Thailand's Public Health Ministry on Thursday ordered service suspension of 17 entertainment places in resort town Pattaya in a central province of Chonburi in a bid to curb the A/H1N1 flu virus outbreak, the Thai News Agency reported.

The order of the temporary closure has followed the earlier announcement by the Ministry that now totally there are 21 confirmed A/H1N1 flu patients in Chonburi, the destination of tourists around the world.

Also, some 420,000 pills of antiviral Camiflu have been distributed to Chonburi's provincial public health office, said Somchai Chakraphan, director-general of the Disease Control Department, the Health Ministry, the website by Thai-language newspaper Krungthep Turakij reported.

The provincial public health office will later re-distribute them to hotels and risk-affected areas, he said.

On May 12, the Health Ministry announced the country's first two confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases, and by June 10 the country has totally 46 confirmed A/H1N1 flu patients.

According to the World Health Organization, Thailand ranked 33rd as the country that has been hit by the deadly new virus.

(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2009)