bangkok health authorities in thailand said monday they have confirmed the countrys first cases of the indian variant of the coronavirus in a thai woman and her 4yearold son who have been in state quarantine since arriving from pakistanthe finding comes as thailand battles a new wave of the coronavirus that began at the beginning of april originating in upmarket entertainment venues in bangkok and spawning clusters in several crowded slum communities many of the recent cases involve the british variant of the virus which is more infectious than the original form found last yearthailand banned travelers from india other than thai citizens starting on may 1 in response to a massive outbreak of covid19 cases in the south asian nation that began in early april india has reported more than 226 million infections second only to the united states and more than 246000 deaths both figures are widely believed to be undercountsthailand extended the entry ban to foreigners visiting from pakistan bangladesh and nepal on monday in an effort to keep the indian variant from spreading thai foreign ministry spokesperson tanee sangrat saidapisamai srirangsan a deputy spokesperson for the governments center for covid19 situation administration said separately that thai authorities are also worried about people who cross into thailand illegally mostly from neighboring cambodia and myanmarapisamai said the indian variant was found in a pregnant 42yearold woman who arrived on april 24 with three sons she and her 4yearold were staying in the same room under state quarantine the two other sons ages 6 and 8 stayed in another room and tested negativethailand on monday announced 1630 new cases bringing its confirmed total to 85005 since the pandemic began there were 22 new deaths for a total of 421about onethird of the reported cases in the latest wave were found in bangkok where daily increases have declined to 565 on monday from 980 on sunday and a record 1112 on saturdaynew clusters continue to be discovered in bangkok not only in crowded communities but also at markets and department storesother clusters have been found among migrant workers at factories in two provinces near bangkokin the eastern province of chanthaburi a gem mining center nearly 100 cases were found among african gem traders the newspaper thai rath reported citing the provincial health office the governor this past weekend ordered the closure of gem and amulets markets it said