News Forum - Alcohol ban likely lifted for restaurants in key tourist Blue Zones

[Thaiger]

It appears this afternoon the Covid-19 task force has lifted the ban on alcohol in restaurants for several key tourism locations for Monday’s reopening. Coconuts is reporting that Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, and Phang Nga can begin selling alcohol in restaurants again on November 1, according to a slide in today’s Covid-19 press briefing. As Thailand reestablishes its international tourism, allowing fully vaccinated travellers from 46 countries in without quarantine, many have predicted a failure of the grand reopening and even a lasting stain on Thailand’s reputation without the ability for tourists to have a beer or cocktail. The CCSA slide […]

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[Jason]

One thing international tourists expect when coming to Thailand, is that they have the same possibilities as they have in their own countries. Different if I was visiting countries that have bans on certain things (like alcohol). People are coming for a H O L I D A Y..... (read...relaxation, sunshine, beaches, great food, great memories). We are all over the pandemic. We've all been living under every restriction the human mind can come up with. Just saying.....  

[SaMos75]

Just restaurants, what about hotel bars?

[Brownie]

5 minutes ago, SaMos75 said:

Just restaurants, what about hotel bars?

That cannot be allowed. That would lead to a rise in infections

[Graham]

Meanwhile I am sitting in the Middle East and can go to any restaurant and have a drink, I can also go to a bar and have a drink too, are you shocked Uncle Tu ? Only in Thailand can you go out and risk arrest for having a drink with your meal, what a fantastic welcome for tourists. 555

[Poolie]

1 minute ago, Graham said:

Meanwhile I am sitting in the Middle East and can go to any restaurant and have a drink, I can also go to a bar and have a drink too, are you shocked Uncle Tu ? Only in Thailand can you go out and risk arrest for having a drink with your meal, what a fantastic welcome for tourists. 555

Have a lovely time wont you?

Do pop back and remind us what your up to from time to time.

In the Middle East.

[Malc-Thai]

Wow so you can cross the road from your dark red area into a blue zone opposite and grab a beer with your food. pretty similar it must be to this quaint little newly opened restaurant in phuket !

Edited October 29, 2021 by Malc-Thai

[HolyCowCm]

Well, if they gonna toss it into the shiter, then at least open it up for the people to have fun and drink. I really do not think it is going to help the containment more than what the idiots are doing now. For CM it looks to be a lost cause. Please vaccinate us you a- holes.

[Jason]

With the current situation with Covid in Chiang Mai and ICU hospitalisations, two things are necessary. Mass vaccination and no tourists. It shows that unless you have 80% or better double dosed in the general population, reopening is unwise. 

[Chaimai]

7 minutes ago, Jason said:

With the current situation with Covid in Chiang Mai and ICU hospitalisations, two things are necessary. Mass vaccination and no tourists. It shows that unless you have 80% or better double dosed in the general population, reopening is unwise. 

 

Remind me again of the risk posed by tourists?

[gummy]

21 minutes ago, Chaimai said:

Remind me again of the risk posed by tourists?

The biggest risk posed by tourists, in the governments eyes no doubt is that a) They will not spend enough money whilst they are here and/or b) They will not believe and fall for the government scams so that they could be here. As for the health risk  well, the government does not give two hoots about that. 

[longwood50]

Its a good thing that Covid can't be spread while drinking tea or coffee inside the Big C Extra mall.  After all we know the dangerous behavior of sitting in an open air restaurant sipping a glass of beer or wine 3 meters away from the next table. 

[Stonker]

4 hours ago, Chaimai said:

Remind me again of the risk posed by tourists?

Tourists bring tourism - you can't have one without the other.

Tourism spreads Covid.

I'm not sure why you need to be constantly reminded of that.

[Stonker]

18 hours ago, Graham said:

Only in Thailand can you go out and risk arrest for having a drink with your meal, ...

Really?

Only Thailand?

Maybe you need to have a look at other countries in the region .....

[Stonker]

20 hours ago, Jason said:

One thing international tourists expect when coming to Thailand, is that they have the same possibilities as they have in their own countries.  

I doubt most "international tourists" are quite that badly informed.

[Jason]

I should have said, perceived risk..... I'm just a dirty farang aren't I? 

[Chaimai]

1 hour ago, Stonker said:

Tourists bring tourism - you can't have one without the other.

Tourism spreads Covid.

I'm not sure why you need to be constantly reminded of that.

So YOU think tourism (tourists) spread Covid.

[Stonker]

2 hours ago, Chaimai said:

So YOU think tourism (tourists) spread Covid.

No, I think TOURISM spreads Covid, as I've explained to you several times as have many others.

[Chaimai]

20 hours ago, Stonker said:

No, I think TOURISM spreads Covid, as I've explained to you several times as have many others.

 

 

You are wrong.

[Stonker]

8 minutes ago, Chaimai said:

You are wrong.

Maybe you'd care to explain how allowing restaurants to not only allow dining-in but to serve alcohol, opening bars and nightclubs, allowing socialising, partying, meetings and concerts, allowing unrestricted travel, and ultimately not requiring masks to be worn since as has been said tourists won't want to go to a country where there are more restrictions than their own, won't spread Covid?

