Anutin blocks cruise ship turned away by three countries from docking at Laem Chabang

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

14 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

 I'm sure the people crossing from Laos and Myanmar and Cambodia or whatever all have doctors notes and are neatly tested before entry

 

I'm confused on that point. I had thought Anutin's announcement about requiring medical certificates for incoming Chinese was a policy... But after that, I've seen other reports saying it was just a proposal that hasn't been enforced or enacted. And lately, I've heard nothing about any enforcement of the medical certificates deal for incoming Chinese. So I'm assuming the Thais aren't actually doing it???

 

 

[metempsychotic]

1 hour ago, BobbyL said:

Finally, a good decision. 

 

 

How is it a good decision?  Proper quarantine procedures and its relatively low risk, does it say anything about an outbreak on this plague ship?

 

 

[Saint Nick]

As usual in Thailand, there is no logical middleground!

First we let everybody FROM CHINA in, now we turn away a cruise- ship with no confirmed case of anything.... 

[Liverpudlian]

Wish i was on board !  great value for the price paid extra booze & tucker . 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

24 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Considering that they are still welcoming Chinese tourists with open arms, this decision seems peculiar. No cases were detected on this ship, and it has been out to sea for some time. And these folks were going to head directly for the airport from Chonburi. I would guess this is a PR stunt, to make up for his horrendous showing so far. This guy is beyond incompetent, and should have been replaced already, with someone who has experience in the health field. 

 

The other day, the Chinese Embassy in Thailand issued a statement that praised Thailand for its help and cooperation and said "The affection and profound friendship of the Thai people in a time of crisis explains the idiom of “riding in the same boat” between China and Thailand."

 

Let's just hope, the boat Thailand and China are sharing doesn't end up being one like the Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess!   

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 minutes ago, Saint Nick said:

As usual in Thailand, there is no logical middleground!

First we let everybody FROM CHINA in, now we turn away a cruise- ship with no confirmed case of anything.... 

 

You gotta point there!!!

 

[ChipButty]

1 hour ago, Creasy said:

On the news this morning they said that Thailand had given permission for the ship to dock.

 

I wonder what changed their mind ?

Money

[Salerno]

1 hour ago, Salerno said:

What a ridiculous post.

@Surelynot My apologies for the above; I thought there had been a report of 2 people testing positive on the ship, as far as I can see now that was fake news. ????

[codebunny]

2 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

What a nightmare to be aboard that ship, not knowing where or when they'll be allowed to disembark. 

Ships are festering places of disease, filth, and rotten minds.

[Pravda]

Probably a smart decision by Thailand as they are inept at handling a common flu.

 

However, what kind of world we live in when a ship full of humans is not allowed to dock, even if there is a full on outbreak.

 

Shameful.

[neeray]

It looks like the ship and the 2,000 passengers may have to restock the bar and the kitchens and float their way home to Seattle on an extended cruise.

Yes, I know there are many other considerations to successfully undertake such a long cruise.

"You gotta do what you gotta do" !

[canopus1969]

2 hours ago, Vacuum said:

But but, there may be Chinese tourists on the ship. What was he thinking?

It had picked up 600 passengers from Hong Kong on February 1

 

Maybe ? What are you thinking !

[Grumpy John]

14 minutes ago, codebunny said:

Ships are festering places of disease, filth, and rotten minds.

And places like Pattaya or Phuket aren't???

[JHolmesJr]

The only way is for the ship to turn back and drop passengers off in the countries that they boarded.

[MJKT2014]

Good to see, if news reports are correct, no expletives were uttered by Anutin during his decision.

[tifino]

1 hour ago, Dumbastheycome said:

The "change of Mind" might be due to one or more passengers starting to display symptoms?

Docking  and disembarking are two different issues. I can only imagine the possible paranoid fear of being confined to a ship if a contagion broke out. Especially when many of the passengers are most likely to be in the age group shown to be  most vulnerable to serious complications.

or the Chinese passengers will start puuing over the side...

[Jane Dough]

3 hours ago, BobbyL said:

Finally, a good decision. 

 

 

So you think that pandering to hysteria and reneging on a deal is a good thing?

 

Rooster

 

 

[bendejo]

Plague ship!!!!

 

 

[BobbyL]

Just now, Jane Dough said:

So you think that pandering to hysteria and reneging on a deal is a good thing?

 

Rooster

 

 

I think Thailand should look after itself and the people who live here. It only takes one infected person on there to spread it way further. Absolutely not worth the risk. 

[tlandtday]

2 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

look at this!

 

https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/alarming-news-new-chinese-research-on-coronavirus-finds-incubation-period-of-up-to-24-days

A lot of naive persons on this forum lapping up the official Thai "I00 percent in control" nonsense".  Can anyone explain why we should believe the Thai authorities over those of U.S., Russia, Europe, etc? 

[metisdead]

Some posts using trolling memes have been removed. 

[webfact]

Thailand refuses entry to cruise ship with no coronavirus cases

 

People wear masks as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand February 7, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

 

BANGKOK/HANOI (Reuters) - Thailand has barred passengers from Holland America's cruise ship MS Westerdam from disembarking, its health minister said on Tuesday, the latest country to turn it away amid fears of the coronavirus despite no confirmed infections on board.

