54 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

And they have the most billionaires as well.  Far from a third world country.  Every country has its backwoods areas.  Even the US.  

Some might say particularly the US ????

7 hours ago, Marvin Hagler said:

Can the rose coloured glasses brigade please step forward and tell us all how it was that Thailand avoided the Songkran surge.

 

Also all those people that told us about the spicy diet and warm weather fending off Covid. 
 

Please, come forwards and explain to us your wisdom.

The number outside prison is around 2800 so it's consistent with other days although higher than the average.

The number being so high in prisons is obvious as once it's inside it's going to be rampant.

 

27 minutes ago, meltonpie said:

I see.

So you aren't confident that the current amount of testing is sufficient enough to be sure that the numbers being reported are providing a significantly accurate account of what is really happening  and that more testing would be beneficial?

Then we are aligned ????

I can only comment on the numbers that are available, which point to a national positivity rate around 5% excluding prisons.

 

Of course, more testing and better reporting would be a good thing.

Covid claims 11 Bangkok taxi drivers

 

Eleven taxi-drivers have died from coronavirus infection in Bangkok over the past three weeks, the Department of Health said on Monday.

 

The drivers are one of the venerable groups at risk of catching the virus and spreading it to their passengers so prevention measures should be strict, said Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, the director general of the department.

 

He urged drivers who have high fever, coughing and breathlessness to stop driving and seek medical attention immediately.

 

More:

https://www.thaienquirer.com/27595/covid-claims-11-bangkok-taxi-drivers/

10 minutes ago, anchadian said:

https://twitter.com/prdthailand/status/1394201023741317121

 

PR Thai Government

Thailand government organization

 

BMA has continued to do more active case finding for #COVID19, owing to the increasing reports of new confirmed cases. The teams will be in the field to screen for infected people, testing 300-500 persons per day with swab tests, from 17 to 21 May 2021.

 

300-500 per day. Excellent. That will bring the numbers down to zero pretty quickly.

40 minutes ago, Sunderland said:

Obviously the situation is improving and everything is getting back to normal. 

If you take out prisoners, constructions workers, migrant workers, other foreigners, people who drink alcohol, people who smoke, people who went running without masks, naughty politicians, sick people, people infected by relatives or friends and frontline health workers, then there are probably less than 1,000 new cases in Bangkok today.

Good news all round.

Or, if you take out the bargirls, you will be poor very soon. That’s my prediction.

2 minutes ago, anchadian said:

Covid claims 11 Bangkok taxi drivers

 

Eleven taxi-drivers have died from coronavirus infection in Bangkok over the past three weeks, the Department of Health said on Monday.

 

The drivers are one of the venerable groups at risk of catching the virus and spreading it to their passengers so prevention measures should be strict, said Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, the director general of the department.

 

He urged drivers who have high fever, coughing and breathlessness to stop driving and seek medical attention immediately.

 

More:

https://www.thaienquirer.com/27595/covid-claims-11-bangkok-taxi-drivers/

Well one thing is for sure, they can not blame that on faulty brakes

5 hours ago, dinsdale said:

...how many villages are there in Thailand

 

74,956 according to the 2010 census.

13 minutes ago, Sametboy2019 said:

The number outside prison is around 2800 so it's consistent with other days although higher than the average.

The number being so high in prisons is obvious as once it's inside it's going to be rampant.

 

Higher than average is maybe down playing it just a we we bit.

 

Its on par with the previous peak, only the second time its ever been that high.

27 minutes ago, welshguy said:

Thailand was "lucky" last year, in that they did not have many deaths covid related.

 

They did lockdowns etc. and they seemed to get off really lightly compared to many other countries worldwide.  You call call it "good luck"  ,"good management" by government, lucky amulets etc etc. For whatever reasons, the country suffered far few (reported) cases of  covid related deaths/infections etc.

 

I'm in the U.K.     Of course. the government, here (and in many other countries worldwide) didnt do well at all........Initially.  At least, now they have done some good by doing really well with vaccines rollout.

 

What I fail to understand, is the low number of tests they've done, and what I find even more ridiculous, is the mega slow roll out of vaccines.  Covid has been going on for well over a year now. They (the government that is) have been incredibly slow in the vaccine rollout.. You can argue all day long, about Thailand, not having the resources of other countries. I totally get that. Other "poorer" countries though, have a much better record of testing and vaccine rollouts.

