CALSinCM

7 hours ago, webfact said:

To reduce the risk of it spreading, the government banned the splashing of water - an annual ritual - and cancelled all public events which might cause people to gather.

But they let people travel from the BKK hot spot to everywhere in Thailand.  And it spread like wildfire.
So - who at fault? 

3 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

It might not be true now, but 6 months or a year later... and I don't think it'll stop at only boarding airplanes. Especially if large numbers of people refuse to vaccinate.

Actually it will depend on the airline's revenue streams and profit margins.  If they require vaccinations to board and lose a significant block of customers due to the policy and it hurts their revenues they may alter that policy.  I believe most airlines will try to limit passengers to only those with vaccinations for Covid (and who knows what else at a later date), but I'm not so sure of their long-term success without government subsidies to cover their loses. The assumption is that most people will defer to duress and get a shot.  I don't necessarily think that will be the case.  Then if a plane-load of vaccinated fliers come down with Covid then all bets are off entirely.
Only time will tell.  Everything else is guess work at best.

On 5/21/2021 at 9:10 AM, bluebird729 said:

Someone told me that they are planning to make it mandatory to be vaccinated to leave Thailand on a flight.

This is how actual "fake news" is started and propagated.  "Somebody told me....."
Right!

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

This was March 2020, and the early days of the plague.

"The plague."  20% of the Earth's population wiped out and bodies where stacked up in the street like cord wood?  That sort of Plague? 

Reality.  As of May 22 the official total number of Covid related deaths rounded is less than 3.5 million out of population of 7.9 billion.  So to date approximately 0.0443% of the Earth's population died of Covid related sickness (most elderly and with other significant health problems) and 99.956% are alive and kicking. 
*** Plague ***  
No, it is not.
Tragic that 3.5 million people have dies of Covid related illnesses between it's release in 2019 until present.  But how many people realize that the the annual all-cause mortality for the world is over 55 million people per year!.  Yeah, on average 55+ million people die each year from some cause.  That's tragic too.  But keep it in perspective.

God I detest hyperbole.  Especially in these times.  Then you wonder why thinking people are vaccine hesitant? They see through the hyperbole and then have questions that go unanswered. 
But for all the authors out there who believe Covid is a plague.  Then please stay where you are and don't travel.  Don't become a vector spreading the virus because you feel the need for visual stimulation.  Stay home and watch a travelogue.  Then you're less likely to become a Covid spreader.
So I thank the author for staying put in Brighton.  That was responsible. 

3 hours ago, kurtcap said:

Congratulations on your first road trip when everyone is requested to do "essential travel only" i wonder why the BKK clusters have now infected virtually all Thailand.

One of the many stories from the dank infected recesses of Krung Thep outlining how the current wave of Covid was spread across the country by people who could not remain in place for the betterment of the public health of the nation. 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Three of six trained Labradors made their debut at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University after trials that the project leader said had shown a success rate of about 95%, with about 2,000 samples sniffed this month.

Way cool.  Super-Spreader dogs.  I wouldn't want the Covid-carrying mutts anywhere near me. 

Kill the economy, close all entertainment, force mask wearing - then suggest that if Thais want their freedom and lives back to take a jab.  Coming in the next couple of months.  Problem, reaction, solution with a carrot and a stick.
Until then - maximum pressure on the plebs.

So sorry.  We thought you were a foreigner.  wai

9 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Swiss embassy: we can not export vaccine to other countries. Would breach contract with suppliers. Might comprise further supply.

-----

Don't bother us!

Money before public health.  Corporations before the people.  Hail Plutocracy!

6 hours ago, bluesofa said:

You must be wrong, I thought they were punctual and took charge.

When the Japanese invaded in 1941 it took only five hours to find Prime Minister Field Marshal Phibun Songkhram, in order for him to make the decision to tell the military to stop fighting.

But but but - they have never ever been defeated by a foreign power.  ????

8 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

This may change if this can not be done as the below quote states.

