Tourism business owners think the unthinkable, the Omicron storm may bring with it good news

[webfact]

(Inset Left) Dr Supakit Sirilak of the Department of Medical Sciences at a Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) briefing said that it will take 2 weeks to know the path of this new and growing Omicron wave which may turn out to be more benign. (Centre) Prime Minister Prayut Chan ocha, who returned to work at Government House on Thursday, has ordered a crackdown on the enforcement of public health laws concerning the sale of alcohol as senior public health officials blame the country’s bar culture and alcohol-serving venues in key hotspots nationwide for the surge in Omicron.

 

by Carla Boonkong & Pranee O' Connor

 

The ‘Test and Go’ entry regime was not even given a hearing this week as senior public health officials simply dismissed the prospect of reviewing the suspension of the scheme imposed on December 21st last. Meanwhile, it is also now considered likely that the proposed reopening of Thailand’s nightlife set for January 15th is off the cards as the government gets tougher with existing venues that are known to be flouting the law and which public officials strongly suspect are at the centre of rising Omicron case numbers.

 

As the Omicron virus strain brews up a storm in Thailand with surging infections, the Thai government, this week, simply dismissed any prospect of reopening the kingdom to more foreign tourists under the more popular ‘Test and Go’ entry regime. This will see arrival numbers nosedive from January 10th which was the cut off point for those approved before the sudden suspension of the scheme on December 21st last.

 

The rising and now unavoidable Omicron wave has seen Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul lash out at revellers in pubs and moves by the prime minister to tighten enforcement of regulations governing the sale of alcohol throughout the country. However, despite all this and amid a quickly changing environment as Omicron makes its presence felt in places such as Pattaya and Phuket, some tourism business owners are quietly thinking the unthinkable, that this new wave of the virus may turn out to be good news.

 

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Full story: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/01/06/omicron-storm-may-bring-some-good-news/

 

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[RichardColeman]

5 minutes ago, webfact said:

However, despite all this and amid a quickly changing environment as Omicron makes its presence felt in places such as Pattaya and Phuket, some tourism business owners are quietly thinking the unthinkable, that this new wave of the virus may turn out to be good news.

Yes, maybe , but I know a bunch of Thai politicians and Health officials that will be waving and shouting in self congratulation if omicron actually does return life to normal in the coming months

[mikebell]

'the Omicron storm may bring with it good news' - I ploughed through the post AND the full article and failed to find any good news other than Omicron is milder than other variants.

[jerrymahoney]

4 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Yes, maybe , but I know a bunch of Thai politicians and Health officials that will be waving and shouting in self congratulation if omicron actually does return life to normal in the coming months

Well why shouldn't they? At least on here and elsewhere there is no hesitation to giving them the blame when things go south.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The ‘Test and Go’ entry regime was not even given a hearing this week as senior public health officials simply dismissed the prospect of reviewing the suspension of the scheme imposed on December 21st last. Meanwhile, it is also now considered likely that the proposed reopening of Thailand’s nightlife set for January 15th is off the cards as the government gets tougher with existing venues that are known to be flouting the law and which public officials strongly suspect are at the centre of rising Omicron case numbers.

How else will Plod get out of debt if these venues are closed?

[NicholasTH]

Sausage fest in Pattaya and I wonder what it’s like in other places for men looking for a good time with a girl.. 

[Artisi]

2 hours ago, mikebell said:

'the Omicron storm may bring with it good news' - I ploughed through the post AND the full article and failed to find any good news other than Omicron is milder than other variants.

Were you really surprised the lead nonsense is as usual a total load of B S

[huangnon]

Quote

existing venues that are known to be flouting the law and which public officials strongly suspect are at the centre of rising Omicron case numbers.

Blame meaningless "cases" all on on the usual scapegoats.

 

Omicron is here, and basically everyone is going to get it. Hence the countries like the UK now relaxing testing rules.

 

Time to stop playing virtue-signalling / finger-pointing King Canute, and accept the inevitable.

[Charlie Halliday]

From friend of friend who works at money manger in Boston: 

We had the Director of International Infectious Disease at MGH join a call today with the partners and managers of my firm.  I thought I'd share a few of the interesting points from his presentation: 

