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

[Cabra]

2 hours ago, Stevejm said:

Many ,if not most, tourists won’t know people who live here so back to my question how would potential tourists find out about the mask requirement?

Did you read the headline of the article this thread is about most tourist know how to read.

[Manu]

18 hours ago, Stevejm said:

Correct. Note that he says that he lives here but never wears that stupid thing. That means that he never goes into a 7-11

You are right, I never go to 7-11, nothing for me there. But you know, quite a few people I know, farangs and Thais alike go to the 7-11 without a mask on, the kids working at 7/11 are living here like all of us. I am not even talking about local shops. Nobody cares anymore if you wear it or not where I am, even for the ones who do wear it (and still quite a lot although there has been a huge drop for the past few weeks), probably due to the fact that when Omicron entered our small community on the island back in January when 100% people were wearing the mask, we pratically all caught covid (Omicron) anyway within weeks.

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and most likely nobody goes near him. That’s a very strange way to live.

Ha ha ha... that's hilarious. You are obviously not living in the real world out there. A little story: Thursday night there were about 30 people in my bar, mostly Thai friends, a few tourists and a couple of my expat friends. We closed at 4am. A great night.

But you take 2 sentences of my original comment, without responding to me directly, and nothing about the only point here. In Europe or anywhere, nobody liked to wear the mask, they did it cause first it was mandatory (and if had not been, guaranted many would not have), secondly cause they had been told they had too to protect others 24/7. Now many months after all this is over in their own country, they will spend their only 2/3/4 weeks a year in a country where it is mandatory to do something they did not like to to in the first place? Apart from a few (I guess amongst the ederlies) that will not mind, for all the others I do not think so. Not sure what's so hard to understand .

[Politenessman]

Masks are a major concern to many people, not just the inconvenience, the fact that most people find them uncomfortable, that they signal a Govt that doesn't have faith that it has disease under control, that it hides faces making most people socially uncomfortable and the personal choice related objections.

You can bet that many tourists are making or have made choices relating to destinations with this being a factor - the PI just dropped the requirement, why? because they are taking their chance to eat Thailands lunch, and they are hoping that a good number of the people who go there as an alternative to 'masked' Thailand, will like it and become long term return tourists and perhaps retirees.

[Manu]

3 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Then they are idiots and did not research whatsoever 

I've been here 6 weeks and masks are not a concern at all

Come on now, you did research INTENSIVELY cause Thailand was the only place where you wanted to go regardless. You have been posting here for months about it. Surely you understand that it is not the case for pratically all tourists (or idiots as you call them)? No??

[rc1]

20 minutes ago, Politenessman said:

Masks are a major concern to many people, not just the inconvenience, the fact that most people find them uncomfortable, that they signal a Govt that doesn't have faith that it has disease under control, that it hides faces making most people socially uncomfortable and the personal choice related objections.

You can bet that many tourists are making or have made choices relating to destinations with this being a factor - the PI just dropped the requirement, why? because they are taking their chance to eat Thailands lunch, and they are hoping that a good number of the people who go there as an alternative to 'masked' Thailand, will like it and become long term return tourists and perhaps retirees.

Well said.

To the other poster who keeps saying "how would tourists even find out about the mandate " - it's commonly known.

Plus, any footage from Thailand on TV or media, everyone is masked - it's very noticeable now that most other countries have dropped them. Thailand is really an outlier.

Let's hope local governors will take the mandates apart piece by piece, starting with outdoors we have Phuket leading with Bangkok close behind.

If common sense prevails, masks won't be mandated in the 7-11 later this year.

 

 

[Stevejm]

55 minutes ago, Cabra said:

Did you read the headline of the article this thread is about most tourist know how to read.

And how many tourists read this forum before deciding where to go on holiday?

[Stevejm]

43 minutes ago, Manu said:

You are right, I never go to 7-11, nothing for me there. But you know, quite a few people I know, farangs and Thais alike go to the 7-11 without a mask on, the kids working at 7/11 are living here like all of us. I am not even talking about local shops. Nobody cares anymore if you wear it or not where I am, even for the ones who do wear it (and still quite a lot although there has been a huge drop for the past few weeks), probably due to the fact that when Omicron entered our small community on the island back in January when 100% people were wearing the mask, we pratically all caught covid (Omicron) anyway within weeks.

Ha ha ha... that's hilarious. You are obviously not living in the real world out there. A little story: Thursday night there were about 30 people in my bar, mostly Thai friends, a few tourists and a couple of my expat friends. We closed at 4am. A great night.

But you take 2 sentences of my original comment, without responding to me directly, and nothing about the only point here. In Europe or anywhere, nobody liked to wear the mask, they did it cause first it was mandatory (and if had not been, guaranted many would not have), secondly cause they had been told they had too to protect others 24/7. Now many months after all this is over in their own country, they will spend their only 2/3/4 weeks a year in a country where it is mandatory to do something they did not like to to in the first place? Apart from a few (I guess amongst the ederlies) that will not mind, for all the others I do not think so. Not sure what's so hard to understand .

