All night entertainment venues, including soapy massage parlours, will open their doors again on Wednesday as restrictions imposed to curb Covid-19 are further eased in the final phase.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Monday gave the green light for all remaining entertainment facilities to reopen from tomorrow. They include pubs and bars, karaoke bars, and bath-sauna-massage establishments. Health and physical distancing measures and monitoring will be required.
“It was extensively debated,” CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said after the full members’ meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
All premises that reopen will be required to use the “Thai Chana” platform, created to alert businesses and customers to any Covid-19 outbreak.
From tomorrow, shopping malls, department stores and community malls will be allowed to open until 10pm from the current 9pm.
Other premises allowed to reopen will include schools and educational institutes, while night entertainment venues, pubs, bars, karaoke joints, beer halls and beer gardens will be allowed to open until midnight, with the enforcement of social distancing rules. Customers must use the Thai Chana app to check in and out.
Gaming and internet cafes can reopen 24 hours for customers aged 18 and older. Younger patrons will be allowed in only at specified hours, he said.
Soapy massage parlours customers must use the Thai Chana app when checking in and out. Customers and staff must wear face masks all the time except when taking a bath, he said.
Dr Taweesilp said that the CCSA meeting stressed the need for massage parlours to strictly follow health measures while the meeting issued a stern warning against allowing the sex trade to take place in their premises.
If there are Covid-19 infections at their premises, the owners will face punishment, Dr Taweesilp said.
The decision to open up more businesses, and some travel, was made after more than a month without any new local infections being recorded in Thailand.
Restrictions were earlier lifted on restaurants, schools, malls and many sports activities — with enforcement of social distancing and body temperature checks.
Read more at Bangkok Post