Thailand reports biggest coronavirus surge, over 500 cases - Samut Sakhon placed in to lockdown

[Peterw42]

23 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

to put it in context is to say that Covid has always been here, but not at the levels the Government reports, how is that for you.  Don't drink the punch and believe the mantra.  Migrant workers also travel from site to site and do not just stay in their primary locations.  You need to think outside of the box.  Many arrive at work sites after being driven in vehicles or even walking many KM's like they do here in Bangkok.

 

I think you would find, yourself and most of the Thai population are not rubbing shoulders with Myamar migrant workers. They are not riding the BTS, shopping in 7/11 and bigC, queuing at the bank etc, they usually enter Thailand to do a specific job in a specific location and are actually restricted in their travel and movements. They are not actually wandering the countryside looking for work. Even their transportation to/from their work location, is usually in the back of a dump truck with other workers, they are not using the same transport as you.

I have a Myamar condo builder village at the end of my soi, I dare say I have never come into contact with them ever.

 

[WineOh]

They are already laying the blame on burmese migrants.

Any excuse to sick the boot in, eh?

 

Sick and tired of this infantile mentality. 

[fruitman]

9 hours ago, Flying Saucage said:

Interesting to see these results, now as the land of purity Thailand eventually is starting to do some mass testing.

 

No need to panic too much, though. Thailand is in a lucky situation due to its climate. Thanks to the hot climate, people are either outdoors where the concentration of the virus loaded aerosols is low, as the dwell time of droplets and aerosols in the air is short.

 

Or they are indoors with an AC switched on, and the AC reduces aerosols and droplets in the air as well, leading also to low virus concentrations in the inhaled air. This low virus load statistically leads to mostly weak or asymptomatic cases. 

 

The outcome never will reach the level as northern countries experience during the wet and cold winter there.

 

Quite likely that what they are seeing now has been the situation for quite a while already, but due to not testing nobody saw it.

 

Normally aerosols fly 1 meter so we keep 1.5 meter distance...but a fan or aircon can blow them further so in airconditioned rooms you better keep more distance.

[Peterw42]

3 minutes ago, Liverpoolfan said:

They are already laying the blame on burmese migrants.

Any excuse to sick the boot in, eh?

 

Sick and tired of this infantile mentality. 

Did you miss the part about the outbreak is amongst a group of Burmese migrant workers, and has been traced back to other Burmese migrant worker outbreaks and clusters ? (500 of them literally live in the same building)

If they uncover an outbreak amongst, and being spread by, people with red hair, it would be reported as such

[Mr Meeseeks]

There was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was the light of an oncoming train! 

 

RIP Thai tourism. 

[spidermike007]

8 hours ago, Saraburi121 said:

Not familiar with the seafood industry there but have this vision of drivers in small delivery trucks with water running out the back from refrigeration/melting ice delivering seafood from there all over the country. Had plans to shop in Bangkok this week but just cancelled hotel reservations darn it. Was looking forward to some fine drinking..I mean dining and shopping.  

I am going. Very low risk. We are talking about a pinhead of cases. And it is not like these fishermen are wandering around Bangkok. Come on. Let's maintain common sense about this. Wear a mask. But, continue with your lives. This is not America, which of course is #1. In Covid. 

[WineOh]

8 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Did you miss the part about the outbreak is amongst a group of Burmese migrant workers, and has been traced back to other Burmese migrant worker outbreaks and clusters ? (500 of them literally live in the same building)

If they uncover an outbreak amongst, and being spread by, people with red hair, it would be reported as such

Stop the blame game!

It helps nobody, only serves to ostracize minority groups.

They should have never opened the doors in the first place.

If you want to blame anyone then blame this so called 'government', not innocent migrants. 

They are the ones at the controls.

Edited December 20, 2020 by Liverpoolfan

[Pattaya Spotter]

16 minutes ago, fruitman said:

Normally aerosols fly 1 meter so we keep 1.5 meter distance...but a fan or aircon can blow them further so in airconditioned rooms you better keep more distance.

I'd imagine a fan or aircon diffuses them as well.

Edited December 20, 2020 by Pattaya Spotter

[Pattaya Spotter]

6 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I am going. Very low risk. We are talking about a pinhead of cases. And it is not like these fishermen are wandering around Bangkok. Come on. Let's maintain common sense about this. Wear a mask. But, continue with your lives. This is not America, which of course is #1. In Covid. 

I have a domestic leisure trip this coming week...my only concern is another nationwide travel lockdown and I'm not able to return to Pattaya. I don't want to be stuck away from home like those who were caught outside the country when the doors were locked.

[metisdead]

Some posts using trolling images have been removed. 

