Blumpie

Don't worry about it. You get a sniffle and a sore throat. IT doubles every 3 days. The whole population will be exposed to it. Good thing it's relatively benign. You aren't stopping this kind of transmissibility.

This graph is great! You are not going to stop omicron. It is far far far too transmissible. This will be over in some months, and will not be drawn out. It is impossible to stop this, like it or not.

These are great stories and it's exciting! We need to understand that we still don't know for sure but it's looking that way more and more every day. IT's good news and I don't see it going any other way, but we can't jump to that conclusion yet. We all know why they are trying to slow the spread - horrifyingly high spreadability, the hospitals will once again be overwhelmed. This thing doubles every 2-3 days! Incredible! If it's as good as it sounds, let's get herd immunity as soon as we know. One big factor that we don't know is is there long covid symptoms with this seemingly and probable mild form of the disease? I sure hope not. This is an exciting time and we will be seeing real action in the world starting soon. How many factories will shut? Will China keep it out? I doubt that. What will they do with their policy of zero covid? How will Thailand compare with its relatively high amount of natural immunity from previous infections and vaccine rate? Lots going on in the news. Every day we are learning more and more.

IF he was smart he wouldn't say anything, LOL! I know a few countries there that are great, but you womanizers would have some serious problems. ????

I could pick out many more comments to refer this comment too. It's not easy to get to Thailand, and much of the gobbley-gook that they release on their website if for the sugar junkies - they want to be told that things will return to normal, when you and I know it's not going to happen anytime soon. Thailand is a destination for a wide variety of people, and the surge in tourism over the last few years has been from real tourists, not people wanting an extended break from the cold. (these are tourists too, but different) I find it hard to lure any of the 2 groups back, but you never know. Frankly, places go in and out of fashion like the waves of the sea. Look at Indonesia, Vietnam, so many other places that can give you an extended break from the cold. And cheap too. Unfortunately Thailand isn't as cheap as it once was. WE can deal with that but it does have an effect. 40 million tourists will have to be made up of real holiday makers from regional countries - I wish them the best with that.

I agree your numbers could very well be true. Chinese are not coming back to Thailand anytime soon. They have a zero covid policy there. And that is a huge driver of tourism, like it or not. And China just doesn't care - I know they are happy having their people stay put with domestic tourism. They will certainly be among some of the last to appear in Thailand.

OF course it is. How on earth are you going to get home now? It's not just getting to Thailand that is the problem. Shuttling through airports, getting apps, tests, uploading documents, and if you don't get your test in time you're hooped. I've heard it all from the tourism industry with so many problems, missed flights, and people quarantining in hotels with covid and having no symptoms at all. It is not a stress free way to go now and people realize that. When the pandemic ends that is when the recovery will start. And it will take a little while and it won't be all at once.

This isn't a light switch that you're talking about, this is about a post pandemic recovery. Planes are not ready to go, crews are not ready to go and hotels in Thailand now shuttered will take time to become feasible again. There will be bottlenecks all over the place. I urge you to again stop thinking about your own personal circumstance and look at the broader picture of tourism - real tourists on a care free holiday. I don't see it happening before 2023 and even then that's a pipe dream. IT's going to take time for all this to ramp up. As usual, Thailands behaviour appears to be ill informed, ill advised, and as silly as giving sugar to a baby. Sure it tastes good but there's no substance there.

I see 2023 being a real possibility of a recovery of sorts. I rightly, as so many here predicted that this year would be a total and utter flop. 2022 is not looking much better - let's see if omicron wipes out the pandemic or not. The world bank. At least it's a reputable organization making these predictions, not the Thai Government.

Well I see no new cases of omni-ding-dong since Wednesday. ???? Of course it could be a lack of reporting too. In thailand, which would be the case...

Oh absolutely you have the right to be very suspicious of many claims, even mine. It was a singular incident. ???? I only had one friend say that to me. He didn't like it here, but oh well. I still enjoyed it, but I'm not planning a trip back there under these current restrictions.

Heretic! ???? ????

Ha ha ha no kidding. Thailand is not a rich destination. I had the same experience with a friend. When he left he gave me all his thiabhat and said you can have this I'm never coming here again.

I wouldn't worry about the official word - this variant will take over. It is 8x more transmissible than delta. There is no stopping it unless yo live in a bubble.

It's pretty simple - we need to see how bad this is and restrictions need to be in place before we just let this thing rip. I don't see it being that bad but who the hell am I, a doctor? No.

Omicron is a freight train that is going to run into everyone. That's the bad news. The good news is it is far less virulent - even the WHO says so. Like it or not it's coming and it appears that it hasn't spread to the community yet in Thailand. I write appears so, but we all know that it has. There is no stopping this. Is this the end of the pandemic, its final wave? Many virologists say this could be it. Let's wait and see and hope. I remain hopeful.

Lost in the headline, seemingly, was 2023. Sounds like someone is shooting for targets that aren't the outer reaches of the galaxy. Still too far, but I digress, I do hope that your high quality tourists do enjoy the streets, rats, trash, and sewer stink. ????

Thanks Sherlock!

JP Morgan is predicting this is the end of the epidemic. I believe it may be too. Of course we could all die but who cares, we're either going to go tomorrow or in 10, 20, 30 years so who cares?

Anyways, omicron is going to be sweeping entire countries shortly. They are just trying to slow it down a bit. We have no control over this one - it is too transmissible. Good news is so far hardly any symptoms. Let's hope that this holds true.

Hey can I PM you? I have a hard luck story too. I'll tell you anything you want to hear. Anything! ????

Absolutely beautiful statement. If someone doesn't think that COVID kills or can leave you with lifelong, life changing symptoms then they can roll the dice. Darwin tells us all about you. Thrice vaccinated, nothing has fallen off yet. ????

By the way, whatever it costs to repatriate his remains will come out of his estate anyways eventually. Are these people thinking that they can just bank the money? Just send his body home. Cremate him there and pick his ashes later. Nah, I would never contribute to a cause like this. With people starving to death around the world, dying of preventable diseases I don't think that their family has thought this through. Respect given to them though, they aren't thinking straight either I bet. IT's a huge shock.

What happens to this body that I inhabit ends when I die. It has nothing to do with respect for the dead. The body is finished, done. Cremate me there. Nothing disrespectful about that, or tossing me in a common grave. I just don't care really. If I"m not cremated the worms will eat me. We are all just passing through here, this isn't our home. We're going to eternal blackness or whatever each individual thinks. Or another body. Maybe I'll be an ant and you can step on me!

YEs it takes time to get all that paperwork done. Sometimes years. Nah, I'm not going to donate to get him home. But them I'm a cheap older guy....