Cambodia’s neighbours in South-east Asia may start to ease restrictions

PHNOM PENH, Apr 27, 2020, The Khmer Times. Cambodia’s bellwether neighbours – Thailand and Vietnam – have started to propose easing extreme COVID-19 restrictions that have devastated local economies and greatly affected civil society because of ultra-low rates of new infections and no new deaths last week, The Khmer Times reported.

The Kingdom’s closest trading partner – Vietnam – is already lifting restrictions on small gatherings (under 20 people) and restarting buses, taxis and regular domestic flights. Although people must continue wearing masks in public, schools will stay closed for several more weeks and international flights will remain grounded.

This is less than one month after Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on March 30 declared COVID-19 a nationwide pandemic and urged authorities at all levels to focus on efforts to contain the threat.

In Thailand, the contentious nightly curfew (set from 10pm to 4am) is set to expire on Thursday with the Thai government meeting today to decide whether to extend the lockdown or discuss the relaxation of some restrictions.

However, Governor Pakkarathorn Thienchai the mayor of Thailand’s Chon Buri province – which includes the well known seaside town of Pattaya – reportedly already issued orders last week to ease some of the restrictions imposed, citing the “improving situation”.

According to local media, he said the town should reopen so people can resume activities which present a “minimal risk of disease transmission”, such as local markets, fresh and dried food areas, ready-cooked food vendors and farm produce sellers. Mobile food stalls can also open for business.

“All business operators will be required to wear face masks, follow the health guidelines and must display their ID cards, or passports if they are foreigners. The ID cards must bear the “Buri Ram Healthy” sticker,” he added.

Locally, many are also now starting to feel that the economic fallout, maybe, creating more damage than the potential health benefits of ongoing restrictions. With Cambodia yet to record a single death and no new cases since the April 12, those who have lost their jobs and business or seen a large reduction of income are now questioning the extreme health measures.

From a global context, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam (and Laos for the matter with zero recorded deaths) have so far surprised many health and policy experts by recording much lower figures than first expected during the initial outbreak.

And, while admittedly, COVID-19 testing in the region has been relatively much lower than in other health systems, such as in Europe and the United States, the numbers of cases are still very low.

As health and policy experts undertake hard decisions and weigh the balance between the Kingdom’s economic and health needs, it appears the development of the virus over the next few months will prove too be a litmus test for businesses as they look towards the remainder of 2020 and beyond.

According to each government’s respective health ministry, as of the weekend, all three countries with a combined population of 180 million had recorded fewer than 3,200 reported cases and a total of 50 deaths.