Will they ever stop wearing masks?

[bob smith]

out and about i still see about 80% of Thai people still wearing face masks.

this includes when walking on the streets,in shopping centres, 7/11 etc,

 

my question is, will they ever grow out of wearing these things?

do they do it out of habit, social pressure, care for others ?

 

another thing I see regularly is when Thais deal with each other, like a street stall seller and a local they will remove their mask when talking.

when they see a foreigner approaching they will quickly put the mask back on again.

seen this many times over the last few years.

do they think that Thais cant pass covid to each other?

 

all in all i think it is very peculiar behavior from a completely brainwashed populace. 

to be the black sheep here is considered one of the worst things imaginable. 

[mancub]

Yet have just spent 2 hours with the kids (flu symptoms) at a clinic. where every man and his dog were coughing and spluttering. but 50% were not masked. 

Probably put them on when they go to Lotus's later mind !

[bob smith]

Just now, mancub said:

Yet have just spent 2 hours with the kids (flu symptoms) at a clinic. where every man and his dog were coughing and spluttering. but 50% were not masked. 

Probably put them on when they go to Lotus's later mind !

yep, seen that too!

went to the hospital to pick up some medicine the other day and it was as you described, 

[HappyExpat57]

I'm teaching in Chanthaburi. The parents have requested teachers to continue masking up, and the kids are masked about 50% of the time. Most people around town are still masked, though little by little they're going naked on the face.

[mark5335]

With the prevailing poor air quality over the past week the mask wearing at present is not unexpected. 

[poppysdad]

My Thai wife is still paranoid about catching Covid and wears her mask every where except at home. Sitting in a cafe at this moment she is still wearing it and is the only one in here doing so. 

[bob smith]

Just now, poppysdad said:

My Thai wife is still paranoid about catching Covid and wears her mask every where except at home. Sitting in a cafe at this moment she is still wearing it and is the only one in here doing so. 

tell her to take it off!

 

how does she drink her coffee with the mask on??

[Felton Jarvis]

I still wear mine every day. Not sure if it makes much difference. It DOES remind me not to touch my face, which is a "super-spreader" activity.

[brianthainess]

Anyone I see wearing a mask I give an exaggerated wide berth, TB is very prevalent here, and I never want to get that again, 12-18 months of taking meds. And having to wear a mask until you are not contagious.  

[transam]

..........Not the mask thing again...............

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, mancub said:

Yet have just spent 2 hours with the kids (flu symptoms) at a clinic. where every man and his dog were coughing and spluttering. but 50% were not masked. 

Probably put them on when they go to Lotus's later mind !

Or when they ride their motorbike. <deleted> the helmet, wear a mask.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Or when they ride their motorbike. 4...k the helmet, wear a mask.

Weeeell, I wouldn't like to ride a bike here every day chewing diesel dust..........😷

[Highlandman]

I've not noticed Thais taking their masks off to talk to one another or necessarily, quickly put them back on when a foreigner comes by. Yes, that did happen in 2020, 2021 and early 2022, but not much anymore. When Thais do that these days, they do it to everyone. Basically, in customer facing roles, they might remove their masks if there is no one to serve and quickly put the mask back on when a customer arrives.

 

Nowadays, you still see Thais diligently masking while sitting alone at a restaurant or Cafe, only removing their masks when the food comes around and then putting them back on as soon as they're done.

 

Mask wearing in general seems to be around 50%, but can be higher. It remained stubbornly high at 80%+ except in very rural areas, as recently as July.

 

I don't visit hospitals, but from all accounts, mask wearing is near 100% there, except among children under 2. I'd be very very surprised if mask wearing at clinics or hospitals were below 99% anywhere except medical tourism hospitals full of foreign patients such as Bumrungrad.

 

In fact, I recently drove past a clinic in Nong Bua Lamphu and noticed 100% of patients waiting there wearing masks.

 

By contrast, in Savannakhet, Laos, I saw no one wearing a mask in the hospital grounds there. I also saw no one wearing a mask at the Siem Reap hospital in Cambodia and this was in November 2022!

