Thais Face Drowning, Disease In Disastrous Floods

[Tanaka]

"Sure, there are people who work on the streets, be them motorbike taxis or food stall cooks who don't have much choice but I'm sure they'd use a public toilet if it was available."

Hmmm...not so sure about that...regularly see Thai cooks and moto taxi drivers taking a leak by the road/against a fence when the nearest public toilet is only 50 metres away...more laziness/nonchalence than anything. Thais dont want us to defend their ways because they see nothing wrong with them, so dont feel the need to do it (defend them.)

cheers..

even in the houses in issan .most will piss where they stand than use the toilet...ladies and men alike

Really? I wonder what village you live in? I have never seen people doing that in mine.

[ronz28]

Wait to worry! Deal with it when and if something happens to you as there is not enough time left to do much now except get things off the ground floor, store & conserve water, prepare for shutdown of electricity, etc. Help your neighbor! Good luck !

[PaultheSeeker]

Be sure to stock up your first-aid kits if you haven't already.

[MUYTHAI]

Thais are the worst for personal hygiene I've known anywhere in the world. I think Mr. Cochrane might be referring to the fact that people here take showers reguarly. However, washing hands after going to the toilet or washing hands before preparing food is hardly done. Thais also don't clean surfaces properly before preparing food and use the same knife to cut a raw piece of meat then a cooked piece causing cross contamination. Vegetables are also never usually washed on street stalls and hardly cooked long enough to kill all bacteria especially raw ones served with some noodles or roast pork. Countless times I've found earth on lettuce or tomatoes. Really, Thais know nothing about hygiene and nor do they seem to understand the concept of it but rather take offence when you point it out to them.

Obviously, you have not spent much time in very many countries. The Philippines, Mexico, all of Central America excluding Costa Rica, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, and much of China are worse when it come to personal hygiene. All of Africa is worse. I could go on.

I wish the Thai people the best outcome during this flooding situation. Flooding like this will probably be a common occurrence in the near future due to global climatic changes.

[sausageandmash]

Not really. By the time the water goes down, the cold season will be upon us. That, at least is one thing in our favour.

The problem with this flood situation is that for many people working toilets won't be available. And that is a worrying dangerous situation.

Absolutely true! When the water will finally go down and the sun will be shining, Thailand will have all the mud from the water on the streets and this will be a humid and hot climate... the best breeding climate for all germs and viruses.

That's why I said that this government acts abolutely irresponsible when they send mental health units out instead of medical disease units!

[craigt3365]

2 incredibly rude posts have been removed along with a few replies. A warning is in progress. Keep it civil!!!!

:jap:

[noitom]

Thailand is about to experience a monumental human disaster of disease, contamination, and medical emergency. They have no clue on hygiene and disease, and never cared about implementing procedures and rules. Instead of allowing MBs and Beemers to park on elevated expressways hindering any chance for emergency medical and evacuation vehicles to get around, they could have installed porto-san toilets on those expressways and used them for moving people with buses and trucks. Have you ever noticed the negligent wiring and exposed spaghetti electrical work, even on main drags like Sukhumvit? The possibility of electrocution is substantial. Think about all those homes who use open gas cooking burners floating around in that contaminated waist high waste flood water. Think about all those gasoline tanks floating around. Thailand is already a suspect nation in the area of hygiene and health. Unless you go in to a 4-5 star hotel toilet and some others, you never find toilet paper and soap. Even when it's there, for example in Times Square on Sukhumvit Rd next to the Sheraton, you can be standing at the sink washing and watch the Thais never washing their hands. Other people have mentioned this enough on the lack of adequate soap and paper in toilet facilities all over Bangkok and other areas.

The humanitarian health case will be huge - not even counting diseases caused by snakes, other poisonous insects arriving in the flooded water as well as mosquitoes carrying dengue fever and aids virus. Just think of the breeding ground for all sorts of bacterial conjunctivitis, GI sickness and disease, Cholera, Typhoid, and other water borne large scale disease like leptospirsosis (a very serious contaminated water borne disease), and other skin diseases that spread to mouth and eyes. The lack of thought that went in to preparation for the aftermath and hygiene, health, and disease management is particularly contemptible on the part of Thai leadership whether government or private sector business. The elite , business class, privileged lot can be proud of their contribution to Thai society in managing to protect their precious expensive cars and guarded, gated housing compounds while they fly away to their London and Singapore flats to wait for other countries to provide financial aid to help their landsmen in a dire , life threatening situation. Shame on the leadership of Thailand. I feel terrible for all the ordinary people caught in this man made disaster, and who relied on their government leaders and company executives to offer support and contingency planning.

