rattlesnake

The other day I saw a woman having coffee in a shopping mall, she had a P95 mask and disposable latex gloves on. I felt genuinely sorry for her.

To me the ultimate one is "alone in a car with a mask on". I see a few per day although with most cars you can't see anything because of tinted windows (but I bet there are loads who do it).

This is tricky as the only way she will get it will be by experiencing it herself. I moved to Europe with my Mrs several years ago, we came back to Thailand after 18 months and now she is perfectly aware of how lucky she is compared to most "mia farangs" who are stuck over there leading s**t lives.

Please post an official publication stating that vaccination against Covid was ever required to enter Thailand or the EU.

They probably asked you because they just assumed you were vaxxed as most people are. There were a few days of quarantine for unvaxxed travellers until May but it was never a requirement to be vaxxed to enter Thailand (or Europe), this is just misinformation which was widely spread by pro-pharmists.

Right, so what can we do do fight this new surge then? A fifth booster? Or is it sixth now? I lost count.

There is no need to show proof of vaccination at Suvarnabhumi airport and never was.

The comment I replied to (which I am pasting below) referred to Suvarnabhumi: "Question is whether Thailand will also do away with the need to be vaccinated. I was asked to show proof of vaccination at Suvarnabhumi when returning last week." I travelled from Bangkok to Europe and back in 2021 and 2022 and was never asked to show proof of vaccination. I challenge anyone to prove vaccination was ever required to travel from Suvarnabhumi. It was not.

Thais have an extraodrinary sense of togetherness, in many ways the collective being is above the individual, they are taught from birth that the country is more important than they are as persons (it's even in the national anthem). They are also subservient to people in authority. So when there are pro-mask campaigns by politicians and doctors as was the case for a couple of years, it's no surprise that the compliance rate is 100%. It's their Achilles heel as they don't have enough individuality to decide to take it off. I underestimated this myself as I initially thought (2 months ago) that they would gradually come off, but I was wrong. The only Thais I see taking them off are women with farang partners, probably because it relieves them of any responsibility ("it's not me, it's my farang husband" as if being a "mia farang" exempted you of certain Thai cultural obligations – similar to the way it's OK them to wear a bikini at the pool rather than cover up their body.). Seems like the only way out of it will be a reversed process where politicians and doctors say "take off your masks for the greater good of Thai society".

"At least some segments", yes. A large portion of the population suffered immensely from lockdowns and it's that "can't make an omelette without breaking eggs" approach which is now under scrutiny (and very rightly so).

Nothing to worry about indeed. Those who fuelled the fear narrative partook in a psychological operation for political motive, as the UK's Rishi Sunak is now acknowledging: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-leadership-candidate-sunak-attacks-covid-lockdown-response-2022-08-25/

Amen.

Lockdowns have caused horrendous hardship and distress. I hope one day we will see the culprits pay for what they did.

The same can be said for leaders across the world, this is not a Thai-specific thing.

I think you're probably right. And actually my above statement is incorrect, I was unwell for a few hours about 5 months ago. Woke up at about 5 am with flu-like symptoms, chills and muscle pain (but no cough), I couldn't get out of bed, even reaching for my phone was a challenge. At about 11 am I started to feel better, at noon I was up, felt a bit tired all afternoon and in the evening I felt normal again. So perhaps I did briefly interact with Covid.

An economist seems quite fitting to comment and assess the economic consequences of lockdowns. One of the numerous points raised in the article you didn't read is the fact that a poll revealed growing defiance of Americans towards the CDC. As always, you're looking for ways to disqualify the author rather than address and debate the content.

This particular exchange was about lockdowns and their consequences.

Plenty of facts in that article, how about reading it?

FYI this is 2022 and it is pretty much agreed upon that public health agencies handled this crisis really badly. The public trust in them has never been so low and those like you who still defend them no matter what are a minority.

Interesting, how did he end up having to pay if he was clearly not at fault? Just wondering how I could potentially avoid this happening to me.

When maneuvering in this situation you need to check 4 times, right-left, then right again before you start moving, then left again before you cross the other lane, and still have your foot on the break ready for emergency stop as they just appear out of nowhere. It applies outside Thailand too, I'm just as wary on European roads as there are motorcycles at much higher speeds than here and an impact like that is deadly in most cases. RIP.

You're posting an article from mid-2021. Now the consensus is that Sweden's strategy paid off, unlike the UK whose strict lockdown measures are being largely criticized. It's worth reading those articles fully as they offer very interesting insights on the political decisions to lock down countries.

From your article: Although Sweden was hit hard by the first wave, its total excess deaths during the first two years of the pandemic were actually among the lowest in Europe. The decision to keep primary schools open also paid off. The incidence of severe acute Covid in children has been low, and a recent study showed that Swedish children didn’t suffer the learning loss seen in many other countries.

Misinformation. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/swedens-death-rate-among-lowest-europe-despite-avoiding-strict/ Sweden’s Covid death rate among lowest in Europe, despite avoiding strict lockdowns https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/science-health/956673/did-sweden-covid-experiment-pay-off WHO data reveals Scandinavian country has lower excess death rate than many European nations

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/sweden-decides-against-recommending-covid-vaccines-kids-aged-5-12-2022-01-27/ Sweden has decided against recommending COVID vaccines for kids aged 5-11, the Health Agency said on Thursday, arguing that the benefits did not outweigh the risks. "With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious disease for kids, we don't see any clear benefit with vaccinating them," Health Agency official Britta Bjorkholm told a news conference.