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

[connda]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

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.

I wholehearted agree.  Follow the doctor's advice.  It's a way out to save face.

[RR2020]

I think everyone knows Phuket Sandbox will be yet another disaster.

 

Any foreigner going there will be tested 3 times and will be locked up in a medical facility for 14 days if found positive for Covid.

 

Any articles on Covid will tell you vaccines are "effective" against symptoms......but you still have Covid and still can spread it.....so you can still test positive.

 

So going to be lots of "tourists" getting positive tests and then forced into medical isolation.

 

 

Now......how many real tourists want that threat hanging over their head...............

 

 

Phuket will become just an alternative to Bangkok ASQ.  Not tourism, just an ASQ alternative.  And given the high chance of rampant Covid in Phuket with social mixing ........better stick to Bangkok ASQ in my view.

[shackleton]

A lot of talk going on now about opening up the Phuket sandbox on the 1st July

let's wait and see if this happens and if it does 

How many tourists will come

Don't hold your breath on this one 

[Mr Meeseeks]

9 minutes ago, RR2020 said:

Any foreigner going there will be tested 3 times and will be locked up in a medical facility for 14 days if found positive for Covid.

From the quiet serenity of a pool villa near the beach to a warehouse full of coughing and spluttering Burmese labourers with a winnie the pooh mattress for comfort and a squat toilet for relief. 

 

It's a non-starter and anyone that isn't prepared for it is in for a nasty shock indeed. 

[Charlie Halliday]

Just open the country October 1st. By then we should have 50% vaccinated. If some people get sick and die, then get used to it. The virus is here to stay forever. Like flu, measles and other stuff we've all had. Failure to open means misery for millions of small businesses whose livelihood is 100% dependent on tourism. 

[kcpattaya]

Mum! Look at this here!
I made it in the newspaper!
Finally my piece of limelight!
I am so happy!

[stretch5163]

3 hours ago, overherebc said:

The fact that you've had the vaccine won't stop you bringing/carrying a new variant. It will reduce the chance of passing it on greatly but not completely. 

The vaccine protects you from getting seriously ill, some better than others.

Correct it wont stop you brining a new variant however the PCR test that you are still required to take will give that confidence and stop vaccinated carriers from travelling.

 

Its not rocket science now is it. Plus the PCR test you are still required to take when in Thailand will also enforce this

[Cake Monster]

4 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

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.

Dr. Prasit is trying to talk some sense into the Government and general Population of Thailand.

Phuket has maybe only Jabbed about 50 % of the people once, probably only registered Home owners and Land Owners, ( about 250 K people ) and probably with the Sinovac Vaccine, which only has a 3 % efficacy rating until the second jab has been administered.

With the fast moving Variants that are now being carried by people, there is indeed a very real possibility that maybe the Indian or Nepalise or Brazilian mutations will enter the Country, and become rampant.

If Thailand thinks the Variants they have to contend with now are bad, then they will enter a whole new World of hurt if the new Variants gain a foothold.

 

 

[thairookie]

The big elephant in the room is the so-called experts' faith in the efficacy of the vaccines that are currently available. 

 

When the experts want you to go for vaccination, they display great faith in the vaccine and say the vaccine is effective.  But when you want to visit their home after vaccination, they want you to be quarantined for fear that the vaccine might not be effective after all.

[Mr Meeseeks]

9 minutes ago, Charlie Halliday said:

Just open the country October 1st. By then we should have 50% vaccinated. If some people get sick and die, then get used to it. The virus is here to stay forever. Like flu, measles and other stuff we've all had. Failure to open means misery for millions of small businesses whose livelihood is 100% dependent on tourism. 

Tourism is gone for the foreseeable, no point taking all the other industries along with it by throwing open the doors and endangering thousands of Thai lives.

[rebbu]

6 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

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?

 

https://globalnews.ca/news/7944278/mexico-covid-cases-population/

 

Separate data published in March suggested Mexico’s actual death toll was at least 60% above the confirmed figure.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/coronavirus-mexico-lockdown-lopez-obrador/2021/01/25/8d6311aa-50fc-11eb-a1f5-fdaf28cfca90_story.html

 

As Mexican officials watched the virus’s global march, they decided in February not to adopt such coercive tactics. Nearly 60 percent of workers — street vendors, gardeners, construction workers — lived off their daily earnings. Dispatching police to keep them home would “exacerbate social unrest, and this unrest could limit our ability to control the epidemic,” said López-Gatell, a Hopkins-trained epidemiologist. López Obrador voiced another concern: Poor workers squeezed by police could “swell the ranks” of crime cartels, López-Gatell recalled in a recent interview.

 

To limit the spread of the virus, authorities decided to target institutions — closing public schools, threatening penalties for businesses that stayed open, convincing churches to cancel Mass and cities to close parks.