 

It's really only Thais wearing masks these days. Their neighbors have largely moved on from this strange obsession.

 

I recently visited several Thai companies for business purposes. Some of them still had "no mask no entry" signs, though fortunately, this wasn't enforced on visitors. However, we did have people wearing masks while talking to us (they were masked before we came) at 4 of these companies.

 

One of them, a Japanese company, even required we submit Covid antigen tests before arrival AND we wear masks during the meeting. This is October 2023 and they're still doing this with no end in sight.

 

I think it's permanent now, they only lifted the mandates due to tourism but privately, many Thai companies maintain mandates and so do many schools and other settings.

Edited October 21, 2023 by Highlandman

[Highlandman]

6 minutes ago, transam said:

Weeeell, I wouldn't like to ride a bike here every day chewing diesel dust..........😷

The masks that are worn here don't protect you from diesel fumes and its not just diesel that's dangerous, gasoline fumes shouldn't be inhaled either.

[hotandsticky]

13 minutes ago, transam said:

..........Not the mask thing again...............

Yes.....................YAWN!....................Up to them.

 

 

I think Bob is bored - and the medication he picked up (doesn't he a wife he can send?) clearly isn't working.

[sirineou]

2 hours ago, bob smith said:

my question is, will they ever grow out of wearing these things?

do they do it out of habit, social pressure, care for others ?

Just as soon as all deciase and dust is removed from thailand. 

 

2 hours ago, bob smith said:

another thing I see regularly is when Thais deal with each other, like a street stall seller and a local they will remove their mask when talking.

when they see a foreigner approaching they will quickly put the mask back on again.

I have never seen that,  perhaps you have pirate breath. 

[hotandsticky]

5 minutes ago, Highlandman said:

I've not noticed Thais taking their masks off to talk to one another or necessarily, quickly put them back on when a foreigner comes by. Yes, that did happen in 2020, 2021 and early 2022, but nowadays you still see Thais diligently masking while sitting alone at a restaurant or Cafe, only removing their masks when the food comes around and then putting them back on as soon as they're done.

 

Mask wearing in general seems to be around 50%, but can be higher. It remained stubbornly high at 80%+ except in very rural areas, as recently as July.

 

I don't visit hospitals, but from all accounts, mask wearing is near 100% there, except among children under 2. I'd be very very surprised if mask wearing at clinics or hospitals were below 99% anywhere except medical tourism hospitals full of foreign patients such as Bumrungrad.

 

In fact, I recently drove past a clinic in Nong Bua Lamphu and noticed 100% of patients waiting there wearing masks.

 

By contrast, in Savannakhet, Laos, I saw no one wearing a mask in the hospital grounds there. I also saw no one wearing a mask at the Siem Reap hospital in Cambodia and this was in November 2022!

 

It's really only Thais wearing masks these days. Their neighbors have largely moved on from this strange obsession.

 

I recently visited several Thai companies for business purposes. Some of them still had "no mask no entry" signs, though fortunately, this wasn't enforced on visitors. However, we did have people wearing masks while talking to us (they were masked before we came) at 4 of these companies.

 

One of them, a Japanese company, even required we submit Covid antigen tests before arrival AND we wear masks during the meeting. This is October 2023 and they're still doing this with no end in sight.

 

I think it's permanent now, they only lifted the mandates due to tourism but privately, many Thai companies maintain mandates and so do many schools and other settings.

 

You do know that Asian's wore masks before Covid?

[bob smith]

4 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I have never seen that,  perhaps you have pirate breath. 

or perhaps you need to clean your glasses once in a while! 

[Sandboxer]

A lot of the local women look better with masks as often their eyes are much better features than the rest of their faces, so I'm good with it.

[Highlandman]

3 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

You do know that Asian's wore masks before Covid?

No, they didn't. I think you need to refresh your memory. Firstly, each Asian country is different and this includes their mask wearing habits. Your generalization is inaccurate and offensive.

