COVID 19 Related to THAILAND Posts

[Bazle]

10 hours ago, farangme said:

I've no idea how much but certainly available. I believe in Thailand they are 400 Baht.

How long does the test take to process?

[fygjam]

37 minutes ago, Bazle said:

How long does the test take to process?

If you're talking about the do it yourself rapid test kits, the Australian government may sell you the 1.5 million they bought which aren't fit for purpose.

The problem with these types of kits is, at present, they cross react and give a positive result with antibodies caused by other coronaviruses like OC43 and HKU1 which cause the "common cold".

 

 

[farangme]

50 minutes ago, Bazle said:

How long does the test take to process?

Immediately I believe.

[Evil Penevil]

According to its Web site, TUI Group "consists of strong tour operators, 1,600 travel agencies and leading online portals, five airlines with around 150 aircraft, over 400 hotels, 18 cruise liners and many incoming agencies in all major holiday destinations around the globe."  My highlight in bold in the article below.

Evil

 

TUI makes hotels an offer on payments
By TTR WEEKLY -May 11, 2020

BANGKOK, 11 May 2020: Often described as the world’s largest travel firm, TUI Germany is asking its hotel partners worldwide to accept revised debt payment schedules.

In email letters to hotel partners in Thailand and Spain, TUI AG outlined a staggered payment proposal that would clear debts owed to thousands of hotels while asking them to agree to a new contract.

TUI AG offered to pay 25% immediately if hotels agree to the terms, another 25% within 90 days and the balance once the first TUI AG guests check in the hotel under the up-coming winter season contract. TUI AG books and pays for all its hotel bookings direct with hotel clients rather than through local ground handling agents.

...

In Thailand, hotel associations alleged TUI owes an estimated THB2 billion in hotel bookings, but the figure could not be independently verified.Both Thai and Spanish hotel groups are reportedly considering a legal challenge if negotiations fail to reach a compromise on the debt payment schedule. 

Last Friday, leaders of 12 Thai hotel associations who represent resorts in southern Thailand, where most of TUI AG’s hotel partners are located, met with the Tourism Authority of Thailand. They asked for assistance to pressure the company to settle outstanding debts based on current contract terms that stipulate payments are cleared within 30 to 60 days.

They alleged that TUI AG’s latest offer requires hotels to sign a new booking contract for the winter season 2020 to trigger the payment schedule to clear past debts.

Some hotel owners mainly in Krabi, Khao Lak, Phuket and Phang Nga called for a united front to reject the offer. They requested that TUI understand the predicament hotels face. Many of them have already made staff redundant or placed them on unpaid furlough.

TUI’s proposals outlined in emails to hotel partners worldwide present variations on a common theme that offers staggered payments of 25% to clear the debt. In Thailand, the final payment was linked to hotels agreeing to a new contract and the arrival of the first post-Covid-19 guests.

However, hoteliers pointed out that there was no guarantee when that would happen.  Some say the first guests from TUI AG to Thailand could arrive in November this year and others place the initial guest check-ins as late as January 2021.

(READ MORE)

Edited May 13, 2020 by Evil Penevil

[Bazle]

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30387799?fbclid=IwAR14gqdxtZsN3aHgSJ75PiL5Mx8pBCUtCieDr75iWEY_hhHWANWRaXSMkno

"Most foreign nationals will not be allowed to enter Thailand for most of this year, though it is believed that Chinese tourists may be allowed into the country by July as the number of infections in the country is under control. Operators believe there will be a large influx of Chinese tourists because they are not able to travel anywhere else."

[Evil Penevil]

Apparently there have been posts on social media indicating the Pattaya Beer Garden near the start of WS had closed permanently.  I sent a message to the owner, Pattaya Pete, and asked about this.  Pete responded it's his intention  to "carry on" with the Pattaya Beer Garden, but the lease is expiring and he is in negotiations with the landlord regarding the terms. 

"Negotiations are in progress and I do not yet know the final outcome,"  he wrote.

Best of luck to Pete in getting the terms he requires to keep the PBG going.   

The news that the beer bars in front of the PBG had been razed was reported several weeks ago.  Pete posted at that time on Pattaya Talk: "They are being remodeled by the owner."

Evil

[fygjam]

3 minutes ago, Evil Penevil said:

Apparently there have been posts on social media indicating the Pattaya Beer Garden near the start of WS had closed permanently.  I sent a message to the owner, Pattaya Pete, and asked about this.  Pete responded it's his intention  to "carry on" with the Pattaya Beer Garden, but the lease is expiring and he is in negotiations with the landlord regarding the terms. 