 

So there was partial lockdowns similar to the third wave in Thailand. Mexico reported 250k deaths with the possibility of 60% unreported. 

500k families with a loved one deceased but durr economy ????

[Thomas J]

I truly don't understand the absolute hysteria over Covid.  There are more people hospitalized in Thailand with TB and that has happened for decades but no one has ever suggested shutting the borders to prevent the spread of TB.  

Who exactly is this doctor suggesting "needs protection".  If the tourists will be tested prior to arrival and shown not to have Covid and are vaccinated so their chance of either having Covid or contracting Covid has to be infinitesimal.  If the tourists don't have Covid and have little chance of contracting it while it Thailand they can't be passing Covid on to the Thai population. 

You have a much greater chance that unvaccinated Thai's will contract or pass Covid on to other Thai's but no one is suggesting that the entire Thai population be put in quarantine.  Such is the lunacy regarding Covid. 

[Freigeist365]

Doc Wantonwannapapa would do very well in Germany, as both countries (especially in regards to international tourism) are on a self destructive path that is just beyond belief. Like I said in an earlier post; "Goodbye, season 21/22 and all subsequent ones til 27..." By then, a good chunk of the world's population will be wiped out, not by the "virus", but by stupidity. And human stupidity - according to Einstein - seems to be infinite, meaning that there might lay decades of darkness ahead... Perhaps it would be a good idea to open a simple noodle soup shop and lay low for a few years... Or become a doctor and make $#itloads of money by blasting out warnings and promoting self strangulation until the cows come home...

 

Edited June 16, 2021 by Freigeist365

[vandeventer]

1 hour ago, Tonypandy said:

Maybe because people are becoming jobless, companies closing down, it's creating poverty in Thailand. More like this is just crazy

I know it's bad for some, and people in many countries are suffering. The vaccines are the cause of this problem which we should of had a while ago. And I am not letting WHO and ccp China off the hook either but we have to start vaccinating more people with vaccines that work and restrict tourism for awhile. Anything else is foolish.

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

if only 2.5% thais vaxed by now, wont reach 50 % until next decade ( thought HI was 70%) ?

fully vaxed intl tourists can still catch it (25% ?) but wont die and can transmit it but in a very much reduced form it seems so risk of  thais dying this way practically non- existent with unrestricted mopeds killing 50 thais each day  being unchanged.  

 

non- vaxed thais 30% allowed in SHA + hotels......

so the insignificant vaxed tourist transmission rate accepted.....

 

this professor thinking only in ultra conservative ( zero covid) medical terms and secure in his unchanged govt, benefits etc. is clearly utterly detached from the massive economic and social misery.......

[jaiyen]

I don't see any problems for tourists, except there are no planes going to Thailand !

[placnx]

5 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

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.

In Africa we are seeing the effect of the arrival of the Indian variant in virgin populations. Cases are doubling by the week. It's very difficult to control the Indian variant because it takes just a few infected people evading detection to cause outbreaks. 

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, rabas said:

 

This "Vaccine to the brain" was part of a 3h+ not quite conspiracy theory video  posted here and later removed. It was not true conspiracy theory but leaned too far in one direction.

 

Briefly, spike proteins can travel in the blood and cross the blood brain barrier. This is known and the subject of a few studies. BUT. The concern is spikes from COVID, not from the vaccine. When you are infected, spikes get cleaved from the virus and are free to travel. COVID is the big concern, not the vaccine.

 

Some reading:

Nature Neuroscience S1 Protein of SARS-CoV-2

 

ReviewInteractions of SARS-CoV-2 with the Blood–Brain Barrier

 

 

 

Good point.

 

I have not read your links yet, however will as soon as I get a chance because the more research the more knowledgably one become as opposed to thinking, oh great they have made a vaccine which is safe and effective because that's what everyone is saying except for a few, which is not exactly the entire truth as there are many reports suggesting that people are dying and having adverse effects which are far worse more than previous vaccines of the past, which have had years to be developed and data provided before they were approved and without big pharma being able to avoid liability, I would believe.

 

I also Googled this about the spike protein, my point being that it is synthetic, not the spike protein from the virus, a "copy" if you like, which is what people should know.

 

The anti-COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (coding the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein) is the third synthetic RNA therapeutic being approved.Feb 9, 2564 BE

 

mRNA: a developing field in vaccine tech

There are potential risks from mRNA vaccines that include local and systemic inflammatory responses, which could lead to autoimmune conditions, and the toxic effects of any synthetic nucleosides or vaccine delivery component's 11 Feb 2021

 

From my understanding about being infected with Covid, the spike protein is coming from the natural virus in itself and 99% plus people recover, as you pointed out the natural spike protein also travelling through the body, however we know it's effect, i.e. if your very elderly your chances of dying are right up there along with those who have pre-existing conditions, are obese or have underlying conditions.