[h90]

Thais are the worst for personal hygiene I've known anywhere in the world. I think Mr. Cochrane might be referring to the fact that people here take showers reguarly. However, washing hands after going to the toilet or washing hands before preparing food is hardly done. Thais also don't clean surfaces properly before preparing food and use the same knife to cut a raw piece of meat then a cooked piece causing cross contamination. Vegetables are also never usually washed on street stalls and hardly cooked long enough to kill all bacteria especially raw ones served with some noodles or roast pork. Countless times I've found earth on lettuce or tomatoes. Really, Thais know nothing about hygiene and nor do they seem to understand the concept of it but rather take offence when you point it out to them.

"Thais are the worst for personal hygiene I've known anywhere in the world."

you weren't around on the world much, or?

Go Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, China and you find worse

[thaicbr]

"Shame on the leadership of Thailand. I feel terrible for all the ordinary people caught in this man made disaster, and who relied on their government leaders and company executives to offer support and contingency planning. "

Why? It's the Thai people that believed the lies and promises..

[wintermute]

Why? It's the Thai people that believed the lies and promises..

Yep. Som Num Na is what I think of those people.

[NowImEasy]

I also heard, purely coincidentally of course, that people in the USA make insulting, rude and arrogant comments about other countries in times of dire straits, wrongly believing themselves to be superior to most, whereas the rest of the world recognises the USA for what it is - an uncivilised country where your worth as a human being is measured by how much cash is in your pocket. I'm sure you wouldn't know anything about that though.

You heard that? From where?

More America bashing when the subject is Thailand. I firmly believe that American people, the regular middle class, are the most compassionate and generous people on the planet. If one were to research where private (and government) donations come from at times of 'dire straits', for example earthquakes in Haiti and Pakistan. Tsunamis in Thailand, Indonesia or Japan. Famine in Africa. Per Capita, the greatest donations come from Americans. How much humanitarian aid comes from China, Russia, Brazil? And I challenge the poster to provide any backing of his hateful statement that 'the rest of the world recognizes the USA as uncivilized'. I believe that the USA is the world leader in measuring ones worth by the content of his character, and not by race, class, or social status.

[nurofiend]

I also heard, purely coincidentally of course, that people in the USA make insulting, rude and arrogant comments about other countries in times of dire straits, wrongly believing themselves to be superior to most, whereas the rest of the world recognises the USA for what it is - an uncivilised country where your worth as a human being is measured by how much cash is in your pocket. I'm sure you wouldn't know anything about that though.

You heard that? From where?

More America bashing when the subject is Thailand. I firmly believe that American people, the regular middle class, are the most compassionate and generous people on the planet. If one were to research where private (and government) donations come from at times of 'dire straits', for example earthquakes in Haiti and Pakistan. Tsunamis in Thailand, Indonesia or Japan. Famine in Africa. Per Capita, the greatest donations come from Americans. How much humanitarian aid comes from China, Russia, Brazil? And I challenge the poster to provide any backing of his hateful statement that 'the rest of the world recognizes the USA as uncivilized'. I believe that the USA is the world leader in measuring ones worth by the content of his character, and not by race, class, or social status.

"I believe that the USA is the world leader in measuring ones worth by the content of his character, and not by race, class, or social status."

lol

[craigt3365]

One member is now on a permanent holiday. Please, keep it civil and on topic. Seems like it's a full moon right now.

And please show respect for the people who are having to deal with this disaster. :jap:

[NowImEasy]

I also heard, purely coincidentally of course, that people in the USA make insulting, rude and arrogant comments about other countries in times of dire straits, wrongly believing themselves to be superior to most, whereas the rest of the world recognises the USA for what it is - an uncivilised country where your worth as a human being is measured by how much cash is in your pocket. I'm sure you wouldn't know anything about that though.

You heard that? From where?

