'Why has Thailand not got the praise it deserves for containing Covd-19?'

[jdlancaster]

I'm not sure what he's talking about. I've read multiple articles in major newspapers about Thailand's low COVID numbers... I think even in the New York Times. I'm sure similar things have been published in other languages. It's really quite funny that this was posted a day after the country was praised by the WHO.

[Kopitiam]

1 hour ago, JimGant said:

Testing is completely overblown in measuring the spread of the pandemic. In the US, the hospitals are now overflowing with covid patients, the majority I suspect had never been tested before hospital admittance.

 

The proof in how the epidemic is spreading is not in testing, but in the number of new hospital cases of covid. As far as I know, there are no covid cases in the hospitals up here in Chiang Mai (unless they were identified in a repatriation quarantine situation, of which I've heard nothing). And, knowing Thais, they'll actively go to the hospital (30 baht) at the first sign of being sick, particularly with covid symptoms. Thus, I'm well assured my outings here in Chiang Mai, albeit with masks and social distancing, are not susceptible to covid infection.

 

So testing, or lack thereof, is worthless in painting the covid infection picture. And, sadly, since there can be a 30% false negative return with testing, then, testing to insure tourists are covid free is worthless. Sad for the future of the tourism economy returning....

 

No, the number of covid cases in Thai hospitals, not the numbers tested, is the key measuring Thailand's success in fighting the virus.

 

Anyway,

If there is hardly any local covid-19 case reported in Thailand, why the CCSA keeps extending the State of Emergency?

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1192542-state-of-emergency-extended-45-days-until-january-15th/

 

All the anti Covid-19 protestors (or even government) around the world should come to Thailand to learn why there are no reported cases of Covid-19 infection after weeks of mass student protests in BKK.

 

[Justgrazing]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

 

It is intriguing for some countries why Thailand has not got the praise it deserves for effectively containing the Covid-19 pandemic, Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said in an interview

 

Unable or unwilling to combat the warzone road casualty figures .. apart from massaging them to make it look not quite so bad .. 

Unwilling or unable to do anything about the air pollution problems not only in BKK but many other regions 

that in yrs to come will have a drastic effect on people's health .. 

Both above are tangible problems that you can see , feel and hear .. but little is done to resolve them so both will continue unabated .. yet an insidious , unseen virus that no one had even heard of a 12 mth ago has some how been stopped in its tracks from taking hold in Thailand .. but you only have their say so for that .. so you can imagine how folk outside of the country might be viewing their " apparent " success when seen alongside the road deaths and pollution issues .. and maybe why they get little recognition ..  

Edited November 17, 2020 by Justgrazing
Sp

[RayD]

Because sars1, mers, h5n1, pig flu and bird flu all passed Thailand by without taking their hat off.  Sars2 would have been no different if the government had done nothing. People in neighbouring countries aren't dropping like flies either. Somebody up there likes us.

[welshguy]

Ive no idea of how many Thais have died with covid, Ive no idea how many are in hospital with it either.

 

In the U.K. anybody who has tested positive with covid in the last 28 days, regardless of how they die, they are classed as a covid death, if theyve tested positive in the last 28 days,....this is no matter if they died by getting run over, cancer, heart attack. stroke, cancer etc.

 

Im not trying to downplay the seriousness off covid...I had it myself, I was rough for a few weeks...I know 1 person , who has died of it...Im 60...he is the same age as myself, maybe a year younger..

 

As for the hospitals being full.....as far as Im aware...you only go into hospital. when you are really bad..... ie, needing assistance with breathing on ventilators etc...From day one..its always been about protect the N.H.S.   as there is an acute lack of intensive care hospital beds.. Every year, we are warned about how many people will die and need hospital beds, with the "normal seasonal",because flu is a killer, they ask you not to visit g.p. unless really nescesary etc etc.  fine fair enough      I can understand, that to keep a "high number" of intensive care beds" is mega expensive! I cant find out though, how many people have died with the "flu" this year in the U.K. as opposed to covid?

