Sunderland

That would make sense in a school with open windows and no air purifiers. However, in a school where all the air-conditioned rooms have air purifiers, that sadly points to the continued fear of some viral outbreak that no longer threatens the majority of population.

I agree, but it's a bit pointless portraying a country as the Land of Smiles, when all you see is masks.

I can see that angle. I can't get my head around the wearing of masks in cars, especially people driving alone. Does it look cool or something?

100% this.

Very few wore masks before Covid. If someone suggested that most Thais wear masks to avoid pollution, then that would be quite amusing. They (a large majority) are as worried about pollution as they are about riding a motorcycle without a helmet, falling off and smashing their skull on the road.

It's madness.

Global recession, World War 3 and a slowing birth rate. All ingredients for increasing arrivals in Thailand multiple times over. We know who's smoking all that weed they decided to grow.

Does it really matter anymore how many people have Covid infections? It's mutated to a point where the death rate is as meaningless as for any other viral infection. Old people sometimes die. People with health complications sometimes die. We are going to die one day. Since there are more than 200 different viruses that can cause a cold or an upper respiratory infection, shouldn't we be testing for each one and publishing all the data?

Sitting in a busy restaurant with lots of people - mask off. Sitting alone in a car with nobody else inside - mask on. Nuts!!

I think the World Cup in Qatar is a good indicator of what people really think about Covid now. I was in Japan last month and well over 95% of the population were still wearing masks outside. In Qatar on the other hand, zero percent of Japanese football fans, and the same with Korean fans, are wearing masks. Back home in eastern Asia most people are following what they are being told they ought to do rather than think about the logical reason for wearing or not wearing a mask at this particular time.

Does nobody ever launder and store them???

Deplorable. Such a cowardly <deleted>. So many people will not find closure for their loss. Words mean so very little in the face of such evil.

Brings back chilling memories of the Dunblane Primary School massacre in Scotland in 1996. These kind of mass shootings are thankfully much rarer in the UK and Thailand. However, this event coupled with the massacre in Korat two years ago, shows that there is not enough gun control in Thailand.

Not often I agree with Prayuth, but a transistor radio and a Swiss army knife will be more useful than a mobile phone during the developing World War 3.

Yes, it's the same all over Bangkok. But why? I was quite literally among the first people taking Covid seriously here in January 2019 when the first 100 or so cases were found in China. I even wore a mask back then when most people didn't. I was genuinely concerned at how quickly the virus was spreading and worried about inadvertently passing it on to my kids. I'm sure some people thought I was mad. I don't mind other people wearing masks, but for well over 90% to be wearing them now when a much smaller amount were in February 2020 and at some points in late 2020 doesn't make sense. We now have vaccines to reduce the illness caused by a much less lethal virus. Do those people still wearing masks (Thais or foreigners) plan to wear masks forever? Covid-19 is here to stay along with RSV, rhinovirus, enterovirus, adenoviruses, parainfluenza and various other coronaviruses. What are people so scared of or concerned about? I do not believe they are all showing concern for their elderly relatives. That is simply an exaggeration of the real situation. Were that habitually true, then nobody would go anywhere. People flock and unmask to eat in restaurants. Young people wear masks outside and then sit unmasked in crowded pubs. School kids wear masks, then unmask, eat, chat, laugh, scream and share snacks. Not forgetting the return to old habits where a huge percentage of people don't wash their hands after visiting toilets/restrooms. I'm not Thai bashing. The people are great and they can do whatever they want. For me, maybe not you, it just appears odd to keep wearing a mask all the time whilst simultaneously choosing to ignore, or not even think about, so many other points about hygiene, health and safety.

I'm not anti-mask, and wore one before most Thais did when COVID began in China. I don't wear one now except when it seems logical to do so, for example on a busy train. I like Thai people and have done so for the best part of 25 years here. I respectfully disagree that Thais have more respect for authorities and social norms, or have more consideration for others than people elsewhere. Some do. Some don't. Pretty much on a par with other parts of the world.

I was going to say it's an excellent choice as few people would vote for such a CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED gentleman, but I forgot that the PM here doesn't need to be elected by the people, or even stand for election as an MP.

I'm not downplaying COVID in any way, but why are children continually lumped together with the elderly and considered high-risk. It's simply not true with this particular virus.

I know of two schools that will allow foreign teachers to teach without masks from Monday, but all Thai staff and students must continue to wear masks for "sanitary reasons".

My kids have had COVID type symptoms twice in the last two weeks despite always wearing masks in school and we barely go anywhere else. Do masks help prevent the spread of respiratory illness in schools? I'm not sure as I am not a qualified doctor, scientist or mask manufacturer. Would they have been sick 3 or 4 times in two weeks without masks? I don't know. I don't doubt COVID is a viral infection that spreads between people. I also assume that masks help reduce the spread of droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. However, I'm not sure the human species needs to spend the next 100 years wearing a mask attempting to prevent colds, flu or other infections moving around the population. I'm not convinced the population will live any longer on average if we all wear masks forever more.

Cosplay?