    1    Close to 100% of the positive cases in MA are Omicron.  Delta is almost completely gone from New England. 
    2    This surge will peak sometime between 1/10 and 1/21 and then begin a quick downhill journey of two to four weeks. 
    3    We will end up with a 20-50% positivity rate. 
    4    February will be clean up mode, March will begin to return to "normal"
    5    Omicron lives in your nose and upper respiratory area which is what makes it so contagious.  It isn't able to bond with your lungs like the other variants. 
    6    The increased hospitalizations should be taken with a grain of salt as most of them are secondary admissions (i.e. people coming in for surgery, broken bones, etc. who are tested for COVID)
    7    We won't need a booster for omicron because they wouldn't be able to develop one before it's completely gone and we're all going to get it which will give us the immunity we need to get through it. 
    8    COVID will join the 4 other coronaviruses we deal with that cause the common cold, upper respiratory infections, RSV, etc.  It will become a pediatric disease mainly affecting young children with no immunity. 
    9    40% of those infected will be asymptomatic
    10    Rapid tests are 50-80% sensitive to those with symptoms, only 30-60% sensitive to those without symptoms
    11    Contact tracing is worthless because we're all going to get it and there's no way we could keep up with it. 
    12    We are fighting the last war with COVID and should be pivoting back to normal life, but society isn't quite ready for it yet. 
    13    There is no need to stay home from work or to be a hermit unless you're immunocompromised or 85 or older, but he does recommend staying away from large gatherings for the next six weeks. 
    14    Spring/Summer will be really nice! 
Overall a great presentation.

[2long]

31 minutes ago, Charlie Halliday said:

From friend of friend who works at money manger in Boston: 

We had the Director of International Infectious Disease at MGH join a call today with the partners and managers of my firm.  I thought I'd share a few of the interesting points from his presentation: 

    1    Close to 100% of the positive cases in MA are Omicron.  Delta is almost completely gone from New England. 
    2    This surge will peak sometime between 1/10 and 1/21 and then begin a quick downhill journey of two to four weeks. 
    3    We will end up with a 20-50% positivity rate. 
    4    February will be clean up mode, March will begin to return to "normal"
    5    Omicron lives in your nose and upper respiratory area which is what makes it so contagious.  It isn't able to bond with your lungs like the other variants. 
    6    The increased hospitalizations should be taken with a grain of salt as most of them are secondary admissions (i.e. people coming in for surgery, broken bones, etc. who are tested for COVID)
    7    We won't need a booster for omicron because they wouldn't be able to develop one before it's completely gone and we're all going to get it which will give us the immunity we need to get through it. 
    8    COVID will join the 4 other coronaviruses we deal with that cause the common cold, upper respiratory infections, RSV, etc.  It will become a pediatric disease mainly affecting young children with no immunity. 
    9    40% of those infected will be asymptomatic
    10    Rapid tests are 50-80% sensitive to those with symptoms, only 30-60% sensitive to those without symptoms
    11    Contact tracing is worthless because we're all going to get it and there's no way we could keep up with it. 
    12    We are fighting the last war with COVID and should be pivoting back to normal life, but society isn't quite ready for it yet. 
    13    There is no need to stay home from work or to be a hermit unless you're immunocompromised or 85 or older, but he does recommend staying away from large gatherings for the next six weeks. 
    14    Spring/Summer will be really nice! 
Overall a great presentation.

I really really hope this is correct and I'm one of those who believes more what I want to hear than bad news.
????????????????????????????????????????

[Artben]

I used to visit Thailand 3 times a year, am fully vaccinated with three jabs and willing to take my chance with Omicron however I am not willing to take a chance on the Thai Government and and commit thousands of dollars to a vacation that may turn out to be a horror story.  I'm convinced that the Government does not want so called quality tourists because their constant flip-fops are what caused me and several friends to cancel our vacation.  Net loss for Thailand:  3 people not traveling on Thai Air, a villa in Phuket that will not be rented for 3 weeks and 200,000 baht that will not go into the local economy.  Hello Vietnam!

[connda]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The rising and now unavoidable Omicron wave has seen Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul lash out at revellers in pubs

Revellers at malls - OK 

 

[Artisi]

13 minutes ago, connda said:

Revellers at malls - OK 

 

Please don't expect too much by way of intelligence analysing such a simple equation. 

[Trip Hop]

4 hours ago, Artben said:

I used to visit Thailand 3 times a year, am fully vaccinated with three jabs and willing to take my chance with Omicron however I am not willing to take a chance on the Thai Government and and commit thousands of dollars to a vacation that may turn out to be a horror story.  I'm convinced that the Government does not want so called quality tourists because their constant flip-fops are what caused me and several friends to cancel our vacation.  Net loss for Thailand:  3 people not traveling on Thai Air, a villa in Phuket that will not be rented for 3 weeks and 200,000 baht that will not go into the local economy.  Hello Vietnam!

I have a few friends who are over for 6 weeks. Through general chat the other day, it became apparent that their expected spending was to be in excess of 350,000 baht each. However, if Prayut and Anutin were to meet them, at face they would dismiss them as not being quality tourists?

 

Makes you think though, as yourself, with all the continuing changes and forced hospital isolation risks, as to how many similar high spending tourists have either chosen to stay home or go elsewhere?

