PM mulling whether to cancel country’s New Year celebrations

[snoop1130]

PM mulling whether to cancel country’s New Year celebrations

By The Nation

 

 

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday said he would need another seven days to assess the Covid-19 situation before deciding whether New Year countdown events around the country could go ahead.

 

Speaking after a Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) subcommittee meeting on the weekend’s explosion of virus cases, Prayut said health officials and border police have tightened security but there were still gaps in the 2,500-kilometre border with Myanmar.

 

More than 800 new infections over the weekend have been traced to a shrimp market in Samut Sakhon province’s Muang district where the majority of workers are migrants.

 

The PM admitted that some migrant workers had left Thailand and then been smuggled back via illegal channels to avoid quarantine rules. He said Thai employers must be jointly responsible for following up on these workers.

 

He added that the public should cooperate on preventing the virus from spreading so Thailand could avoid the lockdowns seen in other countries.

 

The Public Health Ministry said the Samut Sakhon outbreak was still controllable.

 

Prayut confirmed Samut Sakhon had been locked down and thousands of locals were being tested.

 

“As a result, the number of infections will rise. Don't panic, the situation will be resolved,” he added.

 

He asked for public cooperation in catching those who smuggled migrant workers into the country, but said people should provide solid information, not just rumours.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30399968

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-12-21

 

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[ThailandRyan]

7 days? Really.  5 days is the general consensus on incubation and showing symptoms.  Will it take 7 days to test upwards of 50,000 or more since you have locked them down and will not let them move around, in essence you have placed them all in a jail called dormitories where this can just explode more....good grief Charlie Brown, I mean Prayut.

[YetAnother]

4 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday said he would need another seven days to assess the Covid-19 situation

makes perfect sense, he thinks pretty slowly

[xtof2]

I love it when he looks worried.

Distressful, understanding his incompetence.

Well, understanding, not sure, actually !

[pvdb64]

i don’t think he will take 7 he wants to calm down the markets and they lockdown the market which is a big thing... so that will stop some of the spreads....

but  by the end of the week all new year big count down festivities will get cancelled .. 500-1000 may sound big but look at other places and for once he is correct it’s reasonable confined 

[fishtank]

Hopefully he will cancel Song Kran as well.

The only good thing to come out of this back in April.

[spiekerjozef]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

7 days? Really.  5 days is the general consensus on incubation and showing symptoms.  Will it take 7 days to test upwards of 50,000 or more since you have locked them down and will not let them move around, in essence you have placed them all in a jail called dormitories where this can just explode more....good grief Charlie Brown, I mean Prayut.

I think 7 days is pretty quick.

In Europe any PM does nothing at all for a full month and still wait a bit longer for someone else to clean up their mess....

[bluesofa]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Prayut said health officials and border police have tightened security but there were still gaps in the 2,500-kilometre border with Myanmar.

He's allegedly in charge. He was in charge of the army wasn't he? He must know about these things.

It's his job to (not only) 'tell' the border authorities to do the job they're paid for, but to make sure they do it as well. Or should he resign if they don't? My mistake - that smacks of responsibility.

 

[madmitch]

57 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

He's allegedly in charge. He was in charge of the army wasn't he? He must know about these things.

It's his job to (not only) 'tell' the border authorities to do the job they're paid for, but to make sure they do it as well. Or should he resign if they don't? My mistake - that smacks of responsibility.

 

From what I've been told, these spurious border crossings are pretty good earners for Prayut's old army cronies. So I'm sure he must know about these things!

[greeneking]

Prayuth must know the companies who benefit from cheap Burmese staff or trafficked persons who do not do 14 day quarantines in well supervised official hotels.  Uniforms turn a blind eye and the population suffers.

We all know, they are very rich 'good' people.  The protests should continue next year...unless lockdowns and 6 person maximum groups are brought back.

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by greeneking
clarity

[hotchilli]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The PM admitted that some migrant workers had left Thailand and then been smuggled back via illegal channels to avoid quarantine rules. He said Thai employers must be jointly responsible for following up on these workers.

They're hiring illegal workers to keep costs down to a minimum to maximise profits, why in gods name would they follow-up on them.

For years the Thai government has turned a blind-eye to it's dodgy practices.

The whole industry has been a front for migrant trafficking and cheap employment/exploitation for years, now with a Covid outbreak it's come back to bite you in the rear big time!

[hotchilli]

13 hours ago, fishtank said:

Hopefully he will cancel Song Kran as well.

The only good thing to come out of this back in April.

I bet you don't believe in Santa either?

[Happyman567]

Good idea if he cancels. Save heaps of Thais being killed in car accidents But I am glad 2020 is coming to a close Hooray what a <deleted> of a year its been

[Mango Bob]

Cancel it.  You may save some Thai lives.

[Peter Denis]

13 minutes ago, Mango Bob said:

Cancel it.  You may save some Thai lives.

Cancel it.  It supports the image of a Strong Leader that cares for the well-being of his people.

[Pilotman]

The PM and Thailand have done very well with Covid so far, much better than virtually all western countries.  He should not jeopardise that just so a few people can have a party.  The Thai people have had enough long weekends this year not to feel cheated by a cancellation. Cancelling it makes good sense. 

