People must stay home and not socialise or Thailand will become like Italy, with medical personnel having to decide which patients to treat or not, warned a doctor on Monday.

The warning came from Prof Dr Prasit Watanapa, the dean of the faculty of medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, on Monday. 

He said the number of people with Covid-19 in Thailand was soaring, like those of the European countries that were unable to control the disease.

He blamed the situation on people who visited virus-spreading venues like boxing stadiums and pubs, and refused to self-isolate.

"If we do nothing, we will become a country that is unable to control the disease," he said.

The number of Covid-19 cases in Thailand was rising by 33% daily. At this rate, the number of infections  would reach about 350,000 and deaths total about 7,000 by April 15, Dr Prasit said.

The number of critically ill people would by then be about 17,000 - and that would exceed the country's medical resources.

"That would be like the situation in Italy. Decisions would then have to be made whether to treat someone, or not. I do not want that to happen," Dr Prasit said.

"People must stay at home, do not socialise... If you must go out to buy food, you must wear a mask, go the shortest distance and return home as fast as possible," Dr Prasit said.

He also called for a complete ban on visitors, saying thermal scans did not work because many infected people did not have a fever during their initial period of infection.

Dr Prasit estimated the Covid-19 outbreak would continue in Thailand for about nine months.