Israeli tourist who fled quarantine in Bangkok infected with Omicron variant

[SteveWilts]

I can't believe how many commenters actually support this guy!

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

6 hours ago, Jerno said:

Positive in a small amount.  What the h does that mean?

it means that nothing is reliable, not the PCR tests and not the officials who might interpert

than according to the ruling class, and in this case the intention is to charge him with

severe crime of "spreading desease" that might put him many years in jail.

 

either way, tourists who come to thailand might be very carefull now, because

a positive PCR ,even with "little bit virus", might put them in very expensive hospital quarantine

that is not covered by health insurance if there are no symptoms (because most insurance companies will insure only "sick" people, not just administrative quarantines).

[GeorgeEboy]

6 hours ago, law ling said:

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.

He’s Israeli nothing will happen to him. 

[Kenny202]

5 hours ago, SteveWilts said:

I can't believe how many commenters actually support this guy!

I dunno if anyone is supporting him or anyone who would selfishly flee quarantine. It's more the information being reported doesn't add up, sound factual or is contradictory. It does reek of a$$ covering after the fact, or just plain old bad reporting (or all of the above as usual)

[pacovl46]

12 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 refers to the CT count. Quick tests will only show a positive result if the CT count is above 30, if I'm not mistaken. If the CT counts is below that the test will come back negative. PCR tests on the other hand  are much more precise and they will show a positive result even if the CT count is below 30. At around 30 you're almost not contagious anymore hence the "small amount" part in the article.

[cyril sneer]

10 hours ago, ukrules said:

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.

More likely that it’s this 

[vandeventer]

12 hours ago, kotsak said:

 

Now it comes out! Why didn't they tell us it was Omicron in the beginning? If they want more  tourist to come they better make quarantine FREE.

[kiwikeith]

12 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.

The RT- PSR is not always picking up Omicron they are changing testing methods.

However if he did have omicron the adds are that he has spread it and its well on its way.

I read yesterday that Omicron was in Kon Kaen from 2 returnees from overseas, so if thats the case it will soon be all throughout LOS very shortly, the good news is that the infection curve is dropping already in SA and so far it not causing severe illness.

DR Campbell's video last night said only 195 confirmed cases of omicron in Hospital in the UK, but rising due to the number of infections, so check that out.

[hotchilli]

13 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.

Or Omicron is difficult to detect with the PCR test kit?

[IamNoone88]

Israeli tourists it seems to garner an unenviable reputation as low class, complaining visitors and just hard work to deal with. In this regard, it seems they punch above their weight and here is another fine example from the chosen people.

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

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

I bet he wished he was back home instead of trying to live a teenage life in Samui.

[Tom H]

How many people in the world died on Omicron so far? 3 by 100,000 infections alone in he UK a day? Hmmm. Exponential growth understood! Why the stress when everybody will get it with time? The virus does not make a U-Turn out of the body by vaccinated people. So all get it. Except Mr. R. Crousou.

Win time, OK. The only good argument. Or ask to Yong?????

 

[NHPT]

Positive...negative...negative...positive...Omicron...Moronic

 

Is it any wonder tourists don't trust test on arrival.

 

Someone spins a wheel to decide if you go to hospital/prison for 2 weeks and 200000tb

 

Think I'll considering travelling there 2023

[Kenny202]

It seems the tests are obviously very inaccurate. How can you test negative...get on a plane, then get off the plane test negative again and still somehow be sick? But this seems to be a common occurrence more so with Omicron 

 

[wensiensheng]

Sounds to me like the government is building a case for the permanent return of quarantine in a government establishment in the new year. To do that they need a goodly portion of Thais to believe that foreigners represent a big risk who cannot be trusted to self quarantine in a hotel.

 

they now have their poster boy case.

[dogfish180]

[misterphil]

With all the carry on with these possible "fudged" tests I had my wife post a few antigen tests to my Q hotel in Bangkok for when I arrived. 
Day 1.
1. PCR test by hotel. 
2. Antigen test by me. Negative. 
Day 2.

