Police raided a party at a bar on a popular resort island in southern Thailand and arrested 89 foreigners
Credit: AP
The Thai police this week raided a party at a bar in a popular resort island in southern Thailand, arresting 89 foreigners, including British citizens, for violating strict coronavirus regulations as the country battles its worst outbreak since the start of the pandemic.
The mass arrest was the latest in the series of crackdowns across Southeast Asia as the authorities lose patience with foreigners breaking public health rules. A Russian social media star with millions of followers was deported from Bali, Indonesia on Monday after holding a party on the tropical island.
In the UK, Priti Patel, the home secretary, warned on Wednesday that people attempting to go on holiday would be stopped at the border and sent home, criticising social media influencers for boasting about beating travel bans.
It remains unclear whether the half dozen Britons who were reportedly arrested were residents of Thailand or on long term visas. The Southeast Asian nation, which received close to one million British tourists annually before the pandemic, closed its borders to tourism last April to counter Covid-19.
The raid by immigration and local police officers took place at the Three Sixty Bar in Koh Phangan, an island in southeast Thailand that is normally popular with young backpackers and is known for its boisterous all-night Full Moon beach parties.
The island in southeast Thailand is normally popular with young backpackers
Credit: AP
Among those arrested for attending the bar’s fifth anniversary were citizens from more than ten countries including the US, Switzerland and Denmark. A total of 22 Thai nationals were also detained, including the bar owner.
Photos published by the Bangkok Post showed scores of young partygoers, mainly wearing masks, lining up to leave the venue before being held in a brightly lit room on plastic chairs spaced widely apart.
The paper said they were charged with violating the country’s emergency decree that was introduced last year to curb the spread of the virus. The owner of the bar and the party organiser were reportedly charged with colluding to operate an entertainment venue without permission.
Colonel Suparerk Pankosol, superintendent of the provincial immigration office, said the police had been alerted to tickets being sold online, adding that the event was illegal under a national state of emergency declared last March which, among other measures, forbids the attendance of public gatherings.
The penalty for violating the state of emergency is up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 40,000 baht, which is close to £1,000.
The bar owner and worker could also be charged with violating the Communicable Disease Act, punishable by a one-year prison term and a fine of up to 100,000 baht.
Mr Suparerk said the arrested people were being held at the Koh Phangan police station, where investigators were preparing documents to charge them.
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