The government is gearing up to handle Thais set to return home from neighbouring countries amid the coronavirus pandemic, including thousands from the Malaysian border, starting on Saturday.
Previously, the Interior Ministry and the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre had estimated that at least 8,000 Thais with medical certificates in Malaysia were set to return home via the southern border.
Deputy army spokeswoman Col Sirichan Ngathong said army chief Gen Apirat Kongsompong has instructed all regional army units along the borders to work with provincial authorities to deal with Thais who will return from neighbouring countries through a total of 15 border checkpoints nationwide.
The army will facilitate the entry of Thais, check their health, and help take the returnees to quarantine facilities, Col Sirichan said, adding the army chief had stressed the need to prevent anyone from sneaking into the country illegally through natural channels.
In Narathiwat, almost 100 Thai workers stranded in Malaysia have illegally crossed back, saying they would have starved while waiting in the queue for their turn to return home.
Roongruang Thimabut, chief of Sungai Kolok district, said on Thursday that officials arrested 94 people who crossed the Sungai Kolok River from the Malaysian side.
They were fined 800 baht each and have been placed in local quarantine facilities for 14 days for monitoring.
Some of the workers told officials they had travelled in the morning from Pahang State in Malaysia, about 300 kilometres from the frontier, to return to their homes in the three southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.
They had heard that the government would limit the number of returnees each day from Saturday onwards and hence decided to take their chance instead of waiting for their turn.
The government has announced that it would allow up to 300 returnees from Malaysia to re-enter Thailand each day. Limiting the number of returnees is a measure meant to help ensure effective Covid-19 prevention based on the facilities available as concerns had been raised that some of the returnees may be infected.
As of April 9, about 14,000 stranded Thais stranded had registered to return home.
Meanwhile, a source said Thai workers who work at restaurants which serve tom yum kung in Malaysia have said they do not want to get health certificates from hospitals there, citing expensive charges for health checks at 30 ringgit or about 210 baht.
The workers also claimed that travel in Malaysia is an inconvenience as public transport services have been suspended due to the lockdown there, the source said, adding the Thai embassy is trying to come up with a solution.
However, the authorities have insisted that those who do not have a health certificate will not be allowed to enter the country.
Despite the limit on entries elsewhere, Songkhla governor Jaruwat Kliangklao said the number of the tom yum kung workers in Malaysia who will be allowed to enter the country via the border checkpoint in Sadao district will be limited to only 100 people per day.
Meanwhile, the government on Thursday reported 29 new local cases of Covid-19, lifting the total to 2,672, and three new deaths -- all aged under 60 -- increasing the local death toll to 46.
The number of recovered cases is now 1,593 -- a substantial increase of 96 over Wednesday's figures.
Thursday's tally of new cases was marginally lower than the 30 recorded on Wednesday.
However, measures that restrict everyday life are unlikely to be relaxed as the decision will be made depending on how well people cooperate, Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman of the government's Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said.