More America bashing when the subject is Thailand. I firmly believe that American people, the regular middle class, are the most compassionate and generous people on the planet. If one were to research where private (and government) donations come from at times of 'dire straits', for example earthquakes in Haiti and Pakistan. Tsunamis in Thailand, Indonesia or Japan. Famine in Africa. Per Capita, the greatest donations come from Americans. How much humanitarian aid comes from China, Russia, Brazil? And I challenge the poster to provide any backing of his hateful statement that 'the rest of the world recognizes the USA as uncivilized'. I believe that the USA is the world leader in measuring ones worth by the content of his character, and not by race, class, or social status.

"I believe that the USA is the world leader in measuring ones worth by the content of his character, and not by race, class, or social status."

lol

Then please tell me where in the world can the son of a domestic worker and a chauffer, who is of a minority race (Herman Cain) can challenge to become president, and is now leading in the polls? India? no Europe? no China? no Africa? no Thailand? no Philippines? now give me a lol. Only in America my friend. Or maybe Canada, OZ, NZ or GB, but not as likely.

[nurofiend]

More America bashing when the subject is Thailand. I firmly believe that American people, the regular middle class, are the most compassionate and generous people on the planet. If one were to research where private (and government) donations come from at times of 'dire straits', for example earthquakes in Haiti and Pakistan. Tsunamis in Thailand, Indonesia or Japan. Famine in Africa. Per Capita, the greatest donations come from Americans. How much humanitarian aid comes from China, Russia, Brazil? And I challenge the poster to provide any backing of his hateful statement that 'the rest of the world recognizes the USA as uncivilized'. I believe that the USA is the world leader in measuring ones worth by the content of his character, and not by race, class, or social status.

"I believe that the USA is the world leader in measuring ones worth by the content of his character, and not by race, class, or social status."

lol

Then please tell me where in the world can the son of a domestic worker and a chauffer, who is of a minority race (Herman Cain) can challenge to become president, and is now leading in the polls? India? no Europe? no China? no Africa? no Thailand? no Philippines? now give me a lol. Only in America my friend. Or maybe Canada, OZ, NZ or GB, but not as likely.

oh i just found it a bold statement and a funny one at that... i'd guess you probably think the USA is the world leader in most good things.

i could do but i'm not looking for a debate on this issue, or for an argument with you.

lol.... since you asked.

[BuffaloRescue]

Thais are the worst for personal hygiene I've known anywhere in the world. I think Mr. Cochrane might be referring to the fact that people here take showers reguarly. However, washing hands after going to the toilet or washing hands before preparing food is hardly done. Thais also don't clean surfaces properly before preparing food and use the same knife to cut a raw piece of meat then a cooked piece causing cross contamination. Vegetables are also never usually washed on street stalls and hardly cooked long enough to kill all bacteria especially raw ones served with some noodles or roast pork. Countless times I've found earth on lettuce or tomatoes. Really, Thais know nothing about hygiene and nor do they seem to understand the concept of it but rather take offence when you point it out to them.

i can tell you this..even when showering some just chuck the water over them..no soap or anything..and even shower with there clothes on

Yeah ive seen that. People showering with their clothes on. And people go out to work wearing shower caps, pajamas and welly boots. Somethings very wrong <deleted>?

[BuffaloRescue]

Keep out of flood waters. Many diseases you can catch especially if you have cut yourself

[thaicbr]

Thais are the worst for personal hygiene I've known anywhere in the world. I think Mr. Cochrane might be referring to the fact that people here take showers reguarly. However, washing hands after going to the toilet or washing hands before preparing food is hardly done. Thais also don't clean surfaces properly before preparing food and use the same knife to cut a raw piece of meat then a cooked piece causing cross contamination. Vegetables are also never usually washed on street stalls and hardly cooked long enough to kill all bacteria especially raw ones served with some noodles or roast pork. Countless times I've found earth on lettuce or tomatoes. Really, Thais know nothing about hygiene and nor do they seem to understand the concept of it but rather take offence when you point it out to them.

i can tell you this..even when showering some just chuck the water over them..no soap or anything..and even shower with there clothes on

Yeah ive seen that. People showering with their clothes on. And people go out to work wearing shower caps, pajamas and welly boots. Somethings very wrong <deleted>?