[Peterw42]

10 minutes ago, Liverpoolfan said:

Stop the blame game!

It helps nobody, only helps to ostracize minority groups.

They should have never opened the doors in the first place.

The government is to blame,

Not migrants. 

I am not trying to blame anyone, I am trying to shutdown the conspiracy theory that Covid is all over Thailand and the Government has been hiding it.

The correct information is vitally important, it is a specific outbreak amongst a specific part of the population. Given that the group is somewhat autonomous within the broader population, that is important information relevant to contact tracing, containing the spread etc.

 

Pushing the narrative of "the great covid conspiracy has finally been uncovered, they have been hiding it all along",  is the misinformation that helps nobody.

 

 

[Walker88]

38 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

 

I think you would find, yourself and most of the Thai population are not rubbing shoulders with Myamar migrant workers. They are not riding the BTS, shopping in 7/11 and bigC, queuing at the bank etc, they usually enter Thailand to do a specific job in a specific location and are actually restricted in their travel and movements. They are not actually wandering the countryside looking for work. Even their transportation to/from their work location, is usually in the back of a dump truck with other workers, they are not using the same transport as you.

I have a Myamar condo builder village at the end of my soi, I dare say I have never come into contact with them ever.

 

 

Perhaps you do have contact with Myanmars and are unaware of it.

 

I regularly find that folks in many restaurants in BKK, from chefs to wait staff, are from Myanmar. Perhaps they have been in Thailand a long time and haven't crossed the border recently, but they also might have contact with other Myanmar who have crossed the border recently. Some are from minority groups in Myanmar, such as Kachin or Karen, and many of those folks tend to be Christian and attend churches with fellow Kachin or Karen.

 

My point is not to single out Myanmar, because as we have seen recently, plenty of Thais also run the border (e.g., the women who worked casinos in Tachileik). My point is that it is probably wise that everyone take this news seriously and maintain proper hygiene and social distancing practices. Nobody wants another lockdown, but the Thai Govt is likely to be overly cautious and aggressive if the infection numbers continue to rise. Prepare, just in case, for lockdowns, booze bans, curfews, etc., but hope for the best.

[Kwaibill]

I had been telling folks "back home" (USA) that I felt safer here. My wife last night brought up the idea of what we would do if things got bad and Bangkok did a shutdown while we are in Mai Hong Son for the holidays.

Just camp at the in-laws for the duration, I guess. Could certainly be worse as they are lovely people.

[mtls2005]

There are hundreds of migrant worker tin-shanty settlements in Bangkok, and adjacent provinces.

 

Hopefully there is some monitoring of these camps.

 

Singapore had a similar issue with migrant workers.

 

 

Covid-19: Singapore migrant workers infections were three times higher

 

New data shows that 152,000 foreign workers - 47% - have been infected.

 

Without counting the migrant workers, fewer than 4,000 people have tested positive in Singapore.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55314862

 

 

 

https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/measures-to-contain-the-covid-19-outbreak-in-migrant-worker-dormitories

 

 

 

 

[Virt]

The next 2 weeks will be interesting to follow.

Will it spread or will it be contained. 

 

Not the best thing that could have happened if one hoped for tourism to start again. 

 

Guess I have to stick to follow vloggers in Thailand for a little longer. 

[Pattaya Spotter]

15 minutes ago, Kwaibill said:

I had been telling folks "back home" (USA) that I felt safer here.

The US surpassed 250k new daily infections yesterday (yes a quarter-million infections)...we can all still feel pretty safe in Thailand me thinks. 

Edited December 20, 2020 by Pattaya Spotter

[EricTh]

Oh,...oh.... There goes the prospect of opening the economy.

 

Is this Thailand's Wuhan seafood market? Let's hope it doesn't spread to other provinces.

 

By migrant workers, do they mean Thai workers from other provinces or from Myanmar?

Edited December 20, 2020 by EricTh

[Rimmer]

A conspiracy troll post has been removed

[dinsdale]

So due to testing the number went from 1 to over 500 in a couple of days. So around 12% of total infections before this. If that doesn't ring alarm bells to the veracity of official figures nothing will.

[BoonToong]

10 hours ago, Flying Saucage said:

No need to panic too much, though. Thailand is in a lucky situation due to its climate. Thanks to the hot climate, people are either outdoors where the concentration of the virus loaded aerosols is low, as the dwell time of droplets and aerosols in the air is short.

 

Or they are indoors with an AC switched on, and the AC reduces aerosols and droplets in the air as well, leading also to low virus concentrations in the inhaled air. This low virus load statistically leads to mostly weak or asymptomatic cases. 

