The Public Health Ministry will ask the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to scrap mandatory mask-wearing in areas with low infection and high vaccination rates, said ministry permanent secretary Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit.
However, face masks will still be required at gatherings and in poorly ventilated venues – and must also be worn by the elderly, pregnant women and people with chronic diseases.
Green Zone provinces (low surveillance) include Chai Nat, Phichit, Ang Thong, Nan, Maha Sarakham, Yasothon, Nakhon Phanom, Lampang, Amnat Charoen, Buriram, Trat, Surat Thani, Surin and Udon Thani.
Meanwhile, the Blue Zone tourism provinces are Bangkok, Krabi, Kanchanaburi, Chanthaburi, Chonburi, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nonthaburi, Narathiwat, Pathum Thani, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phang-nga, Phetchaburi, Phuket, Rayong and Songkhla.
The mask mandate will still apply for people in 46 provinces in the Yellow (high-surveillance) Zone.