Thais still unwilling to ditch their masks, says media, despite success of vax campaign

[ozimoron]

1 hour ago, stoner said:

 

I just think those who believe Thais are stupid because they don't buy into the right wing conspiracy theories and those who choose to gratuitously bash Thais or stereotype them are the real stupid ones.

[SpanishExpat]

11 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

It's not the truth in Thailand any more than it is in any other country. Do you think people in different countries are really all that different? If you think they have a subservient culture then put up some links to justify your argument, otherwise it's just more stereotyping.

You really want to start a discussion about the fact that hierarchy and all that other status stuff is much more prevalent in Thailand than in western countries? No thanks! I admit it was good back in the days during dark covid times. No stress with anti-vaxxers like in Europe. 
 

Will end the discussion from my side here, as living here since many years and working daily with both thai and expatriate colleagues is enough proof for me to see the difference in regard to submissive behavior!

 

[zzaa09]

40 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

If people don't want to wear a mask, that is none of my concern. I however, choose to wear one.

Of course. Nor should it be seen in a conscious political context and the silly debates that ensue. 

Asian societies [in particular] have been voluntarily donning masks, as a matter of daily course, for decades - yet never heard/read the comparative discussions as to why they do or don't......

 

Why is any of this an issue of such consequence? Be it of a mandated Covid association, lifting of restrictions or whatever the reasoning. 

 

It still appears that too many of those particular special cultures need to get over themselves as they pursue such heated and trivial comparative matters. 

 

 

[Rimmer]

A derogatory post has been removed

[Pompey Lad 1938]

I was recently in the UK for 8 weeks.  I have been vaccinated 3 times and wore a mask in UK.  Yet I went down with Covid on day 15  and again at a later date.  I returned to Thailand on 3 June and at a hosptial appointment on the 5 June was told I still had covid in my body.

 

It was like having a cold and really no inconvenience to me.  Doctors here told me I was not infectious so I continued my daily life without any problems. 

 

On this last Saturday I went shopping and from what I could see, all the Thais were wearing their masks.  I was not wearing a mask.  In one shop I asked the young shop assistant why she was still wearing a mask and she replied ' I'm scared of getting Covid'   So  I guess it will be a long time before a maskless society will return.

 

After my bouts of Covid, I now believe that if it makes you feel safer from getting Covid, then carry on wearing a mask.  However, I think they are of limited benefit, and in my case, not effective.

 

  I was not out on the town during my UK stay, at 84 years have to suffice with fond memories!!!

[Gecko123]

Very offensive to be calling Thais "sheeples" because some are reluctant to stop wearing masks. Not everyone has been vaccinated, some have comorbidities, many are concerned about variants.

 

Thai mask wearing is an admirable reflection of their community mindedness. Social distancing and mask wearing were instituted in part to avoid overtaxing the health care system, which in many regions isn't as resilient as one might hope. Fear of hospitalization is perfectly understandable.

 

Both the "พ" and "ท" in the name Pattaya  (พัทยา) are aspirated, "ph" and "th", respectively. The correct pronunciation would thus be Pha-tha-ya. The OP's pronunciation in the video was the anglicized (but very common) unaspirated pronunciation, Pa-ta-ya, but in general Thais pronounce Pattaya as "Pha-tha-ya, with stress on the middle syllable.

 

[Fore Man]

1 hour ago, transam said:

 

I’ll add this:  I lived in LOS for 16 years and was traveling here regularly as a businessman for 10 years previously.  After all that time, we sold everything and and moved back to the US after I’d become disillusioned with Thailand.  I’d come full circle during those 26 total years of firsthand experience, initially madly in love with the country, its people and its polar oppositeness to the West.  Towards the end I became a Thai-basher and was champing at the bit to live back in a modern country with all its conveniences and access to quality goods.  But to avoid insulting and alienating my wonderful (Thai) wife, I managed to keep my angst mostly bottled inside.  
 

Then after living in the USA for two+ years I clearly saw the realities dawning across the country…increasing mass shootings, worsening racial divisiveness, a hamstrung political system and rising anger across the populace and realized the country I’d grown of age within has morphed into something clearly worrisome and threatening. I began to sincerely miss my old life in Chiang Mai and it dawned on me that I’d been denigrating the wrong country all along!  I’m now back in Thailand for an extended visit with my wife and I’m seeing things with a completely new set of eyes. Can’t wait to move back now and we have laid plans to do so.  Naturally, my dear wife is thrilled.  Despite the inconveniences and tribulations we foreigners experience and undergo here, this is truly one of the world’s best kept secrets. But it takes patience and an open mind to come to this realization. 
 

The moral of this story?  
 

Be very careful of what you wish for.…it just might come true. 

[billsmart]

5 hours ago, falang07 said:

I suppose you are fully vaccinated so what are you afraid of? And why did you get the vaccine if the first place if you do not trust it?

