Prominent doctor urges postponement of Thailand’s reopening to foreign tourists in July

[webfact]

 

A prominent doctor has urged the postponement of Thailand’s reopening to fully vaccinated foreign tourists without quarantine requirements in July, under the “Phuket Sandbox” project, citing the current low vaccination rate in the country.

 

According to the Dean of Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Prof. Dr. Prasit Watanapa, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and to reduce the death rate, more than 50% of the population needs to be vaccinated. Thailand has administered about 6.5 million vaccine doses in total, with over 4.7 million people (6.8%) having received their first jabs and only 1.75 million (2.5%) people being fully vaccinated.

 

Dr. Prasit is of the view that the reopening of the country on July 1st is too soon, and that a two-week quarantine needs to remain in place, as the “Phuket Sandbox” project offers no-quarantine stays on the resort island for a period, before being allowed to travel by air to elsewhere in the country. He expressed concern that new variants of the COVID-19 may be brought into the country, which may affect the efficacy of the vaccines being administered locally.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/prominent-doctor-urges-postponement-of-thailands-reopening-to-foreign-tourists-in-july/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-06-16

 

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[RichardColeman]

If we wait until the Thailand and world is 100% safe, I'm pretty sure Thailand will be in the grip of the next Chinese  pandemic and flapping about again.

 

Open up 100%, Wash hands, wear a mask and protect the old and infirm.

 

 

 

 

[ourmanflint]

If this is to protect tourists from catching covid? then I agree. Thailand is not really a safe place to visit t the moment or in the next few months

[Albert Zweistein]

Means he has his doubts about the efficacy of the present available vaccins, the Chinacrap and the home made AZ.

[sammieuk1]

Where is Dr Opas and Dr Yong with more words of wisdom and maybe say actually we are the dirty ones now ????

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

The problem is that people also dying from poverty, depression and even starvation when they cannot go to work.  this is what mexico figured out in the begining of the pandemic, hence never closed corders and never imposed any lockdown. the result is indeed some deaths, but the economy was saved, and economy equals life.

 

the key point here is vaccines. if the doctor has respect for the vaccines, he must also respect the vaccines from other countries. what he is saying actually is that vaccined tourists cannot enter, because thailand is not vaccinated yet. but if the vaccines work, than no need to worry from vaccinated tourists, and if the vaccines do not work, than why to vaccine thailand at all?

 

[daveAustin]

He’s right of course, but hold off and hold off until conditions are right. your country ends up in tatters. 

[ezzra]

Why? let them open and end up with eggs on their faces seeing that very few, if any, would come for the deal of century in Phuket...

[Somtamnication]

1 hour ago, sammieuk1 said:

Where is Dr Opas and Dr Yong with more words of wisdom and maybe say actually we are the dirty ones now ????

Or that crazy haired Doctor Ponthip. Inquiring mind want to know!

[inThailand]

Open all you want, no one is coming here with the restrictions of getting in and basically to enjoy a no fun no booze holiday. Thank Budd.. Phuket is the model for the rest of the country. The comedy continues. 

 

 

 

[jojothai]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Dr. Prasit is of the view that the reopening of the country on July 1st is too soon, and that a two-week quarantine needs to remain in place,

I don't understand? Is this news. If so, it is out of date.
I thought it is already delayed?  And the period is back to 14 days already.
Its great that somebody says something,  but we need a lot more of it to get the clowns to recognize that hot air,  silly policies and U turns are not going to help the Thai people.

Edited June 15, 2021 by jojothai
clarification

[FarFlungFalang]

1 hour ago, Albert Zweistein said:

Means he has his doubts about the efficacy of the present available vaccins, the Chinacrap and the home made AZ.

Are talking about the Chinese made Crapovax?

[4MyEgo]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Dr. Prasit is of the view that the reopening of the country on July 1st is too soon, and that a two-week quarantine needs to remain in place

 

Everyone needs to eat, then eventually they die, so why starve them further ?

[4MyEgo]

36 minutes ago, spacex said:

Of course everyone waiting for "the jab" could improve their lifestyle and risk profile by cutting sugar, losing weight, lowering their blood pressure and they wouldn't be in such dire straights.  Amazing how governments omit the key factor in not getting sick with covid 19, or a myriad of other diseases!

 

Careful, you might get taken down. I agree, more and more studies with peer reviews are coming to show that it is indeed a safe drug for the treatment of Covid.

 

Who would have thought it would cost 20 million dollars to do a large study on a drug that has been around since 1992 with only 20 deaths, one should be able to see why the delay happened in getting it to market, i.e. it's not profitable for big pharma to do a peer review on it, rushing through experimental vaccines with no liability for deaths or adverse reactions is the way to go to make money and with self reporting mechanisms in place, well what can I say to that, the data is going to be really interesting, so why are they trying to rush it through for approval ? 

[drenddy]

For <deleted> sake...Are these thai doctors better educated and have more insight into virology than their western counterparts(from countries, where the borders are open to fully vaccinated people, without quarantine) or they don't have a <deleted> clue and are absolutely <deleted> scared about coronavirus? This zero strategy it's not going to work, unless you are using it to control an entire country.

 

I mean, where is the logic in asking fully vaccinated people to quarantine? Ask them to have 3-4 covid tests while enjoying their semiprison in Phuket?

 

Is this guy more qualified than his fellow doctors from EU & USA countries?

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, Albert Zweistein said:

Means he has his doubts about the efficacy of the present available vaccins, the Chinacrap and the home made AZ.

 

Where has he said that?

