A 12-storey hotel that doubled as a brothel was abandoned after Covid-19 rules brought business to a standstill in Thailand.

The Pegasus Hotel, which has been open in Nakhon Ratchasima province since 1995, declared bankruptcy after weathering five waves of coronavirus infections that stifled income due to the lack of customers. The number of patrons reportedly started dwindling in late 2019, when the first outbreaks of Covid-19 began.

The three-star hotel, which houses 70 rooms and a massage parlour, has been fenced off to the public while a sign indicating its sale was plastered at the entrance.

The property was taken by the bank and put up for auction at a price of about 183.3 million THB (1.88 million GBP).

Health officials in Thailand are now mulling easing Covid restrictions in the country in hopes that the virus will reach its endemic stage soon.

Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong of the health ministry's Department of Disease Control said: 'We need to get people to understand that the number of daily new cases is nothing to worry about. We’ve lived with the disease for 2 years already, so it’s about time to move on together.'

He added that the Omicron strain, which has become the dominant virus variant causing new infections, has less severe symptoms compared to the Delta strain.