3,000 hotels in Phuket, Thailand closed

Yes, Phuket is Thailand’s second largest tourist destination after Bangkok. Today, almost all of the island's 3,000 hotels are closed, and the main town of Patong has turned into a "ghost town."

Thailand has so far been relatively unaffected by the global epidemic, with about 3,600 confirmed cases and only a few dozen deaths. However, the king's decision to devote himself to fighting the virus has dealt a severe blow to the country's economy, which is expected to shrink by 7-9% this year and leave millions of people unemployed.

Pum Pui bar manager Jantima Tongsrijern sighed: "My boss wants to help employees keep their jobs, but I don't think we can make it through the end of the year."

In normal times During this period, 80% of the island's profits came from tourism, an industry that employed more than 300,000 people. Today, thousands of people who lost their jobs have returned to their home provinces.

Extended information

Thailand extends the emergency law until the end of October:

Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha hosted a meeting of the New Crown Pneumonia Epidemic Management Center on September 28. The meeting discussed and decided to extend the implementation period of the emergency law, which was originally scheduled to expire at the end of this month, by one month to the end of October.

This is the sixth time that Thailand has extended the emergency period since the implementation of the emergency law on March 26. The emergency law gives the government the power to implement mandatory quarantine measures, simplify the approval process for epidemic prevention and control plans, and ensure smooth cooperation among various departments.

Strait Net-Why are 3,000 hotels in Phuket, Thailand closed? The reason revealed is sad