This year's New Year countdown celebrations may have to be divided into small zones with a limited number of participants, the government said on Wednesday.

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) will today discuss these and other proposals for the upcoming New Year festivities, said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

The PM said that splitting the New Year's Eve celebrations into different zones might be the best way of preventing any possible spread of the coronavirus.

"It would be unsafe to allow a crowd of tens of thousands of people to come together and impossible to ensure that everyone there strictly follows the Covid-19 prevention regulations," he said.

"Separating revellers into small zones should instead make it more possible to screen every attendant and register them all via a mobile phone application for Covid-19 tracking in the event of new infections later emerging.

"I'm not intending to damage anyone's parties but [just to pick the best choice] to ensure total safety for this year's celebrations."

Prayut said the final decision lay with the CCSA.