The government has extended the state of emergency for another two months, until the end of September, "only to facilitate its efforts to control Covid-19 and protect people's lives", according to a spokesman.
The decision was made at a meeting of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday.
CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said after the meeting that the state of emergency would be extended from Aug 1 to Sept 30. It was the 19th extension since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
The state of emergency was imposed by virtue of the Executive Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations.
"The prime minister in his capacity as the CCSA director stressed that the extension is intended only to control the disease and protect people's lives and there is no other purpose for the exercise of this executive decree," Dr Taweesilp said.
The government had no intention to use it to limit people's freedom, he said.
Critics have said that existing public health laws and other regulations are adequate for dealing with current conditions. Over the past two years, they say, the emergency has been invoked mainly to deal with political protests.