Negative result PCR from hotel. Went home. 
2. Antigen test by me. 
Day 4. Antigen test by me. Negative. 
Day 6. Antigen test by me. Negative. 
Day 7.  Antigen test by me for the hotel.  Negative

[BKKBike09]

1 hour ago, Kenny202 said:

I dunno if anyone is supporting him or anyone who would selfishly flee quarantine. It's more the information being reported doesn't add up, sound factual or is contradictory. It does reek of a$$ covering after the fact, or just plain old bad reporting (or all of the above as usual)

Spot on. The more detail emerges, the more rum the whole affair looks. Also seems like no-one is interested in hearing this guy's side of the events (his 'lived experience' as I believe we should call it this days).

 

I can easily see a comms screw up at the original one-night hotel leading to him thinking he could leave and then panic after they realised they let him go but he was "positive" (if he even was; seems to me that arrivals since November are consistently testing positive at around 1:1,000 - something close to the 'typical' PCR test false positive rate [we'd need to know whether his original 'positive' test was positive on a single gene, or more than one: the former likely being genuinely false, the latter more likely to be genuinely positive]).

 

CCTV from the hotel would be the most revealing: if he's clearly on camera sneaking out of a fire escape, would support him knowingly doing a runner. But if he's on CCTV at reception settling his bill and his bags with the bellboy, well that would be a different story.

 

Let's see if the CCTV footage from the hotel is suddenly 'missing' or there was 'a technical problem and it didn't record'.

 

 

 

 

 

[vinny41]

14 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'....

Unlikely  scenario according to this article 

On Saturday, he called the Bangkok hotel and said he was visiting a friend at a hospital and would return later that day, which didn’t happen.

Baruch then reportedly turned off his phone on Saturday night and traveled back to Bangkok and then to the southern island of Koh Samui.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-faces-thailand-jail-time-after-leaving-quarantine-evading-police-for-5-days/

[pops1]

This is very convenient. Now they can blame him for the inevitable omicron lockdown. This shower is more transparent than a timeshare salesman.

[pizzachang]

The Crime of having the sniffles.... If governments had only been this cautious with HIV, then millions of people wouldn't have died. 

[mtls2005]

Well it is called "Test & Go".

 

He tested and went.

 

 

Honestly, that the authorities and the public went bonkers over a single tourist is, well maybe not surprising, but a bit alarming.

 

 

[ThaiFelix]

12 hours ago, ThailandGuy said:

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.

 

Give him 6 months in the stocks ..................in the streets of Gaza!

[ThailandRyan]

1 minute ago, mtls2005 said:

Well it is called "Test & Go".

 

He tested and went.

 

 

Honestly, that the authorities and the public went bonkers over a single tourist is, well maybe not surprising, but a bit alarming.

 

 

Why would you think it was bonkers and alarming as to how they reacted.  The man tested positive on his arrival test, and instead of staying put in quarantine he decided it was too much of an inconvenience and took off.  I understand that he was most likely Asymptomatic and felt like he was not a threat, but honestly he should have just stayed put retested if he felt the test was wrong and accepted what he had signed up for in regards to the Test N Go fine print.  He unnecessarily placed many others into a position of possibly being infected by the fast moving virus, and thus caused the uproar.  I hope they charge him the cost for his stupid selfish stunt. 

[chicowoodduck]

Now there is a young chap who needs to be hung by the balls from the nearest palm tree near my house….????????????

[DLock]

He just gamed the inept system, "escaped" (walked out the front door) and got caught...

 

Now he doesn't have COVID, he has Delta and he has Omicron...but only a little bit.

 

And his penalty will reflect the embarrassment and loss of face he has created.

[maddermax]

Should be immediately deported back to his home country and banned from returning.

[BKK Chopin]

You righteous people ..... Please go easy on the guy. You all know how one can panic in this country, where the law (?) is based on how much money you are able to spend.
I already spent 1.2 Mio B. to keep me out of trouble. Well, no problem here, however, this guy needs a fair hearing. 
 

[jacko45k]

7 minutes ago, maddermax said:

Should be immediately deported back to his home country and banned from returning.

If he deliberately broke the conditions of his test and go, yes I agree. Rather selfish and arrogant. I just wonder if we are getting the correct facts.....

[Kenny202]

Just now, jacko45k said:

If he deliberately broke the conditions of his test and go, yes I agree. Rather selfish and arrogant. I just wonder if we are getting the correct facts.....

If the guy deliberately walked out deserves everything he gets, but none of the story adds up. Even if someone was the selfish, who in their right mind would blatantly break the law like that knowing there must be consequences....

 in a foreign country? Doesn't make sense