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To add to this article, most of malaysian recent cases, as well as significant jump in daily cases (since 25 may, 172 cases as opposed to 60 cases day before) was due to increase testing of migrants workers and expats, with the last few weeks has been on detention centers of illegal immigrants cases surges. Local transmission rate between citizens has been relatively low the past few weeks (hovering between single digits to 20). Only 7 cases today (2 imported cases from returning citizen and 5 local transmission mainly from close contact) marks the lowest daily cases we had.

COVID-19: Thailand’s Looming Second Wave Can Thailand avoid following in Singapore’s footsteps by upgrading its treatment of migrant workers? Health experts warn that Thailand is vulnerable to a second wave of COVID-19 infections due to neglect of the country’s massive migrant labor sector. Migrant workers often live in squalid, cramped conditions without adequate sanitation and poor access to medical care. Thai media has fanned anti-migrant prejudice creating a “us” (Thai citizens) versus “them” mentality. But Dr. Vit Suwanvanichkij, an epidemiologist with long experience of assisting migrant communities, warned that “COVID-19 does not distinguish between Thais and non-Thais. An outbreak in any of these crowded migrant settlements affects all of us; there is no such thing as ‘us’ or ‘them.’ From a COVID-19 standpoint, these are the proverbial ticking time bombs.” The 3.9 million migrants in Thailand — approximately 10 percent of the total workforce — have been hit hardest by mass lay-offs of workers since the COVID-19 outbreak. Johnny Adhikari runs a migrant charity called Metta in the Thai -Myanmar border town of Mae Sot. He told The Diplomat that “90 percent of all Myanmar migrants have lost their jobs, leaving over 750,00 people stranded in Thailand since the borders were closed without any income. Many are desperate for food and shelter.” Three Thailand-Myanmar border checkpoints have been partially reopened since May 19 to permit migrants to get back home. But with Myanmar ill-prepared to provide sufficient quarantine facilities for returnees, only 50,000 have been accepted for repatriation so far at the Mae Sot immigration checkpoint. Many fear that Thailand is highly vulnerable to the kind of second wave of COVID-19 infections that caught Singapore by surprise. In early April, Singapore was being hailed as one of the countries that had got its coronavirus response right. It appeared that the city-state seemed to have suppressed cases without imposing the restrictive lockdown measures endured by millions elsewhere. But the authorities sadly neglected to include the migrant labor dormitories in their COVID-19 prevention management plan. Tommy Koh, Singapore’s former foreign minister, wrote on Facebook: “The dormitories were like a time bomb waiting to explode. The way Singapore treats its foreign workers is not First World, but Third World.” As a result of this oversight, more than 20,000 of Singapore’s migrant workers caused an unexpected “second wave” of confirmed cases, with the city-state regularly reporting over 1,000 new cases a day at one point. The country now has over 34,800 confirmed cases after having a total of exactly 1,000 cases on April 1. Adisorn Kerdmongkul, the manager of the Migrants Working Group (MWG), is worried that Thailand’s neglect of the plight of 700,000 vulnerable migrants could also bring about a dramatic surge in infections, as happened in Singapore. “They are not able to take care of themselves financially and their health suffers,” Adisorn added. “At the same time, without thorough testing and medical checks, it is feared that many poor people may be infected.” The problem of the migrant health in Thailand was summed up by Brahm Press, the director of migrant support agency MAP Foundation in Chiang Mai: “Migrants are always the last to be considered in health care. and the last to receive PPE protective aids.” At Thailand’s Ministry of Health, Dr. Supakit Sirilak, the deputy permanent secretary, told The Diplomat the authorities “are aware of the threat of a second wave, but we think Thai situation is less vulnerable than Singapore.” “We have alerted all provinces to mount health checks on migrant communities,” Supakit continued. “We have done saliva testing for COVID-19 on 6,000 migrants in the provinces and they all turned out negative.” However migrant organizations are not convinced there has been enough Thai government support. Migrant adviser Adisorn reported after the economic shutdowns, “We found that around 500,000 migrants had not received health insurance renewals due to their loss of work permits and around 1,000,000 migrant workers were without social security.” But that would not stop migrants from getting hospital treatment, according to the government. Dr. Supakit claimed that “if migrants have no health insurance and no money to pay for it, then the hospital has to provide free treatment.” However, Adisorn disputed this claim, saying, “Migrants are too afraid to visit a hospital without any money. because many hospitals will not accept them.” This is why the migrant NGOs like the Mekong Migration Network and other humanitarian agencies have appealed to the Thai government to declare “a clear policy of access to free public healthcare appropriately prepared to deal with the complexities of a pandemic.” That a major outbreak of COVID-19 infection among migrants has not already occurred in Thailand can largely be attributed to the dedicated work of the Migrant Health Volunteers (MHVs) network, which reaches out to the migrant communities. Migrant workers make up a large share of people in provinces like Ranong and Samut Sakhon in central Thailand where certain pockets are known as “Little Myanmar.” Viroonsiri Arayawong, a researcher of the Department of Health Service Support, told the Bangkok Post that “MHVs and the VHV [Thai Volunteer Health Workers] form the backbone of manpower controlling the spread of diseases in migrant worker communities.” MHVs are usually from the same nationalities as the migrant workers, and act as interpreters for Thai officials passing on information about COVID-19 infections. The Health Ministry’s Dr. Supakit also cited the Migrant Health Volunteers as very important, saying, “We have provided medical training to the volunteers with 500 operating in Samut Prakhon alone. They are effective in five provinces.” But what will happen in the capital, Bangkok, with a large migrant worker population not covered by the volunteer scheme? The health ministry admits that Bangkok, where at least 16 migrants have already tested positive, is a major concern. The health ministry concedes that they need more funds to help migrants, but Dr. Supakit noted “we cannot use the special Thai budget for unemployed workers” for that purpose. The budget only covers Thai workers, “and the cabinet says it cannot be extended to cover migrant workers.” At the same time, the ministry admits that with migrants living in dormitories, sometimes with eight people in one room, social distancing is impossible, and their accommodation especially in the capital, needs to be improved. Is the Thai government doing enough to avert another Singapore-style disaster? Dr. Vit Suwanvanichkij predicts that “the cramped and squalid migrant living conditions that give rise to these heightened vulnerabilities will continue to pose omnipresent threats to Thailand’s prospects of being able to sustain successful control initiatives in the country.” But the COVID-19 emergency also provides an opportunity for Thailand to reflect on the importance of migrants to the Thai economy, and to take better care of their welfare and rights in accordance with International Labor Organization conventions. The strong message from migrant aid groups and UN agencies is that protecting the rights of migrants will also benefit Thai citizens, by taking all necessary precautions to avert a second wave of infections.

