Hundreds of worried locals queued for Covid-19 tests today (July 16) in Rayong, eastern Thailand, after an Egyptian solider tested positive there.

The military crew member, who has not been named, was part of a 31-man crew making a short visit to the region. They arrived on July 8, made a day-trip to China the next day and left Thailand on July 11.

However, on July 12 test results showed that one of the crew had the coronavirus and had visited shopping malls in the area.

Thai military leader Prayut Chan-o-cha apologised for the blunder - which threatened to scupper the country's Covid 'clean sheet' of no local transmissions for more than 50 days.

The prime minister said the incident should not have happened. "It shows no respect of the rules and a lack of discipline," he said.

Thailand has eased its lockdown but international tourist arrivals remain banned and commercial airlines have no scheduled passenger flights into the country.