News Forum - PM Prayut insists no plans to drop face-mask requirement in Thailand

[Thaiger]

Thailand’s PM and Defense Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, insists that Thailand has no plans to drop the requirement to wear face-masks. The PM asked the spokesperson to emphasise this point to the residents saying wearing masks was still “a necessary behaviour”. Last week, the Permanent Secretary of the Public Health Ministry, Kiattiphum Wongrajit, said that the ministry proposed to adjust the Covid-19 prevention measures by allowing people in some zones and provinces to remove their face masks in some circumstances. Those areas had to be “ready” according to the requirements, including low Covid infection numbers, the vaccination rate and the medical […]

The story PM Prayut insists no plans to drop face-mask requirement in Thailand as seen on Thaiger News.

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[DiJoDavO]

Says the guy who went to America (which has higher numbers than here) without face mask

Don't these guys communicate with each other? 

On 5/24/2022 at 7:50 PM, DiJoDavO said:

Ok, mid-June. 

Now expect Anutin to come out and say that masks are still necessary for foreigners and the freedom of not wearing a mask is only for Thai people on June 14th.

Still expecting what I said a week ago lol

[DiJoDavO]

“Wearing a mask in a crowded area was a good even if there was no pandemic. People could decide when to wear a mask and when to take it off. Wearing it when there were many people, and removing it when staying with family or friends.”

[Prosaap]

He still have to many mask in stock 

[Ivo_Shandor]

Whenever Prayut "insists" on something makes me thinking about a toddler having his face, crying because he dropped his pacifier... 

[rc1]

Absolute madness if they don't drop it mid June. 

They'll soon be one of the only countries in the world with a broad mandate. 

[Pj229]

This is getting so tedious now, every week another government official making unfounded announcements to the media, only to have it quashed by the prime minister a few days later

too many chiefs (wanna be) and not enough Indians 

Wasn’t long ago they warned the public to stop spreading fake news, think this government needs to take a long hard look at themselves, they are the biggest culprits 

[Rebel]

Only benefit is that we don't need to look at his st__id face 

[Mandy]

Well I've just informed my family so they've now booked a holiday for next week to Bulgaria instead of here!!!

[mjwalker]

just crazy now 

most people coming to Thailand are coming from countries that no longer use masks !! 

it will stop tourists coming 

 

[Morpheus]

Headline should read.

PM anounces new plan to keep foreign tourists from coming to Thailand.

[Poolie]

6 minutes ago, Mandy said:

Well I've just informed my family so they've now booked a holiday for next week to Bulgaria instead of here!!!

Great, have a lovely time!!

[dbrenn]

No idea why Prayuth, traditional and conservative as he is, would support the continued use of muzzles. It's probably got nothing to do with the spread of disease - wearing these silly things has become more a badge of compliance than anything else.

[Viggen8408]

Of course not. Face masks have been a filter against smoke and vehicle exhaust fumes for decades and have been a personal preference for many. The fact they are now COMPULSORY is a bit different, though. This is a military junta exerting power over the population - do as I say, not as I do

[riclag]

29 minutes ago, Viggen8408 said:

Of course not. Face masks have been a filter against smoke and vehicle exhaust fumes for decades and have been a personal preference for many. The fact they are now COMPULSORY is a bit different, though. This is a military junta exerting power over the population - do as I say, not as I do

Why the angry emoj @rc1,its true.

My wife and some others always wore a facemask up here before the ccp virus came

[dbrenn]

40 minutes ago, Viggen8408 said:

Of course not. Face masks have been a filter against smoke and vehicle exhaust fumes for decades and have been a personal preference for many. The fact they are now COMPULSORY is a bit different, though. This is a military junta exerting power over the population - do as I say, not as I do

The only kind of mask that would protect you against pollution is a gas mask. A tightly fitted N95 or above would filter out most particulate pollution, but not gaseous pollutants. Those flimsy cloth things, with all their leaky sides and coarse filtration elements, don't do anything against pollution, even though their wearers might think otherwise. 

It's simple science, really. 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by dbrenn

[dbrenn]

38 minutes ago, Viggen8408 said:

This is a military junta exerting power over the population - do as I say, not as I do

You might have got that part right.

[Ivo_Shandor]

17 minutes ago, dbrenn said:

The only kind of mask that would protect you against pollution is a gas mask. A tightly fitted N95 or above would filter out most particulate pollution, but not gaseous pollutants. Those flimsy cloth things, with all their leaky sides and coarse filtration elements, don't do anything against pollution, even though their wearers might think otherwise. 

It's simple science, really. 

Let's see. The three most common major pollutants in air are CO, NOx (NO, NO2) and SO2. On average, their outdoor air concentration in parts per billion (ppb) is:

• CO: 100 ppb
• NOx: 10 ppb (can go up to 200 ppb and beyond in a polluted zone)
• SO2: 1.000 ppb

Their permissible exposure limit established by NIOSH is:

• CO: 50.000 ppb
• NOx (NO2): 5.000 ppb
• SO2: 5.000 ppb

Conclusion: there is no need for gas masks when walking around... yet.

 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Ivo_Shandor

[Soidog]

5 minutes ago, Ivo_Shandor said:

Let's see. The three most common major pollutants in air are CO, NOx (NO, NO2) and SO2. On average, their outdoor air concentration in parts per billion (ppb) is:

• CO: 100 ppb
• NOx: 10 ppb (can go up to 200 ppb and beyond in a polluted zone)
• SO2: 1.000 ppb

Their permissible exposure limit established by NIOSH is:

• CO: 50.000 ppb
• NOx (NO2): 5.000 ppb
• SO2: 5.000 ppb

Conclusion: there is no need for gas masks when walking around... yet.

Good to see those figures. However you quote an average outdoor concentration. What do you mean by average? For a particular location or country? 

[Manu]

57 minutes ago, Viggen8408 said:

The fact they are now COMPULSORY is a bit different, though. This is a military junta exerting power over the population - do as I say, not as I do

The mask is currently a great tool to keep people in fear. Fear itself is a great instrument of power. As Machiavelli said: "Whoever controls the people's fears becomes master of their souls". As old as humanity...

[rc1]

32 minutes ago, riclag said:

Why the angry emoj @rc1,its true.

My wife and some others always wore a facemask up here before the ccp virus came

Angry at this part :

 The fact they are now COMPULSORY is a bit different, though. This is a military junta exerting power over the population - do as I say, not as I do

 

 

Although I would argue with you on "personal preference for many", it was rare to see anyone in a mask pre 2020 in Thailand,  despite the revisionist discussion around  Thailand non-existent mask culture back then. 

[dbrenn]

2 hours ago, Manu said:

The mask is currently a great tool to keep people in fear. Fear itself is a great instrument of power. As Machiavelli said: "Whoever controls the people's fears becomes master of their souls". As old as humanity...

Manu gets it, and has hit the nail on the head.

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by dbrenn

[JamesR]

In the middle of the Amazon Jungle.

[JamesR]

Oh well I will have to put my nine months trip off to Thailand for another few months, a lot of tourists must be doing the same.

In the UK at the weekend many of the airports were full to capacity as families went away for holidays during the school half-term holiday period, I bet many did not choose to go to a country where they had to sit under the hot sun wearing a mask.

[JamesR]

9 hours ago, Soidog said:

Good to see those figures. However you quote an average outdoor concentration. What do you mean by average? For a particular location or country? 

In the middle of the Amazon Jungle.