Well maybe that's why they showered with their clothes on.. they could sense you perving though the window

[Jayman]

Thais are the worst for personal hygiene I've known anywhere in the world. I think Mr. Cochrane might be referring to the fact that people here take showers reguarly. However, washing hands after going to the toilet or washing hands before preparing food is hardly done. Thais also don't clean surfaces properly before preparing food and use the same knife to cut a raw piece of meat then a cooked piece causing cross contamination. Vegetables are also never usually washed on street stalls and hardly cooked long enough to kill all bacteria especially raw ones served with some noodles or roast pork. Countless times I've found earth on lettuce or tomatoes. Really, Thais know nothing about hygiene and nor do they seem to understand the concept of it but rather take offence when you point it out to them.

Here here! I whole heatedly agree with you on this. I am constantly trying to explain to Thais that getting wet and washing are 2 different things. Just because you get wet 3 times a day is not the same a taking a shower. I am always amazed at how many times I walk into a public restroom and find 2 rows of sinks and 1 empty soap dispenser. Tells me no one uses soap. I try and explain to them that water is not a cleaning agent on it's own. You need soap to lower the surface tension of the water and to raise the pH to be an effective cleaning agent. Also, with little hot water used for cleaning the effectiveness of cleaning with cold/room temp water is greatly reduced.

It wasn't until avian flu was all over the news that some folks started becoming aware of using alcohol based products to clean there hands. You will now find these in high end malls and hospitals.

I could go on about how vain I find most Thais are but as I love these ppl and their country I'm not about to go insulting them and making them lose face. Although I'm sure they'd find it again pretty fast considering how much time they spend looking in the mirror.

[crazygreg44]

in fact I am really worried about all the stuff that now gets flooded up after it has been left rotting away for 30+ years. Out there and not counting the junk that has gotten dumped into the water canals, was and is leftovers of chemical fluids and agents, thousands of oil cans open and half open from literally one million of car garages, hidden and dumped clinical wastes, dead animals , feces and excrements from flooded toilets and floating sinkholes, all the leftovers of 30+ years of Bangkok City civilisation on the rise, when nobody ever cared much that all this <deleted> gets collected and properly managed and dumped into special areas desingnated for toxic and problem waste.

The end of the rainy season marks the end of the longest breeding period for myhriads of mosquitos and other blood-hungry insects. Water pools AFTER this deluge will make PERFECT breeding grounds for more mosquitos. I hope the government ( REDS) plus the City gouvernement ( yellow) plus the Army ( pink) plus the Humanitarians ( blue) all together, in unison and not acting against each other, already are working on a PLAN TO HANDLE THE NEXT CRISIS with care and combined activity . The request for medical support , freshwater and body hygiene will be immense. I still cannot believe they just turned away the help offer from the Aircraft Carrier George Washington and it's DESALINATION untis ! Does anyone here understand the task that is lurking at the very end of the deluge ? when will they realize that hundreds of tons of toxic waste will settle down all over the place after the water has dried ? Do they realize that when this stuff dries, any little wind will blow up gusts of toxic dust ?

30+ years of bad and weak waste management is lashing back onto the great managers of this city. This year will see garbage washed onto the beaches of Hua Hin and probably further. I cross my fingers and wish everybody well in handling the problems. I think very high of Thai people standing together and work together in times of hardship and when it is needed, they have shown this in the past and I have high expectations they will do so in the future. However, what they lack is a sense for the MAGNITUDE of this disaster, and their ability to think and plan ahead. It's like as if when you "paint the devil on the wall" , they think it will evoke the devil firsthand, so better don t speak about it. I am bonr and raised in a different culture where it was self-understood that you could share your thoughts and predictions with others without fearing to be shied away for sounding all to negative. Folks, bear in mind this is serious and not a game !

[chadintheusa]

Thailand is about to experience a monumental human disaster of disease, contamination, and medical emergency. They have no clue on hygiene and disease, and never cared about implementing procedures and rules. Instead of allowing MBs and Beemers to park on elevated expressways hindering any chance for emergency medical and evacuation vehicles to get around, they could have installed porto-san toilets on those expressways and used them for moving people with buses and trucks. Have you ever noticed the negligent wiring and exposed spaghetti electrical work, even on main drags like Sukhumvit? The possibility of electrocution is substantial. Think about all those homes who use open gas cooking burners floating around in that contaminated waist high waste flood water. Think about all those gasoline tanks floating around. Thailand is already a suspect nation in the area of hygiene and health. Unless you go in to a 4-5 star hotel toilet and some others, you never find toilet paper and soap. Even when it's there, for example in Times Square on Sukhumvit Rd next to the Sheraton, you can be standing at the sink washing and watch the Thais never washing their hands. Other people have mentioned this enough on the lack of adequate soap and paper in toilet facilities all over Bangkok and other areas.

