Thailand Threatens to Detain 150,000 Tourists due to Coronavirus

The Vice President of the Immigration Department in Thailand, in east Asia, has announced that more than 150,000 foreigners must extend their tourist visas until September 26, otherwise they will be held accountable for overstaying in the country.

"Exceeding the validity period of the tourist visa, is punishable under the law with imprisonment and a fine," the Bangkok Post newspaper quoted a Thai immigration official as saying.

He also pointed out that the violators will be deported to their countries of origin, and a foreigner whose visa has expired for more than 90 days will be punished by being denied entry to Thailand for a period of one year, while if the delay exceeds 10 years, the violator will be listed in the blacklist for life.

Many foreigners have been stranded in Thailand since the end of March, when international passenger flights were suspended and borders closed to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus infection.

In this regard, the country's authorities have extended visa pardons for tourists three times, the last of which will expire on September 26.

One of the options for visa extensions is available through embassy letters that diplomatic missions issue to their citizens.

The Thai authorities are concerned that some tourists who find themselves in a difficult situation will not renew their visas, but prefer to remain in the kingdom illegally due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation in their countries.

So far, the total number of people infected with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Thailand has exceeded 3.5 thousand, more than 3.3 thousand people have recovered, and 59 people have died, and the state of emergency applies in the country due to the epidemic until September 30.

On Friday, Thailand announced the first death from the new Corona virus in more than 100 days, which killed a Muslim citizen who had recently returned from a trip outside the country, according to an official in the health sector in this country.

The victim was 54 years old, and he returned to his country at the beginning of this month from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where he worked as a translator at the Ministry of Labor office at the Thai embassy in the capital, Riyadh.

Upon his arrival, he was treated in a hospital in the capital, Bangkok, for a period of two weeks before he died on Friday, to become, therefore, the 59 Thai dying affected by the Corona epidemic since the beginning of the pandemic in the country and the first death from this virus during the last 108 days.

The deceased, whose name is Mahad Mammen, left a wife and two children, residing in the city of Riyadh.

Thailand is considered one of the countries in the world that has succeeded in confronting the spread of the new Corona pandemic and controlling it. No new infection with the deadly virus has been recorded since the beginning of last May.

The fact that the infections that were recorded in this country had an external source, as they were transmitted through foreign tourists and travelers who were strictly subjected for quarantine and treatment when injuries are confirmed.

Thailand has recorded 3,497 cases of Coronavirus since last January, when the pandemic began.