Police disrupted a party on a busy resort island in southern Thailand and arrested 89 foreigners for violating coronavirus regulations, authorities said.
The raid on the Three Sixty Bar on Koh Phangan also led to the arrest of 22 Thais, including the bar’s owner and another person who was selling drinks there, said Colonel Suparerk Pankosol, superintendent of the provincial immigration office.
He said the meeting was illegal under the national state of emergency declared in March last year to combat the coronavirus.
Those arrested were citizens of more than 10 countries, including the United States, Britain, Switzerland and Denmark, Suparerk said. The photos of the operation distributed by the police showed a dark room crowded with people, almost all with masks.
Koh Phangan in Surat Thani province is a popular destination for young backpackers, best known for its Full Moon Beach parties that last all night. Since April, practically all tourists have been prohibited from entering the country.
29 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Surat Thani, out of a national total of 15,465. But 11 of those 29 cases correspond to last month, when a peak of the disease was registered.
Violation of the state of emergency is punishable by up to two years in prison and a 40,000 baht ($ 1,330) fine. The owner of the bar and the worker could be sentenced to an additional one year in prison and a 100,000 ($ 3,330) baht fine.
–
