Thai govt to decide on extending emergency decree, easing COVID-19 restrictions

[The Barmbeker]

I am a bit late for this, maybe...but I actually try to sleep at nights!

 

IMHO what is happening here, is the following (and I apologize, if this has been said once or twice before, but...sleep...):

 

If you actually have single digit numbers of new infections and zero deaths, but you keep the emergency decree in place, with onlt minor changes in the status quo....

 

a) the government knows full well, that the numbers are BS and the situation is way worse, than they admit 

b) the emergency decree is NOT (surprise, surprise) about the COVID- situation, but rather to keep Prayut in total control of (fe) oposition and resistance.

 

Just my 2 satang...

 

One more month of total power, of no food, no money, no hope for the poor...

[luckyluke]

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

Hypocrite. Like everyone else you would not put up with someone slagging you off in your own home, you would ask them to leave.

Sorry, not understand your post.

 

I am trying to say that one can criticize the country where one stay.

 

Some pretend that : "If you don't like it here, you should leave"

 

This is not necessary obligatory.

 

Of course each of us has a different level of what he is prepare to undergo before

"too much is too much now, so I leave".

 

In the meantime, before reaching that final degree, up to him to criticize if he feel the need to.

[bstafford214]

I really don't understand about all this talk regarding the lifting of restrictions (state of emergency) or that they may continue the state of emergency for another month.

The reason I say this is because where I live, you would think that nothing is really wrong here.

 

I say this because I see normal daily activity of people shopping in the market, many without masks on, especially a lot of vendors with no mask or gloves, many walking about in town as usual, people driving about like normal in their cars and on motorbikes, most with no helmets as usual and no face mask being worn. I do not see any restrictions except for the inconvenience of the liquor ban, a few barbers closed, yes the bars are closed, but all the shops are open here. HomePro, Tesco, 7-Eleven are all open, I know food shops and supermarkets are allowed to be open, but any other shop you might need is open as well.

 

Okay, I admit that at least the big chain stores are trying to keep customers safe, like Tesco, HomePro and 7-Eleven for example by taking your temperature and spraying your hands if you want that done. But any other shop you go to don't follow that procedure and you must protect yourself of course. But people in the stores act like it is a normal day, with no social distancing, a lot with no masks on. We know that the schools are closed, some barbers and salons are closed, but have seen a couple open defying the order. The police don't do anything here except at the end of the month do their stops and checks at one of the major intersections, stopping some trucks and motorcycles when they feel like it to make some extra money I assume. Why do I only see them do this at the end of the month? Do they run low on money? My wife has told me it is normal for the police to do this, at least in our town.

 

The point is, where I live, I don't see much change except for temperature checks at main stores like Tesco, 7-Eleven and HomePro. To many Thais here do what they want and if the police or government are not going to check and make them follow the rules, then they won't follow any rules, "SO WHAT IS THE POINT"?

 

Ok the domestic flights are still on hold, but you can still travel by bus in my city and hope they follow social distancing, haha, most don't.

 

I just don't get it, either there are restrictions and they should be enforced or their aren't, which is it? It is not like in America, like New York City, that all stores were closed, maybe like Bangkok, but I don't know that for sure, but I don't see the same reaction.

 

The virus is still floating around, people are just going to continue spreading it and it will last longer because too many people just do want they want with no respect for others.

 

All I can do, is keep my family, my self and friends I know safe by following the rules and can only shake my head about what I see others doing everyday here.

[Sametboy2019]

Somebody posted a story about a prison population being 96% asymptomatic. How does this happen? You wouldn't of thought a prison population would of been the most healthy of individuals.

Lots of reports of not knowing actual numbers of people infected because of lack of testing and because of people being asymptomatic which would make mortality rates lower.

Also the reports of the US giving something like 40,000 dollars to each hospital per covid death so even though somebody had covid upon death that may not of been the reason of death.

Now the reports in newsasia essentially a business grab by the rich elite in Thailand.

Although this virus has a capability to kill I feel it's been a mass overaction.

Keep the old and vulnerable inside and get on with out lives. The financial impact and pychological impact of this will hurt more people in the long run(800,000 suicides per year normaly). 

It makes you wonder what are the long time goals of this really are!

[The Barmbeker]

20 hours ago, idiot farang said:

Well, you're accurate on the no-brainer part.

 

Might want to entertain a little perspective and turn off CNN for a bit. A LOT of things are far more 'deadly' than this virus to the average person. Going anywhere near a Thai road would be one example. A "measure to support a lower accident rate from these deadly roads, like closing them and banning motorized transport" would surely be a no-brainer as well- yes?!?

