Israeli tourist who fled quarantine in Bangkok infected with Omicron variant

[snoop1130]

 

The Israeli tourist, who escaped from a quarantine facility in Bangkok and travelled to several provinces in Thailand, has been arrested by police on Koh Samui, in the southern province of Surat Thani, and has tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

 

Head of the Medical Sciences Department Dr. Supakit Sirilak said today (Thursday) that, after his arrest, police took the Israeli to a hospital on Koh Samui for another COVID-19 test, with the specimen sent to the department in Bangkok for a confirmatory test.

 

The tourist escaped from an alternative quarantine facility at a hotel in the Thonglor area of Bangkok, while the result of the COVID-19 test taken when he arrived on December 17th was pending. The test was positive for COVID-19 and the same specimen was sent for a second analysis, which was positive for the Omicron variant, but in a small amount, which may be the reason why his COVID-19 tests in Samui came back negative.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/israeli-tourist-who-fled-quarantine-in-bangkok-infected-with-omicron-variant/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-12-23

 

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[Jerno]

Positive in a small amount.  What the h does that mean?  How about somebody fumbled the test and that's why he was negative in Samui.  Or simply this is the anomaly where testing simply fails the correct result.

[ukrules]

It sounds like he was allowed to walk out and get into a taxi, I wonder if they're covering their <deleted> by saying he 'escaped'.

 

After all, he wasn't imprisoned was he? Or was he?

 

I also read an article yesterday which said he had the Delta version of COVID.

 

It's also possible that he recovered in the few days between leaving the hotel and the retest - you're going to test positive even after an infection but they may only detect 'a small amount'....

[kotsak]

 

[d2b2]

He is the poster child for entitlement and disregard

[scubascuba3]

Would be interesting to hear the medical bill for him, I'm guessing 300k+

[richard_smith237]

Which is it ?????

 

Other news reports That the Israeli tourist who skipped quarantine tested negative for Covid (as below). 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

The test was positive for COVID-19 and the same specimen was sent for a second analysis, which was positive for the Omicron variant, but in a small amount, which may be the reason why his COVID-19 tests in Samui came back negative.

Someone is fudging the results !!!....   

 

RT-PCR tests undergo 35 amplification cycles because the remnant RNA is so little.

 

 

After the initial ‘Positive’ result, then the escape, then two negative tests in a row in Samui, have the results been ‘fudge’ to generate outrage in light of the social medial attention thrown towards the possibility of false positives ??

 

While I believe this guy should face severe penalties for his actions, I question the validity of the results which suggest his sample tested positive for Omicron after it was sent to Bangkok.

 

IF true, this information opens up another can of worms - the RT-PCR testing in Samui, and perhaps other areas is inaccurate and is returning negative results for those who would test positive...

 

Hmmm....  Occams Razor - this issue has now been politicised in a rather clumsy and un-clever manner typical of juvenile manner of a Thai official response.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mickmouse1]

????????????

[law ling]

I hope his failure to comply with quarantine requirements (irrespective of his infection status) is heavily punished ... I wonder what the maximum punishment is - he should he up for that.

 

Unclear from the OP as to how long he's been at large.

[The Hammer2021]

46 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Which is it ?????

 

Other news reports That the Israeli tourist who skipped quarantine tested negative for Covid (as below). 

 

 

 

Yes that's what I read on this forum

[drenddy]

OMG..Close windows, don't let kids outside, don't talk to strangers.

 

How this story plays in the media?

If thais, under the last wave, they were afraid of their ones, imagine this poor fellow, with the Omicron bug...

[ukrules]

I question the whole thing, I'd like to see evidence that this was an 'escape' on cctv, they will surely have it.....

 

For all we know he might have booked his transport through the hotel and had no clue there was a problem and now they're covering it up to save face by having him arrested, possibly imprisoned and likely deported - which will be very convenient to keep him away from reporters.

[underthesky]

I think I'll head to Samui on day 6 of my trip and get my RT-PCR done there, for peace of mind.

[ThailandGuy]

What did we learn from this?  Israel does not allow anybody to enter the country and this idiot behaves like that in Thailand? Put the idiot in prison, a fine and throw him on a plane back home never allow him to enter Thailand again.  What a selfish person.

 

[mancub]

3 hours ago, ukrules said:

It sounds like he was allowed to walk out and get into a taxi, I wonder if they're covering their <deleted> by saying he 'escaped'.

 

After all, he wasn't imprisoned was he? Or was he?

 

I also read an article yesterday which said he had the Delta version of COVID.

 

It's also possible that he recovered in the few days between leaving the hotel and the retest - you're going to test positive even after an infection but they may only detect 'a small amount'....

