Thai shopping malls prepare to reopen with robots, drones, masks

A supermarket employee works behind a plastic barrier at a shopping mall that is getting ready to reopen in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 14. — Jorge Silva/Reuters

Thailand’s biggest shopping-centre developers, led by Siam Piwat Co and the Central Group, are preparing to reopen malls as early as this weekend amid expectations the country will further ease a lockdown.

The government has signalled the next phase of its economic restart is near after coronavirus cases dwindled. Thailand faces the worst economic contraction in South-East Asia this year, adding pressure on officials to loosen restrictions with only about two weeks of a state of emergency remaining.