Thailand’s northeastern province of Buri Ram and the eastern coastal province of Chon Buri have separately announced that they will begin relaxing lockdown restrictions on May 1^st, citing the improved coronavirus situation in their provinces.

Buri Ram Governor Tatchakorn Hatthathayakul said today there had been 13 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province, of which ten have recovered, one died and the remainder are still in hospital.

As such, he said the province should reopen so people can resume activities which present a minimal risk of disease transmission, such as flea markets, pedestrian fresh and dried food areas, ready-cooked food vendors and farm produce sellers.  Mobile food stalls can also open for business.

The business operators will be required to wear face masks, follow the health guidelines and must display their ID cards, or passports if they are foreigners. The ID cards must bear the “Buri Ram Healthy” sticker.

All people in Buri Ram, who are over 15 years old, whether they are residents or not, will each be issued with a sticker to be attached to their ID cards or passports.

Anyone leaving the province will have the stickers removed and, upon their return to the province, will have to enter quarantine.

In Chon Buri, Governor Pakkarathorn Thienchai issued an order today easing restrictions imposed on April 9^th, citing the improving situation.

The province has reported 86 infections since February 24^th, and no new cases were reported today.  2,058 people were placed under medical investigation, 2,037 tested negative for the virus and 21 cases are still pending test results.