It’s just too risky to allow foreign tourists to visit Thailand, says top Thai doctor

[webfact]

It’s just too risky to allow foreign tourists to visit Thailand, says top Thai doctor

 

Picture: Manager Online

 

A leading Thai doctor has appealed to the government to keep Thailand closed to foreign tourism for AT LEAST the next six months. 

 

Letting in foreigners again was just not worth the risk, said Dr Thira Woratanarat of the faculty of medicine at Chulalongkorn University Hospital in Bangkok. 

 

Commenting on his personal Facebook page the well known doctor said that countries that eased lockdown too quickly were paying the price. 

 

He mentioned particularly the US, Brazil and India.

 

He said that Thailand needs to observe what the easing of restrictions has meant for the progress of the pandemic in the country in the period of July 15th to August 15th before coming to any conclusions. 

 

Two to six weeks after full scale easing was the key to understanding the progress of Covid-19 in a society. 

 

He urged the government and the private sector to focus on domestic tourism to at least "get by" over the next six months, and possibly longer. 

 

Source: Manager Online

 

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[DrJack54]

He does have a point however I think groups such as married and retired etc should be allowed to return. Yes keep the quarantine but relax some of the other requirements.

[Brunolem]

Is this doctor's name Somchai Fauci? 

[canopus1969]

Agree with him, UK, US, Brazil and India as examples should be kept out for now

[JusticeGB]

Keep them out for a year let the unemploymen rate rocket and the baht plumet. Never mind that most people in the tourism industry will lose their jobs. Many bars and restaurants in Pattaya have already gone bankrupt so if overseas tourists don't come back probably over 60% will follow. 

[Jingthing]

15 minutes ago, canopus1969 said:

Agree with him, UK, US, Brazil and India as examples should be kept out for now

Don't forget Russia. 

[Jingthing]

12 minutes ago, JusticeGB said:

Keep them out for a year let the unemploymen rate rocket and the baht plumet. Never mind that most people in the tourism industry will lose their jobs. Many bars and restaurants in Pattaya have already gone bankrupt so if overseas tourists don't come back probably over 60% will follow. 

Your money or your life. 

Or both. 

Six months may be optimistic. 

[CALSinCM]

55 minutes ago, webfact said:

A leading Thai doctor has appealed to the government to keep Thailand closed to foreign tourism for AT LEAST the next six months. 

Wonder where Khun Doctor gets his salary from?  Not any tourism related businesses.  He also must have a steady income and probably is wealthy.  He might of well have said:
"Let average Thai people eat dirt.  Let's completely destroy the tourism sector and the people whose lives depend on it.  It won't effect me, so I don't care!!! My money keeps rolling in."
Another wealthy Thai devoid of compassion for their fellow citizens whom he looks down on being a high-status somebody.

[CALSinCM]

17 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Your money or your life. 

Or both. 

Six months may be optimistic. 

Covid is a death sentence.  Better safe than sorry!!!

[Titan1962]

It’s a catch 22 situation,what to do.

Open up to tourists and risk another outbreak,or keep the borders closed.

If an outbreak occurs and it spreads,all the schools,malls and local businesses that don’t rely on tourists will be shut down again. Back to a curfew,restricted travel between province’s. I agree that people married to thais that want or need to return should be allowed,but under the quarantine rules that are in place now. They seem to be working well,and it would be a shame to undo all the hard work. 
Yes the tourist places like Phuket and Pattaya Would struggle,but at least the rest of the country is moving forward. I understand that many people working in the nightclub scene will still be out of work,but Thais are resilient and will find away to make a living.

 

[Sharp]

Jesus H ....Mortality rate ???????....98% recovery ?????Some dont know of they have it??????? See what happens when you let a medical persons steer world economies !! 

Ebola

TB 

Check oiut those stats so far this year.

[NCC1701A]

39 minutes ago, JusticeGB said:

Keep them out for a year let the unemploymen rate rocket and the baht plumet. Never mind that most people in the tourism industry will lose their jobs. Many bars and restaurants in Pattaya have already gone bankrupt so if overseas tourists don't come back probably over 60% will follow. 

the Baht is not going to plummet. Western currencies are going to slowly drop in value.  

 

the Thai economy has contracted about 10% so things are difficult but they will make adjustments like they always do and just have to get by on no more tourism for at least 24 more months.  

 

keep the borders closed and keep the virus out so the local economy can continue to open up and function. I am not talking about expat bars. 

 

Good luck Thailand and keep up the good work fighting the virus. 

   

Edited July 13, 2020 by NCC1701A

[Paiman]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Commenting on his personal Facebook page the well known doctor said that countries that eased lockdown too quickly were paying the price. 

The well known Dr. has said many things to establish an elevated social media position. Easy done from the Ivory tower.

 

Is he really concerned or more concerned that people will not remember his name.

 

Truth is, a way in between will have to be found.

