Phuket Welcomes Thai Tourists on Sept 8

[Pattaya Spotter]

On 9/1/2021 at 11:39 AM, fulhamster said:

But the bars and restaurants remain closed ??

Restaurants have never been closed.

[xtrnuno41]

21 hours ago, stevenl said:

Strange that you comment "Incredible how stupid you can be." when you missed the vaccinated and pre-testing requirements for domestic tourists. Also, this is not based on nationality but on country of travel, see the many Thai entering via the sandbox.

Yes, thank you, i seemed to have missed local requirements. There was more then starting article gave away. But i do see locals dont need test on arrival, which differs from foreigners who get their first test again on day 1, as sandbox 2.0 demands. There must be a separate sandbox for Thai.

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, xtrnuno41 said:

Yes, thank you, i seemed to have missed local requirements. There was more then starting article gave away. But i do see locals dont need test on arrival, which differs from foreigners who get their first test again on day 1, as sandbox 2.0 demands. There must be a separate sandbox for Thai.

This is not related to nationality but point of origin.

[shdmn]

9 hours ago, Scrotobike said:

Oh sorry to offend - my source was Thiger news. I know all in Phuket are desperate for the sandbox to work but the cost in deaths due to the diversion of Vax away from the old and sick to 18 healthy year olds etc is not worth the few Bhat in revenue.

 

You if the old/sick had been prioritised - the complete opening up of all tourist areas would be very close now. Shame on Phuket.

Cool story.  How about a link.

[Scrotobike]

11 hours ago, shdmn said:

Cool story.  How about a link.

I have a suggestion just go to youtube and watch the news?

It is a very good honest news channel.

 

I think the nation will get upset if I give you a link.

[nkg]

_

Edited September 3, 2021 by nkg

[nkg]

On 9/2/2021 at 1:18 AM, Bkk Brian said:

I think your confusing active cases per capita and accumulated cases over the pandemic period.

 

Phuket has obviously been an anomaly against all other Provinces in Thailand, it did not go through the same increase in cases as the rest of Thailand in the 3rd wave as it contained it well. Its only since July that cases started to creep up by communal spread (nothing to do with sandbox).

 

At the beginning of July cases were in the single digits daily then have shown a slow but steady increase to the high of the last couple of days. This goes against all other Provinces which are decreasing, so their total number of cases have been accumulating at a much slower rate. They only went to the 5th highest infected Province per capita on the 31st Aug, you can track back where they were previously here. 

 

Added to this Phuket is the highest vaxxed Province in the whole of Thailand. Hence why I said that obviously their covid deaths will be lower. They've only had 20 covid deaths since 1st April which with a case count of 4,535 makes a covid mortality rate of about 0.48%, very low.

 

As for testing, a media article of one Province does not make a comparison to the other Provinces in Thailand, for that you need to track back each Province testing data here https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/index.php?dashboard=province

 

You can also track back positivity rates per health district here https://djay.github.io/covidthailand/

 

 

 

 

 

I was thinking more in terms of the daily confirmed cases vs the daily confirmed deaths -  cumulative cases/deaths don't tell us what is happening now, as you alluded to in your post.

 

Thanks for the links, very useful. I had a look at the figures - in the last week, Phuket do appear to have more tests than average, but not way more:

 

For the last week:

 

Approximately 600 tests a day in Phuket, 550,000 people (according to the data)

600 / 550000 x 100 = 0.11% of Phuketians tested daily

 

Approximately 50,000 tests a day in Thailand, 72,000,000 people

50000 / 72000000 x 100 = 0.07% of Thais tested daily

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/index.php?dashboard=province

 

 

Good point regarding the deaths in Phuket being low due to high levels of vaccinations. When I look at covid stats from different countries, I usually regard daily deaths as being more reliable than daily positives (due to varying numbers of tests in each country). However, the high number of vaccinations in Phuket would mean that the opposite is true in this case.

 

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

9 hours ago, nkg said:

 

 

 

I was thinking more in terms of the daily confirmed cases vs the daily confirmed deaths -  cumulative cases/deaths don't tell us what is happening now, as you alluded to in your post.

 

Thanks for the links, very useful. I had a look at the figures - in the last week, Phuket do appear to have more tests than average, but not way more:

 

For the last week:

 

Approximately 600 tests a day in Phuket, 550,000 people (according to the data)

600 / 550000 x 100 = 0.11% of Phuketians tested daily

 

Approximately 50,000 tests a day in Thailand, 72,000,000 people

50000 / 72000000 x 100 = 0.07% of Thais tested daily

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/index.php?dashboard=province

 

 

Good point regarding the deaths in Phuket being low due to high levels of vaccinations. When I look at covid stats from different countries, I usually regard daily deaths as being more reliable than daily positives (due to varying numbers of tests in each country). However, the high number of vaccinations in Phuket would mean that the opposite is true in this case.

 

 

 

My only point on that is to note that the testing data also includes the sandbox tourists arriving each day and subsequent tests, other than that we are in agreement.

[Kopitiam]

18 hours ago, nkg said:

 

 

 

I was thinking more in terms of the daily confirmed cases vs the daily confirmed deaths -  cumulative cases/deaths don't tell us what is happening now, as you alluded to in your post.

