TallGuyJohninBKK

As you know, there are lots of different potential reasons for things: 1. Even the mRNA vaccines, if used for all 3 doses which probably doesn't apply to most Thais, are only partially effective at blocking infection by Omicron, and probably less so with the more transmissible newer BA2 strain. (Though supposed to still be very strong at preventing serious illness/hospitalization and deaths). 2. The timing of when people received their vaccines and boosters comes into the picture as well, with the latest research I've seen suggesting the best protection against basic infection seems to last only several months post injection, and then you have vaccine waning begin to occur. 3. The variability of just what exact brand of vaccines the people have received, which can impact just how much protection is provided. That said, all of the above argues for maintaining reasonable levels of public health measures aimed at preventing the spread of the virus beyond the protections provided by vaccination. And at this point, a lot of people seem very resistant to those kinds of things. Talking about supposed gains -- the number of Thais hospitalized with COVID in serious condition or requiring intubation to breathe has been rising steadily for weeks now, and once again reached new record high levels for 2022, as reported by the government earlier today. Undoubtedly, without the modest levels of vaccination that have occurred here (barely 30%+ fully boosted), the death and hospitalization numbers would be even worse. IMHO, people need to do everything they reasonably can to protect themselves from becoming infected... and too many simply aren't. Whether it's those who haven't been fully boosted (3 shots) with COVID vaccination, or consistently following personal protection measures.

Not a comment about the people at your company, but just the locals in general: It doesn't really do any good if people wear a mask all day at work because that's what their employer requires, but then go out after work socializing at restaurants, bars or pubs and spend the whole night maskless around others.

I've updated my original summary post above with the full MoPH Dashboard data for the day now that it's available.

Today's update of the two-week trends chart (March 12-25) from MoPH: From left to right: serious COVID hospitalizations, hospitalized intubations, daily new deaths, two-week daily average of new COVID cases. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/528681012083561/?type=3

Newly reported official COVID cases showed an unexpected decline on Friday to 26,050, down almost 1,000 from yesterday's 27,024 total, while serious COVID hospitalizations rose substantially to 1,619 and set a another new record high for the year. The Ministry of Public Health also reported 69 new deaths from COVID on Friday, down 13 from the 82 reported the day before, and also a surprising decrease to the lowest daily number since March 14. In a break from recent upward trends, Friday's official new COVID case count and newly reported deaths both declined to lower levels than each had reported one week prior. On the flip side, though, unofficial COVID cases via positive ATK tests and combined official and unofficial case totals were higher than a week ago. Total active COVID cases under care (including home quarantine and community care centers) increased to 244,111, up 3,862 new cases from the prior day and enough to set a another new record high for the year. The new yearly high of 1,619 COVID cases hospitalized in serious condition with pneumonia type symptoms (a large increase of 66 from the prior day) means such cases are now averaging 21 per each of Thailand's 77 provinces, though the government said its hospital bed occupancy rate was only 26.9%. Serious COVID hospitalizations now have risen every day for at least the past week, and now are almost triple the number (555) tallied at the start of the year. Meanwhile, the number of COVID hospitalization cases requiring intubation to breathe also set a new record high for the year, rising by 47 to 630, its first time passing the 600 mark. In general, COVID hospitalization data in Thailand is likely to be a more accurate indicator of current trends in the pandemic than case counts, since it's not so much subject to the vagaries of the government's COVID testing policies. https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main For added context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and intubated patients peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period.

Friday 25 March 2022 Total 26,050 new COVID cases classified as --26,014 domestic patients --36 foreign traveler patients Accumulated 1,253,595 patients (since January 1, 2022) --------------------- 22,219 recovered, returned home Accumulated 1,039,777 recoveries (since January 1, 2022) 244,111 COVID patients currently being treated (record high for 2022) --------------------- 69 new COVID deaths number of serious COVID cases hospitalized with pneumonia symptoms -- 1,619 (record high for 2022). Average 21 serious hospitalizations per province Hospital bed occupancy rate nationally 26.9 percent https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/528543855430610

My comments were addressed to the positions you and your fellow poster have been taking in this thread. I have no idea what you do or don't do in your personal life. The "cough in your face" comment was a general analogy, as I said when I used it, for how people either can behave responsibly, or irresponsibly, toward others.