The humanitarian health case will be huge - not even counting diseases caused by snakes, other poisonous insects arriving in the flooded water as well as mosquitoes carrying dengue fever and aids virus. Just think of the breeding ground for all sorts of bacterial conjunctivitis, GI sickness and disease, Cholera, Typhoid, and other water borne large scale disease like leptospirsosis (a very serious contaminated water borne disease), and other skin diseases that spread to mouth and eyes. The lack of thought that went in to preparation for the aftermath and hygiene, health, and disease management is particularly contemptible on the part of Thai leadership whether government or private sector business. The elite , business class, privileged lot can be proud of their contribution to Thai society in managing to protect their precious expensive cars and guarded, gated housing compounds while they fly away to their London and Singapore flats to wait for other countries to provide financial aid to help their landsmen in a dire , life threatening situation. Shame on the leadership of Thailand. I feel terrible for all the ordinary people caught in this man made disaster, and who relied on their government leaders and company executives to offer support and contingency planning.

Nice of you to point out that Thais have no clue about disease, then you go on to assert that AIDS is spread by mosquitoes. Guess you aren't so well informed either.

[Chopper71]

Unfortunately (beacuse I live here and married a Thai) I have to agree with the comments about Thais being unhygienic. Have lost count of the number of times I have seen a food vendor taking a piss by the side of his stall, only to go straight back to preparing food with his bare hands. This in central Bangkok let alone the outer provinces. Its not the secret Thai spices on that road side chicken that gives the unique taste folks...

It really makes me angry when I see posts like yours. I lived in Suan Plu for almost a year and used to visit my a food stall on the main street most nights for a bite to eat and a Chaang. I used to yap to the locals, read a book or whatever but one thing that I always noticed was how thorough the vendors were when it came to cleaning, they would spend an age at the end of the night scrubbing away on their pots and pans. You are absolutely deluded if you think that Western kitchens are whiter than white. I'd trust a Thai street stall far faster than the majority of Western kitchens. If you have such a low regard of the locals maybe head of to UKvisa.com etc and stop slagging the people that make Thailand what it is.

[GeorgeO]

I am curious as to why the title reads "Thais Face Drowning, Disease...." Are no other nationalities affected?

Anyone (of any nationality) living or working here is also going to be at considerable risk given the magnitide of the situation and the stench and filth that will cover this country once the flood waters have subsided.

I was also shocked to read that foreign imported workers, such as Burmese, were being turned away from evacuation shelters .... clearly their usefulness has been suspended, but they will be right at the top of the "at risk" category when it comes to the massive post-flood clean-up ... a time when their usefulness will be boosted once again.

So, to those who take on the role of journalist, please think about your headings ..... perhaps "People of all Nationalities Face Drowning, Disease......"

[sting123]

Thais are the worst for personal hygiene I've known anywhere in the world. I think Mr. Cochrane might be referring to the fact that people here take showers reguarly. However, washing hands after going to the toilet or washing hands before preparing food is hardly done. Thais also don't clean surfaces properly before preparing food and use the same knife to cut a raw piece of meat then a cooked piece causing cross contamination. Vegetables are also never usually washed on street stalls and hardly cooked long enough to kill all bacteria especially raw ones served with some noodles or roast pork. Countless times I've found earth on lettuce or tomatoes. Really, Thais know nothing about hygiene and nor do they seem to understand the concept of it but rather take offence when you point it out to them.

Then you've not seen much of the world. While by no means perfect, Thailand and Thais are much cleaner than most of the third world. Esp. the women and esp. the food markets. You should check out sub-Sahara Africa, or India and Pakistan if you want to see dirty.

What do you now about Sub Sahara? What is your experience there? What did you experience, and where?

Futhermore, One can not compare dry and humid region, as I do assume you sub sahara is similar to mine and is a dry region (sub desertic or so). So to me, IF jumglejumbo have not seen much of the world, so did you, because : A) you knowledge about Sub-Sahara region is at best poor; it is irrelevant with the situation here in Thailand with regard with hygiene, 'cause even if sub saharian people were eating shit , it would change nothing for the thai people!

