Pattaya's Coronavirus Cock-up: Chaos on first day of lockdown as leaders scurry for rethink

[guzzi850m2]

Well since it went as expected, it's not really news.

[Winky Wilson]

Always has been a cock up in Pattaya. Same Same.

[SunsetT]

Everything in Thailand is 'trial and error'.

[DungeonMouse]

Getting my new playlist together....In the Ghetto, Ghetto Heaven, Village Ghetto Land...etc etc

[Leaver]

38 minutes ago, SunsetT said:

Everything in Thailand is 'trial and error'.

Which has become deadly, now. 

[balo]

TIT, what do you expect? 

[fraggleRock]

So comical, stupid as stupid can be

[Kru Baa]

Premier tourist resort Bwaaa haaaa haaaaa. Give me a break

[simtemple]

I think Herd Immunity is the ideal solution for Thailand. Like the Swedes let the chips fall where they may. The Swedes have culled off 870, so far, and are now finding unintended consequences. They may end up killing thousands and It doesn't kill only "old people" . The reality is that it's killing all age groups with men statistically higher. If your unfortunate enough to end up on a ventilator you've got a 70 to 90% chance of dying. Those who survive will have permanent lung damage of a severe nature. 

If you have a desire to survive, it would be advised to quaranteen  yourself until this is over. Advice from a highly qualified doctor may also prove useful:

https://youtu.be/SJ7sDJdtTTw

Edited April 10, 2020 by simtemple

[Andycoops]

18 hours ago, YetAnother said:

typical thai thinking and planning ; contingencies ? what are they ?!

Thai thinking and planning?

Doesn't exist. 

[The Deerhunter]

18 hours ago, Wiggy said:

Classic.

Yes. As expected. 

 "T.I.T."

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Yeah!... just like all the rest of the world has action plans for every eventuality.

 

With the possible exception of Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, are you being serious?

Of course. What other reason would there be for huge government bureaucracies?

Perhaps once this is all over the masses will start to question whether the large amounts of tax they pay is used properly, and vote accordingly.

Ask the question "what are ( democratic ) governments primarily responsible for"?

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, Winky Wilson said:

Always has been a cock up in Pattaya. Same Same.

Not so. Pattaya was brilliant in the 90s. Only when the top guys had delusions of untold riches from converting Pattaya into some sort of "Riviera on Pattaya Bay" that it all went wrong.

[Sydebolle]

Amazing, too stupid even for that. Common sense out of the window and some point you wonder, how these people find home at night without anyone taking their hands. 

What a disgrace for the officials at city hall, the police and the mayor on top of it. But google his last name and you will find out, that it was not only his exemplary organization skills or traffic management which pushed him upon the chair of mayorship ???? 

[johno49]

Inspector Clouseau organised the 5 checkpoints

[scubascuba3]

They seem to be obsessed with 2000+ tourists, the risk before was only due to new arrivals from flights which isn't happening now. They try to blame foreigners whenever they can

[Kerryd]

Lol - aside from a couple of countries like Taiwan and New Zealand, who hasn't screwed up their response to this virus ?

Mighty nations like the US of A, most of the EU, and most of the rest of the world in fact have all ****ed up in response to this, yet somehow people seem to think that little Pattaya should have been the world's leading light on how to deal with it.

They are doing what they can to try and prevent a major outbreak of the virus here, which most of you SHOULD be grateful for, especially knowing that OLD MEN are the ones most likely to get infected and die.
And yes, most of the expat population of Pattaya consists of OLD men, many with underlying health issues already (obesity, diabetes, liver problems, lung problems). (You just have to look at pretty much every bar in the city, every supermarket and at Immigration every single day to see that is true.)

The exact demographic that is most affected by this virus.

Yet despite that, some feel that the rules shouldn't apply to them (no surprise). Apparently they think they are immune. They seem to think they can't catch the virus, nor pass it on to anyone else (knowing that you can be infected and not show any symptoms).

Meanwhile - a 15 year old boy from a remote tribe in the Amazon has reportedly just died from the virus. HTF did he even get infected ? (Apparently from contact with illegal miners in the area. Which means those illegal miners caught it somewhere else and are spreading it into one of the most remote regions in the world.)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-yanomami-tribe-15-year-old-boy-dies-coronavirus-covid-19/

So if a kid in a remote village in the Amazon can get infected (and die), why is it so many expats in Pattaya seem to think they are invulnerable ? 

