JCP108

55 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

There's an interesting article in Bangkok Post, can't link but you'll find it, basically the Thoracic Society of Thailand on it's facebook page said Thailand is entering stage 3 and is ill prepared for it. Stage 3 being where you can't attribute infections to any know source anymore because it's making rounds in the general population. 

If you keep attributing new infections to: "had contact with a non-Chinese foreigner" can you stay in Stage Two?

What about the night markets? There's a large night market with about 120 food vendors and 50 non-food vendors that caters each evening 16:00-24:00 to a few thousand customers (who mill about shoulder to shoulder) about a block from my apartment in Bangkok. Locals in my neighborhood say those aren't being shut down at all. 

4 minutes ago, robblok said:

Guess your anti Thai bril is coloring your vision.

 

The only reason they want to put it on foreigners is not xenofobia but the fact that if its Thais they will have to admit it has reached stage 3. They are trying to prevent that. 

I think it's both.

3 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Cease and desist... please.

 

Do you know what a citation is?

If the numbers aren't being officially reported, how can we cite a source to show under-reporting?

4 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Except their graphic that's dated today (March 16) doesn't include the additional 33 cases they announced this afternoon... And I'm looking at their website tonight as of 9 pm, many hours after today's announcement, and they still haven't updated the live graphic...

 

 

No need to rush these things. It's not like it's supposed to be a real-time graphic updated daily...er, wait...

Are the Thais buying toilet paper to sell it to farangs later when it's all sold out?

I decided to not take my flight today to the U.S. via Japan due to the developments in the U.S. as well as the wildcard of what can happen here before my planned return on the 25th. Rescheduled to 4/25 with the thin hope that things will become less complicated by then. At some point in the next 4 weeks, I'll have to do a border run to re-up my non-O 90-days. Which border is anyone's guess at this point. 

1 minute ago, BestB said:

Not saying it’s a fact , but it is possible that because of hot weather, it is not spreading as fast. While most other countries are having cold weather making it easier for virus to spread. 

This has been discussed quite a bit here. See other forum threads. But, what about Malaysia and Singapore? Same climate with less visitors from elsewhere and more reported cases.

12 minutes ago, EricTh said:

I think USA is now starting to give nation-wide Covid-19 test by next week. It isn't just a general medical cert but a Covid-19 test. Watch video below at 2:40 for the announcement.

 

 

Actually, most things he has said about this health crisis has been objectively not true so far. So, I wouldn't rely on his announcement of such to mean that those tests will be actually widely available on that schedule. 

1 minute ago, RichardColeman said:

Imagine the hotel reactions when tourists start saying they will quarantine themselves in their hotels for 14 days just in case - be immediately evicted at check in !

I have an apartment here. So, easy for me to hide out for two weeks. But, I have been wondering that same thing throughout all of this home-quarantine discussion. Do they really think hotels are happy to become de facto sanitariums? Lol!!!

3 minutes ago, bill1369 said:

 

I'd be concerned Immigration at LAX might reuire a 14 day quarantine of you. Good luck!!

 

I'm flying Tokyo to Chicago. Can't find anything that says O'Hare is requiring quarantine. 

26 minutes ago, steve187 said:

all Thai's get free (30 baht) in the hospital where they are registered they need to be in a house book in that hospitals area, some Thai's do not live near where they are registered so have to pay at the local hospital near where they live.

Aha, thanks for the clarification.

47 minutes ago, steve187 said:

since when does a Thai national require a work permit, you are talking out of something other than your mouth, they are covered under the 30 baht health scheme, no need to have a job

I am just speaking from my personal experience having a Thai wife (not degree and self-employed) who owns a shop and gets cheaper care via the government hospitals but doesn't get the subsidized care her sister does (with a degree and a regular teaching job). It was explained to me that you get to buy into the national coverage with a job but not as a self-employed person or day worker. Perhaps I have understood it incorrectly. I thought it was the same thing as when a foreign person gets a work permit and then can pay into the healthcare system for that coverage that my wife's sister gets. 

1 hour ago, bangkokfrog said:

Can someone please explain why Thai citizens returning from overseas need insurance cover when they are entitled to unlimited free medical treatment when they get here? If this is a Korean requirement, the Thai government must do something to help them immediately. If a Thai requirement (and yet another example of government stupidity), then same same.

I think this is because Thai people get subsidized, super-cheap care if they are in the system that only comes with having a job in Thailand that carries a work permit and wherein the employer (or the employee) is able to pay the small, monthly insurance fee. Many Thai people have unconventional (though common) jobs such as laborers and food workers which don't have official work permits. If they don't have buy-in with that system, they can still get less expensive care via the government hospitals. But, they pay more out-of-pocket and many Thai people find that prohibitively expensive. 

6 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

How can you actually learn the rules of the road AND learn to drive a coach AND a truck in 3 days?

My stepson passed these driver's licenses in Nong Han, Udon Thani province a few weeks ago .
He went there 3 days;
classes start at 9 am, end at 4 pm and of course a few breaks including lunch ...

If I ask him how many meters it will take him to stop if he drives 60 km / h on a wet road;
he is unable to give me the right answer.

What the <deleted> do they learn, then? When I got my USA motorcycle license via the course given at the local Harley dealership, two days of classroom time (learning exactly those types of facts about motorcycle and car performance) was followed by two entire days of being made to stop in straight lines and curves over and over and over until we did it correctly. Thus, I was a safe rider after that and only got my license after passing a strict and complicated performance test. 

6 minutes ago, madmitch said:

Each hotel has its own policy and many are much cheaper. It is a difficult balance as they don't want people invoking free cancellation and rebooking at half the price.

I get that. But, I have been here during crises (for example in 2008) and also traveled to the South during high and off seasons quite a bit. Seems like prices aren't as low as I normally encounter during April. 

AirAsia has slightly lower domestic flight prices now. Hotels in the South don't seem to be giving any good prices. Just checked the hotel we normally stay at in Kata Beach and they have kept the prices the same (though they have jacked the fake base price up five times and are claiming to offer an 80% discount [which, if you do the math, puts you back at the same price]). Ho hum. 

8 minutes ago, JerseytoBKK said:

I'm heading to the US (east coast) next week and am avoiding Cathay and JAL which I normally fly because I don't want to route through HKG, Seoul and Tokyo. Going through Munich on the way there with Thai connecting to Lufthansa. When I return in 4 weeks, I'll either route through London, Copenhagen or Zurich. Lots of choices to those airports and Thai flies from them to BKK. Another choice would be Austrian which flies from US-VIE-BKK.

 

If you're going to the West coast, then can still route through Manila or head east and go through Europe or ME countries.  

That's a good idea...I thought about flying through Zurich on my return in two weeks. But, Swiss Air and Thai both have 6+ hours for layover in Zurich which makes an already long trip even longer. The transit in Japan is only 3 hours. Praying that Japan doesn't get moved to List #1 in the next two weeks.