 

On the other hand, we don't know what effects this synthetic spike protein has in the future if it travels through our body and of course lodges itself in your brain, liver, reproduction organs, heart, kidneys etc, as mentioned above from a Google search, i.e. which could lead to autoimmune conditions, and the toxic effects of any synthetic nucleosides or vaccine delivery component's 11 Feb 2021

 

To me it is saying, if your healthy, either way you go, your chances are you will survive, maybe, take the vaccine and you will require a booster every year if you survive it, if you contract it naturally and you survive it you will be immune so no vaccine required unless it's mutating strains become very deadly, but mutations are normal with viruses, with 97% + are mostly not that different as they need to mutate to survive.

 

So to me i find myself in a position that I hear a lot of waffle going on out there with a lot of misinformation and information being kept away from us unless you research and find what your looking for if it hasn't been taken down, acknowledging that does ones best to remove conspiracy theories and too far fetch stories without the science, data, peer reviewed studies and so on.

 

I think if most people were told up front, like, hey, look this is experimental vaccine, it has a synthetic spike protein in it which has shown to break off and travel through some people's bodies and could potentially kill you now or in the future as we haven't really had enough data come back to know, but it showed it's safe and effective in our stage 3 trials before we gave it to the greater population, so far millions of people are ok, now, but no guarantee in the future, and we are not liable if you die or become sick and can't work to support your family, but it's safe and effective, you know, up to you, take your jab or face Covid, and we are sure Ivermectin and other stuff doesn't work, considering more studies have come through confirming they do, they are conspiracy theories, do you want to have it now ?

 

I think most people would bauk at it if they had the full information, am I still missing something ?. 

 

 

 

[hioctane]

13 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

Good point.

 

I have not read your links yet, however will as soon as I get a chance because the more research the more knowledgably one become as opposed to thinking, oh great they have made a vaccine which is safe and effective because that's what everyone is saying except for a few, which is not exactly the entire truth as there are many reports suggesting that people are dying and having adverse effects which are far worse more than previous vaccines of the past, which have had years to be developed and data provided before they were approved and without big pharma being able to avoid liability, I would believe.

 

I also Googled this about the spike protein, my point being that it is synthetic, not the spike protein from the virus, a "copy" if you like, which is what people should know.

 

The anti-COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (coding the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein) is the third synthetic RNA therapeutic being approved.Feb 9, 2564 BE

 

mRNA: a developing field in vaccine tech

There are potential risks from mRNA vaccines that include local and systemic inflammatory responses, which could lead to autoimmune conditions, and the toxic effects of any synthetic nucleosides or vaccine delivery component's 11 Feb 2021

 

From my understanding about being infected with Covid, the spike protein is coming from the natural virus in itself and 99% plus people recover, as you pointed out the natural spike protein also travelling through the body, however we know it's effect, i.e. if your very elderly your chances of dying are right up there along with those who have pre-existing conditions, are obese or have underlying conditions.

 

On the other hand, we don't know what effects this synthetic spike protein has in the future if it travels through our body and of course lodges itself in your brain, liver, reproduction organs, heart, kidneys etc, as mentioned above from a Google search, i.e. which could lead to autoimmune conditions, and the toxic effects of any synthetic nucleosides or vaccine delivery component's 11 Feb 2021

 

To me it is saying, if your healthy, either way you go, your chances are you will survive, maybe, take the vaccine and you will require a booster every year if you survive it, if you contract it naturally and you survive it you will be immune so no vaccine required unless it's mutating strains become very deadly, but mutations are normal with viruses, with 97% + are mostly not that different as they need to mutate to survive.

 

So to me i find myself in a position that I hear a lot of waffle going on out there with a lot of misinformation and information being kept away from us unless you research and find what your looking for if it hasn't been taken down, acknowledging that does ones best to remove conspiracy theories and too far fetch stories without the science, data, peer reviewed studies and so on.

 

I think if most people were told up front, like, hey, look this is experimental vaccine, it has a synthetic spike protein in it which has shown to break off and travel through some people's bodies and could potentially kill you now or in the future as we haven't really had enough data come back to know, but it showed it's safe and effective in our stage 3 trials before we gave it to the greater population, so far millions of people are ok, now, but no guarantee in the future, and we are not liable if you die or become sick and can't work to support your family, but it's safe and effective, you know, up to you, take your jab or face Covid, and we are sure Ivermectin and other stuff doesn't work, considering more studies have come through confirming they do, they are conspiracy theories, do you want to have it now ?

