JonnyF

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/15/londoners-with-cold-symptoms-more-likely-to-have-covid-expert-omicron

Omicron is coming to Thailand and there is nothing anyone can do about it. They could delay it by locking down the borders for a year or so, but even then it would get in via illegal border crossings. Of course, when the number of tests done per day in Thailand is lower than the number of cases per day in the UK, we'll probably never know bad it gets here. Fortunately it has symptoms akin to a mild cold. Let's hope the official numbers keep falling and restrictions are sensible/minimal so we can all get on with our lives.

Well 29 minutes ago you were criticizing the decision to allow people to travel. Doesn't sound like a great supporter of individual freedoms to me.

Because you call for ever more tightening of restrictions and lockdowns at the mere mention of a new, milder variant. So the logical conclusion to draw from this is that individual liberty, freedom and personal choice are not particularly important to you.

You missed the point. I am saying I know why the government is not releasing the details. If it fit their agenda, they'd obviously have released the details already and the likes of the BBC/Sky would pounce on it and hype everyone up into another frenzied panic. And yet they haven't. I wonder why? It's a real tough one to work out, I'm literally scratching my chin ????.

I'm saying let's wait and see if the number of hospitalizations rise. I don't believe they will. Not just lock everyone in their homes, destroying businesses, education, mental health and then find out it was all for no reason.

I think JP Morgan might be right. I also think that is why governments are hyping up Omicron as being worse than it is. They need a few more months to get through their various policies and agendas.

Well, a vaccine company talking up the effectiveness of more vaccines probably isn't a huge shocker. Maybe 3 is better than 2. Maybe 10 is better than 9. But neither statement is enough to justify another lockdown due to a new, milder variant. Agree on the vitamin supplements though. I take a Centrum most days. Weight loss is also effective.

They aren't really. 2 recent jabs should be enough, plus a lot of people have natural immunity from contracting Covid and recovering. It's just another dangling carrot. The thin end of the wedge. "Just one more and it will be all be over, trust me". A bit like 3 weeks to flatten the curve turning into months and months of lockdown. Testing for antibodies would be a better way forward. But a lot of people are making a lot of money from this. Others enjoy the control it gives them and it allows things like vaccine passports to be pushed through. I wouldn't be expecting this train to stop for a while. Never let a good crisis go to waste.

No evidence for that happening. Omicron has mild symptoms that requires a low % of people to need hospitalization. If they start getting swamped, review it at that point in time. Don't lock down when things are perfectly manageable. The restrictions would cause more harm than good if it's done too early. The "cure" would cause more harm than the disease. The sky isn't falling just because a new, mild variant has been found. Like I said, if you're scared then you are free to lock yourself down. The rest of us are happy to get on with our lives taking whatever precautions we deem necessary.

Vaccinations.

No need to be a drama queen. Omicron has very mild symptoms. Isolating at home will be fine for most.

Well that's their personal choice isn't it. I've got mine booked for next month. But frankly, if the first 2 jabs weren't the way out of this then I am doubtful that the 3rd will miraculously change everything. What gets us out of this is for people to grow a pair, get the jab (if they wish) and then get on with life. If you wish to hide behind the sofa for a couple more years, I certainly won't be objecting.

Ignore my previous comment, I don't think Philosophy is really your bag. First lockdowns were the answer, but they didn't work since they really just destroyed the economy and livelihoods and Covid remained. Then vaccines were the way out of this (and I believe they are since they reduce symptoms and deaths which is the main thing), but you couldn't really make a better case for the "anti vaxers" than locking down the population again after everyone got jabbed - I'm double jabbed by the way so forget about labeling me anti-vax. So if vaccines don't really work (if cases not deaths are going to be used as the key indicator), shall we just lockdown every few months every time a mutation with symptoms akin to a mild cold comes along? Just let people die of other undiagnosed illnesses, take their own lives from depression, lose their homes, their businesses, deprive kids of their education. Meanwhile people like you think locking down is the "right thing to do" and is somehow more responsible. The old "I'm alright Jack" approach.

Such an enlightening remark. Have you considered a thesis in Philosophy for your 3rd PhD?

So why not just provide the details and we can all stop guessing? If the details provided proof of how deadly Omicron was don't you think they would have released that? It certainly fits their narrative of how we all need to get the booster and hide behind the sofa for a few more months. The paucity of detail tells me everything I need to know.

So let them provide the full details. Because if only one person has died and they were old with pre-existing conditions then they shouldn't be using that to remove people's freedoms. You might like authoritarian governments that use scare stories to deny liberty and freedom, but don't assume everyone does.

Really? Governments were using Covid as a tool to control the population in December 2019? You hadn't even heard of it then, let alone had your day to day life affected by it. Maybe time works differently in your world?

They need to give details, not just scare people. Just saying someone died "with" Omicron sounds suspiciously like an 85 year old with terminal cancer got hit by a truck and later tested positive at the morgue. If that's not the case, let's hear the details. Were they a fit 20 something sportsman that was genuinely killed by the virus? Without the details, I have my doubts. People just want transparency so they can make informed decisions about the risk themselves and act accordingly. Not be spun a half baked story that is used to lock them in their homes.

Covid has quickly become a tool to control the population through fear, and/or a means of diverting attention away from other failures of government. Thailand is a great example of the former and the UK a great example of the latter. Unfortunately most people have rolled over to have their tummy tickled. I won't be betting on this new ultra authoritarian style of governance leaving when Covid subsides, the politicians have come to love the power too much. Expect exaggerated new strains and convenient spikes in numbers whenever new legislation or restrictions are deemed desirable.

With all the consumer debt that's been accumulated in the last 2 years, I doubt consumer spending will return to normal for quite a few years. People are maxed out. I also don't believe tourism will reach 2019 levels for at least 5 years. If ever. There won't be as much Chinese money coming into the country either, since many of them don't have it and those that do will find it harder to get it out of China. So Q1 of 2023 seems a bit of a stretch.

Is that you, Borat? ????

That was my first impression of Thai roads on my first visit here. It's like the dodgems (bumper cars) at the fairground. No rules, just drive around smiling inanely and try to avoid hitting other cars, often unsuccessfully.

Grandpa Google has been busy again. Reading reports from advanced countries and wowing the uneducated and insular masses in Thailand with his incredible knowledge.

I've been driving to and from work in Bangkok 5 days per week for 11 years and the problem with indicating is that the car in the lane you are moving into simply speeds up to block you as soon as they see that you intend to change lanes. That's why it sometimes pays to indicate when you are already half way across. See a gap, start moving into the lane and then indicate as some sort of half hearted attempt to show you are driving considerately. That way, they don't have a chance to speed up to block you but you also don't get attitude for not indicating at all. The hazards when going straight on at a cross roads kind of makes sense when you consider that nobody indicates. Normally (in normal countries where people can drive) not indicating would show you are not going left or right (therefore you are going straight on) but because nobody indicates anyway, not indicating is meaningless because it could mean you are going left, right or straight on. Hence the hazards for going straight on. Thai drivers are clueless. Their lack of ability and their unwillingness to follow road laws is only matched by their arrogance and over-confidence. Hence the incredibly high death rate on the roads here.