BANGKOK — Starting Wednesday, 25 hotels belonging to one of the country’s largest hotel chains will be closed for a month as a result of impacts from coronavirus.
Apart from shutting down most of its domestic operations, the Centara Group of Hotels said three of its hotels in the Maldives and Sri Lanka will also close down. The closure could be extended depending on the situation, the announcement said.
In the meantime, employees will be reassigned to some of its hotels that are still operational or allowed to work from home, and paid 75 percent of their full salary, according to the announcement.
Its flagship hotel, Centara Grand at Central World, will remain operational.
“Centara is ready to cooperate and support the Thai government policies,” the statement said. “Centara group hopes this practice will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and alleviate the crisis as soon as possible.”
Many other hotels in Bangkok also announced a temporary suspension of their operations due to the lack of guests and fears of coronavirus infections.
Hotels closed down amid the epidemic include Bangkok Marriot Marquis Queen’s Park, Double Tree by Hilton Sukhumvit, Grand Hyatt Erawan, Le Meridien Bangkok, The Okura Prestige Bangkok, Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit, Avani Atrium Bangkok, Avani Hotel, and Riverside Bangkok Hotel.
Approximately 2,000 employees at the five hotels belonging to Marriott Group of hotels in Thailand will continue to receive their salaries from March 26 to April 15, the firm said.
Staff were instructed not to travel outside Bangkok to limit possible spreading of coronavirus while the hotels conduct major cleaning operations.