 

0.5% of Thais wore masks before Covid, meaning they only wore them if they were sick, working in a hospital or if the conditions were really dusty.

 

Vietnamese only ever wore them while riding motorcycles in the cities. 

 

Never did you have mask mandates before 2020 in Thailand and never did you see the ridiculous situation of seeing an entire Thai family walking through a mall while masked, in October 2023, well over a year following the end of the mask mandate and keeping their masks on while seated at a restaurant and holding meetings where everyone is masked up!

 

That's not normal but Thais do this, because they've been brainwashed.

 

I can assure you that other Asians do NOT do this. In China, where I was recently, almost no one wears a mask anymore. Even stores inside malls don't have mask wearing employees, except for McDonald's and the odd tea shop for some reason. 

 

You didn't even see Chinese company executives wearing masks during meetings DURING Covid. I know, given my Chinese colleagues held plenty of meetings during Covid and always without a mask. 

 

In Thailand, they're still requiring masks to be worn at many companies. I experienced this last week during a meeting. 

[connda]

Go to any corporate run retailer and see how many employees are masked.
7/11 for instance - all employees in every store I've been to up here in Northern Thailand are masked and probably will be for God only know how long.  Why is corporate policy created to "mask" the employees?  The same reason that in some places women are forced to cover their faces.
 
Ultimately it's about power and the projection of power over those whom you believe you control.

[connda]

1 minute ago, Highlandman said:

That's not normal but Thais do this, because they've been brainwashed.

Thai do it become it is a sign of social conformity.  And Thais are raised from birth to conform to Thai society as well as to those who have positions of power within Thai society.

[bob smith]

1 minute ago, connda said:

And Thais are raised from birth to conform to Thai society as well as to those who have positions of power within Thai society.

a very ugly facet of Thai society imo.

[Highlandman]

Just now, connda said:

Go to any corporate run retailer and see how many employees are masked.
7/11 for instance - all employees in every store I've been to up here in Northern Thailand are masked and probably will be for God only know how long.  Why is corporate policy created to "mask" the employees?  The same reason that in some places women are forced to cover their faces.
 
Ultimately it's about power and the projection of power over those whom you believe you control.

Correct and this only applies to Thai employers. 

 

They'll never remove the mandate. I've been to 7-11s all over the country, from Chiang Saen in the north to Hat Yai in the south in recent months and always, without exception, all employees are masked.

 

I've also noticed this at CP owned 7-11 stores in Cambodia. However, go to any any other corporate owned business in Cambodia and no masks are worn.

 

At 7-11 in Malaysia, employees haven't been wearing masks (unless they chose to) since my first post Covid visit in December 2022 and it was the same in July 2023, no masks worn and this was in Penang.

 

In Vientiane, Thailand owned Rimping (which has 2 supermarkets there) also require all their employees to wear masks.

 

However, at Chinese owned supermarkets, no masks are worn by staff. At Parkson mall, some employees wear masks (or did, back in July) while no one at BCEL bank is masked. Meanwhile, the vast majority (though not all) bank staff at any bank in Thailand are masked. 

 

So it's definitely a power and control thing and seems to be very much Thai.

 

Of course masks are still occasionally worn at some retailers in other Asian countries, but the policy is not nearly as universal and consistently applied like it is here.

 

Case in point is Vietnam - circle K employees wear masks in some locations but not others. Ditto for 7-11 and Family Mart.

[Chris Daley]

Mask for life.  This is the new normal.

[hotandsticky]

23 minutes ago, Highlandman said:

I've not noticed Thais taking their masks off to talk to one another or necessarily, quickly put them back on when a foreigner comes by. Yes, that did happen in 2020, 2021 and early 2022, but not much anymore. When Thais do that these days, they do it to everyone. Basically, in customer facing roles, they might remove their masks if there is no one to serve and quickly put the mask back on when a customer arrives.

