What's changing in Thailand after the COVID-19 crisis

"Danish epidemiologist Ida Moustsen-Helms was excited in February when she first saw how well the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine was working in health-care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, who were the first to receive it in Denmark. A clinical trial1 in more than 40,000 people had already found the vaccine to be 95% effective in protecting recipients from symptomatic COVID-19. But Moustsen-Helms, who works at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, and her colleagues were among the first to test its effectiveness outside clinical trials, which can exclude some unhealthy individuals or those taking medicines that suppress immune responses.

The results2 showed it was 64% effective in long-term-care residents with a median age of 84, and 90% effective in health-care workers — which struck Moustsen-Helms as good news, given that immune responses in older people can be muted. But some Danish politicians were upset by the relatively low effectiveness in older recipients. “People were saying ‘how can this be true?’” she says. “Sometimes they forget that when you look at a trial result, those individuals included in trials are very different from people in the real world.”"

So basically this is with Pfizer, which is supposed to be better than AstraZeneca. However, 95% effective in preventing the first contraction of covid and 5% failure rate. That number drops to 64% and 36% in elderly people.

The mixing is a bad idea. That is like doing LCD while drinking whiskey.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01505-x

"England reported that the Pfizer–BioNTech and Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccines are both 85–90% effective in preventing symptomatic disease after two doses."

Source for my last stats because sometimes they block links to other websites.

Nothing to feel great about, a 15% failure rate among those fully vaccinated twice.

Roadhog wrote:

GF has a government job and is renewed yearly. As her job is coming up soon for renewal she was told that she needed the jabs. Not just her but her whole office needed the jabs. Well, it seems like a bad holiday as they are all out sick.

You know, I reported that same outcome at my university months ago and people got on here saying stop telling the bad side effects of AstraZeneca. They are very rare. No! That is not true! It's the reporting of the bad side effects which is rare because people are being told to shut up about them. The number of people who actually feel awful after taking the AstraZeneca vax is quite high as proof by my university, Roadhog's gf's office, Jimmy Dore and his Twitter contacts, and that Dr. Z video and what he was reporting with himself and others he knew of.

To say that because the reporting of the ill effects are low because people are being told to shut up is the same thing as the number of people actually feeling awful after the double jab is just wrong and misleading!

Sorry, this doctor tells it so well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDRjIuC2eZE

Roadhog -- that video is about what 'might happen' in the future.

Why do all of you people think you have a clue what will happen in Thailand in the near future when no one knows. Are you people actually living in Thailand? What people sitting in a sofa in (for example) the UK predicts, is totally irrelevant.

People do predict what will happen in the near future based on how similar things have happened in the past. There is a whole field of study based on forecasting using statistical probability of various outcomes. Courts use outcomes of similar cases to predict outcomes of new or future cases before going to trial, it's called precedent. Historians use it to predict the outcome of current situations by looking at what happened in similar past situations.

There is no truly new and unique event now. It's all a repeat of similar events that have happened hundreds of times previously with slightly new twists, but the essence of the situations are all repeats. 

To say, we don't have a clue what will happen anywhere, anytime is just plain wrong. I guarantee you all government bodies have models designed to predict the probability of outcomes of this situation going forward as well as other situations.

At last, the Pfizer vaccine has full FDA Approval. One small step for mankind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sk-WzlxsoE

The thing I noticed is the pro Pfizer guy says the vaccine, "...is the best protection aside from natural immunity..." (at 2:01). The word 'aside' is key there meaning natural immunity is still the best defense to any pathogen.

Also, the Pfizer vax will probably need booster shots in the future, so it will no longer be a 1 or 2 shot dose in the near future. It will be 3 or more at least. (at 2:13)

Again, near the end of the video the anchors question him about natural immunity and the Pfizer guy says that once you have gotten the disease and recovered naturally , you don't need to get vaccinated. Verifying that the best way to beat a virus or pandemic is by natural immunity and our immune systems, but that the vaccine may raise your protection even more. (at 4:37)

Roadhog wrote:

At last, the Pfizer vaccine has full FDA Approval. One small step for mankind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sk-WzlxsoE

The Pfizer vaccine have had Thai FDA approval for months. But, it has just been administered since the beginning of August.

I live in Dubai and have had 2 Chinese vaccinations along with thousands of other people. To my knowledge this has not resulted in blood clots or anything similar. People with pre existing conditions will always be at risk irrespective of what vaccine you take. The UAE has the highest vaccination rate in the world. The message is just get vaccinated whichever one you choose. Each vaccine will effect everyone very differently.

kstapleton204 wrote:

I live in Dubai and have had 2 Chinese vaccinations along with thousands of other people. To my knowledge this has not resulted in blood clots or anything similar. People with pre existing conditions will always be at risk irrespective of what vaccine you take. The UAE has the highest vaccination rate in the world. The message is just get vaccinated whichever one you choose. Each vaccine will effect everyone very differently.

It's not the Chinese vaccines that cause the blood clots. Sinovac and Sinopharm are both whole virus vaccines which means by getting vaccinated you're actually being infected with the virus, only in a weakened or inactivated state. It's the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines which cause side effects. The AstraZeneca cause blood clots because it's a DNA vaccine which instructs your cells to produce the covid-19 spike proteins. The Moderna is an mRNA vaccine and it causes muscle aches and stiffness as well as a variety of other symptoms in some people. The mRNA vaccines inject the messenger RNA of the covid-19 virus into the body telling your body's cells to produce the spike protein of the virus. The blood clots come from the vaccinated person's own immune system attacking and killing the cells which started to produce these spike proteins since these spike proteins are considered a threat by the immune system.

