaurants. Any restrictions of this kind are only likely if a province is determined to be a ‘red zone’.

 

Meanwhile, it has also been announced that the CCSA will resume its English language briefings from today (24 Dec).

 

** This is a developing story. This post will be updated without notice

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-12-24

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

 

[J Town]

Well, I'M convinced (that there WILL be a lockdown in the near future).

[poohy]

Hmm the aquarium just south of Prachuap (i exercise daily there) is once again closed as it was during lockdown.

Myself and a bunch of Thais in front of me  were turned away today. 

[ThailandRyan]

Allows me to have hope that the New Years outing I have planned and reserved will still be held.  Xmas party tomorrow for the GF and her Salon workers.

[jackcorbett]

There is more and i will continue to stock so that I will be prepared for anthing

[J Town]

2 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Allows me to have hope that the New Years outing I have planned and reserved will still be held.  Xmas party tomorrow for the GF and her Salon workers.

Xmas is upon us, so we're safe there. New Year's? If I were a betting man, I wouldn't put money on it. ????

[foreverlomsak]

19 minutes ago, poohy said:

Myself and a bunch of Thais in front of me  were turned away today. 

Maybe they were scared you'd infect the fish.

[Thailand]

The denial of a lockdown can only mean one thing. Coming soon!

Edited December 24, 2020 by Thailand

[ThailandRyan]

25 minutes ago, poohy said:

Hmm the aquarium just south of Prachuap (i exercise daily there) is once again closed as it was during lockdown.

Myself and a bunch of Thais in front of me  were turned away today. 

Maybe they thought you were there to pick up the prawns and other seafood to take home.....

[connda]

You'll cave within the month.  Start jamming cotton-tipped wire swabs down the throats of all the citizens in Thailand and you'll find that you have a pandemic and you'll need to lock the entire country down and destroy the economy.   Come on Prayut.  Step up to the plate and conform to world standards of testing.  

[Boomer6969]

So, what are the quarantine requirements for movements, other than migrant workers, between provinces belonging to different categories? 

 

To me this has the same effect as a national lockdown, as I won't go to Bangkok because I might end up in a concentration camp at my return to  Buriram. Bangkok being orange could well move to red while I'd be there.

 

So guys, let's stay put and save money.

[Starmocihc]

Yeah, I knew after speaking with a relative in the Thai family who works amongst some clout, that there would be no blanket lock down. This will be a flash in the pan, by mid January it will be back to the only wu-flu reporting being related to ASQ arrivals. Also I expect a few European countries to be disallowed from participating in the ASQ program, if not a Thai citizen. "tHe nEw sTraIn!"

[Megasin1]

so...back to the old solution then....no testing = no covid, gotta admire the consistency 

[rabas]

6 minutes ago, Starmocihc said:

Yeah, I knew after speaking with a relative in the Thai family who works amongst some clout, that there would be no blanket lock down. This will be a flash in the pan, by mid January it will be back to the only wu-flu reporting being related to ASQ arrivals. Also I expect a few European countries to be disallowed from participating in the ASQ program, if not a Thai citizen. "tHe nEw sTraIn!"

Yah, that's what many said last January.  Just a flash in the pan.

[Justgrazing]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

 

 Red [Highly controlled]: High infection rate and at more than 1 location. 

 

Orange [Controlled areas]: Located close to the red zone or more than 10 cases or growing rate of infections

 

Yellow [Under high surveillance]: Less than 10 cases

 

Green [Under surveillance]: No cases

 

Yea but what if your colourblind ..

An' a lot of Thai's don't do traffic lights so hope does not spring eternal on this .. 

[Starmocihc]

Just now, rabas said:

Yah, that's what many said last January.  Just a flash in the pan.

Yeah, not like everything and available knowledge has changed since then. ????

[Nout]

55 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Allows me to have hope that the New Years outing I have planned and reserved will still be held.  Xmas party tomorrow for the GF and her Salon workers.

Why take the risk?

[Nout]

13 minutes ago, Megasin1 said:

so...back to the old solution then....no testing = no covid, gotta admire the consistency 

Thousands of people are being tested. The existence of Covid has been recognized and announced therefore your comment is clearly wrong.

