TallGuyJohninBKK

The U.S. is currently reporting nearly 1,900 new COVID hospitalizations every day, and about 190 new COVID deaths per day. And more than 14,000 new COVID cases per day, during a time when reporting and testing are way down. Obviously, you're immune from danger.... https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html

WOW, that's a World War II horror story that I've never heard before.... Perhaps it's not a prominently featured episode in the U.S. history books used in my schools. How could the submarine crew have known it was mainly Allied prisoners instead of Japanese soldiers/sailors aboard their target?

Next time I fly back into BKK, who exactly do I need to talk with about arranging and making payment for a special police escort, complete with motorcycle riders flashing their lights and sirens, to bring me back home?

I don't have a problem here... I mean, let's let them do the things they're actually good at and qualified for...like being lackeys. ????

And part of the reason for that is -- the government doesn't effectively enforce rules against excessive, uninterrupted work hours by drivers, and thus the companies don't effectively enforce it either. Thus you get bus drivers who have been driving too long without enough rest or enough sleep, and often end up taking some form of drugs to stay awake... particular on those long, interprovincial night trips.

Let's hope you don't fall victim to the following: Long COVID or Post-COVID Conditions "Some people who have been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 can experience long-term effects from their infection, known as Post-COVID Conditions (PCC) or Long COVID." ... "Post-COVID Conditions can include a wide range of ongoing health problems; these conditions can last weeks, months, or years." ... "While most people with Post-COVID Conditions have evidence of infection or COVID-19 illness, in some cases, a person with Post-COVID Conditions may not have tested positive for the virus or known they were infected." https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html Some of those post-COVID symptoms can include: Tiredness or fatigue that interferes with daily life, fever, respiratory and heart symptoms, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, cough, joint and muscle pain, chest pain, fast-beating or pounding heart, neurological symptoms, difficulty thinking or concentrating (sometimes referred to as “brain fog”), headache, sleep problems, dizziness when you stand up, change in smell or taste, etc etc.

That too... ????

I've been fully vaccinated and boosted with a bivalent vaccine, always when a mask when outside, and I've never had COVID or been sick from it AFAIK.... Science says the odds are more in my favor than in yours. "All vaccinated groups had overall lower risk of dying from COVID-19 and testing positive for COVID-19 compared with people who were unvaccinated. People who were vaccinated with an updated (bivalent) booster dose had lower rates of dying from COVID-19 and slightly lower rates of testing positive for COVID-19 compared with people who were vaccinated but had not received an updated booster dose." https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#rates-by-vaccine-status

I've seen it said before, by Thais, that the reason the bus drivers often flee in these kinds of circumstances, particularly involving fatalities, is that they fear they'll be attacked by the survivors and/or family members of the injured/deceased... Kind of like when Thai police do their infamous re-enactments involving the suspects in major crimes, and the surrounding villagers and family members involvved often try to fight their way past police to attack the suspects. The driver, from my farang perspective, may also want to buy some time so that whatever alcohol and/or drugs may be in their system have a chance to decline by the time they end up being drug/alcohol tested by police.

Congrats for you... Now what about the 1,088 COVID cases that ended up in Thai hospitals in the past week? Not to mention the five others who died...

There's been plenty of medical research that bears out the increased post-COVID medical risks that UC Davis correctly summarized in their summary posted above..... Just some of it includes: Another post-COVID-19 risk: new-onset diabetes https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/another-post-covid-19-risk-new-onset-diabetes COVID-19 survivors may be at higher risk of gastrointestinal disorders at 1 year https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-19-survivors-may-be-higher-risk-gastrointestinal-disorders-1-year Brain changes: The lingering effects of COVID-19 In both young and old patients, the brain showed signs of long-term changes https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/968715 Just because you obviously haven't paid any attention to the research on post-COVID health impacts doesn't mean it's not out there....

Not so low risk for some:

I'd rather get on with my life at home or outdoors -- not from within a hospital ward with COVID. So I follow sensible precautions, for myself, and for those around me. There are no guarantees in this world, but you do the best that you can.

Really??? From the Washington Post earlier this month: Covid is still a leading cause of death as the virus recedes But many Americans dispute the data and the risks — much as they have throughout the pandemic https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/04/16/covid-deaths-per-day/ Denialism is strong...

I can't account for the somewhat vague and confusing Thai news media reports earlier in this thread relating to COVID statistics for Bangkok... But the Ministry of Public Health's COVID website / database does show weekly COVID hospitalization and death reports by province, including for Bangkok. Though it is entirely in Thai language, but I believe it shows the following for Bangkok province for the past two weeks: Weekly COVID hospitalizations almost doubling from 220 to 418, And no new COVID deaths in Bangkok, with 50 total COVID deaths thus far this year. April 9 - 15 April 16 - 22 https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=province

Some of us want protect our own health, and the health of those around us. Others, obviously, simply don't care -- for themselves or for others.

