SURVEY: How would you rate Thailand's overall Covid response?

[placeholder]

23 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

If their response to the so called first and second wave was so good, why did they not continue with that during this so called third wave? No need for vaccines.

 

I still believe the country, and much of the region, was spared during the first and second worldwide waves. The figures show that.

 

This is more like Thailand's first wave.

And yet the figures show that Malaysia, Thailand's neighbor to the south, which imposed far less stringent condtions, fared far worse. How do you explain that? The virus prefers to infect Muslims?

[Thomas J]

5 minutes ago, djayz said:

Since C19 I take what they say with a pinch of salt. They don't know it all. 

I have learned to be a cynic when it comes to many things.  There is usually a bias or agenda. 

Also time has a way of making those who are premature in their assessments look foolish. 

[youreavinalaff]

7 minutes ago, placeholder said:

And yet the figures show that Malaysia, Thailand's neighbor to the south, which imposed far less stringent condtions, fared far worse. How do you explain that? The virus prefers to infect Muslims?

You contradict yourself.

 

"Malaysia imposed less stringent conditions and fared worse" That is self explanatory.

 

Btw, I did say "much of the region".

Edited July 4, 2021 by youreavinalaff

[placeholder]

1 minute ago, youreavinalaff said:

You contradict yourself.

 

"Malaysia imposed less stringent conditions and fared worse" That is self explanatory.

I guess it's because your writing is somewhat confusing. It seemed like you were questioning the effectiveness of stringent measures taken against covid since you paired it with a sentence that apparently questions the effectiveness of the vaccine. So you meant that the measures taken by Thailand earlier were highly effective?

[RichardColeman]

45 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Australia

Total cases 30,734

 

+76

 

-	Deaths 910 Thailand     Thailand 271K     26,873     2,141

Interesting that between  28th October and 28 January 2021  Australia had 13 continual weeks of excess deaths (1200+) and virtually no covid deaths. Were they 'knock on' deaths from covid ? Or is 13 weeks of excess deaths the the norm in Australia October to January ? Another site says Aus has 5% extra deaths Jan to March 2021 (from 2015 to 2019). 

 

Now I am not saying these deaths are from covid, but has Aus response led to virtually the 6 months from October 2020 to March 2021 being 5% higher in deaths  and what did they die from ? 

Edited July 4, 2021 by RichardColeman

[youreavinalaff]

6 minutes ago, placeholder said:

I guess it's because your writing is somewhat confusing. It seemed like you were questioning the effectiveness of stringent measures taken against covid since you paired it with a sentence that apparently questions the effectiveness of the vaccine. So you meant that the measures taken by Thailand earlier were highly effective?

No. I meant that they were effective against, what I believe, to have been a low risk of Covid19 at the time.

 

This, I believe, led to complacency. The rules were relaxed too soon. Without a vaccine, strong measures are needed. The measures they had in place last year would have been better than what they have now. That is what I said.

 

Countries with a good vaccine rollout have been able to effectively relax measures. Those without should keep the strong measures there until a vaccine is widely available.

 

I have never questioned the effectiveness of the vaccine. You are the only one that is confused with my posts so I would suggest you are reading too much into what I write.

 

 

[dabhand]

1 hour ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Australia

Total cases 30,734

 

+76

 

-	Deaths 910 Thailand     Thailand 271K     26,873     2,141

So, deaths per million:

 

Australia - 35

Thailand - 32

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

[jesimps]

2 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Still have some of the lowest numbers of cases and lowest deaths from Covid 19 in the world, despite having one of the lowest vaccination rates......so they must be doing something right. 

 

How about comparing UK, America or your home countries figures before saying how poorly Thailand is handling things?

The question is "How would you rate Thailand's overall covid response?"

Why the festering hell are you wobbling on about UK, America etc? Cheeze, some people.

[jesimps]

2 hours ago, BKKTRAVELER said:

It all went wrong when they allowed Songkran to happen despite the fact that the 3rd wave had already started and with the UK strain to make it worse... Before that, they were managing the situation somehow.

