koratkarlos

You really begin to wonder if this government cares about the Thai people. The lack of scientific and medical discipline is concerning.

Well I am not sure about the numbers. I hope they are reflective of the general downward trend. But I am sure about the COVID 19 quarantine center started yesterday one kilometer away from my house. And I live in the country. There were 30 people there yesterday morning - all sitting socially distanced. My reaction is that the published numbers don't matter now. That COVID is in my neighborhood and I must keep my guard up and maintain the social distancing, mask wearing and completion of my vaccination.

Driving around down town Chiang Mai today - So many businesses are closed. It will take some time for things to ramp up again, maybe 6 months. Maybe more. I hope people get vaccinated promptly as it appears there is no stopping the re-opening of Thailand.

What I am having trouble understanding today, if my facts are right - I'm not sure, is that people will be required to double mask Oct. 1 to dine at a restaurant while people can fly all over Thailand with the only restriction being a simple, valve-free mask. Really? It certainly appears this country will open up full throttle. If the case numbers do not go up in the next several weeks it is quite clear that all of the facts are not being put on the table. My plans are to get fully vaccinated with the Pfizer, one shot already, thank you USA and Thailand, try my best to get vaccine for my wife, then continue to stay home and social distance. Something smells funny to me.

I am retired here for 3 years now. For me my Thai marriage is much better than the one I had back in America. There are many good hearted woman here. And for the money, my life is better here than what I would have back home. So if I ignore the politics and focus on a relaxed lifestyle, then Thailand is a good place to be. I really enjoy the warm weather too!

In my humble opinion the mix of Astra Zeneca and mRNA will work and be safe. But the truth here is that these decisions are not based on science, they are based on the available vaccine supply. So any reference to good science while may be true is just cover for the fact that SB does not make enough AZ, they did not order enough AZ, they did not order enough mRNA vaccine and that Sinovac although somewhat helpful is not as good as the other widely used vaccines. I truly wish they would stop trying to reinvent this vaccination plan and stick to what has proven to work in other countries.

I believe this also. If the cases do not go up perhaps the testing, data compilation and reporting are not so accurate, as been stated before. We will see.

If you need health records consider going to a local hospital or clinic to get a "health checkup." It is a good thing to do anyway. They check your blood, weight, BMI, chest x-ray, urine and probably an EKG all for around 2000 THB with a brief talk to a doctor. Of course you can get more elaborate testing done also for more money. You can go in the morning fasting with no food and be out by lunch. Easy.

They caught him. He is captured on TV now. He was caught in Chonburi and now in custody in Bangkok.

From Chiang Mai News in English, Ben Svasti Thomson, August 22. Perhaps a potential shortage of vaccine may be the cause of these cancellations. I am not sure. But clearly not a good sign.

You may be correct with your extrapolation, especially if the sampling was random, but it is not. They are testing people going to the hospital that are sick, known clusters and people coming into the country. Since these people are suspect the 40% infection rate is probably high when referenced to the entire population. What is of great concern as you have previously reported is the lack of testing AND the fact that nobody really knows the extent of infection. How can anyone know as there is insufficient testing. And this is what is so scary. We don't know the truth. What we know is that we have a proven highly infectious Delta spreading through a largely unvaccinated population. And in other countries this has shown to be a big problem.

And one reason that the demand today is so high in Chiang Mai right now for the Moderna vaccine is that all the Thai people I know in my neighborhood will not take Sinovac. And if you don't take Sinovac you are locked out of the WallofChiangMai website. And then you have nothing. So in reality it looks like next year until a sufficient supply of vaccine is available here. It would be so nice to see actual vaccine orders, shipments, SB production numbers and a real plan to vaccinate Thailand. Right now is a spontaneous exercise of missed opportunity.

Trying now to register for Moderna at Bangkok Hospital, Chiang Mai. Getting consistent database errors. Their server is swamped. The nightmare continues and will continue as Thailand is going to reopen soon. I wish I could trust the apparent reduction in cases but with the continual decline in testing numbers, segregation of data for political purposes, and general lack of transparency who knows what the truth really is.

150,000 is less than one day's production at SB. Why bother unless there are other issues. I am concerned regarding this developmemt.

wmlc --- I really think it is about where you live in Thailand. I know I work on getting vaccinated every day. And if I was offered AstraZeneca I would be first in line. But here in Chiang Mai I must take Sinovac to get any AstraZeneca and that just is not working for me at this time. So the Thai government is determining what medical procedures/vaccines that I must take. And that really does not work for me either. So I wait. I don't sit here and complain. And I think many other forum members are not complaining. I believe we are concerned for our future, our health and the state of affairs in Thailand. The truth is that quality vaccines are not readily available and you only have a chance to get these if you live in Bangkok or Phuket. The rest of us soi dogs must wait. I will feel more encouraged when they actually order and receive quality vaccines of sufficient quantity. And I think this will not happen until next year.

Was keeping cases under 100 a condition for continuation of the Phuket Sandbox? And if so what will happen now?