2 hours ago, connda said:

masks will never go away.  They'll simply be institutionalized. 

I thought false and misleading information was banned from this forum?

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

4 hours ago, jaideedave said:

Let's be realistic, the rule about having to wear a mask when alone in a car or riding a moto is over reach.

They don't make sense unless you think about it.....

"...having to wear a mask when alone in a car..."

Not only does that law not make sense, it does not exist!

2 hours ago, KannikaP said:

2 hours ago, khunPer said:

Perhaps you foreigners should think before partying.

Where are YOU from khun PER?

Doesn't matter, he's not partying which was his point.

1 hour ago, The Hammer2021 said:

You can't smoke a joint and drink vodka red bull when wearing a mask!

Masks aren't required when drinking (or eating)!

I think Thailand will be one of the last countries in the world to stop having mandatory masks.

 

A lot of Thais like it as it shows how virtuous/greng jai they are. Police love it as they can make money fining people. The Junta love it as it demonstrates the control they have to force people to put cloth over their face. 

 

I don't see it ending any time soon.

28 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Maybe Thailand is, also.  "Just about to cancel restrictions" means that restrictions are still in force.

Why Thailand should be more courageous than others? It will surely not get changed over night. 

Or will it need some immediate political problems like BoJo is having? To make surprise concessions? 

48 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Ignoring the helmet law is acceptable

I hope that is being sarcastic!

1 minute ago, Saanim said:

Why Thailand should be more courageous than others? It will surely not get changed over night. 

Or will it need some immediate political problems like BoJo is having? To make surprise concessions? 

Bojo ended restrictions due to political unpopularity, and the press hammering him and his cabinet for breaking all their own rules.

If those restrictions were all removed purely due to political expedience, were they totally arbitrary in the first place?

Thai PM Prayut is similarly unpopular here, but has an election at the end of this year or early 2023. He could be waiting until that time to be the "hero" that ended Covid misery in Thailand, bringing happiness back again.? ????

2 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Where are YOU from khun PER?

Why is that important - but it's no secret where I'm from, if you care to read my profile...????

41 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Doesn't matter, he's not partying which was his point.

No, it was his reference to 'you foreigners' I was questioning.

10 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Why is that important - but it's no secret where I'm from, if you care to read my profile...????

So why refer to 'you foreigners' when you are one yourself.

And your profile says Koh Samui, I should have asked if you yourself are a 'foreigner'

39 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

I think Thailand will be one of the last countries in the world to stop having mandatory masks.

 

A lot of Thais like it as it shows how virtuous/greng jai they are. Police love it as they can make money fining people. The Junta love it as it demonstrates the control they have to force people to put cloth over their face. 

 

I don't see it ending any time soon.

Let's make a bet.

I say Thailand will drop mandatory masks outdoors before July 2022.

 

The loser has to pay 1000 bath to the elephant santuary on koh Samui.

19 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Doesn't matter, he's not partying which was his point.

No, it was his reference to 'you foreigners' I was questioning.

His reference was to "you foreigners" who are partying.   Why would you question that?

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

sure bet the percentage of foreigners - per head count of 100 - being fined is higher than thais

... if only Thais who will claim 'not to have 1,000 baht', but no-one will believe a foreign tourist not to have a thousand baht.

I wear one regardless of Covid or not, it sure keeps out the dust and fumes from roads and trucks.

24 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

So why refer to 'you foreigners' when you are one yourself.

And your profile says Koh Samui, I should have asked if you yourself are a 'foreigner'

If you follow the rules, you would probably not ask such question.

Yes, I'm a resident here and I'm following the rules - I've been living here long enough to it my "home" - and so are most Thai nationals. The posting is about foreigners that are not following the rules, which might be damaging for the local population on the islands. The number of Covid-cases are for example important for when the public schools can reopen.

 

How about your home country and foreigners that won't follow your home country's national rules..?

????

5 hours ago, island coconut said:

Very few foreigners on Koh Phangan wear masks and there has been NO enforcement of the law. Parties every day with hundreds of unmasked tourists.

 

And likely little or no covid either. Good on you guys. The rules are draconian. Especially when outdoors. The most ridiculous thing I see is people on motorbikes wearing a face mask. I think you could spend a month, interviewing a hundred virologists and scientists, and not find one who advised the beneficial use of wearing a face mask on a motorbike, or even a bicycle. 

46 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

His reference was to "you foreigners" who are partying.   Why would you question that?

OK, I interpreted it incorrectly. Sorry.

36 minutes ago, khunPer said:

If you follow the rules, you would probably not ask such question.

Yes, I'm a resident here and I'm following the rules - I've been living here long enough to it my "home" - and so are most Thai nationals. The posting is about foreigners that are not following the rules, which might be damaging for the local population on the islands. The number of Covid-cases are for example important for when the public schools can reopen.

 

How about your home country and foreigners that won't follow your home country's national rules..?

????

OK, sorry I misunderstood.

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

I think Thailand will be one of the last countries in the world to stop having mandatory masks.

 

A lot of Thais like it as it shows how virtuous/greng jai they are. Police love it as they can make money fining people. The Junta love it as it demonstrates the control they have to force people to put cloth over their face. 

