Thailand’s Songkran postponed, schools shut

THAILAND’S traditional new year festival Songkran has been postponed while the country’s universities and schools have been have been ordered shut amid the coronavirus outbreak that has infected 177 people and resulted in one death.

“We’re not closing the country yet but there is tendency for an increasing spread (of the virus). The measures are meant to prevent the spread from Bangkok to other provinces,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told a briefing on Tuesday.

The closures of universities and schools nationwide will take effect from Wednesday and last for two weeks.

Meanwhile sports venues in the capital and five adjacent provinces - Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakarn and Samut Sakhon - will be shut indefinitely, Mr Prayut said.

Entertainment venues such as bars, nightclubs, cinemas, theatres and massage parlours in the capital and the five provinces will also be closed for two weeks.

Known for water-splashing and festivities, Songkran is held every year from April 13 to 15, and is a public holiday. Many Thais would return to their hometowns to visit their families. The substitute holiday dates will be announced later.

Even before the announcement, various parts of Thailand such as Bangkok’s Khaosan Road, Chiang Mai and Pattaya had already cancelled Songkran celebrations.

The country has seen big jumps in the number of cases since Sunday, with a combined 95 infections in the past three days. Many of those infected had attended a match at Bangkok Lumphini Boxing Stadium early in the month, while others caught the virus after visiting some nightclubs in downtown Bangkok.