Travel forbidden from 5 gulf provinces as virus sears Thailand’s Cannery Row

Anyone leaving five virus-wracked coastal provinces without government permission faces two years in jail as the coronavirus spreads unchecked through Thailand’s Cannery Row.

Two days after the prime minister said there would be no lockdown measures on the provinces of Samut Sakhon, Chonburi, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat, he was contradicted by new travel restrictions announced in the Royal Gazette in response to a spiraling outbreak among seafood industry workers.

Of the 1,115 infected workers discovered since Monday, 914 worked at one firm: Pataya Food Industries in Samut Sakhon province, ground zero of the second wave of infections which emerged three weeks ago. 

Effective today, people who want to leave Samut Sakhon and the other four provinces must get permission from authorities at the nearest government offices. Those who fail to do so face a THB40,000…