Other three infected tourists found after search

>> The last three European tourists who left their hotels in a group of six before their Covid test results came back positive on Koh Chang in Trat have been found and transferred to Bangkok Hospital in Trat’s Muang district for treatment, police said.

Of the group, police said French tourists Arnaud Cachia, 32, and Romain Thibault Gretten, 32, were found at Klong Prao Resort, and Polish tourists Marek Zbigniew Bonleckl, 65, and Dariusz Tomasz Krause, 51, were located while staying at Tranquility Bay Residence.

Later, 31-year-old Swiss, Johan Debernardi, was spotted in Casa and 38-year-old Norwegian, Oleheming Borgem Kolstad, was found at Carpe Diem Guest House.

The six entered Thailand via the Test & Go scheme during Dec 26-29 and tested negative for Covid19 at that time. They later underwent another test upon arriving at the island on Jan 4 and went to explore the area while waiting for the result.

However, on Friday the tests confirmed all six had contracted the virus, prompting a night-long search by local law enforcement led by Pol Lt Col Pattanapong Siricharoennam, inspector of Tourist Station 6 of Tourist Police Division 1’s sub-division 2.

The six told police they had not intended to flee and were unaware they had been exposed to the virus and might test positive for infection.

Koh Chang Hospital is the only hospital on the island. With the influx of tourists during the New Year’s Festival, checks were taking longer than usual, authorities said.