The sea gypsy village in Rawai has been placed under 14-day lockdown, Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos has announced.
The mayor confirmed the segregation on Saturday but gave no reason for his actions. Calls to his office by The Phuket News remain unanswered.
An official at Rawai Municipality who, as usual, asked not to be named, said that Mayor Aroon and all other high-ranking officials at Rawai Municipality were in a meeting about the lockdown all afternoon.
We all have an idea of how these meetings proceed. ‘Pass the Lao Khao, more boiled chicken feet for the esteemed chief of street sweepers and the official in charge of drain inspections would like a 14-year-old on his table. No, not her you idiot. I meant malt whiskey.’
And that’s when all the rules are made.
The officer declined to answer any questions as to why the lockdown was brought into effect only yesterday, especially since mass testing of sea gypsies in the village was conducted on Aug 31 and health workers sanitised homes and public areas in the village last Sunday (Sept 5).
Aug 31 saw 465 villagers tested for COVID-19 by staff from Chalong Hospital using antigen test kits (ATKs).
Antigen test kits are known to produce high numbers of false positive results and the U.S FDA recommended their disposal back in July.
It is though millions of them have been bought up cheaply by so-called developing countries around the world, leading to a global spike of ‘positive’ cases across Asia and Africa
The number of Rawai villagers confirmed as infected, if any, has not been revealed.
