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

[Zikomat]

22 minutes ago, Tidybeard said:

I cannot believe how naive some people on TV are... do they really think that the virus will go away and then Thailand can open again ? Look at countries like Sweden and Belarus who did not lock down at all .... has their entire population died out ??? No, they have around the same mortality rates as every other country. This is a virus - you cannot close the door on it !

 

In the meantime, millions of poor Thai people are really suffering. Hospitality jobs have never been the best paid, but they give a living. Can you imagine the shame coming from having to queue in a food bank line, or sit outside Western Union for the 5000 Baht.

 

Do people expect Thailand to be shut forever ???? When it opens again - guess what, we will have to get the immunity that every other country it getting right now. Only when we do.... there will be 25% of the hotels and restaurants left and millions will have suffered. 

 

What a complete waste of time. Open now and get on with life !  

The ridiculous thing is it is those rich and sure about their future hi-so Bangkok doctors telling the unemployed and hungry ones that it will be better for them without tourists (and jobs, and money) - for at least six more months.

[johnmcc6]

This crazy lock down in spite of the fact 99% of new cases are mild to no symptoms at all .More people will die by suicide or hunger than the virus. Stop the hysterical fear mongering. Go out of your way to protect the the old and vulnerable with pre- existing  conditions, Just like you would for normal flue.

[Why Me]

It's possible to work out a protocol that lets tourists in with minimal, maybe not zero, risk. Mandatory rapid pre-boarding testing at the origin airport followed by random tests on disembarkation here. And tourists required to stick to an itinerary and carry tracking software on their phone.

 

They can stay safe without killing the tourist industry.

 

[berybert]

3 hours ago, CALSinCM said:

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

A death sentance ? 58 people have died in Thailand of it so far this year.

Thousands have died on the roads during the same time. 

Let me guess, you have been on the roads this year. So you are taking a far greater chance with your life than worrying about Covid. 

Better safe than sorry !!!

[Isaan sailor]

If they’re willing to torpedo the tourist industry—they might just prop up western currencies, to help boost exports and save those jobs.

I can dream, can’t I?

[sandyf]

3 hours ago, Titan1962 said:

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.

 

Quite. If there was to be a significant outbreak here then a great deal more than the tourist sector would be out of work.

The greater the numbers arriving the greater the risk.

[Brunolem]

Most, if not all the posts above assume that if Thailand opened its borders, tourists would rush in.

 

This is far from certain.

 

The fear, and the financial difficulties, exist on both sides of all the borders, not to mention the governments' restrictions.

 

There would be some tourists, most probably not the high rollers that Thailand is seeking, but the numbers would be very low, certainly not in the millions as some are expecting...

 

Edited July 13, 2020 by Brunolem

[condobrit001]

15 minutes ago, rupert the bear said:

the fear mongering wins again.we have a media thats at it 24 7 ,nothing ever good and the only take things negatively so people just follow what they say,govts have been trapped in this cycle too ,govt policy has followed the MSM.where are the tourists going to come from,countries with low rates.taiwan hk,s korea malaysia and some in europe,we see tentative moves in eu to move it on.there will be clusters,case nos have gone up but india is a different case,they cant lockdown outside the cities millions will starve and USA well no masks and demos thats just not gonna work.it needs to be done soon.we can watch what happens till mid aug then unshackle somewhat,allow people with famileies here and with ret visas back in sept.quarantine at home no insurance,use some sense whooops,as for thailand being free of the virusNO,this isnt the case you must test,govt has deliberately chosen not to,its the money see the military budget and also certain people have it and its not theres.

You need to pay more attention at school, especially during your English lessons which relate to punctuation, grammar and spelling. This forum is for English language posts.

[Kiwiken]

It would not be prudent for any Country to open up to all but Countries with zero Community spread. Therefore being realistical no nation can really look at relaxing Borders until 2021.

Yes Jobs will be lost in recession but the cost to the loss of Populations and the overwhelming of your Health Systems is the alternative.

Either way a massive financial Blow to your Economy

Sweden has proved there is no Herd Immunity and their Economy has contracted regardless

[hobobo]

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

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. 

   

And the UK economy has already contracted over 12% and is falling further! Thailand will get out of this, especially if they remain focused and strong and resist the pressures to open up before it's safe.