In another example of a deadly activity, you odds of dying from choking on your food are 1 in 2,696 (no kidding)! Well, I think we all know what the governments around the world should ban next to protect us...

Even if this has been pointed out to you before and you are just living up to your username: car accidents, chocking on food, being shot in the face and drowning in your swimming pool are NOT CONTAGIOUS!

See the difference and why your post makes 0,0% sense?

[Neeranam]

8 hours ago, GAZZPA said:

You poor thing. Stuck in a country where they don't want you. 

 

Who don't want me? 

[The Barmbeker]

18 hours ago, PumpkinEater said:

There will NEVER be ZERO risk in life!

Lets get on with it already.

One month is enough for this flu virus.

YOU WILL NOT DIE IF YOU CATCH IT, QUIT BELIEVING THAT YOU WILL!

99% chance of living...

So, if you would be jumping off a plane and someone told you, one in a hundred paerachutes will not open...would you jump head first or rather check the parachutes?

[Mac98]

19 hours ago, sevenhills said:

Took the words right out of my mouth, At least some people are awake to this Scamdemic.????

They already were using that power. Didn't you notice? Alcohol sales restrictions, smoking restrictions, changing bar opening and closing times, TM30s, new insurance and licensing rules, massage and go-go crackdowns. (No? It ain't 1998 anymore.)

[rkidlad]

2 hours ago, sandyf said:

Why hold back, just tell us what is really going on and give us the your verified actual numbers.

The number as of yesterday was 9 new confirmed cases. 9. If that number is indicative of how few people are contracting this virus, then extending the emergency decree is overkill. The government fell flat on their face at the first hurdle of giving 5000 baht to the millions of Thais who need it. If the government won’t support their most needy (remember they said they have this 100% under control and plenty of money in the reserves) they will have bigger problems than covid19 come the end of the month. The Thai people need assistance; that’s something Prayut is seemingly unwilling to do. Even with his special powers. 

[Jingthing]

19 minutes ago, Xaos said:

 

Emergency is not a lockdown

Too bad you didn't read the article. 

[pineapple01]

Asymo

11 minutes ago, Sametboy2019 said:

Somebody posted a story about a prison population being 96% asymptomatic. How does this happen? You wouldn't of thought a prison population would of been the most healthy of individuals.

Lots of reports of not knowing actual numbers of people infected because of lack of testing and because of people being asymptomatic which would make mortality rates lower.

Also the reports of the US giving something like 40,000 dollars to each hospital per covid death so even though somebody had covid upon death that may not of been the reason of death.

Now the reports in newsasia essentially a business grab by the rich elite in Thailand.

Although this virus has a capability to kill I feel it's been a mass overaction.

Keep the old and vulnerable inside and get on with out lives. The financial impact and pychological impact of this will hurt more people in the long run(800,000 suicides per year normaly). and 

It makes you wonder what are the long time goals of this really are!

Asmptmatic. when was that Gearbox launched.?  Its Psycho,Asymto and ,Overeaction, also two Ls in Normally. Grange Hills Finest at its best.????

[lagavulin1]

19 hours ago, dave moir said:

Staying healthy!!!!!!!

Have you not seen the queues of people standing waiting for handouts because they have no money or food to put on the table!!!!

The lockdown doesn't really have anything to do with Covid 19 it's about control of the people

Its absolutely about control. Its about controlling people not gifted with a degree in epidemiology spreading the disease willy nilly. That phase was successful. Now we need to focus on helping those who, inevitably suffered. 

On the point of retaining control you are unfortunately correct. Its been raised in several countries. Over to you. I'm a scientist but I'm a crappy moron at politics. 

Regards  Paul

[scandream]

with this procedure of mandatory restrictions, thailand will drive out the last still remaining tourists.  there are countries where tourists and foreign residents are welcome without a night-time curfew and other inconveniences of personal freedom!

[metisdead]

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Off topic posts and the replies have been removed.

 

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[HHTel]

2 hours ago, PumpkinEater said:

Take the 69.5 million people and only 50 dead?! Cmon already.

Do the percentage math...

There is a 99.9% chance that you WILL LIVE if you catch the virus!

You need to work out the % of deaths in the people that have had covid-19 which would include asymptomatic cases, a number that we don't know.  Not a % of the total population!

The chance of dying also depends whether you are in one of the vulnerable groups as well as age.

We don't have that data to come up with real figures.

I agree that the majority of covid19 cases recover, but until there is data available, you can't state what the chances of recovering are as a percentage.

All be it to say that most healthy people will recover!

[HHTel]

1 hour ago, Sametboy2019 said:

Keep the old and vulnerable inside and get on with out lives.