Also, if he did a guilty "runner" before getting the results of the initial test, why did he later get 2 more tests done ?

[smedly]

 

[internationalism]

that is strange, that he runs from hotel yet before results came. As he suspected, that test will turn positive or was in an immense rush to do something.

Did he forge his departure pcr test from Israel?

Why he went to pattaya and then immediately to samui?

That is pattern of behaviour of somebody, who is hiding something, deflecting police.

I trust he is not a drug mule, diamond smuggler or mosad agent with some job assignment.

Thai police did a very swift action as if they suspected something more sinister, not just a crazy guy running away from hotel. They have traced him by cctv in chumpon, which means they did search on a very large, national scale, usually in case of terrorism or such

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, internationalism said:

that is strange, that he runs from hotel yet before results came. As he suspected, that test will turn positive or was in an immense rush to do something.

Did he forge his departure pcr test from Israel?

Why he went to pattaya and then immediately to samui?

That is pattern of behaviour of somebody, who is hiding something.

I trust he is not a drug mule, diamond smuggler or mosad agent with some job assignment.

Thai police did a very swift action as if they suspected something more sinister, not just a crazy guy running away from hotel

 

 

Or maybe when he checked in the hotel told him he was free to leave as soon as a nurse has taken his Swab for the Covid-19 RT-PCR test....

 

’Some’ hotels are in the firing line for doing just this....  

 

Its unlikely anyone would forge their departure PCR test knowing they may be positive upon arrival. 

 

Travel to Pattaya, then to Samui - it is odd. My first thoughts were that he didn’t and someone has just misreported that information (news articles in Thailand are not known for their accuracy).

 

 

Thai Police were swift because it was reported to them that his PCR result was positive and he’d escaped the test & go quarantine.... (perhaps the hotel were back peddling and saving face ?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[James105]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Someone is fudging the results !!!....   

 

RT-PCR tests undergo 35 amplification cycles because the remnant RNA is so little.

 

 

After the initial ‘Positive’ result, then the escape, then two negative tests in a row in Samui, have the results been ‘fudge’ to generate outrage in light of the social medial attention thrown towards the possibility of false positives ??

 

While I believe this guy should face severe penalties for his actions, I question the validity of the results which suggest his sample tested positive for Omicron after it was sent to Bangkok.

 

IF true, this information opens up another can of worms - the RT-PCR testing in Samui, and perhaps other areas is inaccurate and is returning negative results for those who would test positive...

 

Hmmm....  Occams Razor - this issue has now been politicised in a rather clumsy and un-clever manner typical of juvenile manner of a Thai official response.

The escape is what has been reported but in order to believe the Israeli was the one completely at fault here we need to:

 

1. Believe the hotel (not known for their good behaviour due to previous covid tourist scams)

2. Believe the police (lol)

3. Trust the tests - negative is winning 3-2 at the last count.  

 

If it wasn’t a covid related story then I presume I would not be one of the only skeptics in the room here.   Because it is a covid story people switch their brains off whilst they believe everything they are being told in relation to the story, especially so if there is a covid boogey monster involved to give a good lynching to.    

 

I doubt this story will be around much longer.   If he manages to get embassy assistance and a lawyer I expect they will want another covid test independantly tested which will probably put the negatives up 4 to 2 and that will be difficult for the home team to come back from.   

[tomacht8]

In some Facebook groups I read he have went to the policestation by him self. The police did not catch him. What exactly happened. Who knows.

[ikke1959]

it is too complicated for me... He ran away apparently before the results of the test, but he needed a negative test to enter the country, Than they catch him and 3 negative tests later  he will still be charged... It seems that if we say or think you are positive we make it like that....Not good for the tourism

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

it is too complicated for me... He ran away apparently before the results of the test, but he needed a negative test to enter the country, Than they catch him and 3 negative tests later  he will still be charged... It seems that if we say or think you are positive we make it like that....Not good for the tourism

Being a tourist in Thailand in these times is treacherous. 

[ukrules]

21 minutes ago, James105 said:

1. Believe the hotel (not known for their good behaviour due to previous covid tourist scams)

2. Believe the police (lol)

3. Trust the tests - negative is winning 3-2 at the last count.

I don't believe a single word of any of it. Not one word.

 

Blame the foreigner, boot him out and all is well with a big pat on the back all around for a job well done.

 

[tomacht8]

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Being a tourist in Thailand in these times is treacherous. 

3. Events

a. The first time the hairdressers didn't want my money. There is a fear of foreigners that has never been before.

 

b. Entry to Phuket. Quite an intensive check at the entry checkpoint. Was OK. All papers in order. Stopped and knocked out extra because there is a long nose with Thais sitting together. Have no problems with control. During this time, around 100 cars from all possible districts drove past us without being checked.