Of course, Pattaya could go the same route Sweden has. About the only thing Sweden has done is ban gatherings of more than 50 people. Bars are still open. Restaurants and shops are still open. Schools are still running. People still go to parks and malls.

Oh but Sweden is paying for it now.
6 April - 333 deaths attributed to the virus.

9 April - 793 deaths - an increase of of 460 deaths in just 3 days. (Different articles cite different totals, from 780 to 793)
Even the Swedes are starting to question if their "do next to nothing" approach is backfiring on them. They have jumped up to 14th overall in the world for deaths from the virus.

Sweden - 6 April
Sweden - 10 April

#13 - Switzerland - 1,002 deaths
#10 - Netherlands - 2,500 deaths
# 8 - Belgium - 3,019 deaths
# 5 - The UK - 8,958 deaths

# 56 - Thailand - 33 deaths.

(Australia clocks in currently at #50)

But it's Thailand and Pattaya that are supposedly screwing up their response the virus. Admittedly they haven't done a great job and should have started cracking down on things earlier, but they seem to be keeping things in check, especially when you look at other places in the world.

Yes, Pattaya screwed up with the lock down plan, and the new plan seems pretty flawed as well. And it's not about keeping "2,000 tourists" penned in the city. If they are really worried about those "2,000 tourists" they could simply visit each of them (as they should know where they are) and test them.

Initially it was about it was about keeping 2 million Thais from Bangkok and other places from trying to get into the city.

This new plan (which I haven't seen any mention of outside of the Bangkok Post article) seems pretty whacked as there are dozens of ways in and out of the area they are supposedly trying to lock down. Not to mention that they are going to encounter the same traffic problems as they did last time.

Imagine all the traffic turning onto Pattaya Tai,  getting halfway to #3 road and running into a barricade (at soi Khor Pai). 
Imagine all the traffic turning onto Pattaya Klang and just before you get to Big C - there's a barricade ! (At least you can get to Foodland though, if you can get through the traffic jam.)

But at least they are trying to do something.
Meanwhile it seems most of the expat population (on this Forum at least) would prefer they do nothing at all.

Because that seems to be working in other places, right ?

Gee, I wonder who would be screaming the loudest if suddenly Pattaya started experiencing New York levels of infections and deaths ? ????

I can hear it now. "Waaaa - why didn't you lock down the city sooner?!?!" "Waaa - why didn't you stop all those people from outside of Pattaya from entering the city ?!?!" "Waaaa - why didn't you crack down on ALL those people not wearing masks ?!?!" Waaaa - why didn't you do SOMETHING to prevent this ?!?!?" 

Coronavirus Tracker (website)

[jacko45k]

17 hours ago, smew said:

All homeless should file a claim with PRC Chinese mainland government.

So they should go and see their lawyer?

[Incobart]

20 hours ago, tropo said:

Last year around 15,000 died in road accidents in Thailand, so they are saving maybe 40 people per day through curfew and lockdown.

 

With a death toll from covid-19 currently at 33, that's an elderly person dying every 2nd day since this all began.

 

It's not the worst (or best). New Zealand has seen 2 deaths, yet they are totally locked down and they were one of the first countries to lockdown. The 2nd person, a woman in her 90's, died today. They didn't give her exact age... maybe she was 99. Personally I find statistics given about people in their 90's dying of covid-19 to be nothing more than scare tactics. Pneumonia brought on by the seasonal flu frequently kills people over 90.

 

 

I don't think that Thai people have a special body, so if you compare with real statistics in the world, then there should be 6-800 deaths per day. that is clear. What people never read is "REGISTERED" . With this amount it makes sense to do these actions, just to hold the hospitals able to keep working.

Thailand is a high touristic country, A high Chinese related population, close to China, most not follow the quarantine ...

So explain me then 3 deaths  and lock the whole country for that ... (REGISTERED - real) 

[mikebell]

On 4/10/2020 at 8:48 AM, webfact said:

each of the five checkpoints were struggling to interpret what ID was necessary

Manned & planned by Pattaya Plod; what could possibly go wrong?

[manhood]

To close down a city like Pattaya is anyway not helpful to prevent Pattaya of more cases of infections.  As long people within pattaya don't follow rules of not gathering together so no lockdown can be effective!

Anyway about 70% of the population has to get infected to get a herd immunification!it's just to prevent that a mass of people get infected within a short time and the health system isn't able to deal with that. I am sure, the health system is anyway not able to handle many Corona 19 cases!

