Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is planning to end restrictions on several activities as part of his goal for the country to co-exist with Covid-19.
His remarks were given after a visit to some factories under the Factory Sandbox yesterday, saying that more beds are now available to accommodate patients. Furthermore, he said more active case finding is being conducted, but the number of recovered patients still needs to be monitored.
The government has come up with bubble and seal measures as well as Sandbox schemes as means to allow the public to co-exist with Covid-19. However, many businesses are suspended under public health measures until the situation improves.
Gen Prayut urged members of the public to help each other co-exist with Covid-19, as the virus will remain in the country for a long time.
Gen Prayut also said that more activities will be unlocked once the situation in each of the zones improves.
"After the Covid-19 era, the old world no longer exists and we need to live like this for a long time to come. I think our health system is the best and many countries have also urged us to share our experiences, especially with reopening schemes like the Phuket Sandbox," said Gen Prayut.
On the same day, at Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) Co Ltd in Sri Racha district of Chon Buri, the company's president Morikazu Choki conveyed his thanks to Gen Prayut for the Factory Sandbox, which helped keep the firm safe from Covid-19 and reduced the rate of transmission.
Mr Morikazu said the scheme helped keep the firm running and allowed it to rebound from the Covid-19 fallout.
Ogawa Eiji, a representative of Japanese investors, also proposed expanding the Factory Sandbox scheme across Chon Buri and Rayong and administering more Covid-19 vaccines.
Mr Ogawa also proposed the government consider easing quarantine protocol in order to bring international travel back to normal and to promote the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
Earlier on Thursday, Gen Prayut expressed his concern over all related personnel who have been affected by the coronavirus disease at a meeting about creative industries, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said.
Measures such as social security and tax reduction have been issued to alleviate financial hardships. As some people have yet to be vaccinated, Gen Prayut instructed the Ministry of Culture to gather a list of the unvaccinated in order to expedite inoculation and administer antigen test kits.