“With the outbreak of coronavirus affecting a number of locations and events worldwide, the decision required official consideration as the situation in Thailand was monitored,” organisers of the race in Buriram on March 22 said in a statement.

It added that the Thai authorities had decided “that there is no major risk, with the country having infected patients under care and strict preventive measures in place – resulting in the highest rate of fully recovered patients worldwide”.

More than 2,100 people have died from the virus, most of them in China, where a raft of sports tournaments have been cancelled or postponed in recent weeks.

They include the Chinese Formula Grand Prix, scheduled for Shanghai on April 19, which was axed while the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing have been put back to 2021.