Covid-19 violating gathering of 23 students and teachers busted

If you have been following along, mark Nakhon Ratchasima down on your “Covid-19 restriction violating party” bingo card. Last night a group of students and teachers in the Muang district of Nakhon Ratchasima were caught gathering with an abundance of alcohol and a noticeable lack of Covid-19 safety measures.

The bust is one of an increasing number of illegal parties being prosecuted by the police, following Friday’s raid of a Koh Samui villa that resulted in 2 Covid-19 infections, and another in Pattaya the night before that.

23 students and teachers were gathered in a house enjoying drinks without wearing masks or observing social distancing standards. Police were tipped off about an obvious gathering in a 2-story house in a village of Nakhon Ratchasima and investigated the house last night.

The provincial deputy governor described the raid this morning and the arrest of the 23 people. The partygoers were between the approximate ages of 20 and 35 and were drinking and socialising when police arrived last night. One of the older people in the group explained to the police that he was a professor at a local university in the province and that the others were his students.

Though he claimed that this was the first time he had gathered his students like this for a drink, it was soon discovered that this was at least the fourth day in a row that the group had been gathering to drink and socialise against the rules of the Covid-19 Emergency Decree.

Nakhon Ratchasima is currently a maximum control dark red zone where gatherings are limited to 5 people or less and no gathering of any size with alcohol is allowed. The rules designed to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 are managed under the Communicable Disease Act and the national Emergency Decree, as well as provincial restrictions and carry fines of up to 40,000 baht and up to 2 years in prison as punishment.

The group of students and teachers were taken to the Muang Nakhon Ratchasima Police Station where they will face prosecution for the illegal gathering.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News