 

I don't see it ending any time soon.

And another thing, Thais like wearing masks.

4 hours ago, Virt said:

It's funny to see how different countries tackle the COVID situation.

 

Here in Denmark we dropped all restrictions, even if the numbers of positive are through the roof.

 

We are only 5.8 million, and yesterday we had 55.000 positive cases! (Only 26 in ICU)

If Thailand had the same numbers of infections that would add up to 650.000 daily cases in Thailand, since they have 12x as many people.

 

I can't even imagine what kind of restrictions Thailand would have if they officially tested 650.000 positive in a single day....

 

But here we move on with life with no restrictions.

 

Hopefully Thailand will some day too.

There is no way that this country could manage testing on that scale!

 

As we know, because of the policies of quarantining anyone testing positive, unless the symptoms become severe then people with the virus stay off the radar.

 

I imagine that the actual number who have or have had the virus is much higher than official figures.

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

6 hours ago, island coconut said:

Very few foreigners on Koh Phangan wear masks and there has been NO enforcement of the law. Parties every day with hundreds of unmasked tourists.

 

And likely little or no covid either.

That was true until July last year. Till then there were almost no "cases". Then, like in many places in Thailand since February last year, things have changed dramatically. Not wearing masks was not the reason IMO (people do that in Makro or Seven btw.). Interesting (for me) to see this "world event" happening in a very limited space

AseanNow just posted an article about this. Do a search on "Thailand’s Public Health Minister confirmed that there are no laws forcing people to wear face masks"

 

The insanity never ends here.

8 hours ago, jaideedave said:

Hello?

It's starting to look like the rest of the world is backing off on those draconian rules.

That's probably why the tourists don't understand why they have to wear masks.

Let's be realistic, the rule about having to wear a mask when alone in a car or riding a moto is over reach.

My wife and I went to a KFC for a quick lunch and they made us sit at separate tables, even though we'd arrived together in the car. And there are those who wonder why people have no respect for the rules.

 

And recently my wife insisted that I wear a mask in the street, and days later and several times since she's gathered with 10-20 friends, almost all of whom weren't wearing a mask. Including her. 

haosod English shares this today on Facebook...

 

 

 

It's the Foreigners (& Anutin) Again!

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnveerakul complains on Thursday that foreigners in Thailand tend to not wear sanitary masks to protect themselves and others from possible COVID-19 infections.

"Foreigners tend not to wear masks. May be it's cultural but whatever the reason we must discuss with CCSA on what to do about it," Anutin said, referring to the government Center for COVID19 Situation Admistration. Thursday saw a rise of new infections reaching over nine thousands for the first time in weeks.

 

 

1 hour ago, HappyExpat57 said:

AseanNow just posted an article about this. Do a search on "Thailand’s Public Health Minister confirmed that there are no laws forcing people to wear face masks"

 

The insanity never ends here.

Correct. We have one headline saying I can be fined, another saying there are no laws. No wonder the average farang doesn't know whether he is Arthur or Martha.

9 hours ago, island coconut said:

Very few foreigners on Koh Phangan wear masks and there has been NO enforcement of the law. Parties every day with hundreds of unmasked tourists.

 

Very sad. Well that's my Moon partying cancelled again this year.  ????????

 

how can this BE

when on here there is this article

 

 

8 hours ago, Virt said:

It's funny to see how different countries tackle the COVID situation.

 

Here in Denmark we dropped all restrictions, even if the numbers of positive are through the roof.

 

We are only 5.8 million, and yesterday we had 55.000 positive cases! (Only 26 in ICU)

If Thailand had the same numbers of infections that would add up to 650.000 daily cases in Thailand, since they have 12x as many people.

 

I can't even imagine what kind of restrictions Thailand would have if they officially tested 650.000 positive in a single day....

 

But here we move on with life with no restrictions.

 

Hopefully Thailand will some day too.

Well it's pretty simple 650,000 cases daily would cause a  breakdown of health services, it seems like a pretty normal reaction for Thais to expect someone to wear a mask for a little longer. Schools are largely open, places of business apart from gogo bars and massage joines are open, pubs are open until 11, really are the restrictions so bad here at the moment? 

25 minutes ago, sleepwalker999 said:

Well it's pretty simple 650,000 cases daily would cause a  breakdown of health services, it seems like a pretty normal reaction for Thais to expect someone to wear a mask for a little longer. Schools are largely open, places of business apart from gogo bars and massage joines are open, pubs are open until 11, really are the restrictions so bad here at the moment? 

Of course we can't directly compare countries since the vaccinating status, healthcare systems, restrictions and general health status are very different.

 

Might not be a perfect idea for Thailand to drop all restrictions at once, but face masks outside could be a start since it's inside most people are infected.

Keep them while shopping and using public transport and wait for the results 2-4 weeks after dropping masks outdoors.

 

Maybe no need to go full Monty like we did, but it seems like Thailand are keeping some restrictions that might not be necessary after omicron arrived.

 

I don't know what the % is from omicron and delta in Thailand, but if omicron has  taken complete control, they have a high chance of opening up with minor problems.