Bangkok construction camp blockaded as 86% of residents test positive for Covid

The Thai government has blockaded a large construction worker camp in the Lak Si district of Bangkok after 86% of its 559 residents tested positive for Covid-19.

The camp is owned by Italian-Thai Development Plc, and accommodates railway project workers, who will still be able to travel to construction sites, reports The Bangkok Post.  

"The Lak Si camp was shut down and movement in and out [of the area] was banned," Dr. Apisamai Srirangson, deputy spokeswoman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, told the newspaper.

Across Bangkok there are 393 camps housing some 60,000 construction workers, both Thais and foreigners, according to the newspaper.

Yesterday, 2,302 new Covid cases were reported in Thailand, with Bangkok and its five surrounding provinces accounting for half of the new infections.

Image: ©GCR, illustration by Denis Carrier