 

Where I live, in wales..I heard on the T.V. that there are 130 odd intensive care beds in Wales..I think the population here is about 3,000,000...........so of course...there arent many intensive care beds! Every winter its the same....with flu and not enough beds etc etc......I stress however, Covid is more dangerous/fatal/ contagious etc than covid.

 

 

As for why covid isnt getting "praised" for controlling the Covid....I think most people around the world, believe hardly anything that is spouted by the "officials" in Thailand. That surely is the glaringly obvious answer as to why they arent "getting the praise they deserve/want"?!

 

For what its worth? I dont believe everything Im told about in the U.K. either!

 

The U.K. government hasnt been any good either,     "Praise", if that is the right word, can maybe be handed out when the covid has hopefully been "managed/controlled "

 

There is a pandemic going on, millions hav been affected, lost their lives of family, their jobs their homes etc etc.........I think a country needing to be "praised" right now? Isnt high on my list at all! Far for important things to do and think about!

Edited November 17, 2020 by welshguy
spelling

[Natai Beach]

Makes me laugh listening to “but the thais don’t test”. Thailand’s success has caused a lot of face loss to the countries who refused to listen, wear masks etc and are dying in the thousands.

 

More people died this morning in the U.K., the USA and a dozen other countries that the TOTAL of Thailand ever. 

 

The USA and the U.K. didnt start mass testing until thousands were dead and the hospitals were over flowing. Both countries sent positive elderly into nursing homes without testing and thousands died as a result.
 

If Thailand had thousands of dead, or even hundreds they would test more. That’s how it works, you find a positive case and then you test all the people they have had contact with. 

The last 500,000 Thai tests have all come back negative. If that were the case in the US, UK etc they wouldn’t bother testing much anymore. But, they have 180,000/ 50,000 new cases EVERY SINGLE day. 
 

Let’s not forget the Thais were the first to test outside of China, and they still trace and test everybody when necessary. Testing everyone who enters Thailand and weeding out cases daily. 

 

Half of Trumps team have it and Johnson is back in quarantine/isolation. 
 

 

[Natai Beach]

21 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

 

Unable or unwilling to combat the warzone road casualty figures .. apart from massaging them to make it look not quite so bad .. 

Unwilling or unable to do anything about the air pollution problems not only in BKK but many other regions 

that in yrs to come will have a drastic effect on people's health .. 

Both above are tangible problems that you can see , feel and hear .. but little is done to resolve them so both will continue unabated .. yet an insidious , unseen virus that no one had even heard of a 12 mth ago has some how been stopped in its tracks from taking hold in Thailand .. but you only have their say so for that .. so you can imagine how folk outside of the country might be viewing their " apparent " success when seen alongside the road deaths and pollution issues .. and maybe why they get little recognition ..  

 

A wonderful example of whataboutism.

[natway09]

I agree, Why ?

Because yes, Thais are different, 

(99% of Thais understood the severity of the situation, accepted it & took as many preventitive measures as possible, unlike the dumb farang in many countries  who started off by refusing to wear masks & kept screaming "human rights"along with "I will go where I want, when I want" attitide

By the time the authorities decided that this was serious & not just making  money (about 5 months)

far too late.

The Thai authorities acted so quickly & so well mass testing was not required

I applaud you Thailand, & thankyou even though it will cost me my business, I am alive

 

[mlmcleod]

I think it all comes down to the fact that Thailand is not by any means a democracy.  Using this criteria for praise, I guess North Korea should be the bellwether for effective covid-19 policies.  I am sure they have drastically closed their borders and do no testing.

 

New Zealand got praise because they were a democracy!

Edited November 17, 2020 by mlmcleod

[PJPom]

I currently live in Thailand and have relatives and friends in Australia, UK and New Zealand who are being locked down or otherwise restricted in their everyday lives.

Here in Thailand I don’t know of anyone who has died from COVID and this extends to areas where friends live. The lack of testing is often raised but lack of transmission is a mystery if people are unknowingly positive.

All the precautions I take is wearing a mask in shops and Malls and washing hands and generally be aware to not take obvious chances. All in all it seems that Thailand has managed to avoid the deaths by the banning of outsiders as have all our neighbours and in my opinion they have done a very acceptable job.

