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BANGKOK: Thai protesters rallied on Saturday (December 26) to demand more action to help seafood vendors affected by a COVID-19 outbreak as the government urged people to eat more seafood.
Thailand’s worst outbreak of the new coronavirus was reported just over a week ago, with more than 1,500 infections now linked to a shrimp market on the outskirts of Bangkok. Most of those infected have been migrant workers from Myanmar.
Seafood vendors say business has fallen in a country whose economy has already been badly hit by a tourism collapse.
“We want the government to build confidence in shrimp consumption,” Piyarat Chongthep said, among dozens of protesters at Government House, some of whom briefly fought with the police.
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People line up to buy shrimp from anti-government protesters selling shrimp in front of the government house amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 26, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Soe Zeya Tun)
Police stand guard as anti-government protesters try to sell shrimp in front of the government house amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 26, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Soe Zeya Tun)
The issue is the last seized by the protesters who for months have been demanding the removal of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, a new constitution and reforms of the monarchy.
At a seafood eating event in a nearby province, government ministers said they were trying to promote seafood.
“We are building confidence that seafood can be eaten without becoming infected,” Anucha Nakasai, a minister in the prime minister’s office, told reporters.
Thailand, a major shrimp exporter, sold 36 billion baht ($ 1.2 billion) in the first 10 months of 2020, data from the industry association showed.
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“The problem now is that there is no market,” said a shrimp seller at the Government House.
COVID-19 task force spokesperson Taweesin Wisanuyothin reported 110 new coronavirus infections, of which nearly 94 were connected to the seafood market.
Thailand has a total of 6,020 confirmed cases and 60 deaths, low rates for a country of 70 million people.
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