Thai Govt Dismisses Health Fears: Flood

[janverbeem]

So far things have been very tame out here along Phra Athit Rd. but the above photo is a nasty looking broth. I do not believe that if something like this is widspread that it is not a health hazard. Especially if we get hit with a few warm days and the bugs in that stuff get a chance to cook.

32 years in Thailand, and assessing the place up in general, leaving asside a minority of houseproud persons, the majority have NEVER been shown how to clean and maintain a house. It's a skill in it'self .

any family home is never painted maintained, inside the home most have no Idea about cleaning, most kitchens are open to rats and cockroaches, most toilets are discusting, so to the point of this post. The government dismisses heath fears-BECAUSE they don't operate adequate health regulations.

How many homes do YOU know that have disinfectant in the toilets ?? How many food markets are disgusting and flyblown. how many open streets have tips every so often, when do you see children keep plastic bags till they get home -to bin- all this <deleted> has to go somewhere--usually in the canals in BKK clogged up drains etc. So what the government is saying is we are so clean in Thailand there will never be a health problem. THEY have blinkers on.

32 years in Thailand and you are still applying western standards to a 3rd world country. For a time I would have classified Thailand as a 2nd world emerging nation, but after the events of the last few weeks I believe their standing has retreated considerably.

I agree with your comments , but I will ever excuse laziness and parental mismanagement, how is it a few can be clean and others not caring ?? No one has to be Calcutta, or other places, the main thing about it that MOST Thais are bodily clean, so what happened to the other things, it's not just a 3rd world thing, it's an attitude here.

As you say,most Thais are bodily clean but look what happens 3-4 meters away from their place.They keep their house and body clean but right outside their living space they create their own private rubbish dump.

[scorecard]

Why only simplistic statements from the PM - 'no there is no health problem'.

Anybody can see that there is a serious situation at hand and anybody with half a brain can see there must be health issues and they are of a massive scale.

So why no comments / public education etc etc., from the Thai ministry of Health?

In fact there are numerous ministries which should be publicizing plans to tackle numerous factors in this disaster, but they are all totally quite.

Why is that?

[scorecard]

If anyone had any doubts about what the hi-so elite really think about the Thai masses then this blatant disregard for health and safety that we're seeing pretty much spells it all out clearly. The upper tier Thais have never given two sh*ts about the bottom. It's as true now as it was a hundred or five hundred years ago. This is what you get when you have a culture and system built on exploitative hierarchies.

I don't disagree.

What's also part of this scenario is the appointment of totally incapable people who have zero knowledge of the subject let alone valuable insightful experience in the subject area, and zero experience in problem solving and in developing / managing / implementing a project plan related to the area.

On top of that they are mostly not interested: they paid their deposit and they're waiting for their turn at the trough, nothing more.

[ginjag]

Why only simplistic statements from the PM - 'no there is no health problem'.

Anybody can see that there is a serious situation at hand and anybody with half a brain can see there must be health issues and they are of a massive scale.

So why no comments / public education etc etc., from the Thai ministry of Health?

In fact there are numerous ministries which should be publicizing plans to tackle numerous factors in this disaster, but they are all totally quite.

Why is that?

Scorecard, picture this -our local town, the head of it ,voted in (he paid) normal, collects money monthly from the local market traders, he in turn takes care of them.

A friend of mine -Health and environment officer is responsible for the standards in the market, and is aware of MOST being dirty, stalls not clean , food not under cover , needs another coat of paint etc., She cannot implement the health law because the head of the town will not allow he to do her job. the market traders and the town head rule.

[noahvail]

Let's hope this is at least a start in the right direction:

Public urged not to consume ice iced drinks from unknown sources

The Public Health Ministry's Department of Medical Sciences Monday warned of possible leptospirosis in flooded areas and against consuming ice and iced drinks from unknown production sources.In a recent survey, 21 food samples, collected in four flooded provinces including Bangkok, yielded food poisoning manifestations, while 17 out of 57 samples of drinking water possessed germs which caused diarrhoea.