[paulikens]

because no one believes em. the uk only put them on their travel corridor about a month ago,despite thailand claiming they have been covid free for at least 3-4 months,go figure 

[nkg]

3 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

Because it hardly tests anyone.

 

 

I haven't seen anyone else posting the numbers for this so far. Thailand claims to be testing 0.06 people per thousand (per day). This equates to 4,166 tests a day. In comparison, the UK with a slightly smaller population is doing about 300,000 tests a day.

 

 

[Trujillo]

On testing: 

 

What we have is not a COVID-19 pandemic but a PCR test pandemic

 

"Before his death, the inventor of the PCR test, Kary Mullis, repeatedly yet unsuccessfully stressed that this test should not be used as a diagnostic tool for the simple reason that it’s incapable of diagnosing disease. A positive test does not actually mean that an active infection is present.

 

As noted in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention publication on coronavirus and PCR testing dated July 13 2020:

 

Detection of viral RNA may not indicate the presence of infectious virus or that 2019-nCoV is the causative agent for clinical symptoms.

The performance of this test has not been established for monitoring treatment of 2019-nCoV infection.

This test cannot rule out diseases caused by other bacterial or viral pathogens."

 

"Perhaps most importantly of all, the PCR tests cannot distinguish between inactive viruses and “live” or reproductive ones. What that means is that PCR tests cannot detect infection. Period. It cannot tell you whether you’re currently ill, whether you’ll develop symptoms in the near future, or whether you’re contagious."

 

 

A positive test is NOT a “case” — As explained by Dr. Lee Merritt in her August 2020 Doctors for Disaster Preparedness33 lecture,  media and public health officials appear to have purposefully conflated “cases” or positive tests with the actual illness.

Medically speaking, a “case” refers to a sick person. It never ever referred to someone who had no symptoms of illness. Now all of a sudden, this well-established medical term, “case,” has been completely and arbitrarily redefined to mean someone who tested positive for the presence of viral RNA. As noted by Merritt, “That is not epidemiology. That’s fraud.”

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Trujillo
add last para

[honu]

It's interesting how according to the main theme here Thailand isn't being praised for stopping the pandemic because it's really raging on untracked and untested inside the country.  No one knows anyone who has died of it, and the hospitals certainly aren't full, but many Thai Visa members never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

 

It would be a more natural criticism that TV members and people in other circumstances might be critical of the Thai government for not resolving the problems stemming from isolating the country (the key to stopping the pandemic exposure).  Foreign tourism is shut down, a high price to pay.  Resort areas are in economic free-fall.  It probably was possible to put something like the long-stay visitation plans into effect, which Thailand hasn't been able to do, and at this rate never will.  Vaccine development may offset this problem, maybe by the middle of 2021.

[pacovl46]

Because not doing tests and therefore having low numbers  doesn’t qualify as ‘containing’ in the rest of the world?! 

[PJPom]

5 minutes ago, paulikens said:

because no one believes em. the uk only put them on their travel corridor about a month ago,despite thailand claiming they have been covid free for at least 3-4 months,go figure 

I didn’t believe them either, been in Thailand too long to trust any government figures but as I said nobody has died that I or extended group of friends knows.

The only person I know was my Cousin in the UK who at the age of 84 was taken into Hospital for an emergency and was given a 5% chance of surviving the operation, she had the op .supposedly caught COVID in Hospital  but was classed as a COVID death, ignore the first prognosis?...

[nkg]

10 minutes ago, Trujillo said:

On testing: 

 

What we have is not a COVID-19 pandemic but a PCR test pandemic

 

"Before his death, the inventor of the PCR test, Kary Mullis, repeatedly yet unsuccessfully stressed that this test should not be used as a diagnostic tool for the simple reason that it’s incapable of diagnosing disease. A positive test does not actually mean that an active infection is present.

 

As noted in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention publication on coronavirus and PCR testing dated July 13 2020:

 

Detection of viral RNA may not indicate the presence of infectious virus or that 2019-nCoV is the causative agent for clinical symptoms.

The performance of this test has not been established for monitoring treatment of 2019-nCoV infection.

