COVID 19 Related to THAILAND Posts

[Toy Boy]

14 hours ago, dcfc2007 said:

Try explaining the benefits of social distancing to someone who probably hasn't eaten since the handouts the day before.

Spot on, mate. We moan because we can't buy a bottle of grog in the local Family Mart, but there are too many people without any rice to eat. And worse, a lot of those people have children. How can this be allowed to happen in Thailand, which is a net food exporter? Surely there should be enough food for everyone, but no, the skinflint government has decided to sell 12 billion Baht's worth of chicken to China, so the poor folk can forget about having a chicken drumstick for a year or two.

[dcfc2007]

2 hours ago, Toy Boy said:

Spot on, mate. We moan because we can't buy a bottle of grog in the local Family Mart, but there are too many people without any rice to eat. And worse, a lot of those people have children. How can this be allowed to happen in Thailand, which is a net food exporter? Surely there should be enough food for everyone, but no, the skinflint government has decided to sell 12 billion Baht's worth of chicken to China, so the poor folk can forget about having a chicken drumstick for a year or two.

Very good post.

I must admit, it is baffling to see the PM complain the country is broke when they have 200 billion in foreign currency reserves. Maybe it's as good a time as any to use some of those reserves.

When you look past the glitzy skyscrapers in Bangkok, or the huge shopping malls in Pattaya, you see that many Thais are living 'paycheck to paycheck'.

 

[dcfc2007]

10 hours ago, Evil Penevil said:

Very depressing reading the recent posts about the huge lines for handouts in Bangkok and Pattaya. Thailand had had full employment for about 15 years and although millions still lived from hand to mouth on a daily basis, they were able to get by and keep their families fed. Now they aren't able to do that. It's more than sad, it's tragic. Thailand is moving back to the stage where children will go to bed hungry, if that hasn't already begun.  That's when things could get really bad. Best I stop with the negative speculation, but I don't feel optimistic right now.

Evil

I guess we are now seeing why Thailand was recently ranked the most unequal country in the world in terms of income.

[Toy Boy]

I've just sent an e-mail to the village committee suggesting that we should make a collection to feed the local poor people. They hate me when I start stuff like this, lol.

[dcfc2007]

Central group have informed their tenants that it's their intention to fully reopen from the 1st of May.

[Esco]

15 hours ago, Evil Penevil said:

Very depressing reading the recent posts about the huge lines for handouts in Bangkok and Pattaya. Thailand had had full employment for about 15 years and although millions still lived from hand to mouth on a daily basis, they were able to get by and keep their families fed. Now they aren't able to do that. It's more than sad, it's tragic. Thailand is moving back to the stage where children will go to bed hungry, if that hasn't already begun.  That's when things could get really bad. Best I stop with the negative speculation, but I don't feel optimistic right now.

Evil

My mate living in Samui says it's the same situation there, with 100s of people queuing for places where food is handed out, and on a small island where 90% of people are fully dependent on tourism things are looking very grim. No chance you'll see tourists return the coming months. 

[Krapow]

Why is Thailand not getting hit hard?

Don't get me wrong, I don't want any country to get hit hard or hit at all if possible! But why?

We were in Thailand most of January, lots of Chinese, then near the end of January, place was heaving with them, out hotel was packed, Chinese New Year. Always lots of travel back and forth from China anyway, and not just Chinese. 

Like the disaster in Italy, they're putting it down as started by two infected Chinese tourists. 

Yes I know, the Thai figures have to be taken with a large pinch of salt, whether deaths from Covid or infection rates, but even so. 

Is there any truth in the 'virus is subdued/killed by heat' rumours?

Is it the amount of facemasks bring worn?

Or why, what's going on?

Think more die in London in a day than in Thailand for the whole duration so far. 

[Thai Spice]

9 minutes ago, Krapow said:

Why is Thailand not getting hit hard?

Don't get me wrong, I don't want any country to get hit hard or hit at all if possible! But why?

We were in Thailand most of January, lots of Chinese, then near the end of January, place was heaving with them, out hotel was packed, Chinese New Year. Always lots of travel back and forth from China anyway, and not just Chinese. 

Like the disaster in Italy, they're putting it down as started by two infected Chinese tourists. 

