On 23 December 2020, at 10.40 hrs., at the Government House, H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Thailand, gave an interview to the press on the COVID-19 situation in Thailand as infection numbers are declining as a result of active and comprehensive tracing.

The Prime Minister admitted that the cause of the recent infection cases originated from cross-border smuggling of migrant workers, while the case of the group of foreign workers who had earlier been in Thailand for a period of time did not pose any problem. The Prime Minister has instructed relevant agencies to be vigilant for the smuggling of illegal migrant workers. Some business owners who hire illegal migrant workers did not pay them in accordance with the law and, most recently, left them at unfamiliar locations as the authorities tightened up public health measures. The Prime Minister also instructed the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Labour to consider emergency measures to bring undocumented workers into the system, such as by issuing temporary work permits (Pink Card).

Tomorrow’s meeting of the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) chaired by the Prime Minister will discuss areas of high risk in all provinces which will be categorised into colour zone such as green, orange, and red zones. Specific measures for each zone will also be determined at the meeting.

The Prime Minister emphasised the importance of public cooperation and urged the public to report the leading information on the smuggling of cross-border migrant workers and any wrongdoings or suspected corruption cases, directly to the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister also requested the media to only disseminate trustworthy information from official sources such as the CCSA. Misleading or unproven information may cause social panic and damage the credibility of the country’s public health system.

The Prime Minister was confident that the recent COVID-19 infection cases are all traceable and manageable by the Thai public health authorities.