"Negotiations are in progress and I do not yet know the final outcome,"  he wrote.

Best of luck to Pete in getting the terms he requires to keep the PBG going.   

The news that the beer bars in front of the PBG had been razed was reported several weeks ago.  Pete posted at that time on Pattaya Talk: "They are being remodeled by the owner."

Evil

Yeah, hope it can keep going.

 

[Evil Penevil]

3 hours ago, Bazle said:

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30387799?fbclid=IwAR14gqdxtZsN3aHgSJ75PiL5Mx8pBCUtCieDr75iWEY_hhHWANWRaXSMkno

"Most foreign nationals will not be allowed to enter Thailand for most of this year, though it is believed that Chinese tourists may be allowed into the country by July as the number of infections in the country is under control. Operators believe there will be a large influx of Chinese tourists because they are not able to travel anywhere else."

That article is not very encouraging.  I may be thinking too much, but I get the impression from this and other articles that Thai tourism operators and officials have written off Western tourists and are concentrating on Chinese visitors. It makes sense.  China is much closer to Thailand and there's huge pent-up demand for travel abroad by millions of Chinese who've never before had the opportunity to venture outside their own country.

Evil

[lazarus]

7 minutes ago, Evil Penevil said:

That article is not very encouraging.  I may be thinking too much, but I get the impression from this and other articles that Thai tourism operators and officials have written off Western tourists and are concentrating on Chinese visitors. It makes sense.  China is much closer to Thailand and there's huge pent-up demand for travel abroad by millions of Chinese who've never before had the opportunity to venture outside their own country.

Evil

UK = Ibiza

US = Disney World

China = Thailand

...

[Evil Penevil]

I wish the good doctor had explained how you have sex while keeping a distance of 1.5 to 2 meters.  Is that the new normal?  I wonder what the price will be for long term.  My bold text.

Evil

 

'No conclusive evidence' of Covid-19 in semen of patients

May 14. 2020

The Department of Disease Control (DDC) has said there has been no confirmed result in Thailand of Covid-19 virus being found in the semen of current or recovered patients.

“There is a study result in China claiming the Covid-19 virus has been found in the semen of male patients and recovered patients,” Dr Wirawat Manosutthi, a DDC medical adviser, said on Wednesday (May 13).

“The study does not conclude that Covid-19 can be sexually transmitted, as the experiment only used small samples and therefore required further study to confirm the result. They also did not say that the virus found was a viable one.

“Furthermore, there is no report of other breeds of coronavirus being sexually transmitted and there is also no report of finding Covid-19 virus in the semen of current or recovered patients in Thailand,” he added.

However, Wirawat said it was highly recommended to use a condom for sexual intercourse to prevent other sexually transmitted diseases including Aids.

“We also recommend avoiding sex or living in close proximity with recovered patients for at least 30 days since the symptoms show up, as Covid-19 virus can be transmitted via droplets from coughing and sneezing,” he added. “To prevent Covid-19 infection, make sure to keep a distance of 1.5 to two metres between persons, wear a face mask, and wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds each time with soap and water or 70 per cent alcohol gel.”

If you have any inquiry, contact DDC hotline at 1422.

(LINK)

Edited May 14, 2020 by Evil Penevil

[Evil Penevil]

This is an old story, but I didn't see it reported anywhere else. Over half the Thai group was infected.  That's a lot of imported COVID-19.

Evil

 

42 Thais who went to Indonesian religious meeting have virus

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA and EDNA TARIGAN

April 8, 2020

BANGKOK (AP) — Health authorities in Thailand say more than half the people returning from a trip to a mass religious meeting in Indonesia have been found to be infected with the coronavirus.

Forty-two of the 76 all-male Muslim pilgrims who arrived on a charter flight on Monday were found to be carrying the virus when they were tested on Tuesday.

Thailand on Wednesday confirmed 111 new coronavirus cases, including the 42 returnees, bringing the country’s total to 2,369. including 30 deaths.

The Muslim group had traveled to Sulawesi island in Indonesia on March 17 to attend a ceremony organized by Jamaat Tabligh, a Muslim missionary movement.

More than 8,000 pilgrims reportedly had arrived at the meeting site by the time officials canceled the event, citing the health hazard.

