goatfarmer

17 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

How many more would come if there was no requirement other than a negative Covid-19 test to board the plane or on arrival in Thailand?

 

To board the plane, please. Not when you arrive and, surprise, surprise, it's off to the lock-up for two weeks. At least if you test positive before you board you can go home.

Better still, no test at all. I don't see what purpose it serves when Omicron is dominant everywhere, is mostly mild and the transmission is unstoppable. 

18 hours ago, James105 said:

I wouldn't hold your breath.   The only logical reason for having such a convoluted and expensive system (for the traveller) in place when covid is already spreading as it is in the country is that somebody in power is making a lot more money out of testing and quarantine than they would do if the borders were open as normal.   If my cynical view is correct we are waiting for that person/group to either do the right thing, or they get to a point where they feel they have made enough money, or we get to zero covid, whatever comes first.   

If anybody had that much power they wouldn't need to profit from the covid tail wagging the dog. They would have many more lucrative channels. Chaos and bureaucratic inertia are more likely than the evil tyrant hypothesis.

On 1/28/2022 at 9:46 AM, James105 said:

I think many people will be wondering what exactly the (scientific) purpose is of making potential visitors go through the pain and stress of testing on departure, testing on arrival and testing on day 5 for covid in a country that already has thousands of confirmed covid cases every single day, especially when the consequences of a failed test (regardless of whether the test is accurate) means a 2 week imprisonment.    A 10 year old would be able to work out the cost/benefit ratio of this and ascertain the stupidity of it.   

You are right. It is arbitrary to test foreign travellers for something that is endemic in the country. Why not test people who cross provincial or district borders? What began as a plausibly rational precaution has now taken on an irrational bureaucratic life of its own. 

7 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

There is a problem with Test and Go. (According to some of my guests)

You go to the hotel for your one night quarantine.

They test you and say that if your result is negative, you may leave the next day.

They do not tell you if you are negative. You hear nothing. They only tell you if you are positive (and the men in their little white coats come and take you away ha ha).

Day 2. You wake up. Wait for a while, hear nothing so go to your next destination believing that you are negative.

You are not fleeing, you are just going where you said that you would go. This was the case of the other six 'absconders' from quarantine recently.

The problem with the Test and Go system is very poor (or absence) of clear communication.

I don't know about Test and Go. But I've seen PCR test results for a Sandbox participant.  The results were printed online and said, 'not detected', meaning, 'negative'. 

https://psas-swabcenter.web.app/view/view-result?fbclid=IwAR0Ka57__Saf1AztlNWPk9_Qa_SABDdEX1zsoOnGPAZprYu3gfLbn-kWcnY

I guess if you sit there waiting for something to happen, you might be confused. 

4 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said:

It's not so small.

Usually takes to 2-3 days after infection until a PCR test shows positive. So If you catch it short time before test1 test2 might be positive.

The other point is, that different laboratories use different limiting values (Ct). So one can claim you're negative while the other one might show positive.

And I understand there's no international standard on Ct and that it's never disclosed.

1 hour ago, UKPaul67 said:

Well she knew the risks, my trip went completely smoothly with no problems at all.

Had a fantastic time and wish I was still there ????

Many Thai and also in hotels speak a little English now.

No point her complaining ????

What is the probability of turning up positive after just getting a negative result within 72 hours?

8 hours ago, Jeff Olssson said:

I am afraid there are many cases which point to the contrary.

 

 

I really don’t know what they think or how much they know about the risks but it seems to me that these are normal families who probably think traveling to Thailand is the same as traveling in Europe nowadays.

Right. The enormity of the risk doesn't hit them until they get here.

5 hours ago, Sydneydave said:

The dreaded omicron variant!

1 person has died from it in the world. As Covid mutates into weaker and weaker strains, the remaining predominant variant will be the weakest of all.

 

So, what does the Thai government do? Has a highly predictable knee-jerk over reaction to it and gives the countries economy the knock out blow!

 

Tourists are cancelling because of the government's dictatorial reaction, not because of omicron!

 

Look at South Africa: A 90% reduction in Covid hospitalisations since omicron became the dominant variant. Trust the data. That's science!

 

 

Amen!

"Omicron spreads 70 times faster" is vague and misleading. The claim is that Omicron spreads 70 times faster in the bronchi than Delta. It doesn't spread 70 times faster in the community.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/omicron-propagates-70-times-faster-than-delta-in-bronchi-study-69540

21 hours ago, Hanuman2547 said:

Nah!  They'll probably just let you off on a warning.

You mean, a warming.????

6 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

I think the virus was raging here then?  It was kinda outta control!

 

I wasn't here in July, but heard it was no fun being here in Thailand with everything shut down.  I was in Europe where things were open.  Quite nice! LOL

The peak was in August with more than 20k cases reported daily. It was, indeed, rather dull.
Lucky you! Some of us have been stuck here for a couple of years, not daring to leave in apprehension of obstacles to coming back.

9 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Agreed!  I'm against travel bans.  Don't think they really help.  But...since the global response to the previous waves was terrible, can't hurt to try.  If it saves even a few lives, it's worth it.

 

I've not seen travel bans like this every few months.  Nor seen variants this transmissible, or called VOC, every few months.  Have you?

Philippines banned travel from Thailand and Malaysia over Delta. Then there was concern raised over whether Delta Plus would stymie the Sandbox, back in July. My memory doesn't go back further than that.

4 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Scientific ideas.

Well, we all have to rely on experts to some degree. I find This Week In Virology to be authoritative. And they are saying, 'don't panic'.

I recommend the first 30 minutes of this podcast.
https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/twiv-836/

7 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

And consistent with what medical experts have been saying.

Is that discussing ideas or people?

1 hour ago, Jeffr2 said:

there's none yet.  No vaccine manufacturer has confirmed how their jabs work with Omicron.  As you know, we'll need a few weeks for this.

Nor has anyone confirmed that it won't work. Does it make more sense to presume that vaccines will or will not work?

Are you proposing that there be travel bans every few months as new variants become confirmed? That could soon be counterproductive. Who will report new variants if their country gets slapped with travel bans?

9 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

Hypothetically, if it takes 100 days to develop a vaccine and the virus can be delayed for 99 days or 5 days, or 10, or even just long enough to understand the extent of the problem is there no point? Your assertion is nonsense.

And yours is coherent?

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

Sorry, I didn't get the memo that the pandemic had come to an end.

Straw man. He's not saying that the pandemic has come to an end. He's saying that management of the virus has improved since March 2020.  It makes no sense to attempt to restrain a virus which will come here, inevitably, if it hasn't already arrived. As the good doctor in the OP said, there's no point attempting to delay the inevitable. 

19 hours ago, connda said:

That's just an excuse.  It is a cash cow and highly profitable as tourists are forced to take RT-PCR tests with extremely inflated price tags.  Which is another reason Covid never ever goes away. 
It is way too lucrative. 

A few million from PCR tests v. tens of billions from lost tourism. Duh!

23 hours ago, smedly said:

hundreds of people all drinking jam 

????