anrcaccount

This is a fair view for yourself, no problem with it. Wear them, up to you. What I will call out, is when you keep insisting there's a rule/law/mandate for all on public transport - that's not true. Tolerance extends both ways.

So you're now nit picking on a point of order - that some of the government owned / operated bus services are in fact operated privately, yet they are contracted/ paid by the government authority? So a BMTA operated but contracted to a private operator bus isn't public transport? OK, that's fine, so what is public transport in Thailand? Can't be the airlines, BTS or MRT , as they don't enforce mask wearing. So can you now see, there is no public transport mask mandate in Thailand?

I'm not stating a "view". I'll stick to the facts, which are, there are no mask wearing laws/mandates for public transport in Thailand.

No, incorrect. It operates under the BMTA, a public government service. Not privately owned. I'll repeat, there are no mask rules for public transport in Thailand.

Incorrect - there are no mask rules on public transport in Thailand.

Do you have a single example of any airline in the world that's making their own rules on mask wearing when the departure/destination country doesn't require it? Doubt there's no mainstream ones that are doing this- why would they? As for the IATA, they couldn't wait to get the masks off!!

Yes it has changed - in 2020 Thai airlines were required to enforce mandatory mask wearing because of the government rules at the time. The poster was posting outdated links as facts. It wasn't recommended then, it was required. This changed earlier in 2022, when it was made no longer required. Yes, it is still recommended generally by the health authorities. That's a different point. My point is in relation to facts / rules , not rhetoric.

I know that and said it above in the thread, using Singapore Airlines as an example. Its not the airline making the rules, its the airline applying the rules of the destination country: https://www.singaporeair.com/saar5/pdf/media-centre/Maskrequirementsbydestinations.pdf and here https://mainlymiles.com/2022/11/25/which-singapore-airlines-flights-still-require-mask-wearing/ My comment was in relation to Thailand, which is a country that doesn't require masks to be worn in flights or at airports, look at the links.

You have posted outdated and incorrect information. That page is dated: Date: 12 May 2020 Have you flown lately in Thailand? Airlines are not requiring passengers to wear masks.

No they don't. Airlines need to follow the guidelines of countries they fly to/from. Have a look at something like Singapore Airlines, this is straight from their site: How will I know if my flight requires a face mask? Face masks are not required on board flights, except when travelling to or from destinations that require a face mask. An announcement will also be made at the gate before your Singapore Airlines flight to remind you if a face mask is required. When there was a mask mandate in Thailand, the airlines enforced it. Earlier this year, when the mandate was removed, they stopped.

On Japan- you're incorrect, this is a revisionist myth. Japanese wore masks pre-covid infrequently, and typically only those who were sick and kept going to work, instead of staying at home. Don't take my word for it. Google search a Shibuya crossing(busiest intersection on earth) scene 2019 and tell me how many masks you see.

Astonished is a good description. It's flabbergasting this is still occurring. It's almost becoming a Bangkok and Chiang Mai thing, in many other provinces it has dropped off. Don't even start on the rest of the world, where it is now becoming more and more uncommon by the day. I wouldn't be surprised if China goes maskless before Thailand. What will it take to get the land of smiles back? Even Japan is starting to relax a little, not that the almost universal mask wearing seemed to do much there - reporting 1 million cases last week!!

This is not correct, there is no law regarding mask wearing. That was a single statement by a health official that was widely reported in multiple articles. There is no law/mandate for public transport. If there was, the airlines would be enforcing it, as they were when there was a law in place. They are not.

It's already spread across the borders into every country in the world. It's established. Only China was trying to do the impossible by imprisoning their people at home to stop the spread, which was never going to work, and they've now dropped that. So I'm not sure what point you're making?

He's absolutely correct, apart from China. That 10 % of the planet will all be in China. Covid is well established everywhere else in the world. What happens there will happen M but unless a new variant appears, everything he said is accurate for the rest of the world.

It's about confirmity not Covid. There's no longer any logical reason for the mass mask wearing. Infection prevention isn't the aim of the Covid health response. Some exceptions apply for the very vulnerable members of society, that are relatively low in number. People who think it's all about "not getting it" have it wrong.

It's about confirmity not Covid. There's no longer any logical reason for the mass mask wearing. Infection prevention isn't the aim of the Covid health response. Some exceptions apply for the very vulnerable members of society, that are relatively low in number. People who think it's all about "not getting it" have it wrong.

Covid response is no longer about infection prevention as the goal. It's not the infections that are now under control, it's the overall health impacts are now under control. Vaccines, prior infection levels and anti virals have rendered the effects of Covid much milder than a year ago. Anutin is right on the vulnerable - but for the vast majority of people, love your life, celebrate new year and do not be concerned about Covid.

Hard to fathom that these stories are still getting front page new coverage in Thailand.

Good move. Unbelievable that dining has been banned for this long. Normality slowly returning

Did Chadchart actually say this at all, or was it just inserted by the BP? The articles don't quote him syaing it. He is no fan of the masking and wants it ended. To answer the question posed elsewhere in the thread, no, there is no mandate / law in effect relating to masks in Thailand.

Even at 'critical mass' , real world experience would suggest it doesn't really prevent Omicron transmission at a community level. Japan has 'all the time everywhere' basis in theory, except in reality, it doesn't- because people take them off to eat in Izakaya's etc , and often in offices etc too. Also being airborne the cloth/surgical masks commonly worn just don't stop Omicron enough, it is too infectious. 'All the time everywhere' mask wearing is actually impossible, which is why Japan still got almost 1,000,000 cases last week.

I'm not against this idea either. But the way it's being applied in Thailand and Japan currently is not this, and clearly in Japan having this universal level of masking , is not stopping huge amounts of transmission from occurring. The only real way to prevent community transmission with masks it would be to wear N95's permanently and not sit together unmasked to eat etc, that is dystopia and akin to a lockdown.

Masks no longer required, only in Thailand are they necessary......

Absolutely no chance of that happening. Every day as time goes by, overall there's less and less masks worn in Thailand , and certainly the rest of the world it's becoming increasingly rare. The future of covid response is not trying for infection prevention via mandated permanent mask wearing. It was only ever a temporary measure that has gone far past it's use by date, Thailand one of the few countries now you see this preventative mass mask wearing still common. Those who are concerned can choose to wear their own PPE, but unless it's an N95 and worn everywhere at all times, you cannot hide from infectious airborne viruses, you will contract it eventually.