Samui Sakhon COVID outbreak

[StevieWonders]

it’s to be hoped that this latest large outbreak (500+) doesn’t spread any further

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2038103/samut-sakhon-locked-down-as-new-cases-top-500

[latintopxxx]

...funny...all foreign workers....

[Dodger]

They just reported close to 700 cases on the news tonight.

This really sucks!

[arsenal]

Equally concerning is the new strain that's emerged in the UK although it's believed to have its origins in European mink. It infects at a much faster rate.

[cdnmatt]

Equally concerning is the new strain that's emerged in the UK although it's believed to have its origins in European mink. It infects at a much faster rate.

I was just going to ask, any news on which strain this is? It seems to have spread really fast.

[arsenal]

Matt wrote.
"I was just going to ask, any news on which strain this is? It seems to have spread really fast."

I don't think anyone knows. This is an entirely unprecedented (In living memory) event. Things are changing almost by the hour.

[a447]

...funny...all foreign workers....



Which begs the question, do those countries from which the foreign workers enter Thailand :

a) have enough money to buy a vaccine for everyone, and

b) have the technology and facilities to roll it out to everyone.

If not, Thailand could remain off-limits for some time yet unless they close the border,

I can't see that happening.

[Oliver2]

They are unable to "close the door" to Burma. The border is just too long. Returning Thai women who'd been working in a hotel (for want of a better word) close to the Thai border had already brought infections into the Chiang Rai region. after avoiding immigration.

[goji]

The problem with illegal immigration all over the world is that the countries people want to enter illegally will at worst repatriate them, so there's no great loss if caught. If Thailand stuck illegal immigrants in a fairly rough prison for month, then sent them home, there's some kind of deterrent. However, with covid they wouldn't want to put prisoners in Myanmar in the same jail as any Thais.

I suspect they just need loads of troops policing the border, then if any are caught march them home at gunpoint. Make sure they walk at least 30 miles, during daylight hours so there's some kind of deterrent. Nowhere near the full Japanese WW2 POW experience, but something just bad enough to discourage them for a while.

Also make employers responsible for checking the passports of anyone they employ and jail them if they employ illegal immigrants.
Landlords in the UK have to check the passports of any foreign tenants and can be fined for renting to anyone in the country illegally. So it ought to be possible to apply similar principles in Thailand.

Also, the location is Samut Sakhon, which is right next to Bangkok and includes part of the conurbation. The odds of this being contained don't look very high.

Whilst completely shutting down the tourist trade which was 20% of GDP, Thailand seems to have left the back door open for low cost illegal labour, which must be much less valuable.

[billyhouston]

They are unable to "close the door" to Burma. The border is just too long. Returning Thai women who'd been working in a hotel (for want of a better word) close to the Thai border had already brought infections into the Chiang Rai region. after avoiding immigration.

Burma, as a country, existed only from 1 April 1937 until 4 January 1948.

[Armando]

This was a cluster just waiting to happen. Not only because the border is porous but because the fishing industry uses so many non-Thai workers. It just needed one infected person from Myanmar to infect others on a boat, then workers at the fish market and so on. That this was not regarded as a potentially serious issue is ridiculous. The Thai government has controlled the virus extremely well up to now. If they had looked at a place like Singapore this would likely not have happened. There the government thought it had everything under control but had forgotten the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers living in cramped dormitories. Next thing they knew they were facing tens of thousands of new cases.

Surely Thailand should at least have been testing fishermen on a regular basis. Clearly not.

[StevieWonders]

It’s also a story about Thailand’s favourite bogeyman - the Burmese. Should that be “bogeyperson”?

[cdnmatt]

Thailand to Test over 10,000 After Outbreak.

https://in.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-thailand/thailand-to-test-over-10000-people-after-record-covid-19-surge-idUSKBN28U070

Not sure if that's enough testing for a 576 person outbreak, but I guess time will tell. Actually, it's obvious that's not enough testing. Hope it doesn't spiral out of control.

[StevieWonders]

Here’s the latest courtesy of Coconuts Bangkok. Cases are starting to show up in central Bangkok - some shops in Siam Square (near MBK) seem to be impacted

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/siam-square-shops-shut-down-as-outbreak-spreads-with-427-new-cases/

[StevieWonders]

And from the epicentre https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2020/12/22/report-samut-sakhon-virus-surge-exceeds-1000-cases/