According to Prof Yong Pooverawan, of the faculty of medicine, Chulalongkorn, the UK Covid variant now spreading through Thailand might have been brought into the country from Cambodia, either by Thais crossing the border or migrant workers.
The UK variant was found in people from India and China who entered Cambodia in February.
The first cases were reported there on Feb 15, he said in a post on his Facebook page. The UK variant had spread in Cambodia since then.
Thai health authorities reported the first local transmission of the same variant on Wednesday. It was found in a cluster of infections spreading rapidly from pubs in Bangkok’s Thong Lor area.
“I have no idea how it slipped into Thailand, and through our quarantine programme,” Dr Yong told reporters on Wednesday.
