Phuket Closes Risky Places to Control COVID-19

[digibum]

16 hours ago, superal said:

20% of the Thai economy, being the tourist section , is huge and probably a much higher % of working people rely on tourism for an income . There is not a social safety net in Thailand and people are going hungary and cannot repay bank loans . There are already demonstrations that are opposing the generals leadership and the farcical covid vaccine performance along with unnecessary  submarine purchases and a new space programme are causing a lot of unrest in the population .

Do not underestimate the importance of the Thai tourism financial contribution  which only accounts for above board businesses . There is of course the dark side of tourism namely hospitality /entertainment in its crudest form which employs many unofficially . The Chineses contribution to the Thai economy does not equate to the number of Chinese tourists who often come to a Chinese owned hotel and on an all inclusive deal which can also include bus tours owned by Chinese companies . 

Everything you’ve said has been said a million times already by some farang, yet almost none of the Thai government’s actions match this assessment.  
 

Even if the sandbox had been the raging success TAT predicted, at this point it’s like pissing into a wildfire.   
 

Thailand has basically shut off 20% of their economy for over a year and a half.  

 

And it will be years before it returns to being anywhere near 20% of the economy again.  
 

It’s not like they open the doors and suddenly 40 million tourists show up.  Especially when 10 million of those tourists came from China who isn’t letting its citizens go anywhere right now.  
 

At this point there is no race to reopen.  The only ones promoting reopening have been TAT and the hotel operators (and barstool/forum experts on the Thai tourism economy).   
 

Public poll after public poll has shown that Thais would rather be safe than open up to tourism right now.  
 

For instance, in June 74% of people were against Prayut’s plan to open up in 120 days even if the country was able to vaccinate the number of people claimed would be vaccinated (which is now looking to be a massive overestimate).  
 

Polls from last year had over 90% of people against reopening.  
 

And when the farang experts claimed those polls were obviously rigged, another poll by a different group came out a month or two later with similar numbers.  
 

Or, like last year, when Koh Chang shut its doors to “stranded” tourists fleeing Phuket because Phuket was going into full lockdown.  The business owners on the island voted to shut the door and keep everyone who lives there safe rather than try to make a few bucks.
 

The reason why farangs keep getting it wrong is most farangs spend most of their time in tourist areas most impacted by Covid.  
 

Someone that lives in Pattaya and can’t go to bars thinks no tourists and closed bars are a tragedy and killing the country.   
 

All they hear from are bar owners/staff and local businesses that thrive on the tourism industry.   
 

Someone that lives a rural part of the country where most of the people work in factories and on farms sees Thais that are more concerned about a lockdown that would shut down their employer.  

 

Also, the protests have absolutely nothing to do with tourism and it’s disingenuous to even suggest there’s a connection.  
 

They are protesting a government that delayed getting vaccines and then only procured vaccines it could profit from (this is basically what protesters said to the media).  
 

They are also protesting the fact that they think the current government is incompetent and is putting lives at risk and doesn’t have a plan to help people in financial difficulty.
 

If anything some of the anger is directed squarely at the government pushing to reopen.   
 

[digibum]

17 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Thailand will be lucky if it can even open to international tourists in December.  It will take until December to

see just how bad the delta, lambda, and other new variants are doing. It will also take until about October for

the Pfizer, Moderna, and maybe J & J vaccines to arrive and start to be given to Thais and expat who will pay

lots just to get their 2 shots.    Thailand will be lucky to get even a part of the high season visitors, especially if

the government keeps insisting that alcohol has to be restricted or not allowed.  I am surprised that even

the ME visitors have not started to publicly complain. They must be impressed with the ghost town feeling

when they travel around Phuket City on tours.

Geezer

 

It likely has to do with the fact that probably half of these “tourists” aren’t tourists.  They’re expats and Thais who wanted to avoid paying for ASQ in Bangkok or Pattaya.  
 

Nearly every person that has posted on the Facebook Phuket Expats group asking about info on the sandbox program has discussed parlaying their entry into a long term stay (digital nomads, people asking how to get volunteer visas, people asking about student visas, etc).  
 

