Covid-19: Thai immigration have everything under control after several dozen come to Thailand from "Westerdam" ship

[webfact]

Covid-19: Thai immigration have everything under control after several dozen come to Thailand from "Westerdam" ship

 

Picture Daily News

 

A Thai immigration spokesman said that no cases of the Covid-19 virus had been found after dozens of passengers who were on the Westerdam cruise ship arrived in the country from Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital.

 

The Cambodian authorities had allowed the ship to stop in their country.

 

Pol Maj-Gen Surapong Chaijan, a deputy of the IB, said that 18 passengers arrived at Suvarnabhumi on Friday and 61 on Saturday.

 

All were screened and cleared of the virus. There are about 19 flights daily into Thailand from Phnom Penh.

 

Maj-Gen Surapong said everything was in hand. His chief Lt-Gen Sompong Chingduang had ordered watches at five international airports (the two in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Hat Yai) as well as land and sea borders.

 

All arrivals from the ship would be allowed entry after being screened by medical personnel and their stays in Thailand would be monitored.

 

Similarly there were no problems at the Mae Sot border area where everything was in hand.

 

Picture: Daily News

 

There was concern expressed in reports that hundreds of Chinese were passing into Thailand over the Friendship bridge between Myanmar and Tak province.

 

Surapong said that about 70-100 Chinese were traversing the bridge per day and no one had the virus. Checks were all in place.

 

Three that had come from infected areas in China were passed clear after checks.

 

Thailand was one of several countries that denied docking to the Westerdam.

 

Source: Daily News

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-02-17

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[taninthai]

Great to hear that immigration are now medical experts too and have everything under control????

[webfact]

AOT tightens screening of passengers from Cambodia

By THE NATION

 

 

Airports of Thailand Pcl (AOT) announced this week that it is working with the Department of Disease Control to tighten the screening of passengers from Cambodia after the “Westerdam” cruise ship docked at Sihanoukville, Cambodia, last week and some 20 passengers were diagnosed as infected with the new coronavirus (Covid-19).

 

According to an AOT statement, measures have been put in place at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and Phuket international airports, which receive flights from Cambodia. All these airports will prepare separate bays for planes arriving from Cambodia from February 14-21, a practice similar to the one used for passengers coming from China.

 

 

As for the flight TG585 departing from Phnom Penh, which had carried 27 passengers who had disembarked from “Westerdam”, the medical staff had screened all passengers and found no signs of infection or fever, and had allowed them to proceed to their destinations. All passengers leaving Thailand are given advice on virus protection as well as a Health Beware Card.

 

Suvarnabhumi Airport receives 19 flights from Cambodia every day, while Don Mueang gets seven flights per day and Phuket airport has one flight per day. Other airports under the AOT’s administration (Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, and Mae Fah Luang-Chiang Rai) do not receive flights from Cambodia.

 

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30382253

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-02-17

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[JustAnotherHun]

Thailand has always everything under control. Brain giants like Anutin and the beloved general have tranformed the country to the most advanced worldwide. Thainess rules!

[tifino]

they waited'n'waited until the perfect photo op came up...

 - the shot showing (exclusive to falangs) the sans mask thing 

 

 

but I now see 'one' ruined the pattern 

[Odysseus123]

Bwa ha ha....

[bangkokfrog]

50 minutes ago, webfact said:

Lt-Gen Sompong Chingduang had ordered watches at five international airports.

Sarcasm warning ... I wonder which of his superiors the watches are for!  

 

More importantly, when a government anywhere in the world says it has "everything under control" it is time to worry.

Edited February 17, 2020 by bangkokfrog

[4MyEgo]

If everything is under control then why are we all worried ?

 

BS aside of course ????

 

[cornishcarlos]

52 minutes ago, webfact said:

Three that had come from infected areas in China were passed clear after checks.

 

So they deny a ship, with no reported cases of the virus, to dock but allow Chinese from infected areas to waltz on in !!!

 

 

[SmartyMarty]

Nothing to worry about......only Chinese are dying.

[colinneil]

Please stop with crazy headlines like the above.... Thai immigration have everything under control.

Pi++ up/ brewery springs to mind.

Immigration officers lined up for the photo op, not 1 of the plonkers wearing gloves.

[RotBenz8888]

I know they urge people to wear face masks, but to cover a whole table just for that cause?

[spiekerjozef]

soon called the westerdam virus

[spiekerjozef]

3 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said:

Brain giants like Anutin and the beloved general

Should we call him our beloved leader from now on?

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by spiekerjozef

[Saint Nick]

"thai immigration have everything under control..."

No...they don't!

[Grumpy John]

When I  was a kid if dad said "Not a problem", "Everything is under control", "Don't worry,  I will take care of it" I felt safe in the knowledge everything would be OK.  Unfortunately when some politician chirps up with similar sentiments I  feel less safe and start wondering what the truth may reveal should the truth be revealed......

[Sonhia]

Really???

[Tropicalevo]

3 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

So they deny a ship, with no reported cases of the virus, to dock but allow Chinese from infected areas to waltz on in !!!

 

 

Except that today, there is now a confirmed case of a woman from that ship, now in KL, is confirmed as having the virus. But her husband is OK.

Malaysia has now closed its border to all other passengers from that ship!

