NanLaew

Mind the door.

Then we can ban you for displaying your ignorance. Deal?

The politicians have "no idea what mutations and strains are going around in China at the moment" and it's driving them nuts.

What you have forgotten is that mainland China has kept Covid bottled up with their zero-Covid rules since 2020 so there's been no need for the virus to mutate like it has in the rest of the world. The following is all you need to know on why Thailand faces a unique dilemma with regard to Covid in 2023 (my emphasis).

Not wishing to pre-empt any response from the forum's most medically educated and respected member but I would consider the same advice and recommendations from home apply here. If you are over 60 and/or have per-existing conditions, then get a booster. If one is traveling frequently or socially active, even more reason to keep them antibodies topped-up.

It's the gun that Uncle Bob gave the kid for his fifth birthday?

A six year-old cannot ever be described as a '"young man", no matter how much you want to prejudice any future trial.

This would have been an airline specific policy or perhaps an Indonesia/Singapore policy. Thailand did not require it. Correct. Last June, AirAsia required to see my vaccination status at Don Muang for a flight to Kota Kinabalu via KL. A week later, I had to register online with the Singaporean health authorities 72-hours ahead of my AirAsia flight from Kota Kinabalu to Singapore. Immigration at Changi specifically asked to see my vaccination proof but not for my friend who had just arrived from KL.

No, not good enough. The forum's armchair sleuths will wonder why they are 'unable to say' as in the "who is stopping them from saying?" sort of Huayyai gangster kingpin nonsense conjecture. Easier just to say that the police haven't discovered a motive yet. I lived on the dark side of Pattaya and the Huayyai area always had a reputation of being a bit of a black hole for the bad guys, sort of the 'badlands' of the dark side. As I settle in my armchair, I think this is probably a gangland hit gone wrong and a case of mistaken identity. Someone, somewhere out there used to have the same model/color motorbike as the victim. RIP

You following that thread too eh?

My Canadian "pure blood" buddy delayed his visit to Thailand until his government let him out. He is quite upset right now since he had already decided he'd come here for a vacation some time after the Daytona 500. You snooze, you lose, eh?

"NHS England has said the fears of a "twindemic" of Covid and flu have already been realised, with both viruses putting strain on an already stretched NHS. " So absolutely nothing to do with systemic and chronic underfunding of the NHS by successive Tory governments then? Just the pesky Covid and seasonal flu again? It's all politics.

The scientists, virologists and specialists in that field say that China is very unlikely to be the source of any new Covid variants. Unfortunately, some politicians think otherwise.

My friend flew in from the UK a few days back for a 30-day vacation here. I reminded him that he didn't need proof of vaccination to enter Thailand. He's 65, fully (2) vaccinated and double (2) boostered. I also told him to bring the proof anyway as things may be different next month when he wants to go home.

No I didn't. I questioned why Singapore mainstream media would say they were effective while the scientific community broadly suggests otherwise. That's all.

Yes. Whether you travel or not. I've flown over 45,000 km across three continent's and in and out of half-a-dozen countries in five months and two shots is still considered "fully vaccinated". A booster was recommended for the over 60's, but that's about it.

Only for farangs maybe. When I boldly stride around the local Big C maskless up here in Bahn Nawk, most of the locals are masked up and most of the farang squatters, like myself, aren't.

No. But it's up to you.

They're just playing follow the leader. The US says they will test arrivals from China, The UK says "no plans" for tests. Twenty-four hours later, UK requires tests. The EU said they won't and Von der Leyen herself goes on the record saying it's discriminatory. Twenty-for hours later, the EU follow the herd. The US sees Xi's U-turn on zero-covid at home as a moment of weakness and plays the the rest of the world. Why does EVERYTHING have to be a Thai bash?

This China panic isn't remotely linked to China's in-country health struggles wrought of dictatorial rule or the fact that everyone going TO China has to be tested up the ying yang. This is about a politicized knee-jerk to their relaxation of travel restrictions for everyone coming FROM mainland China. The WHO says it's endemic. If China says it's otherwise, that's their problem but by relaxing the travel restrictions and need for testing, they are only doing what every other nation wanted and that was get back to (the new) normal. Reigniting the Chinese covid bogeyman arguments is a total waste of time, unless you are a politician with a marginal degree of popular support.

I already posted FOUR links to support my view that Singapore nurtures a special relationship with mainland China.

So your saying the US started all of this new testing? That's laughable. Tell me how and why.... Ah, grasshopper... First, can you tell me what value there is in PCR testing those arriving from China into a global community where close to 80% of the population are already fully vaccinated and most have already caught and shrugged off at least one bout of Covid due to being fully vaccinated or having a stronger immune system?

Still no link? Link to what? This? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64119080 I was agreeing with the EU's comment in the BBC article. This is just another politicization of a disease that the WHO has already declared endemic.

The "rules of the forum" require what now? You posted a single article from Singapore's media about how good the non-mRNA vaccines are. I posted a comment that Singapore would have a sound reason to fly in the face of medical reasoning with this stance. You asked for citations why I would say this. I posted citations that illustrate the special relationship. That's all. I may have been impolite with my hand-holding suggestion but maybe you should read more. I never suggested, postulated or posted "conspiracy theories and misinformation."

But every developed country on the planet is also requiring tests for Chinese arrivals. The politicians of every developed country on the planet are ignoring the science and advice of their own, qualified medical advisers to jump on the "ban the Chinese" bandwagon by requiring tests for Chinese arrivals. There, that's better.