Good morning and welcome to the daily news round up with all of the important headlines you may have missed over the past 24 hours. Don’t forget, if you have a story, photo, or video you would like to share, you can do so here.
Government extends emergency decree
The biggest news over the past 24 hours is the extension of the state of emergency in Thailand until the end of May.
The emergency decree was originally due to expire on April 30th, but a decision by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has led to its enforcement for another month.
The law allows the Thai Government full authority over implementing temporary rules and measures in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus.
CAAT bans incoming flights until the end of May
As a direct consequence of the extension of the emergency decree, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has extended the ban on incoming international flights to Thailand until the end of May.
An extension to the ban had been announced earlier in the day yesterday but was only due to last until May 15th. However, after the announcement regarding the state of emergency, the flight ban was extended once again.
The ban will affect anyone who was planning to come to Thailand to see their Thai spouse or on a work permit as they will now need to wait until at least June.
More decisions to come…
Today, the government will make a raft of decisions relating to the extension of the emergency decree.
These include whether to postpone the four scheduled public holidays in May. The four holidays close together, leading to the government worrying that people would take the opportunity to travel.
They will also decide whether to extend the night curfew between 10 pm and 4 am, and if some businesses will be allowed to reopen according to “zones” in different provinces.
Coronavirus cases drop to single-digits for the first time since March 14th
There were only nine new covid-19 cases reported yesterday with one new death, the lowest figure in weeks.
Yesterday also represented the first time since the pandemic reached Thailand in January that Bangkok did not record a single case of coronavirus.
Photo: Reuters
