DBath

1 hour ago, bangon04 said:

The Jetski rentals are all lined up along the beach already, and the tourist police are already sitting on the deckchairs with their notebooks ready....

YEs, but the question is: what are they going to do when nobody shows up?

"...he was expecting something around 300....when others see how safe it is they will decide to come....100,000 visitors in the next three months will spend 9 billion baht."

300 is laughable. Even at 300 per day it will take 333 days to get to 100,000 tourists.

Thanks, I really needed a good laugh today!!

There's nothing funny about covid, but I find it almost comical when people say things like, "I will take the Sinovac, then will take something else later when it's available...". It's as if people are willing to put anything into their bodies, as long as the WHO or CDC and others say it's a good idea. Especially with all the misinformation and varying test results country to country.

I understand someone who is in a high-risk group, wanting to queue-up for a jab, being desperate enough to accept whatever is available as long as it can prevent death and I don't have any problem with that mindset. What bothers me are those who try to convince me and/or others they should accept something that is not "fully baked", especially when I'm not in a high-risk group and it's put forth by some corrupt government that only wants to offer one or two alternatives of a vaccine and has proven themselves incapable of rolling out a solution.

7 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Do I get the feeling that some expect vaccine to be 100% effective. No vaccine since Edward Jenner innoculated a 13 year old boy for smallbox in 1798 is 100% effectiveness. Even a 50% effectiveness will mean that you got 50% less chance of infection, serious illness or deaths. Isn't that worthy percentage to get your shot or is racial profiling gets in your way of a sensible decision. 

Thank you for the history lesson, but let me remind you this isn't 1798 nor should people's expectations be aligned with technology or a vaccine that was developed that far back - let alone developed in a country with sub-standard capabilities - such as China. Where the virus originated in the first place.

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

You expressed a really silly opinion.....and now wish to blame it on me..

Nothing silly about it - just your opinion. Unlike you, I couldn't care less if you decide to get poked with an inferior vaccine. I'll wait for something better or maybe even nothing. I've no problem abstaining any more than I have a problem with those who decide to get jabbed. I DO have a problem with people like you who want to force their opinion(s) on me or on others.

2 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Your Sinovac alternative.....

I don't have a Sinovac alternative. My point is counter to Sinovac, but perhaps your reading comprehension is poor.

6 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Your opinion is similar.......

Similar to what? You really want to support one of those China vaccines? Really???

8 hours ago, malibukid said:

the Sinovac is not as effective as the J&J, Moderna against the emerging variants.  3 shots of the Sinovac vaccine would be required to match the efficacy of the Moderna and or the J&J. also Sinovac is not officially accepted for vaccinated travel into most countries with the exception of China.  but its your body.

IMO, Injecting cow manure would be better than injecting Sinovac.

21 hours ago, ThaiFelix said:

Oh no this cant be correct.....its made by the baddies!!??

You go first...

22 hours ago, The Cipher said:

Good to hear this, and to see that it was a joint US-Thai effort that produced these results.

 

Hopefully this will help reassure some of those of those on the fence to get vaccinated! ????‍⚕️

I'm on the fence and that is where I'll stay.

19 hours ago, DBath said:

I honestly thought I would get a rise out of ChipButty on this, but he's apparently decided to take the high road on me.

2 hours ago, robsamui said:

Erm . . . remind me again . . . where exactly did this mysterious supervirus suddenly appear . . . ?? What country did it 'escape' from?
(nod, nudge, wink)

I could tell you some stories about working in China with the CCP. Perhaps over many, many beers one day.

2 minutes ago, nkg said:

 

 

A quick look on ebay shows plenty of iPhone 6s going for £40-£50. I have 2 myself - unused following an upgrade - many others will also have an old iPhone/Android that they could use. Perhaps this wouldn't be an option for non-technical users, though, and it is another obstacle. Although 95% of phone users leave "location services" on by default anyway ... they are already being tracked all the time.

 

I suspect that the rules will be greatly relaxed by December, assuming that Phuket's tourists don't somehow cause a mini-pandemic.

 

This being the only reason I would even consider having two phones (to avoid location tracking), but it's not a good enough reason for me to go out and buy one. It's too much hassle and I would venture that the vast majority of people do not have two mobile phones.

I think it's going to take some time for international tourists to come here, even after things stabilize and it could be many years after that - or never - that Thailand sees the volume of tourism it saw in 2019, and let's face it, things are far from stable at this point. 

2 minutes ago, bolt said:

who are you talking to me, or nanaplaza666 ??

Surely, a self-proclaimed 'smart guy' such as yourself is capable of figuring it out.

7 minutes ago, bolt said:

who are you talking to ?? your self 

I always find posts like yours amusing. You are the kind of person I usually end up blocking, because rarely is there any hope of rehabilitation.

