Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn will join his counterparts from 10 Asean countries Monday to discuss the mosquito-born Zika virus, which has hit many parts of Southeast Asia.
He said the talk, which will be conducted in a teleconference among public health ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), will alert public officials to the current situation of the disease, which is most harmful to pregnant women.
Also participating in the conference is Margaret Chan, the director-general of the World Health Organisation.
The situation in Asean will have to be made clear, Dr Piyasakol said.
According to the minister, a total of 279 people have contracted the virus in Thailand this year. Most of the patients in the country have recovered, leaving only 23 under close watch by doctors.
Most get better within a week after falling sick.
The virus usually causes most patients to develop mild symptoms including fever and a rash, but it is dangerous among pregnant women as they can give birth to babies with microcephaly, a deformation marked by unusually small brains and heads.
Provinces in Thailand hit by the virus include Chiang Mai, Phetchabun, Bung Kan, Chanthaburi and Bangkok. In the capital's Sathon business area, 22 people, including a woman who had just given birth, were found early last week to have caught the virus , according to City Hall's Health Department.
Dr Piyasakol said his ministry will step up efforts to enforce the Public Health Act after efforts to encourage people to keep their homes free from dirty water and other areas where mosquitos breed yielded little success.
Under the Public Health Act, health authorities can order home owners to eliminate sources of mosquito larvae from their house within seven days, with a follow-up check conducted after 30 days.
If the home owner fails to do so, a 5,000 baht fine can be imposed.
Thai authorities have stepped up efforts to look for new patients, along with attempts to get rid of the striped mosquito variety that spreads the disease and which also carries dengue fever.
"The law has long existed, but it's not been seriously enforced," Dr Piyasakol said.
Singapore also is using similar legal measures, he added.
A homeowner can be fined 200 Singapore dollars if mosquito larvae is found in his house.
In Thailand, villagers who ignore the need to keep their houses free of larvae can be subject to a maximum fine of 5,000-baht fine each if officials in their community enforce their own local ordinance under the Public Health Act, said public health permanent secretary Sopon Mekthon.
Ministry officials will check the "larvae index" in communities every two weeks, he said.