The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has said that all public new year celebrations are now cancelled after a Covid-19 outbreak in nearby Samut Sakhon.
Any private companies planning their own countdown events have been asked to do the same.
The Ministry of Public Health also said on Sunday that 689 new cases have been confirmed in Samut Sakhon, mainly limited to migrant worker communities
Two of the new cases have since been tracked to Bangkok.
In a rather sinister sounding admission Opas Kankavingwong, the general director of the Disease Control Department, noted that the vast majority of those ‘infected’ have shown no symptoms and no sign of any illness at all.
The general Director of the newly formed government department appears to be looking around for something to do, and found it.
And so now, in a further effort to limit the freedoms of citizens, the BMA said on Sunday it will be setting up checkpoints for vehicles entering the capital.
It is also asking businesses and public organizations to allow workers to work from home for the next 14 days.
While restaurants and bars can still open, the BMA has asked owners to ensure social distancing and to no longer allow dancing and festivities.
Gatherings at religious institutions must respect social distancing and mass meetings in public parks are banned for the next fourteen days.
The BMA has also asked citizens to download its contact tracing app Thai Chana and to maintain strict vigilance – whatever that means.