 

If the above is correct (which seems a fair assumption), why have other countries in SE Asia (e.g. Hong Kong, Malaysia) or the Middle East had many more reported cases than Thailand over the past 6 months?

Edited December 20, 2020 by BoonToong

[bestie]

You can only slow down the spread of the virus like with a vaccine, wearing mask, keep your distance..pp but it will never go away and never has been since the outbreak. Not from any country. The virus mutates and we have in some way or another to live with it. Even if you get your regular vaccine shots every year it doesn't  pretend you from getting another strain. Vaccine slows down the spread but that's all.

[Peterw42]

4 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

So due to testing the number went from 1 to over 500 in a couple of days. So around 12% of total infections before this. If that doesn't ring alarm bells to the veracity of official figures nothing will.

I think you will find its contact tracing, not broad testing of the population. The 500 live in one apartment complex, its very much a community within a community, not spread across the broader population.

[Blumpie]

Uh oh...

I can tell you that it's not fun having this virus on full lockdown.  We have lost more people on full lockdown in 10 months than the flu killed in 10 years combined.  

Our hospitals are full and near capacity.  Surgeries are being cancelled as are treatments, cancer diagnosis, etc.  

It is not fun and I hope that it is under control and the conspiracy twerps can come out and blather about how it's not so bad.  

[asiasurfer]

So does that mean that certain bus companies in Thailand are banning all foreigners again from traveling on their vehicles?? 

[Virt]

17 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

The US surpassed 250k new daily infections yesterday (yes a quarter-million infections)...we can all still feel pretty safe in Thailand me thinks. 

 

I too would feel a lot safer in Thailand, plus it would be nicer to be in a country with no major lockdowns. 

 

Here in Denmark it's lockdown once again as in April , and in a few days only supermarkets and pharmacies are allowed open, plus we're told not to celebrate X-mas and new year with more than 10 persons. 

 

The restrictions with added face masks the last couple of months didn't bring down the numbers, but instead they kept rising, so it's lockdown time again. 

 

Sucks big time, but maybe it's nessesary because the hospitals are starting to feel the pressure, which are they key statistic to monitor imo. 

 

Seen from that point of view Thailand is in a really good shape. 

[sezze]

11 minutes ago, bestie said:

You can only slow down the spread of the virus like with a vaccine, wearing mask, keep your distance..pp but it will never go away and never has been since the outbreak. Not from any country. The virus mutates and we have in some way or another to live with it. Even if you get your regular vaccine shots every year it doesn't  pretend you from getting another strain. Vaccine slows down the spread but that's all.

Not true . Vaccine can also stop people from getting sick in the 1st place .  Virus mutate , thats nothing special , but plenty of vaccines do not require yearly , some do 5y , some are good for life . Do not compare flu (influenza ) to covid ( corona ) , they are not the same and not same virus .

[bestie]

1 minute ago, sezze said:

Not true . Vaccine can also stop people from getting sick in the 1st place .  Virus mutate , thats nothing special , but plenty of vaccines do not require yearly , some do 5y , some are good for life . Do not compare flu (influenza ) to covid ( corona ) , they are not the same and not same virus .

People are strongly believe and flush it goes away.  excuse me that I'm using the word here again but that's the "new normal" that they talking about. Or do you really believe there will be a back to the old world one day? Not without covid. Do you think that the whole world get vaccinate and especially the poor people will get their vaccine shot regularly. Yes it prevend people from getting sick and thats good but it will not go away. I mean it is what it is. You can live with it and you will get it one day. Yes like the flu even if you get the vaccine. Or do you never had the flu once in your life  ? 

[dinsdale]

26 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

I think you will find its contact tracing, not broad testing of the population. The 500 live in one apartment complex, its very much a community within a community, not spread across the broader population.

Samut Sakhon has the largest Myanmar population in Thailand. They don't just sit in one apartment block. I live in Samut Sakhon. I have not seen that it is confined to one complex. I would appreciate you sharing this info with me.

[meechai]

57 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

The US surpassed 250k new daily infections yesterday (yes a quarter-million infections)...we can all still feel pretty safe in Thailand me thinks. 

The USA tests 500k-1million per day & had 250k positives

 

Thailand never tests but this time tested 1000 & had 500+ positives

 

See how it works?

[Peterw42]

8 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Samut Sakhon has the largest Myanmar population in Thailand. They don't just sit in one apartment block. I live in Samut Sakhon. I have not seen that it is confined to one complex. I would appreciate you sharing this info with me.

I used to live there as well, its been reported in the TV news, showing the complex.

Apparently just off to the left as you go over the flyover towards BigC

 

 

Edited December 20, 2020 by Peterw42