The March 19-22 gathering at a boarding school in a rural area in South Sulawesi province was canceled after it became clear that a similar event held three weeks earlier in Malaysia was the source of more than 600 infections.

An estimated 16,000 people attended the Malaysian event, and attendees who were infected there were found on their return to Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Hundreds of people who came for the event in Sulawesi were quarantined at a hotel after it was canceled.

The Thais who returned to their homes in the country’s south were being quarantined in their own provinces, while those who tested positive were sent to hospitals. In Songkhla province, hosting the biggest number, the returnees were being kept at a dormitory inside a sport complex.

___

Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.

(LINK)

[forcebwithu]

15 hours ago, Bazle said:

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30387799?fbclid=IwAR14gqdxtZsN3aHgSJ75PiL5Mx8pBCUtCieDr75iWEY_hhHWANWRaXSMkno

"Most foreign nationals will not be allowed to enter Thailand for most of this year, though it is believed that Chinese tourists may be allowed into the country by July as the number of infections in the country is under control. Operators believe there will be a large influx of Chinese tourists because they are not able to travel anywhere else."

And when we see a spike in new infections after the Chinese are allowed back, we'll have pretty good proof the infection numbers China has been reporting are BS.

[Jambo]

We did a 662 klm drive yesterday from Bangsaray to Mae Sot.

There were a total of 6 police/army check points at which we were waived through the first 5 without comment and only stopped at the very last one which is no more than 10 minutes from Mae Sot itself. This is an army manned permanant check point and they had local nurses on hand doing temperature checks only.

Sai is worried about the stigma of us potentially being the second and third individuals to prove positive for Covid19 in Mae Sot so I am on a 7 day self isolation period but I did sneak out at 07:00am this morning to take the dogs for a walk. I was masked up and the dogs will not rat me out! 🤣

[Pumpuynarak]

1 hour ago, Jambo said:

We did a 662 klm drive yesterday from Bangsaray to Mae Sot.

There were a total of 6 police/army check points at which we were waived through the first 5 without comment and only stopped at the very last one which is no more than 10 minutes from Mae Sot itself. This is an army manned permanant check point and they had local nurses on hand doing temperature checks only.

Sai is worried about the stigma of us potentially being the second and third individuals to prove positive for Covid19 in Mae Sot so I am on a 7 day self isolation period but I did sneak out at 07:00am this morning to take the dogs for a walk. I was masked up and the dogs will not rat me out! 🤣

Interesting Jambo, so inter provincial travel is permitted ? My reason for asking is i want to drive down to Pattaya either later this month or early June to see a mate of mine who is recovering from cancer, would i be ok ? Also are any hotels open ? my mate lives close to the LK Metropole so thats where i usually stay and i intend to call them to check if they are open. I see Agoda are still advertising the hotel so should i presume they're open ?

[forcebwithu]

16 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

Interesting Jambo, so inter provincial travel is permitted ? My reason for asking is i want to drive down to Pattaya either later this month or early June to see a mate of mine who is recovering from cancer, would i be ok ? Also are any hotels open ? my mate lives close to the LK Metropole so thats where i usually stay and i intend to call them to check if they are open. I see Agoda are still advertising the hotel so should i presume they're open ?

ST rooms are open. That option has the disadvantage though of having to check out and back in every two hours. 

Calling the Metropole of course is the safest option.

[Jambo]

8 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

Interesting Jambo, so inter provincial travel is permitted ? My reason for asking is i want to drive down to Pattaya either later this month or early June to see a mate of mine who is recovering from cancer, would i be ok ? Also are any hotels open ? my mate lives close to the LK Metropole so thats where i usually stay and i intend to call them to check if they are open. I see Agoda are still advertising the hotel so should i presume they're open ?

Well, I presume so but I must say that I was somewhat concerned. I was dreading being stopped and being asked "where are you going and/or where are you from?" It was always in the back of my mind that we might end up in 14 days quarantine somewhere on route.

I can only go on my own experience. All the check points were in the usual places but we were basically waived through all of them without having to answer any questions. In other words, nothing different to pre-Covid19 days.

There are bound to be Hotels still open but I know quite a few are closed

We are coming back down around the 8th June for a few days. Hopefully it will prove to be a little more like normal but I am not holding my breath.

[forcebwithu]

Did a quick shopping trip to Home Pro today and was surprised to see a check in terminal at the entrance. Actually only noticed it on exiting the store as it was blocked from view by people around the terminal when I entered the store.