 

To those posters who say "100 deaths a day/week/month" isn't a catastrophe?  try telling that to those who have died., and those who they have left behind. Tell that to those who have lost their jobs/homes/livelihoods it isnt a catastrophe?.

 

I'm not (and I guess many other posters on here who have posted on here)   saying "my country/government are doing great....Thailand is doing rubbish re. covid"..The vast majority of countries worldwide have reacted terribly to this pandemic.  However....we are now 18 months ish down the line....Whatever way you like to dress it up? Its not looking good in Thailand now at all.

 

I cant wait to get back to Thailand...I would be amazed if its this year..........I'm "hoping" early next year "may" be possible...but who knows....certainly not me.

 

Im not in any way shape or form, saying other countries have handled this pandemic in any way better that Thailand.....Those though, who think, "this isn't serious in Thailand now.............its just  the prisons etc where there are cases,....... Songkraen didn't affect the numbers?"   You need to think again..You are deluding yourselves.

The army is running the country now. And the Thai army is stunningly rich. They own over ten million rai of land, that they barely use, and certainly don't need. Much of it is prime land. The sale of even 1% of their land would be more than enough to vaccinate the entire nation with Pfizer or Moderna, and have enough left for some badly needed assistance programs. 

 

However, that would require sacrifice and would mean they actually cared about us commoners. 

1 minute ago, Bkk Brian said:

Higher than average is maybe down playing it down just a we we bit.

 

Its on par with the previous peak, only the second time its ever been that high.

I would expect it as they are finding outbreak hotspots which would mean more testing in those areas resulting in more positive cases.

4 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Yep they've done well. Gone from number 117 to number 91 in a couple of months on the covid worldometer. Doing a great job. Should knock off Norway at number 90 in the next couple of days.

You don't find it somewhat remarkable that up until now, Thailand, with it's limited resources and a GDP per capita of less than US$8000 had better pandemic numbers than Norway, a country with a GDP/capita of over US$75,000; and a sovereign wealth fund of over One-TRILLION dollars (for a population of 5M)? Maybe do something useful, like comparing Thailand to its peers in SE Asia.

4 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Actually that very brigade that you like to label were calling for plenty before the Songkran holidays, the very same advice that the experts were also giving and was ignored by the government. Hence we're in this disastrous situation now.

I wouldn't call 7000+ prison cases a disaster...I'd call it expected (and easily confined).

2 minutes ago, Sametboy2019 said:

I would expect it as they are finding outbreak hotspots which would mean more testing in those areas resulting in more positive cases.

Exactly finding more cases through more testing and discovering the true extend of the outbreak, pity they are waiting for the hotspots to brew before finding them with random testing first, like this it will just grow and grow.

7 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Current official response to this, easing of measures!!

 

Now try a full lockdown as you should have done at the start or be prepared for far worse to come. Disastrous news on all fronts.

"Lockdowns" did nothing for the west.   Scared or vulnerable stay home and wait for the vaccine if you want it.  That's the only solution that has shown any usefulness.

4 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

The army is running the country now. And the Thai army is stunningly rich. They own over ten million rai of land, that they barely use, and certainly don't need. Much of it is prime land. The sale of even 1% of their land would be more than enough to vaccinate the entire nation with Pfizer or Moderna, and have enough left for some badly needed assistance programs. 

 

However, that would require sacrifice and would mean they actually cared about us commoners. 

Not to mention other wealth which cannot be mentioned.

29 minutes ago, Sametboy2019 said:

The number outside prison is around 2800 so it's consistent with other days although higher than the average.

The number being so high in prisons is obvious as once it's inside it's going to be rampant.

 

Hmm, not so sure about it being consistent with other days. I’d have to go back and look at the charts, but I think there were several days just under 2k, then several days at just over 2k. Without specifically looking, I’d say 2800 is about a 20% increase on anything seen more than 2 days ago.

 

I found the chart posted by tallguy today and added it below. The scale makes it a little difficult to read, but removing the prison cases, I’d say 2800 is a bit of a break out from the previous days average numbers, rather than being consistent. Hopefully the number backs off again in the coming days.

1 minute ago, BuyBitcoin said:

"Lockdowns" did nothing for the west.   Scared or vulnerable stay home and wait for the vaccine if you want it.  That's the only solution that has shown any usefulness.

I hear bitcoin crashed recently

57 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

You are correct, the Thai positivity rate is high enough to warrant more testing. I don’t think you will find many who disagree. But, to paraphrase an idiot: “you go with the testing you have, not the testing you want to have”. 
 

i can’t analyze the tests that aren’t happening, I have to look at the data on hand.