You frequently come on here and attack people for insignificant things, then add no value whatsoever in the form of an intelligent rebuttal. You must be stressed out, perhaps you should consider unwinding for a while and take a break from TVF (in other words, get a life!)...

7 minutes ago, nkg said:

 

 

As I implied in my previous post, you could install the tracking app on your backup phone and leave it plugged into the charger in your hotel room, if you were very concerned about privacy,

 

Yes, the sandbox will "fail" insomuch as it will probably only attract tens of thousands of people between July - September. Almost all of whom will be returning expats.

 

Nov-Dec will be the real test.

 

I want to see things get back to normal again as much as anyone, but I think we are a ways off from that, I could be wrong though. It won't be the first time and probably not the last, either. I thought about, what would I do if I was required to install a tracking app on my phone, but didn't get very far with that one. If one has two phones, then your suggestion would work, but I suspect the majority of people don't keep two phones with them; and buying one just for that purpose would seem to be just another deterrent from coming here in the first place.

3 hours ago, nkg said:

Well, according to Richard Barrow, the wristbands were only suggested as an alternative for people without smartphones:

 

I frequently disagree with stevenl, but he's probably correct that the wristbands won't be mandatory (you can install the app on one of your phones instead).

 

Your points considered, even though tracked via smartphone may seem less intrucive than a gps bracelet, bottom line is you’re going to be tracked, so why would anyone want to accept that or risk losing your money on lodging, because you happen to test positive upon arrival?

IMO, and my original point was: the sandbox is going to fail, because no significant amount of tourists will come. It’s that point that clearly triggered @stevenl and @bolt , not whether or not my information may have been a little stale.
 

Let’s face it, there’s still so much speculation and the information being reported changes - literally daily. 
 

Time will tell, I guess, but the opinions of most here clearly would indicate the sandbox is going to be nothing more than another poorly executed scheme. 
 

You can correct me if I’m wrong on that, when plane-loads of tourists arrive, but I wouldn’t bet money on it. 

56 minutes ago, stevenl said:

So you get corrected on the points you made, the bracelets which are not there, the restaurants that will sell a beer with dinner and the massage shops that will be open, and in response you come with a personal attack and irrelevant points to the reply made.

You’re pretty much spot on in your assessment, chief. Except for what you said about the personal attack and the irrelevant points…
 

Maybe you’re the overly sensitive type or you think anyone who stands up to you or disagrees with you is an attacker - your problem, not mine. As far as me being irrelevant, I will tell you there is no way in heII this whacky sandbox scheme you seem to be supporting is going to get off the ground. And I’ve not seen one person on here besides you who is willing to stand up for this obvious circus act of a lost cause. 
 

And where has it ever been retracted that sandbox tourists won’t be required to wear tracking bracelets? Stop making up SHlT. 

18 minutes ago, friendofthai said:

This professor is a politician actually, not a medical specialist:
https://www.research.chula.ac.th/researcher-/siripan-nogsuan-sawasdee/
So she has made a political statement, not medical one. I would rather allow a gynecologist to treat my teeth than allow such a politician to tell me what vaccine to choose.

…And I would rather allow a gynecologist to treat my teeth than allow a politician to jab me with either of those Chinese vaccine’s. That is in essence what I feel is happening here. 

3 hours ago, Jajazazajaja said:

 

poor quality? Well the WHO disagreed 

 

According to the WHO, which recently granted both vaccines “Emergency Use Listings”, Sinovac’s vaccine efficacy stands at 51% against symptomatic disease and 100% against severe disease.

 

If we can 100% eliminate severe COVID then this pandemic is over

 

do you understand?

“The WHO EUL’s for those two vaccines were unique in that unlike the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Jonhson & Johonson vaccines that it had also approved, neither had undergone review and approval by a strict national or regional regulatory authority such as the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency. Nor have Phase 3 results of the Sinopharm and Sinovac trials been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.”

Pretty much tells me all I need to know.  The only question I have is, why is WHO still kissing up to China and giving them, yet again, another pass?

3 hours ago, JamieM said:

I understand that the WHO organisations word is not to be trusted, nor in the best interests of the Thai people.

 

NEVER FORGET

WHO were the ones deliberately misleading people (to steal an earlier phrase used by @Jajazazajaja).

6 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Sinovac is popular with the developing countries because it is the cheapest of the other available vaccines. Don't understand the rationale behind the professor criticism. 

From an earlier post by @mtls2005:

2 hours ago, wwest5829 said:

Polio shots and on sugar cubes when I was in school (although this was my parents decision). 

I've always wondered, what did they do when they ran out of vaccine in those days, just start giving us placebo sugar cubes? 

Here, they could put water or maybe even some Johnny Walker into a syringe and administer that. It might buy them some time until they get their act together and source the real thing. Maybe it would even take some of the pressure off. Not sure what it would do to the covid infection rates, but it might be interesting to see.

"Rubbish!!!", you might say...

"You've no sense of humor!!", I say.