[Zikomat]

2 minutes ago, Kiwiken said:

It would not be prudent for any Country to open up to all but Countries with zero Community spread. Therefore being realistical no nation can really look at relaxing Borders until 2021.

Yes Jobs will be lost in recession but the cost to the loss of Populations and the overwhelming of your Health Systems is the alternative.

Either way a massive financial Blow to your Economy

Sweden has proved there is no Herd Immunity and their Economy has contracted regardless

Why until 2021? Does the miracle of Christmas have to do something with it? Why not until 2025? Or 2050?

[Percy P]

3 hours ago, CALSinCM said:

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

Not necessary , keep to the rules and use your own common sence. I live in a village while in Thailand not been more then six kilometres outside it . Theirs a local outdoor market open 2 half days 1 full day a week, can get everything  including beer which I don't  drink and there's only passing traffic. So keep yourself to your self and observe  the rules . A mask is worn at the market, an essential thing. Just hope the lockdown lasts another 2-3 months.

What is this life if full of care. To have no time to stand and stair

[Berti]

What is missing is the Plan B.

The virus will still be in this world in 2021, 2022. A vaccination is possible in 2021 but not guaranteed.

 

What to do? Keep the country closed for 1, 2, 3, .... years? They should think about an answer to this question.

Open the country without accompanying measures is suicide of course.

[DrTuner]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Not risky at all. You do a reliable, instant test at the airport. At the tourists expense. Even asymptomatic people test positive. Where is the risk? Positive folks go directly into quarantine, at their expense. 

That would be great, if there was such a test. RT-PCR takes about 2h minimum because of the thermal cycling. 

 

Basically you'd have to have a quarantine holding area right at the airport where the tests are done, which means a limit to throughput. Let's say they had 600 rooms available, throughput would be 24/2*600 = 7,200 per day. But their PCR capability in the entire country was somewhere around 5k/day, using sample pooling, IIRC. 

 

1k/day could be doable. PCR is not accurate though, 80% or so. Meaning there would have to be some sort of self-quarantine and follow-up.

Edited July 13, 2020 by DrTuner

[cardinalblue]

So you know no one who has contacted the virus But a neighbor of yours committed suicide due to economic pressure....

 

and your conclusion is need to open ASAP...

 

You might want to try bigger sample sizes..

[CLW]

Ask the good doctor again when he has been robbed or mugged from some unemployed worker of the tourism industry, whose salary has been cut because there were no foreign tourists as customers here.

This is not a civilized country with a functioning social security net from the government.

People are living from the hand to the mouth, taking loans for smartphones and the newest car.

The absence of foreign tourists for another six months will be disastrous for this country.

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, innosiem said:

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)

One has to assume you just ignore what is happening outside your own back yard.

Many high profile cases have hit the news , including deaths and some near misses.

 

Vietnam’s most critically ill Covid-19 patient, a Briton pilot who several times was close to death, left Vietnam on July 11 night after a spectacular recovery which attracted national and worldwide attention and arrived at Heathrow airport after a 15-hour flight, local and international media reported.

http://hanoitimes.vn/british-covid-19-patient-returns-home-after-miraculous-recovery-in-vietnam-313185.html 

 

[Berti]

7 minutes ago, Kiwiken said:

Sweden has proved there is no Herd Immunity and their Economy has contracted regardless

What we see now are forecasts. Let's wait for the real economic numbers for 2020 and decide then.

[tonysilly]

Can you ask the Doctor is it safe to drive on the Thai Roads?? How many people have accident or die every year???  You want Thai peoole cry??? Let tourist cone back..

[yuyiinthesky]

12 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

Most, if not all the posts above assume that if Thailand opened its borders, tourists would rush in.

 

This is far from certain.

 

The fear, and the financial difficulties, exist on both sides of all the borders, not to mention the governments' restrictions.

 

There would be some tourists, most probably not the high rollers that Thailand is seeking, but the numbers would be very low, certainly not in the millions as some are expecting...

 

Especially with the risk of a new panic and a new lockdown anytime, I would choose a country which showed that they do not react guided by panic and overreact with lockdowns, beach bans, curfews, pulling people out of their beds for having had friends visiting them and had a drink together, pulling swimmers out of the ocean, and so on.