Additionally, until the Sinovac vaccine is accepted as a approved vaccination then Thais and those vaccinated with it will not be accepted either for travel to certain locations.

 

EU regulator examines Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine (aa.com.tr)

 

Coronavirus: those inoculated with Chinese, Russian vaccines could face travel inequality | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)

 

So until this plays out Thai's are going nowhere unless they get another type of vaccination.  There are those flying to the US, who have money, and obtaining their vaccinations which are accepted in many countries.

Vaccines as Geo-political weapons. There really is no place in the world for that nonsense, and yet, here it is.

9 hours ago, webfact said:

A leading Thai travel agent has said that the focus at present remains "Thai Thiaw Thai" and not "Thai Thiaw Nork".

Dude can't distinguish between tourism and medical necessity.  Well there's a travel agent who will be missing out on the "Thai Ow Woxine" or Thais Want Vaccinated which has little to do with tourism and everything to do with personal safety.
If he won't book vaccine flights for well-to-do Thais, some other entrepreneurial Thai travel agent will. 

9 hours ago, statman78 said:

I don't expect anyone to come to Chiang Rai.  A negative Covid test and proof of vaccination.  With so few people vaccinated here in Thailand not too many people will be allowed to enter.  The 2 dose requirement is another restriction, what about the the foreigners coming in with the Johnson & Johnson jab, which is approved in Thailand but is only 1 dose.

 

Right now it has been very quiet in Chiang Rai, going forward it will be totally dead.

They will never enforce it, but I'll eat my words if someone provides pictures of Covid roadblocks on the highways into Chiang Rai or news that someone has been busted and jailed for failing to follow protocol.  But I seriously doubt I'll ever see that. 

How much do you want to bet that there isn't as much as a road block on highways headed into Chiang Rai? 

15 hours ago, webfact said:

U.S. President Joe Biden said last week he supported the waiver idea, but the European Union and other developed country opponents said it will not increase output.

That's because that are huge amounts of money to be made and this is not about saving humanity, it's about the heads of pharmaceutical companies being able to add billions to their personal fortunes.  So of course the First World West will protect the intellectual property even if it decimates third world countries. 

2 hours ago, dcsw53 said:

We're ahead of the game. I registered at Pattaya Memorial Hospital on Wednesday, Jab will be Moderna done in October.

At last some positive news from Pattaya !!

Five months from now.  Excellent.  I wonder what could possibly change in five months time.

2 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Just work. If the school is half decent, they will have the DoL in their pockets. This is the way it works here.  In over 25 years working here as I teacher, I never saw any teacher being charged for not having a WP. 

Interesting.  "Don't worry about breaking criminal law in Thailand.  Everybody does it."
Not good advice though.  No risk for you by telling the OP to break the law.

4 hours ago, Russell17au said:

I've got the weather radar from Khon Kaen airport and there has been plenty of activity about but it is all very small with very little rain. have been getting plenty of thunder and a bit of wind and a few drops of sweat from above but that is about all. There is more sweat coming out of me than what is coming out of the sky.

I just find it interesting that it's oppressively hot and humid and with all the humidity there is only a few small scattered radar imagines of small thunderheads and microbursts but no soaking rains.  I going to welcome them when they get here.  I've been holding off on planting a vegetable garden.

19 hours ago, chessman said:

John Hopkin’s University are just collecting and counting up official figures released in different countries and there are many reasons why a country’s official figures may be incorrect. 

And that can be asserted for virtually every country.  But you have to benchmark with official numbers at some point.  To assert that First world countries are superior at bean counting than developing and third-world countries and then suggest that multiples need to be added to the official numbers reeks of both cultural and racial bias. 
Personally I wont' indulge in that type of baseless pseudo-science that implicitly extols racial superiority of the Western country that the holder of the bias comes from.
That's not science and holding biases such as that have no place in the scientific community.

I wonder what the long-term weather forecast is for Thailand's monsoon season.  It was so nice to get early rains this yet, but then TWD states the Rainy Season has arrived and the faucet gets turned off.  Just wondering when the rains are expected to return in the North and Northeast?