Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

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Re: Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

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New anti-Covid phone app for use when entering shops

May 14, 2020

The government will launch a new mobile phone app to facilitate disease-control tracking of customers as shops reopen with the easing of the coronavirus lockdown.

Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said on Thursday that shop owners would register online for a QR code that would be placed in front of their shop.

Customers would use their mobile phone to scan the code as they enter and leave the premises.

"The 'Thai Chana' application will tell customers if their targeted shop, such as a barber, is still vacant enough to welcome them," Dr Taweesilp said.

"Shopping centres will use the application when they open their rest areas, in addition to their already opened supermarkets and electrical appliance sales."

Dr Taweesilp said the Thai Chana app would serve 70-80% of people based on the number of mobile phone users, who account for 70-80% of Thailand's population.

"Young children and elderly people who do not use mobile phones will be able to use manual registration," he said.

The app would facilitate the government's attempts to quickly track people infected with Covid-19 and those in close contact with them. Its effectiveness would lead to the further reopening of businesses and activities, he said.

Dr Polawat Witoolkollachit, inspector-general of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, said the new app would be launched on Friday afternoon, along with details of how to register. All kinds of shops could use it, including street vendors.

He said customers could also use the app to tell the government if the shops they visited followed Covid-19 control measures.

He said customers' privacy would be protected. Only the Disease Control Department would have access to customers' information, and only for the sake of disease control.

"The system will help prevent a second wave of Covid-19. Those who come in close contact with infected people at shops will be called in for testing.

"With this system, a call will go out only to the mobile phones of customers who visited the shop in the same hour as the infected person. Previously, the call for testing went to all visitors to the premises that day," Dr Polawat said.

No details have yet been released on how customers would download the app to their phones, and what personal information they would expose.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ring-shops
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Re: Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

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What a visit to a major shopping mall looks like in Pattaya, Thailand Post-Covid-19

By Adam Judd

Sunday, 17 May 2020

The following is based on a visit to three newly re-opened Shopping Malls in the Pattaya, Thailand area on Sunday, May 17th, 2020.

This was the first day that malls re-opened as part of the “Phase Two” easing on restrictions and closures that were originally implemented due to the Covid-19 Coronavirus nationwide. You can read more about that here.

The following is a description of what one can expect upon visiting the malls and is current as of press time. It is important to note that as both the malls, vendors and customers adjust and give feedback that things may change. It is expected that there will be some adjustment period with the new rules, just as there was with the rules in the first phase two weeks prior with restaurants.

We posted a live video tour of two of the three malls we visited, Terminal 21 and Central Festival. We also visited Royal Garden but did not post a video tour. Please note that exact procedures may vary mall to mall. Entrances have also been compressed to only a few, so queue times to enter may have increased.



1. To enter Terminal 21 and Central Festival in Pattaya you must scan a QR code with the Line app on your phone. Royal Garden did not require the QR code check in, however every individual shop did. At Central Festival you must also enter a phone number. At Terminal 21 you only check in, but did not need to enter a separate number. The QR code is part of the Thai Cha-na website/Covid19 tracing system.

1a. The Thai Cha-Na is NOT AN APP, it is a website with a QR code. It is a simple QR code that identifies your phone as visiting that location at that time. If a case of Covid-19 is identified at a location you visited during a specific time frame, you get a text message inviting you to a free, confidential Covid-19 test at a nearby medical facility. There is no permanent application installed on your phone.

2. You do not need a passport or id UNLESS you do not have a phone, refuse to use the Line App and QR code scan, forgot your phone, etc. Then you will be required to fill out a manual log with your name and phone number. If you refuse this step you will likely be refused entry to the mall and individual stores.

3. If you do not have a phone, it is old, no line, etc manual logs are available at each mall to sign in, as stated above, but you will need ID.

4. Hand sanitizer and temperature checks are required, not only at the mall but at every individual shop. Additionally, most shops also require you to use the QR code system to check in (and check out) of each individual shop, the same as the mall. When you leave the shop a brief survey of four questions, all hygiene related, will pop up as well as ask how much time you spent in the shop. The survey is technically optional although there have been some reports coming in that certain venues were “requesting” customers give them positive reviews.

5. Many restaurants standards here are stricter than outside right now. Many require one person per table, even families or groups that came in together and partitions between people. Like when restaurants first launched in Phase One this is likely to loosen over time but right now is an inconvenience for many. The number one complaint The Pattaya News has seen on social media today, both in Thai and English, is customers being forced to sit apart from their children, wife, girlfriend, friends, room-mates, etc. This was observed the strictest at Central Festival from our observations. Additionally, many tables have mandatory partitions that will separate even family members, making it difficult to have a conversation. Some restaurants make the partition optional and some allow two people to sit together, but the majority were, at least on opening day, separating nearly every group.

6. Some restaurants have had to majorly change the way they work. No buffets and Shabushi has no rotating food at this time. Some restaurants have chosen not to open at this time and will likely open at a later date when things have eased a bit. Alcohol can not legally be sold in restaurants. (We have got some feedback at The Pattaya News that some people alleged to have seen exceptions, which is possible, but the legal regulations and rule is alcohol is not supposed to be sold at restaurants at this time.)

7. Masks are required, except when eating. The malls had significant signage throughout, as our videos above show, reminding customers about good hygiene measures and social distancing.

8. There are some rest and massage chair areas available, they are socially distanced from other people.

9. Some individual businesses also require a line QR code to enter but not all. Of the three malls we visited, Royal Garden was the most “relaxed” of the three. Mike’s shopping mall remained closed as of Sunday. We did not visit Harbor Mall, Central Marina or Tukcom.

10. Remember, when you leave the mall you will likely be asked to “check out” and complete a survey.

These are the general measures that we experienced, keep in mind that an experience may differ based on location visited and staff present. It’s important to remember that most of the strict measures are Public Health Ministry requirements and not rules from individual companies. The Pattaya News spoke with several staff members of restaurants in Central Festival, who asked not to be named, who stated that they were unhappy about some of the rules, especially one customer per table at most restaurants, and expected angry and upset customers to yell at them when they had no control over the situation and the rules implemented by the mall management.

The Pattaya News notes that these same issues happened, as noted above, when restaurants opened outside of malls but gradually relaxed and loosened slightly, allowing family to sit with each other and, for the most part, without partitions, etc. This is likely to happen over time with malls as well.

https://thepattayanews.com/2020/05/17/w ... -covid-19/
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Re: Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

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Complaints arise about mall restaurants allegedly separating families, couples, etc after re-opening in Thailand, officials say the process will take time to “work out”

By Adam Judd

Monday, 18 May 2020

Thailand officially started the second round of a currently planned four phase re-opening process designed to loosen and ease strict rules and restrictions meant to help stop the potential spread of the Covid-19 Coronavirus. As cases have dropped to the low single digits for weeks, with many of those being imported cases from repatriated Thai’s overseas, the plan to re-open businesses has moved forward. However, as evidenced by online chatter on social media not everyone is pleased with the re-opening.

The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, or CCSA, in Bangkok has stated that overall they were pleased with the first day of results in terms of re-opening malls around the country.

Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, the spokesman for the CCSA, told the Associated Press at a daily press conference in Bangkok that he and the CCSA team were, as a whole, satisfied with the results of the first day country wide and the efforts malls were taking to address health and safety. He admitted that there some hiccups, specifically addressing to pictures that went viral of hundreds of people waiting to get into stores in closely packed clusters at some malls, but that overall the processes were smooth and they had learned a lot.

Several complaints arose on social media, including long queues to enter stores due to having scan QR codes not just to get into the mall and not just to enter a store but also to leave a store, which was causing additional lines to do so. Some patrons also complained about the need for having to go through health checks at every individual store versus the mall as a whole, complaining that it bogged down the process and made additional lines and hold ups to have to have your temperature checked at every single venue you entered, instead of just at the mall overall.

However, by far the largest complaint on social media was aimed at mall restaurants.

A large amount of restaurants were restricting diners to one per table, or at most two, which separated families, couples, parents and children, etc. from eating together. Photos of four members of the same family forced to sit at four different tables were common on social media. Complaints also came in over partitions blocking access between two diners that live together or couples forced to sit diagonally from each other versus across from each other and to be set apart by partitions. Online comments asked why many restaurants outside, who had these same complaints when they opened two weeks ago and later relaxed the standards, could sit a family together but you could not in the mall.

Restaurant staff and management, for the most part, claimed the rules were coming from upper Mall management and not the individual restaurants and that they did not want to separate families and couples but in some cases the strict rules at opening required them doing so.

The CCSA stated at the press conference today that they knew the rules were strict and understood the public being upset and that if things went well in this “teething phase” the rules would be loosened and adjusted over the next few weeks. Dr. Taweesin said the CCSA and Government had heard the feedback “loud and clear” and would be working on a plan to make sure things were both safe and realistic.

Meanwhile, many comments were seen on social media that stated that if they were unable to sit with their loved ones or friends who they spent all their time with, they would be eating at other establishments outside that allowed them to do so versus be forced to sit alone or shout across a room. Suggestions were made to block off certain booths or separate tables further apart, like many restaurants have done outside of malls, but not ban parties and groups who come in together from sitting together, but rather prevent them from sitting too close to strangers.

https://thepattayanews.com/2020/05/18/c ... -work-out/
Jun

Re: Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

Post by Jun »

Pattaya News wrote: Mon May 18, 2020 6:33 am What a visit to a major shopping mall looks like in Pattaya, Thailand Post-Covid-19
That's fairly thorough for a country which allegedly has hardly any cases. If they carry on like that, the results should be good.

However, I note one customer was making rather unnecessary use of the escalator hand rails.
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Re: Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

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Jun wrote: Mon May 18, 2020 7:38 pm However, I note one customer was making rather unnecessary use of the escalator hand rails.
If you are talking about the part I think you're talking about, that was a mall employee cleaning the hand rails.
Jun

Re: Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

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Gaybutton wrote: Mon May 18, 2020 9:56 pm If you are talking about the part I think you're talking about, that was a mall employee cleaning the hand rails.

Image
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Re: Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

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That image shows why they have employees cleaning the hand rails. Sorry, I'm not going to wade through the video again to find and post the image I was referring to.
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Re: Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

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State of emergency set to stay

by Wassana Nanuam and Mongkol Bangprapa

May 21, 2020

The emergency decree looks set to continue for another month as security authorities are still "not confident" about the Covid-19 situation following the easing of the lockdown since early this month, a military source says.

Their stance was revealed as Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Wednesday met military top brass to address the Covid-19 outbreak that was "wreaking havoc on people from all walks of life", the source said.

The source said military chiefs are ready to act in line with the government's wishes if it decides to extend the decree. Staunch enforcement will continue until the pandemic eases off, the source said.

The National Security Council, the National Intelligence Agency and military agencies have been keeping a close watch on the easing of business shutdowns since May 17, a day which saw large numbers of people flocking to shopping malls.

According to the source, security agencies are worried over the impact on public health if the state of emergency does not continue when the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) allows more businesses and activities to reopen in June.

In this "phase 2 easing period", the government needs to wait for at least 14 days to assess whether new lockdown easing will lead to further Covid-19 outbreaks.

Without the executive decree, the source said, the CCSA will be dissolved and the government will lack the legal tools, including shutdowns and a curfew, it has used since March 26 to quickly contain the spread of novel coronavirus should further action be necessary.

In the view of security authorities, the enforcement of the Communicable Diseases Act alone is not enough as legal power will be mostly exercised by the Public Health Ministry.

This is different from the ongoing CCSA management with Gen Prayut authorised to give a "single command" integrating the work of both security and health officials.

National Security Council secretary-general Somsak Roongsita said he will call a meeting today on the executive decree enforcement, which is due to end on May 31, between security officers and representatives from health and business sectors.

Whether to further enforce the law will depend largely on the "actual Covid-19 situation", he said. The mostly one-digit infection rates a day which are being reported at the moment are the result of strict measures under the decree last month, he said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... et-to-stay
Up2u

Re: Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

Post by Up2u »

I was at the Outlet Mall today. No QR code but you sign in with your phone number too. One person can sign in for a group. Temperature scan, masks and sanitizer mandatory. Sanitizer available throughout the mall. Quite painless and I can't understand the Trumpsters in America who think this is some kind of of infringement on their personal freedom.
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Re: Thailand's virus "exit strategy"

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Up2u wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 3:40 pm I can't understand the Trumpsters in America who think this is some kind of of infringement on their personal freedom.
I can't understand them at all, no matter what they think.
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