Phuket – This popular island’s Communicable Disease Committee today (13.5.2020) passed a resolution to reopen air, land and sea transport routes on May 16 in keeping with steps being taken to ease the impact of coronavirus lockdown and are now asking the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration and the Interior Ministry for the go-ahead, PostToday reported.
Phuket governor Pakkapong Tawipat presided over the key meeting with Vice Admiral Cherngchai Chomcherngpat, Commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command, and heads of other related agencies in attendance.
The governor said the meeting assessed the situation in Phuket and passed a resolution to send a letter asking the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, which had shut Phuket Airport till May 15, to reopen it from 00.01 a.m. May 16 onward.
Initially three airlines will be allowed to operate one flight a day to the island.
Regarding the land route through Tha Chat Chai checkpoint and sea routes the meeting agreed that they also be reopened on May 16 but under restrictions stated in announcement number 5 (7). However this reopening has yet to be approved by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration and the Interior Ministry.
In addition travelers entering Phuket would have to fill out Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) forms. They would also have to download the mobile app Mor Chana which is useful in tracking them and checking their health status.
Aside from this they would be placed in home quarantine with details to be announced by a working group drafting procedural documents.
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Top: Phuket’s picturesque Laem Phromthep Cape. Photo: Edwin Lee (CC BY 2.0)