Hygiene is relative to the palce where you live; if 3 showers are good here, they may proove fatal in very cold places : what is the point to take 3 showers a day when the temperature is about minus 45 degree celsius (as in the place where I grew up that is the coldest of western europe), because you can NOT go outside unless you are perfectly dry (for obvious reasons) . You better clean yourself with alcohol based (gentiane being the best) liquid, with some glove. Exemple can be given for several climates, that are not those of nothern america or sunny England.

[Honkytowner]

Electrocution is also a serious threat. A student at the university where my wife works says that, in Bang Khae, where he lives, several neighbours have been killed in this way, but it seems not to have been mentioned in the press.

[masterbiker49]

On the subject of hygeine,I would like to enlighten many of our so called travelled members.Sadly,Bangkok?Pattaya & Phuket Bars are not indicative of THAILAND,get out & see the country before opening ones trap.After living in L.O.S. for many years in rural & cities,hygeine is definitely lacking.It was only after my Thai wife lived in Farang Land that she herself said to me I never knew or was told/taught of the things that can occur from lack of hygeine,that from a well educated university trained Englishspeaking/reading/writing Thai.She has now taken it upon her self to make all her friends & aquaintances aware of consequences of lack of hygiene,even pushing local private School that our children attend to start training all the children about clean habits,as the acknowledged that it is the children that will change the country,not thier parents. Chock Dee.

[OzMick]

The problem with this flood situation is that for many people working toilets won't be available. And that is a worrying dangerous situation.

Absolutely true! When the water will finally go down and the sun will be shining, Thailand will have all the mud from the water on the streets and this will be a humid and hot climate... the best breeding climate for all germs and viruses.

That's why I said that this government acts abolutely irresponsible when they send mental health units out instead of medical disease units!

Whatever they say or do, they can't win can they...............

a common trait with"losers"

[localsocalman]

I live in Chiang Mai and have been very impressed by the emergency services and recovery since the flooding Sep 28th. I live on Chang Klan Road past Chiang Mai Land. Within 2 hours there was 1.5 meters of water in front of the building. Everyone really worked together to get all the scooters up into the building out of the water. We lost electricity quite quickly. The next morning I started to see small rescue boats coming up the soi. I learned that the last time it flooded like this the water in the building goes in about 2 days --- no tap, shower, toilet. I packed a bag and got on the next boat. They took us down Chang Klan RIVER to Mahidol HWY -- there was no under crossing -- that is how high the water was. There were volunteers there who helped us out and up the embankment and there were Songthaews waiting. For BT150, I was in Santitham and checked into Chiang Mai Rose guest house for BT350/night within 1 1/2 hrs.

When the water receded the debris and river mud was everywhere and the city and private owners have worked very hard to clean it up. They've done an incredible job and yes conjunctivitis is a serious concern as myself and many friends who came into contact with the water had to get treatment. Luckily within just a few days the water was gone --- I feel really sad for my friends and everyone in Bangkok as it just seems to get worse and worse. Mishandled and miscommunicated!!!

[MaxYakov]

Thailand is about to experience a monumental human disaster of disease, contamination, and medical emergency. They have no clue on hygiene and disease, and never cared about implementing procedures and rules. Instead of allowing MBs and Beemers to park on elevated expressways hindering any chance for emergency medical and evacuation vehicles to get around, they could have installed porto-san toilets on those expressways and used them for moving people with buses and trucks. Have you ever noticed the negligent wiring and exposed spaghetti electrical work, even on main drags like Sukhumvit? The possibility of electrocution is substantial. Think about all those homes who use open gas cooking burners floating around in that contaminated waist high waste flood water. Think about all those gasoline tanks floating around. Thailand is already a suspect nation in the area of hygiene and health. Unless you go in to a 4-5 star hotel toilet and some others, you never find toilet paper and soap. Even when it's there, for example in Times Square on Sukhumvit Rd next to the Sheraton, you can be standing at the sink washing and watch the Thais never washing their hands. Other people have mentioned this enough on the lack of adequate soap and paper in toilet facilities all over Bangkok and other areas.

