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Commerce offices told to keep watch on hoarding, price of face masks


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Commerce offices told to keep watch on hoarding, price of face masks

By THE NATION

 

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The Commerce Ministry has instructed its provincial offices nationwide to closely monitor the price and sale volume of face masks to prevent vendors from hoarding or selling them at an inflated price.

 

The ministry's permanent-secretary Boonyarit Kalayanamit said that demand for masks had risen sharply in response to the coronavirus outbreak and air pollution caused by the hazardous PM2.5 particulate matter. 

 

The ministry has also asked mask manufacturers to boost production capacity to meet surging demand. 

 

The Department of Internal Trade's deputy director-general Prayoth Benyasut said that mask-makers had reassured him that there would not be a shortage, saying that their combined capacity amounts to 100 million items per month.

 

Normally, the demand for face masks averages 30 million per month and would increase to 50 million per month in the events of haze, thick smog or an epidemic. 

 

Some manufacturers are now making masks round the clock, he added. 

 

He said there would be sufficient supply of masks for the next four months  while urging the public against hoarding. 

 

He said people should call hotline 1569 to make a complain if they found any vendor selling masks at an inflated price.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30381240

 

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-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-01-30
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1 hour ago, Beggar said:

Many of the sold face mask will not protect against the virus. Here a lot of information work needs to be done and shops should be stopped to sell such useless masks. 

All masks serve some kind of purpose, why should shops stop selling them?

It's up to the individual to make purchases using information at their disposal.

 

I could understand your point if shops were advertising certain masks as some kind of panacea, but I've not seen that yet

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" The ministry has also asked mask manufacturers to boost production capacity to meet surging demand."

Very bold action! As if market forces, aka supply and demand, don't apply here.

Oh wait.... hmmm... where am I?

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3 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

All masks serve some kind of purpose, why should shops stop selling them?

It's up to the individual to make purchases using information at their disposal.

 

I could understand your point if shops were advertising certain masks as some kind of panacea, but I've not seen that yet

Here is one of such useless masks. A Thai friend used it all the time and is sick now. At the moment it is not clear if it is just a cold or more. It just started. Such and many other masks are useless to protect against the virus. The people need to be educated and also the shops should not sell them for protection against the virus. 

Mask.jpg

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3 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

I bought 1500 3M N95 masks on Friday. 

I'm waiting for the panic to set in and then sell them for a nice profit!

I wonder if they were legit 3M masks of the ton of fakes you see on Lazada. Curious where you got your supplies from?

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6 hours ago, webfact said:

The ministry has also asked mask manufacturers to boost production capacity to meet surging demand. 

 

The Department of Internal Trade's deputy director-general Prayoth Benyasut said that mask-makers had reassured him that there would not be a shortage, saying that their combined capacity amounts to 100 million items per month.

 

The sad part is, I'm pretty sure the numbers and capacity the government is talking about above is strictly for the relatively unprotective drugstore paper type masks, which are manufactured locally here (and elsewhere in the world).

 

I'm not aware of/don't know of many/any of the far more effective N95 respirator mask manufacturers that are local to Thailand, including 3M.

 

As for no shortage, try going to your local store or retailer right now and trying to buy even the regular paper drugstore variety of masks... Even those right now are pretty hard to find.

 

Edited by TallGuyJohninBKK
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5 hours ago, hrrecruiter said:

This is a decent deal - https://bit.ly/2vxNDoq - 7x 3M masks for just over 1,000THB delivered at home, saves you on the shipping instead of buying one by one. Got a set for the family, good for corona virus and pollution too. 

That's a rip off. You can buy 10 packs of those 3M masks for the equivalent of about 450 baht in the U.S..

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6 hours ago, Beggar said:

Many of the sold face mask will not protect against the virus. Here a lot of information work needs to be done and shops should be stopped to sell such useless masks. 

You cannot stop shops from selling a viable range of products, however with a little education and plain language customers should be advised as to what is appropriate for what application.

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14 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

In Thailand, for that price they would sell a box of 50.

 

FWIW, those that the other poster showed on Lazada are (if genuine) the 3M Aura type with the exhale valve on the front to make them more comfortable in hot/humid environments.

 

Generally speaking, the 3M masks with the exhale valves seem to be about DOUBLE the price of the regular 3M masks without the exhale valve. And that's when buying them from regular sellers at regular prices -- not the Thailand coronavirus scare prices.

 

But still, in the U.S., the normal price for the valve type 3M masks ranges up to around $2 U.S. or about equiv. 65 baht apiece, not the 165b per mask price of the Lazada listing.

 

Walmart right now has a 20-pack box of the same masks -- out of stock unfortunately -- for 72 cents a piece, $14.30 for the set, just by way of comparison.

 

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Edited by TallGuyJohninBKK
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5 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

You cannot stop shops from selling a viable range of products, however with a little education and plain language customers should be advised as to what is appropriate for what application.

The government should not only be worried about the price of masks but also about the quality. 

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3 hours ago, rtco said:

The advice is that masks are next to useless

 

6 hours ago, hrrecruiter said:

This is a decent deal - https://bit.ly/2vxNDoq - 7x 3M masks for just over 1,000THB delivered at home, saves you on the shipping instead of buying one by one. Got a set for the family, good for corona virus and pollution too. 

What grade (protection level) were these masks?  Not asking to be a smart a$&. I am genuinely looking for n95 rated masks.  I worry about Lazada, do much fake stuff on there.

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5 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

I bought 1500 3M N95 masks on Friday. 

I'm waiting for the panic to set in and then sell them for a nice profit!

N95 respirators offer more protection. Such devices are designed to prevent 95 per cent of small particles from entering the nose and mouth area. But they only work if they fit properly, and aren’t suitable for children or people with facial hair.

N95 respirators can also make it more difficult for a person to breathe, so could be dangerous for someone showing symptoms of infection of the new coronavirus, which include coughing and shortness of breath.



 

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None of these masks form an airtight seal; such as a respirator or gas mask. So they will be useless against any airborne "germ" ; bacterial infection or virus.  They could help against an infected person spreading the disease by containing sneezes, runny nose, etc.

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