Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is considering a ban on New Year's celebrations, following the Covid-19 outbreak in Samut Sakhon at the weekend.
"This outbreak serves as an important reminder of how serious a threat the Covid-19 pandemic remains to our nation. At the same time, the global Covid situation has also worsened," the prime minister said on Tuesday.
"The worsening global Covid-19 situation will have a serious impact on Thailand, and we must prepare ourselves.
"First, it means the world economy will take longer to recover which will impact our own economic recovery, too.
"Second, it means that we will have to be even more careful about relaxing rules to let people from other countries into Thailand.
"Since the situation is so bad outside of Thailand, the biggest risk is that people entering the country will bring the disease in with them, and this could spell disaster for our health system and have a catastrophic impact on the economy," the prime minister said.
"That is why we must be especially careful at our airports, train entry points, bus and car entry points, sea entry points and all other places where people enter the country," Gen Prayut said.
"I may need to introduce additional measures, especially relating to whether and how New Year celebrations should be conducted," he said.
Gen Prayut said he will meet with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) this week before making any official announcement.
In his statement, Gen Prayut said human smuggling networks are also to blame for the recent surge of Covid-19 cases in the kingdom.