Oh dear. Well how about this then. If there was more testing happining then there would be more data. You want more data then you do more tests. Sorry I can't make this any simpler.

9 minutes ago, blackcab said:

 

74,956 according to the 2010 census.

You scored 100% for that answer but the next question is  more difficult:     Name them all    ????????????

7 hours ago, dinsdale said:

So 2,782 outside of prisons. Now up to 91 possibly 90 with a bullet on the covid wordometer. Up 26 0r 27 spots in a couple of months. Who thinks that 6,853 prisoners is the tip of the iceberg.

Worldometers report Thailand at #27 on their Weekly trends figure, a far more representative figure

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/weekly-trends/#weekly_table

3 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

I wouldn't call 7000+ prison cases a disaster...I'd call it expected (and easily confined).

Actually nearly 11K and counting but your definition of disaster and mine are plainly different especially when we know that this is just a handful of prisons where they've only currently tested a very small proportion of the inmates and the positivity rate is very high, expect that to double in just those 6 prisons quickly.

 

Now what about the other 100+ prisons. Over 340,000 inmates and 1000's of staff, who go home everynight. Thailand's prison system is one of the worst in the world for its conditions inside that can only facilitate the spread.

 

Yes to me its a disaster.

Despite these numbers, however they may be interpreted, pools opened today and restaurants OPENED for dine-in today! YAY!!! Swam an hour and will be dining out tonight, INSIDE my fave restaurant and INSIDE fave lunch spot tomorrow.

 

HOORAY for liberty and some sanity! The show must go on. Life goes on...and economies and commerce go on. They must. Always. 

3 minutes ago, BuyBitcoin said:

"Lockdowns" did nothing for the west.   Scared or vulnerable stay home and wait for the vaccine if you want it.  That's the only solution that has shown any usefulness.

Australia. Very harsh lockdowns. Now doing OK. Today +3 cases in a population of >26,000,000. Lockdowns and real mass testing, excellent contact tracing and isolation/quarantine is why Australia is where it is today. Vaccination program in OZ is not so good.

Phuket has been hit very hard owing to the idiots from the Kolour group organizing a massive rave in Cafe Del Mar, how they got away with this defies belief.

29 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

I suppose it depends how long the mass vaccination of the Thai population will take.
 

If it’s over and done with in a month, no, perhaps testing isn’t a pressing priority. If it’s going to take a year, then perhaps testing as part of an overall virus control strategy, might be a good thing.

The target is herd immunity by mass vaccination by the end of the year. If you look at the experience of other countries like the UK, Thailand wouldn't be able to get a mass testing system up and running before then.

The only thing I don't understand is why prison cases are not at 100%, judging by the photos I've seen of conditions inside with people packed in like battery hens.

2 minutes ago, Scottie12 said:

Phuket has been hit very hard owing to the idiots from the Kolour group organizing a massive rave in Cafe Del Mar, how they got away with this defies belief.

Don't forget the idiots who attended...lots more of them. 

55 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Very simple really, the government has in its wisdom decided to separate the prison cases and community cases, it would take a blind person to say there was not exponential growth going on there. 

 

Quote from you in another post:

 

"the government isn't reading the opinions of random old blokes on the internet but is instead listening to their own health advisors."

 

My reply:

 

"Exactly what have their own health experts been saying to them, I can tell you if you like, its widely reported. What qualifies someone as old by the way"

 

Still waiting?

Okay so you've changed your mind again and you now think there is exponential growth. So why were you asking me earlier to show you any evidence that people were saying there's exponential growth? You clearly don't know what you're saying from one minute to the next, a classic sign of dementia.

 

If you look at the appalling conditions in Thai prisons, there was never any doubt that it would rip through. It's still not exponential in the general population though is it?

 

'Old' is a normal English word. If you don't know what it means look it up in a dictionary. Don't take it too personally.

16 minutes ago, Bundooman said:

Sorry, but who the hell do you think you are referring to?

 

What rose coloured glasses brigade?Who bragged about Thailand avoiding the songkran surge?

Who talked about spicy food and warm weather?

And who the hell are you to demand that people explain to you!

 

What are you? The rose coloured, spectacle brigade, spicy food loving, warm weather adoring, songkran hating - police?

Pompous twattery!

 

 

Wow angry much,