Tens of Thousand Flee Bangkok Amid Covid-19 Lockdown
In the wake of the “Covid-19 lockdown” announcement for Bangkok thousands of people have flocked to bus stations to leave the city. The mass exodus is believed to be triggered by the closures of business in Bangkok and five other provinces.
The exodus comes after almost 200 new infections were reported on Sunday. The highest one-day jump to date bringing the total number of Covd-19 cases in Thailand to 599. The number of accumulated infections is also predicted to surpass 1,000 in the next seven days.
Shortly after the Bangkok governor ordered the closure for three weeks of shopping malls and markets except those selling food and essential consumer goods, five adjacent provinces of Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani followed suit. Triggering speculation that a full lockdown was coming.
Eighty thousand people boarded buses heading out of Bangkok on Sunday. Mostly migrant workers rushed to bordering provinces aiming to go home to neighbouring countries. Above all before the Thai borders closed. At the same time, the Interior Ministry told provincial governors to keep an eye on people from Bangkok heading for their provinces. Amid fears they would further spread the disease.
On Sunday nearly 7000 Thai workers cued at the Mae Sai -Tachileik border in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai Province to reenter Thailand before the border closed due to Covid-19 concerns.
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Tens of Thousand Flee Bangkok Amid Covid-19 Lockdown Thread