I have had four vaccine shots and still wear a mask and social distance. Vaccines don't keep you from getting the virus. They just prepare your body to fight it off.

Masks are mainly to protect others. If you have the virus, which you can still have no matter how many vaccine shots you have, you are still infectious to other people. That is why you should wear a mask.

[TKDfella]

The Thai government does not really give its people confidence and erring on the cautious side then I suppose Thai people will follow. In addition watching Thai programs (news etc.) showing police and officials are wearing masks also sends the cautious signal. I continue to wear a mask when shopping and similar venues if there  is a requirement to do so...but hey, don't laugh...I don't think I'll buy those that have a strip that bends to shape on the nose. Uncomfortable on my 'out of shape' conk, Ha!

[Stubby]

5 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

who is that loser in the video? 

I suppose you could have just said I disagree with the bloke in the video? You know what they say, don't you? Anyone who resorts to name-calling has already lost the debate. So based on that logic, I suppose we could also call you a loser as well, right? Would that be a fair assumption?

[Canuckluck]

5 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

who is that loser in the video? he can't pronounce Pattaya properly and is clearly a bit of a big girl's blouse if he can't handle wearing a mask for a few minutes. I'm kinda tired of hearing "Westerners" try to impose their will on this place. they wouldn't like it if I went to Pommy-land and complained about their silly soccer matches and their warm beer now would they? ????

Pommy-land?Is that England? Never heard it called that,don't know what Pommy means.

As for you going there and complaining about the game they invented i'm sure you'd quickly find out that was a silly idea.

 

[FarAway]

1 hour ago, stoner said:

ahhhhhh. for the most part they are not sophisticated enough. to no fault of their own i may add. hundreds of years of military rule and control etc. you end up with a population that doesn't think too much. a population with very little critical thinking or as its put outside the box thinking. this is the way those in control want it.  this is evident by the state of the country.

 

 

Wait. But why this country got hundreds of years of military rule and control? Why this did not happened in Europe for example?

Exactly. Every population get what it deserves and what they are asking for or not fighting against.

[BangkokReady]

7 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Not knocking Thais here

Why not knock some Thais a little?  There are some Thais who wear facemasks outside far away from other people, some who don't wear their mask near other Thais then put it on as soon as they spot a foreigner, some don't wear a helmet on a motorcycle but do wear a mask. 

 

I think some Thais deserve a little knocking.

[BangkokReady]

Quote

"Thais are really good at following authority and law."

Has this guy ever been to Thailand?

 

Also, if it's about Thais following authority and the law, why is he discussing Thais continuing to wear their masks now that the law has changed?

 

Not a particularly good argument.

[CygnusX1]

1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

Both the "พ" and "ท" in the name Pattaya  (พัทยา) are aspirated, "ph" and "th", respectively. The correct pronunciation would thus be Pha-tha-ya. The OP's pronunciation in the video was the anglicized (but very common) unaspirated pronunciation, Pa-ta-ya, but in general Thais pronounce Pattaya as "Pha-tha-ya, with stress on the middle syllable.

Sorry to extend this off-topic, but I think you have things partly the wrong way round. You’re correct in that the P and T in Pattaya are aspirated, but native English speakers find aspirated initial P’s and T’s easy and natural to pronounce, it’s the unaspirated initial P’s and T’s in the Thai language that are hard. The common mistake foreigners make is actually to heavily stress the second syllable, which is natural in English, whereas in Thai the stress is more even. Check the pronunciation by Thai speakers on the excellent Forvo website.

[StevieAus]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I watched a 45 minute video walk filmed last week in Whitstable in Kent, England. Not a single person wore a mask out of the many hundreds, maybe thousands, that appeared. Same with an hour long video of people out for the evening in Soho. Thousands milling around and not a single mask. None. Yet the hospitals are not filled with Covid patients in ICU. Those that the virus was going to kill were killed by it long ago.

But, as I wrote in another thread, we'll now have the situation where most locals will continue to mask up - like my wife "to protect myself" - and most foreigners will not. The wearing of one has long been an Asian thing, and the pandemic has simply encouraged more of them to adopt the habit. Up to them if they want to feel uncomfortable. Now that the government is no longer making it mandatory (although it never was put in law) we foreigners can now 'walk free' with a clear conscience.

Agree !!!

[Chongalulu]

7 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

If they want to wear a mask then they should. I took a walk this morning, no mask and 99% of the Thai people I passed wore them. I dont think you can expect anything else considering the fear they have been made to feel.

If only one could get the lack of critical thinking lumpen proletariat to feel the far more justified fear they should have when riding around without helmets… but they’ve got their masks on to protect them from hitting the road surface  ,I guess …. ???? 

[CM Dad]

I am a westerner who will continue wearing a mask, especially when I am anywhere near mindless foreigners who think they know it all and claim to have "god-given rights".  

