A nice surprise

[ramrod711]

Yesterday a representative of the tessabaan in our village stopped by the gate with a package of face masks. They had announced over the local loudspeaker system that they would be distributing them at the Wat but found that too many people were waiting in line. I guess they decided that it wasn't a good idea for all those people to be crowded together and distributed them to homes. I just thought it was kind of them to do it, I appreciate it.

[Dante99]

You a farang?  And they gave you one too?  That couldn't be, must be a mistake somewhere.

[ramrod711]

1 hour ago, Dante99 said:

You a farang?  And they gave you one too?  That couldn't be, must be a mistake somewhere.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. None of my friends or family in Canada have reported spontaneous gifts of protective gear from their local governments.

[trevoromgh]

Nice of them which sub-district are you in out of interest ?

[ramrod711]

6 minutes ago, trevoromgh said:

Nice of them which sub-district are you in out of interest ?

Phabong

[1FinickyOne]

1 hour ago, Dante99 said:

You a farang?  And they gave you one too?  That couldn't be, must be a mistake somewhere.

That is nice of them - - and in my village the same kindness would not surprise me... but why take the opportunity to bash? 

[Lacessit]

Face mask discipline seems to be quite good among the Thais, I'd say 95% of the people in Chiang Rai are wearing them. Not so much in my GF's village, but they probably can't afford them, or can't get them.

The non-wearers seem to be mainly young Thai males.

Did the OP find out whether this is part of a bigger program?

[holy cow cm]

As long as they were not officials poking their noses in your business and being racist in any way it is a nice story. Seems now many monks and temples in Thailand are stepping up to help.

[ramrod711]

1 minute ago, kenk24 said:

That is nice of them - - and in my village the same kindness would not surprise me... but why take the opportunity to bash? 

Bash who?

[ramrod711]

2 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Face mask discipline seems to be quite good among the Thais, I'd say 95% of the people in Chiang Rai are wearing them. Not so much in my GF's village, but they probably can't afford them, or can't get them.

The non-wearers seem to be mainly young Thai males.

Did the OP find out whether this is part of a bigger program?

I don't know if it is part of a program. They did announce it but then decided to deliver them. My wife was in the yard and she brought them in. Just as an aside, my wife attends a sewing class at a technical school in Chiang Mai until they closed it the students and teachers were all making masks.

[Trujillo]

I guess they are not N95 masks, and therefore useless. Nice thought, though. 

[Throatwobbler]

8 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

That is nice of them - - and in my village the same kindness would not surprise me... but why take the opportunity to bash? 

That is all some members can do on here. Bash the Thais at every opportunity. Is what make TV unreadable most of the time and the reason that the vast majority of expats avoid it like the plague.

[essox essox]

7 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

Bash who?

you just passed your opinion nothing qeong with that .....

[Throatwobbler]

7 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

Bash who?

Bashing the Thais by reinforcing negative stereotypes.

[Throatwobbler]

8 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

Bash who?

It wasn’t you he was accusing of bashing I think more the next poster 

[ramrod711]

3 minutes ago, Trujillo said:

I guess they are not N95 masks, and therefore useless. Nice thought, though. 

I don't disagree with you about the quality or effectiveness but I wear one anyway because it isn't about what I believe, it's about what they believe and the perception they have as to whether I respect their opinions.

[Brightly]

This was pretty wonderful to read.

 

Overall, despite their decidedly late start, I’ve been pretty impressed by the Thai government during these dark days.

 

Many of my compatriots at home seem to have it worse than we do at present.  

[4MyEgo]

21 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

I don't disagree with you about the quality or effectiveness but I wear one anyway because it isn't about what I believe, it's about what they believe and the perception they have as to whether I respect their opinions.

I had the lady come by yesterday to deliver the water bill, wife was inside, I put my N95 mask on and approached, my wife also came out and was wearing the standard surgical mask because she says she can't breath in the N95.

 

Anyway the water lady asked my wife what kind of mask my husband was wearing and she told her, and then asked what is the difference, and my wife said, if you have the virus and cough, the mask you are wearing will stop the virus coming out of your mouth, but if someone isn't wearing a mask and they cough, the mask you are wearing won't stop the virus entering your mask, she looked puzzled so she explained it to her again, and then said, Mr Farangs masks works both ways, it will stop the virus exiting his mask and if put on properly will stop the virus entering his mask as it is a better quality mask that stops finer particles like PM2.5 also entering it, but he would still be exposed, regardless of the mask he is wearing, What do you mean she said; well if someone coughs, and they have virus, it can enter through his eyes or ears, OMB (oh my Buddha) she said, I didn't know that, that is why he wears glasses, the mask and puts ear plugs in his ears when we go shopping, it is still not 100% virus proof, but a lot better than most people do to reduce the virus spreading.

 

She asked were she could buy one of Mr Farangs masks and my wife said, forget it, there are no masks left anywhere, just stay 2 metres away from people, wear your mask and wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, if you can't do that, put hand sanitiser on your hands which has at least 60% alcohol in it.

 

Wow, how you know all of this she asked, Mr Farang tell me, farangs are not dirty like the health minister says, she couldn't stop saying oh, oh, oh as she left wai-ing, after she left I said to my wife, careful you might get arrested for spreading false rumours ????