That and border closure and we could follow the NZ model.  Now that would make sense.

[Sametboy2019]

34 minutes ago, pineapple01 said:

Asymo

Asmptmatic. when was that Gearbox launched.?  Its Psycho,Asymto and ,Overeaction, also two Ls in Normally. Grange Hills Finest at its best.????

Somebody posted a story about a prison population being 96% asymptomatic.

a·symp·to·mat·ic

/ˌāsim(p)təˈmadik/

Learn to pronounce

 

adjective

MEDICINE

1. (of a condition or a person) producing or showing no symptoms.

    

   As for your other issues with my post. I am getting my daughter showered and dressed and not really bothered about a typo.

   Thanks for your valuable contribution to the thread though. It was most enlightening.

   while we are at it:

   Grange Hill's

   No need for the capital letter in finest.

   Also it's overreaction and there is no need for a commer before it and your continual need for capital letters needs addressing!

[Burma Bill]

20 hours ago, TheFishman1 said:

I need a haircut

You have my sympathy, barbers shops/hair salons open as usual here in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Had my haircut a couple of days ago.

[seancbk]

20 hours ago, havair said:

Sir , the virus was here in Thailand going back to December or January . We have been fortunate due to a variety of factors not to have incurred the full wrath of the virus .  We have only 50+ deaths .  There is no evidence at all of the virus spreading exponentially here .  Each country in the world has different variables .  Here in Thailand ,  we have abundant sunshine and high humidity which has been shown to hinder the virus .  Also many studies have shown a weaker strain of the virus is currently here in SE Asia .  I was in favor of the initial precautions enacted here ,  and they have proven correct .  It is now time to begin to relax many of these orders .  We can not live in this type of a state until a vaccine if found , if it ever is .  There is no exponential spread here . Hospitals have not been overrun .   There are lines of starving people everyday ,  they need to begin to work again .  

 

Two strains of the new coronavirus are spreading around the world, according to an analysis of 103 cases. But the World Health Organization insists that “there is no evidence that the virus has been changing”. So how many strains are there, and why does it matter?

A separate analysis by the team suggests that the L-type was derived from the older S-type. The first strain is likely to have emerged around the time the virus jumped from animals to humans. The second emerged soon after that, says the team. Both are involved in the current global outbreak. The fact that the L-type is more prevalent suggests that it is “more aggressive” than the S-type, the team say.

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2236544-coronavirus-are-there-two-strains-and-is-one-more-deadly/#ixzz6KskDSijJ


However, just because the strain that is prevalent in Thailand seems to be the lessor one does not mean it can't or won't mutate into a worse one.  All a virus need to mutate is a host in which to do it, so the more people there are that get infected the more likely a mutation is. 

Thailand has been very lucky, but people here also started wearing masks very early on and that plus the use of sanitizer in just about every place you go had a big effect on slowing the infection rate.

The Thais seem to like wearing masks, they wear them if they have a cold or if they think the pollution level is high.   Personally I hate wearing the damn things and I'm glad I get to stay home because it means I don't need to wear a sodding mask. 


If the restrictions are dropped too soon it is very likely that there will be a spike in new infections.  

 

[spidermike007]

22 hours ago, Kaopad999 said:

Fingers crossed they extend it for at least another 2 months. So far it's worked really well. 
As that old saying goes "If if it's not broke, then why try to fix it"

Only someone living in an ivory tower, with a large monthly pension could utter such uneducated drivel. Why fix it? Because people are hungry, out of work, and in great need, and I do not see you reaching out to help them. So, let us get a life and look at the reality. Less than ten new cases a day. The longer this goes on, the more businesses lost, the more hunger, and greater difficulty in re-starting the economy. There is absolutely no justification to continue the lockdown. At a minimum it should be a gradual reopening, starting with malls, restaurants, salons, public transportation, and small shops May 1st.

 

End the lockdown. End it ASAP. Let people go back to work!

[spidermike007]

19 hours ago, eeworldwide said:

Well - maybe the beer at least?

Absolutely no reason to continue the ban on alcohol at this stage. Now that the big producers are complaining, the administration might listen. Money is one language they do seem to understand. 

[sjaak327]

7 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Only someone living in an ivory tower, with a large monthly pension could utter such uneducated drivel. Why fix it? Because people are hungry, out of work, and in great need, and I do not see you reaching out to help them. So, let us get a life and look at the reality. Less than ten new cases a day. The longer this goes on, the more businesses lost, the more hunger, and greater difficulty in re-starting the economy. There is absolutely no justification to continue the lockdown. At a minimum it should be a gradual reopening, starting with malls, restaurants, salons, public transportation, and small shops May 1st.

