Covid-19: Prestigious Bangkok international school admits it has to close because 60 teachers are in virus quarantine

[KruZik]

29 minutes ago, A Los for words said:

The list of high risk countries was published while the teachers and students were already abroad on their half term holidays. It doesn't matter how much the fees are, it doesn't include hindsight. That's why every international school in the country has probably enforced self quarantine.

 

You could argue that there's more chance of the virus spreading if they close schools because no one can police self quarantine, and that it was probably safer to go abroad to Singapore than to hang around in Thailand with Chinese tourists still pottering about.....but that's another debate.

I tried to explain this point in my post below. In a rapidly changing situation, there is no way anyone could have guessed that cases in South Korea would skyrocket, much less that Italy would become a hotbed of disease. As a teacher at one of these schools, personally I decided to stay in Thailand but because I have a baby and didn't fancy exposing her to the airport. Blaming teachers is far too easy to do. By the same token, no Thais should be travelling abroad. Does anyone think that's true? And does anyone think every person arriving in from these 'at risk' countries is effectively self-quarantining? Not to mention the supreme irony of continuing to allow flights from China to land every day.

[Yinn]

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Mr Standen stressed that there was no one at the school either student, parent or teacher who was infected.

 

 

5 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

How's the government going to counter that one ?

 

How do you think?

[Yinn]

2 hours ago, joecoolfrog said:

I find that unlikely , got a link ?

[A Los for words]

2 minutes ago, Yinn said:

Seems to be upside down.

[aspenbkk]

13 hours ago, unamazedloso said:

Chinese still allowed in as they wish and can stay as long as they want though right?

Yes coming and going as normal all still fake no truth as usual. 

[elliss]

6 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

How's the government going to counter that one ?

 

     All under control , tourist numbers increase ...

 

[ifmu]

13 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

  it is Thailand that will present the risk since Thailand most likely is now a disease reservoir holding thousands if not tens of thousands of infected people.  Thailand had an open door policy for  the past three months that put it in that position. I do not accept the Thai assertion of less than 50  infections.

nor do i ... a lot of talk without proof .. 

[emptypockets]

8 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

All I know is my kid has been told not to come back to her school (Shanghai) until further notice, per the Chicom .gov. She is here in Cambodia teaching on line, waiting. 

She's been upgraded from sprog to kid?

[emptypockets]

8 hours ago, Ventenio said:

Am I reading this headline correctly?  60 teachers in, maybe, 60 classrooms with say 20 students in each classroom who have family and friends and take public transportation....

 

nothing we can do, just enjoy your day.  I'm in a cave in North Korea.

 

NOT one reported case.   

 

Don't get the virus in your cave in NK. The girlfriend saw a news item where one infected person had already been executed!

Apparently the test there is a bullet to the head. If you survive you are not infected.

Edited February 29, 2020 by emptypockets

[emptypockets]

8 hours ago, A Los for words said:

A non story. Lots of schools have teachers and students whose teachers and students are in self-quarantine. Nice that they added the word, 'Prestigious' though.

Pretentious may be more accurate, along with words ' Director of Operations'. It's a school for chrissake not an oil refinery. Get rid of the hangers on and drop the fees. 'Deep cleaning' indeed, straight out of the media BS playbook.

Edited February 29, 2020 by emptypockets

[emptypockets]

7 hours ago, Senior Player said:

Firstly, the draconian social distancing measures China has taken won't be so easy to impose or implement in societies that aren't used to being told what to do. One only has to look at the amount of self-entitled individuals that scream "balderdash" and "man-flu won't stop me from doing what I want to do" to see that it won't be as easy to contain as some might think. The Chinese and Iranians are used to being told what to do. Can the same honestly be said of our own western societies? I'm not advocating that we should all go communist, I'm just highlighting how certain countries are better mentally prepared when following draconian decrees than others are. 

