Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) has reserved two concourses at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport for flights from the Middle East to effectively screen passengers for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers).
AoT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said on Monday that as another Mers patient had arrived in Thailand from the Mideast, planes arriving from the region would now be directed to concourses E and G.
There, special screening stations equipped with thermal scanners and staffed by experienced officials were set up to observe the condition of each passenger, he said.
In addition, AoT and disease-control officials asked airlines and the Airline Operators Committee to help pre-screen passengers travelling from where Mers has spread so those with suspicious symptoms could be treated quickly. Passengers on such flights would receive written instructions and warnings related to Mers.
The measures were implemented at Suvarnabhumi airport because most flights from the Middle East landed there, Mr Nitinai said.
AoT also is screening passengers at its airports in Bangkok (Don Mueang airport), Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket and Songkhla (Hat Yai airport) provinces where thermal scanners were applied to identify travellers with high temperatures, he said.
Finally, hand sanitisers were distributed in airport areas where travellers gathered, including information booths, form-filling spots and taxi stands. Workers were cleaning surfaces people touched, such as luggage trolleys and handrails, Mr Nitinai added.