[Sheryl]

1 minute ago, Nout said:

Thousands of people are being tested. The existence of Covid has been recognized and announced therefore your comment is clearly wrong.

Tens of thousands. Likely to soon move into the hundreds of thousands.

 

And thousands were tested previously (not counting the testing of all new arrivals and all known contacts of positive cases etc). But at that point, even though the testing was focused in areas thought to be at risk (e,g, Mae Sot,Tak, and briefly Rayong) the yield was so extremely low that it did nto justify continuing on a mass scale. The opposite is true now -- the positivity rate indicates a need to widen testing - and they are responding accordingly. And appropriately.

[ourmanflint]

As the UK is finding out, actions which worked previously on less infectious variants of the Covid virus do not work on variants with higher infectivity. Thailand cannot just do what it did before, that will not work. If Thailands new outbreak is the DG641 variant or similar it will move much more quickly than before.

Failure to stop mass gatherings countrywide will be a disaster for Thailand.

ASQ hotels might just be the safest place to be for foreigners entering Thailand in a very short while.

[patsfangr]

I have to travel from Pattaya into one of the YELLOW ZONES on Sunday to take my wife for a hospital appointment in BKK on Monday. I'll return to Pattaya on Tuesday. 

 

Does anybody have specific details on what "high surveillance" will mean for me? Just checkpoints with "temperature checks"; or something more extensive?

[PGSan]

43 minutes ago, Starmocihc said:

Yeah, I knew after speaking with a relative in the Thai family who works amongst some clout, that there would be no blanket lock down. This will be a flash in the pan, by mid January it will be back to the only wu-flu reporting being related to ASQ arrivals. Also I expect a few European countries to be disallowed from participating in the ASQ program, if not a Thai citizen. "tHe nEw sTraIn!"

Such prophetical powers!

[Kaopad999]

1 hour ago, poohy said:

Hmm the aquarium just south of Prachuap (i exercise daily there) is once again closed as it was during lockdown.

Myself and a bunch of Thais in front of me  were turned away today. 

saving lives & preventing the spread of this lethal virus is priority for them at the moment. 

[Sametboy2019]

1 hour ago, Kaopad999 said:

saving lives & preventing the spread of this lethal virus is priority for them at the moment. 

 

If your old or sick stay inside.  Let's not forget this virus can be defeated by not getting close to people, wearing a mask and washing your hands frequently.

It's not the plague!

[grumbleweed]

Quote

No national lockdown in Thailand: Prayut

 

No coup in Thailand: Prayut

[vandeventer]

Lockdowns are a real pain, there are 2 towns near where I live. that are on lockdown One is were I get my hair cut and the other is a get together place where many of my friends have lunch 3 to 4 times a week. I really hope the vaccine gets here sooner to ends these lockdowns.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Prime minister Prayut said on Thursday there is no national lockdown order planned for Thailand, although the government will “intensify” measures following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Samut Sakhon.

He and Thailand cannot afford another lock-down... hope the local measures work or he's stuffed.

[Nout]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Tens of thousands. Likely to soon move into the hundreds of thousands.

 

And thousands were tested previously (not counting the testing of all new arrivals and all known contacts of positive cases etc). But at that point, even though the testing was focused in areas thought to be at risk (e,g, Mae Sot,Tak, and briefly Rayong) the yield was so extremely low that it did nto justify continuing on a mass scale. The opposite is true now -- the positivity rate indicates a need to widen testing - and they are responding accordingly. And appropriately.

Thanks for the correction.

[SunsetT]

51 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

Lockdowns are a real pain, there are 2 towns near where I live. that are on lockdown One is were I get my hair cut and the other is a get together place where many of my friends have lunch 3 to 4 times a week. I really hope the vaccine gets here sooner to ends these lockdowns.

Its a hard life aint it!

 

Barbers are a dime a dozen and meet your friends for lunch somewhere else.

[alyx]

Driving from Phuket to Bkk on Sunday: I will try to drive around the orange and red zones in order to reach my destination but I wonder what the announcement means ( actually it uses the future tense so not sure when this will be enforced or am I reading incorrectly)

In any case it is anyone's guess on how this is going to be implemented or are there any guidelines that I should know of ? ( and, no, I cannot go back to Bkk before that day )

Thanks for all input