Inter-provincial travel expected to be allowed during next month's Songkran festival

As the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) meets today to discuss the easing of Covid-19 curbs, inter-provincial travel is expected to be allowed during next month's Songkran festival.

Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said moves to ease various measures would be based on zoning under a colour-coded system used to identify which areas were most vulnerable to Covid-19 outbreaks after a meeting of the CCSA's subcommittee on Thursday.

He explained that the colours red, orange, yellow, and green are used to illustrate the severity of Covid-19 infections in provinces affected by the disease.

Mr Anutin said that there were no longer any red zones that required maximum control, and that Bangkok and Samut Sakhon had been declared as orange zones, with public health safety being prioritized in each zone.

When asked about the huge amount of inter-provincial travel expected during Songkran, Mr Anutin said provincial communicable disease committees led by provincial governors would develop health protocols to screen people exiting the provincial.

Mr Anutin said the CCSA would decide at today's meeting, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, about whether water splashing would be allowed in provinces in green zones.

Mr Anutin stated that even though there were no red zones and inter-provincial travel was not banned, the government had to consider health safety.

"We are now on the last lap. Covid-19 vaccines have already arrived and everyone will get the vaccine. Next year, we will be able to have fun again. Therefore, we need to cooperate like we did last year," the minister said.

"Thailand went six or seven months without a new case of Covid-19 last year. But when Thailand had performed well in disease control and news of vaccines emerged, a new wave of infections struck. The public health system is still efficient enough to bring new transmissions under control," Mr Anutin said.

He also said that the CCSA meeting would decide on whether or not international travellers would be allowed to travel to Thailand.

The required 14-day quarantine period has been reduced to ten days, with both the visitors having quarantined for seven days if they have received vaccines.

If those who received two doses of vaccines and tests showed they developed substantial immunity to Covid-19, the CCSA would consider whether to cut the seven-day quarantine period to five or three days, or they might be even exempted from quarantine, Mr Anutin said.

However, he stated that this could be depending on the information gathered by medical experts. "We're trying all we can to get things back to normal as fast as we can," he said. Mr Anutin said the government had not yet negotiated with selected countries over opening "travel bubbles," which would be critical to restoring international links to boosting the economy.

Thailand, on the other hand, would partner with countries that have shown that they have contained the spread of the coronavirus, according to Mr Anutin. He also said that Gen Prayut had instructed the Department of Disease Control (DDC) to ensure that the public was vaccinated quickly and safely.

"I will guarantee that there will be enough vaccines for all. Vaccines will no longer be in short supply. Sinovac vaccines have already arrived, and AstraZeneca vaccines produced in Thailand will be available in 10 million doses each month in the following days. The DDC will work to ensure the vaccines are distributed as broadly as possible "According to the minister.

The Public Health Ministry would present a vaccine distribution plan for consideration at today's meeting, according to Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit, permanent secretary for public health.

Meanwhile, Sorapong Paitoonphong, deputy permanent secretary for the Ministry of Transport, said the board of the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) approved the waive of toll fees on two expressways during Songkran from April 9 to 16, according to Sorapong Paitoonphong, deputy permanent secretary for the Ministry of Transport.

The Burapha Withi Expressway (Bang Na-Chon Buri) and the Kanchanaphisek Expressway are the two expressways (Bang Phli-Suk Sawat).
Mr Sorapong, chairman of Exat's board, travel would be free from midnight on April 9 to midnight on April 16. During the eight-day duration of free driving, he predicted that over two million cars will utilize the expressways.

Exat is expected to lose about 116 million baht as a part of the fees being waived, he said.