Nobody stopped me when I walked in, which was good as if they had demanded I sign in I would have told them no thanks, plenty of other stores I can shop at without this nonsense. My Thai lady is agreement on that, as I expect many others will be too.

This would make sense if we were seeing exponential growth in infections locally, but we're not so one wonders why they're doing this now.

[Pumpuynarak]

19 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

which was good as if they had demanded I sign in I would have told them no thanks,

I agree, f****** ridiculous, why oh why ?

[Lemondropkid]

2 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

I agree, f****** ridiculous, why oh why ?

Keyboard & mouse will be fantastic for storing and passing on germs too,  if they were used by someone infected.

You have to sign out of the shop as well. I've never been in a Home Pro, are they that attractive you get stoways 🤔

[Pumpuynarak]

11 minutes ago, Lemondropkid said:

Keyboard & mouse will be fantastic for storing and passing on germs too,  if they were used by someone infected.

You have to sign out of the shop as well. I've never been in a Home Pro, are they that attractive you get stoways 🤔

I don't know about you but whenever i go into any DIY or anything like it i can't wait to find what i want and get out asap, i've certainly never been 1 hour in one.

If you consider the recent nonsense sale of alcohol ban Thailand really is making itself look foolish imo.

Edited May 15, 2020 by Pumpuynarak

[Thai Spice]

15 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

I don't know about you but whenever i go into any DIY or anything like it i can't wait to find what i want and get out asap, i've certainly never been 1 hour in one.

If you consider the recent nonsense sale of alcohol ban Thailand really is making itself look foolish imo.

Same, specially as you are permanently being shadowed by a cute young (male) salesman who is generally completely useless, and has no clue about anything.

Most of them having probably never even driven a nail in a wooden plank ......

 

[Toy Boy]

21 hours ago, Lemondropkid said:

Keyboard & mouse will be fantastic for storing and passing on germs too,  if they were used by someone infected.

You have to sign out of the shop as well. I've never been in a Home Pro, are they that attractive you get stoways 🤔

"Accidentally" drop the contents of a bottle of hand sanitiser on the keyboard, that'll put an end to this nonsense!

[Thai Spice]

17 minutes ago, Toy Boy said:

"Accidentally" drop the contents of a bottle of hand sanitiser on the keyboard, that'll put an end to this nonsense!

Bad boy.....😂😂😂😄😄😄

 

[Evil Penevil]

I'm copying this over in it's entirety because many members may not be able to get past the The Wall Street Journal's formidable pay wall.

Food shortages are a much bigger danger from the pandemic than deaths of elderly people and others in the vulnerable category.  The shit will really hit the fan when people start starving.

Evil

 

 

Soaring Prices, Rotting Crops: Coronavirus Triggers Global Food Crisis

Processing and transportation breakdowns, panic buying threaten vulnerable nations; ‘a food crisis with lots of food’

May 13, 2020 2:52 pm ET

 

The coronavirus pandemic hit the world at a time of plentiful harvests and ample food reserves. Yet a cascade of protectionist restrictions, transport disruptions and processing breakdowns has dislocated the global food supply and put the planet’s most vulnerable regions in particular peril.

“You can have a food crisis with lots of food. That’s the situation we’re in,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO.

Prices for staples such as rice and wheat have jumped in many cities, in part because of panic buying set off by export restrictions imposed by countries eager to ensure sufficient supplies at home. Trade disruptions and lockdowns are making it harder to move produce from farms to markets, processing plants and ports, leaving some food to rot in the fields.

At the same time, more people around the world are running short of money as economies contract and incomes shrivel or disappear. Currency devaluations in developing nations that depend on tourism or depreciating commodities like oil have compounded those problems, making imported food even less affordable.

“In the past, we have always dealt with either a demand-side crisis, or a supply-side crisis. But this is both—a supply and a demand crisis at the same time, and at a global level,” said Arif Husain, chief economist at the UN’s World Food Program. “This makes it unprecedented and uncharted.”

The WFP has warned that up to three dozen nations could face famines by the end of the year, potentially pushing an additional 130 million people to the brink of starvation.

In self-sufficient farming nations such as the U.S., the fallout so far has been limited. While the variety on supermarket shelves has diminished somewhat, and the meat-processing industry has experienced some interruptions, there are no major food shortages.

Other countries, rich and poor, are facing critical challenges in how to make sure their populations get enough to eat in coming months and years.