 

I think most people would bauk at it if they had the full information, am I still missing something ?. 

 

 

 

The chance of you getting infected and dying is much greater if you don’t take the vaccine. Of course there are no guarantees what might happen in the future. You might get hit by a car too. It’s called a calculated risk. The benefits outweigh the risks!

[VBF]

8 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

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

Why? If the tourists are vaccinated and obviously they should be, they are safe enough - the danger is to the UNvaccinated Thai people and foreigners in Thailand.

 

And to @spidermike:

Other way around - as I say above the Thai people would be in danger FROM the incoming tourists

Edited June 16, 2021 by VBF

[hioctane]

This doctor is an idiot. How would a vaccinated person bring in a variant? First he needs to be tested before he arrives. Tests have also shown that vaccines reduces the spread by up to around 90%. In the unlikely event that he brought something in, he would be contained on the island (the “sandbox”). While he is on the island, he is tested a couple more times. If he pasts the tests, what danger does he pose? He sounds like one of those worry wart afraid of his own shadow!

[RichardColeman]

6 hours ago, drenddy said:

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?

I agree, doctors are very intelligent in respects to health care - but appear to absolutely have no grasp of economics, debt and homelessness

[4MyEgo]

22 minutes ago, hioctane said:

The chance of you getting infected and dying is much greater if you don’t take the vaccine. Of course there are no guarantees what might happen in the future. You might get hit by a car too. It’s called a calculated risk. The benefits outweigh the risks!

 

I just don't buy the last part in your sentence, e.g. The benefits outweigh the risk.

 

That said because the data isn't back, we don't know how many people have died apart from what we are hearing, we don't know what are the major adverse risks, only the ones reported and then we have to see what, if any problems occur with this synthetic spike protein that has been reported to break off and travel throughout the body.

 

With Covid, I will agree there are risks, however less than 1%, yes less than 1% of people, mainly the elderly die, who have pre-existing conditions, underlying conditions and then there are those who are obese, try to remember that the recovery rate is 99% and Ivermectin is gaining more and more traction now after having been peer reviews which big pharma didn't want to invest in, i.e. it costs about 20 million dollars to conduct a study and then have it peer reviewed, how much is big pharma making from these vaccines, well, it's a business decision isn't it.

 

The only calculated risk is do you take it now, or wait, what happens if you wait, you have a less than 1% chance of dying and a 99% chance of surviving, I am sorry, did I just say that, that can't be right, that would make common sense, but each to their own, up to you as they say.

 

When the data is in and I have done my own research to believe what I am being fed, then, and only then will I get a vaccination as I do with all other vaccinations.  

[drenddy]

This country will never open up to foreign tourism, as long as they are <deleted> scared about fully vaccinated tourists.

On top of that, incompetence at all levels.

 

The never ending fear mongering strategy, despite its beneficial effect for an authoritarian regime, it will be impossible to change it now, it's too late, thais are way too afraid about coronavirus and vaccines, despite new data, does not stop all infections. 

 

Infections will occur and fully vaccinated terrorists, sorry, tourists, will be among spreaders. 

Mutations will occur as well. 

What then? 

 

I am starting to believe the much awaited reopening will be cancelled, as it will be a big fail. 

 

 

 

 

[sead]

5 million jabs already.... He knows more than PM and us

[A Los for words]

Prominent....that's a dangerous label for the poor guy, especially as he's dissing the authorities. I suspect a demotion to a less prominent position is imminent. Welcome to the new cultural revolution.

[khunPer]

11 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, 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.

I all the time got the impression that the tourists should both be fully vaccinated and test negative, and had to stay a period on Phuket, first one week, later extended to two weeks, and still test negative before they were allowed to continue. I my modest view it's pretty close to quarantine, or am I missing something...????

[orchidfan]

Someone earlier mentioned "neighboring countries" opening up to vaccinated travelers. 

Not so Hong Kong. 

Only allowing in HK passport or Permanent ID holders, and even then,  certain extremely high risk countries banned (and any flights from them...like India )

As a HK PR holder I can return anytime,  unvaccinated, and face 21days quarantine at my expense. 

 

As Thailand has just recently been downgraded from Medium Risk to High Risk status (by HK), even if fully vaccinated I would require 14 days quarantine, numerous PCR tests, followed by a further 7 days "self isolation " at home (and more negative tests).

 

So not every country nearby is opening up to fully vaccinated people.....I think the same is probably true for Singapore. Vietnam and Malaysia too.

[robsamui]

8 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

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

Utterly illogical. If your reasoning is that we're all gonna die eventually, then the rational deduction is that you might as well save food and starve everybody in the first place. ????

[kynikoi]

8 hours ago, cclub75 said:

"Zero Covid".

 

I told you.

 

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

There's money in that standard.