Be afraid. Be very afraid!????

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

All were screened and cleared of the virus. There are about 19 flights daily into Thailand from Phnom Penh.

Except whatever screening they may have done at the airport of the transiting Westerdam passengers (likely checking temperature and other visible symptoms) in no way guarantees all those folks are free of the CV....  Even people with real visible symptoms sometimes test negative on the real heavy duty RT-PCR tests until the disease has progressed some.

 

The authorities here may end up getting lucky with no consequences. But basically, they're talking out of their ***es when they make statements like this.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

14 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

But her husband is OK.

 

The NYT article I read on the subject today said the elderly husband has pneumonia, despite having tested negative for CV thus far.  There seems to be considerable opinion that he too likely has CV, and will end up testing positive at some future point, given his likely close exposure to his CV positive wife.

 

[buick]

i flew into BKK yesterday and they had a temp check similar to what is shown in the picture set up to check everyone that arrived in the E/F/G concourse area.  as you come off those concourses, you have to pass the check on your way to the immigration halls.

 

last week, when i departed, i noticed all flights to china, hong kong, and macau were directed to use the security/immigration hall nearest the check in desks designated with letters at the end of the alphabet.  i was going to vietnam so i used the other security/immigration hall but did leave from an E gate (which is nearest the immigration hall dedicated to the china, hong kong, macau flights).

Edited February 17, 2020 by buick

[PETERTHEEATER]

1 hour ago, RotBenz8888 said:

I know they urge people to wear face masks, but to cover a whole table just for that cause?

That 'table's is a coffin containing a Chinese corpse. Have some respect 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Airports of Thailand Pcl (AOT) announced this week that it is working with the Department of Disease Control to tighten the screening of passengers from Cambodia after the “Westerdam” cruise ship docked at Sihanoukville, Cambodia, last week and some 20 passengers were diagnosed as infected with the new coronavirus (Covid-19).

 

BTW, I believe the last part of the article quoted above is WRONG - there were 20 people onboard the ship who had visited the medical clinic during the cruise, and they were actually virus tested and found NEGATIVE before being let off the ship in Cambodia. There have NOT been 20 people from the ship diagnosed with CV -- only ONE thus far (an elderly American woman), and perhaps a 2nd being her husband, both now in Malaysia.

 

Here's a bit of background on what was done with the departing passengers in Cambodia before they were let off the ship -- none of that providing any guarantee the passengers were actually free from the CV.

 

Quote

On Feb. 10 all 2,257 passengers and crew on board Westerdam were temperature-tested and not one person had an elevated temperature. Disembarking guests also completed a written health questionnaire and the passports of everyone on board were reviewed to ensure no one had traveled through mainland China in the prior 14 days. During the voyage there was no indication of Covid-19 on the ship.

 

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6UJnQTI_bSgJ:https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/ships/ms-westerdam/statement-regarding-westerdam-in-japan/+&cd=16&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

 

From the media reports I've read, Hun Sen supposedly personally greeted the departing passengers with flowers at some point in the process.... Perhaps he will end up finding the passengers left some departing gift for him as well!

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

If there's any good news for Thailand in all of this, it's probably that most of the ship's passengers, including those who transited via Thailand, probably aren't planning to hang around Thailand, and after being stuck on the Westerdman beyond schedule, probably are looking to just get back to their homes as soon as possible. So if there are any other future cases, it probably won't be so much in Thailand as in the home countries where all those folks have departed for.

 

[SkyFax]

13 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

From the media reports I've read, Hun Sen supposedly personally greeted the departing passengers with flowers at some point in the process.... Perhaps he will end up finding the passengers left some departing gift for him as well!

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 minutes ago, SkyFax said:

 

Let's hope he had some big kisses on the lips too!  

[Redline]

Can still pass the virus with testing positive-people need to be tested concurrent days after suspected infection 

[KKr]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

where everything was in hand.

let me pass on this opportunity to kick the ball into the open goal ... 

hope they will start wearing gloves and masks as needed

Edited February 17, 2020 by KKr

[Cake Monster]

5 hours ago, colinneil said:

Please stop with crazy headlines like the above.... Thai immigration have everything under control.

Pi++ up/ brewery springs to mind.

Immigration officers lined up for the photo op, not 1 of the plonkers wearing gloves.

Just imagine what those passengers from the "Westerdam " must have thought when entering Thailand from Cambodia.

There they were being refused entry to Thailand, then their Cruse Liner was escorted out of the Gulf of Thailand by a Thai Navy Frigate.

Then were then tested and given the all clear in Cambodia, where they transited to Thailand to be greeted by a load of Gestapo type uniformed Immigration Police, again tested and then allowed to depart Thailand.

If I was one of those Passengers, I would not have a very good impression of Thailand, and would have thought a trick had been played on me, and I was sent to North Korea

How to win friends and influence people Thai style.

[Enoon]

7 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

So they deny a ship, with no reported cases of the virus, to dock but allow Chinese from infected areas to waltz on in !!!

 

 

 

Quite so.

 

Asymptomatic carriers (the majority of those infected at any time), disembarking from aeroplanes, pass without concern or investigation.

 

The absurd pantomime around the ship was nothing but propaganda for gullible Thais, as well as an unsurprisingly large number of equally gullible TVF members.