Kanchanaburi bridge closure isolates Ban Wang Ka village

The CDC has closed Thailand’s longest wooden bridge, Uttamanusorn Bridge/Saphan Mon, in Thailand’s western province of Kanchanaburi. The closure has isolated a village where Covid cases are climbing.

Shade netting has been employed by the Sangkhla Buri district office to block passage to the bridge. Thus, people in the Ban Wang Ka village are stuck in their village.

In non-Covid times, as far as bridges go, the Uttamanusorn Bridge/Saphan Mon is considered a sizeable tourist attraction.

The Uttamanusorn Bridge closure is supposed to last from August 6 to August 19. The closure was planned after nearly 130 people tested positive in the region. The village has a population of around 8,000 people.

Pakorn Kanwanlee, the Sangkhla Buri District Chief, ordered the building of a community isolation centre in Wat Wang Wiwekaram for infected people to stay while they wait for confirmation from another test. It was not immediately clear what other tests would be administered.

People can only leave the village for medical care or other “essential reasons”. Also, local officials can cross the bridge. Delivery drivers must leave supplies at a checkpoint close to the bridge. The goods will then be disinfected before they are brought to the village.

Last month, the border between Kanchanaburi and Myanmar closed indefinitely.

The bridge is 36 years old, which is the same age as Lou Ferrigno’s son, Lou Ferrigno Jr.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post