Hear hear. My thoughts exactly.

[Surasak]

2 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Still have some of the lowest numbers of cases and lowest deaths from Covid 19 in the world, despite having one of the lowest vaccination rates......so they must be doing something right. 

 

How about comparing UK, America or your home countries figures before saying how poorly Thailand is handling things?

Please name ONE thing they have done right from day one. Up to now almost everything has been a disaster. Due to things being quite reasonable in the early months, complacency set in and the government hoped the virus would go away. Then after  finding more cases in Samut Sakhon it was dealt with haphazardly and surprise, it spread. On and On it goes, one cock-up after another. Do I need to go on?  

[jak2002003]

3 minutes ago, jesimps said:

The question is "How would you rate Thailand's overall covid response?"

Why the festering hell are you wobbling on about UK, America etc? Cheeze, some people.

Because how will your evaluate how good their response is without having anything to compare the results with?

[jak2002003]

1 minute ago, Surasak said:

Please name ONE thing they have done right from day one. Up to now almost everything has been a disaster. Due to things being quite reasonable in the early months, complacency set in and the government hoped the virus would go away. Then after  finding more cases in Samut Sakhon it was dealt with haphazardly and surprise, it spread. On and On it goes, one cock-up after another. Do I need to go on?  

Same as in the uk. One disaster after another. Still making mistakes now with the number of cases rocketing yet they are easing restrictions! 

 

You need not go on though. 

[jesimps]

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Would prefer a ZERO star option, or even a negative star option.

 

At every step the regime has taken the wrong step. Other than closing the borders - SOP - it's been a mess.

 

Now without a real vaccination plan we'll be fighting wave after wave.

 

Monkeys throwing darts could have been more successful.

Throwing darts is against the law. Gambling.

[JetsetBkk]

Jesus wept. So many miserable b*ggers on this website.

[billd766]

2 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Still have some of the lowest numbers of cases and lowest deaths from Covid 19 in the world, despite having one of the lowest vaccination rates......so they must be doing something right. 

 

How about comparing UK, America or your home countries figures before saying how poorly Thailand is handling things?

It isn't possible to compare the USA, UK etc directly to Thailand.

 

You really need to compare the number of tests for Covid done on a percentage basis with Thailand, you also need to compare the number of vaccinations done per country on the same basis.

 

You should also compare the ease to get a vaccination and the number of different vaccines available.

 

AFAIK everybody in the UK no matter what nationality gets jabbed for free and there are many walk in vaccination centres.

 

Now put that lot together and just compare them and I think that you will find that Thailand lags quite a long way behind most western countries.

 

 

1 hour ago, rudi49jr said:

deleted post

 

[billd766]

1 hour ago, rudi49jr said:

Thailand got through the first and second wave relatively well, and that probably made the powers that be complacent. They ‘forgot’ to order enough vaccines in time and now they’re paying the price for that.

Sadly they are not the ones paying the price themselves.

 

The ones that are actually paying the price are Thai people.

[ourmanflint]

I just hope the Thai people remember those that led this fiasco come the next elections. It has been painful to watch the unfolding of events in Thailand, when so much more could easily have been done. 

 

[ChrisKC]

There are not any countries of the world that can claim victory over the virus.

 

In the beginning, there were certain countries as in New Zealand, Australia (both Island countries) that seemed to have things under control and were praised. Sweden was also hailed as a success in earlier times but that has turned out not so successful in the longer term. Thailand itself was lauded for its efforts when going 100 days without a single infection (reported)

 

Countries such as USA, UK and most of western Europe have not fared well with overcoming the virus in whatever variant it has endured.

 

Therefore, I say that Thailand is not exceptional in today's terms as it relates to the whole period of the pandemic. I have some sympathy with the Thai Authorities in this regard, not really knowing what to do for the best in every change of circumstances. Damned if you do (anything or something) and same damned if you don't.

I am certainly no expert in these matters and cannot say I would know what to do either. I have seen much advice from Members on this forum but I do not change my beliefs based on that advice! I am a don't know!

