Meeting today could decide whether to end Emergency Decree

A meeting today could decide whether to end Thailand’s long-standing Emergency Decree. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is meeting today in which the Covid-19 operations centre is expected to propose the revocation of the decree from October 1. Secretary-general of the National Security Council and head of the operations centre said yesterday that members have agreed that there has been a steady improvement in overall conditions. Such conditions indicate that the number of Covid infections has been on the decline with deaths from the virus also following suit.

Now, the operations centre will propose to resolve the decree which has been in place since 2020, when the pandemic took hold in the country. If the revocation is approved, the CCSA will also be dissolved. The domino effect would then commence as other agencies under the CCSA would be dissolved.

The National Communicable Disease Committee would then take over the handling of the Covid-19 situation. The NSC chief allayed rumours that the decree’s revocation had anything to do with the fact that Thailand is set to host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in November. Instead, the chief referred to the country’s general situation as things moving back to normal.

Throughout the pandemic, the decree was renewed on a monthly basis. But, it drew widespread criticism from those who say the decree was being used as a ploy to assert absolute control over the country by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Protests erupted on the streets as more and more civilians disagreed with the reasoning behind the decree.

Just a few days ago, the government lifted the ban on foreign visitors infected with Covid from entering the country. Now, infected persons are allowed to enter Thailand with no testing or vaccination certificates required. For those who are found to be infected, they must abide by recommendations of social distancing, hand washing, and avoiding crowded places for a period of five days.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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