Thailand to shut construction sites, seal off camps to contain virus

[webfact]

FILE PHOTO: Labourers work at a construction site in downtown Bangkok, Thailand June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand will close hundreds of construction sites and prevent workers from leaving their camps for a month, its prime minister said on Friday, in an effort to tackle the country's worst coronavirus outbreak so far.

 

The order followed the emergence of more clusters in construction camps in the capital, which has 575 such sites in total housing about 81,000 workers. Since May, 37 clusters have been found in Bangkok camps.

 

Sites in some provinces near Bangkok and four in the south near Malaysia will also be closed from next week.

 

"Let's implement this for a month. Things should improve then," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told reporters.

 

The labour ministry will compensate for the costs of halting construction projects, he said.

 

Labour minister Suchart Chomklin said police will inspect camps for safety and make sure no one leaves, while authorities aim to test everyone inside. Many camp residents are migrant workers.

 

Details of measures targeting specific businesses and areas are expected to be announced before Monday, Prayuth said, adding that he wanted to avoid a blanket lockdown.

 

He urged people in outbreaks areas to limit their movements.

 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Editing by Martin Petty)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-06-26

 

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[smedly]

And factories ?

[RichardColeman]

I truly wish the government would stop blaming others other than Thais for their plight.

 

Banging up construction workers only and not Thais in general when covid is rampant in Thai society is ridiculous.

 

If its not the foreigners , its the migrant workers. Only other people I guess they can blame in the poor.

[ukrules]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"Let's implement this for a month. Things should improve then,"

 

Lol, the guy's deluded. Things will probably improve towards the end of the year, if they're lucky.

[Petey11]

Is he going to shut down and seal the other 60 odd cluster areas too? Wait a minute, might be too many Thai people locked in then. Trying to deflect the blame for the situation the country is in on immigrants rather than face up to the fact the PM and his government have mismanaged the whole vaccination situation and control of the virus. 

[sammieuk1]

Let's implement this for a month. Things should improve then," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told reporters.

 

Just to complete the cluster ????

[ourmanflint]

All this will do is increase the infection rate inside the camps to almost 100% if the infection rate reported from Suan Lung is anything to go by, 198 out of 233 tested positive there.

 

This is totally barbaric. 

[clivebaxter]

He would be better employed to phone that lab up and ask where the promised vaccines are 

[pegman]

To take this form of action the COVID  situation must be much worse than the government has been letting on. 

[Scott]

Inflammatory, troll post reported and removed. 

 

[meechai]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand will close hundreds of construction sites and prevent workers from leaving their camps for a month,

 

And...Who will feed them if they cannot leave camps?

Who will guard that they cannot leave camps?

 

Aside from the fact that this is total BS deflections

What is with these people always blaming a Nationality for anything?

 

It is a nondiscriminatory virus it cares not who it infects

 

Lastly Covid has been in full force within Thailand since early 2019

Just because they didn't test for it they think they were untouched till now?

 

Realize the worst has actually passed same as all countries & get on with

governing your country's recovery

 

 

[AnnieSeek]

These the immigrant slave labourers? It's a disgraceful practise that somehow doesn't get any international attention. 

[Pattaya Spotter]

2 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

All this will do is increase the infection rate inside the camps to almost 100% if the infection rate reported from Suan Lung is anything to go by, 198 out of 233 tested positive there.

 

This is totally barbaric. 

All the more reason to keep them confined. This is what Singapore did to control viral spread in its migrant worker camps. 

[herfiehandbag]

Once sealed into these camps, and the perimeters securely guarded, will the not infected inside be vaccinated to prevent infection? Will there be a proper monitoring and testing routine, access to effective healthcare, decent food, clean water? Will the sick inside be properly treated or just left to live or die?

 

Or will they become "ghettos"?

 

The only concrete proposals seem to be financial compensation for the owners/

operators of the construction sites.

 

 

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

Lock the poor in and vaccinate the rich.

Way to go A-nut-in!

[herfiehandbag]

Sometimes Godwin's law has it's place doesn't it?

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand will close hundreds of construction sites and prevent workers from leaving their camps for a month, its prime minister said on Friday, in an effort to tackle the country's worst coronavirus outbreak so far.

And what about all the filthy covid infested daily markets that spread infections far and wide.

[jacko45k]

Just now, hotchilli said:

And what about all the filthy covid infested daily markets that spread infections far and wide.

You want them closed too? I thought the construction sites were responsible for far more infections than the markets. The markets are the only place people can go shopping for many, so rather a necessity. There are measures at the markets, but as is the case here, crowding breaks it down.

[hotchilli]

7 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

You want them closed too? I thought the construction sites were responsible for far more infections than the markets. The markets are the only place people can go shopping for many, so rather a necessity. There are measures at the markets, but as is the case here, crowding breaks it down.

Come to my local wet/vegetable markets... no measures what so ever... complete and utter chaos as normal.

Internal markets and street markets.

[jacko45k]

Just now, hotchilli said:

Come to my local wet/vegetable markets... no measures what so ever... complete and utter chaos as normal.

Internal markets and street markets.

I guess they all vary.... mine is a covered area and quite a few measures employed....far from perfect though. Markets like the soi Buakhao and Threpasit I have not visited since this all began. But getting people to keep their distance is impossible, even in BigC. 

[DPKANKAN]

Get the bloody vaccines sorted for all the country ASAP you tw.t!!!! ????????????????

[GeorgeCross]

so the plan is:

 

lock them in.. after a month.. let the survivors get back to work?

 

sounds a little bit heartless if you ask me.

[futsukayoi]

Of course all the Thai managers, engineers, architects and specialists who have been working daily alongside these migrant workers will also bbe incarcerated for a month in the same conditions.  Soemhow I think not.

[Tropicalevo]

8 minutes ago, futsukayoi said:

Of course all the Thai managers, engineers, architects and specialists who have been working daily alongside these migrant workers will also bbe incarcerated for a month in the same conditions.  Soemhow I think not.

And - 'The labour ministry will compensate for the costs of halting construction projects,'

 

So who gets the cash? The owners and the high paid Thai workers.

[jacko45k]

Just now, Tropicalevo said:

So who gets the cash? The owners and the high paid Thai workers.

I only hope the poor souls locked into the camps will get food and other essentials......

[scubascuba3]

Migrant workers are being excluded from getting the vaccine, smart move

[canopus1969]

5 hours ago, ukrules said:

 

Lol, the guy's deluded. Things will probably improve towards the end of the year, if they're lucky.

Agree, he hasn't a clue, just shear stupidity

[herfiehandbag]

41 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

And - 'The labour ministry will compensate for the costs of halting construction projects,'

 

So who gets the cash? The owners and the high paid Thai workers.

You can bet your bottom dollar that the migrant workers will not be payed! 

[Old Croc]

Migrant workers, thousands of whom are illegally smuggled across borders, are a major source of infection and the most likely carriers of some of the newer, more dangerous variants.  

With the idiotic decision to turn a blind eye to the trade, and refuse vaccinations to the 3 mullion or so foreigner residents for so long, to exclusively cater to, and for, lower risk Thais, the government were largely responsible for exacerbating the carnage. The profits of the big companies were put first, as always in the Thai system.

Strict quarantine of these hotspot camps is probably a necessity, albeit much too late to contain the virus. The smugglers, and the self before national welfare, big boys should be quarantined for several years in that other largely ignored cesspool of infection.

[Ron jeremy]

4 hours ago, pegman said:

To take this form of action the COVID  situation must be much worse than the government has been letting on. 

Of course, no beds left in bangkok