[Pedrogaz]

I say keep the borders closed to any country that has a problem ie any evidence of in country transmission.

 

The tourism industry was over supplied too many undifferentiated businesses selling the same low-quality, overpriced goods, and interchangeable restaurants with nothing to make you want to go back, all with the same stupid menu. It will be good to winnow out the chaff among these "businesses" and to restart with fewer better businesses.....perhaps staff training in courtesy skills would be too much to ask, especially in transportation. When you are charging premium prices to tourists who spend a lot of money to get here, at least give them a good time and don't rip them off.

[Mr Meeseeks]

2 hours ago, steven100 said:

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

Might happen.

 

They just found an Egyptian diplomat soldier in Rayong that was sick and tested positive. He just came in on the special privilege for a short visit. Apparently he visited a mall and they are frantically trying to trace everyone he had contact with.

 

The PM has said that they will review entry requirements as a result. 

 

Lucky if anyone will be allowed in now, certainly not without quarantine...

[sandyf]

19 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

Most, if not all the posts above assume that if Thailand opened its borders, tourists would rush in.

 

This is far from certain.

 

The fear, and the financial difficulties, exist on both sides of all the borders, not to mention the governments' restrictions.

 

There would be some tourists, most probably not the high rollers that Thailand is seeking, but the numbers would be very low, certainly not in the millions as some are expecting...

 

Exactly. And it wouldn't need many virus tourists to wipe out the tourist industry for years to come.

Staying closed until things settle a bit will give some confidence to potential tourists, unlikely many are planning to travel very far in the immediate future.

[Boomer6969]

3 hours 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.

Yeah only half a million have died so far... Ha, ha, ha...

[transam]

Hmmmmm, but always the risk for the foreigners in LOS of Rabies and Hepatitis..

[Mr Meeseeks]

1 hour ago, charmonman said:

If a country has managed to get things under control there is no reason for Thailand not to let citizens or residents of those countries in. By all means keep the US Americans, Brazilians etcetra out, but why restrict Kiwis, Japanese, Australians or even Canadians. The risk of anyone from countries like those bringing in new cases is minimal particularly if they are willing to submit to a quarantine period.

Why inflict more economic pain than necessary?

Big outbreak in Sydney today and they are about to go into lockdown again there.

[transam]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

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

But LOS folk may consider you to be a virus...????..............????

[Xonax]

The first Covid-19 patient outside of China was found in Thailand, at a time where millions of Chinese tourists were visiting the country, but still Thailand has almost avoided to be hit by the pandemic, with very few Covid-19 related deaths. I suggest that they should try to figure out why, as I strongly doubt, that it is due to the hygiene standards in the county. Could it be the Chlorine in the water, the high temperatures or the UV rays from the sun? Find out why and let the worlds tourists come here, to stay in a Covid-19 safe environment. Closing the country seems to be total overkill, when you see how little Thailand actually has been affected.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Xonax

[DrTuner]

4 minutes ago, Xonax said:

The first Covid-19 patient outside of China was found in Thailand, at a time where millions of Chinese tourists were visiting the country, but still Thailand has almost avoided to be hit by the pandemic, with very few Covid-19 related deaths. I suggest that they should try to figure out why, as I strongly doubt, that it is due to the hygiene standards in the county. Could it be the Chlorine in the water, the high temperatures or the UV rays from the sun? Find out why and let the worlds tourists come here, to stay in a Covid-19 safe environment. Closing the country seems to be total overkill, when you see how little Thailand actually has been affected.

 

I don't think Thailand avoided anything.

 

Looking at the excess deaths from DoPA data, there seems to be 10-15k excess starting from May 2019. Combine that with the D614G mutation time (Pre-March 2020) and the fact that the world only woke up to the virus in January 2020 when CCP finally released the information. Then add this...

https://judithcurry.com/2020/05/10/why-herd-immunity-to-covid-19-is-reached-much-earlier-than-thought/

 

It's plausible the D614 swept through Thailand in late 2019/ early 2020 and nobody really noticed. It was before the social media started getting manic about it.

[amdy2206]

Risk, or bancrupcy for many and poverty for millions!! I am sure the doctor is in neither category. All these people advocating keeping tourists out are wealthy and still working - the rest can go to hell for all they care.