I stand corrected and accept in your part of the world people aren’t wearing masks. The effects on tourism will be almost impossible to quantify anyway. I hope that the mask mandate goes away soon anyway because like everyone else I am tired of Covid. Happy with that response?

[Cabra]

2 minutes ago, Stevejm said:

And how many tourists read this forum before deciding where to go on holiday?

You must be new here. The Thaiger repost from other news sources (which are on the Internet indexed and searchable). Almost exclusively. They write very little original news content. Scroll to the bottom of most any news article and you will see the named source. Even so, Thaiger content (reposted or not) is indexed and searchable as well using Google. And even if you are not smart enough to use Google key word search (but many tourist are), just go directly to any Thai government or consulate/embassy website (which is where many tourist go for in country information prior to vacationing)

[Stevejm]

1 minute ago, Cabra said:

just go directly to any Thai government or consulate/embassy website (which is where many tourist go for in country information prior to vacationing)

I agree but couldn’t find any references to mask requirements on the London embassy website. Perhaps you can find it for me!

[Stevejm]

7 minutes ago, Cabra said:

You must be new here. The Thaiger repost from other news sources (which are on the Internet indexed and searchable). Almost exclusively. They write very little original news content. Scroll to the bottom of most any news article and you will see the named source. Even so, Thaiger content (reposted or not) is indexed and searchable as well using Google. And even if you are not smart enough to use Google key word search (but many tourist are), just go directly to any Thai government or consulate/embassy website (which is where many tourist go for in country information prior to vacationing)

The only people that I know who travelled to Thailand recently had no idea about the mask requirement until I informed them.

[Stevejm]

On 6/3/2022 at 9:28 AM, rc1 said:

Plus, any footage from Thailand on TV or media, everyone is masked - it's very noticeable now that most other countries have dropped them. Thailand is really an outlier.

Yes most but not all have dropped the requirement. Singapore and Malaysia still require them indoors and a few others worldwide. Below photo was from last week 

 

Edited June 5, 2022 by Faz
image in breach of FG's removed

[Manu]

12 minutes ago, Stevejm said:

I stand corrected and accept in your part of the world people aren’t wearing masks.

I never said that. I said some, by far not all. I also said nobody cares if you wear it or not, people still wearing it anyway are just complying regardless how stupid they think it is and for a few others, are still scared. But if you could see what I have been seeing for months, you would understand the frustration of this nonsensical mask wearing here.

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The effects on tourism will be almost impossible to quantify anyway.

Well it will be eventually. But if one uses a little common sense, one can imagine that the mask mandate can only have a negative impact ("huge impact" is my personal opinion), certainly not a positive one, which is the point here and tourism in Thailand needs URGENTLY ONLY positive impacts.

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I hope that the mask mandate goes away soon anyway because like everyone else I am tired of Covid.

Indeed!!

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Happy with that response?

No need for that one. It is an online forum, so if we are all civil, it is only and always a matter of agreeing with each other or agreeing to disagree.

[Cabra]

21 minutes ago, Stevejm said:

The only people that I know who travelled to Thailand recently had no idea about the mask requirement until I informed them.

While certainly anecdotal, that's a incredibly small sample size to base the argument that no potential tourist knows about the current masking rules in Thailand. Hopefully this will all moot I'm the next few months as the rules get dropped. 

[Stevejm]

14 minutes ago, Manu said:

Well it will be eventually. But if one uses a little common sense, one can imagine that the mask mandate can only have a negative impact ("huge impact" is my personal opinion), certainly not a positive one, which is the point here and tourism in Thailand needs URGENTLY ONLY positive impacts

Can’t argue with that. Let’s hope for positive impacts only going forward even if that is an impossibility. You can but hope/try

[Stevejm]

Just now, Cabra said:

While certainly anecdotal, that's a incredibly small sample size to base the argument that no potential tourist knows about the current masking rules in Thailand. Hopefully this will all moot I'm the next few months as the rules get dropped. 

I can only quote the people that I have actually spoken to. I wasn’t trying to suggest that no tourists know about the mask requirement just that the few that I know didn’t. Your last sentence certainly reflects my sentiments.

[Manu]

55 minutes ago, Stevejm said:

And how many tourists read this forum before deciding where to go on holiday?

Luckily not many, apart from the ones who have been coming for years or have tights here. Imagine tourists reading this article https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/outdoor-mask-rules-eased-in-phuket-new-bangkok-governor-says-capital-may-follow and this ...

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Those who refuse to wear a mask in indoor and crowded spaces could still face a fine of up to 20,000 baht under the Communicable Disease Act and could be found in violation of the Emergency Decree. This carries a jail term of up to 2 years and/or a fine of up to 40,000 baht.

