BANGKOK, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- A Thai senator on Wednesday questioned the necessity of the arrival of U.S. troops in Thailand, for joint exercises with their Thai counterparts, despite objections from the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
The CCSA said previously in a press briefing that it would pose too much health risk to conduct joint military exercises with countries with high number of COVID-19 cases.
"The CCSA had already warned of second wave to COVID-19 infections, and now we have U.S. troops in Thailand to conduct joint military exercises in the face of the world pandemic," said Thai senator Kamnoon Sidhisamarn on his Facebook page, "also the United States is experiencing one of the world's highest number of infections."
A total of 110 U.S. troops arrived from Guam and Japan on Monday and Tuesday for the joint exercise with Thai troops, code-named "Hanuman Guardian 20."
The U.S. troops underwent swab tests on arrival and are currently in state supervised quarantine in private hotels, in Bangkok and neighboring Pathum Thani Province, at the expense of the U.S. government.
