Thai-Malaysian border to reopen under stringent safeguards against COVID-19

0
2476
The Commander of the Fourth Army Region, Lt. Gen. Pornsak Poonsawat.
The Commander of the Fourth Army Region, Lt. Gen. Pornsak Poonsawat.

The Thai-Malaysian border checkpoint will reopen on April 18, 2020, and some have expressed concern that many people will pass through the checkpoint, which could cause a spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The security sector has however, assured the public that screening measures have been put in place.



The Commander of the Fourth Army Region, Lt. Gen. Pornsak Poonsawat, in his capacity as the Director of the Fourth Region Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), has delivered medical equipment and supplies to Crown Prince Yaha Hospital in Yaha district of Yala province, and offered moral support to all physicians, nurses and health care professionals who are helping to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lt. Gen. Pornsak said relevant agencies in the southern border provinces and the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC) have set up a joint team to screen people entering Thailand, following the opening of the Thai-Malaysian border checkpoint on April 18. About 800 people are expected to pass through the border checkpoint each day. Officers are now ready to perform their duties, and ample medical equipment has been prepared.

Concerning reports that up to 100,000 people will enter Thailand at the Thai-Malaysian border checkpoint, the SBPAC Secretary-General, RADM. Somkiat Pholprayoon, said such reports were just rumors, because the number of people who registered online and reported themselves, according to the embassy, was fewer than 8,000.(NNT)