Yes I know, the Thai figures have to be taken with a large pinch of salt, whether deaths from Covid or infection rates, but even so. 

Is there any truth in the 'virus is subdued/killed by heat' rumours?

Is it the amount of facemasks bring worn?

Or why, what's going on?

Think more die in London in a day than in Thailand for the whole duration so far. 

Numbers in Thailand very likely way underreported. Same as in Indonesia.

Thats why I say only the TOTAL death numbers variation with previous years are reliable.

 

[Pumpuynarak]

38 minutes ago, Krapow said:

Why is Thailand not getting hit hard?

Don't get me wrong, I don't want any country to get hit hard or hit at all if possible! But why?

We were in Thailand most of January, lots of Chinese, then near the end of January, place was heaving with them, out hotel was packed, Chinese New Year. Always lots of travel back and forth from China anyway, and not just Chinese. 

Like the disaster in Italy, they're putting it down as started by two infected Chinese tourists. 

Yes I know, the Thai figures have to be taken with a large pinch of salt, whether deaths from Covid or infection rates, but even so. 

Is there any truth in the 'virus is subdued/killed by heat' rumours?

Is it the amount of facemasks bring worn?

Or why, what's going on?

Think more die in London in a day than in Thailand for the whole duration so far. 

 

Edited April 20, 2020 by Pumpuynarak

[Mrmango]

43 minutes ago, Krapow said:

Why is Thailand not getting hit hard?

Don't get me wrong, I don't want any country to get hit hard or hit at all if possible! But why?

We were in Thailand most of January, lots of Chinese, then near the end of January, place was heaving with them, out hotel was packed, Chinese New Year. Always lots of travel back and forth from China anyway, and not just Chinese. 

Like the disaster in Italy, they're putting it down as started by two infected Chinese tourists. 

Yes I know, the Thai figures have to be taken with a large pinch of salt, whether deaths from Covid or infection rates, but even so. 

Is there any truth in the 'virus is subdued/killed by heat' rumours?

Is it the amount of facemasks bring worn?

Or why, what's going on?

Think more die in London in a day than in Thailand for the whole duration so far. 

If you look at the world wide map of the number of cases in the world, the numbers in the Northern hemisphere look far higher than the numbers from the Southern hemisphere.

Looks to me that heat has a lot to do with the number of cases.

[Pumpuynarak]

10 minutes ago, Mrmango said:

If you look at the world wide map of the number of cases in the world, the numbers in the Northern hemisphere look far higher than the numbers from the Southern hemisphere.

Looks to me that heat has a lot to do with the number of cases.

But the UK has categorically stated that "heat or cold" has no effect on the virus, i see it on Skynews everyday.

[KWA]

15 hours ago, dcfc2007 said:

Central group have informed their tenants that it's their intention to fully reopen from the 1st of May.

I saw the letter they sent out but reading betwen the lines there were a lot of ifs and maybes.  Obviously planning for the best case but can't be 100% sure until they actually get the go ahead.

[Jambo]

The Tak region of Thailand that I am currently marooned has only had one case of coronavirus reported and that was the Paki visitor from Pattaya.

Mae Sot and Tak itself are in the far north west of Thailand so that no doubt helps I suppose.

Restrictions have been vigorously applied as has temperature testing which is quite widespread. The restriction on the sale of alcohol just ended so I may well go to the fishing park this afternoon as a couple of cold beers afterwards will go down a treat. The expected temperature at 2.00pm is expected to reach 39c today but by that time you can fish in the shade.

The Thai grapevine is very active and one of Sai's friends is a nurse in the main hospital. If there are any other cases they are not receiving any medical attention. On the other hand, Thai's here do not seem to believe any "official" pronouncements.

[Pumpuynarak]

3 minutes ago, Jambo said:

The restriction on the sale of alcohol just ended

Good for you Jambo, what f****** nonsense we have here in Korat where the ban goes on until the end of the month and so i believe in many other provinces.

Enjoy your fishing mate, i would.

[Toy Boy]

3 hours ago, Thai Spice said:

Numbers in Thailand very likely way underreported. Same as in Indonesia.

