TallGuyJohninBKK

It's not the governments or public health agencies that are putting forward false narratives to, in your view, exercise "control" and promote "fear..." It's private party social media whack jobs... Thai language ones at that. Your conspiracy theory-tinged post above (as quoted below) implies it was some kind of government or medical establishment based campaign. It was NOT!

COVID, even the current Omicron variants, have worse health impacts than the flu. They're not the same in terms of their impact, contrary to your, as usual, entirely unsourced claims. COVID Omicron variant infection deadlier than flu, studies suggest April 8, 2023 "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 Omicron hospital illness 54% deadlier than flu hospital cases, study finds February 17, 2023 Adults hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infections in Switzerland died at 1.5 times the rate of those diagnosed as having influenza A or B, shows a multicenter study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/omicron-hospital-illness-54-deadlier-flu-hospital-cases-study-finds

from the Thai government posted a day ago: "Fake news, don't share!!!! “Omicron XBB is 5 times more powerful than Delta. and higher mortality rate.” Source: Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health" https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/pfbid06qaXEND6D6fWgM3dTUEsanmwnzcT9KifCvWtLWjdrKgtJJthBxF5ud6jhTRfBHccl

There was some Thai language fake news social media posts in Thailand making the false claim that the latest Omicron variant is as bad as or worse that Delta... To their credit, the Thai government/medical establishment promptly denounced that social media posting as FALSE... No one is the Thailand government medical establishment is pushing that kind of false info.... sorry to disappoint you.

I'd challenge you to present any credible source that says each successive COVID variant is getting "weaker and weaker." I think you'd be hard pressed to credibly make a case for that -- other than you just making the claim as you often do, with absolutely no credible sourcing to support it. What you would find are two main themes: 1. Omicron variants in general are different than their predecessor Delta variants, in that the former tend to have greater impact on the upper respiratory areas, while the latter had greater impact on the lower respiratory areas. 2. To the extent death and hospitalization rates have been falling in various places, but not all places, in addition to the impact of No. 1 above, it's also believed related to the combined protective effects of mass COVID vaccinations along with the fact that much of the world's population has already had some prior COVID infection. In general, the experts in the COVID field have generally assessed thus far that all the various Omicron variants thus far have been pretty similar in their health effects... The one area where the newer Omicron variants may be getting worse is, at least in the lab testing, the newer Omicron variants have elements that suggest they'll have somewhat greater ability to avoid the protections of vaccines.

Not as rare as you seem to think... From the U.S. CDC: "During the period of Omicron predominance (December 19, 2021–February 28, 2022), COVID-19–associated hospitalization rates in children aged 5–11 years were approximately twice as high among unvaccinated as among vaccinated children. ... Thirty percent of hospitalized children had no underlying medical conditions, and 19% were admitted to an intensive care unit. Children with diabetes and obesity were more likely to experience severe COVID-19." https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7116e1.htm

That may be the law of averages, but being young and without health problems is not some kind of absolute guarantee that COVID, even Omicron, won't cause them health problems. The cases below involved the current Omicron variants. Mothers passed COVID to babies through placenta, possibly causing brain damage, death April 12, 2023 "Two mothers who gave birth at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, passed along the COVID-19 infection to their newborns through the placenta, researchers at the University of Miami Health System and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have found. In both cases, the infection caused brain damage in the babies, according to a press release summarizing the findings from the study, which was published in the journal Pediatrics on April 6. Although both babies tested negative for the COVID-19 virus at birth, they experienced "seizures, small head sizes and developmental delays," the press release said. (more) https://www.foxnews.com/health/mothers-passed-covid-babies-placenta-possibly-causing-brain-damage-death One of the babies involved later died at age 13 months.

[responding to a now removed comment regarding non-mRNA vaccines from China vs mRNA vaccines...] The mRNA vaccines have been shown to be more effective against COVID than the non-mRNA ones originally produced by China... Now recently, China is increasingly moving toward using mRNA COVID vaccines for its own population. Even the Chinese know that's the way forward. China Approves an mRNA Covid Vaccine, Its First March 22, 2023 China has for the first time approved a Covid-19 vaccine based on mRNA technology, greenlighting a homegrown shot months after the ruling Communist Party eliminated its strict pandemic restrictions. ... Among the vaccines currently available in China, the most widely known are made by the companies Sinopharm and Sinovac. Like other traditional vaccines, they rely on a century-old method for inoculation, which use an inactivated virus to trigger a response by the immune system, and have since proven to be less effective in protecting against symptomatic disease. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/business/china-mrna-covid-vaccine.html

I'd certainly like to know..... as I mentioned in my post above.. But thus far... TH MoPH isn't providing those kinds of details....

