Hotels undergoing transformation to house infected patients, medical personnel

Many hotel operators decided to open rooms for medical personnel living in different provinces to stay for free since they have to toil in order to control the disease.
A number of hotels have also agreed to “transform” their facilities or rooms into temporary hospitals to support the recovery of patients with mild illnesses. This comes after the Public Health Ministry asked the hotel sector to cooperate in an attempt to battle the coronavirus.
For example, Eastin Tan Hotel in Chiang Mai, owned by Tan Passakornnatee, commonly called “Tan Oishi”, is collaborating with the Public Health Ministry and Chiang Mai province to house hospital and medical personnel caring for and treating patients.
Natai Beach Resort and Spa in Phang Nga is another example. Autthanop Pandkamnerd, president of Cissa Group, has opened up to 106 rooms to help not only foreign tourists in Thailand who are unable to leave due to the crisis but also frontline medical personnel fighting the disease.
Many hotel operators are interested in helping out but they must pass a standard assessment and get approval from the Department of Medical Services first.
In Bangkok, there are two hotels – the 270-room Princeton Hotel, which has already accepted 50 infected people, and the 439-room Palazzo Hotel, which expects to house patients this week.
According to the Public Health Ministry, as of April 2 more than 100 hotel operators in Bangkok, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai and Nakhon Ratchasima applied for evaluation. Sixteen of the hotels have passed and received an A-rating.
At least 2,000 rooms are being considered for preparation in case the number of infected people rises dramatically.