“Doctor loses”: Mor Chana Covid-19 application to be discontinued from June 1

Thailand’s once-mandatory Covid-19 tracking application “Mor Chana”, or Doctor Wins, will be discontinued from June 1. Mor Chana was once commonly used to track coronavirus cases and notify people if they had been exposed to Covid-19.

Mor Chana, which was launched on April 29 2020, used GPS and Bluetooth to track the movement of users, who were expected to use the application to scan a barcode to “check in” to venues during the height of the pandemic.

In January 2021, health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said anyone who contracted Covid-19 without having previously downloaded and used the app would be subject to up to two years imprisonment and a fine of up to ฿40,000. The threat was criticised as unfair on people without smartphones.

However, over time, use of the Mor Chana fell out of use and many venues no longer expected attendees to “check in” using the app.

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