Troops sent to border after outbreak, Army setting up Samut Sakhon field hospital

PM Prayut Chan-o-cha on Wednesday ordered a military operation to patrol Thailand’s borders, following an outbreak of Covid-19 linked to illegal migrants from Myanmar.
The order came after Wednesday’s meeting of the Defence Council, which was chaired by Prayut in his capacity as defence minister
The PM ordered military personnel to help in patrol the border and prevent entry of illegal migrant workers both by land and sea, said Defence spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich.   
He also ordered the police to set up a special committee to investigate corrupt officials at all levels involved in the smuggling of migrant workers into the country.
Meanwhile police and soldiers were ordered to set up checkpoints on known migrant-trafficking routes to protect at-risk border provinces.
The Army and Navy were also ordered to deploy personnel and medical equipment to establish a 1,000-bed field hospital in Samut Sakhon, where the latest has spawned more than 1,200 cases. The military is currently seeking a suitable factory or residential building to house the hospital close to the outbreak’s epicentre in order to contain the spread of the disease.