 

But I am disappointed in what would appear to be worldwide consensus that vaccination has great merit towards some kind of future resolution, that the Thai Authorities have not capitalised on that consensus and been more upfront, expeditious and resolute in procuring vaccines and getting ALL its citizens and foreigners alike vaccinated with due respect for those in economic "gloomland" as well as those elderly and sick.

 

As I write, I am confused and am not sure about when this country well get back on the road to recovery. But as I said earlier, for better or worse, there aren't many countries wherever they are that can say they have it all sorted!

,

 

[connda]

This never ends.
The government continues to allow citizens from Dark-Red and Red Covid Hot-Spot to travel unimpeded throughout Thailand.  There is no effort to contain anyone but (dirty) migrant workers and low-class construction laborers.  Thais are sacrosanct, clean, and are allowed to travel anywhere they want while spreading the virus as they go. 
It is totally the government's responsibility.  They could stop the movement of Thais out of these areas but they choose to do nothing and just let it happen.  Let's not even talk about the vaccine snafu.

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Still have some of the lowest numbers of cases and lowest deaths from Covid 19 in the world, despite having one of the lowest vaccination rates......so they must be doing something right. 

 

How about comparing UK, America or your home countries figures before saying how poorly Thailand is handling things?

Thailand does not have the same obesity problems that America has, and a large amount of deaths and other cases in the UK have been in the old folks nursing homes, which again Thailand does not have, most old folk in Thailand live with their families, though I did read of one old folks home in the Chaing Mai area.

[Moonlover]

4 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Still have some of the lowest numbers of cases and lowest deaths from Covid 19 in the world, despite having one of the lowest vaccination rates......so they must be doing something right. 

 

How about comparing UK, America or your home countries figures before saying how poorly Thailand is handling things?

Quite correct. I shall repeat my observation from a few days ago.

 

The first one is 'cases per 1 million'. Thailand has only 4,045 cases per million against a world average of 2,376.

 

The story gets even better when one looks at 'deaths per million'. Thailand has only 32 deaths per million. The world average here is 511.5. Clearly they are doing something right.

 

Figures derived from here on 4th July.

 

 

[Destiny1990]

I don’t trust this negative poll result better let Nida organize it and i bet that nothing will be ranked under the 4 stars. ????

[Mr Meeseeks]

5 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Still have some of the lowest numbers of cases and lowest deaths from Covid 19 in the world, despite having one of the lowest vaccination rates......so they must be doing something right. 

 

How about comparing UK, America or your home countries figures before saying how poorly Thailand is handling things?

We re just getting started here in Thailand, UK and US are over the worst of it.

[josephbloggs]

5 hours ago, shackleton said:

Seems the government is  more concerned on the Tourist Dollar 

Phuket.   is a example 

Comments like this really irritate me.  "It's all about the money", "Chasing the dollar" etc.  You do realised many people have lost their entire income for over a year, right?  People on the tourist islands have lost everything.  It is not greed, or chasing dollars, it is trying to allow people to survive.  Lose your job, lose your source of income for over a year and you would be crying for help too.  

 

Have some compassion for God's sake.

[Mr Meeseeks]

2 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

Same as in the uk. One disaster after another. Still making mistakes now with the number of cases rocketing yet they are easing restrictions! 

 

You need not go on though. 

A lot less deaths in the UK now that vaccinations have been done. That is a success considering how hammered the country was with the beta variant.

 

Thailand's caseload and deaths are growing steadily, with as little as 5% of the population fully vaccinated. An abject failure considering the amount of time they had to prepare a response plan.

 

In addition, the UK was proactively testing as many people as possible, not so in Thailand, the majority of the current cases are walk-ins.

 

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

Just now, josephbloggs said:

Comments like this really irritate me.  "It's all about the money", "Chasing the dollar" etc.  You do realised many people have lost their entire income for over a year, right?  People on the tourist islands have lost everything.  It is not greed, or chasing dollars, it is trying to allow people to survive.  Lose your job, lose your source of income for over a year and you would be crying for help too.  

