THE WEEK THAT WAS The week that was in Thailand news: Staying in at Songkran - an experienced user guide

[rooster59]

 

It was certainly a grim week for Thailand with one item of bad news after another. 

 

With the emergence of the so-called UK variant of coronavirus I was a bit reluctant to go out to Makro to do my pre-Songkran panic-buy stocking up on enough baked beans and cheese to last the week in isolation. My annual water avoiding quarantine.

 

Hailing from the sceptred isle I was a tad concerned that the shelf packers might inquire as to my provenance and I might let slip, as I made a grab for the HP Sauce, that I was born in Kent. 

 

I could see myself being thrown out despite wearing a mask. But all was good as I loaded the paniers of the Rooster-mobile and headed back to Ratchayothin with supplies aplenty.

 

I had hoped to actually get out this coming week safe in the knowledge that Songkran had effectively been banned again. I felt it unlikely that anyone would randomly come up and respectfully wet my head with lustral water. 

 

But the outbreaks of Covid in Bangkok and the banning of ANY form of frivolity mean that the closest I’ll get to the great outdoors will be a Big Mac meal with jumbo protective clothing and a side order of Chai Chana. 

 

It should be a joyous time of the year. Mrs Rooster and the chicks were hurried out of the coop on Wednesday amid fears that provincial travel might suddenly be banned. She’ll be in Loei for five weeks leaving me to stew in my own juice. A kind of cock au vin. 

 

It soon emerged that my fears about missing the boat in dispatching the family were unfounded. PM Prayut and DPM Anutin were actually in favor of packing everyone off up-country to spread the virus. Who was I to question their bounteous wisdom….

 

I just told the missus to try not to hack in the direction of Yai (who is falling apart with diabetes and old age in her sixties) when scooping the maggots off the nutritious pla ra. 

 

The CCSA promptly closed most things down in 41 provinces and a Chula “top doc” told us how to quarantine at home. 

 

For Rooster this seemed like teaching one’s gran to suck eggs or as the Thais say, sorn jorakhae hai wai naam (teaching a croc to swim).

 

I checked all the vital ingredients of seven days++ of isolation.

 

Fodder. Check. Netflix. Check. Bill paid for True EPL package. Check. Call to friend on the same corridor to make sure he’d got the beers in. Check. 

 

So back to the latest misery outside as my editor sent me translation after translation with Covid, pandemic, restrictions, ban, VAX, no tourism and scary in the headlines. 

 

Dr Yong warned that this year would be 170 times worse than last. Thanks doc, appreciate that!

 

Prayut - increasingly looking like a retired general out of his depth - muttered something about whatever will be will be.

 

He had hoped that his appearance in Bang Pa-in to open a section of the new elevated road to Korat would focus attention away from the misery onto his AI - Amazing Infrastructure.

 

Not a bit of it - all the Thai reporters wanted to know was about clusters and cock-ups and why a third of his ministers were spreading virus to the population after popping in to see “ee noo” (little mice) in Thong Lor nightclubs. 

 

Chuwit went on Facebook to call on the senators and cops to “come clean”.

 

The legendary finger pointing, soapy massage visiting, greasy TV show presenting, bar destroying, park making wannabe politician and playboy appeared grey and withered - well past his sell-by. 

 

But he did have a point about one rule for the proles and another for the pols. 

 

All the bad news in Krung Thep was soon flooding nationwide. In Hua Hin where they’d hoped to attract some Songkran tourists, there were 30% cancellations of hotels and as of today (Sunday) more than 140 virus cases.  News that there would be a million people at the airport there by 2025 got swallowed up in the bigger picture.

 

On Wednesday Rooster went to a hospital to reschedule an appointment and saw the queues at the testing “drive-in”. The Police Hospital was swamped after RTP HQ had an outbreak. The lines there looked like a cluster waiting to happen.

 

The lady at Viphavadee Hospital reception was telling a Chinese man’s go-between that they still didn’t have any VAX to sell. On Saturday Thaivisa reported it was taking longer than expected to allow private hospitals to jab to follow “international standards”.

 

Nonsense - methinks the delays are just to allow locally produced vaccine in June onto the market as a kind of white knight saving the day to make certain people look rosy. 