 

Thanks for the links, very useful. I had a look at the figures - in the last week, Phuket do appear to have more tests than average, but not way more:

 

For the last week:

 

Approximately 600 tests a day in Phuket, 550,000 people (according to the data)

600 / 550000 x 100 = 0.11% of Phuketians tested daily

 

Approximately 50,000 tests a day in Thailand, 72,000,000 people

50000 / 72000000 x 100 = 0.07% of Thais tested daily

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/index.php?dashboard=province

 

 

Good point regarding the deaths in Phuket being low due to high levels of vaccinations. When I look at covid stats from different countries, I usually regard daily deaths as being more reliable than daily positives (due to varying numbers of tests in each country). However, the high number of vaccinations in Phuket would mean that the opposite is true in this case.

 

 

 

If 600 tests are conducted daily and we have more than 200 positive cases daily the past week.  Don't you think its alarming? Or maybe not, the infected people (mostly unvaccinated?) will develop antibody when they recovered.

[fulhamster]

On 9/2/2021 at 4:42 PM, Pattaya Spotter said:

Restaurants have never been closed.

But they were takeaway only ?

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, fulhamster said:

But they were takeaway only ?

No.

[Pattaya Spotter]

3 hours ago, fulhamster said:

But they were takeaway only ?

Other than the first countrywide lockdowns in early 2020, restaurants in Phuket have been open for dine-in and takeout or delivery. 

[nkg]

On 9/4/2021 at 10:29 AM, Kopitiam said:

If 600 tests are conducted daily and we have more than 200 positive cases daily the past week.  Don't you think its alarming? Or maybe not, the infected people (mostly unvaccinated?) will develop antibody when they recovered.

 

I definitely think it's alarming. It's likely that many of the tests are being given to people displaying covid symptoms, hence the high numbers.

 

If Thailand were to test 800,000 people a day like in the UK, the percentage of positive tests would be far lower, although the raw numbers of positive tests would rise.

[Kopitiam]

2 hours ago, nkg said:

 

I definitely think it's alarming. It's likely that many of the tests are being given to people displaying covid symptoms, hence the high numbers.

 

If Thailand were to test 800,000 people a day like in the UK, the percentage of positive tests would be far lower, although the raw numbers of positive tests would rise.

If the number/percentage of vaccinated people are low, whether you test 600 or 800,000 people, the number of positive cases will be high.  And if you pick and chose people to be tested, then the job will never be done.  People who are infected and don't show any symptoms (mostly those vaccinated) will continue to infect others.  Just to be on the same page, by test we mean PCR test.

 

The issue here is that we are told the percentage of vaccinated people in Phuket is high (70%?).  Despite that, we are still getting alarmingly high number of positive cases (relative to population size).  I get your point that they test mainly people displaying covid symptoms.  If that is the case, the result should even be higher.

[ThailandRyan]

On 9/1/2021 at 11:17 AM, webfact said:

The Thai tourists who plan to stay in Phuket for more than seven days must be tested for COVID-19 on day 5 after their arrival and pay for the test.

Who in their right mind would subject themselves to this, just to head to the beach for a respite after being locked down, well sequestered in their own provinces.  What bout those that have been vaccinated or does that even matter.  I guess it will be a sandbox for anyone entering from anywhere and staying 7 days or more.  If I go fo just 5 I am not required to be tested, does that really make any sense to anyone......

[stevenl]

52 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Who in their right mind would subject themselves to this, just to head to the beach for a respite after being locked down, well sequestered in their own provinces.  What bout those that have been vaccinated or does that even matter.  I guess it will be a sandbox for anyone entering from anywhere and staying 7 days or more.  If I go fo just 5 I am not required to be tested, does that really make any sense to anyone......

Vaccination is an entry requirement.

[ThailandRyan]

10 hours ago, stevenl said:

Vaccination is an entry requirement.

Yes and your view of the Sandbox being a success is just one of only a few.  You better read todays BP article "Phuket Sours on Sandbox"

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Yes and your view of the Sandbox being a success is just one of only a few.  You better read todays BP article "Phuket Sours on Sandbox"

Which has nothing to do with my reply. But nice try to deflect from your incorrect post.

[ThailandRyan]

15 hours ago, stevenl said:

Vaccination is an entry requirement.

It wasn't about being vaccinated, it was about the testing on the 5th day, and then for those that are not vaccinated still not being able to arrive, but you believe what you want.  If they want the tourism so badly and want to test even those living in Thailand, why do they not test the folks who live there as well on a regular basis to ensure the virus is at bay.  Not being done elsewhere now is it?

[ThailandRyan]

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

Which has nothing to do with my reply. But nice try to deflect from your incorrect post.

Looks like it is changing by the hour

 

New order waives PCR testing of domestic tourists during stay in Phuket

 

PHUKET: A new provincial order issued by Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew has removed the requirement for domestic tourists to undergo an RT-PCR test for COVID-19 during their stay in Phuket, starting this Wednesday (Sept 8). 

 

https://www.thephuketnews.com/new-order-waives-pcr-testing-of-domestic-tourists-during-stay-in-phuket-81307.php

[Rimmer]

Off topic grammar police post removed