TallGuyJohninBKK

Thailand's daily COVID case counts and deaths are rising... but the country still is looking better than many of its Asian neighbors right now... The chart below shows the various countries ranked with the most total COVID cases for the past week. On a population-adjusted per capita basis, Thailand ranks the lowest among the Asian countries listed for per capita COVID cases in the past week, and second lowest (after only Vietnam) for per capita COVID deaths in the past week. The per capita comparisons of officially reported cases are likely skewed somewhat by Thailand's relatively low COVID testing rate compared to other countries. But the similar per capita COVID deaths comparison probably still is likely to be a more reflective indicator. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/524286529189676/?type=3

MoPH update Friday with past two weeks trends on: --COVID serious hospitalizations and intubations (first column) --COVID daily deaths (second column) --14-day average new COVID case counts (third column) all for the period March 5-18. The footnote at the bottom of the second column appears to indicate that of the 80 new deaths reported Friday, 77 had not yet received a third-dose COVID booster vaccine dose, and likewise 77 were either age 60 and above or had any of 8 chronic condition comorbidities. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/524286712522991/?type=3

MoPH breakdown of the 80 new COVID deaths reported on Friday: --39 males, 41 females --78 Thais, 1 "English," 1 Myanmar --Median age 74, with range from 30 to 101 years --67 or 87% were age 60 and above --8 or 10% were under age 60 with chronic conditions --2 or 3% were under age 60 with no known conditions (though the above breakdown tallies to 77 deaths and not the official 80 total deaths reported, for some unknown reason.) Among the risk factors in the reported deaths, the largest share involved 16 with kidney disease and 15 who were bedridden. Among the provinces, the most deaths occurred in Bangkok with 14, although almost half of Thailand's 77 provinces reported at least one COVID death on Friday. In a separate document, MoPH appeared to indicate that 77 of the 80 deaths had not been vaccinated with a third dose COVID vaccine booster (see the following post below). https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/524286772522985/?type=3

Dunno what exactly these three categories mean in real life (I can't keep up with their color-coded nonsense), but maybe others here can elaborate. News out of the MoPH today: "CCC adjusts the level of the situation throughout the kingdom, starting on March 18, 65 Orange: gatherings of under 500 allowed, schools can open with COVID prevention measures, restaurants can open until 11 p.m. but not serve alcohol, spas and massage parlors allowed to open until midnight. Yellow: gatherings of less than 1,000 people allowed, schools, spas and massage parlors can open, restaurants can open with alcohol served until 11 p.m. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/524282625856733

Interesting, MoPH today seemingly has started to use a new, more detailed format for their daily COVID statistics graphic, with some useful information not previously made public on a daily basis. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/524115789206750 The new parts, posted in the graphic (that I've highlighted with a red circle) and the accompanying text that goes with it, are: "number of pneumonia patients 1,391 are hospitalized an average of 18 per province Bed occupancy rate 27.1%" The bed occupancy rate listed above is a nationwide average for all 77 provinces, which apparently is looking at the number of available beds suitable for handling COVID patients. However, about a week ago, MoPH put out a list of serious COVID case hospitalizations ranked by the 10 provinces with the highest number of cases, and a good share of those had considerably higher hospital bed occupancy rates at the time. MoPH as of March 10: As of Friday, the MoPH reported that Thailand had nearly 69,000 COVID cases being treated in regular hospitals (all cases, not just the most serious ones tallied above), and that's the highest number in the past week. And that's even with their considerable efforts to redirect less seriously ill COVID cases to either home quarantine or other alternate care arrangements.

Thailand on Friday set new year-high records for official new COVID cases at 27,071 and new COVID deaths at 80, more signs that the country's Omicron pandemic has yet to peak. Friday's update from the Ministry of Public Health surpassed the prior daily records for 2022 of both new cases, which had been 25,615 on Feb. 26, and new daily deaths, which had been 77 set just yesterday. Friday's report of new official COVID cases also was nearly 2,300 cases higher than the 24,792 tally from one week ago, and marked the third consecutive day of increases. Meanwhile, largely because of the high number of new COVID deaths, the number of COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition declined slightly from yesterday's year-high record of 1,402 to 1,391 today. But the additional number of seriously ill COVID patients hospitalized and requiring intubation to breathe rose again and set a new yearly record high of 511, surpassing Wednesday's prior high of 507. That number has now more than tripled since the start of the year. 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.