 

Quarantine of 14 days was announced in many provinces for people arriving from the capital and four other risky jangwats. Good luck with enforcing that with Mrs R in Loei. 

 

Nightclubs were shut and alcohol banned in many places. Field hospitals were set up everywhere. Songkran - or what was left of it - is now but a distant memory. 

 

The laurels that Thailand had rested on are now crumpled beyond recognition. Poor testing regimes (surprising for a "testing" regime) and slow vaccine rollout are now coming home to roost. As are having utter incompetents in charge of the government.

 

It almost became a “by-the-by” that Covid cases were going through the roof and the worst fears of the medics were becoming a stark reality. 

 

Hunker down, get the tea on, and find out how to watch The Masters in Thailand. Then finish The Serpent on Netflix - a reminder of better days in Thailand when all we had to worry about was being drugged, robbed, dumped in Pattaya and set on fire by serial killers….

 

Elsewhere in Thailand the air pollution continued despite rains. A Sky News report in the UK concentrating on Chiang Mai spoke of 32,000 premature deaths from respiratory and other diseases in Thailand calling it a “public health emergency”. They mentioned fires….

 

That other public health emergency was set to hit consumer spending by 100 billion baht despite my efforts at Makro. 

 

A dozen Bangkok hospitals stopped virus testing amid shortages and 559 Covid cases were reported Friday. 

 

Fortunately there was still some news to make us smile. A monitor lizard went stir-crazy in a 7-Eleven mounting the shelves in a viral video of the week. 

 

Though it was not such happy news for a moggie who had gone missing and was found by her distraught owner swallowed whole by a replete python out back of the house. 

 

Finally, the probation department on Koh Samui have found a great use for foreigners caught drink driving. 

 

Rather than punishing them they have arranged for them to teach English. One report showed a German called Mr N delivering a lesson to the smiling ladies.

 

A German teaching English?? yelled many on Facebook though it seemed a perfectly good idea to me. 

 

Especially as I taught Thai in Thailand for 20 years!

 

Not bad for a miscreant from Kent.

 

Rooster

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2021-04-11

 

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[Tropicalevo]

Nice one (again) Mr Rooster.

Thank you.

[Flying Saucage]

53 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Nonsense - methinks the delays are just to allow locally produced vaccine in June onto the market as a kind of white knight saving the day to make certain people look rosy. 

 

53 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

The laurels that Thailand had rested on are now crumpled beyond recognition. Poor testing regimes (surprising for a "testing" regime) and slow vaccine rollout are now coming home to roost. As are having utter incompetents in charge of the government.

 

 

Well said Rooster, and so true!

 

What else to expect when corrupt incompetent generals, drug dealers and Mafia figures rule a country.

[Staffan]

Probably very good, but very 'wordy' so may miss its effect.

 

[rumak]

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

I had hoped to actually get out this coming week safe in the knowledge that Songkran had effectively been banned again

 

Five more times and it will catch up to me !

[rumak]

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

She’ll be in Loei for five weeks leaving me to stew in my own juice. A kind of cock au vin. 

 

Five weeks alone and the cock stays home.   Either Friar of the Year award..... or Liar of the Year award.      

[Mark mark]

Yes, the UK Strain ? ... They wondered how it has got out of the probably pretty good Hotel Quarantine system ! ? ... Then there were stories that it probably had come over the border from Cambodia ! ? ... Well Good, as I hope to be using the Hotel Quarantine system soon my self !!! ...

 

(I will be fully Vaccinated with AstraZenica on 21st June, yes my online button pushing ability came to some pretty good use at last as they announced the start of the Role out for the 1b group, and I pretty amazingly got an appointment for the first Jab for the next week, and my Old 89 year old mother eventually decided to get it as well so we got her in on the next week.)

 

Any way I think that, just between you and me Rooster ! ... The UK strain probably DID escape from the Hotel Quarantine system ... Like watching how the Virus has been acting, and propagating here in Australia, where the numbers are very low, so you actually can contact trace people VERY well and watch and track it very well also !!! 

 

Not like the early days where in Victoria they found that some Security guards in the Hotels has basically no training at all and NO PPE either !!! Like only one glove each per shift Etc. !!! ... and well some of them were sleeping with a few of the guests also I do believe !!! (Har Har ... GOOO Auzie Auzie Auzie, GOOO Mate !!!)