 

Nowadays, you still see Thais diligently masking while sitting alone at a restaurant or Cafe, only removing their masks when the food comes around and then putting them back on as soon as they're done.

 

Mask wearing in general seems to be around 50%, but can be higher. It remained stubbornly high at 80%+ except in very rural areas, as recently as July.

 

I don't visit hospitals, but from all accounts, mask wearing is near 100% there, except among children under 2. I'd be very very surprised if mask wearing at clinics or hospitals were below 99% anywhere except medical tourism hospitals full of foreign patients such as Bumrungrad.

 

In fact, I recently drove past a clinic in Nong Bua Lamphu and noticed 100% of patients waiting there wearing masks.

 

By contrast, in Savannakhet, Laos, I saw no one wearing a mask in the hospital grounds there. I also saw no one wearing a mask at the Siem Reap hospital in Cambodia and this was in November 2022!

 

It's really only Thais wearing masks these days. Their neighbors have largely moved on from this strange obsession.

 

I recently visited several Thai companies for business purposes. Some of them still had "no mask no entry" signs, though fortunately, this wasn't enforced on visitors. However, we did have people wearing masks while talking to us (they were masked before we came) at 4 of these companies.

 

One of them, a Japanese company, even required we submit Covid antigen tests before arrival AND we wear masks during the meeting. This is October 2023 and they're still doing this with no end in sight.

 

I think it's permanent now, they only lifted the mandates due to tourism but privately, many Thai companies maintain mandates and so do many schools and other settings.

 

 

You seem to have forgotten SARS.................

 

Anyway, this subject was boring 2 years ago....up to the Thais what they want to do. One thing is for sure, Farangs will certainly not change their mindset.

[transam]

23 minutes ago, Highlandman said:

The masks that are worn here don't protect you from diesel fumes and its not just diesel that's dangerous, gasoline fumes shouldn't be inhaled either.

I never said diesel fumes, have another look.....🤭

[Highlandman]

6 minutes ago, connda said:

Thai do it become it is a sign of social conformity.  And Thais are raised from birth to conform to Thai society as well as to those who have positions of power within Thai society.

Thais seem to be much more conformist than their neighbors in China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and even Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.

 

I wonder why that is? 

 

I've been to all these countries post Covid, some of them, multiple times. I've been to Laos 5 times already this year. Cambodia twice (technically, 4 times if you count the fact I made 4 separate entries to Cambodia, two times on the way to and from Vietnam), Vietnam 4 times and Malaysia twice. The others, so far once each.

 

What I've noticed is that the only country out of these still absolutely obsessed with masks and Covid, is Thailand.

 

In all the others, I feel free and that the people have moved on. Thailand refuses to move on and I just don't understand why. Granted, things are much better in Phuket, other island areas and very rural parts of the country, but there is still more mask wearing in Phuket than anywhere in Laos, Cambodia, China or Myanmar.

[Highlandman]

7 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

You seem to have forgotten SARS.................

 

Anyway, this subject was boring 2 years ago....up to the Thais what they want to do. One thing is for sure, Farangs will certainly not change their mindset.

No I haven't. Not many Thais wore masks then and there were no mandates.

 

You're boring. 2 years ago, there was a mask mandate in place, unlike now. What's boring is seeing Thais continue to live in fear when everything is normal everywhere outside the country.

 

What is clear is that Thais live in a strange world filled with fear and that we should be having a conversation with them asking them WHY? Why are you still afraid? 

 

For a country that relies so much on tourism and is supposed to be the "land of smiles" this behavior is odd.

 

It's clear Thais have been greatly brainwashed and indoctrinated by their government since early 2020. No other Asian country has experienced this insane level of brainwashing. Not even China.

 

The Chinese have moved on and are back to living normal lives without disgusting and useless masks that only serve to perpetuate fear and keep people under control.

Edited October 21, 2023 by Highlandman

[PJ71]

42 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Or when they ride their motorbike. <deleted> the helmet, wear a mask.

This my favorite too, or people driving a car on their own with a mask on - brilliant!