Thai quarantine confusion throws holidays into doubt

Tourists wear protective masks and other gears at Suvarnabhumi airport on Wednesday. (Photo by Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)
Tourists wear protective masks and other gears at Suvarnabhumi airport on Wednesday. (Photo by Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)

Thailand threw possibly tens of thousands of holiday plans into confusion after Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered any new arrivals from nine countries and two territories to undergo quarantine for the coronavirus, before swiftly reversing the decision.

Mr Anutin posted an announcement Tuesday saying travellers from affected countries would be subjected to a 14-day quarantine "without exceptions".

The countries were China, South Korea, Japan, Germany, France, Singapore, Italy, Iran and Taiwan. Hong Kong and Macau were also included on the list.

The post was removed hours later, and his official Facebook page was taken down.

Mr Anutin is no stranger to gaffes.

Last month he lashed out at "Western" tourists for not wearing face masks, suggesting they should be kicked out for putting others at risk. He later apologised on his Facebook page.

Mr Anutin's apparent moment of indecision — which raised concern on Twitter among Thais and foreign travellers — was played down Wednesday by Public Health Ministry spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin.

"We have to wait which country would be designated as a risk country," said the spokesman during a daily press briefing, explaining that Mr Anutin needed the list to be "reviewed".

Similar uncertainty surrounds the government's handling of the return of some 5,000 undocumented Thai labourers — nicknamed "little ghosts" — working in South Korea.

Premier Prayut Chan-o-Cha said Wednesday the workers who came from South Korea's two hardest-hit areas — Daegu and neighbouring North Gyeongsang province — would be subjected to quarantine.

The others will return to their hometown where provincial health officers will monitor them daily, said an official from the Department of Disease Control.

South Korea has reported than 5,300 cases and 28 fatalities.

The government's lack of monitoring of the returnees has spurred growing public anger after various accounts showed haphazard screening at Bangkok's airports.

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Vocabulary

  • announcement: a spoken or written statement that informs people about something - การประกาศ
  • gaffe: an embarrassing mistake that you make in public, especially one that offends or upsets someone - การผิดมารยาทสังคม,การเสียมารยาท
  • haphazard (adj): happening without any organisation -
  • indecision: the feeling that you are unable to make a decision - การไม่สามารถตัดสินใจ, ความไม่แน่ใจ, ความละล้าละลัง, ความลังเล
  • labourer: a person whose job involves hard physical work that is not skilled, especially work that is done outdoors - กรรมกร, ผู้ใช้แรงงาน
  • lashed out: when someone is criticised angrily - ประนามอย่างรุนแรง
  • monitor: to regularly check someone/something - จับตาดู เฝ้าระมัดระวัง
  • no stranger to: to be familiar with something because you have experienced it many times before - คุ้นเคยกับ
  • played down: made something seem less important than it is - ลดความสำคัญของ
  • quarantine (noun): a situation in which a person or animal that might have a disease is kept separate from other people or animals so that they do not catch the disease - การกักบริเวณ, การจำกัดบริเวณ
  • risk: the possibility that something dangerous or unpleasant might happen - ความเสี่ยง
  • subject to: affected by - ได้รับผล
  • uncertainty: something that you cannot be sure about; a situation that causes you to be or feel uncertain - ความไม่มั่นใจ (ต่อเหตุการณ์ ชะตาชีวิต ฯลฯ), ความรู้สึกไม่แน่ใจ
  • undocumented: a worker who does not have the required official working papers, i.e., who is working illegally แรงงานเถื่อน -

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