The Nation 2011-11-07

http://www.thaivisa....25#entry4829702

Edited November 7, 2011 by noahvail

[rotorbreeze]

Wow! This guy's comments are really suspect. This disease crisis is worse than previous speculation. The sheer numbers and common sense and basic knowledge about what's happening through videos and news reports illustrate that the comments made in this article by the head of the health initiative in Thailand should be examined immediately for veracity, accuracy, and methodology. His responses were so glib and inconsequential that the whole issue of the cases and potential spread of all these diseases referenced in the article should be attended to immediately by on the ground world health officials. Every comment that he made raises big questions, and every statement should be verified and run down carefully.

In crisis situations, rarely can you see such a lack of specifics, best practices, and little concern about anything of such a scale. He's handling everything, it's all under control, they are monitoring all the situations, cases so far are being "dismissed" on the basis that they are supposedly confined to specific groups. Where is the investigative journalism? The press should pin this guy down. Raise the specter of concern to the outside world and Thai citizens. Report the truth. Don't take this posturing by government officials and business spokespeople influenced by economic damage control as the truth. "Only one case of Cholera so far in Prawet, but we have put disease control measures in place." What measures? "There will be no outbreak of Cholera." How does he know this? The disease exposure and fallout in Thailand is of monumental scale and action should be clarified and acted upon immediately. The press should play a key role to smoke out the truth and examine these glib statements and remarks. The dismissing of cases as being under control is preposterous. What control? What resources? Where? What's the plan? Common Thai press, let's get with the program. Your landsmen's lives are at stake and the lives of others exposed to these risks. Electrocutions, Cholera, Leptospirosis, Typhoid, Dengue, Malaria and others such as "mere" common diarrhea, conjunctivitis, and colds is most of what he has seen. Do you believe this guy and the reporter who did this interview?

TO THE READERS WHOM THIS MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE OR OTHERS...

Collect water from your air conditioner, that is what I posted a while back, seems some people read what I say..ok here is another tip for purifying water ya may get from one of the vending water dispensers..

For those chemist get your pen and paper ready... here it is NaClo2, the name is Sodium ChloriTE, not sodium chloride (table salt) in a small plastic teaspoon, no metal put 6 drops of NaClo2 aprox 22.4% to 30 drops of lime or lemon juice...when let stand be careful to breath the Chlorine gas produced, important to let this process brew for 3 minutes..a yellow colour will appear after the solution is combined. FYI there is no chlorine in the liquid, just the gas produced the liquid now is called Chlorine dioxide, now you must use this product shelf life is limited to 1 hr, get the water you stored from the air condition that is now boiled and cool, add this Chlorine dioxide to it and drink it..ya can add some apple juice by NO VITAMIN C added a no no. Now you have just taken some 1000 times stronger than any "Aerobic Oxygen liquid" purchased at any health store, for only pennies!

I trust someone will forward this information to the Health minister soon: It is more effective as a disinfectant than chlorine in most circumstances against water borne pathogenic microbes such as viruses,[18] bacteria and protozoa – including the cysts of Giardia and the oocysts of Cryptosporidium.[10]:4-20–4-21

The use of chlorine dioxide in water treatment leads to the formation of the by-product chlorite which is currently limited to a maximum of 1 ppm in drinking water in the USA.[10]:4-33 This EPA standard limits the use of chlorine dioxide in the USA to relatively high quality water or water which is to be treated with iron based coagulants (Iron can reduce chlorite to chloride).[citation needed]

It can also be used for air disinfection,[19] and was the principal agent used in the decontamination of buildings in the United States after the 2001 anthrax attacks.[20] After the disaster of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana and the surrounding Gulf Coast, chlorine dioxide has been used to eradicate dangerous mold from houses inundated by the flood-water.[21]

Good health to you...