Yes, it was eminently easy to forget, because... 1. It wasn't a Johns Hopkins study. 2. It was a "working paper" mainly written by a libertarian economist -- not a public health or epidemiology expert. And never peer reviewed, AFAIK. 3. The author's claims were more than a little suspect... And other actual experts in the field have dismissed its claims. "did this working paper really provide enough evidence to support its bold claims? In a word, no. In two words, heck no. The authors claimed that they performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. That should mean that they should have considered and included all published peer-reviewed studies relevant to the topic at hand. Yet, this working paper did not include or even acknowledge many such studies that have shown the benefits of NPI’s such as face mask wearing and social distancing without explaining why the three authors excluded such studies." https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2022/02/06/did-so-called-johns-hopkins-study-really-show-lockdowns-were-ineffective-against-covid-19/?sh=5c9c20bc1225 If you wanna try to make a case here, at least try to do better than recycling some discredited Fox News rubbish. @GidMK Epidemiologist. Writer (Guardian, Observer etc). "Well known research trouble-maker". PhDing at @UoW And more elaboration follows in the ensuing series of tweets.

Because in a better world where people actually feel some sense of responsibility to those around them, you would NOT deliberately be doing things that would expose yourself and others to getting sick, and I would be doing the same. Your version is kinda like saying, if you don't want someone to cough in your face, then don't come in the room or don't come close to anyone else... How about instead, everyone covering their mouth and nose before they cough/sneeze... as a matter of politeness and consideration to others. That's the analogy with COVID. But hey, maybe you're the "cough in your face" type?

Since I'm not a pothead, and the OP article doesn't bother to say, would someone mind giving a basic explanation of what the current law is on this, and if it's gonna change, to what and when? In other words, what are you allowed to do at home on your own vs what are you not allowed to do? Where did this poor lady go wrong with the RTP?

Beg to differ, but it's not futile at all. I've gone two-plus years now living here without catching the virus, same with my Thai wife. Along the way, I've been triple vaxed and she's been doubled vaxed (both current, and not old...) to make it less likely we'll contract the virus and, if we still do anyway at some point, much less likely either of us would get seriously ill from it and become a burden on the health care system. We've consciously minimized our contact with the outside world along the way. Don't go out shopping anymore, instead rely on home deliveries. Anytime we meet anyone for a delivery or otherwise interact, we're both wearing quality N95 facemasks. The wife's Thai company fortunately has had their staff working from home for many months now, so she can stay home with me and not be exposed in the workplace or commuting. All those things have kept us safe for the past two-plus years. That doesn't mean we have any kind of guarantee the virus won't catch one or both of us sooner or later. But clearly, the sum of all the conscious, deliberate public health measures we've taken (along with the responsible stance of my wife's employer) -- pretty much everything the experts have recommended -- have served us well thus far. And because of that, we know we have not and are not thus far contributing to the spread of the virus to others. And all of that is a whole lot more productive and socially responsible than those who would say drop/ignore all restrictions and protection measures and just go about life pretending that COVID doesn't exist and hasn't already officially killed 6 million plus people (and probably a whole lot more) and counting...

Except your version of "personal responsibility" is IRRESPONSIBILITY when you deliberately take actions, contrary to public health guidance, that may endanger others in the midst of a worldwide pandemic that has officially killed more than 6 million and continues to kill 25,000 or so people worldwide per week at present.

"The U.S. Senate already confirmed Jackson three times for various appointments based upon her stunning credentials, most recently as an appellate judge on the prestigious United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. ... She clerked for three notable members of the judiciary, including Justice Stephen Breyer, whose seat she will fill. Jackson’s experience as a federal judge before becoming a justice rivals if not exceeds that of most of her soon-to-be colleagues, combined." https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-women-supreme-court-ketanji-brown-jackson-20220320-fknltieevngq7o4l2sjdlaynbe-story.html

And that's exactly what President Biden is doing with the current nominee... Glad you've finally come to appreciate that!

No black woman has ever served on the USSC. So the current nominee would be the first and only one. It's pretty sad when the various new-found "anti discrimination" advocates pop up here protesting the nomination of a black woman to the USSC... But those same folks were entirely silent on the same point thru all the past nominations when minorities and women were largely de facto excluded in favor of white men.....

But you're apparently OK with the U.S. Supreme Court's history of de facto "filtering" to be almost entirely white men...

