The order, marked urgent, was issued on Wednesday (Feb 16) and shared by the Phuket office of the Ministry of Interior at 9:55pm last night (Feb 17).
“All provinces must prepare a plan to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic becoming more and more serious,” said the order.
“All provinces are required to inform the people of the situation of infection and disease control measures in the area to prevent the spread and reduce the number of infected people as quickly as possible,” Mr Suttipong said.
“The provinces [provincial officials] must act together with all sectors, including Kamnan [subdistrict chiefs], Phu Yai Baan [village chiefs], and village/community leaders,” he added.
The urgent order also stated that all provinces must take strict action against the smuggling and movement of illegal workers into Thailand.
“Provincial officials must work together with Kamnan, Phu Yai Baan and community leaders and as well as locals to check strangers entering the community, or establishments, and factories in the area, to prevent illegal foreign work in the area,” Mr Suttipong continued.
The order also stated that provincial governors must emphasise to operational officials to “perform their duties rigorously and to create awareness among local residents”.
“The people and establishments that do not comply with the law illegally bringing in foreigners must take strong legal action," the order said.
Phuket officials have yet to explain what measures will be taken in response to the order.
The order comes while the daily number of new COVID infections in Phuket has continued to rise, but with very little increase in the number of serious infections, in line with outbreaks of the Omicron variant of the virus worldwide.