[Caldera]

Desperation, pure and simple. Quite understandable. 

[Albert Zweistein]

15 hours ago, Artben said:

I used to visit Thailand 3 times a year, am fully vaccinated with three jabs and willing to take my chance with Omicron however I am not willing to take a chance on the Thai Government and and commit thousands of dollars to a vacation that may turn out to be a horror story.  I'm convinced that the Government does not want so called quality tourists because their constant flip-fops are what caused me and several friends to cancel our vacation.  Net loss for Thailand:  3 people not traveling on Thai Air, a villa in Phuket that will not be rented for 3 weeks and 200,000 baht that will not go into the local economy.  Hello Vietnam!

200,000 baht for 3 quality tourist for 3 weeks ?

[kiwikeith]

23 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Yes, maybe , but I know a bunch of Thai politicians and Health officials that will be waving and shouting in self congratulation if omicron actually does return life to normal in the coming months

They must be the wise ones, thinking the unthinkable that this may happen, Wow, it’s just insane, trends are pointing at mild flue like symptoms, short recovery times, although elderly are more at risk of chest infections and need to take more care according to ZOE UK.

More people died off flue in 2018/19 than Covid in Australia in 20/21 according to published data  

stricter control’s might have caused this.

[MrJ2U]

....and bad news.

 

Like Omicron mixing with Delta.

 

"A researcher in Cyprus has discovered a strain of the coronavirus that combines the delta and omicron variant, Bloomberg News reported Saturday."

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/08/cyprus-reportedly-discovers-a-covid-variant-that-combines-omicron-and-delta.html

 

 

 

[Jonathan Swift]

On 1/7/2022 at 10:29 AM, Charlie Halliday said:

From friend of friend who works at money manger in Boston: 

We had the Director of International Infectious Disease at MGH join a call today with the partners and managers of my firm.  I thought I'd share a few of the interesting points from his presentation: 

    1    Close to 100% of the positive cases in MA are Omicron.  Delta is almost completely gone from New England. 
    2    This surge will peak sometime between 1/10 and 1/21 and then begin a quick downhill journey of two to four weeks. 
    3    We will end up with a 20-50% positivity rate. 
    4    February will be clean up mode, March will begin to return to "normal"
    5    Omicron lives in your nose and upper respiratory area which is what makes it so contagious.  It isn't able to bond with your lungs like the other variants. 
    6    The increased hospitalizations should be taken with a grain of salt as most of them are secondary admissions (i.e. people coming in for surgery, broken bones, etc. who are tested for COVID)
    7    We won't need a booster for omicron because they wouldn't be able to develop one before it's completely gone and we're all going to get it which will give us the immunity we need to get through it. 
    8    COVID will join the 4 other coronaviruses we deal with that cause the common cold, upper respiratory infections, RSV, etc.  It will become a pediatric disease mainly affecting young children with no immunity. 
    9    40% of those infected will be asymptomatic
    10    Rapid tests are 50-80% sensitive to those with symptoms, only 30-60% sensitive to those without symptoms
    11    Contact tracing is worthless because we're all going to get it and there's no way we could keep up with it. 
    12    We are fighting the last war with COVID and should be pivoting back to normal life, but society isn't quite ready for it yet. 
    13    There is no need to stay home from work or to be a hermit unless you're immunocompromised or 85 or older, but he does recommend staying away from large gatherings for the next six weeks. 
    14    Spring/Summer will be really nice! 
Overall a great presentation.

"Friend of a friend" meaning unreliable 3rd or 4th hand unconfirmed sources, you being in the middle between your secretive meeting and us,  you having no particular expertise or credibility as a source. Where is your documentation? You give no names whatsoever, not even the name of the "money manager".  Did you yourself try to contact the "Director of International Infectious Disease" (what's his name?)  at MGH before posting this for confirmation? Do let us know when you have something factual to offer beyond hearsay and your local gossip. None of those numbered statements which are presented as though factual are to be trusted. Most of them sound pretty fishy and do not sound like the language of reliable medical professionals. This is all, according to you, a corporate presentation and not an authentic reliable peer reviewed scientific study or bonafide medical opinion or policy. Anyone who would take this at face value has rocks in their head. And you are recklessly spreading hearsay. Shame on you.

[aussienam]

Every single person on this planet will contract COVID, unless they are isolated in the wilderness or die in the near future.  

Omicron may be the best 'gift' that started since COVID emerged all that time ago in Wuhan (Thanks China).

It may not get any better than this when it comes to having a much milder variant.  

Let it rip. And I would love to stop hearing all the conspiracy wack jobs going on about this as well.  

Delta variant was not fun (had that one).  Omicron is the one you want to be infected by if you had to choose one. And vaccinated will have even less symptoms (as being reported).  Get it over and done with.