Hua Hin Forum

Top = cases, middle = intensive care, bottom = deaths

Why are we arguing the point here. I'm only quoting from the Swedish authorities which should be the bottom line. Even Chief Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell states that there's been an uptick recently, mostly in young people and workplaces with the majority in Stockholm.

cases surged with 752 people testing positive on Thursday – the highest daily rise since June 30

Back then they were recording just over 800 cases daily.

Figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) comparing different European country's cases per 100,000 people shows how Sweden's lack of measures has affected it.

Numbers decreased during August but there was a rise from an average of 27.6 cases in September per 100,000 people, to 57.6 cases per 100,000 people in October.

That figure is currently higher than in Germany, Italy and Serbia where strict measures remain in place, but is however significantly lower than those in France and the UK.

But according to Bharat Pankhania, a disease control expert at the University of Exeter: "If you look at the case numbers for Sweden, they are comparable with other European countries. So let me bust that myth: Sweden has not done any better than any other European country. I admit it hasn't done any worse either."

Although there was no mandate on masks (except at the airport), people were advised of precautions. In the main, people have abided by the advice, staying/working from home, groups limited to 50, social distancing etc.

Sweden themselves are concerned about the rise in cases.

Of 49 European countries Sweden lies 7th with 582 deaths per million pop. Hardly a success story is it?

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

While Swedish stats are very interesting, back in Thailand ...

Health Ministry wants to cut quarantine period
The Public Health Ministry has proposed that the mandatory quarantine period for tourists be reduced from 14 to 10 days and will soon ask the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to alter the requirement accordingly.

Permanent secretary for Public Health Kiattiphum Wongrajit said on Wednesday he was confident that a second wave of Covid-19 in Thailand would not be as bad as the first, thanks to the country's comprehensive preventative measures, particularly related to the wearing of face masks in public.

If Thailand did, however, face a worse second wave of the virus, it would be able to control the spread within one month, he said. The ministry envisages the following three scenarios:

1) The country has one or two local transmissions and the government controls the virus from spreading.

2) The virus spreads to a small group of 10 to 20 people after the first infection. Whatever the number, it would be controlled from spreading further within three to four weeks.

3) The least favourable scenario sees the first case spreading to 100 to 200 people, as did the cluster infection at Bangkok's Lumpinee boxing stadium in March. This worst-case scenario is considered unlikely if people continue to cooperate by wearing masks, practising social distancing and washing their hands frequently, said the ministry.

The permanent secretary said a key recommendation was that people in Thailand continue wearing masks to effectively prevent the virus from spreading.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ine-period

All this talk is always about non-existent tourists, what about their own people coming back from infected areas ...

14 Days or 10 days. It is still an expensive incarceration. Who is going to pay to be imprisoned?

Big Boy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 7:37 am 14 Days or 10 days. It is still an expensive incarceration. Who is going to pay to be imprisoned?

Plus it's no fun!!

However, they have openly admitted that initially they are only targeting wealthy tourists, who are probably happy to be “incarcerated” in 5* luxury for a few weeks. Searching the whole of China to find 2-300 wealthy tourists shouldn’t be too difficult- the problem comes when they try to entice your average tourist for 2-3 weeks on a fairly tight budget.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But it isn't 5* luxury. It is 5* incarceration. I've watched several 'quarantine videos, some of returning friends and some of returning footballers. Even the most luxurious of those videos couldn't tempt me to pay to suffer it for 10 or 14 days. If they are going to be stuck in a room for the period, why not book into a luxury hotel in their own country for a couple of weeks, and eliminate the nausea, excessive travel/medical/insurance costs and red tape that goes with Thai imprisonment? It is certainly a life experience that doesn't appear on my bucket list.

It would be interesting if Thailand performed an antibody seroprevalence and t-cell reactivity study to show the existing level of immunity, which I suspect is quite high. But maybe they prefer to think they their government actions are responsible for 0 covid.

Big Boy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 8:37 am But it isn't 5* luxury. It is 5* incarceration. I've watched several 'quarantine videos, some of returning friends and some of returning footballers. Even the most luxurious of those videos couldn't tempt me to pay to suffer it for 10 or 14 days. If they are going to be stuck in a room for the period, why not book into a luxury hotel in their own country for a couple of weeks, and eliminate the nausea, excessive travel/medical/insurance costs and red tape that goes with Thai imprisonment? It is certainly a life experience that doesn't appear on my bucket list.

I have to agree. Wealth brings choice. Can you imagine somebody with a pile of cash being told he must stay in hotel room for 10 days just so he can be in thailand. There will surely be better alternatives. Maybe maybe if its opened up to snowbirds for winter people may go for it.

Well according to the press releases, there were a number of people willing to do just that - I’ve no doubt that the vast majority are not genuine tourists, but we will probably never know the real truth.

I do agree, that the majority of genuine tourists will either wait until the obstacles are reduced, or choose somewhere else to spend their two-three weeks vacation!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Folk talk about this couple of week quarantine like a jail sentence? 'Incarceration' I heard mentioned. It's not really though is it? It's a couple of weeks in a hotel. A nice Thai hotel to boot.

There are plenty of videos to view on YouTube. Why pay all of that money for:

- Medical tests/certification?
- Insurance?
- Flights (4x the usual cost?)?
- I've even read a report of one friend (showing no symptoms) having to spend the first 24 hours in hospital. I'm not sure if that bit happens to everybody (maybe migrant could answer), but even more expense.

When you could book into an equally good hotel in your current country. It's not as if you're going to be allowed out to walk along golden beaches, and enjoy wall to wall sunshine. If you're lucky, you'll be granted 1 hour a day in the prison yard.

Ask migrant if he enjoyed it and felt like he was on holiday. Nobody else knows better on here

If you have the test then you will understand that alone will put somebody off travelling. I had in uk and its awful

Incidentally i read that thailand and japan favourite tourist destination for china. 7 million overseas trips during autumn vacation last year. Sadly practically none this year and chinese still have to have 2 week quarantine on return.

Big Boy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 1:17 pm If you're lucky, you'll be granted 1 hour a day in the prison yard.