Business leaders: Lockdown would be disastrous for Thailand
The Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) warns that Thailand risks long-term economic and social impacts if the government imposes another lockdown.
TCC chairman Sanan Angubolkul issued the warning on Thursday after the Public Health Ministry raised the Covid-19 alert level from 3 to 4 amid the outbreak of omicron variant. It also recommended banning inter-provincial travel and gatherings while imposing a work-from-home policy.
Opposing any tightening of restrictions, the TCC pointed out that most of the country was fully vaccinated and the healthcare system is far from full capacity.
It urged authorities to focus on advising people to be cautious, applying strict health controls at public venues, and accelerating booster vaccination to reduce infection severity and create herd immunity.
Sanan said that imposing a new lockdown would put the country back to square one.
The private sector wants the government to focus instead on increasing control measures in risk areas, preparing the health system in each province – especially for the severely ill, and creating better public awareness of the Home Isolation and Hospitel measures. Sanan added that the private sector was ready to bring back bubble-and-seal measures for businesses.
