Police patrolled bars and clubs in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on Thursday night (January 7) after venues were ordered to close for two weeks following an outbreak of COVID-19 cases.

Bars, nightclubs, strip joints and boxing rings were forced to shut after a 24-year-old woman who went on a pub crawl the next day tested positive for the virus on Monday (January 5)

Furious government officials ordered the area to remain closed for the next 14 days while the woman apologised for potentially spreading the virus.

The strict measures came following an outbreak of hundreds of new cases in Thailand, which started on December 18 and has lead to sweeping closures of non-essential businesses across the country.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said the latest restrictions were ‘not a lockdown’ but warned that curfews and travel bans could be reintroduced if cases continue to increase.

Thailand has recorded 9,841 cases of Covid-19 and 67 deaths. The second wave of infections began in mid-December following an outbreak among Burmese migrant workers at a seafood market in Samut Sakhon province close to the capital Bangkok.