 

 

[ThailandRyan]

I really can not say much except for the fact that I count myself lucky that I stayed here when I had the chance to visit the US back in March.  However, I saw what looked to be a closure on the horizon and canceled my appointments there at the time this issue was setting off like a ticking time bomb. Now that I have had more time to review everything, and as I very much dislike what the good doctor is saying, unfortunately I have to agree with his views.  There may never be a vaccine for this virus.  Who knows what immunities and/or antibodies we may all have built up over time from all of our different lives we have lead in all of the different locations where we come from.  I do not see an answer in front of me or anywhere in the newest research I have looked at, and right now there is not a thing we can do except to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Economies are being ravaged worldwide, and whole industries/jobs are being lost.  Livelihoods of folks, and those without any savings are being ruined.  Who is to blame? For one as much as I dislike being locked into a country, I can say to myself as I look in the mirror, at least I feel and believe I am safe for the time being and am lucky to have funds at my disposal to whether the storm., as others are not so lucky. We each live different lifestyles, and to each there own, but the one thing that is constant is there has always been those who have lived there daily lives hand to mouth, or relied on handouts when times got tough.  I do know that things will either get better as time goes on or they will turn bleaker. 

 

Is quarantine the right answer for those trying to get back here to be with family, that is still an unknown.  Unless we are all able to be tested to see where we stand as far as antibodies or whether we are asymptomatic I do not see this government opening up on any scale as they genuinely appear to be very concerned regarding the virus.  Of course they are also taking a hit in the pocket books, but they need to stop spending money on projects that can be put on hold, unless they are using them to employ there own people and not migrant workers.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

14 minutes ago, Sharp said:

Jesus H ....Mortality rate ???????....98% recovery ?????Some dont know of they have it??????? See what happens when you let a medical persons steer world economies !! 

Ebola

TB 

Check oiut those stats so far this year.

 

The CV is still spreading and growing around the world.... with the U.S. being the worst but by no means the only country with growing incidence.

 

From Johns Hopkins July 10 COVID update:

 

Quote

EPI UPDATE The WHO COVID-19 Situation Report for July 9 reports 11.87 million cases (204,967 new) and 545,481 deaths (5,575 new). The WHO has reported more than 200,000 new cases for 4 of the last 6 days. The pandemic has been ongoing for more than 6 months and continues to accelerate .

 

--India reported its highest daily incidence to date, with 26,506 new cases.

--Brazil reported 42,619 new cases, its fifth highest daily incidence to date. 

--Mexico reported 7,280 new cases, its highest daily incidence to date and its first day with more than 7,000 new cases.

--Israel reported its highest and third highest daily incidence to date over the past 2 days

--Overall, the Eastern Mediterranean Region remains a global hotspot, representing 5 of the top 10 countries in terms of per capita incidence: Bahrain (#1), Oman (#2), Qatar (#5), Kuwait (#8), and Israel.

--Australia, Israel, and Japan have reported increasing COVID-19 incidence since early-to-mid June as well as multiple European countries—including Austria, Luxembourg, Iceland, and Serbia.

 

So, just where exactly does Thailand want to get its foreign tourists from?

 

[steven100]

Keep em' all out ... we don't want the virus here   !!   

[Bonobojt]

Some people think Thailand is waiting for high season to let tourists in, starting November. But if a second wave happens in the UK, its game over for me, they won't let us in. 

 

[jayboy]

1 hour ago, JusticeGB said:

Keep them out for a year let the unemploymen rate rocket and the baht plumet. Never mind that most people in the tourism industry will lose their jobs. Many bars and restaurants in Pattaya have already gone bankrupt so if overseas tourists don't come back probably over 60% will follow. 

In the overall economic picture, it matters not a bit whether all bars and restaurants in Pattaya go permanently bust.And on the positive side it would be an important milestone in ending Thailand's sex tourist role, no longer appropriate for a country at Thailand's stage of development.

[ThailandRyan]

1 minute ago, jayboy said:

In the overall economic picture, it matters not a bit whether all bars and restaurants in Pattaya go permanently bust.And on the positive side it would be an important milestone in ending Thailand's sex tourist role, no longer appropriate for a country at Thailand's stage of development.

The sex industry was here way before the tourists arrived in Thailand.  It just became more pronounced unfortunately.  I have never lived anywhere like Thailand where Thai men have many different mia nois or such, and those that can not find the time to go to karaoke or massage locations.  Once again way before there was ever an industry that is denied. 

[steelepulse]

21 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

The CV is still spreading and growing around the world.... with the U.S. being the worst but by no means the only country with growing incidence.

 

From Johns Hopkins July 10 COVID update:

 

 

--India reported its highest daily incidence to date, with 26,506 new cases.

--Brazil reported 42,619 new cases, its fifth highest daily incidence to date. 

--Mexico reported 7,280 new cases, its highest daily incidence to date and its first day with more than 7,000 new cases.

--Israel reported its highest and third highest daily incidence to date over the past 2 days

--Overall, the Eastern Mediterranean Region remains a global hotspot, representing 5 of the top 10 countries in terms of per capita incidence: Bahrain (#1), Oman (#2), Qatar (#5), Kuwait (#8), and Israel.

--Australia, Israel, and Japan have reported increasing COVID-19 incidence since early-to-mid June as well as multiple European countries—including Austria, Luxembourg, Iceland, and Serbia.

