The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand said on its website on late May 16 that no passenger flights originating outside the country may land at Thai airports until June 30. The exceptions are state or military aircraft, emergency or technical landing, humanitarian aid, medicine and relief flights, along with repatriation and cargo aircraft.
The announcement came after single-digit increases of infections were reported the past week in the country, and the Thai government has yet to decide whether to extend the emergency decree which expires on May 31.
Meanwhile, an opinion survey released by the National Institute of Development Administration on May 17 show that a majority of Thais want the emergency decree to be lifted now as the COVID-19 situation has been much improved.
The poll was conducted on May 11-13 on 1,259 people aged 18 and over of various levels of education and occupation throughout the country.
A majority, 57.74 percent, of the respondents said they want the emergency decree to be lifted. In contrast, 15.15 percent leaned against the proposal to lift the decree, and 25.74 percent were strongly against it, saying they want to make sure there would not be a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thailand did not record any COVID-19 infections or deaths on May 16, keeping the number of cases at 3,025, including 56 deaths.