 

That's the obvious conclusion to draw, and indeed the medical bigwigs have admitted that it may be the case that the virus is circulating widely and they don't know about it because of their highly-targeted testing programme.

However, the mayor of Pattaya has undertaken his own screening programme of volunteers from the highest-risk groups (like Immigration police, friends of known C19 victims, former bar workers, and so on) and will test 3,000 people to try and get an idea of how widely the virus is circulating undetected in Pattaya. So far they're around a third of the way through that programme (it's being done at the Pattaya field hospital, aka the Grand Bella Hotel, you can volunteer if you want) and to date they have found just one case, and that person was a friend of a previously known case.

It's too early to be certain, but there's currently no proof that the virus is much more prevalent in Pattaya than is being reported. Given the number of foreigners that visited between November and February, especially the Chinese, if that's the case in Pattaya, then I find it hard to see why it would be greatly different up in the boondocks here. Yes, testing of hundreds of thousands of people all around the country is ideally needed but the government has said that's not going to happen, so limited, local programmes like this seem to be the best we can hope for.

Add to that the anecdotal evidence from all around Thailand that there are no piles of bodies building up in makeshift morgues, indeed if anything hospitals are quieter than normal, and unless the virus is currently in the stage where it's silently infecting the population but not yet producing any symptoms, then I don't see any real evidence for mass-infection here. And don't forget, Thailand recorded its first case over three months ago on January 13th, the virus has had plenty of time to do its worst here.

 

[dcfc2007]

Nice to see the Thai police aren't short of a bob in these trying times. Flying around BKK in their shiny new Tesla Model 3's at 2-3 million THB a pop.

[Krapow]

3 hours ago, Toy Boy said:

That's the obvious conclusion to draw, and indeed the medical bigwigs have admitted that it may be the case that the virus is circulating widely and they don't know about it because of their highly-targeted testing programme.

However, the mayor of Pattaya has undertaken his own screening programme of volunteers from the highest-risk groups (like Immigration police, friends of known C19 victims, former bar workers, and so on) and will test 3,000 people to try and get an idea of how widely the virus is circulating undetected in Pattaya. So far they're around a third of the way through that programme (it's being done at the Pattaya field hospital, aka the Grand Bella Hotel, you can volunteer if you want) and to date they have found just one case, and that person was a friend of a previously known case.

It's too early to be certain, but there's currently no proof that the virus is much more prevalent in Pattaya than is being reported. Given the number of foreigners that visited between November and February, especially the Chinese, if that's the case in Pattaya, then I find it hard to see why it would be greatly different up in the boondocks here. Yes, testing of hundreds of thousands of people all around the country is ideally needed but the government has said that's not going to happen, so limited, local programmes like this seem to be the best we can hope for.

Add to that the anecdotal evidence from all around Thailand that there are no piles of bodies building up in makeshift morgues, indeed if anything hospitals are quieter than normal, and unless the virus is currently in the stage where it's silently infecting the population but not yet producing any symptoms, then I don't see any real evidence for mass-infection here. And don't forget, Thailand recorded its first case over three months ago on January 13th, the virus has had plenty of time to do its worst here.

 

But why?

[dcfc2007]

30 minutes ago, Krapow said:

But why?

Maybe it's because coronaviruses don't transmit as easily in hotter climatic conditions. That's what I have been reading. Which makes sense to me, how often do you here someone in the UK coming down with the flu during June-August? Would also explain why the number of cases in Thailand is falling, considering it's now the super duper mega hot season.

Edited April 20, 2020 by dcfc2007

[Toy Boy]

37 minutes ago, Krapow said:

But why?

No easy answer to that, mate. Maybe in 5 years time the scientists will be able to explain, and I hope it doesn't just turn out to be creative bookkeeping on the part of the Thai authorities!

Lots of possible reasons have been suggested, from the Thai wai to Thai kids still getting the TB jab. I won't even try to explain the why of it because I simply don't know.

[john luke]

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/bangkok-hospital-pattaya-harnesses-ai-to-diagnose-covid-19-296186

 

Bangkok Hospital Pattaya harnesses AI to diagnose Covid-19

By

 Jetsada Homklin

 -

April 20, 2020

[Krapow]

51 minutes ago, dcfc2007 said:

Maybe it's because coronaviruses don't transmit as easily in hotter climatic conditions. That's what I have been reading. Which makes sense to me, how often do you here someone in the UK coming down with the flu during June-August? Would also explain why the number of cases in Thailand is falling, considering it's now the super duper mega hot season.