There is an article relating about asian countires policies on Tuberculosis vaccine has something to do with relatively low cases and low death rate early on. But then, we have indonesia and philliphines death rates that doesnt follow such trend.

Easiest things to do first is opening up regional or border countries. Sadly, in SE region, we had few countries with high daily cases still with many still afraid of second wave, so it wont be as quick as one can hope for. Some countries are also battling illegal immigrant trying to enter the country through borders too.

I commented before that two countries needed to create a mutual agreement in order to open up international travel. I came to a recent article in timeout and they gave the name to this, coined as travel bubble, quoting britain-france plan. This will avoid the quarantine requirement, and contained the virus spreading only within this bubble. Other than immigration limitation to international travelling, the risk is not much different than domestic travelling. If both gov mutually agrees to shoulder the risk together, then we can potentially see boost in international tourism soon. I might oversimplify this as this can be very tough to achieve.

Malaysia gov has opened up domestic travel. Within an hour, 1000 hotels bookings made to one island destination, langkawi. 5 stars hotel slashing prices up to 70%.

Btw, malaysia gov just announced there will be no 14 days quarantined for returning malaysian citizens starting 10th June. All returnee will be required to be tested though, and can go back home once a negative test result is obtained. Things are looking good on one end now.

Thats what im thinking too, just let us travel already haha.

What i found from the above link. Only the strongest will travel as tourists focus more on their health and safety. This means Gen Y or Millennials are expected to be the first to come back during any recovery period. Services must be adjusted to serve this group; who are self-assured, have high standards, expect new innovations to combat the health situation, and are concerned for family and friends once back home.