 

[SimpleMan555]

37 minutes ago, Trujillo said:

I guess they are not N95 masks, and therefore useless. Nice thought, though. 

Useless under what circumstances? 
Most information from the US CDC, WHO and similar organizations regarding the use of a facemask / respirator are written from the position of 'Preventing' the wearer from exposure to toxins, or disease.

 

For the layperson, the use of a surgical type mask has both research driven and anecdotal evidence that supports the use of these types of masks to prevent others in close proximity to the wearer from to exposure to air-borne diseases. Another advantage is wearing the mask can help reduce the number of times the wearer touches their face, (a primary source of disease transmission), and reducing the potential for self-infection.

Here in Thailand, as many Thai people believe the masks are effective, I would also suggest wearing a mask makes Westerners more socially acceptable and reduces their already high stress levels. For me, the positives of wearing a mask outweigh the above concerns.

 

My wife, (a Thai and trained micro-biologist) and I have discussed these concerns, including the effectiveness of certain masks, cultural concerns and similar. We do not wear a mask in the home, have a small supply of N95 masks available if needed should one of us get sick, and we wear surgical masks when venturing outside for supplies etc.

The following article discusses both of these issues, and was the most readily available online, please read if you are interested.
 -https://www.healthline.com/health/cold-flu/mask

 

IMO: Be Kind, Wear a mask outside, Wash your hands especially before and after shopping etc, and drink BEER! ????

[Bill97]

1 hour ago, kenk24 said:

That is nice of them - - and in my village the same kindness would not surprise me... but why take the opportunity to bash? 

You don’t get it.  He is not bashing.  It is a joke.  

[AlexRich]

1 hour ago, Throatwobbler said:

That is all some members can do on here. Bash the Thais at every opportunity. Is what make TV unreadable most of the time and the reason that the vast majority of expats avoid it like the plague.

The only thing being bashed by TV aficionados in lockdown is the Bishop!

[Trujillo]

"Overall, despite their decidedly late start, I’ve been pretty impressed by the Thai government during these dark days."

 

This comment is a joke, I presume. 

 

My main concern is not about the virus with masks. Enough has been said about the reasons for wearing a cloth mask and by whom. If you are not sick and not showing symptoms or not caring for symptomatic patients, you do NOT need a mask. Period. (And medical professionals dealing with this require N95s, not some old T-shirt material with floral designs.)

 

I take the point made earlier about just shrugging it off and doing what the under-educated Thais ask you to do. Wear a silly hat if that's what gets you into Makro. 

 

But my main point is that this morning, for example (in Chiang Mai), on my porch the PM2.5 air reading was 385. This is an immediately hazardous situation and the ONLY mask that filters the PM2.5 particles are N95 and above. Period. 

 

Giving you any mask other than that is only a gesture; you might as well wear a sock over your mouth. 

 

So if you are impressed by the Thai government then you are both not living here and not very well informed. 

Edited March 28, 2020 by Trujillo

[1FinickyOne]

5 hours ago, Bill97 said:

 It is a joke.

not a joke at all - - where is the punchline? 

[Bill97]

2 hours ago, kenk24 said:

not a joke at all - - where is the punchline? 

Now that is funny,  where did you get the idea that all jokes must have a punchline?

 

You are a joke and don’t have one.

[orang37]

12 hours ago, kenk24 said:

not a joke at all - - where is the punchline? 

 

this kind of passive-aggressive whinging, so common here among choleric/degenerate/alzheimerian expats who have lost, or never had, compassion/heartedness, or taken personal responsibility for the poor choices they made in living here ... is more flavor-aid* curveball, Jim Jones flavor, than punch.

 

* Jones did not lead his mass suicide event using Kool-Aid ! it wasn't Kool-Aid

 

~o:37;

Edited March 29, 2020 by orang37
teething pain after re-birth as insect

[orang37]

18 hours ago, Trujillo said:

If you are not sick and not showing symptoms or not caring for symptomatic patients, you do NOT need a mask. Period.

 

I think you are missing the point about wearing a mask to protect others from you.

 

~o:47;

[orang37]

10 hours ago, Bill97 said:

You are a joke and don’t have one.

 

profound, Khun Bill ... that put me into satori immediately ! ???? When I come down, I'll "go ask Goddess when She's ten feet tall:" clickee

 

She's always got a mask on, but, I'd like to think that's just for me.

 

cheers, ~o:37;

[1FinickyOne]

12 hours ago, Bill97 said:

You are a joke and don’t have one.

and you are just kind of nasty... 

[Bill97]

13 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

and you are just kind of nasty... 

“Kind of” hmm okay I’ll work on that

[toofarnorth]

22 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Face mask discipline seems to be quite good among the Thais, I'd say 95% of the people in Chiang Rai are wearing them. Not so much in my GF's village, but they probably can't afford them, or can't get them.

The non-wearers seem to be mainly young Thai males.

Did the OP find out whether this is part of a bigger program?

I live just north of Chiang Rai and yesterday the doctor who lives further along the soi delivered 4 masks to us. Must be good masks , intake of breath and they clamp to the face.  Just hope they keep some of the foul air out.

Oh my TW informs me that there is a 200B fine for not wearing a mask in town.