Hua Hin Forum

Oh wow!!! Mor Chana is becoming mandatory if you are in one of the 5 nasty provinces and you wish to travel. If you travel, and subsequently test positive for Covid, you will be fined if your phone does not have Mor Chana.

I saw one report that said Thai Chana or Mo Chana. But, BB, you're saying those areas must have Mo Chana? Got a link please? And do those people without a smartphone get a free one or ankle bracelet?


Edit: OK, accepted see below.

Some points about Morchana (spelling in Google play store).

It doesn't use the covid-19 exposure notification system as built by Google and Apple. It will therefore drain the phone's battery very quickly using GPS and bluetooth and network apparently (see below) constantly.

There are quite a few comments on play store just today, mostly negative:

Forced to install
Drains battery
Eats data allowance (1 comment said 1 GB in 1 day).

I wonder if being forced to download is a beach of Google or Apple terms of service.

hhinner wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:39 pm I saw one report that said Thai Chana or Mo Chana. But, BB, you're saying those areas must have Mo Chana? Got a link please? And do those people without a smartphone get a free one or ankle bracelet?

Today's Daily Brief is probably the best source.

Time to dust off that Nokia 3310 ...

hhinner wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:39 pm I saw one report that said Thai Chana or Mo Chana. But, BB, you're saying those areas must have Mo Chana? Got a link please? And do those people without a smartphone get a free one or ankle bracelet?


Edit: OK, accepted see below.

Give your phone No. it's enough. If smartphones are compulsory, they have to give free or rent.
I will not buy, I don't need.

OK, none of us are in the 5 affected provinces. However, if things escalate, a reported 40,000฿ fine and 2 years imprisonment may be a persuader (of course, only if you survived the virus).

NB: I am not certain about the penalties, but these are the numbers being mentioned.

The app., in Thai, says that it drains very little battery and the data increase is incremental. Of course, they would say that.

The app will expire in 30 days and if necessary must be renewed.

When installing the app, they ask if you want to accept the terms and conditions. If it's mandatory, how can there be a choice?

my wife is, at this moment applying makeup to have her photo taken for the app.

If your phone has to be on all the time, what about when you're sleeping? If you don't respond at 3 am, does the SS come to your door?

What if you're awake all night and sleep all day?

Is all the info in English, Swedish, French, German, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, etc. or, doesn't it matter about non-Thais?

^^ After installing the app the first screen allows you to choose Thai or English.

Lumberjacks are exempt, handdrummer.

The app's terms and conditions state that:

"However, please do not use this App if you disagree with this Policy's Processing of your personal data. "

my wife is, at this moment applying makeup to have her photo taken for the app.

bigston wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:33 pm Lumberjacks are exempt, handdrummer.

Phew, that's a relief. Now just I have to worry about stonemasons.

hhinner wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:41 pm The app's terms and conditions state that:

"However, please do not use this App if you disagree with this Policy's Processing of your personal data. "

Just stick with facebook.

GOV’T REVERSES COURSE ON MANDATORY TRACKING APP
Government officials on Thursday abandoned a threat to prosecute coronavirus patients who were found without the virus tracking application installed on their phones, less than two hours after the announcement was made.

The dramatic U-turn followed live remarks on national TV by government pandemic response center spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin, who warned that violators would be punished under the Emergency Decree, prompting outcry from civil rights and privacy activists.

“If someone has COVID-19 and does not install the ‘Mor Chana’ app, then they will be breaking the 17th Issuance of the Emergency Decree,” Taweesin said in the news conference.

Breaching the decree carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

Just moments later, health minister Anuthin Charnvirakul said in a statement that installing Mor Chana will not be mandatory, and there will be no legal punishment involved.

The coronavirus response center, where Taweesin works, also released a statement saying that residents in provinces considered to be at high risk of infection ‘should’ download the movement tracking app.

“But if you are inconvenient to do so, you can write the information on paper instead,” the online post said. “If you don’t download it, it’s not illegal.”

Many opposition figures and rights watchdogs swiftly condemn Taweesin’s threat to prosecute coronavirus patients. Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher from the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, questioned what authority the government possessed to enact punishment for not downloading the app.

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics ... cking-app/