Despite low riders, Covid-19 train to continue

[Thaiger]

Despite a rocky start, the special train service the Transport Ministry arranged with the State Railway of Thailand to help bring Covid-19 infected patients in Bangkok to their hometowns for treatment will continue. The train, dubbed the “Covid Express”, will schedule more trips from Bangkok to the North and Northeast provinces even though the first train ended up with less than 10% of the planned ridership. The train scheme was created as Bangkok faces severe infection numbers and shortages of hospital beds and medical staff as a way to open up some space by sending interested patients home to where […]

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[AussieBob]

That is not a train that I would want to get a job working on. 

[gummy]

So not enough infected people wanting to travel back on these freight trains but they are still going to continue running them. Perhaps they should take an example from the past and offer people free showers as well at the end of the journey !! Nothing would surprise me with this lot

[Stonker]

 

So not enough infected people wanting to travel back on these freight trains but they are still going to continue running them. 

Can you think of a better alternative ?

 

No-one else can, despite the criticism.

[Stonker]

The low numbers shouldn't be a surprise, although there are reportedly some 20,000 waiting for hospital / quarantine beds in Bangkok many of whom are from the provinces who could easily be quarantined back in their home provinces.

 

The problem for many will be that if they leave Bangkok they are effectively quitting their jobs and so those doing so would lose their right to whatever minimal pay they're getting on reduced hours and to any redundancy payments, which can be quite a reasonable sum after a few years.

 

The government could legislate to allow for that but it hasn't done so, leaving many forced to stay in Bangkok because even if it would be in everyone's interests for them to go "home" they can't afford to lose the money.

[JamesE]

Headlines sayin' "low riders" and I'm thinking...

[Bluesofa]

 

While Bangkok and other dark red zones are being overwhelmed with new infections and nowhere to house them, some provinces, especially in the North and Northeast have not experienced nearly the same spike in cases, and have plenty of available hospital beds for Covid-19 patients.

This morning my wife's friend (a nurse in Udon Thani hospital) said they have run out of beds already and will have to send covid patients back home.

[gummy]

 

This morning my wife's friend (a nurse in Udon Thani hospital) said they have run out of beds already and will have to send covid patients back home.

Oh dear, that doesn't sound too good for us up here now