Thai massage parlours were closed today (Dec 29) as ministers battled to stop a second wave of Covid-19 in Thailand.

The spas were banned along with strip clubs, karaoke bars, cockfighting and horse racing following an explosion of coronavirus cases last week.

Government health chiefs ordered the ‘high risk’ venues to close until January 4. Bars and pubs will also have to shut at midnight.

The measures came after hundreds of Burmese migrant workers contracted the virus while working at one of the country’s largest seafood markets in Samut Sakhon province near Bangkok.

Cases have now spread to more than 44 provinces and infected more than 2,000 people, including several taxi drivers and hundreds of gamblers at an illegal casino.

Covid-19 task force spokesman Taweesilp Wisanuyothin warned that daily cases in Thailand could soar to 8,000 unless they act quickly to prevent a second wave from ravaging the country.

He said that the best-case scenario if ''everybody works together'' is around 1,000 cases a day.

''Unless we tighten measures there will be 8,000 cases per day,'' he added.