 

... But NOW we ? Well They, have got it right I think ... Like CCTV on every floor and proper Training and PPE and also proper rules re NO CONTACT !!! ... BUT it got out again !!! From our Hotel Quarantine ... In Adelaide AND Melbourni !!! ... And well the findings as they had the Security guards on CCTV in the corridor for all of their shifts and well .. Sleeping on the job was the only blemish left I think .... But they STILL got the More Contagious UK Variant !!!

 

So they have concluded here at least that this Variant in particular is very VERY contagious and can float in the air on very VERY Small droplets of moisture for an almost indefinite time !!! and well ... come from an infected persons room, OUT under the door or from when it is open to get the food in ... and then float in the corridor until multiple security guards there on various shifts have got it !!! ... Like in one case the travelers in the room had an electric air atomizer .. Like it filled the air with microscopic droplets of fluid that the people thought would help them, Australia basically being a pretty dry place ! ... But well Looks like the CV 19 Virus liked these droplets better then any thing and well literally started floating down the Corridor.

 

So the next move in the Hotel Quarantine system has been proper and GOOD ventilation. for the rooms ... so well I suppose the air, and droplets go back in to the A/C system and then get filtered out and NOT out in to the corridor, to infect the tired ... usually having more then one Job .. Gig Economy I believe Security Staff.

 

And well it NOW it seems to be working. ?

 

Like just look at that first cruse ship that they Quarantined in Japan in good faith to try to stop the virus !!! and basically the whole!!! Like a closed ventilation system with re cycled air .. and water droplets that carry the Virus ??? ...

 

I just hope that they do get back on top of it before I can come back ... and Hopefully fully Vaccinated.

 

(And that not to many people die or have their bodies destroyed by it !!!!)

 

Mark Mark

[Stevemercer]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Nightclubs were shut and alcohol banned in many places. Field hospitals were set up everywhere. Songkran - or what was left of it - is now but a distant memory. 

 

I counted 7 big parties (stages for live bands, speaker stacks, seating etc) within one kilometre of us being set up this morning. Let the beer, whisky, eating, dancing, drinking (and NOISE) begin for the whole week.

[mrfill]

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The legendary finger pointing, soapy massage visiting, greasy TV show presenting, bar destroying, park making wannabe politician and playboy

Sounds like the old advert which ends....    mmmmm lip smackin Pepsi

[connda]

Staying in for Songkran has been the norm for a whole lot of years. 

[Elkski]

I think this songkran will go down in history for the wrong reasons.  

Did big to think cancelling 2 songkrans in a row would break the camels back?  

I've read there is so much wealth at the top that has been donated from the Thai people, why don't he give some  back during these hard times?  

[Rocking Robert]

Did I get that right 32,000 deaths due to air pollution and they’re in a uproar because of 97 deaths from Covid

[bangon04]

"The legendary finger pointing, soapy massage visiting, greasy TV show presenting, bar destroying, park making wannabe politician and playboy appeared grey and withered - well past his sell-by. "

 

He must be one of the smartest, though. Otherwise he would have met with an accident (2 thugs on a motorcycle with a gun) a long time ago......

[Andycoops]

Yes the corrupt incompetence of the hi-so ruling classes ***** the country again.

There will be no chance of any time lines being revealed because they won't want to show up their Illicit activities.

They will circle the wagons to protect each other as normal while the innocent citizens suffer the consequences of their lunacy.

[Henryford]

10 hours ago, Rocking Robert said:

Did I get that right 32,000 deaths due to air pollution and they’re in a uproar because of 97 deaths from Covid

 

And another 32,000 from road accidents.

[Postmaster]

An enjoyable synopsis from Rooster. Seems to be a very well educated gentleman from Blighty's South East corner.

[GarryP]

Started reading that and suffered a case of deja vu. I was sure I had read it before, but surely Rooster wasn't so lazy as to copy previous content. It wasn't until I added 2 and 2 and came up with 5 that I realized that today is Wednesday, not Sunday (the second day of my 3 day Songkran break), and that I was in fact re-reading last weeks column. Got to wait four more days for the next one. 

[Ddbanksy]

Love the sence of humour Rooster,always gives me a smile