I remembered a friend of mine had this before, and i was reading about it and dont recall it was a sexually transmitted disease. A quick google supported this. So while it is contagious, the infected person will get chickenpox instead of shingles. Shingles itself cames from the same virus that caused chicken pox and anyone who has had chicken pox before can develop shingles years later when the virus lays dormant got activated mainly due to weakened immune system. Below is the excerpt from mayo clinic. So, im not sure why the doctor makes that remark about std to you dear and potentially faithful friend when he got shingles. Are you contagious? A person with shingles can pass the varicella-zoster virus to anyone who isn't immune to chickenpox. This usually occurs through direct contact with the open sores of the shingles rash. Once infected, the person will develop chickenpox, however, not shingles. Chickenpox can be dangerous for some people. Until your shingles blisters scab over, you are contagious and should avoid physical contact with anyone who hasn't yet had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine, especially people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women and newborns. Risk factors Anyone who has ever had chickenpox can develop shingles. Most adults in the United States had chickenpox when they were children, before the advent of the routine childhood vaccination that now protects against chickenpox. Factors that may increase your risk of developing shingles include: Being older than 50. Shingles is most common in people older than 50. The risk increases with age. Some experts estimate that half the people age 80 and older will have shingles. Having certain diseases. Diseases that weaken your immune system, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer, can increase your risk of shingles. Undergoing cancer treatments. Radiation or chemotherapy can lower your resistance to diseases and may trigger shingles. Taking certain medications. Drugs designed to prevent rejection of transplanted organs can increase your risk of shingles — as can prolonged use of steroids, such as prednisone.

More news thai-airways-to-resume-international-flights-from-1st-july Starting from 1st July 2020, Thai Airways will officially resume international flight operations to 32 countries worldwide, following the end of travel restrictions imposed in response the COVID-19 pandemic. The news was confirmed by Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) and follows the recent government decision to lift all travel restrictions and resume normal tourism operations nationwide from the beginning of July. According to CAAT, Thai Airways will recommence operations on international routes, reconnecting Thailand to (among others) China, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, India, France, the UK, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. Flight schedules vary for each destination, from daily to two-, three- and four-times weekly services. From 1st July, travellers in cities worldwide – from Paris and Copenhagen, to Islamabad, Karachi, Beijing and Brisbane – will be able to connect to the Land of Smiles with Thai Airways. From 2nd July, the carrier will also open return services to Bangkok from Bali, Dhaka, Lahore, Nagoya and Zurich. To ensure the safety of all passengers on board the new flights, the airline will enforce strict COVID-19 safety protocols. Travellers will also be permitted to bring sanitizing hand gels and alcohol sprays on board with them. According to the latest announcement, Thai Airways will discontinue its previous flights from Milan, Rome, Moscow, Vienna, Stockholm, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Sendai, Kathmandu, Oslo and Colombo. THAI Smile Airways will take over all domestic routes. International flight schedules are subject to change.

My thought it is purely political move to justify opening up the country. Seems like there is a push back on social media when the gov announced july 1st as the end of the emergency decree, and resuming international flight. If they can do that, why cant religion activities including the belated songkran, be held. Agreed that the real religious events cant be moved, but there is also associated cultural activities attached to songkran. The long holiday, going back to your hometown to pay respect to their elders and ancesters. It will also be a celebration of finally getting covid-19 under control. Now the article is very vague, and comes with a disclaimer that says numbers of cases must be kept low. And it mentioned that it is mainly to promote local tourism with the long holiday. And no mention of what is allowed and not allowed, and of course this could be just one person in the gov pitching an idea in hope to get support from his voters.

songkran-holiday-in-july-possible Thoughts? Revellers and water fights are absent from Silom Road, one of Bangkok’s top destinations for the Songkran festival, on April 13, 2020, due to the Covid-19 outbreak. (Photo by Wichan Charoenkiatpakul) A long holiday in July is being considered to make up for the cancellation of Songkran festivities, if the Covid-19 situation allows it, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Monday. CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said a holiday for the deferred Songkhan period is possible next month on condition of low numbers of coronavirus cases. "July could be a period to make up for Songkran if everything goes well," he added. The government delayed the Thai new year festival holiday from April 13-15 until further notice due to fears large gatherings and the homecoming of revellers could exacerbate the virus outbreak. The sharp drop in new cases and deaths, the possible end of the emergency decree and a government attempt to promote local tourism have raised hopes that a long holiday replacing Songkran could be imminent. Dr Taweesilp said keeping the number of new cases and deaths low will be a factor to consider when authorising a replacement for Songkran.

