Bangkok, July 18 (IANS) All foreign diplomats and their dependents arriving in Thailand will no longer be exempted from a 14-day state quarantine against the COVID-19 pandemic, a top official said here.

In a statement on Friday, Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said that the Thai government has resolved to strictly require all incoming diplomats and their dependents from other countries to be quarantined for 14-days at places of their choice, reports Xinhua news agency.

The lifting of the exemption to the 14-day state quarantine for diplomatic personnel and their dependents resulted in Thursday's arrangement under which an Estonian diplomat has been allowed to check in at a Bangkok luxury hotel for the 14-day state quarantine and to pay for all the expenses there himself.

The Thai authorities have allowed Grande Center Point Terminal 21 hotel on Sukhumvit Road to turn itself into a venue for the Estonian diplomat's 14-day quarantine, the CCSA spokesman said.

--IANS ksk/