 

The Netherlands-flagged ship was sailing in a westerly direction, 96 km (60 miles) off the southern coast of Vietnam on Tuesday morning, according to data from the Marine Traffic ship tracking website.

 

Holland America, owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp <CCL.N>, had said on Monday that passengers would disembark in Bangkok on Feb. 13 and that there was no reason to believe anybody on board had the virus.

 

"I have issued orders. Permission to dock refused," Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in a Facebook post.

 

The coronavirus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan last month has caused chaos in Asia and beyond with many flights suspended, businesses disrupted and entry restrictions imposed by governments trying to ward off the spread.

 

It has also roiled the world of luxury cruises.

 

Another cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, with 3,700 passengers and crew onboard, is quarantined in the Japanese port of Yokohama, with 135 cases of coronavirus detected on the Carnival Corp-owned <CCL.N> vessel.

 

The World Dream cruise ship was held up in Hong Kong for days after it was linked to three cases but all passengers and crew later tested negative and were allowed to disembark.

 

The virus has killed more than 1,000 people - all but two in China - and infected more than 40,000, most in China but including 319 cases in 24 other countries and territories.

 

The Westerdam had already been turned away from several countries, including Japan and the Philippines, amid fears of the virus.

 

VOYAGE TO NOWHERE

Holland America says no one on board has the virus. Media reports say it carries 1,455 passengers and 802 crew; its original destination was Yokohama, Japan, which refused it permission to dock.

 

"The ship is not in quarantine and we have no reason to believe there are any cases of coronavirus on board despite media reports," the company said.

 

It had earlier said the Westerdam was sailing toward Bangkok, and it is not immediately clear whether the ship would change course.

 

Calls to the company's media hotline went unanswered on Tuesday.

 

The 285 metre (936 ft) long Westerdam can carry up to 1,964 passengers, according to the Holland America website, and is packed with cafes, restaurants and a Blues club.

 

The ship had already introduced extra health screening measures, including temperature checks and cleaning to defend against the virus, Holland America said in a statement.

 

Passengers have taken to Twitter to express their frustration with the voyage to nowhere, after days at sea with no opportunity to get off.

 

"We have been at sea 14 days as of this Friday. We have no passengers sick in any way," one Twitter user who said they were a passenger on board the ship wrote.

 

It was not clear if the passengers were aware that Thailand had denied permission for the ship to dock.

 

(Reporting by Juarawee Kittisilpa in Bangkok and James Pearson in Hanoi; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Kim Coghill, Robert Birsel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-02-11

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[Berkshire]

1 hour ago, Saint Nick said:

As usual in Thailand, there is no logical middleground!

First we let everybody FROM CHINA in, now we turn away a cruise- ship with no confirmed case of anything.... 

Hmmm...wonder why Japan refused this ship.

 

[Holland America says no one on board has the virus. Media reports say it carries 1,455 passengers and 802 crew; its original destination was Yokohama, Japan, which refused it permission to dock.]

[Beggar]

Are cruise ship tourists good tourists? They don't stay in hotels. The have their own food and drinks. They have their own entertainment. They often use land tours controlled by the cruise ship companies. Are they even worse than the so called zero Baht tourists? 

[DrTuner]

1 minute ago, Berkshire said:

Hmmm...wonder why Japan refused this ship.

 

[Holland America says no one on board has the virus. Media reports say it carries 1,455 passengers and 802 crew; its original destination was Yokohama, Japan, which refused it permission to dock.]

Maybe their port is already blocked by the other ship they got quarantined there. 

[Isaanbiker]

The German were damn lucky that they were allowed to spent a couple of million baht in a few hours.

 

  Or was that a dream? It's getting harder and harder to differentiate what a dream is and what's reality here. 

Edited February 11, 2020 by Isaanbiker
Anutin loves Foreigners too much!

[BobbyL]

5 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

Hmmm...wonder why Japan refused this ship.

 

I would guess it might be to do with the fact Japan has another ship stuck there with 3000 people on. They would be mad to even entertain the idea. 

[Isaanbiker]

6 minutes ago, Beggar said:

Are cruise ship tourists good tourists? They don't stay in hotels. The have their own food and drinks. They have their own entertainment. They often use land tours controlled by the cruise ship companies. Are they even worse than the so called zero Baht tourists? 

The Germans who were allowed to set anker in Phuket spent around 5 to 6 million baht in a few hours.

 

  People who can afford such a cruise ship are usually not cheap Charleys. 

[Beggar]

1 minute ago, Isaanbiker said:

The Germans who were allowed to set anker in Phuket spent around 5 to 6 million baht in a few hours.

 

  People who can afford such a cruise ship are usually not cheap Charleys. 

But for what should they spend millions in a few hours? Mostly the want to see something at the destination and often use guided tours to get the best experience within a few hours.

[NCC1701A]

ring ring:

" Hello. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul speaking."

"Ship from city called Holland America from country called Miami wants to dock."

"Sounds like white Farangs. Say no."

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by NCC1701A