The rest, well, I can only assume they’re mentally defective.  

[BritManToo]

On 7/20/2021 at 5:29 PM, Espanol said:

And now they are forced to close and they must discard all purchased food.

Yeah, but at least the officials got the money for the licenses before they were closed.

[EricTh]

So what's the point of going to Phuket when all the bars, pubs, massage parlors are closed? 

 

Let's face it, most men who go to Phuket go for these.

 

What is the rate of virus infection in Phuket now?

 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by EricTh

[digibum]

19 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

Nice screed. Do you think the pandemic in Thailand is made worse by vaccinated and 4xTested tourists?

Covid-19 is already widespread here 5000 plus came in two weeks less 6 positive tourists including 1  SINOVAC UAE guy and two unvaccinated, diseased brats.

 

Not sure where you’re getting your news but I’m reading a source I can’t link to that says a British sandbox traveler tested positive today.  According to the story, that makes a total of 19 double vaccinated, 4x tested tourists that have tested positive while in Phuket.  

 

And the point isn’t whether or not they’re making it worse.  
 

It’s the fact that these cases, show the flaw in this plan from the beginning.  
 

[Captain Monday]

15 minutes ago, digibum said:

Not sure where you’re getting your news but I’m reading a source I can’t link to that says a British sandbox traveler tested positive today.  According to the story, that makes a total of 19 double vaccinated, 4x tested tourists that have tested positive while in Phuket.  

 

And the point isn’t whether or not they’re making it worse.  
 

It’s the fact that these cases, show the flaw in this plan from the beginning.  
 

So I left last week. It is 19 now, out of how many thousand?

[superal]

1 hour ago, digibum said:

Everything you’ve said has been said a million times already by some farang, yet almost none of the Thai government’s actions match this assessment.  
 

Even if the sandbox had been the raging success TAT predicted, at this point it’s like pissing into a wildfire.   
 

Thailand has basically shut off 20% of their economy for over a year and a half.  

 

And it will be years before it returns to being anywhere near 20% of the economy again.  
 

It’s not like they open the doors and suddenly 40 million tourists show up.  Especially when 10 million of those tourists came from China who isn’t letting its citizens go anywhere right now.  
 

At this point there is no race to reopen.  The only ones promoting reopening have been TAT and the hotel operators (and barstool/forum experts on the Thai tourism economy).   
 

Public poll after public poll has shown that Thais would rather be safe than open up to tourism right now.  
 

For instance, in June 74% of people were against Prayut’s plan to open up in 120 days even if the country was able to vaccinate the number of people claimed would be vaccinated (which is now looking to be a massive overestimate).  
 

Polls from last year had over 90% of people against reopening.  
 

And when the farang experts claimed those polls were obviously rigged, another poll by a different group came out a month or two later with similar numbers.  
 

Or, like last year, when Koh Chang shut its doors to “stranded” tourists fleeing Phuket because Phuket was going into full lockdown.  The business owners on the island voted to shut the door and keep everyone who lives there safe rather than try to make a few bucks.
 

The reason why farangs keep getting it wrong is most farangs spend most of their time in tourist areas most impacted by Covid.  
 

Someone that lives in Pattaya and can’t go to bars thinks no tourists and closed bars are a tragedy and killing the country.   
 

All they hear from are bar owners/staff and local businesses that thrive on the tourism industry.   
 

Someone that lives a rural part of the country where most of the people work in factories and on farms sees Thais that are more concerned about a lockdown that would shut down their employer.  

 

Also, the protests have absolutely nothing to do with tourism and it’s disingenuous to even suggest there’s a connection.  
 

They are protesting a government that delayed getting vaccines and then only procured vaccines it could profit from (this is basically what protesters said to the media).  
 

They are also protesting the fact that they think the current government is incompetent and is putting lives at risk and doesn’t have a plan to help people in financial difficulty.
 

If anything some of the anger is directed squarely at the government pushing to reopen.   
 