The alternative to the above is be in a monogamous relationship with your partner after both have tested free of std (including all the window period), thus eliminating any risks of std. Of course there is still a risk of you or your partner being unfaithful and have sex with a different person.

Yeah, but living with hiv is no walk in the park as well. You want that?

So there is no heterosexual men with HIV then by your logic? Yes risk is lower but not minimal nor negligible. Prep is additional layer of protection for HIV and while u can get it without prescription, it is not advisable to take it without checking that you are HIV negative to avoid drug resistance, as well as monitoring for side effect. And yes, since its only for HIV, regular std testing is also advisable.

Sadly or maybe fortunately, virus risks isnt much different where u are, but more dependent on your activities. But yeah, social distancing is to stay around until vaccine is available at home or at foreign countries. In the end, would u rather be at home social distancing, or at a different country, that is the question we ought to answer ourselves. For some, thailand might be safer (lower active cases) than their country though.

If one country open their border for tourist, tourist will only travel out of their countrybto visit if they dont have to be quarantine when they came back home later. Hence G2G decision is needed to ensure the tourism is alive again. It is an uncharted area we are facing right now, but some countries are definitely more pressured to open up than others. Its only a matter of time before they get together and agrees on the set of SOP that works for both countries and start to make tourism possible again especially if itll benefit both countries. Now back to thailand, they have significantly less cases compared to many others. That means they have not suffered much by the virus, but that also means their healthcare has not been tested yet if and when they suddenly had the surges in cases like some countries (recent example would be brazil). However, their economy had been affected really badly. So it is in their interest to start working with other gov to revive their tourism. And starting with countries that visited thailand the most are logical, though id say they might get better result if they start with countries that also thai citizen like to visit hence they also have something to offer. What are some things that might need to be agreed? One thing for sure is the cost of treating the covid-19 patient, including isolation, quarantine of close contact etc which i believed should be bourned by the country of origin or by insurance. Second is what to do with those who get caught not following the SOP which probably be treated like extradition treaty. These are just few things that need to be spelt out and im sure there are more things to discuss and getting agreement on so many items will not be easy unless both parties will get the benefit out of this. To be honest, initially, WHO were against closing border as it is viewed as punishment hence some countries will start to manipulate the situation to avoid getting into the ban list. Only when enough countries closed their borders that WHO changed their mind. Now that we are thinking about the reverse, opening borders can be viewed as a reward/act of trust between governments but some countries might also be motivated to manipulate their cases number to be included in the "safe list". It will not be easy to see anyone taking the first move to open up their borders

Lockdown eased from Monday The government has announced the third stage of the easing of the business and activity lockdown, effective from Monday. It allows restricted activities at schools, theatres, beauty parlours, fitness clubs, sports fields, recreational ponds, ballroom dancing venues, convention halls and zoos. The curfew is also shortened to 11pm to 3am from June 1. Gen Somsak Roongsita, secretary-general of the National Security Council, said on Friday that school buildings can reopen for admission examinations and short training sessions, but not for normal classes. Private tuition schools for vocational training, arts and sports can resume. Malls could remain open until 9pm. Exhibition and convention venues could also open until 9pm, but activity space at each would be limited to 20,000 square metres. Buddha amulet markets will reopen, as long as operators prevent visitors crowding together. Barbers and hairdressers will be allowed to dye hair in addition to hair cutting, washing and drying, but their services are still capped at two hours at a time and customers are not allowed to wait on the premises. Child daycare centres can open only for the preparation of food and beverages for parents to take home to their children. Beauty clinics and salons and tattoo and piercing parlours can reopen, but not provide facial services, and staff and customers must wear face masks. Health-oriented massage parlours can reopen for two hours of service at a time. Sex massage parlours, steam and herbal saunas remain closed. Fitness clubs in and outside malls will reopen from June 1 but visitors' numbers will be limited and sauna services are still suspended. Stadiums for football, futsal, basketball and volleyball will resume for exercise and practice, on the condition the number of non-players is capped at 10. Bowling and skating centres and the like can reopen for exercise and practice only. Ballroom dancing centres will reopen. Ponds for sports and recreational activities - for jetskis, kitesurfing, banana boats and such-like - can reopen as long as the number of people is limited, but not for competition. Theatres, including movie theatres, will reopen but the audience is limited at 200 at each place. Everyone must wear face masks, and double-seating is allowed. The ban on concerts continues. Zoos can reopen but visitors must not gather for activities. Curfew hours will be shortened to 11pm-3am to facilitate more businesses.

