Malaysian investigators arrest human trafficking ‘kingpin’

The Department of Disease Control says up to 150 Thai nationals have applied to return from Tachilek, as Covid-19 cases rise in the Burmese border town. The requests come as health officials attempt to trace hundreds who came into contact with a number of Covid-infected Thai women who crossed into the Kingdom illegally, bypassing health checks and quarantine. A man in Chiang Rai who had contact with the women has since tested positive for the virus.

A total of 10 women, all of whom were carrying the virus, are believed to have made the illegal crossing. 2 of them subsequently boarded flights to Bangkok and Phitsanulok. It’s understood most of the women worked at a hotel and nightlife complex in Tachilek, called 1G1. Nation Thailand reports that around 180 Thai nationals work at the establishment.

Thai health officials say over 1 million volunteers are now being deployed to homes in border areas, to check for anyone who may have entered the Kingdom illegally. The Thai military is working with other relevant agencies to block the border crossing at the second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai. At least 80 officials, accompanied by additional troops, are being deployed to check illegal border crossings.

Tachilek has reported 15 new cases of Covid-19, with the total number of cases in Myanmar now over 95,000.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

2 Thai women, both infected with Covid-19, took domestic flights after entering the Kingdom illegally from Myanmar and bypassing health checks and quarantine. It’s understood that a total of 10 Thai women have now crossed illegally from Myanmar, without undergoing any health checks or carrying out mandatory quarantine. All 10 have tested positive for Covid-19, with several having worked in the same hotel and entertainment establishment in the Burmese border town of Tachileik.

Nation Thailand reports that a 21 year old woman and her friend travelled to Myanmar between November 17 and 27. Both then both crossed back into Thailand at a natural border in the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai, in the early hours of November 28, avoiding health checks. At the time, both were experiencing symptoms that included a fever, runny nose, and cough.

They checked into a hotel and later that day, booked a Grab taxi to Chiang Rai airport. The 21 year old woman flew to Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok, while the second took a flight to the neighbouring province of Phitsanulok. Some media reports say the woman who flew to Bangkok was not wearing her mask properly during a taxi journey to her condo in the suburb of Udomsuk. When she reported her symptoms at a clinic the following day, in the company of her boyfriend, she was told to go to hospital. She subsequently tested positive at a private hospital in the Bang Na district of the capital. Her boyfriend is considered high risk.

There is currently no information on her friend who flew to Phitsanulok, whom it’s understood had plans to travel to the neighbouring province of Phichit. Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is pushing to have the women prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

The discovery that 3 Thai nationals infected with Covid-19 returned from Myanmar and bypassed health checks and quarantine, has officials in Phuket on high alert. Over the weekend, it was discovered that a 29 year old Thai woman had illegally crossed from Myanmar and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 after admitting herself to a Chiang Mai hospital. 2 other women who worked with her have also tested positive for the virus.

Phuket’s deputy governor, Pichet Panapong, says news of the 3 infected Thai women who managed to enter Thailand without undergoing any health checks or mandatory quarantine, has officials on the southern island worried. He adds that local authorities are monitoring Burmese workers, calling on them to follow disease control measures if returning to Phuket from Myanmar. (It would appear he missed the bit about the 3 infected women being Thai, not Burmese)

In a report in the Bangkok Post, Pichet says officials are considering setting up a quarantine facility for any migrant workers already in Phuket illegally, adding that of the 59,900 registered migrant workers on the island, 80% are Burmese. The Thailand/Myanmar border is longer than 2,000 kilometres with hundreds of official and “natural” border crossings.

“People can also act as eyes and ears for the authorities. If they find something suspicious in their communities, they should alert immigration police or local police.”

Phuket has 21 alternative quarantine properties, offering over 2,500 rooms in total, but arrival numbers are low. It’s understood that only 11 people have applied to enter Phuket in the period December 4 – 12, and so far, only a single application has been received for January. There are currently 726 people in local quarantine, 20 in alternative local quarantine, and 4 people carrying out yacht quarantine. Since Phuket agreed to receive foreign-registered yachts, 6 vessels have entered its waters, with all passengers and crew carrying out quarantine on board, 6 kilometres from shore.

Pichet says that, at a meeting of the communicable disease control committee, the Thai Yachting Business Association submitted a proposal to manage cruise ships, and officials have also received a request to extend the opening hours of shopping malls over the New Year holiday.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post