chinese deadly coronavirus

[Gaybutton]

Today, March 6, Pattaya official are scheduled to meet to discuss what to do regarding Songkran.

If any significant edicts are issued, I will probably publish in a separate topic.
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Six places defined as dangerous zones

5 Mar 2020

The government has defined four countries and two territories as dangerous zones and restrictions may follow to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus.

The announcement, dated Monday and published in the Royal Gazette on Thursday, classified South Korea, China, Macao, Hong Kong, Italy and Iran as "dangerous communicable disease areas".

The move came as the Thai postal service began disinfecting all packages received from overseas, although the World Health Organization has said it is safe to receive post from badly affected countries such as China.

No quarantine measure has been officially announced, but Public Health Ministry spokesman Rungrueng Kitphati told Reuters on Thursday it would come into effect on Friday.

"Thais and foreigners who came from these places would have to go through self-quarantine for 14 days at home or in a hotel room, where they have to report themselves to the authorities every day or officials will come to check on them," Dr Rungrueng said.

This means that all arrivals from these places, including those that transit through them, will have to provide the authorities with their addresses and travel plans and be self-quarantined for 14 days.

Those that breached the quarantine will face a 20,000-baht fine, Dr Rungrueng said.

Arrivals who display coronavirus symptoms will be sent directly to government hospitals.

The government has to date been reluctant to restrict travel for fear it would further affect the ailing tourism industry, which makes up almost 20% of gross domestic product. Ministers and high-ranking officials have given mixed signals on the issue and even contradicted one another at times.

As for thousands of Thais gradually returning home from South Korea, the government has prepared facilities for the 14-day quarantine for those from Gyeongsang province and the city of Daegu, currently epicentres of the virus outbreak, the government said.

The country has recorded a total of 47 coronavirus cases since January, with one fatality. Thirty-one of the coronavirus patients have recovered and returned home, while 15 are still being treated in hospitals.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... rous-zones

[Undaunted]

One town in Chonburi province cancels Songkran:

https://pattayaone.news/chon-buris-bang ... ctivities/


Pattaya cancels or postpones most events:

https://pattayaone.news/pattaya-city-ca ... nal-level/

[Gaybutton]

One town in Chonburi province cancels Songkran:

To make sure there is no confusion, the town referred to in the article is Bang Saen, not Pattaya.

According to the article, an announcement about Pattaya may be made as soon as tomorrow, March 7.

As I said in a previous post, if there are any significant announcements about Pattaya, I will place that in a separate topic.

Of course, if anyone gets any news about Songkran announcements in other areas of Thailand, please post - and don't forget to include the source of the information.

[RichLB]

Just a couple anecdotal observations. Today I had to verify my 800,000 baht bank balance for immigration. Strangely, all bank service widows were closed and replaced with water dispensers. While waiting for one of the desk clerks to update my passbook, a young woman came around and spritzed everyone's hands with sanitizer. Sort of a nice touch.
And, then, was the surprised at the IO office. I had anticipated a crowd being it was Friday and mid morning. Wrong! There was hardly anyone there and few of the waiting seats were occupied. Oh, and by the way, to show your updated bank passbook there is no waiting - you just go up to the nearly deserted section 8 secton and voila, you're done.
It seems Pattaya is taking good measures to prevent the virus from coming to town. Keep your fingers crossed.

[Dodger]

Update from Buriram:

There have been no reported cases of the virus in Buriram.

The prestigious MotoGP Grand Prix 2020 which was scheduled to be held in Buriram later this month has been canceled due to the coronavirus. A big financial blow to the city.

Just from eyesight, about 30% of the people I see shopping in the stores here are wearing face masks.

The Macro Supermarket in the center of Buriram starting screening all customers before they are allowed to enter the store by checking their temperature.

[2lz2p]

Thaivisa shows an article from Reuters News service that identifies countries that will require self quarantine and mentions it was published in the Royal Gazette - thus an official Government policy, not just the Facebook page of the Minister of Public Health -- the official list is not quite as comprehensive as the one he put on his Facebook page the other day.

The quarantine announcement, published in the official Royal Gazette on Thursday, classified South Korea, China, Macao, Hong Kong, Italy and Iran as "dangerous communicable disease areas".

Source: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/115191 ... paign=news

[Gaybutton]

As I said in a previous post, if there are any significant announcements about Pattaya, I will place that in a separate topic.

Pattaya has announced the Songkran decisions.

See: https://www.gaybuttonthai.com/viewtopic ... 759#p99759

[Dodger]

I wonder if this is where the term "Dry Drunks" came from.

[Gaybutton]

One possibility I've been thinking about - if this virus scare and Chinese tourist group ban lasts long enough, I think many of the ventures that cater to those groups will go out of business completely and won't have the funds to be able to reopen. If that happens, would the Chinese tour groups even come back? If many of the places they go end up closing permanently, what reason would those tour groups have to come back at all?

Is it possible that Pattaya may end up having no choice other than to return to the way things were before anyone ever came up with the idea of trying to change Pattaya to a "family" destination? That absurd idea never really went anywhere and it never happened. The only thing I ever saw significantly change was instead of becoming a "family" destination, Pattaya became a Chinese tour group destination.

I certainly would have no objection if Pattaya becomes the gay paradise it once was, gay go go bars start opening again, boys start plying the beach again, and loads of gay farang start returning to Pattaya. Maybe I'm dreaming, but if I am, no objection from me if it's one dream that comes true . . .

[Jun]

Maybe I'm dreaming, but if I am, no objection from me if it's one dream that comes true . . .

I think you are correct in the dreaming part of the assessment.

Visitor numbers from Europe and America are probably going to take a hit very shortly, as COVID is getting out of control.
The European data shows that.
The very expensive US healthcare system cannot seem to get tests organised and given the positive test rates, it seems likely that 100s of cases are undetected there. The data will eventually show this.

So other businesses will also suffer. Probably including the remaining gay bars

When all this is over, even if existing businesses have failed, if there is money to be made catering to the pent up demand from Chinese and other tourists, then other people will just buy up the assets (buses, hotels etc) and reopen. Probably with a different name. e.g "Dodger & Undaunted's Speciality Chinese Hotel"

With all the "quantitative easing " and low interest rates around the planet, there is plenty of capital looking for a good return.

Interestingly, when I was recently in Hua Hin, it seemed to be all Western and Thai tourists.
I presumed the Chinese numbers were down temporarily, but I also noticed none of those obnoxious Arabs and almost no Indians.
All it's missing is a gay scene, with just 2 uninspiring bars.