Worth noting regarding COVID and Thailand: "In Thailand, from 3 January 2020 to 11:04am CEST, 19 April 2023, there have been 4,729,402 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 33,942 deaths, reported to WHO." https://covid19.who.int/region/searo/country/th

Famous maxim: "there are none so blind as those who will not see."

In their latest weekly report for all of Thailand, the Thai MoPH also advised that... --they now have 73 of their newly hospitalized COVID patients with serious pneumonia, up from 30 the prior week. --and they have 35 COVID patients newly hospitalized who have been intubated because they're otherwise unable to breathe, up from 19 the prior week. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02n4KQFAALfVkxvJpokjVphQVdRGrgsUneJKLj7tyNRRMe3BydwTGQUuERWULQ4Qprl&id=100068069971811 https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/ As has been reported many times in different places, Omicron may be a relatively mild illness for many who catch it, especially those of younger ages, but it also has the potential to be very serious and potentially fatal for those in older age groups and those with pre-existing health conditions. And even in younger age people who appear to escape their COVID infections relatively unscathed, the virus infact also increased their potential risks of numerous other health problems in the wake of their COVID infection. "New research finds that with each repeat COVID infection – even asymptomatic infection – your risk for complications increases. These include: stroke heart attack diabetes digestive and kidney disorders long-term cognitive impairment, including dementia https://health.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-information/omicron-variant

Masks help prevent you from catching COVID, and likewise help prevent you, if infected, from spreading it to others... The better the mask, the better the protection. The more people who wear masks in a given area, the better protection. It's only common sense in a time when Thailand is reporting more than 1000 new COVID hospitalizations in the past week.

1,088 new hospitalizations per week from COVID right now for Thailand. In my book, that's not small.

Why COVID isn’t like the flu (yet) in one brutal graph From the U.S.: "Over the past 12 years, the flu’s estimated annual death toll has been as low as 12,000, but never higher than 61,000—just an eighth of COVID’s death toll in the first year of the pandemic. Since the earliest days of the pandemic, weekly COVID deaths have been at least 15 times that of weekly flu deaths—and sometimes as much as 811 times." https://fortune.com/well/2022/09/27/why-covid-isnt-like-the-flu-death-toll-leading-cause-death-omicron-shot-booster-vaccine/

1000+ people per week in Thailand are NOT being admitted to hospitals for COLDs... They're being admitted to hospitals for COVID. COVID is not the same as colds or flus, as its health risks are considerably greater, even with the current Omicron strains -- even though some of the common surface symptoms are the same. COVID Omicron variant infection deadlier than flu, studies suggest "Two new studies suggest that COVID-19 Omicron variant infection is deadlier than influenza, with one finding that US veterans hospitalized with Omicron in fall and winter 2022-23 died at a 61% higher rate than hospitalized flu patients, and the other revealing that Israeli adults hospitalized with flu were 55% less likely to die within 30 days than those admitted for Omicron in the 2021-22 flu season." https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-omicron-variant-infection-deadlier-flu-studies-suggest

And here's where Thailand was, by comparison, in its first weekly COVID report for 2023, Jan. 1 - 7 -- 997 new COVID hospitalizations, and 58 new deaths. In good news, the official weekly COVID death counts for Thailand declined into single digits as of mid-February, and have remained in single digits per week ever since. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos

The Thai MoPH has released its latest national stats of new COVID hospitalizations, which have increased about 550% since the start of April to more than 1,000 per week as of April 16 - 22. The current number of new weekly COVID hospitalizations in Thailand is the largest of any weekly total since the start of 2023, although official COVID deaths were considerably higher at the start of the year. New COVID hospitalizations that were running an average of 24 per day during the first week of April have now reached an average of 155 per day, according to the MOPH. That means the weekly totals of COVID hospitalizations during that period rose from 168 to 1,088 per week over the past three weeks. The latest weekly report from the Thai MoPH covering April 16-22 also recounts that Thailand has now had 6,571 COVID hospitalizations and 278 official COVID deaths since the start of the current year. MoPH weekly COVID report for April 16 - 22 (The red shaded data below reflect COVID hospitalizations. The dark gray shaded sections reflect COVID deaths. The large sized numbers show the weekly totals, whereas the smaller sized numbers underneath reflect the resulting daily averages.) https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/pfbid02USYkizrvqe7JeswruP5pBzxkMUjZy2FyKqECWRoFgZvcpFcMq9mKCvqZhab2XcYKl