Thaiophil

555 I’ve seen places get fined or remove certain structures because one is jealous of others doing better and losing customers especially if a spouse in a farang bull <deleted>. Actually, those complaining are plod who have hugely enriched themselves by taking money from bar owners to not enforce whatever the latest bonkers rules are. I picture all the virus platoons patiently waiting outside the bars and as soon as midnight strikes, “ok lads, go go…”

They have been open for months, just legally reclassified as restaurants. Poor old plod will now see reduced income as bars can now open “legally”

Just hand it over to Anutin. He has the pandemic completely under control. We know this because he said so. World oil prices should be a doddle for such a genius

Anutin is a joke. But the daily death rate in the UK is 3x higher and the authorities have declared the pandemic over. In Thailand, most people ignore the remaining minor restrictions and life is pretty much back to normal Time to kick project fear into touch and move on

Is that the royal “we”?

No. Most ATK tests are done privately and positive results not reported to avoid compulsory quarantine ATK tests only detect Omicron in a short window of time. In the period when I had Omi confirmed by PCR, I had 3 ATK tests all negative

There is no “actual data” as the Thai authorities don’t offer free pcr tests in most cases and lateral flow tests, even if people take them and declare the result, are not reliable. Many people getting symptoms either don’t test or don’t reveal the result for fear of compulsory quarantine. Of course suppressing the true infection rate helps official claims about how well the country has managed the pandemic. But that said, I support the underlying wish to declare the pandemic over

Not a weasel phrase, but an integral part of what I said to avoid exaggeration. Based on the arrival date of Omicron in Thailand and assuming a similar R rate to Europe, I stand by my estimate

Noticeably cool in Hua Hin. Cycled back from local cafe Amazon at 11 am and still fresh

The emoticon is appended to a sentence which is very clearly an opinion not statement But if you want to make the case for keeping restrictions despite the minimal rates of serious illness go ahead

If only half of the beds are occupied, then they have too many beds! The increasingly unconvincing attempts by the media and some doctors to fearmonger based on confected stats is getting old. Virtually everyone in Thailand has had Omicron or knows somebody who has and very very few get ill. Time to scrap the daft restrictions and get on with life????

Anyone cracking down on the scum who prey on kids is ok in my book. But I don’t get why the RTP tolerate BJ turning himself into a media superstar and implying that without him personally getting involved, nobody else is doing anything. Either he has deep political connections or a lot of dirt on higher ups????‍♂️

It’s as much about some people making money as it is about control. Imagine how much money clinics and SHA hotels will lose if foreigners are not forced to use them…

It only becomes a medical emergency at 11pm so the bars have to shut. We all know the virus suddenly gets more dangerous later in the evening But the good doc is right, Omicron does not qualify as an emergency due to the low death rate. Time to move on

Wish I could’ve got half that interest when I was actually 25…