Bangkok-
Following an emergency meeting between the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the Thai Public Health Ministry today Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt stated that no events would be cancelled due to some doctors concerns about the spread of Covid-19.
However, the governor did agree to ensuring precautions were implemented such as mask wearing and rapid antigen testing for large events.
The announcement followed statements made by the Permanent Secretary of Health Kiattiphum Wongrajit who announced yesterday, as we covered here, that the Public Health Ministry would hold emergency meetings with the BMA about concerns of Covid-19 spread in the capital specifically. Kiattiphum stated that the Ministry would urge the governor to curb events which led to anger from the tourism, events, entertainment, music, and hospitality industry online that is just starting to recover after over two years of cancellations and forced closings due to Covid19 concerns.
The concerns are primarily due to the end of a long holiday where many Thais traveled last week and new more transmissible sub-variants causing concerns worldwide. More than half of the hospitalized daily Covid-19 cases recorded in Thailand daily are in Bangkok, according to Kiattiphum.
Meanwhile, Bangkok Governor Chadchart stated that “Life Must Go On” and there is no need to keep shutting down activities, events, and festivals that drive tourism and the economy. He stressed this was because the overwhelming majority of Covid-19 cases are mild or asymptomatic in the capital and that he believes this spike will be less severe than previous ones. 98 percent of the current cases in hospitals in Bangkok have multiple underlying conditions and are over 60, according to the BMA.
Governor Chadchart did, however, agree to ensuring that venues being used for events were taking all possible precautions against Covid19 and that organizers complied with all health measures.
Pattaya has a month long music festival starting the first weekend of August expected to bring thousands of domestic tourists, many from Bangkok, to the city. As of press time, however, Pattaya had no plans to cancel the event, which had previously been cancelled back in March. The Public Health Ministry’s primary concern however has been Bangkok and not Pattaya or Chonburi due to hospital capacity, which in Pattaya is significant.
Pattaya also just finished a marathon, the first in three years, over the past weekend that welcomed thousands of runners from across Thailand and internationally. Part of Pattaya’s plan to recover tourism is events every single weekend through the end of the year.
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