Fake News! No, we're not fining people 200 baht for not wearing masks, says RTP spokesman

[webfact]

Fake News! No, we're not fining people 200 baht for not wearing masks, says RTP spokesman

 

Picture: Sanook

 

A spokesman for the Royal Thai Police said that police at checkpoints set up in the wake of the imposition of a State of Emergency in Thailand were not fining people for failing to wear face masks. 

 

Reports had circulated on social media that people had to fork out 200 baht to the constabulary. 

 

This was nonsense said Pol Lt-Col Piya Uthayo at RTP HQ yesterday.

 

"It's fake news," he said. "We are not fining people. We are just encouraging mask use for health reasons". 

 

He said that 357 checkpoints had been set up nationwide and seven of those were on routes in and out of Bangkok. 

 

Five more were going to be added to the Bangkok checkpoints.These are the following:

 

1. On Petchkasem Road out to Nakhon Pathom.

2. Bang Na - Trad Road.

3. Buraphawithee elevated road (the road above Bang Na -Trad out to Chonburi)

4. Viphavadee Rangsit Road

5. The Don Muang tollway. 

 

Lt-Col Piya said people were being reminded to carry their ID, wear masks and sit one meter apart where possible. If people were unwell or fell into risk categories they would be asked to leave vehicles for further questions and checks about their health and movements. 

 

Source: Sanook

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-03-27

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[graemeaylward]

By the looks of the photo, the police are not keeping the recommended social distance of 1 metre (Thailand) 2 metres (Rest of the world) apart either!

[kotsak]

2 minutes ago, graemeaylward said:

By the looks of the photo, the police are not keeping the recommended social distance of 1 metre (Thailand) 2 metres (Rest of the world) apart either!

 

Difficult to throw and catch banknotes at that distance ????

[Andrew Dwyer]

Not fake news according to my neighbours who traveled from Bangkok to Ayutthaya yesterday !!

 

[kotsak]

If the official line is that there are no fines imposed and then you have people claiming the opposite, then it's obvious what is going on..

[jaiyen]

Typical pigs !  Once they have been caught out they will deny everything !  Definitely NOT fake news.

[rucker4012]

Not fake news in Chalomg

[bbudd]

Village announcement this morning said B300 fine foe no mask

At least they DID hand out fabric masks here 2 days ago

It should be manditory to at least to slow the spread

[Khun Paul]

Well even if you tell the POLICE, illegal market and people not wsearing masks and no social distancing they do NOTHING here in Udon Thani , so the rise in numbers is down to POLICE INACTIVITY or as no money to be made, do NOTHING 

[Expat Brad]

Well, yesterday our Pu Yai was on the blower, and told everyone that if they did not wear a mask in public they would be fined 200 baht and if caught again, possible jail time!!!

I am in the CM area ????

[HHTel]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

We are just encouraging mask use for health reasons

I'll wear a mask if it becomes mandatory but until then I'll take the advice of the doctors in the US, UK, Germany etc etc.  Plus the advice of the WHO.

There is zero evidence that a surgical mask is any protection at all unless it's you with the virus and that will protect others.  There is evidence that these paper masks can actually help in spreading the virus.

Thai attitude, and I heard this during a TV interview, "Just because there's no evidence is not an excuse not to wear one".

Plenty of evidence suggesting not to wear one and zero evidence for wearing one.

 

Before pointing out that everyone had to wear one in China, that was because of the intensity of the epicentre (market) it was unknown who had it and who didn't.

[kotsak]

 

[Jiggo]

Plenty of copy facemasks for sale in pattaya jomtien, but hey Thailand just like the old days....

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, HHTel said:

I'll wear a mask if it becomes mandatory but until then I'll take the advice of the doctors in the US, UK, Germany etc etc.  Plus the advice of the WHO.

There is zero evidence that a surgical mask is any protection at all unless it's you with the virus and that will protect others.  There is evidence that these paper masks can actually help in spreading the virus.

Thai attitude, and I heard this during a TV interview, "Just because there's no evidence is not an excuse not to wear one".

Plenty of evidence suggesting not to wear one and zero evidence for wearing one.

 

Before pointing out that everyone had to wear one in China, that was because of the intensity of the epicentre (market) it was unknown who had it and who didn't.

 

 

[There is zero evidence that a surgical mask is any protection at all unless it's you with the virus and that will protect others.]...

 

So you know you don’t have the virus? you are giving yourself a Covid-19 test on a daily basis? you have some ‘special sense’ so you’d know if you had Covid-19 right ?????.... so you don’t need to wear a mask, cos there’s no way you’d unwittingly spread it to someone else.... Right ??????

 

 

Anyone taking the advice of the WHO and other medical professionals have sadly misunderstood and have only half the story - Masks don’t protect the wearer with any degree of certainty, they may do something and be better than nothing but thats about it, however, they do help reduce transmission when worn by an unwitting carrier - thus they are helpful in transmission mitigation - they won’t stop the spread 100% but in conjunction with other methods they help. 

Those not wishing to wear masks are selfish.

[unsubscribe]

Good! I hope every country in the world adopts this.

 

We should all be wearing face masks whenever we step out of the house, the easiest and least painful way for us to hammer covid-19 together.

Edited March 27, 2020 by unsubscribe

[HHTel]

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

So you know you don’t have the virus? you are giving yourself a Covid-19 test on a daily basis? you have some ‘special sense’ so you’d know if you had Covid-19 right ?????.... so you don’t need to wear a mask, cos there’s no way you’d unwittingly spread it to someone else.... Right ??????

 

Quote

Person-to-person spread

The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.

• Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).
• Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

If you have the virus, unless your coughing and sneezing, it's unlikely you can infect another who is more than 6 feet away (social distancing is 2 metres),  If you are coughing and sneezing then you shouldn't even be around the public and most definitely be wearing a mask whether the coughing/sneezing is from the virus or the 'flu.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmission.html

 

The main transmission is believed to be from surfaces, which is why the emphasis is on regular and thorough hand washing. The virus is not airborne and if coughed into the air, it will sink/drop to a surface where it can survive for quite long periods.

Wearing one of these paper masks is no protection against the virus which has been proven in a number of studies. As the mask becomes moist and gets contaminated from your own hands, it can become a petri dish and actually aid the spread.

 

[Mike k]

18 hours ago, unsubscribe said:

Good! I hope every country in the world adopts this.

 

We should all be wearing face masks whenever we step out of the house, the easiest and least painful way for us to hammer covid-19 together.

If they are available I checked 6 different places over 2 days and couldn't find any 

[dubai thai farang]

my mrs (now out of quarantine after returning from dubai) made the 15km trip from her home to small town near her. checkpoint stopped her, checked the temperature and let her go. no mention of facemarks. This was yesterday afternoon.

[bluesofa]

On 3/28/2020 at 3:32 AM, HHTel said:

If you have the virus, unless your coughing and sneezing, it's unlikely you can infect another who is more than 6 feet away (social distancing is 2 metres),  If you are coughing and sneezing then you shouldn't even be around the public and most definitely be wearing a mask whether the coughing/sneezing is from the virus or the 'flu.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmission.html

 

The main transmission is believed to be from surfaces, which is why the emphasis is on regular and thorough hand washing. The virus is not airborne and if coughed into the air, it will sink/drop to a surface where it can survive for quite long periods.

Wearing one of these paper masks is no protection against the virus which has been proven in a number of studies. As the mask becomes moist and gets contaminated from your own hands, it can become a petri dish and actually aid the spread.

 

I see the CDC page above says:

"It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads."

 

I was reading some new info from the US about how long Covid-19 can survive. Last week they discovered it can survive on plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours:
source: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973?query=featured_home

 

My wife when wearing a compulsory face mask to go to the bank or food shopping, for example, now knows not to touch her face - or mask - while she's out, but to wait until she gets home and has washed her hands thoroughly before removing the mask.

 

[richard_smith237]

On 3/28/2020 at 12:32 AM, HHTel said:

On 3/27/2020 at 7:39 PM, richard_smith237 said:

So you know you don’t have the virus? you are giving yourself a Covid-19 test on a daily basis? you have some ‘special sense’ so you’d know if you had Covid-19 right ?????.... so you don’t need to wear a mask, cos there’s no way you’d unwittingly spread it to someone else.... Right ??????

 

Quote

Person-to-person spread

The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.

• Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet).
• Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

If you have the virus, unless your coughing and sneezing, it's unlikely you can infect another who is more than 6 feet away (social distancing is 2 metres),  If you are coughing and sneezing then you shouldn't even be around the public and most definitely be wearing a mask whether the coughing/sneezing is from the virus or the 'flu.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmission.html

 

The main transmission is believed to be from surfaces, which is why the emphasis is on regular and thorough hand washing. The virus is not airborne and if coughed into the air, it will sink/drop to a surface where it can survive for quite long periods.

Wearing one of these paper masks is no protection against the virus which has been proven in a number of studies. As the mask becomes moist and gets contaminated from your own hands, it can become a petri dish and actually aid the spread.

So you’ve never sneezed our coughed unless you have a cold or the flu ????

 

Even without illness people cough and sneeze...  When was the last time you coughed or sneezed? You’ve probably no idea because its so common, airborne irritants enter our throats and sinuses, sneezing and coughing is not uncommon in all of us. 

 

So... We don’t ‘only cough or sneeze’ when we have Covid-19, we cough and sneeze anyway, thus we can inadvertently cough and sneeze when we are unwitting carriers of the disease. 

 

Quote

The virus is not airborne and if coughed into the air, it will sink/drop to a surface where it can survive for quite long periods.

Where did you make that up get that information from? 

There are a couple of reports that SARS CoV-2 can survive airborne for up to 8 hours under the right climatic conditions and numerous reports that SARS CoV-2 can remain airborne for 3 hrs. 

 

I agree with many of your other points though: The majority of reports suggest that a primary point of transmission of the virus is on surfaces where it can last for days. 

The ‘paper masks’ offer no (or very little) protection from the virus (when its attached to aerosol) but it does prevent direct hand to mouth contact and prevents spread (as described above) when unwitting carriers cough and sneeze. 

 

One of the main issue pointed out by the WHO was the ‘petri-dish’ issue and that masks are not disposed of as they should be under present conditions and can contribute to the spread. 

 

This is one facet [contributing to the spread of SARS CoV-2] that I’d never considered. Some countries have made it compulsory to wear a mask or risk a fine (i.e. UAE), not everyone has a large supply of masks and thus will re-use yesterdays mask - which to be honest is a little nasty, thus some of these regulations work in a perfect world but the issue of wearing a mask is not quite black and white, but I still think in aggregate they contribute towards the prevention of spread, but obviously must be used with other primary methods such as hand sanitation, social distancing etc... we ’should’ start to see the results of all this in a week or so when the rate of spread of infection starts to slow. 

 

 

 

[bluesofa]

Talking about coughing and sneezing, there's a delightful video below (from this wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_mask#Physical_form ) showing how a sneeze spreads and how different types of material/masks can reduce the spread:  

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Qualitative-Real-Time-Schlieren-and-Shadowgraph-Imaging-of-Human-Exhaled-Airflows-An-Aid-to-Aerosol-pone.0021392.s002.ogv