Yesterday, the communicable disease committee of Chonburi province ordered all hotels and tourist attractions to close until further notice, to contain the spread of COVID-19. Hotels with guests still in residence or those who wish to stay open, however, must inform the district chief within 7 days.

The order came after eight business organisations demanded that the local government close all hotels, which they said have no guests, even though a lockdown has not been imposed, which significantly affected their businesses.

Meanwhile, acting president of the Tourism Council of Chonburi province, Tanate Supara-sahasrangsri, said that the problems that business operators are facing this year are different from those during last year’s outbreak, where the government imposed strict lockdown measures and rolled out relief measures to help operators, by ordering closures of their businesses and compensating employees for three months.

This time, however, the request to order hotels to close temporarily is to help business operators receive compensation, in accordance with the measures imposed by the Ministry of Labour, as businesses will not be able to receive compensation if they close voluntarily, without a government order.