JonnyF

Well, I'm not sure that flying half way around the world to an Omicron hotspot for a holiday is necessarily the best way to stay safe and protect oneself, especially if you have underlying health conditions. Likewise, I am not sure sitting on an aeroplane for a 24 hour flight (twice) is the best way to socially distance but I certainly hope you manage to avoid a) catching it and b) bringing it back here.

I'm not sure if you said that or not. I'm not going to trawl through all your posts but it just doesn't seem very consistent with your overall stance of ultra caution and constantly reminding everyone to stay safe etc. I guess when you need a holiday this approach can be adjusted a little bit. Piers Morgan was the same. Anyway, I hope you have a great time, stay safe and don't bring it back to Thailand with you.

555 you've changed your tune. It wouldn't be because you are one of the 200,000 would it? A bit like Piers Morgan preaching for everyone to stay safe and then flying off to Antigua for a holiday. So you're off to the States where Omnicron is rampant and then coming back to Thailand on the Test & Go scheme? In that case, let's leave it all open until you're back, right? Unless the trip is absolutely vital, it seems a bit hypocritical given your stance up to now about everyone being super vigilent, on the side of caution etc. I'm actually in favour of keeping it open. But if you're going to close, then close. It makes no sense to let 200,000 in when it's obvious that some of them will have it. Like I said, it's closing the door after the horse has bolted. Pointless.

Yes it's already here. So why let in another 200,000? Are they saying it's not here enough to see how it spreads? They need to let another 200,000 people in to get more Omicron and get a better idea how it spreads? Why wait to do this? It doesn't make sense to me. Either do it properly or don't bother. This is the worst of both worlds.

So they're going to let Omicron in AND destroy tourism. Either do it properly or don't do it at all. Letting 200,000 people in before tightening things is mad. It will be too late by then. I'm happy for those who get to avoid quarantine, but this is a case of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. In fact it's even worse than that, it's knowing that the horse will bolt, waiting until he does so, and then closing the door.

Although it seems "fair" to grandfather in the 90,000 that have already applied, it doesn't really make sense in terms of stopping Omicron, which is the whole point of this. Some of those 90,000 will have it. They will bring it in and it will spread. So really, what's the point of the half hearted approach? Either do it properly or don't do it at all (I'd prefer the 'Don't do it at all' approach and keep T&G). Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for those that will avoid quarantine because that must really suck, but it seems this policy will destroy the last remnants of tourism and let Omicron in anyway. The worst of both worlds.

Yeah it's not that clear from the article when some of them tested positive (at the airport or later), although it IS clear that the Colombian and his wife were free to roam in Phuket for 14 days before testing positive. I would imagine there is more than 1 person at high risk from this couple unless he (and his wife) stayed in their hotel room for 14 days voluntarily. I wonder why he didn't test positive at the airport and how many others slipped through the net and were asymptomatic. In any case, it's clearly here now so it's only a matter of time before this blows up. I wouldn't rule out inter provincial travel being ruled out before New Year.

These were found in the community or from incoming travellers testing at the airport?

Yes, but the first Omicron was identified in the UK on 27th November so you have to assume it was around for at least a few days before that. So well over the 2 week period. More likely approaching a month. Cases have been rocketing since around mid November. Yet deaths in the same period can be seen after the vertical line. Deaths are actually decreasing in the last week despite the astronomical increase in cases. https://westbridgfordwire.com/uk-covid-20-december/ So no matter how you spin it, the actual figures look promising.

No. Try harder.

The contents of Pattaya's bar sois are hardly representative of the entire Caucasian race. That's the equivalent of hanging around Compton at 3am and declaring that all black people are gun toting criminals. Or hanging around Issan villages for a few hours and declaring all Asians are dark skinned rice farmers. Or indeed, hanging around Soi 6 and declaring that all Asian women are uneducated, tattooed prostitutes. All equally stupid generalizations that say far more about the person making them than the group they are attempting to denigrate.

It was always going to arrive, despite Anutin's asinine chest thumping about it being no match for Thailand. Now, Thailand will have to decide how it reacts. Does it panic, lock down and destroy what is left of the economy, ruining people's businesses, livelihoods, mental health and education? Or does it ramp up the vaccination/booster program and allow it's citizens to decide what level of risk they deem is appropriate for them?

Offloading the responsibility so that he can later offload the blame. What a great leader. The one and only Khun Prayut Chan-o-Cha.

Exactly. And it's not only the expense. Who wants to spend 50% of a 2 week holiday locked in their hotel room?

No they don't. No Thai would ever refer to a black African as a farang. Nor would they refer to someone from another Asian country as a farang. It refers to Caucasians and you know it.

You didn't say foreigners, you said farangs which is a nickname for a race of people (Caucasians). Just own it and try to improve yourself. Racism is ugly in all it's forms (yes, even when it is against Caucasians).

Yes, claiming that Caucasians (you even used a nickname to refer to this racial group) shower less frequently than another group is a racist comment. It's like using a nickname for black people (I won't give you an example but I am sure you know a few) to say that they smell worse than another group. It's a stupid generalization and just because the insult is against Caucasians does not mean it is not racist. PS I am fairly sure my educational qualifications would compare favourably to yours.

I am saying that if you wish to make silly generalizations with racist undertones you should have data to back them up.

Please provide a link with empirical data. Or are you just assuming all farang share your showering habits?

Yeah about 4 of us typed the same thing at the same time ????.

I was struggling to comtemplate how Thai politics could get any worse. Now I know.

Given how transmissable Omicron is, it sounds like other passengers on the plane would have caught it from these arrivals. Which means it's already here (unless they quarantined the whole plane including the crew). Either way, it seems inevitable that Test & Go will be scrapped within the next few days. I'm glad I didn't go home for Christmas now...

I'm not sure of the wisdom of this. Omicron is going to get here sooner or later. They are already testing people on arrival and isolating them if they test positive so isolating people who test negative on arrival seems a bit OTT to me. I guess what they are really saying is that the Covid tests are not accurate and there will be false negatives but given the inevitability of this variant getting a hold here it seems that they are really "whistling" in the wind. On the other hand, it's not like millions of people are coming anyway so maybe they could argue they are only destroying the battered remants of the tourist industry anyway. Either way, it's only a matter of time. Omicron is coming. It's a good job the symptoms are generally so mild.

It seems certain people are just begging for it to take a turn for the worse. I dont get the clamouring for bad news. Is that because they don't really have a social life and enjoy lockdown? Is that because they don't really like Thailand very much and want to see it fail? Is that because their relative wealth increases when those around them get poorer? Is that because they enjoy playing the virtuous great white knight saving the grateful peasants? I dont know the reason but let's hope the positive trend continues and we can all get back to normal ASAP. Personally I believe omicron will be the final chapter when covid turns into something akin to the common cold but I'm sure those with vested interests will try to drag it out another year or two.

Great to see the numbers continue to drop despite the merchants of doom and general fear mongering. Let's hope the downward trend continues.