New restrictions in Bangkok, other provinces announced

A worker is seen at a camp in Lat Krabang district of Bangkok on June 22, 2012. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)
A worker is seen at a camp in Lat Krabang district of Bangkok on June 22, 2012. (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)

New restrictions centred around Bangkok have been announced in a bid to tackle the country's worst coronavirus outbreak.

The new measures, which will be implemented for 30 days from Monday, include a ban on restaurant dine-ins in Bangkok and five surrounding provinces of Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom.

Shopping malls in Bangkok and the five provinces must be closed by 9pm, and parties or activities involving more than 20 people will also be banned.

It also said construction sites in the six areas will be shut down and workers' camps will be sealed off to contain clusters. The order followed the emergence of more clusters in construction camps in the capital, which has 575 such sites housing about 81,000 workers.

Since May, 37 clusters have been found in Bangkok camps.

Authorities will set up checkpoints in Bangkok and the five provinces to limit travel and relocation of construction workers, as well as checkpoints in the country's four southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla and Yala.

#BangkokLockdown was trending on Twitter in the early hours into Sunday, with internet users criticising the timing of the announcement and saying they were taken by surprise by the new measures.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Friday he wanted to avoid the word lockdown and that specific businesses and activities would be targeted to contain the virus.

Vocabulary

  • ban: an official statement ordering people not to do, sell or use something - การห้าม
  • camp: a place where athletes (boxers, footballers, etc.) train, or workers live - ค่าย
  • checkpoint: a place where people are stopped and questioned and vehicles are examined, especially at a border between two countries - ด่านตรวจ
  • cluster: group of people, animals or things close together - กลุ่ม
  • construction: the work of building or making something, especially buildings, bridges, etc. - การก่อสร้าง
  • criticise: to say that you disapprove of somebody/something; to say what you do not like or think is wrong about somebody/something - วิจารณ์, ติเตียน,จับผิด
  • emergence: the process of appearing - การปรากฎออกมา
  • implement: to make something such as an idea, plan, system or law start to work and be used - นำแผนหรือนโยบายมาปฏิบัติ, นำมาใช้
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