 

Have some compassion for God's sake.

The government plans are akin to scuppering a ship. A face saving gamble with everything at stake.

 

The tourist industry will not be saved by opening Phuket nor will it make a significant impact on the country's economy.

 

What it may do however, is take the rest of the economy that remains down with it.

 

There have been boom times in the Thai economy for decades with tourism, how have these people not been able to plan for lean times? 

[vandeventer]

5 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Amazing how they managed to escape a major outbreak for more than a year, with pseudo closed boarders, masks on their chins and  toy thermometer check at 7/11. Unfortunately, they still seem to belive in this deaf and blind strategy, almost like their approach to the traffic carnage. 

If time travel was only real, I would like to have a holiday 10 years ago.

[Presnock]

At first Thailand got lucky especially with all the Wuhan visitors here.  However they sat on their <deleted> so to speak following that and didn't watch the rest of the world and the variants of the virus.  Then it began to bite them and instead of doing real widespread testing they only tested in the cluster areas which showed that the virus was spreading.  Lockdowns only work if there is enough testing to show a spread.  However even then, instead of getting vaccines Thailand continued to wait until they could produce some locally but it is way too late now and only a small portion of the population has had 2 jabs.   Seeing that studies are showing that even those that have had their shots can still get the virus and pass it on to others.  Yes, the infection will be less life threatening to the carrier but they can still pass it on to others.  Asia right now is blowing up with the new D variant and I hope it doesn't spread here anytime soon but I really have to believe that it is here already and we just have to wait and hope we practice good avoidance measures until all of us can access quality vaccines whether we have to pay for them or not.  Good luck in avoidance to all.  Good Luck to the Thai government in responding to the spreading virus.

[ThaiFelix]

5 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Amazing how they managed to escape a major outbreak for more than a year, with pseudo closed boarders, masks on their chins and  toy thermometer check at 7/11. Unfortunately, they still seem to belive in this deaf and blind strategy, almost like their approach to the traffic carnage. 

Agreed.  The govt can respond any way it wants but it really depends on how the grassroots respond.  I find it similar to the wearing of helmets here.  The govt can make it law, the people can see the risks of not wearing one on TV every day, and yet its a struggle to get them to wear them  (well up here it is).  Lately 99% of the people in my small Isaan village wear masks, on the street at least.  However if you were to venture into somebodies back yard, where they are out of sight,  I have found they dont, even when they have visitors.  And I keep getting the same stunned replies...."Oh but this is Thailand, or this is family, its different" .

 

An example.  I had a very heated discussion with my wife last night because she wanted to go to a funeral today.  An aunty had died and a big mob of family had come up from Bangkok to attend.  She had already been there the day before intending to visit b4 the bangkok mob arrived.  However some of the family had come to see her mother asking that the wifes family attend again.  I told her that I did not want her to go and also that the family were being very irresponsible for pressurising others to attend especially seeing they found someone the other day in our village who had the dreaded disease.  I of course got the same response:  "Oh yeah but Thailand different".  I believe its the old loss of face thing again where they dismiss the threat of covid in favour of saving face.  She saw sense eventually and didnt go but I wonder how many would have gone just to save face in similar situations.

[Presnock]

5 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Australia

Total cases 30,734

 

+76

 

-	Deaths 910 Thailand     Thailand 271K     26,873     2,141

one says compare the situation of other developed countries - the US response was the same as Thailand's at the beginning.  They did no widespread testing to see how the virus was spreading and checking the variants.  Trump even commented that if they did even less testing then there would be fewer infections reported.  Anyway, at least in some of the developed countries they have been the ones to come up with really great vaccines in a short period of time.  So why shouldn't they vaccinate their own first and then pass the rest to other countries (which is what they are currently doing ) The US agreed to share the formulas of their vaccines but couldn't get all the other countries to agree.  Hopefully we will all survive with our masks and hand washing unless they open up the borders totally to internationals.  This is all my opinion.