I'd certainly like to know..... as I mentioned in my post above.. But thus far... TH MoPH isn't providing those kinds of details.... But FWIW, IMO, the COVID deaths of people in their 60s, 70s or 80s are no less sad or meaningful than the less common COVID deaths of younger aged folks.

It may be mild... except for those who end up hospitalized or dead.... The newer bivalent COVID booster shots are particularly being recommended for people who are older (often age 65 and up) and/or those with a range of pre-existing health conditions that could make them more vulnerable to illness from COVID.

Throughout the COVID pandemic, the Thai MoPH had a somewhat consistent pattern of providing English versions of their updates in various forms... So it's nothing new for them. But those companion English versions ceased when Thailand downgraded its COVID response some months back. They provided the EN versions as an information resource to the large English speaking expat community in Thailand, as well as for the international news media who previously covered COVID issues in Thailand.... and mainly were EN speakers.

Yes death... 273 official COVID deaths in Thailand since the start of 2023, including two new deaths in the past week, fortunately a small number compared to those from prior years of the pandemic here. MoPH Weekly report for April 9 - 15 (new COVID hospitalizations in red, COVID deaths in black). The bottom section shows totals of each thus far for the calendar year. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/pfbid09Zw4rzwCWPiRC48qsYFk6rne1Y32i3ZqQKQtzzgCGWd3zEbFEW7uckC1SYGu9Nfcl And yes, lung infections and pneumonia from Omicron COVID: "Department director-general Tharet Krutnairawiwong said 435 patients were admitted to hospital for treatment of Covid-19 between April 9 and 15, about 62 cases per day. Of the number, 30 had lung inflammation and 19 were put on ventilators, up 58% and 36% respectively, from the previous week." https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40026704

The newer bivalent version of the Pfizer vaccine has been available in Thailand, especially Bangkok, the past couple months -- though not especially well publicized. Under TH MoPH policy, to get that bivalent booster, you need to have had at least 4 months since your last prior vaccination. Those vaxes are free to long-term expats, and possible would involve a fee for tourists or people on tourist status.

I saw the Department of Medical Services half hour long news conference today live streamed and broadcast on YouTube... all in Thai, of course, no English version or translations. Frankly, I'd be more interested in hearing better info from MoPH on why there's been a week-over-week 250% increase in Thailand COVID hospitalizations, now averaging about 62 new COVID hospitalizations per day... And those are now at Thailand's highest numbers since the end of January. What kind of age profile are those hospitalizations involving? Are they predominantly Thai or foreign/tourist driven? And what's the vaccination status of those being hospitalized.... Those kinds of details -- which the MoPH isn't providing thus far -- would be more meaningful for the general public. But going off into the weeds on the latest new COVID variant that -- at least for now -- appears no more serious, but possibly somewhat more infectious than the other primary variants circulating in Thailand and elsewhere -- seems a bit overly wonky.

The BMA doesn't seem to do a very good job of presenting an easy to find EN version with the particulars of their various hospitals... But this list seems to emcompass most of them: 1. BMA [Klang] General Hospital 2. Taksin Hospital 3. Charoen Krung Pracharak Hospital 4. Luang Phor Taweesak Chutinataro Uthit Hospital 5. Wetchakarunrat Hospital 6. BMA Lat Krabang Hospital 7. Ratchaphiphat Hospital 8. Sirindhorn Hospital 9. Bangkhuntian Geriatric Hospital http://www.msdbangkok.go.th/HOMEENG.html