South Sudan, where a new unity government was formed recently to end a long-running civil war, is one of the nations most at risk. Data published by the FAO show that prices for wheat in the capital city of Juba have shot up 62% since February. Prices for cassava, a local staple otherwise known as tapioca, are up 41%.

“I don’t even want to imagine how bad it’s going to be,” said Mabior Garang, the African country’s deputy interior minister-designate. “The borders have been closed, and we don’t have any local production of food in our country. We were already facing a famine pre-corona. If you add corona to the equation, it’s crazy.”

Potato prices are up 27% since February in Chennai, India, according to the FAO data. In Yangon, Myanmar, prices for gram, a type of chickpea, have climbed 20%.

Villagers in South Sudan collected rations parachuted from a plane in February. South Sudan is one of the nations most at risk from food disruptions.

Photo: tony karumba/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

In the Pakistani city of Lahore, van driver Muhammad Asif said his family used to cook chicken twice a week before the pandemic, and mutton once a month. Now, he said, they are eating as little food as possible, subsisting on basic staples as his income declined by 60%, while food prices in local groceries increased by at least 25%.

“The virus has made life very difficult for people like us. If the situation continues like this for another couple of months, people will start snatching food from others and stealing to meet their needs,” Mr. Asif said.

Food shortages have caused political upheavals throughout human history. In the years after the 2008 financial crisis, a surge in food prices world-wide helped unleash a wave of turmoil and insurgencies in many parts of the Middle East and Africa. The Arab Spring’s series of rebellions was in part caused by a Tunisian vegetable seller setting himself on fire in 2010. Today, many governments worry that breakdowns of the food supply could inspire similar upheaval.

“Food security is key in maintaining socio-economic and political stability. We can ignore this only at our own risk,” President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, the world’s biggest rice importer, told last month’s summit of Southeast Asian leaders. “Our most urgent priority is ensuring a sufficient supply of rice for our people.”

As economies world-wide come out of lockdown, logistical issues could be resolved, borders could start to reopen and food trade would pick up, alleviating some risks. Yet, it is unclear how many months that would take—a variable that depends on the future course of the pandemic itself.

Sacks of rice in a National Food Authority warehouse in the Philippines, the world’s biggest rice importer.

Photo: Veejay Villafranca/Bloomberg News

The biggest danger going forward, economists say, is that the pandemic’s dislocations will affect not just existing food stocks but planting and harvesting in coming months. That already is occurring in parts of the world, just as a swarm of locusts is eating its way across swaths of Africa and Asia.

In India, which has been under a nationwide lockdown since March 25, Minati Swain’s crop of tomatoes and bananas went to waste in the fields last month because restrictions on movement made it impossible to get the produce to local markets in the eastern state of Orissa. Then, heavy rains destroyed the 33-year-old farmer’s remaining crop of eggplant.

“Now, we don’t even have money to buy food from the market,” she said. “And if there is no money, how can we plant for the next season?”

Around the world, shipping disruptions have made it prohibitively expensive or impossible to move many perishable items, especially fruits, vegetables and fish, from producers to consumers.

Trade Limits

Some large grain exporters restricted sales to secure food supply at home.

 

*Estimate for the year started August 1 (rice) and June 1 (wheat) †Only Romania has a restriction

Sources: USDA (exports); staff reports (restrictions)

Between Jan. 1 and April 10, the capacity of container ships moving goods fell 30% because of canceled sailings. Those that do reach ports face new delays due to quarantines and shutdowns of customs and other facilities in many places. Sometimes that results in spoiled cargoes.

About 85% of passenger flights world-wide have been canceled, reducing global air-cargo capacity by about 35%, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

India is the world’s biggest exporter of rice, helping feed nations across Africa and Asia. These days, New Delhi-based rice exporter Shri Lal Mahal Group is shipping only 15% to 20% of its normal volume.

“There is plenty of rice in India,” said company Chairman Prem Garg. “It’s just that we can’t export it because of logistics issues.” Among the obstacles: While there used to be an available vessel to European markets every two or three days, now there’s just one every two weeks.

Share Your Thoughts

Have you experienced any food shortages in your area? Join the conversation below.

Some of the other top 10 rice-selling nations compounded the disruptions with export restrictions. Vietnam, the world’s third-largest rice exporter, stopped all shipments in March. Myanmar and Cambodia also imposed curbs. 

Thailand restricted the export of eggs, pictured at a supermarket in Bangkok.