First, Thailand's official road deaths tally runs about 23,000+ per year, not the level your comment above suggests. That works out to an average of about 63 traffic deaths per day. Right now, Thailand is averaging more COVID deaths than that every day, with today's figure 77, and the past week running in the high 60s to 70s. So, your comment above is more than a bit off.

Thailand today reported its highest daily COVID death toll of the year, with 77 new fatalities, and also a new record for the year of more than 1,400 COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition. The day's tally of official new cases at 25,456 also was near the country's record high for the year. I've never thought requiring masks in public parks was a particularly necessary measure. But elsewhere and otherwise, Thailand is still in the COVID thick of things, and there's no sign as yet that the situation has peaked and started getting better. No matter how many people here complain they're "tired" of COVID.

When I read the headline, and SIGHED... I was thinking to ask... So did the grandfather agree marry the child he had allegedly sexually assaulted and impregnated? And then I read further into the article to realize the poor girl had died -- apparently from complications from the pregnancy.

Overall, the Moderna vaccine shows slightly better effectiveness than Pfizer in most studies that have been done. Side effect issues of any substance are very minimal with either of the two mRNA vaccines. Post vaccination cases of short-term heart inflammation have been one rare issue, though generally in younger adults. And have been more likely to occur from COVID itself than as a result of vaccination. Most mRNA COVID vaccine adverse events mild, transient The vast majority of adverse events (92%) recorded after people received the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines during the first 6 months of the US vaccine rollout were mild and transient, according to an observational study published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. ... The study authors noted very slight increases in anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction, at 5.5 instances per million vaccine doses) and myopericarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle and sac surrounding the heart; 4.4 per million). https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/03/most-mrna-covid-vaccine-adverse-events-mild-transient

Pfizer, BioNTech seek authorization for second COVID booster in older adults "Pfizer (PFE -0.3%) and BioNTech (BNTX -5.0%) are seeking an Emergency Use Authorization of their COVID-19 vaccine [in the U.S.] for a second booster shot for adults 65 years and older. The submission included real-world data from Israel of people 60 and older who received a fourth booster of the companies' vaccine. An analysis showed that infections were two times lower and rates of severe illness were four times lower in those who received an additional booster dose compared to those who received only one booster." (more) https://seekingalpha.com/news/3813722-pfizer-biontech-to-seek-authorization-for-second-covid-booster-in-older-adults-wapo AND "Meanwhile, Stephen Hoge, President of the rival vaccine maker Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), predicted that only the elderly and the immunocompromised would probably need an additional booster shot, and the rest of the public could be more selective about it. “Is it necessary? I think that’s a strong word. I think it will provide a benefit to anyone who gets it.” Business Insider reported Monday quoting Hoge. ... According to Business Insider, Moderna (MRNA) is optimistic that a potential bivalent booster against Omicron as well as the original strain of the virus could be ready this year." (more) https://seekingalpha.com/news/3813487-pfizer-moderna-executives-offer-contrasting-views-on-additional-covid-19-shots

Broader view outside of Thailand: "After 5 weeks of declining cases, global COVID-19 cases rose last week, fueled by increasing cases in three regions, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its latest weekly update. In the United States, levels of the more transmissible BA.2 subvariant showed more signs of rising, as the country grapples with funding the ongoing pandemic response. ... Roughly half of last week's cases were from the Western Pacific region, where surges are underway in hot spots such as Hong Kong, South Korea, and Vietnam. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/03/global-covid-cases-rising-again

Interesting vaccinations update on Thursday: Last fall, at the peak of Thailand's COVID vaccine rollout, the country was doing more than 600,000 new vaccine doses per day. Yesterday's tally was less than one-third of that, at 181,854 new doses. And yet, more than 68% of the population (more than two-thirds) have yet to receive the third booster dose that health authorities say is needed to best combat the Omicron variant. And more than 28% of the population has yet to even receive the two regular doses of the vaccine. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/523566522595010