Yeesh!!! Someone/ones in the Thai Army TV operation apparently think its a good idea to spread bogus Russian government invasion propaganda to the Thai people? Gives a new meaning to the term "tone deaf" in international affairs!

Related new threads on the forum today:

Newly reported official COVID cases rose to their second highest daily total of the year on Thursday at 27,024, while serious COVID hospitalizations (1,553) and intubations (583) both increased to again set new record highs for the year. The Ministry of Public Health also reported 82 new deaths from COVID on Thursday, up two from the day before, but slightly down from the yearly record 88 set last Monday. Overall, official new cases, new COVID deaths, serious hospitalizations and the combined total of official and unofficial new COVID cases via ATK tests all marked increases from their comparable figures from one week prior. Total active COVID cases under care (including home quarantine and community care centers) increased to 240,249, just shy of the yearly record high of 240,339 set last Monday. Thursday's report of 27,024 official new COVID cases fell just short of the year's record high tally of 27,071 set last Friday. Thursday was only the second time Thailand's official new case total has exceeded the 27,000 mark. The new yearly high of 1,553 COVID cases hospitalized in serious condition with pneumonia type symptoms means such cases are now averaging 20 per each of Thailand's 77 provinces, though the government said its hospital bed occupancy rate was only 26.4%. https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main For added context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and intubated patients peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period.

"Sak has made representations to the court about various reviews of the law in relation to his case. " I was confused before... But after reading this above, I think I understand everything clearly now..... ????

Jing, you should have a bit more sympathy for any "innocent" Russians who aren't supporters or beneficiaries of Putin's regime. After all, we both know what it's like to be regarded somewhat as international lepers based on having our country led, thru no fault of our own, by a self-important autocratic ruler with nationalist stripes.

NATO to bolster ranks, help Ukraine counter chemical attack BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO leaders are set to agree to station more forces in Eastern Europe to deter Russia from invading any member of their ranks and to send equipment to Ukraine to help it defend against chemical or biological attacks, the organization's top civilian official said Wednesday. Speaking on the eve of a series of Brussels summits focusing on the war in Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said four new battlegroups, which usually number between 1,000-1,500 troops, are being set up in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. ... Stoltenberg said the NATO leaders are likely to agree to send more assistance to Ukraine, including equipment to help Ukraine defend itself against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/nato-to-bolster-ranks-help-ukraine-counter-chemical-attack/ar-AAVpY2S

Russia says sending international peacekeepers to Ukraine would be 'very reckless' (Reuters) -Russia on Wednesday condemned what it called a "reckless" Polish proposal to send international peacekeepers into Ukraine and warned that it could lead to a direct clash between Russian and NATO forces. Poland said last Friday it would formally submit a proposal for a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine at the next NATO summit. Asked about the initiative, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "It would be a very reckless and extremely dangerous decision." (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-says-sending-international-peacekeepers-to-ukraine-would-be-very-reckless/ar-AAVoXXP

Talk is cheap.... Diplomatic tit-for-tat over Ukraine escalates at United Nations "UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia is seeking to blunt Western-led efforts at the United Nations to further isolate Moscow for invading Ukraine, with the Security Council and General Assembly gearing up to vote this week on competing measures on Ukraine's humanitarian crisis. A diplomatic tit-for-tat has been escalating at the world body since Russia launched what it calls a "special military operation" on Feb. 24 to destroy Ukraine's military infrastructure. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday blasted Russia's "absurd war," warning that "continuing the war in Ukraine is morally unacceptable, politically indefensible and militarily nonsensical." (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/diplomatic-tit-for-tat-over-ukraine-escalates-at-united-nations/ar-AAVntor

Forces still stalled outside Kyiv, frostbite now an issue, missiles fired top 1,100 "For the most part Russian troops remain stalled around Kyiv at the same distances we've heard for more than a week, the official said. ... The logistical and resupply issues continue to plague Russian troops with the official noting that Russia now has concerns about fueling the ships in the Black Sea. ... "We've picked up some indications that some of their soldiers are suffering from frostbite because they lack the appropriate cold weather gear for the environment" said the official who added that some of those soldiers have been taken out of the fight as a result." (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraine-on-offensive-russian-combat-capability-falls-below-90-pentagon-update/ar-AAVo0Z0