 

“Vaccines aren’t effective against all variants. Of course, it’s mostly okay for now, but there may be new variants that can’t be controlled. If the measures to restrict areas and control the spread aren’t in parallel with vaccinations, if people only think it’s all good now after getting a jab, I think this is dangerous,” Dr. Prasit said."

 

He has concerns that the new variants can challenge the efficacy of the vaccine, especially in an under-vaccinated population. This is a concern that is being publicly voiced in western nations that are oh so much more clever than Thailand.

 

Bash on.

[smedly]

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

If we wait until the Thailand and world is 100% safe, I'm pretty sure Thailand will be in the grip of the next Chinese  pandemic and flapping about again.

 

Open up 100%, Wash hands, wear a mask and protect the old and infirm.

I usually agree with most of your posts but this one is unfortunate - it is a bit early to do such a thing until more is known about these new variants - the UK is being very cautious right now, I would rather wait until studies have been completed and conclude that vaccines offer full protection - that said - the UK does not use the Chinese vaccines so it will remain unknown how effective they are, if Thailand thinks they have avoided the Indian variant then that is a rather follish assessment, it is here and will spread presenting a whole new set of issues  

[cclub75]

"Zero Covid".

 

I told you.

 

It's an ideology... And it's a cult.

[MasterBaker]

at least one professional opinion. thank you doc, absolutely spot on. not everyone in this country apparently is a slave of the tourism industry. of cause, that could go wrong for Phuket? PM just wai one time, say "sorry" 3 times, gets fine 6000 baht and continue his term

Edited June 16, 2021 by MasterBaker

[vandeventer]

We are living in a world where nobody cares anymore. Why would you want to open the flood gates to tourist, many from China with their cheap vaccines? Spreading the virus to many who have not received a good vaccine. This is just crazy.

[ThailandRyan]

38 minutes ago, drenddy said:

For <deleted> sake...Are these thai doctors better educated and have more insight into virology than their western counterparts(from countries, where the borders are open to fully vaccinated people, without quarantine) or they don't have a <deleted> clue and are absolutely <deleted> scared about coronavirus? This zero strategy it's not going to work, unless you are using it to control an entire country.

 

I mean, where is the logic in asking fully vaccinated people to quarantine? Ask them to have 3-4 covid tests while enjoying their semiprison in Phuket?

 

Is this guy more qualified than his fellow doctors from EU & USA countries?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think you missed a point, In the west there is a huge amount/% of people fully vaccinated. Here in Thailand just 2% and many with only a first vaccination and 16 weeks in between the first and second one for the AZ vaccine.

[ronaldo0]

Not that anyone will really be coming to the Phuket dustbox , but I would think anyone who does will have been more vaccinated than most locals in Phuket ! 
Mind blowing the amount of so called experts in this country that are spouting off daily and the nonsense that comes out of them is laughable . You wonder where they got their degrees ! ????????

[Ventenio]

New Marketing Slogan

 

Wuhan 2.0

 

I'm sure there are millions of chinese ready to sit next to a table near you......

 

if you got the vax, it's OK.  but no vax......well, tourists won't care if you get covid.   

 

not a safe strategy

Edited June 16, 2021 by Ventenio

[lanng khao]

3 minutes ago, ronaldo0 said:

Not that anyone will really be coming to the Phuket dustbox , but I would think anyone who does will have been more vaccinated than most locals in Phuket ! 
Mind blowing the amount of so called experts in this country that are spouting off daily and the nonsense that comes out of them is laughable . You wonder where they got their degrees ! ????????

Khao San road?

[ronaldo0]

1 minute ago, lanng khao said:

Khao San road?

Same place that sells the dodgy driving licences I think ????????????

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

According to the Dean of Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Prof. Dr. Prasit Watanapa, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and to reduce the death rate, more than 50% of the population needs to be vaccinated. Thailand has administered about 6.5 million vaccine doses in total, with over 4.7 million people (6.8%) having received their first jabs and only 1.75 million (2.5%) people being fully vaccinated.

As much as Phuket and Pipat want to open in July the country simply isn't ready.

A 10th of the population has had a vaccine jab... most only one.

Phuket, Pattaya, Samui and the rest need to wait until the entire country is safe to open and offer tourists the freedom of movement with safety for them and locals alike.

The sandbox saga was thought of well before the lack of vaccines became an issue, trying to hang-on to the same date is madness.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

If we wait until the Thailand and world is 100% safe, I'm pretty sure Thailand will be in the grip of the next Chinese  pandemic and flapping about again.

 

Open up 100%, Wash hands, wear a mask and protect the old and infirm.

 

 

 

 

As an expat in Thailand I'd rather they stayed closed until I've had my promised inoculations...

I value my health more than someone having a holiday.

[Bim Smith]

4 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

As an expat in Thailand I'd rather they stayed closed until I've had my promised inoculations...

I value my health more than someone having a holiday.

Life doesn't revolve around your health. Self isolate and let people start to earn money again. Millions are suffering right now. What a selfish comment.

[BestB]

For a change have a doctor who is not wrong, HOWEVER Phuket governor claimed not too long ago that most on the island have been vaccinated already, and new rule is people have to stay in Phuket for 14 days. If they wish to travel they have to have a test prior to leaving the island.

 

To me Phuket is ready with all precautions taken, even if some are very idiotic.

 

As for the rest of the country, well that have to take up with Anutin, who knows nothing about anything and nothing is his fault about anything, but he does know that all going according to a plan,Plan which he knows nothing about

[villageidiotY2K]

No. China no want. No farang no want. They very dirty and noisy. No come to Thailand. Thailand want peaceful. Thailand no want China farang disease. Mmmmk no meaning.