A total of 262 Thai workers who had been stranded in Malaysia returned home via five southern border checkpoints yesterday, the first day the checkpoints were reopened.
The returnees are among between 3,000 and 4,000 people expected to return to the country following a month-long border closure that Malaysia imposed on March 18 to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Kuala Lumpur has extended its nationwide lockdown, which it calls a "movement control order", until April 28 but agreed to reopen the border with Thailand. Thai authorities plan to limit returnee numbers to 300 per day to ensure effective Covid-19 screening.
Fourth Army chief Lt Gen Pornsak Poonsawat visited the Sadao immigration checkpoint in Songkhla to observe the handling of returnees yesterday before travelling to the Sungai Kolok checkpoint in Narathiwat. All returnees are required to undergo health screening. Lt Gen Pornsak said the screening went smoothly.
There were concerns that some people stranded in Malaysia might sneak into the country illegally via natural border passes, prompting the 4th Army to deploy troops along the Thai-Malay border. Lt Gen Pornsak said authorities had a strategy for dealing with this eventuality. "If they enter the country illegally, we must accommodate them because all are considered Thais," he said. "However, the law must be enforced against them for illegal entry. They will then be sent to undergo screening for the virus."
Maj Gen Kriangkrai Srirak, Fourth Army Region deputy commander, said yesterday that 130 Thais, mostly from Pattani, had snuck in through natural borders. They were fined 800 baht and placed in 14-day quarantine.
Authorities have prepared 67 sites as local quarantine centres. Thirteen returnees entering via Sadao reportedly had a high fever and were sent to a local hospital.
Pol Col Supachart Vetchaporn, superintendent of the Narathiwat immigration office, said that only Thais stranded in Malaysia would be allowed to enter on the condition they register with the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Returnees must agree to undergo a 14-day quarantine.