'Warning for wave of infections in Thailand'
Sopon Iamsirithaworn, deputy director general of the Department of Disease Control (DDC) says that if no measures are taken, the number of daily infections could rise to more than 28.000. By taking measures, they remain limited to 483. The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported 967 new Covid-19 infections on Sunday, the highest number in Thailand to date.
Bangkok had the most infections yesterday: 236, followed by Chiang Mai (189), Chon Buri (180) and Samut Prakan (48). Sophon says that most infections are related to visits to pubs and nightclubs.
Infections have been reported to originate in 140 entertainment venues in 15 provinces. Bangkok leads the list with 85 nightlife venues, topped by the upscale Krystal Club (brothel) in Thong Lor where 211 infections have been reported since the beginning of the month. Chon Buri counts 11 suspicious nightlife spots, Prachuap Khiri Khan 9, Pathum Thani 7 and Chiang Mai 6.
Yong Poovorawan, head of Chulalongkorn University's Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, warns that the African and Brazilian variant of the coronavirus should be prevented from spreading in Thailand. Experts are concerned that the available vaccines do not provide complete protection against these variants.
Source: Bangkok Post
Almost 1000 new infections today, the majority of which can be traced to the outbreak in some luxury nightclubs in Thong Lor, in Bangkok. Two managers of bars in this area have been imprisoned for two months through summary judgment. What will happen to the owners (probably not the necessary permits) remains to be seen as with the government officials who were present in the bars and contracted the virus.
On the one hand, I shouldn't hope so, but 100.000 infections after Songkran due to this outbreak would make a number of people think (and do). It is not the first, but the fourth time that immoral and irresponsible behavior (even criminal) by the elite leads to the spread of the virus: Lumpini boxing stadium, smuggling of illegal workers from Myanmar and the illegal casinos.
An additional effect is that the government loses its credibility, so that more order and authority and repression will be needed in the future to enforce compliance with the rules.
It is high time that this incompetent government resigns.
Well Chris you call this an incompetent government, I think that's quite a bit, I think the opposite because I think it's incredibly clever that they know exactly that if nothing is done, the number of daily infections can rise to more than 28.000.
But that due to measures to be taken it remains limited to 483, this is still great and shows enormous knowledge that it is not limited to 480, 481, 482, 484 485 or any other number, the RIVM in the Netherlands can learn something from that . LOL
I am afraid that the government will seize this opportunity to tighten the reins.
Prohibition of meetings and demonstrations.
Picking up persona non grata
etc
I'm not so afraid of that. And for two reasons:
1. A few days ago, Prayut was not in favor of a complete lockdown that he could simply declare because it would not make people happy. And of course he is right about that. The measures that now apply per province actually amount to a lockdown, but the government is not the culprit. (thinks Prayut, but people see it differently)
2. The resistance to this government from within its own circles is starting to take on significant proportions. It is no news that the students and the opposition were already against it. But the handling of the covid crisis, especially the lack of sanctions against government officials who were in bars in Thong Lor, is a thorn in the side of a growing group of wealthy Thais. They believe there should be blamed for the outbreak, a few more than the two bar managers now in jail; and transferring two police officers. Of course, self-interest also plays a role here, but if the opposition plays the game well, the end of this government is in sight. In addition, the vaccination policy, or say the lack of it, plays a role. Internationally, Thailand is a joke and it is precisely the elite who hear that in its international networks. People are a bit ashamed of the amateurism in government.
I think you're completely missing the point. Thailand is one of the few countries where it has been well under control so far. In most other countries, the form of freedom that is so far in Thailand has been absent for months (almost or at least half a year). Also in the Netherlands and other European countries you can't go to the bar, the restaurant, and many shops are almost closed (very restrictive access).
So your reaction about being a laughingstock is completely inappropriate. I don't know what you base that on, with which countries you compare, but it doesn't really fit into any comparison. The EU has a very short list of safe countries, and measures similar to those taken in Thailand (in the past year) are (or have been) in all of them.
I myself have spoken to several Dutch people (online and in Thailand) who have fled here because of the unsustainable situation in the West. We all regret that it is now also present in Thailand, but it is not really amateurish. Yes, it will get out of hand now, but the fact that it didn't happen much sooner deserves a compliment. Now of course there are all kinds of struggles that people have not been confronted with before. Think of the lack of testing facilities and local quarantine, but that is not really an issue yet.
And at the same time there was also the only motorcycle show in Bangkok during the Covid pandemic.
Well over a week, with perhaps some of those shiny expensive car salesmen and their elite customers still having somewhere to go afterwards.
Meanwhile, in my immediate vicinity in Pasang Lamphun province, all major markets have been closed.
As a result, many small market traders are without income again.
Thank you elite club in Bangkok and Chiangmai.
Jan Beute.
Dear Hans,
You have to ask yourself HOW the numbers come about. Thailand only tests for Covid if you may have been in contact with an infected person. nobody else. And if you go to the hospital on your own and ask for a test, you get zero on the request. Answer: we don't, you have to pay for it yourself and we don't have tests. Well, that's how I can keep numbers low.
