TCEB assures no outbreaks of Zika virus in Thailand

On behalf of the Thai business events industry, the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau or TCEB would like to assure that there is no outbreak of the Zika virus in Thailand. All business events scheduled for Thailand continue to be held as usual.

Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health has affirmed that there are no outbreaks of the Zika virus in the country. The recent confirmed case, a 20-year-old Thai man who was diagnosed with Zika at Bangkok’s Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital, was declared free from the virus and was allowed to leave the hospital. According to the Ministry, Thailand saw about five cases of Zika virus each year from 2012, which is not considered an outbreak. It has also confirmed that there has been no report of death from the Zika virus in the country.

The Ministry of Public Health has advised the public not to panic, and that the best prevention method for Zika virus is the destruction of Aedes mosquito breeding spots, as well as refraining from traveling to areas with the ongoing epidemic, wearing clothes that cover the whole body, and putting on mosquito repellent.

In order to prevent the spread of the Zika virus into Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health is implementing disease prevention protocol in four aspects, namely in epidemiology, entomology, birth defects, and nervous complications, along with the enhancement of laboratories and the control of the Aedes mosquito, a carrier of this disease as well as the dengue and yellow fevers. In addition, Thailand has recently passed the 2015 disease prevention act which will be in effect from March, 2016. This act will enhance the country’s ongoing effort to implement disease prevention protocol in line with the International Health Regulation 2005.

MICE Travellers who have visited countries with ongoing outbreak can contact the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, or any public hospital to receive treatment. For more information, please contact the Department of Disease Control Call Centre 1422.

As the government’s flagship body for the MICE sector, TCEB will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.

Should MICE travellers currently in Thailand require any further information, please call TCEB office: +66 (0) 2694 6000, TCEB call centre at 1105 (within Thailand only), visit www.businesseventsthailand.com or contact info@tceb.or.th.

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For more information please contact:

Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (Public Organisation)

Ms Arisara Thanuplang    Tel +66 2 694 6095    Email: arisara_t@tceb.or.th

Ms Kanokwan Kadeedang    Tel +66 2 694 6006    Email: kanokwan_k@tceb.or.th

Ms Kwanchanok Otton    Tel +66 2 694 6096    Email: kwanchanok_o@tceb.or.th

Ms Paniyada Mulalin    Tel + 662 694 6091  Email: paniyada_m@tceb.or.th