Thailand rolls out COVID-19 tracing app for bus passengers

Thailand rolls out COVID-19 tracing app for bus passengers

Bus passengers in Thailand were today (June 11) made to check-in via a controversial government tracking app every time they travel.

The mobile phone QR scanning system has been rolled out to thousands of the buses in the capital Bangkok as health officials put in place measures to prevent a further outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There have been no locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus in the country for more than two weeks but health officials are keen to enforce preventative measures, such as face masks, social distancing and the use of sanitiser gel.

Ministers claim that if there is a second wave of cases, the ThaiChana app, meaning Thai Victory, will help to trace those who have been in contact or in close proximity to the infected patient.

Buses are the latest additions to the tracking system, which is already in use at tends of thousands of restaurants, supermarkets, small stores and gyms. In a further move alongside the QR code scanning system, one bus operator introduced a ban on non-Thais from using the buses.

Bus firm, The Transport Co., operates a large number of routes but said only passengers with Thai ID cards would be allowed on their vehicles.

''They don’t hold Thai ID cards, so they can’t board our buses We need them for identification purposes,'' a spokesman told local media.

The country's famous Wat Po temple, home to the reclining Buddha statue and a major tourist attraction, also banned foreigners from entering as part of measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic.