Pattaya lockdown - Part 2 - beginning Tuesday, April 14

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Re: Pattaya lockdown - Part 2 - beginning Tuesday, April 14

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Dodger wrote: Thu Apr 16, 2020 5:36 pm I'm not sure why you want to go to Makro "once in a while" during a City lockdown
You don't need to be sure. I'm the one who needs to be sure.

While this may come as a major, incredibly difficult to believe, shock, I do know Makro's hours. I also know how to go shopping, why I want to go shopping, where I want to do the shopping, how much of whatever it is I want to buy, and when I need to do that shopping.

Other than that, I am in desperate need of advice . . .


"Who is this person who speaks to me as though I needed his advice?"
Patrick McGoohan (King Edward I, The Longshanks), 'Braveheart'
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Re: Pattaya lockdown - Part 2 - beginning Tuesday, April 14

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Lockdown to linger

PM opts for 'public health-led economy'

28 Apr 2020

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has decided to extend the enforcement of the executive decree, the state's most powerful weapon against Covid-19, for another month but will allow some businesses, including shopping malls and hair salons, to reopen to ease the impact of business shutdowns.

Some drastic measures implemented under the decree, including the six-hour curfew from 10pm to 4am and strict travel restrictions, will remain as CCSA chief and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha adopted what he called a "public health-led economy" by giving more weight to health safety rather than the pulse of businesses, CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said after the CCSA meeting on Monday.

The premier stressed a need for precautions, but the CCSA resolution sparked some concerns among health experts, including Prasit Watanapa, dean of Siriraj Hospital's faculty of medicine, who warned the gradual lifting of the country's lockdown will cause the daily number of new Covid-19 patients to increase, albeit at a slower rate than that in the pre-executive decree period in early March.

The draconian law, which was enforced later in the same month, followed a sharp increase in new infections. The measures served to flatten the coronavirus curve, reducing the rate of new daily infections. The number of new cases dropped to nine on Monday -- the first single-digit number in more than a month.

The executive decree enforcement is set to end this Thursday, but four measures under the law will continue unabated, Dr Taweesilp said.

They are the curfew from 10pm to 4am, the prohibition on mass gatherings, restrictions on inter-provincial travel and strict controls on travel into Thailand, including a ban on all incoming flights for another month.

But Gen Prayut agreed with the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council that some businesses should be allowed to reopen under certain conditions.

"The prime minister agrees in principle but has not looked into the details," Dr Taweesilp said.

Businesses and places that will reopen from May 4 must be necessary to people's daily lives and have a low risk of disease transmission, he said. Others like boxing stadiums, entertainment venues and activities involving large crowds gathered in small spaces are deemed to be high risk.

Officials on Monday spent the whole afternoon drafting to-do lists for businessmen and place care-takers if they are given permission to reopen, according to a source close to the CCSA meeting. All the proposals, which are aimed at maintaining hygiene standards, will be forwarded to the cabinet for a final say today.

Their performance will be assessed every 14 days and "if an outbreak erupts, the business will be shut down immediately", Dr Taweesilp said.

Gen Prayut also agreed with the idea of allowing selected businesses to reopen countrywide because this will limit the number of people travelling to areas where business activities are granted the green light.

A careful approach to lifting the lockdown is needed, Dr Taweesilp stressed, citing a warning by Sukhum Karnchanapimai, permanent secretary of public health, who painted starkly different pandemic scenarios based on varying public health policies.

If the government allows low-risk activities to commence, new infections will increase to between 40-70 a day, against a range of 15 to 30 under the current regime, said Dr Taweesilp.

Dr Prasit likewise said the country may see a surge in new Covid-19 cases following the easing of some lockdown measures. He said the disease control approach which has been adopted -- "The Hammer and the Dance" -- where the hammer involves strong measures to flatten the curve, while the dance employs more relaxed measures to keep the virus contained.

Such strong measures include stay-at-home orders, closures of businesses and social distancing, he said. But Dr Prasit said the strong measures will not be implemented for an extended period because they will put the economy in a deep freeze. Once the curve is flattened, restrictions will be eased.

"When the measures are eased, the number of new cases may rise, but the increase is unlikely to be sharp. And it is possible that at some point the government may opt for strong measures to flatten the curve. It may go on like this and everyone needs to help," he said.

Dr Prasit said the rate of new infections would determine how fast the country switches back to lockdown mode.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... -to-linger
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Re: Pattaya lockdown - Part 2 - beginning Tuesday, April 14

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"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
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Re: Pattaya lockdown - Part 2 - beginning Tuesday, April 14

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Checkpoints come to a close as Pattaya reaches three weeks with no confirmed new cases of Covid-19

By Adam Judd

Monday, 4 May 2020

Pattaya City Mayor Sonthaya Khunpluem, along with the Banglamung Sheriff and other city leaders visited all major road checkpoints in Pattaya this evening personally to thank all the staff for their three weeks of hard work.

Since mid April the city of Pattaya has been under a restrictive order to close off the city proper and only allow access to residents and those who work in the city. The closure was a major inconvenience for the many expats and residents who live in Nongprue and Banglamung but was deemed necessary by the Chonburi Communicable Disease Committee and the Thai Ministry of Public Health

The closure was to help allow mass screening of thousands of residents and some foreign tourists in the city which all took place at a field hospital at the Grand Bella hotel to help identify if there was a possible issue with the virus in the city or if there were a large number of asymptomatic carriers. The screenings had been done on high risk individuals such as those who still worked with the public like supermarket workers, taxi drivers and Immigration agents. The tests also screened those who lived or worked in places with a confirmed previous case of Covid-19.

The screenings were considered a success, finding only four connected cases from a person who visited Phuket. No hidden cases of Covid-19 were found. The last cases found in the Pattaya area was three weeks ago and the last cases in Banglamung were on April 19.

As a result, Pattaya City has now been deemed a white zone by the Thai Government, which means it is not at risk currently for the Covid19 virus. The city was previously a red zone during the closure period which meant it was an ongoing infection zone due to a high number of cases found in March and early April, even though nearly all were imported.

Mayor Sonthaya stressed that we should not be letting down our guard and still should only be traveling if it is essential but that the removal of the checkpoints was a slow step towards returning Pattaya to a world class tourism city and reopening businesses.

The Mayor also thanked all local residents for cooperating with both the checkpoints and hygiene measures.

https://thepattayanews.com/2020/05/04/c ... -covid-19/
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