“Don’t rush. Register to queue. [Have] Complete documents. Have a safe trip,” the provincial police said in a Facebook post this morning.
Phuket Public Relation Department (PR) posted an infographic reporting that a total of 4,564 people had left the island yesterday (May 3), the first of some 40,000 people who have registered to leave Phuket in order to return to their home provinces.
Of the 4,564 who crossed the bridge to the mainland yesterday, 3,761 people were identified as going back to their hometown, and another 803 people were approved to cross the bridge in accordance with the current health regulations, which allow the delivery of consumer goods, fresh produce and medical equipment and supplies, and the passage of medical emergency personnel and government officials performing their duties.
The infographic also noted that 2,378 or 63.23% of those returning to their homes yesterday had registered before being screened and approved to leave at the checkpoint.
The remaining 1,381, or 36.77%, had registered at the checkpoint – a late development announced by Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Rungrote Thakurapunyasiri.
However, Maj Gen Rungrote warned in a live video on Saturday that any persons who presented themselves with the intention of registering at the checkpoint stood to be delayed while officers attend to others who had registered first.
“The wait could be a very long time,” he said.