sambum

1 hour ago, smew said:

6 against one... silly people ….

No - much more than that! From the article:-

"Naew Na mentioned immigration chief Lt-Gen Sompong Chingduang first as being ultimately responsible. Then down through the ranks were ten other officers whose names and ranks were all highlighted. They needed to be helped by staff from the labor department and protection agencies." 

(Presumably they thought the little old lady might have been armed with a pair of chopsticks or some other equally deadly weapons!)

7 hours ago, saakura said:

Disgusting, the immigration. Catch the real criminals and drug pushers openly roaming Sukhumvit

"Low hanging fruit"!

1 hour ago, DrTuner said:

Check the number of Chinese entering a country. Thailand is at the top, at most risk, they should take drastic measures. But you are right, west should act quickly and decisively and they haven't. Their only hope now is to be able to contain it, which likely won't happen because of lack of quick diagnostics. This thing will go round the planet in weeks.

"But you are right, west should act quickly and decisively and they haven't."

Wrong! British Airways was among many European and American airlines to suspend ALL flights TO and FROM China! I believe the first could have been Finnair from 28 Jan, but the rest all followed suit within  a couple of days. Just a quick check on one website reveal at least a dozen European airlines that have now suspended flights, and also the USA, and Canada have followed suit.

I wonder how long it will take Thailand to "grasp the nettle"?

They should "consider" suspending all flights from China until this outbreak is under control - oh I forgot, according to Thailand's PM it is 100% under control already! 

1 hour ago, smedly said:

they have already been told screening doesn't work which is why the WHO have an emergency meeting today

 

People infected and spreading this virus are showing no symptoms which makes it extremely difficult to deal with - why has China locked down millions of people and huge areas of the country - they seem to be getting it

No, they've GOT it! The only way to stop more people GETTING it is to immediately stop all flights to and from China (as per British Airways have already done) and temporarily stop all visitors from China until the crisis is over. However, that ain't gonna happen in Thailand now, is it, as long as TAT have any say at all in the matter???!!!  

5 hours ago, transam said:

Thought the head honcho said LOS was 100% safe...????

99% correct! The last line of the article says:-

"Meanwhile, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who inspected screening procedures at Suvarnabhumi airport on Wednesday said Thailand was “100 precent in control of the situation”.

31 minutes ago, flyingtlger said:

I was staying near Soi Rangangnam where there is a King Power.

KP literally buses in hundreds of Chinese tourist into Rangnam.

There were many Chinese tourist that would cough or sneeze without covering their mouth and some would yell at the top of their lungs while talking on the phone or even to someone that was relatively close to them.  Spit flying ever where and many of them didn't care or have a clue.  And they wonder how the coronavirus is spreading so fast...I'm sure the virus is already in Thailand.

 

  

"..I'm sure the virus is already in Thailand."

Stating the obvious really - If you read the OP:-

"Thailand was the first country to confirm a coronavirus case on January 12, and is currently the worst affected nation outside of China."

With the number of people infected now standing at 14, the country's health minister Anutin Charnvirakul has admitted the country “is not able to stop the spread” of the virus because there are so many Chinese travellers there."

35 minutes ago, JohnnyBKK said:

Any idea how to go out of Thailand without seeing any chinese on the way ? I don't want to go to the airport.

JetSki?

4 hours ago, Lemonltr said:

If Thailand is No. 1 risk it should be No. 1 ahead of the world in prevention. As isolation seems to be the main answer they should stop all arrivals from China. The economic effect eventually will be much greater if they do not

As BA (British Airways) has taken proactive steps already, one can assume that Thailand will follow suit!  :-

"British Airways has suspended all direct flights to and from mainland China following the outbreak of coronavirus, the airline confirmed in a statement to news outlets Wednesday morning." 

13 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Carry a small bottle of sanitizer. Speaking of which .. would chlorine or bleach work? I would guess the pharmacies will be out of the alcohol based gel next.

I would imagine bleach (undiluted) would certainly work, and probably leave your hands looking like slabs of raw meat if you left it on for any length of time!

7 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Lots of money spent, lots of hard work and for what? A series of very minor infringements. Given the crime rate across the country, you have to ask if the money and effort wouldn't be better spent policing the local population perhaps?

Yes, the masterminds of the criminal underworld must be really shaking in their shoes at this latest news that the BMW Smart cars are out all over Thailand! ????

10 hours ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

TAT always thinks of revenue, before health or anything else for that matter, they will still welcome all the Chinese tourists, and not thinking of the long term consequences.... 

