News Forum - Anutin says no to easing restrictions, praises Thailand’s handling of pandemic

[Stonker]

13 hours ago, Withnail said:

Do you understand?

What I "understand" is that although I've said repeatedly that I think the vaccine procurement here was appalling, you've somehow not only missed that but made up some "facts" which are completely untrue - and, I also "understand" that @King Cotton agrees with you, which I find as disappointing as I do surprising.

13 hours ago, Withnail said:

Let me remind you of the facts. Something that seems foreign to you.

Thailand didn't order, or attempt to order any vaccines until Delta arrived, they then got handouts from the West and their vaccine roll out was pathetically slow.

Not "facts" but completely and very easily demonstrably untrue.

Delta "arrived" in Thailand in May 2021.

The first vaccine administered in Thailand was administered in February 2021, three months before that.

 https://www.thaipbsworld.com/tag/delta-variant/

 https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2075811/anutin-gets-first-covid-jab-as-vaccinations-finally-begin

... and if you're trying to say that you meant "arrived" in India, where it was first discovered in October 2020, that was two months before any vaccines were approved for emergency use by the WHO, although Thailand had already agreed and signed a deal with Astra Zeneca two months before that, in October 2020.

 https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants/

 https://www.who.int/news/item/31-12-2020-who-issues-its-first-emergency-use-validation-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-and-emphasizes-need-for-equitable-global-access

... and most of the "handouts" of vaccines, including the first, have been from the East, from China and Japan, not from "the West", however poor those vaccines have been.

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3148080/how-chinas-sinovac-vaccine-got-caught-crossfire

... and while the vaccine procurement was appalling, as I've said repeatedly, the "vaccine roll out" itself was actually very quick.

[Stonker]

14 hours ago, Withnail said:

You believe the figures provided by a country that could hardly manage 40,000 proactive tests a day.

What don't you understand about that?

What I understand is, first, that the figures are not only in accordance with the figures of excess deaths, but also accepted without caveat by the WHO, WorldinData, Statista and Worldometer, although they give caveats to other countries whose numbers they doubt.

I think they're probably in a better position to judge the figures' credibility than you or I.

I also believe them, as I've explained, because the figures of not only cases but also deaths and quarantines locally match up exactly with those that I can see for myself locally.  As I explained before:

"I can go on 'Line' and see the number of cases, number quarantined at home, and number in the local quarantine centres not just for the province but for every district in the province.

I know exactly how many there are in the local quarantine centre in my district because I and my (Thai) partner know people who work there and we see and talk to them every week,  and go past it every week.

I know how many are quarantining at home in the district because they put a string around the perimeter of every house where someone's quarantined with signs and little red flags on it - seriously! 

Everyone admitted to hospital gets tested now, and certainly locally they get tested again on discharge (ATK tests, but it gives a good idea).

I can't guarantee they're correct in every district but I seriously doubt they're making a special effort for my benefit !

It's the 21st century: you can't keep these things secret anymore - everyone talks."

14 hours ago, Withnail said:

could hardly manage 40,000 proactive tests a day.

... and secondly, whether or not they "could hardly manage 40,000 proactive tests a day" is of no relevance to the numbers of deaths, hospitalised and quarantined.  It simply has no relevance at all.

The number of tests isn't a measure of the number of cases, as every expert on the subject has said. different countries use different ways of testinfg, and Thailand is one of the many couyntries that's gone for targeted testing of those who need it rather than mass testing of those who want it.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/28/fact-check-covid-19-tests-reveal-cases-dont-cause-higher-positivity/3286895001/

As I quoted in my post above (#158085), the UK has done more "proactive testing" than anyone, but according to the UK's Parliament's Science and Technology Committee, who are probably in a better position to know than you or I, it's been "a real failure" in terms of delivering anything useful and just been $50 billion wasted.

What don't you understand about that ?