Drinking time extended by two hours in ‘orange’ and 'blue' provinces
The Thai government has further relaxed Covid-19 measures in "orange" provinces as well as “blue” tourism provinces, allowing restaurants to remain open for two more hours for alcoholic drinks.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Thursday resolved to extend the time limit from 9pm to 11pm following a decline in Covid clusters from eateries and growing calls from business operators, CCSA spokesman Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin said.
However, the extended drinking time applies only to restaurants that meet the “Covid-free setting” requirements under the Safety and Health Administration (SHA+) and Thai Stop Covid 2 Plus standards, the spokesman said.
During the long New Year holidays, entertainment venues operating as restaurants were blamed for a spike in new Covid cases, as many of them reportedly failed to implement strict preventive measures.
Taweesin said on Thursday that post-holiday infections linked to eateries have been on a decline after a time limit was imposed on alcohol consumption at those places.
At its meeting on Thursday, the CCSA also decided to reduce the number of “orange” provinces from 69 to 44 and “upgraded” the 25 provinces to the “yellow” zone under surveillance.
The eight “blue” tourism provinces — Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Krabi, Chonburi, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phang-nga and Phuket — remain unchanged.