[Lemsta69]

2 hours ago, Stubby said:

I suppose you could have just said I disagree with the bloke in the video? You know what they say, don't you? Anyone who resorts to name-calling has already lost the debate. So based on that logic, I suppose we could also call you a loser as well, right? Would that be a fair assumption?

just telling it like it is bro. and no I don't know what "they" say. who is "they"...

[LikeItHot]

Last week drove to Makro no mask went inside they demanded a mask This week drove to Makro no mask went inside they demanded a mask.

Wow. What a difference.

 

[bristolgeoff]

From my experience asians thais will wear a mask if the air is bad.CNX is a good example when the burning is on.Some farangs will do the same.All over asia they wear a mask if  the air is poor quality.Covid made it worse for a time

[Docno]

Mask wearing outdoors in Singapore has been optional for 3 months already, and still 90%+ of locals still wear them even if on a bicycle in an empty park, on a motorbike on the highway, or alone in a car. Strikes me as bizarre. I had a half-day business meeting a couple of weeks ago, and we all sat around a table with masks on until lunch came then we took them off and kept on talking... luckily, the virus must take a lunch break at the same time as us... 

[onthedarkside]

A series of inflammatory, bickering comments resulting from an already removed post have been removed. Stop the bickering!

 

[steven100]

oh well ,  I'm going to continue wearing a mask for the time being until others feel it's time to not.

It's also showing a bit of respect for the other person with the mask on.   imo

[ozimoron]

3 hours ago, SpanishExpat said:

You really want to start a discussion about the fact that hierarchy and all that other status stuff is much more prevalent in Thailand than in western countries? No thanks! I admit it was good back in the days during dark covid times. No stress with anti-vaxxers like in Europe. 
 

Will end the discussion from my side here, as living here since many years and working daily with both thai and expatriate colleagues is enough proof for me to see the difference in regard to submissive behavior!

 

You've missed the bus, my comment was clearly about a cultural mindset, not the way society is structured.

[rattlesnake]

7 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Sheeple mentality, really now.  Try again.  Folks in Asia have been wearing masks since way before Covid, and it was not because they were forced to wear a mask.  I wore masks here in BKK prior to covid on the bad PM 2.5 days, and so on.  The masks will always be worn to some degree and extent, but as usual you like to bash on the way people live life and use derogatory terms to describe them.  

I've been here for close to 15 years and until January 2020, masks were only worn by salon and construction workers, a few motorcycle drivers in big cities, a few medical workers and very ill/fragile people. That's a very small proportion of the population. Now it's 100% of the population who keep it on even after they have been told they could take it off. I agree that "sheeple mentality" is a bit too derogatory, I prefer "herd mentality", i.e. the individual is always below the group. This is a culture where you just don't make individualistic claims, break the mould, swim against the tide. Add to this the passive approach they have to things in life (why challenge something if it is established and accepted by everybody) and it becomes obvious that it will take a long time for Thais to ditch their mask.

[ozimoron]

11 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

I've been here for close to 15 years and until January 2020, masks were only worn by salon and construction workers, a few motorcycle drivers in big cities, a few medical workers and very ill/fragile people. That's a very small proportion of the population. Now it's 100% of the population who keep it on even after they have been told they could take it off. I agree that "sheeple mentality" is a bit too derogatory, I prefer "herd mentality", i.e. the individual is always below the group. This is a culture where you just don't make individualistic claims, break the mould, swim against the tide. Add to this the passive approach they have to things in life (why challenge something if it is established and accepted by everybody) and it becomes obvious that it will take a long time for Thais to ditch their mask.

More stereotyping. Medical practitioners would tell you that influenza would be greatly reduced if people always wore masks and washed their hands more. People have gotten used to masks and obviously realised how they are less affected by air pollution when wearing masks. Also, covid infections are increasing, not decreasing. As mild as it may be, people just don't want it.

 

The minimum effect is a month long persistent cough for many people.

[Neeranam]

Some people need to learn about 'Greng Jai'

[rattlesnake]

1 hour ago, ozimoron said:

More stereotyping. Medical practitioners would tell you that influenza would be greatly reduced if people always wore masks and washed their hands more. People have gotten used to masks and obviously realised how they are less affected by air pollution when wearing masks. Also, covid infections are increasing, not decreasing. As mild as it may be, people just don't want it.

 

The minimum effect is a month long persistent cough for many people.

Lots of things would be greatly reduced if we walked around in space suits but humans are social beings and we need to see each other's faces. A world where everyone is masked permanently is a nightmare world.

[FarAway]

17 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Some people need to learn about 'Greng Jai'

One of the reasons why Thailand is so <deleted> up. Please, unlearn it instead of learning it.

It essentially means to not say your opinion and just act friendly, even if you do not mean it. Wow. So progressive.