Thailand's count of official new COVID cases rose again sharply on Thursday to 25,456, nearing the record high for the year, while new deaths (77) and serious cases in hospital (1,402) both set new record highs for the year. Thursday's update of new COVID cases came very close to Thailand's daily record high of new cases of 25,615 set on Feb. 26, and was nearly 2,500 cases higher than the 22,984 case count from one week ago. All in all, Thursday's update showed few signs that Thailand's current Omicron wave of COVID has peaked as yet or even begun to subside. The 77 new deaths reported Thursday surpassed the prior single-day yearly high of 74 set one week ago. Even with the 77 new COVID deaths, the country's tally of serious COVID cases in hospital rose by one from the prior day, while the number of hospitalized COVID patients requiring intubation to breathe declined by three to 504. 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.

Oh dear!!!! Hahahahaha!

No sign that they're having a going out of business sale??? ???? You know, like, "Get 'em while they're hot!" Or, in Carl's case, "while they're lukewarm..."

One thing that Thailand has never had, AFAIK, is a good version of the quintessential chili burger... Anyone from the Southern California region who grew up on the famous Tommy's chili burgers and their de rigueur pickled chili pepper accompaniments doesn't know just how good a burger can be!!! Ohhh... not to mention their chili fries made with the same chili... To die for!!! https://originaltommys.com/

BTW, odd that no one here thus far in five pages of posts has mentioned the Daniel Thaiger burgers operation in Bangkok, which I think at the outset helped lead to something of a hamburgers renaissance among local Thais, who madly posted their hamburger eating experiences and photos to their favorite social media back in the day...

The only new "facts" that I can imagine after all this time are -- some of the original litigants have probably DIED along the way!!! "Justice delayed is justice denied" is a legal maxim. It means that if legal redress or equitable relief to an injured party is available, but is not forthcoming in a timely fashion, it is effectively the same as having no remedy at all." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_delayed_is_justice_denied

Re the latest court ruling... WOW, there's a shocker! You mean, a Thai court doesn't want to have the Thai government have to pay a $26 billion baht debt owed to a foreign company??? Who could have imagined it???

Ya, I was going to mention them as well, but held off because they're pancakes instead of burgers... But both caught in the same lack of western tourists/lack of expats downturn during COVID, along with the prior restrictions on dine-in service. First they closed their TWO outlets in Siam Paragon, and some others I think. But last I heard (obviously out of date now) they still were operating at MEGA Bangna and supposedly had some delivery service-only kitchens somewhere in BKK. They are/were another Thai franchisee operation of an American chain -- in the case of IHOP TH, run by a very wealthy Thai family that has an affinity for U.S. foodservice ventures. One of the few, maybe the only, place(s) I know/knew of in Bangkok or even Thailand to get authentic American-style hash brown potatoes... (as opposed to the frozen, preformed potato triangles sold in the farang grocery stores).

Glad we could find common ground on at least that -- Prime Burgers and Carl's Jr. milkshakes, the latter soon to depart these hallowed grounds. ????

If nothing else, Carl's Jr. TH will always live in my memories for bringing jalapeno burgers to Thailand, which has to combine just about two of the best edible things you could pair together -- a beef hamburger patty along with sliced jalapenos!!! ????

I believe they must have changed that along the way somewhere, because I've had bottles of water from them in the past, in lieu of their unlimited re-fill soda fountains. Though at least at all their BKK branches I ever visited, they also always had a separate dispenser of unsweetened tea that was available to serve iced tea.

I hadn't realized that BK went back that far, even farther than McDonald's by one year: "McDonald's and Burger King started in the franchise food business in 1955 and 1954, respectively.  McDonald's has always been the larger company, but each firm has unquestionably influenced the other throughout their six-decade-plus rivalry." An interesting article comparing the two: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/111015/mcdonalds-vs-burger-king-comparing-business-models.asp These days, when I eat McDonald's in Thailand, it's usually their breakfast items like pancakes or sausage and egg McMuffins, etc etc... Usually give their actual hamburgers a pass... Though BK's Whoppers in Thailand are at least edible, kinda... especially if you ask them to actually fresh cook your burger patty instead of taking it off the shelf (warmer tray), as I believe they would typically otherwise do.