Surely that would put off the most enthousiastic tourists out there he he...

[Stevejm]

13 minutes ago, Manu said:

Surely that would put off the most enthousiastic tourists out there he he..

You mean all BUT the most enthusiastic? I wonder what the arrival numbers are doing right now? 

[Marc26]

3 hours ago, Manu said:

Come on now, you did research INTENSIVELY cause Thailand was the only place where you wanted to go regardless. You have been posting here for months about it. Surely you understand that it is not the case for pratically all tourists (or idiots as you call them)? No??

I would think if some snowflakes were so worried about a mask they would do the tiniest bit of research to find out the reality on the ground

 

I've been all around the country for 6 weeks

I've seen almost no difference in the amount of people here in May than any other May I have been here

 

So there are plenty of people who either don't whine about masks(or everything really ) or did their research 

[Manu]

1 hour ago, Transam said:

I don't talk to people regarding  mask wearing, if you do, that's up to you.....

 

Well don't ask me then, keep your questions to yourself, it is very simple.

[TWS60]

Just a matter of de-conditioning the population now, like weaning a baby off a pacifier.  

As the unmasking trend continues over the next weeks/months, those who insist on wearing a mask will shift to the minority, swapping positions with the self-absorbed, attention-seeking anti-mask whingers who made spectacles of themselves during the pandemic.

Looking forward to the old normal checklist when leaving the house:

1. Wallet
2. Phone
3. Keys
4.  Mask

[Viggen8408]

6 hours ago, Stevejm said:

Yes most but not all have dropped the requirement. Singapore and Malaysia still require them indoors and a few others worldwide. Below photo was from last week 

News presenters... now there is idiocy in the extreme! Sitting behind their desk all high and mighty, the cameras well over four metres away from them and masked up so we who are hard of hearing and relying more and more on lip movement have next to no idea what the little dears are saying. If anything was close to virtue signalling this - and masked up in a car while solo - has to take the cake.

Edited June 3, 2022 by Viggen8408
Grammar corrections

[rc1]

32 minutes ago, TWS60 said:

Just a matter of de-conditioning the population now, like weaning a baby off a pacifier.  

As the unmasking trend continues over the next weeks/months, those who insist on wearing a mask will shift to the minority, swapping positions with the self-absorbed, attention-seeking anti-mask whingers who made spectacles of themselves during the pandemic.

Looking forward to the old normal checklist when leaving the house:

1. Wallet
2. Phone
3. Keys
4.  Mask

As Thais start travelling overseas again, let's hope they quickly realise they are one of literally a handful of countries in the world still wearing masks.

Need the message to to sink in both internally and externally.

Phuket just reversed a decision to drop the outdoor mandate, obviously under pressure from govt, despite only 10 reported cases a day!!

No longer any health justification for mass masking, so why are they being worn?

 

[JamesR]

16 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Then they are idiots and did not research whatsoever 

I've been here 6 weeks and masks are not a concern at all

They are a concern to those who do not like being on holiday wearing a mask when they do not need to wear one in their own country. 
 

That is my reason for not going to Thailand at the moment. 

[JamesR]

22 hours ago, Thaidup said:

Sorry, I disagree, -  taxi,hotels,cleaners,cooks,wait staff,hotel food, street food, suppliers,massage,bars,waitresses,cleaners,bike taxis,hookers,and then their food and suppliers and then the rooms for rent and their food and suppliers, I could go on, Like markets and stalls and small shops.that give them haircuts and do makeup, on and on

True but only in a few places in Thailand, most of Thailand is occupied by non-tourists going about their general day to day lives with no connection with the tourism.

The vast majority of industry and jobs in Thailand is not connected to tourism.

The same in the UK, we have more tourists per year than Thailand but I or anybody I know do not have any connection to tourism. 

I assume the affect of tourism depends where a person lives for example Isaan might be more affected by the downturn in tourism as 99.9% of all bar girls, massage girls etc are from there and so can not send money back home so regions like that may feel the affect more than others. 

[JamesR]

19 hours ago, Stevejm said:

Looks like local leaders in tourist areas are taking matters into their own hands

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2319894/phuket-eases-mask-wearing-bangkok-to-follow

Thanks for that info.

My daily activities in Phuket are cycling/walking around the circular 6km reservoir route, so it looks like no masks needed there.

Beach at 7am for a walk, so no masks there.

Writing software from my house for a large part of the day, so no mask there.

Eating and drinking in restaurants, no masks.

Once a week to a bar to see the lads, no mask as sitting down drinking. 

Tesco/Makro, wear a mask but they are air-con so no prob for an hour or two per week.

I have a car but I will not force myself to wear a mask while driving. 

It looks like I will have to start a plan to go there for six months soon.