What is the point in banning inter-provincial travel?

[bamboozled]

I was just thinking about the subject in the title and I feel I'm missing something as to the efficacy of the ban. I know the ban is not enforced so much but I was passing through the checkpoint in Chiang Mai and so it came up. I understand they want to keep the Covid numbers down. But if a sick person goes out and infects others, or vice-versa, what does it matter if it's in the same province in which the person lives or in a neighboring province? If you have 100,000 sick in Bkk and zero in CM or 75,000 in Bkk and 25,000 in CM, is it not the same? A province is just a line drawn in the sand. Is it just for statistical purposes? Or is it similar to the alcohol ban....when drinking alcohol you get rowdier and flaunt the distancing regs....and when traveling, sort of a similar thing happens? What aren't I understanding?

 

Cheers, Bam

[Chomper Higgot]

The provision of and access to health services varies widely across Thailand as does the infection rate.

 

There are very sound reasons to reduce the spread of the virus into provinces lacking health services and significant internal local political pressure to close provinces with low infection rates.

 

 

In the province where I live almost all new COVID cases are directly related to visitors from outside the province.

 

Only last week a family of 7 arrived from Bangkok and all tested positive after one of the kids showed symptoms.

 

For the hotel, restaurant and cafe’s they visited during their stay, it’s business they could do without.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Chomper Higgot

[VocalNeal]

????

[Denim]

24 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

For the hotel, restaurant and cafe’s they visited during their stay, it’s business they could do without.

 

 

But, it is a long weekend from the 24th so there will be more people from Bangkok once again returning home to the villages etc. I would expect that infection rates would therefore rise again.

 

I have also noticed in our province that as an increasing number of locals have finally received Sinovac or Sinopharm , there is a relaxing of caution amongst some members of the community .

[bamboozled]

34 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The provision of and access to health services varies widely across Thailand as does the infection rate.

 

There are very sound reasons to reduce the spread of the virus into provinces lacking health services and significant internal local political pressure to close provinces with low infection rates.

 

 

In the province where I live almost all new COVID cases are directly related to visitors from outside the province.

 

Only last week a family of 7 arrived from Bangkok and all tested positive after one of the kids showed symptoms.

 

For the hotel, restaurant and cafe’s they visited during their stay, it’s business they could do without.

 

 

 

 

I get that. But if those people are traipsing around Bkk they are spreading it, too. Just like they would in another province. It's like robbing Peter to pay Paul, it seems. If you're saying the leaders of each province want their province sealed off, I can understand it but it doesn't seem like it would change the overall rate of infection. Access to medical care makes some sense. I guess my main thought is infected people are going to infect or not infect other people no matter where they are. If they are in contact with more people because of travel, that would make some sense. But how much more contact does one have staying in a hotel than going about one's daily life...shopping, walking on the street, eating in a restaurant?

[Jeffr2]

They're trying to keep the virus from spreading. Simple. If everyone stayed at home, the virus would disappear. I understand this is impossible. But true.

[burner2014]

Anyone knows if the travelling is still forbidden? E.g. I want to drive to Hua Hin from Bangkok next month. 

[1FinickyOne]

Containment - if you have one area that is infected you try not to mix that w/another area that is not... same like food. You would not put rotten food in the same container w/fresh food. 

[Sydebolle]

No worries, nobody checks anything anyhow ........ 

[Chomper Higgot]

9 hours ago, burner2014 said:

Anyone knows if the travelling is still forbidden? E.g. I want to drive to Hua Hin from Bangkok next month. 

I drove from our home on the cost through 12 provinces to our home in the mountains last night, went through one check point.

 

There is a requirement to isolate for ten days but that only applies to people who are not double vaccinated.

[bluemoon58]

What is the point in banning inter-provincial travel?

There is no ban and never has been! Just an advisory to only travel if absolutely necessary.

 

[HeijoshinCool]

19 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

I understand this is impossible. But true.

.

 

Are you Thai.....?

[HeijoshinCool]

9 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

No worries, nobody checks anything anyhow ........ 

