Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has voiced support for business owners planning to sue people infected with Covid-19 who re-entered the country illegally, saying they were "selfish and irresponsible" and needed to be taught a lesson.
Mr Anutin, also public health minister, was responding to a report that businesses in Chiang Rai were planning legal action against people who returned illegally with the virus and caused problems for other people, including damage to their businesses. They plan to demand 20 million baht in compensation.
"Go ahead. Sue them. They should do that," Mr Anutin said. They had the right to do so.
He said the government would also take legal action against them for breaches of immigration and disease control laws.
All Thai people were entitled to re-enter the country through legal means, including infected people, he said.
"The problem is some of them slipped into the country illegally, not wanting to be in quarantine for 14 days. This is selfish and irresponsible on their part, and a cause of trouble for many other people," he said.
The minister said the government knew how many Thais were still stranded in neighbouring countries. They had been told to return through legal channels. In doing so, they would undergo a health screening process.
Those who test negative for Covid-19 would be required to go into quarantine. Those testing positive would be taken to a hospital for treatment.
Disease control officials were ready to receive them at border checkpoints, he said.
Asked about Thais returning from Laos, where there were entertainment complexes similar to those in Tachilek in Myanmar, a Covid-19 hotspot, Mr Anutin said authorities would make sure they were properly screened.
Asked if provinces with new Covid-19 infections would be locked down, Mr Anutin said that was not yet necessary. Those who returned and were found to be infected had mostly been in close contact with other returnees. They had not spread the virus to an extent beyond control.
Moreover, the returnees with Covid-19 problem came only from Tachilek.