 

So, just where exactly does Thailand want to get its foreign tourists from?

 

Cases does not come close to equaling death when the ifr is .04% ( 4 out of 10000 people)  in people under 70 years old as shown in this paper which covered 23 studies with at least 500 people in each study, or if you take the CDC number of .26% (26 out of 10,000 people)

 

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.13.20101253v2

 

What's with all the fear and scare mongering and why aren't the real facts, studies and numbers being shown in main stream media?  Why isn't the main stream media breaking down the deaths by those with health risks, co morbidities, obesity prevalence etc., vs those that had a good immune system, exercised regularly, had a good diet etc.

[vivananahuahin]

From the moon

[bristolgeoff]

To be fair in about 3 mths round nov oct things should be fine.end of the year be good to get back for tourist

[Gulfsailor]

19 minutes ago, steelepulse said:

Cases does not come close to equaling death when the ifr is .04% ( 4 out of 10000 people)  in people under 70 years old as shown in this paper which covered 23 studies with at least 500 people in each study, or if you take the CDC number of .26% (26 out of 10,000 people)

 

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.13.20101253v2

 

What's with all the fear and scare mongering and why aren't the real facts, studies and numbers being shown in main stream media?  Why isn't the main stream media breaking down the deaths by those with health risks, co morbidities, obesity prevalence etc., vs those that had a good immune system, exercised regularly, had a good diet etc.

Newer studies show an IFR which is quite a bit higher than that. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.03.20089854v4

 

And the CDC has recently updated the IFR to .65%. 

 

That means and if we just let this spread freely and half the world’s population will get infected (most won’t have any or minor symptoms) before herd immunity kicks in (that’s debatable) still 0.65% x 3.5B = 23 million people will die. And it’s not just the fatalities, but more and more reports are surfacing of prolonged health issues even after mild initial symptoms and presumed recovery. 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

32 minutes ago, steelepulse said:

Cases does not come close to equaling death when the ifr is .04% ( 4 out of 10000 people)  in people under 70 years old as shown in this paper which covered 23 studies with at least 500 people in each study, or if you take the CDC number of .26% (26 out of 10,000 people)

 

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.13.20101253v2

 

What's with all the fear and scare mongering and why aren't the real facts, studies and numbers being shown in main stream media?  Why isn't the main stream media breaking down the deaths by those with health risks, co morbidities, obesity prevalence etc., vs those that had a good immune system, exercised regularly, had a good diet etc.

 

The data is certainly out there re older people and those with health conditions having much higher levels of risk for serious health problems and death from CV...  But the ability to become infected and spread the virus is just as much for young healthy people as older people.

 

And the reality is, children have parents, and parents have parents, and they all live in the same world and places together. So unless you ultimately want to condemn all the at risk groups to sickness and death and overwhelm the health care systems in the process, you have to stop the spread of the virus, even among those who themselves won't become sick or fatalities in very high numbers -- at least until there's a proven vaccine.

 

 

Edited July 13, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[innosiem]

i do not know anyone that knows a single person that has got "the virus" let alone died because of it (here, back home or anywhere)

However, i do know
a neighbor just sadly took their own life due to the economic pressures caused by the lockdowns and other "measures"

so if they do actually "want to save lives"
they need to re-open everything asap, as it will only become more common
as people struggle to find the means to live

 

[welovesundaysatspace]

1 hour ago, Paiman said:

The well known Dr. has said many things to establish an elevated social media position. Easy done from the Ivory tower.

 

Is he really concerned or more concerned that people will not remember his name.

The doctor posting with his real name and photo from his “ivory tower” vs. the anonymous guy without a photo and name posting his sofa. 

[Zikomat]

51 minutes ago, jayboy said:

In the overall economic picture, it matters not a bit whether all bars and restaurants in Pattaya go permanently bust.And on the positive side it would be an important milestone in ending Thailand's sex tourist role, no longer appropriate for a country at Thailand's stage of development.

It is not about bars in Pattaya getting busted. What about 100 billion dollar tourist money which will not be injected into Thai economy this year?  Do you think it will go unnoticed?

[fred110]

1 hour ago, CALSinCM said:

Covid is a death sentence.  Better safe than sorry!!!

Yeah, with a 99% survival rate

[surfinglife]

1 hour ago, CALSinCM said:

Covid is a death sentence.  Better safe than sorry!!!

Death sentence? A bit dramatic, aren't you? I've had it and so have thousands of others. Still here, doing well. Covid 19 will be with us probably forever so it's time to learn to live with it as normally as possible. Protect the vulnerable instead of penalising the healthy, life is for living.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

13 minutes ago, Zikomat said:

It is not about bars in Pattaya getting busted. What about 100 billion dollar tourist money which will not be injected into Thai economy this year?  Do you think it will go unnoticed?

 

Perhaps a Thailand economy that's forced to shift to actually working and producing things -- instead of relying on easy mass tourism dollars that don't require a skilled or educated workforce and ends up ravaging the country's environment -- wouldn't be such a bad thing for the country in the long term. 

Edited July 13, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK