Senior doctor stresses need for measures in parallel with opening Thailand to foreign travellers

[Jonathan Fairfield]

 

Three measures must be in place when reopening Thailand to foreign travellers, scheduled for November 1st, says Professor Dr. Prasit Watanapa, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Mahidol University today (Wednesday).

 

The first is vaccination, he said, adding that, although 50% of the Thai population have received their first vaccine jab and 33% have had their second, mass vaccination must continue and, more importantly, Thai people must be willing to be vaccinated.

 

With the monthly arrival of 20 million doses of vaccines from October, he said there will be enough for the people in the country.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/senior-doctor-stresses-need-for-measures-in-parallel-with-opening-thailand-to-foreign-travellers/

 

 

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[sammieuk1]

Wonder if he had a particular October in mind for the 20 million pm ????

[RotBenz8888]

13 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

 

 

15 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Three measures must be in place when reopening Thailand to foreign travellers, scheduled for November 1st

First a u turn, then a flip flop, and lastly return to the original rules. 

[it is what it is]

most other countries haven't opened up until a large majority of the population is double vaccinated, so that would be a useful benchmark - you don't have to be a highly qualified medical professional to see the sense in that.

[internationalism]

first wave - some governmental officers coming back from italy into lumpini stadium

second wave - burmese illegal immigrants smuggled to samut songran

third wafe - krystal club "the second government house" from very rich punters going illegally to poipet cassinos and bringing back khmer pretties

 

forth wave - thai repatriates from India, together with illegal burmese escaping civil war

 

so the fifth wave must be vaccinated with minimum 2 doses and multiple tested foreigners staying in sandboxes with sha+ safety standard hotels and under careful watch of health authorities and immigration police, while some 40 % local population double jabbed and with millions already with antibodies by infection in the previous waves. Dr Anutin prediction about dirty farangs spreading disease and death must materialise, just for the sake of his honour

Edited October 13, 2021 by internationalism

[GeorgeCross]

once the locals start moving around then the real trouble will start. double tested, vaxxed & tracked foreigners will be the last of their problems.

[zzaa09]

11 minutes ago, internationalism said:

first wave - some governmental officers coming back from italy into lumpini stadium

second wave - burmese illegal immigrants smuggled to samut songran

third wafe - krystal club "the second government house" from very rich punters going illegally to poipet cassinos and bringing back khmer pretties

 

forth wave - thai repatriates from India, together with illegal burmese escaping civil war

 

so the fifth wave must be vaccinated with minimum 2 doses and multiple tested foreigners stayng in sandboxes with sha+ safety standard hotels and under careful watch of health authorities and immigration police, while some 40 % local population double jabbed and with millions already with antibodies by infection in the previous waves

...and some provinces are up to 70% fully vaccinated, while others aren't this close. 

The greater percentage of unvaccinated are in and around BKK Metro, where the greatest infection rate is/was. 

[zzaa09]

7 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

once the locals start moving around then the real trouble will start. double tested, vaxxed & tracked foreigners will be the last of their problems.

Protocol measures and practice have to be stressed upon the local populations.....until the rate of fully vaccinated is at an acceptable level. The obvious reason for the months on end surges/spikes was that a segment of the population became relaxed and indifferent about safety protocol - it worked quite well for a year and then fell off.......and Delta hit.

[hotchilli]

11 hours ago, it is what it is said:

most other countries haven't opened up until a large majority of the population is double vaccinated, so that would be a useful benchmark - you don't have to be a highly qualified medical professional to see the sense in that.

Prayut & Anutin seem devoid of sense.

[kelboy]

Get ready and get your supplies in. 

[Almer]

13 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

 

First a u turn, then a flip flop, and lastly return to the original rules. 

Sorry to disagree but I think it is a return to same same, then a flop flip, and another turn U.

[Almer]

The good doc is right, vaccination first then open up, the virus transmits easily at 10 or 11 pm, just imagine the carnage if by a miracle Pattaya sprang back to life this weekend, bars crammed, girls galore, food places heaving, the virus is yet to be contained so open at your peril, don’t worry so much about the foreigners worry from within, there are many girls in Issan wanting to get back to work but only a few have yet to have there first jab, these girls are from i Issan  not the metropolis of Bkk or Phuket and will travel unvaxed at the drop of a hat

[smedly]

From November 1st, foreign tourists from 10 “low risk” countries, who are fully inoculated and pass a COVID-19 test prior to arrival in Thailand, can enter the country without being quarantined but, during their stay here, they must be screened to make sure they are safe

 

 

Pitty you don't apply the same for your own, seems to me you got this backwards, shouldn't you be screening the Thai people that will come into close contact with these foreign tourists you are inviting instead of rinsing them

[Trvlr55]

13 hours ago, it is what it is said:

most other countries haven't opened up until a large majority of the population is double vaccinated, so that would be a useful benchmark - you don't have to be a highly qualified medical professional to see the sense in that.