When people really started measuring among the Burmese in Samut Songkram, they suddenly found hundreds of infections.
The main roads from Bangkok to the northeast have been filled with traffic jams for days with cars from people who want to celebrate Songkhram at home. There is no checking anywhere.
What will this mean for Thailand?
We'll see that next week.
What I do know that not many of these travelers were in the now over-famous bars in Thong Lor. If that were the case, they would travel with a private jet and not with a pick-up.
I think that the traffic jams in themselves are not such a problem, because those people are separately in 1 car.
But think those buses and flights are more of a problem.
Furthermore, the number of people who have been in those luxury clubs will not belong to this group as much either.
Of course we can now be outraged that it happened at a super club, this is of course widely reported. But also understand that a gentlemen's club in Pattaya is one of the sources of infection.
This can of course happen in any bar, gogo club ect. And which of those who now react indignantly has never been there 😉
In Thailand they just celebrate Songkran covid or not.
They don't know 1,5 m distance there and few wear a mask.
Eating together and having fun is all that matters.
Here in Belgium people get sick of staying indoors and of the government's drivel.
Just before the bomb bursts, everything has to open again, covid or not.
Today we drove from Buri Ram to Roi Et by car. Stopped at several places to refuel and have something to eat or drink. Everyone also wore a mouth mask outside. A store 7/11 or an Amazon cafe disinfecting hands, measuring temperature and no mask is staying outside. Tesco also leaves records which everyone else does. In the temple everyone sat outside for the ceremony, but except for a weak-minded old person here or there, everyone also had a mouth mask on that place.
I saw a person with his mouth mask behind his ears. It was a farang.
I wanted to drive from Narathiwat to the neighboring province of Yala, in the far Muslim south. At the provincial border, however, I was stopped because Yala has already closed the border to any “unauthorized person”. So returned home empty-handed.
The number of infections is very small. That the Thai government should be careful not to take too drastic measures as in the west. This is not necessary because, as reported last week on this blog, Covid is nothing more than a glorified flu. It is spreading a bit, but the measures will be more serious than the disease. Think of the little man who has to earn his living on the market that is now about to close. In the Netherlands, several thousand people have died from Covid, but those with cancer or heart disease are not allowed to go to hospital but die at home. Many people are dead in Brazil, but Brazil has more than 200 million inhabitants. That is 3 times as much as Thailand. It's like with the flu and a cold that you have to stay away from each other, wash your hands and don't sit next to each other. Read everything from doctor Maarten again https://www.thailandblog.nl/leven-thailand/to-test-or-not-to-test-that-is-the-question/ It's all about selling money and vaccines. Thailand is very right that it has not been bought en masse. The rich people can buy a vaccine themselves. Most farang in Thailand are not poor either. In the Netherlands, everyone is fed up with what Hugo De Jonge is talking about. It is never good and we are thwarted in our freedom. Hopefully the government in Thailand isn't that crazy after all.
A short response:
– the joke is about the vaccination policy
– there is / was not or hardly any testing in Thailand. You cannot detect any infections. It looks good, you score high internationally, but it is closing your eyes to Covid. So it may be more dangerous here than in the West, but no one knows for sure.
– There were test facilities in Taiwan, for example, from day one: for everyone. Not after several hundred infections had been detected.
– the local quarantine is a mockery because the majority of Thais do not care about the measures taken by the governors during Songkran. And local administrators and village chiefs are not strict because they will not be re-elected next time.
– The number of measures in Thailand is/was very small and short-lived compared to other countries. And yet so few Covid-positive people tested......
– amateurism refers to the government and the ways of communication. First no nationwide lockdown, then an almost nationwide (ineffective) lockdown based on governors' decisions. A lot of hassle about the amount of quarantine beds, but they are all empty. A Health Minister who pretends to be a doctor, lectures everyone but says nothing about his brother contracting the virus in a luxury whore's place. Well, if you call that professional…..
I wonder how high the actual number of infections is. There is not nearly as much testing as in Western countries. But one day they can buy a large mass Astra Zenica cheaply. Nobody wants it anymore. LOL.
If you look closely at the figure around the map but above the article, you will see that it does not show an exact number at all, but actually an average and a margin of error. I learned a long time ago in physics practicals to express that as 300 plus or minus 90 for the 5th scenario. But this is not really possible for the 1st scenario because there is almost exponential growth, which means that the margin of error becomes enormous as the number of infections increases in the beginning. As you can see, the average is: 9000. But that can be a great surprise (!300) but even more disappointing (29.000). I think the method used here is fair, but it requires more careful reading. It is especially clear that measures must be taken quickly in order to be able to predict anything,
The bottom line is that without measures, Thailand could have as many daily infections per million inhabitants as the Netherlands in a month's time. In the 5th scenario it is almost certain that the number will be lower next month.