.

Yeah, I got a buddy who, with his wife, travelled four times in 16 days and got quarantined three times for 14 days.....

 

Thai math.

[IAMHERE]

21 hours ago, bamboozled said:

What aren't I understanding?

 

First guess is that you try to make sense of rules & regulations in Thailand. Second is that rules & regulations in Thailand make sense. It's all theater to make the ruling elite existence safer.

[me4175]

10 minutes ago, bluemoon58 said:

There is no ban and never has been! Just an advisory to only travel if absolutely necessary.

 

Of course there was a "ban". There were no interprovincial flights and bus connections for quite a while. That very much bans the majority of travellers.

[cclub75]

21 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

There are very sound reasons to reduce the spread of the virus into provinces lacking health services and significant internal local political pressure to close provinces with low infection rates.

Actually, it's quite the opposite.

 

The local authorities are systematically overdoing it... Plus virtue signalling and the obsession to be seen in a good light by central gvt and Bangkok...

 

However... and as usual in Thailand, speeches, "orders" signed by governors every week (they do love their paperwork, do they ?) and the reality on the ground.... are totally different.

 

Experiences show that you can travel from Bangkok to Korat, or to Chiang Mai.... without any problem, or police control.

Experiences show that you can travel from Bangkok to... Krabi without any problems, or police control. And even to Koh Samui after.

 

Only Phuket, with so much "world" attention, and its position as an island, is doing the job...

 

So back to square one : the ban on interprovincial travels is just void... And it has no effect whatsoever on the virus (like all the other gimmicks : curfew, alcool ban, take away restaurants etc.).

 

It's just PR.

 

It makes the worried people feel better about the situation... but after 18 months we could assume they would have started to understand.

 

Alas... that's not the case.

Edited September 24, 2021 by cclub75

[khunPer]

On 9/23/2021 at 6:55 AM, bamboozled said:

I understand they want to keep the Covid numbers down.

And that's the purpose of "banning inter-provincial travelling", to keep Covid from spreading. Stopping commuting actually works, look for example at New Zealand, if none commuted out of Wuhan, we probably never had the Covid-pandemic.

[natway09]

When we travelled to our village the 14 day home quarantine was strictly enforced.

They checked we stayed in our home & the locals left food at the gate in a basket.

After 12 days, tested ourselves with kits supplied & on 15th day a proper test at the testing station.

Even many roadblocks on local roads meaning the ones open through a checkpoint

[lordblackader]

6 hours ago, me4175 said:

Of course there was a "ban". There were no interprovincial flights and bus connections for quite a while. That very much bans the majority of travellers.

Semantics perhaps but there was never a formal ban. The government prohibited inter-provincial transport options to limit the spread but you could still travel between provinces, some with their own testing and/or quarantine requirements. 

 

Taxi/transport drivers made a killing in August - they were charging 6,000 baht up to 10,000 baht for a one way drive to and from Chiang Mai nd Bangkok. 

[lordblackader]

Quote

 But if a sick person goes out and infects others, or vice-versa, what does it matter if it's in the same province in which the person lives or in a neighboring province? If you have 100,000 sick in Bkk and zero in CM or 75,000 in Bkk and 25,000 in CM, is it not the same? 

Not a great example - there's never been 25,000 cases in Chiang Mai. It only ticked over 8,000 total this week. 

 

Why would Chiang Mai want Bangkok's cases? there's only so many beds to go around. This time, as opposed to April, we've been lucky. 

[bamboozled]

17 hours ago, lordblackader said:

Not a great example - there's never been 25,000 cases in Chiang Mai. It only ticked over 8,000 total this week. 

 

Why would Chiang Mai want Bangkok's cases? there's only so many beds to go around. This time, as opposed to April, we've been lucky. 

My point is only that unless there is true quarantine, infected people will infect others whatever province they are in. Sure, CM doesn't want BKK cases, I understand that. And I understand going to another province will spread it to another province so a larger area will have some infections. I'm just wondering if the overall number of cases will go down by banning inter-provincial travel. That's my wonder.