The protests were organised because there had been no talks on political reform that was promised after the last round of protests and also the government's handling of the pandemic . The pro/democracy protesters want a democratic  government and see the prime minister as a dictator . 

 

Where in my post did I mention that tourism was on the protesters agenda ?

[CG1 Blue]

23 hours ago, digibum said:

You may have noticed that at no point in this explanation has your fun been mentioned.  
 

That is intentional.  
 

Your fun was never a mission of TAT, the hotel owners, the CCSA, or the public health community.   
 

As such, it is and will continue to be the first thing sacrificed.  
 

The sooner people realize that, the less confusing things will be.  

You may be right, but I think it's fair to say the Sandbox was touted as a way for international tourists to come and have a lovely holiday, without all the restrictions. You can't blame people for falling for it. 

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

On 7/19/2021 at 9:07 AM, snoop1130 said:

fields for cockfights and bird competitions

<deleted>??

[digibum]

11 minutes ago, superal said:

The protests were organised because there had been no talks on political reform that was promised after the last round of protests and also the government's handling of the pandemic . The pro/democracy protesters want a democratic  government and see the prime minister as a dictator . 

 

Where in my post did I mention that tourism was on the protesters agenda ?

You inferred it by mentioning it in your uni-paragraph about the impact of tourism on the Thai economy and then immediately mentioning the riots which have nothing to do with the tourism situation.  

 

If you did actually intend them to be two separate and unrelated pieces of information, it’s even more odd of a read as one has nothing to do with the other yet they’re not even separated with the courtesy of a paragraph break.  

Honestly, it’s all a bit confusing.  It seems like you’re just shotgunning out random facts you know about Thailand in the hopes that they’ll somehow come together and make a point.  
 

2 hours ago, digibum said:

20% of the Thai economy, being the tourist section , is huge and probably a much higher % of working people rely on tourism for an income . There is not a social safety net in Thailand and people are going hungary and cannot repay bank loans . There are already demonstrations that are opposing the generals leadership and the farcical covid vaccine performance along with unnecessary  submarine purchases and a new space programme are causing a lot of unrest in the population .

 

[digibum]

20 minutes ago, CG1 Blue said:

You may be right, but I think it's fair to say the Sandbox was touted as a way for international tourists to come and have a lovely holiday, without all the restrictions. You can't blame people for falling for it. 

I put that right there with, bargirls tell men that they’re sexy man.  But only idiots and fools believe it. ???? 

 

People need to get over the idea of what was promised.  
 

Nothing was actually promised other than permission to enter the country without having to quarantine for 14 days.  
 

Nowhere on your Sandbox visa application did it promise drunken nights with bar girls.  
 

In fact, contrary to what you just said, the Sandbox came with plenty of restrictions.  
 

You had to take a Covid test before flying, you had to take another upon arrival, you had to book specific hotels, you had to submit to additional testing, and carry around an app that tracked your movement.  
 

That sounds like a lot of damn restrictions.
 

And bars were closed long before the first tourist got off the plane.  
 

So, if you booked a holiday to a place where you know the bars are closed, where you’ll have to get Covid checked several times, where you’re whereabouts are constantly monitored, and you think that you’re going someplace without restrictions, how were you deceived when that’s exactly what awaits you?   

[JimmyJ]

Phuketraz.

[mommysboy]

Somewhat defeats the object of the exercise. 

 

Obviously not much confidence in the vaccines, or possibly expecting too much from them.

[superal]

2 hours ago, digibum said:

You inferred it by mentioning it in your uni-paragraph about the impact of tourism on the Thai economy and then immediately mentioning the riots which have nothing to do with the tourism situation.  

 

If you did actually intend them to be two separate and unrelated pieces of information, it’s even more odd of a read as one has nothing to do with the other yet they’re not even separated with the courtesy of a paragraph break.  

Honestly, it’s all a bit confusing.  It seems like you’re just shotgunning out random facts you know about Thailand in the hopes that they’ll somehow come together and make a point.  
 

 

You are digging a hole by trying to twist my words . Please refrain from replying with any further droll comments as it  makes me yawn .