Three "layers" of protection are essential in keeping at bay the Covid-19 outbreak which threatens to enter the country through its land borders, according to the army.
Gen Nathapol Srisawat, the army's special adviser and the force's director of the disaster mitigation centre, said on Tuesday that neighbouring countries where outbreaks occur, border surveillance efficiency and businesses refusing to hire illegal migrant workers will all play a vital part in stemming the flow of the virus into the country.
They form the three layers of protection against the overland transmission of the virus, he said.
Many foreign nationals have reportedly slipped into the country illegally to search for work and escape outbreaks in their countries. Many have been caught along the border on almost on a daily basis, according to local officials.
The influx of illegal migrants has sounded alarm bells as public health officials were worried that those who manage to find their ways into the country's interior might be carrying Covid-19 and spreading the disease.
Gen Nathapol said the security task forces deployed along the border have stepped up their patrols to catch illegal migrants who have made their way into the country through natural borders.
The local leaders and the Interior Ministry have been alerted to the possible transmission of the disease and assisted the security authorities in mounting strict border screening procedures.
Gen Nathapol said he expected the robust border protection to remain in place for quite some time.
Military units have maintained constant communication with local hospitals which advise them on ways to conduct border screening and keep military officers safe from the virus.
"There's an underlying concern about border surveillance. We have the ability to secure the border channels although there's no let-up in foreign individuals making attempts to get into the country," Gen Nathapol said.
In Sa Kaeo, nine Cambodians were arrested in two separate groups in Ta Phraya district on Tuesday.
In the first group, three Cambodians, one of them a woman, were intercepted by authorities as they were travelling in a vehicle driven by Pratuan Boonyangkaew, 45.
In another incident, military officers of the Burapa Task Force flagged down a Bangkok-registered taxi and found six Cambodians, who were picked up along the border earlier, inside the vehicles.
The six Cambodians were being transported to Bangkok, Chon Buri and Samut Prakan where they planned to work illegally.
