CCSA to review curfew hours and allowing more businesses and venues to reopen
The nighttime curfew might be reduced by an hour and 11 types of business and venues might be able to resume service as the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration will review a proposal for such requests, today.
If all goes well with the CCSA, the curfew would shrink back 1 hour to 10pm to 4am, compared to the now 9pm to 4am curfew, says a source in the government. Some of the 11 types of business and venues that would be allowed to reopen are:
- Spas
- Cinemas
- Restaurants that have live bands
- Tutorial schools
- Sporting grounds
- Museums
The source adds that the restricted health measures would probably stay in place for the 29 dark red provinces, such as Bangkok. The source says the Covid situation will come under review every 2 weeks. These developments are presumed to be the top agenda items that will be discussed at the CCSA meeting today.
Sanan Angubolkul, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce says if low-risk business activities could resume with stringent health precautions in place, the economy should be able to bounce back in the 4th quarter. He says businesses have become more optimistic about the country’s economic future as more vaccines have been administered and the price of antigen tests have been reduced. Today’s CCSA meeting is imperative for sending a positive message about the economy for the next 3 months, says Sanan.
The chairman adds that business owners are anxious to help kick-start the economy while following governmental guidelines. Thaniwan Kulmongkol, president of the Thai Restaurant Association says the TRA plans to ask the CCSA to permit restaurants to stay open until 10pm rather than 9pm. She says the current opening hours are harming restaurants that can only offer dine-in services. She adds that only some people are dining out and need to leave restaurants soon after eating in anticipation of the curfew.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