Anyone living (or planning to live) in Chiang Mai when travel opens up in November 2021?
I'm interested in travelling there for a medium-length stay, but concerned what life will be like upon arrival.
Will the travel and lifestyle restrictions be too imposing?  Will the experience be enjoyable, or are times still to difficult for a stay to be enjoyable?
Would love to hear from anyone in Chiang Mai about your day-to-day life stories!

TheJimbo wrote:

Anyone living (or planning to live) in Chiang Mai when travel opens up in November 2021?
I'm interested in travelling there for a medium-length stay, but concerned what life will be like upon arrival.
Will the travel and lifestyle restrictions be too imposing?  Will the experience be enjoyable, or are times still to difficult for a stay to be enjoyable?
Would love to hear from anyone in Chiang Mai about your day-to-day life stories!

It's still too early to say, but based on what I'm seeing and hearing so far, I would delay the trip until early 2022. Even though shops and bars may start opening in November, it's still very uncertain what will happen and what kind of scene you may have at that time. My wife tells me that the government is saying it will open, but it may change and most Thais don't feel comfortable getting back to normal, yet. As of right now she and most Thais are still working from home.

Somewhat out of date, you should consider updating this for those who are planning a trip to sunny Thailand.

Hiiii Guys My Name Is Jackson Anderson. I live In India For 25 Year.  I Love This Country.
This Is a Beautifull Country, But I'm Not Going To Any Country With My Friends Because This Reson Is Covid 19.
I am supposed to be flying to Thailand in a few weeks for a new position. My visa and permit applications are being processed. In the next few days, I should have more specific information

It's really not the right time to visit Thailand. As this virus is still among us and if you come and you are tested positive like 26 that have so far as from the1 nov. They say the cost will be at least 350,000 baht. So you better have really good insurance. But even the good ones you would be lucky if they covered half.

Hello
I just arrived Phuket yesterday and had to spend one night at a hotel. I was tested at the airport and had the results emailed to me within 5 hours. I could leave the hotel once I was neg but had to stay the night.

The next morning (today) I am at my condo. All is good. I was last here 6 weeks ago and am enjoying the Phuket life once again.

Two different stories are being told about how it now goes visiting Thailand.  One is that it's fine to come here, maybe especially for starting out in Phuket, with a relaxed quarantine process that I think only involves testing and a one night stay in a designated location now, as the last comment mentioned.  News stories say that visitors from a select list of countries can visit with only the test and overnight quarantine now, but with that program only a bit over a week old now it would be best to check into any stories through extensive cross-reference.

Then there are isolated horror stories being circulated, or at least one, about how if you are part of a family and contract covid on the trip you will need to stay in a hospital, separated from your family, and face high costs from that.  It could be a bit overstated but true.  The numbers that seem most common are that around 20,000 people entered (as tourists, or maybe otherwise) over the first 10 days of November and 15 had covid. 

One media story had a father of a family guessing that his total expenses might be over 300,000 baht ($10,000) but that seems to be just his guess, not really based on actual expenses, and including quarantine costs, testing, hotel, transportation, and hospital stay.  A friend spent over a week in a Thai hospital with a far more severe case of covid and his medical bills were over 200,000, but he was in the ICU instead, which wouldn't happen if someone was vaccinated.  He did have problems with getting the insurance he bought to cover all of the expense; it wouldn't be a given that the claim terms would be broad and favorable.

There's real risk, but some communication seems to involve the usual rumor and overstatement.  If that one guy was only guessing about costs, which didn't seem to tie to the story version of actual medical care costs, he might as well have estimated a half million baht, and claimed that most insurance would never cover most of it.  Anyone with vaccination, which would seem to be required, who had checked their insurance terms wouldn't face that kind of risk.  Getting covid probably would throw off a vacation, turning it into a mandatory isolation experience, with at least some expense involved.  The following news story and reference source would be good places to start:

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/cri … omplaints/https://www.facebook.com/richardbarrowthailand

Probably everything will be clearer by the end of the month (November), with more reports back of visitor results in using this program, and more data on infection rates, and outcome for people coming down with covid.  Related to actual in-country travel I live in Bangkok and I've traveled out of the city twice in the last three weeks, to Korat and to a quiet beach resort in Trat, and I've experienced no restrictions of any kind. 

If someone is opposed to wearing a mask that is a complete deal-breaker, and an exception; that just wouldn't be accepted in Thailand in most places.  In that quiet beach resort hotel you could leave it off the entire time but even for going into most hotels, malls, grocery stores or even 7/11 you would have to wear a mask.

Hello
One of the requirements to getting into Thailand is having insurance that covers a covid illness.
There may be big differences between the ins carriers as to what portion of the hospital costs
they will cover.

I would hope the insurance would cover the majority of the covid costs but that may be wishful thinking. I've always thought insurance was a mixed bag you never really need it until you really need it
then you find out how good it is. At least in my case using a foreign insurance. I check some American
ones but they were so costly it was ridiculous. But maybe they had better coverage. Who knows.