Health experts warned on Tuesday that opening up the country too fast to tourism could risk the painstaking gains made by the coronavirus lockdown and contribute to a second wave of infections.
Health experts inside the government’s emergency response center and the Ministry of Public Health said that calls made by businesses and the Ministry of Tourism for the country to open up its borders once the lockdown ends on July 1 was “premature” and “risky.”
“What we don’t want is to rush back to normalcy too fast and risk the gains that we have made,” Dr Pol Itaravanonda from Rajvithi Hospital told Thai Enquirer “We understand why businesses want to open up the country but the healthcare sector is united in wanting to ease the situation slowly.”
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said on Monday that the country’s entry ban on intentional flights will be lifted within the third quarter of 2020, defying calls from the private sector.
His comments came after Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said last Thursday that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha has instructed the ministry to prepare for “travel bubble” negotiations.
This involve bilateral agreements on traveling between the kingdom and countries considered by the Thai government to have a low risk of infections from the coronavirus.
However, Somkid’s job is under threat due to infighting and instability within the ruling party. Thai Enquirer understands that many inside the Palang Pracharath Party feel frustrated by Somkid’s and the government’s policies which they feel have unnecessarily hampered the economy.
Somkid said on Monday that the country cannot rely on exports to drive the country in 2020 and that domestic tourism and consumption will be the factors that prop up the economy. The deputy prime minister added that while he understood foreign tourism could help economic factors, the government must balance the health risks.
Should the deputy prime minister be removed from the cabinet, it is unclear if his replacement would adopt the same cautious approach.
