Thai temple bans foreigners amid virus fears

Foreign visitors were conspicuous by their absence at a major Bangkok tourist site on Friday, a day after signs went up banning non-Thais from entering Wat Pho, a popular Buddhist temple, purportedly for fear they could spread the coronavirus. Signs at the main gate of the temple, adjacent to the Grand Palace in Bangkok, said the site was only open to Thais, not to foreigners. The temple is one of the country's grandest, with murals and gold trim covering many surfaces, but is best known for housing the 46-meter-long (151-foot-long) Reclining Buddha, which is covered in gold leaf. One of Wat Pho's administrative staff said the temple committee decided to exclude foreigners because of concerns about COVID-19.

 However, there is no known government order to ban foreigners from the temple. It reopened last week after being closed for two months during Thailand's coronavirus lockdown. For now the ban has little practical effect beyond excluding expatriates who live in the country, as Thailand has been closed to foreign tourists since the lockdown began. At least one foreign visitor was caught out by the ban on Friday. Byron Meader, an American who lives in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, had hoped to take advantage of the lack of tourists to see the temple at his leisure, but wasn't able to enter. Thailand's toll of COVID-19 cases has been relatively light, and most recent cases have been Thais who have returned from abroad on special evacuation flights. No new cases were reported Thursday, keeping the total number of cases at 3,125, with 58 deaths.