If i read correctly, in june, more businesses will be allowed to open, but all of these businesses and their customers needs to use the app. I think the type of businesses was spelled out earlier in a different article but i guess to know exactly which ones, will have to wait and see. It also means the gov knows where and when u go to visit any of the business premises, gay bar, sauna or gogo bar alike.

Just realized that reader also posted this news on gay bangkok thread. If admin can delete this or combine, much appreciated.

Link Complete end to lockdown on July 1 State of emergency likely to end June 30 The government has set July 1 for the lift of all business and activity lockdowns ordered earlier to cope with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), said the National Security Council chief. These include interprovincial and international travel, as well as the end of emergency decree and curfew. NSC secretary-general Gen Somsak Rungsita said on Thursday that the lift of restrictions would be a complete reopening of the country. Officials would next month prepare measures for the reopening. "Authorities will have serious discussions because after the emergency decree ends, other laws will be used instead," he said. "People's cooperation is important. This concerns the use of face masks, social distancing, hand wash and limited activities. As long as the disease is spreading worldwide, we will have to fight against it for a while." Gen Somsak said the executive decree on public administration in emergency situations would end in June and the ban on international travel would continue until then. The full reopening will come after the third phase of the relaxation to take place in June. The government's Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) will on Friday finalise details on what businesses could resume and on what conditions under the third phase of relaxation in June. On Wednesday, his committee on business easing did not reach a conclusion on high-risk activities that were suspended and seriously affected the economy, he said. For next month, Gen Somsak said that curfew hours would be further shortened and more restrictions on inter-provincial travel would be lifted under the third phase. CCSA spokesman Dr Taweesil Visanuyothin on Thursday said more activities at malls would resume and athletes' practicing grounds would reopen. Operators and customers would be required to use Thai Chana mobile application for checking in and out of premises since the businesses allowed to reopen in this stage are medium- to high-risk ones. Prime Minister's Office Minister Tewan Liptapallop said movie theatres would not reopen because operators said there was no new movie during this time. "It is not because we oppose the reopening, but operators say there are no new films to screen at the moment," he said. He also said the government was considering financial aid for temples where all activities stopped including donations from the public.

Interesting point as i believe this part is true not just for thailand but the rest of the world too. But if we focus on tourism and travel alone, some countries are hit harder than others, hence they are under pressure to open their border soonest. Below is an article discussing this, and thailand, cambodia and philliphines are those in asia that relies on tourism a lot. They also looked at the biggest economies and effect of tourism on those economies and a look at how much some countries tend to lost out on tourism dollar value due to covid-19. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/countries-reliant-tourism/

All of this temptations because the businesses needed cash money to stay afloat. Id be wary to buy anything this early, as some businesses might not even there anymore by the time you can travel to honor your booking. And chance of refund in bankruptcy is pretty slim. On the other hand, if you believe in the businesses and want to support them in time of crisis, buying their early vouchers might help them stay afloat too. Just hope enough people will buy the vouchers so that the businesses will still survive once travel is allowed. To be honest, i doubt the hotel will charge high rate anyway even when we are allowed to travel. Itll take some times for the amount of tourists visiting to come back to normal level and businesses will have to compete to get customers from a much smaller pool.

So far the news and article about the virus has been gloomy, but i see it as the more we know (good or bad), the better we will be at seeing the end of this. Its nearly impossible to manage the unknown. On a brighter note, vaccine news seems positive. One article i read (cant find the link though) says from the clinical trial that the vaccine they tested are deemed safe for human. Next step is ensure its working, and that might take until fall or later to see any indication. Hope we can see it materialize in 6 month or so. Meanwhile, dutch government suggested all the singles to get a dedicated fuck buddy during this trying time. I wish it was that easy here lol.