 

Secondly, the case numbers coming out of China might not be at all accurate and are only being put out to allay fears within their own country and show their people that they're on top of it. Let's not forget that the Chinese government has changed the definition of what the coronavirus infection is 6 times so far, so it stands to reason that by continually redefining the symptoms they've been able alter the figures. I'm not saying I have all the answers, but one has to be a little sceptical of what the Chinese government say and the dubious claims of WHO and its Director-General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, who does appear to be in the pocket of the Chinese government which has led critics to question the relationship between the two entities. An example of this would be China's sway over the WHO and its success in blocking Taiwan's access to the body, a position that could have very real consequences for the Taiwanese people if the virus takes hold there. There's plenty of other examples that I won't list here as I'm sure you're all familiar with them and can get the information elsewhere if you really want to.

 

Having said that, for now, I'm just sitting back and seeing how things unfold and hoping the world can get a lid on it before it really does get out-of-hand.

Agree with most of what you say. Not sure you can put the Chinese and the Iranians in same do-as-you-are-told boat though.

[emptypockets]

5 hours ago, KamnanT said:

Well over.  As a Year 13 parent, I'm wondering when the school is going to start discussing compensation.  Clearly, no restrictions were placed on where academic staff travelled over the mid-term break (Feb 13-23) and now 60+ are unable to work on campus.  Poor planning for a school that charges top dollar.

 

Is it value for money? That is the critical question. Or just snob value. My kids are adults ( Australians) so I will never have any knowledge of this but am curious to know.

Are the students usually from expat parents paid for by a work related expat package allowance or 'normal' expats who want to send their kids there?

The early years seem somewhat expensive for what is essentially baby sitting.

[emptypockets]

4 hours ago, Jaswinder said:

I don’t believe Thailand has 42 infections till date. Thailand was first country of COVID-19 infection after China and it was just after 1st death in China. In last 2 months there are regular flights from Mainland which is affected too. Till now Thailand must have close to 10k infections and those infected people may be walking around us. COVID-19 test kid is expensive (6500 baht) and not all can afford. 

Why would you want the test? No point if you don't feel sick. If you do feel sick you will get tested anyway if you go to hospital. 

 

[Bangkok3627]

12 hours ago, Bundooman said:

It does seem a little odd, doesn't it?

 

Quote: "He said that the quarantined teachers and students were on private half term trips not school trips. Earlier reports that emanated from the Secretary General of the Private Education Commission Attapon Truektrong erroneously suggested that they had taken part in school trips".

 

Sixty teachers all decided to 'privately' go on trips to suspected, infected countries? 

Did they go separately (as individuals or did they go as a group?

Did the school know they were going?

How exactly, was the school involved in these ventures?

Were any of the students accompanying them? This fact wasn't really clear.

Were they educational trips? If so, who paid for them?

Why were they all allowed to go - assuming that they had informed the school beforehand?

More worryingly - did the Sec.Gen. of Private Ed. Com. sanction these trips and were they really, in fact,"School trips?"

 

The school appears to be back pedalling and covering themselves somewhat selfishly in this very vague scenario style 'Kok-up!'. 

150K per term? Not cheap to have the school decide to

Hello both, just to clarify. The trips taken that are referenced were during half term and not educational trips. Staff were told to avoid countries that were currently high risk. However, after half term many other countries were added that to the list that had previously had no cases e.g. Malaysia and Vietnam. The self quarantine also included if people had been in close contact with anyone that had travelled or been in transit through the country such as neighbours or family members so this even affected many staff who had stayed at home. More importantly, a confirmed case of the virus came from a local thai school which was close to the campus in which three family members who lived and worked in the local area had been infected. In order to keep the students and parents safe, the Thai government advised closing the school. With regard to money and missing lessons, all staff are still working a full day. Students are still provided with lessons through a live online video format and work is submitted and marked online. Hope that helps clear up some worries. Everyone is doing their best at a difficult time. 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Bangkok3627

[Melbun]

22 hours ago, legend49 said:

Slowly the cracks are appearing as more truth is released. One day we will get the full facts. By then the war will be lost for those who keep saying "all is under control"

 

Edited March 1, 2020 by Melbun

[jmccarty]

No working crystal balls since this is not Hogwarts.  These international schools have the same information as available when available.  I can only thank this school's management and others that responsibly take action when they do see the need to.   Its very easy to forget that time passes at the same rate for all of us.

[Melbun]

6 hours ago, Melbun said:

 

Now big question: were the teachers quarantined because of the corona virus or did they catch a dose of nong nai after a night on the town.