Police have arrested 89 foreigners on the Gulf island of Koh Pha Ngan, breaking any number of legal guidelines related to the emergency decree about crowds, masks carrying and present restrictions. They raided a celebration at the ThreeSixtyBar. 22 Thais had been also detained within the raid on Tuesday night after the well-publicised occasion attracted plenty of local party-goers.
Koh Pha Ngan is one of a trio of tourist islands off the Surat Thani coast in the Gulf of Thailand and in addition contains Koh Samui and Koh Tao.
Attendants and organisers of the get together on the ThreeSixtyBar at the moment are facing expenses of violating an emergency decree which was put in place final March to fight the native Covid-19 outbreak, and that has been extended a number of times since.
Most of them have been launched on bail, but 28 are nonetheless being detained as friends of the Koh Phangan provincial police station.
Police realized about the get together, together with the the rest of the island, after they noticed tickets being bought for purchase on-line and Facebook promotions and movies of the forthcoming occasion.
Among the foreigners arrested had been 20 French residents, 10 Americans and 6 British citizens. All of the arrested were given Covid-19 swabs by local well being officers. Unsung have tested unfavorable at this stage. But even whilst being interrogated and tested on the police station, the partygoers stored the get together alive…
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Police” have been sympathetic of their situation…. “They are stranded vacationers who can’t depart Thailand due to Covid. They may think it is OK to collect in giant groups and I assume they may need to relax and have some fun.”
But even while ready to be ‘processed’ by the native police there didn’t look like much in the method in which of social distancing or sporting of facemarks.
The maximum penalty for violating the emergency decree is two years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of as much as 40,000 baht. The organisers of the Tuesday night get together at the second are dealing with an extra cost of serving alcohol. Koh Pha Ngan is currently underneath a ban for serving alcohol inside restaurants, under the emergency laws enacted after the current outbreak in late December.
Koh Pha Ngan has been a preferred vacation spot prior to now for backpackers, well-known for its monthly full moon celebration. This has been cancelled since March however a core of worldwide expats and tourists, some stuck in Thailand or waiting out the pandemic, have moved to the island for its relaxed tropical way of life, wellness retreats and bohemian underground culture.
Thailand closed its borders to worldwide tourism in early April 2020. Except for returning citizens, permanent residents and a handful of visas, foreign travellers have to use for a Special Tourist Visa which can give them ninety days visas, extendable twice, and a revised tourist visa. All arrivals have to complete a compulsory 14 day quarantine and provide a raft of extra paperwork at this time if they wish to re-enter the Kingdom..