Coronavirus (Covid-19)Thailand

CCSA proposes extending Thailand’s State of Emergency for another 2 months

Stock photo via Thai Government/CCSA

Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is proposing an extension of the nationwide Emergency Decree for another 2 months. At a meeting today, the CCSA and Public Health Ministry noted that it may take until the end of July to bring the latest Covid wave under control. The last declaration of a State of Emergency has been in place since March 2020 and was set to expire at the end of May as the government can only declare the status for up to 3 months at a time.

Now, as Thailand’s third wave of infections has proved the most damaging, the efforts to control the spread of the virus are proving to take longer as the amount of infections has reached over 94,000 cases since early April.

The Emergency Decree of 2005 has received criticism from those who say PM Prayut Chan-o-cha could use the sweeping powers granted to him to further assert an authoritarian control over the country. The decree was put in place last year and has been extended ever since.

Meanwhile, foreigners living in Thailand will be able to register for a Covid-19 vaccine starting the first week of June, as part of the country’s mass vaccination campaign. They can register for a vaccine on-site at hospitals, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Natapanu Nopakun, recommends that expats register for the vaccine at a hospital that has their health records on file. Expats will need to a passport, work permit or social security number as a form of identification when registering for a vaccine.

Thai citizens can avail of 3 channels to register for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout when the mass vaccination campaign starts. The PM says Thai nationals seeking a Covid-19 vaccine will be able to register through the Mor Prom platform, through on-site registration, and via special target groups who will receive vaccine supplies. In addition, spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri says there will be no “walk-in” vaccination centres, after PM Prayut Chan-o-cha stopped the programme.

Thailand, today, is reporting 3,481 new infections of the Covid virus and 32 Covid-related deaths in the past 24 hours. 951 of today’s new cases come from Thailand’s prisons.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World

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Ann Carter

Ann Carter is an award-winning journalist from the United States with over 12 years experience in print and broadcast news. Her work has been featured in America, China and Thailand as she has worked internationally at major news stations as a writer and producer. Carter graduated from the Walter Williams Missouri School of Journalism in the USA.

11 Comments

  1. To instill confidence mandate all pcr test cycle thresholds must be reported with every test result. Otherwise it appears to be a massive fraud.

    Perhaps the amount ct’s is none of my business. And I should just trust the media and govt.

  2. Haha what a big surprise, people in power doing everything they can to keep it that way. I would like top know their thoughts behind mixing the Sanbox with emerg decree… I understand that it is only a proposal but hey, emergency decree is the “new normal” here in the [once upon of time] LOS

  3. To Thaiger [or anyone with the info]:

    I want to remember that the maximum of the emerg decree was x-months that should’ve ended in the end of last summer. What happened, did the govt change the law, don’t care, ended it for 1 minute and started a new one or what happened?

  4. Bunch of lies..How could be so sure that this is will be the last declaration of the State of Emergency. Covid-19 variant still kept on coming and spreading like a wild fire & nothing changes since April 1ST.

  5. I can only hope Thailand doesn’t find itself in the same situation as India! And with 3000+ cases a day and the indian variant out there, it could well turn that way. Emergency Declaration? Why do you need a declaration? The emergency is already well under way!!

  6. I don’t think Thailand will get anything like as bad as India. Apart from a few places, people are more spread out and able to socially distance. The Thais are also far more compliant and accepting of government guidelines and rules. And generally they are more cautious and take precautions. It could get a lot worse than it is currently, but so far so good….

  7. @Ted – I guarantee they will keep extending this fake emergency perpetually until they have utterly and totally destroyed the lives of most of the country, and the only businesses remaining will be those of the CP, Central and other super rich powerful families. I cannot believe the people of Thailand can tolerate seeing their lives destroyed like this.

  8. In Texas the Governor has order NO MASKS to be required anywhere, and any local government that tries to force masks will be fined big time.

    The CDC just reduced the cycle threshold for the RT PCR tests in the USA. IF they used this threshold from the start there would be no “pandemic”. What is the cycle threshold being used in Thailand right now?

  9. Agreed @Jason. It could take a turn for the worse but somehow they do seem to be keeping reasonable control. I don’t believe the accuracy of the infection numbers as they are simply not testing enough. Equally, I’m sure the death rate is being significantly under reported. As I’ve said before, it would be good to see what the “excess deaths” are over the past few months in Thailand. That will provide a better idea of what is actually going on. I don’t know of many countries (if any) where the daily infections fluctuate around the 2,000 a day mark. They either increase or decrease over the period of two to three weeks. The next 2-4 weeks will be interesting times. Of it takes off then it will be serious, as the impact of vaccination is not likely to be seen until October, even if they start in early June. I wish them the very best of luck.

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