[spidermike007]

The Thai army is getting hundreds of billions of baht a year from the people. The very least the people can expect in return, is protection of some sort. With hundreds of thousands of soldiers, what on earth are these guys doing with their time, if not patrolling the borders, the rivers, and the seas, during a pandemic the neighbors are dealing with? Fishing boats should be randomly stopped, and checked. Borders should be locked down. Something seems very fishy here. The more I think about it, the more angry I get. Are we looking at gross incompetence? Are we looking at total indifference? Corruption? Laziness? Total derelicton of duty, on the part of Prayuth, Anutin, and the entire leadership? If so, Prayuth needs to submit his resignation immediately, and the people, and especially the youth, should demand that. 

 

Note to Prayuth and your army - Don't do nothing. Earn your keep. Prove to the nation that the motto "to protect the people" actually means something. Good training for the soldiers anyway, since there are no conflicts to deal with, other than the southern insurgency, which will likely never end, unless Thailand makes some reasonable concessions to a people who were colonized over a century ago. The Thai army is getting hundreds of billions of baht a year from the people. Tens of thousands of soldiers could be patrolling the rivers, in boats, manning many of the border areas, or just doing something. Earn your keep. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Falcon]

It’s comical that, whenever something goes wrong or happens in Thailand, it’s almost never a Thais fault, it’s either a case of suicide or the culprit is from Burma. It’s a Thai fish market that they say is the cause of this ‘outbreak’ and it has Burmese workers there who are testing positive. I’d like to see the figures in exactly how many of these Burmese workers are newly in Thailand and how many of them have been here for years without going outside Thailand. For example, I have lived here a long time, still a foreigner though after 26 years here and as such, the last time I went out of the country was 10 years ago but, if I were to test positive with COVID-19, I’d be classed as yet another foreigner who probably came in from outside the country with it when in reality, I’d of caught it here, probably from a Thai. I really did eel sorry for the Burmese people as they tend to be the scapegoats for almost everything that happens here.

[Mr Meeseeks]

15 hours ago, madmitch said:

From what I've been told, these spurious border crossings are pretty good earners for Prayut's old army cronies. So I'm sure he must know about these things!

As were illicit drugs, weapons and teak wood back in the day. 

 

Nothing but a legitimised bunch of strongarm gangsters. 

 

No wonder the country is in such a state. 

[NanLaew]

20 hours ago, fishtank said:

Hopefully he will cancel Song Kran as well.

The only good thing to come out of this back in April.

So did you really enjoy the ad-hoc, long weekends that were subsequently doled out as some sort of "bringing happiness to the people" compensation?

[NanLaew]

In the roughly four days since this contagion was first detected, cross-infections linked to the Samut Sakhon cluster have been reported as being confirmed in:

 

Bangkok
Samut Prakan
Ratchaburi
Suphanburi
Nakhon Pathom
Saraburi
Uttaradit
Ayutthaya

 

I think it's about half-past time for mulling, don't you?

[Nout]

7 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

Cancel it.  You may save some Thai lives.

Some of our lives not just Thai. Have you ever been here?

[NanLaew]

4 hours ago, Falcon said:

I’d like to see the figures in exactly how many of these Burmese workers are newly in Thailand and how many of them have been here for years without going outside Thailand.

 

But revealing that that may open the can of worms that Prayuth has alluded to but Prawit denies is possible.

[sammieuk1]

One thing for sure it is still impossible for a Thai smuggler to pass on the virus to a Burmese migrant if anyone was wondering ???? 

[connda]

I vote to cancel.  In fact, cancel everything until 2022 or 2023. 
A perfect world.

[Sydebolle]

Cancel New Year in Thailand? Political suicide as the folks will go home, with or without papal blessings as there is no force on this planet to keep Khon Thai from Pimai. 

Nevertheless, as we live in the land of unlimited impossibilities, I rebooked my family's return from our xmas vacation from the 29th to the 27th as the clown-in-chief will "review" the situation in seven days, i.e. 28th.

Should he really go for a countrywide lock-down then he might take the last flight out of Thailand too, as his fellow countrymen will lynch him and the rest of the flock on site. 

Over time even Thailand will face the music and herd immunity but as the saying goes; "it aint over until the fat lady sings ....."

[ThailandRyan]

24 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

Cancel New Year in Thailand? Political suicide as the folks will go home, with or without papal blessings as there is no force on this planet to keep Khon Thai from Pimai. 

Nevertheless, as we live in the land of unlimited impossibilities, I rebooked my family's return from our xmas vacation from the 29th to the 27th as the clown-in-chief will "review" the situation in seven days, i.e. 28th.

Should he really go for a countrywide lock-down then he might take the last flight out of Thailand too, as his fellow countrymen will lynch him and the rest of the flock on site. 

Over time even Thailand will face the music and herd immunity but as the saying goes; "it aint over until the fat lady sings ....."

Unfortunately there is no such thing as heard immunity with this nasty virus or for that matter from this government. Just my opinion as well as daily sarcasm.