The Thai government will block all travel to Thailand, including by Thais, from April 2-15 to prepare "state quarantine" facilities after more local Covid-19 patients have been linked to imported cases.

The check-in counter of Thai Airways International is closed at Suvarnabhumi airport in Samut Prakan province. (Photo:bangkokpost.com)

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the government needs time to properly prepare for state quarantine, local media reported on April 2.

“Related agencies will in the meantime prepare the places and coordinate with Thai embassies to ensure all Thais returning home will be quarantined and get proper medical checks," the Thai PM was quoted by the English-language newspaper Bangkok Post as saying. 

According to Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman of the government's Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, Prayut told the centre that arrivals by foreigners and Thais would have to be slowed down "to stop the disease".

The decision will not apply to people who earlier sought permission to travel to Thailand, he said, adding that affected Thai people should contact the country’s embassies and followed their instructions.

Thailand has so far reported 1,875 Covid-19 cases, including 15 deaths.

On April 2, Malaysia announced 208 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, bringing its total to 3,116 – the highest in Southeast Asia. The disease has killed 50 persons in the country so far.

Source: VNA