So stay safe and healthy out there!

[Mike k]

On 4/10/2020 at 8:59 AM, Toany said:

They will have to sort things quickly.  The airports of Wuhan are open again.  Soon there will be hordes of Chinese trying to enter Pattaya.

And they will welcome them with open arms ????

[Melbun]

1 hour ago, Mike k said:

And they will welcome them with open arms ????

Unlikely !! Maybe New Zealanders, Aussies, Taiwanese only ( Singapore is encountering 2nd wave infections) - Yahoo - roll out the red carpet - with all those hungry girls - golden days again !!

[brianthainess]

On 4/10/2020 at 9:39 AM, Jimbo53 said:

Back to the Drawing board

Yeh cartoon caricatures coming soon.

[brianthainess]

Just imagine, if emergency services had to get through that traffic jam. Irresponsible of authorities as usual, bad knee jerk reactions with no forward thinking as usual.

[berrec]

Lots of interesting and thoughtful posts; as I am locked down (week 3 now for me) and like most of you I have too much time on my hands so I will add my useless 2 cents worth to the topic.

 

I do not condemn the Pattaya officials for at least trying something but I suspect they have never had any first-hand experience or simulations for pandemics of this severity like they do with their war games or other national disaster simulations in this country.

 

So the COVID-19 infectious rate is new ground they are venturing into; like most projects some key critical success factors are required:

 

1. Planning - Problem Definition and Strategy 

2. Operations - Consultation and Communications

3. Resources - Assets and Personnel 

2. Implementation - Evaluation and Scaling  

3. Risk - Management and Mitigation 

 

That said Thailand has had past experiences in pandemic management with H1N1 and also SARS and the Avian Flu.

 

Thailand also has extensive experience with MERS and according to the WHO Thailand gets high marks for MERs response.

 

But, that said  (at this stage) none of these viruses were aggressive as COVID-19 in threatening the broader community. 

 

Health minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Jan 28, 2020; Thailand admits it is 'unable to stop the spread' of China's deadly coronavirus as health minister warns more cases are coming!  So it looks like we are in for a rough and tough road unless a miracle happens. 

 

It's a little difficult at short notice and with the lack of direct experience to execute an effective mitigation project plan for COVID-19.

 

So with all this past experience of pandemics and virus where is the National Pandemic playbook for Thailand based on their past history of managing these types of virus?

 

Provisional and local government officials need strong national leadership and guidance with constructive messaging to implement; not knee-jerk local think tank adhoc reactions.  

 

You've got to ask yourself why so many vehicles out there on the road that created the situation in Pattaya when we are all endeavouring to adhere to he social distancing and stay indoors government directions.

 

Could it be possible that it is the lack of discipline that Thais have (e.g their horrific road toll statistics) or could it be their daily will to survive in a country that if you or your family can not look after you, your survival rate is pretty low.

 

People's survival priorities are typically in this order:

 

1. Oxygen

2. Water

3. Food

4. Shelter

5. Self-defense

 

So in summary I am not S### bagging Pattaya officials who have the right intentions but lack the experience and knowledge to really pull it off effectively.

 

Or the Thai people that live day to day; trying to survive to make it to the next day.

 

I guess like the rest of you I will do my best, stay housebound as directed, try not to be too critical of local government with the right intentions but unworkable policies and keep reading all the TVF posts and limit my posts to more humorous items for a laugh or two in this global pandemic crises.   

 

Happy Easter, God bless everyone and stay safe!

[Raphael54]

Analytical thinking is not practiced in Thai schools.

[essox essox]

On 4/10/2020 at 8:56 AM, colinneil said:

Leaders in Pattaya scurry for rethink?

Problem is they didnt think before deciding on a lock down, they just implemented it without thinking it out first.

what did you expect.....no thoughts what so ever on the aftermath !!

[essox essox]

15 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Of course. What other reason would there be for huge government bureaucracies?

Perhaps once this is all over the masses will start to question whether the large amounts of tax they pay is used properly, and vote accordingly.

Ask the question "what are ( democratic ) governments primarily responsible for"?

this is NOT a democratic government.......

[jacko45k]

19 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Just imagine, if emergency services had to get through that traffic jam. Irresponsible of authorities as usual, bad knee jerk reactions with no forward thinking as usual.

Good point... an ambulance with a Covid patient.