89 tourists including Britons and Americans are arrested as police raid Thai bar flouting coronavirus rules
- Police on the island on Koh Phangan arrested British, US and European tourists
- Visitors had gathered at the Three Sixty Bar on Tuesday night before police raid
- Public gatherings are banned under Thailand’s national coronavirus legislation
Dozens of tourists including Brits and Americans have been arrested as police in Thailand raided a bar flouting coronavirus rules.
Police on the island of Koh Phangan arrested 89 tourists at 22 Thais after storming the Three Sixty Bar on Tuesday night.
Among the locals arrests was the bar’s owner and another who sold drinks there, according to police Col. Suparerk Pankosol, superintendent of the provincial immigration office.
He said the gathering was illegal under a national state of emergency declared last March to combat the coronavirus.
Police on the island of Koh Phangan raided the Three Sixty Bar on Tuesday night and discovered more than 100 people inside, including tourists from Britain, the US, Denmark and Switzerland
Thailand is currently has barred virtually all tourists from entering the country since April, with an emergency decree banning people from attending public gatherings and entering high risk areas.
Those arrested were from more than 10 countries, including the U.S., Britain, Switzerland and Denmark, Suparerk said.
Photos of the raid distributed by police showed a dark, crowded room with casually dressed partygoers, almost all wearing face masks.
Koh Phangan in Surat Thani province is a popular destination for young backpacking travelers and is known especially for its all-night Full Moon beach parties.
However, Thailand has barred virtually all tourists from entering the country since last April.
There have been 29 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Surat Thani out of a national total of 15,465.
Local police say they arrested 22 locals, including the bar’s owner and another person who ws selling drinks. Emergency Covid legislation in Thailand bans people from public gatherings
However, 11 of the 29 cases have been found in the last month as Thailand experienced a resurgence of the disease.
The penalty for violating the state of emergency is up to two years´ imprisonment and a fine of up to 40,000 baht ($1,330).
The bar owner and worker could also be charged with violating the Communicable Disease Act, punishable by a one-year prison term and a fine of up to 100,000 baht ($3,330).
Suparerk said the arrested people were being held at the Koh Phangan police station, where investigators were preparing documents to charge them.
He said police had tracked the party plans on social media, where the bar was promoting the event to celebrate its fifth anniversary. Entry tickets were 100 baht ($3.30), with food and drink extra.
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