Photo: Vachira Vachira/NurPhoto/Zuma Press

The world’s biggest wheat exporter, Russia, last month halted exports until July. Major wheat suppliers Romania, Ukraine and Kazakhstan also capped sales. Turkey restricted the export of lemons, Thailand of chicken eggs, Serbia of sunflower seeds.

Though some restrictions have since been relaxed, and Vietnam is resuming rice exports, this threat of protectionism has fueled a global rise in prices for some staple commodities despite bumper crops. Thai rice was up 14% in April, reaching a seven-year high. Black Sea wheat is up 7%. Though global prices for feed grains are down, that is largely because of problems in the meat industry.

Amid this uncertainty, major food importers are responding by hoarding vital staples, which could further drive up prices.

Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, rarely purchases foreign wheat during its own harvesting season, which is now under way. Yet, last month, it bought large quantities of French and Russian grain, part of Cairo’s new plan to stockpile up to eight months’ worth of reserves. Those transactions, traders said, helped drive up global wheat prices.

“If you ask governments what they want to do, they want to accumulate stocks, which is a big problem because, first, the price will be lower tomorrow, and, second, they don’t have the capacity to manage them properly,” said Maximo Torero Cullen, chief economist at the FAO.

Russia, the world’s biggest wheat exporter, halted exports until July. Combines harvesting wheat outside the village of Ogur.

Photo: ilya naymushin/Reuters

Wealthier importers such as Japan, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates can outbid poorer countries that already face shortages. It is in these poorer nations, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, that food inflation is hitting the hardest.

Nigeria is home to 200 million people and one of the world’s largest rice and wheat importers. It is suffering from the combined shocks of more expensive imports, disruptions of local production and transport, and the collapse of global prices for its main export, oil.

Haresh Keswani, whose Artee Group operates 15 SPAR hypermarkets across Nigeria, said he had to shut down five outlets because he couldn’t get enough inventory or workers.

“The farmers have increased the prices of food products because of the lockdown and the lack of access to their farms, and we the buyers are now at the receiving end,” said Sadiq Usman a laborer in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. “It’s not been easy feeding my family, and now we’re eating just once a day.”

Some of the world’s wealthier food importers have been preparing for disruptions since the previous crisis a decade ago. Taiwan, which imports two-thirds of its calorie needs, has amassed 900,000 metric tons of rice in a government stockpile, three times the amount its Council of Agriculture is legally mandated to have. Those stocks were built up before the pandemic.

Now, Taiwan says its farmers will produce an additional 1.2 million metric tons in the next six months, leaving it with enough rice reserves to feed its population for 21 months.

Indians waited to receive rations during a lockdown in New Delhi in early April.

Photo: Yawar Nazir/Getty Images

The U.A.E. imports some 90% of its food. A network of 105 Carrefour grocery stores there increased its stock from three months to four because of the pandemic, said Alain Bejjani, chief executive of Dubai-based Majid al-Futtaim Group, which operates 300 Carrefour outlets in 16 nations. He said retailers and the government are in talks on how to boost stocks of key items to as much as 12 months—something that would require major investments in storage and inventory.

That kind of stockpiling would be impossible in Nigeria, said Mr. Keswani, the supermarket executive based in Lagos. As a result, Nigerian supermarkets often have bare shelves these days. Just 26% of Mr. Keswani’s orders are being filled by suppliers, down from more than 90% before the pandemic.

 

Outside of New York, New Jersey is the state that has been hit hardest by the pandemic. WSJ visited a recent emergency food distribution event in Newark to speak with New Jerseyans about food insecurity during the pandemic.

“Suppliers either don’t have the goods, they are not manufacturing, or they don’t know how to get the goods to us,” he said. “What is not getting through is a huge list. Are the fruits and vegetables getting through? No. Are the meats getting through regularly? No. There is not enough.”

—Krishna Pokharel in New Delhi, Gbenga Akingbule in Abuja, Nigeria, and Waqar Gilani in Islamabad contributed to this article.

[Thai Spice]

An interesting article concerning the impact of the Covid economic crisis on the number of suicides in Thailand.

Usual suspects : one of the most inegual societies in the world, economy mismanagement since years by the junta, Cvirus crisis mismanagement, et,..

https://thediplomat.com/2020/05/thailand-the-coronavirus-suicides/

The Diplomat is a rather good news source, and lifted their paywall for Cvirus subjects.