Makes sense to me as well, but the 'experts' are saying no, despite other rumours saying yes.

I know you have strong views on the UK lockdown, but f**k me, even with the Thai's suppressing the numbers, the dire consequences of the Thai lockdown does seem to be way out of proportion to the current Covid problem in Thailand. 

41 minutes ago, Toy Boy said:

No easy answer to that, mate. Maybe in 5 years time the scientists will be able to explain, and I hope it doesn't just turn out to be creative bookkeeping on the part of the Thai authorities!

Lots of possible reasons have been suggested, from the Thai wai to Thai kids still getting the TB jab. I won't even try to explain the why of it because I simply don't know.

It puzzles me, really, many more die in London alone in any given day than have died in Thailand for the duration so far, even taking into account 'creative bookkeeping'. 

[dcfc2007]

3 minutes ago, Krapow said:

Makes sense to me as well, but the 'experts' are saying no, despite other rumours saying yes.

I know you have strong views on the UK lockdown, but f**k me, even with the Thai's suppressing the numbers, the dire consequences of the Thai lockdown does seem to be way out of proportion to the current Covid problem in Thailand. 

It puzzles me, really, many more die in London alone in any given day than have died in Thailand for the duration so far, even taking into account 'creative bookkeeping'. 

Coronavirus experts are a dime a dozen. To me it is pretty obvious that the Coronaviruses do not fair well in hot climatic conditions. Hence why it's called the seasonal flu?

They have used a sledgehammer to crack a nut, there was no call for any sort of a lockdown. Let alone a lockdown that included banning the sale of alcohol.

It was absolutely ridiculous and the sign of a govt completely out of its depth. They have quickly realised that the economic harm they are doing can not be sustained.

I'm fairly confident that Thailand will be pretty much back to normal by the beginning of July, bar the mass movement of tourists into the country.

[fygjam]

11 minutes ago, dcfc2007 said:

Coronavirus experts are a dime a dozen. To me it is pretty obvious that the Coronaviruses do not fair well in hot climatic conditions. Hence why it's called the seasonal flu?

Are you classing yourself as an expert?

N.D. - not done

U - undetectable

So what you need in a nice pleasant 70°C and you should be right. You'd be fuked at 4°C, hardly any effect on the little critters.

 

 

 

[tommy dee]

1 hour ago, dcfc2007 said:

Coronavirus experts are a dime a dozen. To me it is pretty obvious that the Coronaviruses do not fair well in hot climatic conditions. Hence why it's called the seasonal flu?

They have used a sledgehammer to crack a nut, there was no call for any sort of a lockdown. Let alone a lockdown that included banning the sale of alcohol.

It was absolutely ridiculous and the sign of a govt completely out of its depth. They have quickly realised that the economic harm they are doing can not be sustained.

I'm fairly confident that Thailand will be pretty much back to normal by the beginning of July, bar the mass movement of tourists into the country.

i actually think they did it right.  first, until now, no one had an idea how bad it would get here, and other countries were in the shit.  2nd.  no tourists want to travel anyway so no extra loss.  3rd..  we get o see what the real score is.

 

the biggest issue will be when they open the flood gates to the BKKians, where its still strong, and then foreigners coming from covid ridden countries.. my worry then it will all flare up again on a bigger scale.

either way, the city is fucked for a year

[Krapow]

From BBC news feed just now.

I know it's not Thailand, but similar heat/climate?

Singapore reports sharpest daily spike yet

Singapore has confirmed 1,426 new Covid-19 cases - its biggest daily jump yet.

With just over 8,000 cases, the country has the most number of infections in Southeast Asia, surpassing figures in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Officials said that the majority of the new cases were foreign workers while 16 of the new cases are Singaporeans or those with permanent residency.

Once praised for its success in containing the virus, Singapore is now facing a surge of infections linked to industrial work sites and tightly packed worker dormitories.

Around 300,000 low-wage workers, mostly from South Asia, work in Singapore in construction and maintenance.