Costa Rica has been open for a year, no testing required even, and no they've not had huge Covid surges. Much of Central America, and South America America, the Caribbean is open, and has been open for some time. A lot of Europe is open to "some" travelers. Asia on the other hand is so far mostly closed, but even there, signs are that some others are about to open.

Locking down a country in the beginning when there was no local Covid, was a good idea, but once the country is Endemic throughout, it has no effect. An old saying; once the horses are out of the barn, no point in closing the barn doors. Covid is Endemic now throughout the world.

IIRC there was an attempt to prevent the variant coming out of England, complete fail.

there was an attempt to prevent the South African variant, complete fail.

there was an attempt to prevent the Indian variant, complete fail.

there was an attempt to prevent the Delta variant, complete fail.

Where is there even a shred of evidence that travel international lock-downs have any effect at all, at this point in time.

 

China has extreme lock-downs traveling there, inter province, inter city, etc, etc. Of course it's not widely published, but they're not fairing any better than anywhere else in the world.

 

At this point in time, keeping fully vaccinated, double PCR tested people out "and/or in quarantine", is rather ludicrous.

 

By Nov1 Thailand should be well above the 50% fully vaccinated threshold, and all "at risk" populations fully vaccinated. The last month there has been tremendous progress on this. Definitely slow to start, but that's now in the past.

[charmonman]

Could someone please explain how introducing a population of %100 fully vaccinated people (i.e. foreign tourists) into a population that is only %33 fully vaccinated people(i.e. the current residents of Thailand) would cause "a surge of infections". 

 

I'm not a professor or dean of a medical school but I like to think I have a grasp of basic logic.

 

What am I missing?

[spidermike007]

More stupidity. More fear mongering. Thailand needs the world 20x more than the world needs Thailand, and that concept is just starting to settle in. The long term effects of the lethargy, cowardice, lack of vision, the decision to choose submarine purchases over small business support, and the sheer hubris, arrogance and misguided fake pride are bringing down the nation, and contaminating its future. No wonder a million youths are discussing how to leave Thailand in their past, right now on FB. Where is their future? 

 

Tourism is not returning anytime soon. The average Thai seems to attribute this to Covid. And that is a significant factor. But, there were a dozen issues plaguing the industry long before covid reared it's ugly head, income was dropping dramatically, as the "number of arrivals" were up, pointing toward a dramatically lower quality of tourist, that Thailand was able to attract. The heavy hitters, and the wealthy tourists have found many other places that meet their need for a nice bottle of wine with dinner (that is not overpriced to a mind boggling degree), a sommelier at the hotel who knows their wine, reasonable luxury goods, so the wife can shop here while on vacation, law and order that addresses jet ski scammers, sewage being dumped into the ocean in resort areas, control over the taxi goons, and far better transportation options (high speed trains, helicopters available for transport, etc). And I am only getting started, as there were a dozen other things that needed to be addressed, and were not on any level, by anyone. 

 

With the daily count high here, international tourists are taking a far greater risk by being here, and being exposed to the Thais, than the Thai people are taking by being exposed to them.

 

This is not the COTKU (Center of the known universe). The locals are in a world of hurt, economically.

 

[OJAS]

15 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Wonder if he had a particular October in mind for the 20 million pm ????

October 2564, I think. A.D. - not B.E. - of course.

[Cake Monster]

15 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

once the locals start moving around then the real trouble will start. double tested, vaxxed & tracked foreigners will be the last of their problems.

It certainly will be a large issue.

More than enough of the Locals even now dont seem to want to obey the rules to keep people safe.

And a lot of the Farangs are just as bad.

[khunPer]

I would not be so scared about vaccinated foreigners from low risk zones, I would worry more about the unvaccinated Thais, and eventual migrant workers that could be crossing borders...????

 

However, there might not come that many foreign tourists as long as there are restrictions, even mandatory wear of face mask can make numerous choose another destination for Christmas-New Year peak season and upcoming winter holidays in January and February, Western foreigners normally plan ahead and could be booking the holidays already now; but with Chinese I've no idea of their preference, they might come in millions..