"Based on numbers during the SARS outbreak in 2003, three months of reduced travel from China would result in 50 billion baht (£1.2 billion) of lost tourism revenue, Minister of Tourism and Sports, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, said."

THAT'S the thing that worries TAT!

11 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Reminds me of old black & white westerns, where the phrase 'Iron Horse' was used by the Indians (not the TAT type).

 

That wasn't lost on me. I see you left that stinging comment to near the end.

That's so you got the "point"!

22 hours ago, FarFlungFalang said:

The three counties you mention Canada,Australia and New Zealand are still members of the commonwealth and have not in fact left the the English and are still susceptible to the power of "Her Majesty the Queen of England",e.g. the 1975 sacking of the Prime Minister of Australia comes to mind.

I have given your post a "Like" and 99% of what you state is indeed fact. 

However, might I be so bold as to mention that Canada , Australia, and new Zealand, are in fact "countRies", not "counties"?

"Government agencies including the health, tourism and transport ministries are due to meet on Sunday to come up with protective measures to prevent the spread of the virus."

How about refusing entry to all Chinese? It would also be interesting to see if TAT's figures the following month still showed the usual increase in tourist arrivals!

18 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

 

So more tourists spent less money? That'll be the Indians I expect.

But it used to be somewhere between 18% - 20%

"As Mark Twain famously popularized in the public consciousness, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” 

16 minutes ago, bristolgeoff said:

Everyone knew that 6 mths ago,they were told.did they listen or take action.no.now they protest because hotels rooms down tourist numbers down. 

No, I disagree! 6 months ago (and every month as long as I can remember) TAT were insisting that the tourist figures were 4, 6, 8, 10, 12% UP from the previous month/year, until finally the leaders of hoteliers associations got fed up of their constant manipulation of the figures to make themselves look good, and began posting their own figures, which in many cases (if not ALL!) are a complete contradiction to TAT's!

For example, from the TAT Website Sept 4 2019:-

"Bangkok  – Thailand’s provincial regions are reporting steady increases in tourism revenue as a result of the domestic and international marketing push by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to promote the 55 emerging destinations.

Total revenue from tourism in 2019 is estimated at 3.20 trillion Baht, +4.3% over 2018."

3 hours ago, Brer said:

Tourists will stop coming, the ones who come first time will not be coming back.

Massive queues in immigration 

Rip off taxi drivers

Hotels that won’t take your credit card

Hotels and businesses that charge you 3% more if they do accept credit cards

Garbage strewn streets

Stink from sewers everywhere

Smoke no the air all the time

Not as cheap as your friends told you

Polluted beaches

This is from a friend first time visitor who won’t be coming back

And I wonder how many other people have friends who feel the same way?

And don't forget the "long time tourists" - the expats who are leaving due to the lack of help from their Embassies, and the moving of the goal posts by Immigration!!!

Or the "double pricing" in some restaurants! Or the more than double pricing in run down "tourist attractions"! Or the officially approved double pricing (at least) for hospital/medical treatment! Or..... I think I/we've made the point - all it needs is someone to do something about it! 

20 hours ago, CeeGee said:

same same every year,ever thought of actually trying to solve the problem???? I know it is a radical idea because you have had many years of this "problem" to find a solution.

And remember this is from the President of the Thai Travel Agents association

If the same problems have been occurring for many years then why ............?  Oh forget it!

20 hours ago, dcnx said:

Them claiming his DNA matches is a complete farce. 
 

DNA testing takes anywhere between 24 hours to 14 days in a civilized country. 

From a simple Google click:-

"Most genetic tests take 24-72 hours but the time taken for DNA to go from crime scene to identification can span as long as 14 days. By the time that the results are back, the suspects often have been released."

1 hour ago, HHTel said:

It's been suggested that the 'target' was one of the girls behind the counter who he shot 3 times. I've also read that the youngster was hit by a ricochet.

Oh, that's all right then - he didn't mean to do it!

"They further suggested that their sources indicated that the primary motive for the incident was NOT robbery."

So he went there to murder a toddler and some bystanders, and decided to steal some gold as an afterthought?

Confused? ???? I am!

22 hours ago, Surelynot said:

Doomed already. Political instability, ridiculously strong currency, poor safety record, rubbish everywhere, no gun control, corruption is rife, running out of water, poor infrastructure, little concept of customer care, Chinese zero dollar tours and the back up to falling Chinese tourism? Indian. Well I guess they've tried the cowboys they may as well give the Indian's a go.

You forgot about making it more difficult for the average expat (who is actually a long term tourist before somebody says the post is about tourists!) who spends on average half a million baht every year but is being forced out by Immigration's alternative legislation to "Proof of Income" letters.