An Israeli man who was infected with the Delta coronavirus variant and escaped from the hotel where he was under quarantine has surrendered to authorities after traveling to several destinations throughout Thailand.
According to police, the Israeli national escaped from a hotel in Thonglor, after which a warrant was issued for his arrest due to his flagrant violation of arrival requirements for international travelers.
Pol Maj Gen Jirasan Kaewsang-ek, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Police, said the man had entered Thailand on December 17 under the Test & Go scheme and had been awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test via the RT-PCR method.
The man is currently being processed with authorities intending to pursue legal action over his noncompliance with the Communicable Diseases Act. According to tourist police, he contacted the Israeli embassy to announce his intentions to turn himself in to police in Koh Samui in Surat Thani Province.
The Israeli had arrived in Thailand on December 17 and was placed in quarantine at a hotel in the Sukhumvit area. Results from his RT-PCR test came back positive for COVID-19 but the strain had yet to be identified. While awaiting confirmation, the man went missing from his hotel, after which the strain was identified as the Delta variant.
According to reports, the man hailed a taxi from his Sukhumvit hotel that then took him to Pattaya in Chonburi province. From there, he is believed to have remained in Pattaya until December 19 before returning to Bangkok, where he then rented a van and headed south.
On December 20, investigators found visual confirmation of the Israeli turning up in Chumphon province and then traveling to Koh Samui in Surat Thani province, where he eventually surrendered himself to local law enforcement.
Source: https://thainews.prd.go.th