This test cannot rule out diseases caused by other bacterial or viral pathogens."

 

"Perhaps most importantly of all, the PCR tests cannot distinguish between inactive viruses and “live” or reproductive ones. What that means is that PCR tests cannot detect infection. Period. It cannot tell you whether you’re currently ill, whether you’ll develop symptoms in the near future, or whether you’re contagious."

 

 

A positive test is NOT a “case” — As explained by Dr. Lee Merritt in her August 2020 Doctors for Disaster Preparedness33 lecture,  media and public health officials appear to have purposefully conflated “cases” or positive tests with the actual illness.

Medically speaking, a “case” refers to a sick person. It never ever referred to someone who had no symptoms of illness. Now all of a sudden, this well-established medical term, “case,” has been completely and arbitrarily redefined to mean someone who tested positive for the presence of viral RNA. As noted by Merritt, “That is not epidemiology. That’s fraud.”

 

 

 

You're supposed to provide a reference when you copy and paste other people's writing.

 

Not pretend that you wrote it yourself.

 

For other people's information, this is taken from a "viral post" titled "Scamdemic". It wasn't written by a scientist or a newspaper. You can read it here if you want to:

 

https://framasphere.org/tags/scamdemic

 

[NanLaew]

15 minutes ago, paulikens said:

because no one believes em. the uk only put them on their travel corridor about a month ago,despite thailand claiming they have been covid free for at least 3-4 months,go figure 

Are you here in Thailand or overseas?

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

“I told them we are not like the others.

For once I'm in full agreement.

[Justgrazing]

40 minutes ago, Natai Beach said:

wear masks

 

And of course Thai's mask up at all times including porkie pie selling Gov' ministers .. you believe the mantra if you wish .. I don't .. 

 

[sapson]

Because.....

My two bobs worth from a similar thread yesterday.....

 

A simple method to keep the numbers down, only test returnees or those in quarantine.

 

Continue with the policy of no routine testing for those attending hospitals or clinics nationwide even though they have many of the symptoms.

 

Make routine testing for covid expensive and not widely available or encouraged and certainly do not test for covid with sickness and deaths which could otherwise be attributed to other causes in most age groups.

[Lacessit]

If I recall correctly, the WHO singled out Thailand for praise, saying it was one of the safest countries. Perhaps the Foreign Minister needs his ego stroked on a regular basis. I understand Pattaya offers that kind of service.

[Trujillo]

I'm sorry; did I say I was pretending to write something? Terrible manners, Trujillo!

 

I don't know the link the critic is mentioning but here is the link to my previous post, with a lot of other topics: 

Why-covid-19-testing-is-a-tragic-waste/

[joecoolfrog]

4 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

The government and the Thai people have been excellent with regards to Covid. Anyone who believes otherwise is just jealous because of their own country's incompetence. 

Unbelievably arrogant statement , good to see that so far 75% of respondents refute it.

[from the home of CC]

with most western countries going down the toilet with uncontrolled disease what would they say?

[PatOngo]

'Why has Thailand not got the praise it deserves for containing Covd-19?'

English lesson for today, Don..........Integrity.........Look it up!

[Redvic]

4 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

The government and the Thai people have been excellent with regards to Covid. Anyone who believes otherwise is just jealous because of their own country's incompetence. 

Ohhhhh dear did your mammy write this for you? <deleted> a country that tests next to zero of it's population saying no covid in our country??? Yeah of course we believe you. 

[Morakot]

Quote

Why has Thailand not got the praise it deserves for containing Covd-19?

 

Could it be there's reluctance praising countries that lack transparency and the rule of law?

[Migrosmarket]

I think the govt have done well to keep rampant covid out of the country and I feel lucky to stay here at this time.

 

My personal view is that covid is only dangerous to the elderly and those with pre existing conditions, most of which are due to poor lifestyle choices. I think testing the wider population is a waste of time as most people with it show no or little symptoms and don't get very ill, so the govt inaction in this area is to be applauded.

 

As regards the cost to the economy and the politics.... I am a guest... no comment. 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Migrosmarket

[CharlieH]

Flame comment removed.