That said, while I haven't seen much of anything lately from the national MoPH on COVID vaccine availability, the Bangkok local government a week or so back put out an announcement that Pfizer COVID booster vaccines, including the newer bivalent ones, would be available every Friday afternoon from 1 to 3 pm at the BMA's 69 public health centers. They also seem to be offering the same vaccines at the BMA's dozen public hospitals, though it looks like those have varying hours. Supposedly offered either on a walk-in basis or by appointment using the QueQ mobile app. Has to have been at least 4 months since your last COVID vaccination. Here's a Google Translate version of their Thai announcement: "Bangkok invites people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a booster needle For people aged 5 years and over, all nationalities Open for walk in or book an appointment via the QueQ application. Every Friday except public holidays from 13.00 - 15.00 At 69 public health service centers or 12 hospitals under Bangkok Source: Department of Health, Bangkok" The following graphic of the announcement includes, in TH, the names and other details of the dozen BMA public hospitals involved under the green-colored entries.. Source link:

AFAIK, the vaccination program at the Institute of Dermatology ended just before Song Kran, and I've seen no indication it will be continuing there post-SK.

November 30, 2017 "The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders on August 25 sentenced [former Commerce Minister] Boonsong and 19 others to jail terms of 24 to 48 years for their roles in executing fake government-to-government rice deals during the previous Yingluck government’s tenure, causing Bt16.9-billion in financial damage to the state. Weerawut, the third former official convicted, fled the country before the court ruling." "THE NATIONAL Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) yesterday forwarded a case to the Attorney-General regarding former Commerce Ministery secretary Weerawut Wajanaphukka for new indictments and a trial after it decided earlier this month that he should be charged for having accumulated “unusual wealth”. https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/30332914

If I recall from past news reports, a lot of money allocated to the rice pledging scheme ended up going into the pockets of various political types and their cronies serving as middlemen... There was a lot of enrichment for the rich occurring there.... It wasn't whatever subsidies actually went to low-income farmers that was deemed corruption in that episode. Rather, part of what led to the downfall was a series of falsified/fake government to government supposed rice sales where the rice actually went back to middlemen in Thailand for their enrichment at the public's expense, because the funds involved were coming from the Thai government. "In addition to cases against Yingluck and senior members of her former cabinet, the junta is investigating some 850 cases related to the rice scheme for graft, government spokesman General Sansern Kaewkamnerd told Reuters. Many of the cases involve lower ranking public officials and members of the private sector, he said." https://www.reuters.com/article/thailand-politics-yingluck/thai-junta-fines-former-pm-yingluck-orders-assets-seized-over-failed-rice-scheme-idINKCN12L0CP "Some 302 officials from the Public Warehouse Organisation and Marketing Organisation For Farmers as well as warehouse owners and surveyors have been charged with malfeasance in connection with the Yingluck government’s controversial rice pledging scheme." https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/30311029 And a lot of the low-income farmers who were promised payments under the scheme apparently didn't end up getting paid what they were promised. "Yingluck has been charged with dereliction of duty for her role in overseeing a government rice-buying scheme that has run up huge losses and left hundreds of thousands of farmers unpaid." https://www.voanews.com/a/reu-beleaguered-thai-pm-defends-herself-against-rice-charges/1882751.html That said, I wasn't making an argument that Prayut and Co. are any better or any worse than their predecessors when it comes to government corruption.

And these cases in the report are just the ones that made it into public view... Needless to say, considering Thailand, they're likely just the tip of a much larger unseen iceberg... I'd imagine, there's not much in the public record of documented corruption cases involving institutions such as the Armed Forces or the RTP (apart from the well-documented police stations construction debacle). And of course, the family behind the No. 1 corruption case in terms of cost, the rice pledging scheme, seems to have one of its members as the current leading candidate to be the next PM....

BTS and MRT and ARL are my good friends. That's part of the reason I chose to live where I live... because I knew I'd rarely need to drive anywhere (or be driven anywhere) here. Mass transit and good old fashioned walking.

But, last I heard, age isn't... And that alone is enough to potentially get someone in serious health trouble with COVID, even today's Omicron version.

And yet here you are in the thread... again and again.... It's a rather strange way of showing your disinterest...

Age, 60-65 plus, and various other conditions often associated with age (overweight, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.) have clearly been shown to be major elevated risk factors for bad COVID outcomes. Considering the primary demographic of this forum, you'd think that members here would be more mindful of the risks they face, and more attentive to doing the things within their control to minimize those risks. Yes, people can also die from things like the flu... But the death rate from COVID, even under Omicron, has far exceeded that from the flu, just as one example. COVID Omicron variant infection deadlier than flu, studies suggest April 8, 2023 "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