The humanitarian health case will be huge - not even counting diseases caused by snakes, other poisonous insects arriving in the flooded water as well as mosquitoes carrying dengue fever and aids virus. Just think of the breeding ground for all sorts of bacterial conjunctivitis, GI sickness and disease, Cholera, Typhoid, and other water borne large scale disease like leptospirsosis (a very serious contaminated water borne disease), and other skin diseases that spread to mouth and eyes. The lack of thought that went in to preparation for the aftermath and hygiene, health, and disease management is particularly contemptible on the part of Thai leadership whether government or private sector business. The elite , business class, privileged lot can be proud of their contribution to Thai society in managing to protect their precious expensive cars and guarded, gated housing compounds while they fly away to their London and Singapore flats to wait for other countries to provide financial aid to help their landsmen in a dire , life threatening situation. Shame on the leadership of Thailand. I feel terrible for all the ordinary people caught in this man made disaster, and who relied on their government leaders and company executives to offer support and contingency planning.

Nice of you to point out that Thais have no clue about disease, then you go on to assert that AIDS is spread by mosquitoes. Guess you aren't so well informed either.

Wiki article on Dengue fever:

Dengue virus is primarily transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, particularly A. egypti^. These mosquitoes usually live between the latitudes of 35° North and 35° South below an elevation of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft)^. They bite primarily during the day. Other Aedes species that transmit the disease include A. albopictus, A. polensiensis and A. scutellaris. Humans are the primary host of the virus, but it also circulates in nonhuman primates.An infection can be acquired via a single bite. A female mosquito that takes a blood meal from a person infected with dengue fever becomes itself infected with the virus in the cells lining its gut. About 8–10 days later, the virus spreads to other tissues including the mosquito's salivary glands and is subsequently released into its saliva. The virus seems to have no detrimental effect on the mosquito, which remains infected for life. Aedes aegypti prefers to lay its eggs in artificial water containers, to live in close proximity to humans, and to feed off people rather than other vertebrates.

So why can't a mosquito spread the AIDS virus while it can spread the Dengue fever virus?

There is this Center for AIDS Information site/article:

For mosquitoes to transmit AIDS, the mosquito would need to take a blood meal on an infected individual. After the blood meal the virus would need to survive in the mosquitoes system for a couple of days for it to get into the mosquitoes saliva glands. The way a mosquito's mouth works is not like a hypodermic needle, meaning it doesn't push out what it takes in. Instead a mosquitoes mouth is separated into two sections. It takes in a blood meal through one side while injecting saliva through the other side. The main reason mosquitoes cannot transmit AIDS is that the virus cannot stay alive in a mosquitoes system long enough to make it into the saliva. Mosquitoes view the virus as food, so when it takes a blood meal on an infected individual the cells with the AIDS virus are digested along with the rest of the blood cells.

I would hesitate to discount or ignore noitom's entire post (the leadership/elitist comments in the final paragraph aside, perhaps) due to a technical misstatement.

After all, he did say carrying the 'aids virus' [sic], not transmitting it.

Dengue fever is a bad enough mosquito threat in its own right, IMHO

Edited October 27, 2011 by MaxYakov

[geriatrickid]

As a bit of trivia, the number of daily drownings hasm't actually spiked. I know it sounds unbelievable, but prior to the floods, many Thais drowned on any given day (swimming skills are not well taught in the country). The drownings being reported now, do not usually receive much attention when they happen at other times. I think people are being extra cautious with the water. Many of the deaths being attributed to the floods happened when people fell into the water while fishing or had vehicle collisions. There is the case of the workers sustaining fatal injuries while working on flood barriers etc. Some were electrocuted. One should not assume that all of the deaths are attributable to people being swept away by the water.

Just in case anyone doesn't believe me on the drowning numbers as per the published data prior to the change in government;

Each year approximately 1500 Thai children under the age 15 die of drowning. The mortality rate per 100,000 children aged 0–14 years is between9.3–11.5, (2004–2008)

Arising the immune protection of the children drowned in Thailand, Som Ekchaloemkind Suchada Gerdmongkolgan, Ministry of Public Health

In a country where many cannot swim, the number one cause of death during the disaster has not been disease, but drowning, said Maureen Birmingham, the World Health Organisation's representative in Thailand. "That's very concerning," she said. "One of the risk behaviours reported is fishing, so we urge people to take care with that." As quoted by Agence France Press 26-Octobre-2011