 

c. Foreigner Alarm when checking into the hotel. Relief as the receptionist with minimal knowledge of English realized that the foreigner had been residing in Thailand for many weeks.

 

The normal population has fears and distrust of long-nosed foreigners. I never saw it that way before.

[tomazbodner]

4 hours ago, Jerno said:

Positive in a small amount.  What the h does that mean?  How about somebody fumbled the test and that's why he was negative in Samui.  Or simply this is the anomaly where testing simply fails the correct result.

It's the cycles they do. Normally in Europe they make 32 cycles and if there's no virus detected, you are considered negative. They check after each cycle. However in Thailand they would do 40+ cycles, so someone negative on RT-PCR in Europe could still be positive in Thailand.

 

When saying "positive in small amount" it would mean that there was a virus but it took many cycles before it was detected. Generally that would mean false alarm, or that exposure to virus happened earlier but immune system already dealt with it.

 

At least that's what my former schoolmate, who is a doctor in COVID ward in Europe explained to me last time I asked what all that numbers mean for a friend who got positive test in one lab on one day and 2 negative ones in subsequent days.

[tomacht8]

That is from Koh Samui Facebookgroup. If this information is not helpfull, please delete my post.

 

An Israeli man who was infected with the Delta coronavirus variant and escaped from the hotel where he was under quarantine has surrendered to authorities after traveling to several destinations throughout Thailand.

According to police, the Israeli national escaped from a hotel in Thonglor, after which a warrant was issued for his arrest due to his flagrant violation of arrival requirements for international travelers. 

Pol Maj Gen Jirasan Kaewsang-ek, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Police, said the man had entered Thailand on December 17 under the Test & Go scheme and had been awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test via the RT-PCR method. 

The man is currently being processed with authorities intending to pursue legal action over his noncompliance with the Communicable Diseases Act. According to tourist police, he contacted the Israeli embassy to announce his intentions to turn himself in to police in Koh Samui in Surat Thani Province.

The Israeli had arrived in Thailand on December 17 and was placed in quarantine at a hotel in the Sukhumvit area. Results from his RT-PCR test came back positive for COVID-19 but the strain had yet to be identified. While awaiting confirmation, the man went missing from his hotel, after which the strain was identified as the Delta variant. 

According to reports, the man hailed a taxi from his Sukhumvit hotel that then took him to Pattaya in Chonburi province.  From there, he is believed to have remained in Pattaya until December 19 before returning to Bangkok, where he then rented a van and headed south.

On December 20, investigators found visual confirmation of the Israeli turning up in Chumphon province and then traveling to Koh Samui in Surat Thani province, where he eventually surrendered himself to local law enforcement.

[couchpotato]

10 minutes ago, tomacht8 said:

That is from Koh Samui Facebookgroup. If this information is not helpfull, please delete my post.

 

An Israeli man who was infected with the Delta coronavirus variant and escaped from the hotel where he was under quarantine has surrendered to authorities after traveling to several destinations throughout Thailand.

According to police, the Israeli national escaped from a hotel in Thonglor, after which a warrant was issued for his arrest due to his flagrant violation of arrival requirements for international travelers. 

Pol Maj Gen Jirasan Kaewsang-ek, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Police, said the man had entered Thailand on December 17 under the Test & Go scheme and had been awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test via the RT-PCR method. 

The man is currently being processed with authorities intending to pursue legal action over his noncompliance with the Communicable Diseases Act. According to tourist police, he contacted the Israeli embassy to announce his intentions to turn himself in to police in Koh Samui in Surat Thani Province.

The Israeli had arrived in Thailand on December 17 and was placed in quarantine at a hotel in the Sukhumvit area. Results from his RT-PCR test came back positive for COVID-19 but the strain had yet to be identified. While awaiting confirmation, the man went missing from his hotel, after which the strain was identified as the Delta variant. 

According to reports, the man hailed a taxi from his Sukhumvit hotel that then took him to Pattaya in Chonburi province.  From there, he is believed to have remained in Pattaya until December 19 before returning to Bangkok, where he then rented a van and headed south.

On December 20, investigators found visual confirmation of the Israeli turning up in Chumphon province and then traveling to Koh Samui in Surat Thani province, where he eventually surrendered himself to local law enforcement.

Dude this case/info is many days old---keep up with the news please.

[tomacht8]

1 minute ago, couchpotato said:

Dude this case/info is many days old---keep up with the news please.

555. No time now.

Maybe you can send us the news and details.

[Kenny202]

Whatever the case, he is going to be the poster boy scapegoat for all future Omicron cases in Thailand....dirty farang!