Coronavirus Precautions/News/Updates for Hua Hin/Prachuap

[Geko]

Just a thought, wonder what precautions have been put in place for the Chinese tennis players and those spectators visiting this weeks "Hua Hin Challenger" competition?

[Big Boy]

Looking at the opening day's photos, I guess there has been a self imposed isolation i.e. about 20 seats between each spectator

[oakdale160]

Lots of advice on U Tube about what food and other supplies you need to buy so that you can isolate yourself in your residence for at least 14 days.

[HHTel]

Yeh, that should fuel 'panic buying' and generate all the paranoia that is already about.

[J.J.B.]

Don’t get caught out by the mask band wagon, there is a downside to wearing one unless you intend to change it every three hours. They will become warm, moist reservoirs for microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungal spores) and it’s counter-productive to wear them for extensive periods or repeatedly. Yes, wearing one could be worse than not. This study, though not published, was based on bacterial load recorded on growth media (agar plates) in an operating theatre in the Gustave Roussy Institute in Paris by a colleague of mine. Not all trials have to be double-blind, placebo controlled, where you expose subjects to illness with or without a mask, in order to be relevant.

[HHTel]

There are several sources that point to similar studies that you refer to. I think I've said in earlier posts that wearing of these surgical masks can be counterproductive for the reasons you state. If worn for more than a short time, they become petri dishes for a host of bacteria.

"Paranoia and hysteria spread much faster than any virus"

[dtaai-maai]

I thought this might be of interest.

An old friend of mine has been a regular visitor to Thailand since I first arrived there in 2003. These days, he usually goes to see a ladyfriend in China first. He arrived there in January en route to Thailand but is having some difficulty completing his journey...

(The lack of capitals irritates the hell out of me, but I think that's why he does it... )

i considered it politic to escape the coronavirus confines of china. while i might.

leaving liuzhou was so easy, as most people sit at home. chen ye showed me a tweet nonsense showing a banner at the bottom of a block of flats reading ''if you leave home, i'll chop your legs off '' - she laughs - this, apparently is chinese humour. legs still joined to body, i find bags of space on the 150mph bullet train to nanning, and easy to book the 30mph international to the southern mountains border with vietnam, on to hanoi. i have a delightful 4 berth sleeper to myself, fresh linen, padded coathangers, slippers, carpetted corridor, reading light. and noodles for supper. ok, the john is a squatter, but heyho, the norm in china .as i saunter southwards, sunwards, into the night, feeling ever so healthy, and a little relieved. we are only 20 on the train of 8 carriages, 7 of which are empty. there were clearly more staff on the train than passengers.

oops - premature. as train arrives at china departure checkpoint, we are ushered off. lots of extra health questions, a long pep talk (of which i understood zilch). it becomes evident that some dork has admitted to coming from wuhan (the corona epicentre). mayhem ensues, various uniforms arrive and harangue us. even in chinese, the gist is simple '' you must go back to nanning, or spend 14 days quarantine in this border outpost '' . . i stand my end '' i want to go to hanoi '' . so me and a vietnamese wench are shooed back on to the train, which is by this stage resembling the marie celeste.. there is much headscratching and a certain feeling that, although they have no immediate plan, they would be most content if the vietnamese wench and i were to fall down a convenient deep drain. the other 15 pax have 'disappeared' , and as for the ''i am from wuhan'' jerk, perhaps he is (deservedly) being cavity searched and deloused.

30mins, 50, 70 -eventually we lurch 20mins onwards to the vietnamese border checkpoint.. splendidly green uniformed vietnamese with magnificently outsized flat caps. 6 video cameramen, form filling, photo shoots, interviews, no suggestion of any actual health checks. 20mins later flatcap ceremoniously returns my passport and says ''no'' . i must go back to nanning. with the vietnamese wench i am put into an '' isolation room '' , which is actually a storeroom. after 30mins, the hanoi train arrives and 100 pax are laboriously checked thru en route to nanning. i am ushered on as last passenger, the last injury to my now fragile pride being that they required me to buy another $25 ticket. i was vociferously unamused - they were straightfaced firm. and what became of the vietnamese wench, who lived only 10kms away, i shall never know. i'd like to believe that they slipped her out the back door, once the train and the photographers disappeared.

quite how this charade contributed to the eradication of the coronavirus .............. .

end of escape attempt 1.

escape attempt 2 was a trifle more prosaic. couple of days later, we booked a flight into chaing mai, thailand. the day before travel, they simply cancelled the flight, no ifs, no buts, no explanations, zilch.

escape attempt 3.
it's monday. i have flight booked for wednesday from nanning to kuala lumpur, malaysia. time will tell. optimism does not run high. but still in ripping good health and being well looked after. '' another glass of wine please ''.

watch this space.

It seems that escape attempt no. 3 was successful:

"Remarkably, I made it with ease on a semi deserted flight to ..... Kuala Lumpur. Fighting fit, and so enjoying maskless freedom and even the sultry heat."

[oakdale160]

I also have had to search for hand sanitiser liquids, probably due to COVID-19, buy it if you see it.

[Big Boy]

I don't remember seeing this before. This is Thailand's official advice https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/eng/index.php

[HHTel]

Old news, 3 weeks ago and containing inaccuracies. To be filed!

[Big Boy]

Old news, 3 weeks ago

Whilst I agree the news is old, it is quoting a few days ago. The 26 Jan date stamp is misleading.

To be filed? I found information such as the 1422 helpline useful.

[HHTel]

Sorry, BB. You're absolutely correct. I did read the date stamp and formed the wrong conclusion. However, when I started reading it and noted that 'ALL cases outside of China were people who had been to or connected with Wuhan, which we know today not to be true.

It goes on to give precautions, like live wild animal markets etc, "Avoid visiting Wuhan'.

Even at the time of the date stamp, Wuhan was on total lockdown.

Thai authorities announced the emergency number 1422 on 1st Feb. Easily missed.

Useful contacts:

Department of Disease Control Call Centre 1422
TAT Contact Centre 1672
Tourist Police 1155

[PeteC]

Just received the below notice from Daughter's school this morning. As it's self-managing of course some will probably not pay attention to it.

Dear Parents and Carers

We have received an update from the International Schools Association of Thailand (ISAT) relaying a new directive from the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry of Education has issued a directive to all schools in Thailand regarding COVID-19. The directive states that any families who have been to China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore or Japan must place themselves in 14 days of quarantine from their date of return to Thailand.

Any member of our school community who has been to one of the areas listed above should, therefore, stay away from school until they have completed this 14 days of quarantine (based on the day they arrived back in the country).

[Dannie Boy]

I just spoke to somebody who recently returned from a family holiday to Japan and he mentioned that his children had been barred from going to school for 2 weeks

[HHTel]

Yet there is no restriction on visitors from those countries. So it applies to local Thais and teachers, even children who have visited those countries. However, if you are Chinese or Singaporean etc etc, then if you get past the checks at the airport then it's fine.

Logic is lost in Thailand.