 

End the lockdown. End it ASAP. Let people go back to work!

Fully Agree with this. The time has come. What people are forgetting is that if social distancing measure are being practiced, the spread of the virus will be limited. These social distancing measures have been implemented too late in many countries, hence the enormous spike in cases back in say Europe and the US. When the curve has been flattened, it is time to gradually re-open countries, but leave social distancing measures firmly in place. yes, there will be new cases, but the steep curve should not happen with these mitigation measures firmly in place. Thailand's numbers certainly indicate the curve is flat. 

Edited April 28, 2020 by sjaak327

[eyup]

'Might want to entertain a little perspective and turn off CNN for a bit."

You are joking aren't you?

 

Also the poster of "where I live etc ". Where do you actually live?

[spidermike007]

4 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

Fully Agree with this. The time has come. What people are forgetting is that if social distancing measure are being practiced, the spread of the virus will be limited. These social distancing measures have been implemented too late in many countries, hence the enormous spike in cases back in say Europe and the US. When the curve has been flattened, it is time to gradually re-open countries, but leave social distancing measures firmly in place. yes, there will be new cases, but the steep curve should not happen with these mitigation measures firmly in place. Thailand's numbers certainly indicate the curve is flat. 

Absolutely correct. And also the incubation phase is well past. We had millions of tourists here in January and February, similar to Italy. Yet, it never blew up here. Personally, I think it was well managed, and the heat and humidity, combined with the Vitamin D we get through our skin (that has been proven to promote immunity) helped alot. If this thing was going to blow up, it would have happened 4-6 weeks ago. Let it go. This is not the zombie apocalypse. Covid is nearly gone from Thailand. Time to get back to work. It is only fair to the Thai people. They need this. Extending this shutdown would be punitive for them, and cause alot more suffering, and perhaps make the "economic startup" far more difficult. 

[Burma Bill]

3 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Be interesting to see a graph of Thai suicide rates in the past few months compared to the virus graph

Yes indeed. Sadly, I forecast this a couple or so weeks ago and since then I have been researching the internet for such figures but so far none directly related to COVID-19, only year by year figures for ALL Thai suicides.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. 

[Bluedan]

6 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

 

The padding is going on all over the US. It seems insane to me, but there must be some sort of agenda behind it. I have no idea what this agenda could be, and I am not a major conspiracy theorist, but I do not trust the government, one iota. This is one of the best videos I have seen to date on the virus, and unlike inexperienced men like Fauci (he has not seen a patient in how many decades?) these guys are on the front line. They see what is happening. They see how incredibly harmful CDC, FDA, and WHO protocols are, and they see that those outdated methods are killing alot of people, the ventilators are killing alot of people, and these methods are healing very, very few. If you have not seen it, this video is really worth a watch, before youtube bans it. 

i concur. Share this video!

then buy a calculator and check their stats which are from their own research and also government figures. The maths doesn't lie

[idiot farang]

2 hours ago, The Barmbeker said:

Even if this has been pointed out to you before and you are just living up to your username: car accidents, chocking on food, being shot in the face and drowning in your swimming pool are NOT CONTAGIOUS!

See the difference and why your post makes 0,0% sense?

In a 6 year study (the most comprehensive I could find that didn't include pneumonia from other causes), seasonal flu deaths in Thailand averaged 2708 per year. That's 226 per month.

 

Based upon your logic, because of this CONTAGIOUS disease, Thailand should be locked down pretty much 24/7/365. Right?!!?!?

 

Or does that lock down only apply when your handlers convince you that it's a pandemic and you need autocrats to protect you and direct every aspect of life?

 

But, yeah, it's me who makes 0% sense...

[Krataiboy]

18 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

I wouldn't trust the WHO to tell me if it was raining.

On second thoughts, I'd be more likely to trust The Who than the WHO on anything!

[DrTuner]

There's a comment in Lancet about opening the restrictions:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30985-5/fulltext

 

And it repeats the same as others:

Quote

The linchpin for a strategy to move out of lockdown seemingly rests on increased testing and contact tracing, possible return-to-work permits based on immune status, repurposed or new therapeutics, and, finally, vaccination.

 

Thailand is having trouble scaling up the testing, with resources limiting it to 2k tests/day, and contact tracing only makes sense once you have an efficient testing system. It all hinges on testing, testing, testing.

 

Here's a direct message to usurpers from the Lancet comment:

Quote

Science must also guide policy decisions. Reliance on comprehensive seroprevalence data and a solid, research-based grasp of correlates of protection will allow policy to be guided by secure, evidence-based assumptions on herd immunity, rather than optimistic guesses.

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by DrTuner