A wave of new Covid-19 infections traced to migrant workers has ended Thailand’s solid run on containing the pandemic. The centre of the outbreak is Samut Sakhon province, a hub of the country’s $6bn seafood export industry south-west of Bangkok. Authorities last week sealed it and four other coastal provinces off and have ordered mass entertainment venues, such as boxing, in the capital and elsewhere to close.
Now the outbreak is stirring debate about the corrupt practices that allowed the virus to resurface — and the role in the Thai economy of the more than 2.5m foreign migrants who do the kingdom’s toughest jobs, from laying pavements to peeling supermarket shrimp.
Nearly all the new coronavirus cases have been traced to migrants, some of whom entered the country illegally. Returning Thais and citizens of Myanmar have been slipping over the two…
