The announcement comes after days of crowds of tourists and other foreigners arriving at the main Phuket Immigration Office in Phuket Town in the hope of extending their stay during the current state of emergency “lockdown”.
The new anti-COVID measures include body-temperature screening of all staff, visitors and detainees awaiting repatriation at the office, Phuket Immigration Chief Col Narong Chanaphaikul announced today.
“No exceptions, all staff must wear a mask while performing their duties, and we request cooperation from all visitors to wear a mask,” he said.
Hand sanitiser has been made available for all people to use before entering the building, he added.
“And we have installed signs asking for people to their wash hands,” he said.
All visitors are asked to maintain a distance of at least one metre from officials and other visitors, Col Narong said.
Three tents have been set up in front of the building where visitors can wait in the shade, he added.
“There are ventilation fans in every tent,” he said. Of note, temperatures in Phuket in recent days have risen to as high as 37°C.
Inside the main building, officers have been dedicated to handing queue tickets instead of having each foreigner use the ticket-issuing machine, Col Narong added.
“And every day after work, all areas of the building are cleaned with disinfectant,” he said.