I'm not blaming tourists for that as arguably they're no more likely to spread Covid than anyone else - although arguably they are as they're more likely to be asymptomatic - but I'm blaming tourism since those are all very basic requirements for tourism here,  as pretty much everyone seems to agree.

If you think I'm "wrong" then please explain either how none of that loosening of regulations will affect Covid spreading, or how none of it is a requirement for tourism.

The ball's in your court, but I won't be holding my breath ...

[Bob20]

2 hours ago, Chaimai said:

You are wrong.

Interpersonal contact is the most likely cause for virus transmission. Therefore movement of people creates the opportunity to spread the virus. Doesn't matter if it's your neighbour coughing all over others in the supermarket, your friend going to another city to a birthday party, a Bangkok family going for a weekend break, or some foreigner traveling to Thailand.

The virus can be picked up anywhere and then transmitted, whether you are vaccinated or not.

It's just that if you are vaccinated you have less chance to get sick or die from it.

On the other hand, being vaccinated, you could easily and likely symptomfree transmit it to others.

It's not just tourism, it's all movement.

(And it's not in reply to your message, but I'm not suggesting everyone stays at home or that we have another lockdown. But I am suggesting that unnecessary movement is limited and that people at the very least strictly abide by the measures to limit transmission of the virus).

[longwood50]

On 10/30/2021 at 2:31 PM, Stonker said:

Tourism spreads Covid.

I'm not sure why you need to be constantly reminded of that.

So according to you tourism that can only come from people who 
1. Were tested before they came
2. Are fully vaccinated meaning that they have only 5% to 10% chance of being infected with covid which is necessary for them to spread it
3. Are tested again upon arrival

 

And these are the spreaders.  I am not sure where you get your thinking from but its obvious you are dedicated to it

If anyone is spreading Covid it is the Thai's who either are not vaccinated or have been vaccinated with Sinovac which has been reported to be only 50% effective in preventing the disease. 

Using your logic, tourism should stop because the group least likely to have and therefore be able to spread it can spread it. 

In order the group most likely to spread it are 

1. people who have not been tested or had any covid vaccine

2. people who have not been tested and had 1 dose of sinnovac

3. people who have not been tested and had 2 doses of sinnovac

4. people who have not been tested and had the required doses of

other vaccines.       

5. people who have been tested and are negative for covid                                                   

6. people who have been tested for covid are shown to be negative once and have had at least 1 dose of an approved vaccine.                                                                                       

 7. people have been tested for covid are shown to be negative and have had 2 doses of an approved vaccine.                                                                                                               

   8. people who have been tested twice are shown to be negative and have had 2 doses of an approved vaccine.  PS - These are tourists. 

While not impossible for them to spread covid, they would have to contract covid while in Thailand from another infected person and then spread it.  If they had taken Phizer or Moderna they would have only a 5% chance of even contracting covid at anytime, let alone contracting it during a brief trip to Thailand and studies show that even if they did contract it they have a 63% lower rate of transmission of covid to another person than someone who contracts covid without immunization. 

Vaccinated and tested tourists are not the spreaders, Unvaccinated locals whether Thai's or foreigners residing in Thailand are the spreaders. 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by BigHewer
Abusive content removed

[Poolie]

16 minutes ago, longwood50 said:

LOL,

So according to you tourism that can only come from people who 
1. Were tested before they came
2. Are fully vaccinated meaning that they have only 5% to 10% chance of being infected with covid which is necessary for them to spread it
3. Are tested again upon arrival

And these are the spreaders.  I am not sure where you get your lunacy from from but its obvious you are dedicated to it

If anyone is spreading Covid it is the Thai's who either are not vaccinated or have been vaccinated with Sinovac which has been reported to be only 50% effective in preventing the disease. 

Using your logic and I use that term loosely tourism should stop because the group least likely to have and therefore be able to spread it can spread it. 

In order the group most likely to spread it are 

1. people who have not been tested or had any covid vaccine

2. people who have not been tested and had 1 dose of sinnovac

3. people who have not been tested and had 2 doses of sinnovac

4. people who have not been tested and had the required doses of

other vaccines.       

5. people who have been tested and are negative for covid                                                   

6. people who have been tested for covid are shown to be negative once and have had at least 1 dose of an approved vaccine.                                                                                       

 7. people have been tested for covid are shown to be negative and have had 2 doses of an approved vaccine.                                                                                                               

   8. people who have been tested twice are shown to be negative and have had 2 doses of an approved vaccine.  PS - These are tourists. 

While not impossible for them to spread covid, they would have to contract covid while in Thailand from another infected person and then spread it.  If they had taken Phizer or Moderna they would have only a 5% chance of even contracting covid at anytime, let alone contracting it during a brief trip to Thailand and studies show that even if they did contract it they have a 63% lower rate of transmission of covid to another person than someone who contracts covid without immunization. 

Vaccinated and tested tourists are not the spreaders, Unvaccinated locals whether Thai's or foreigners residing in Thailand are the spreaders. 

 

You do realise that that went entirely unheeded dont you?

I'm afraid your wasting your time, seriously.

[longwood50]

5 minutes ago, Poolie said:

You do realise that that went entirely unheeded dont you?

You probably are correct. 

Seriously, I just can't believe that there are so many people who lack any common sense at all.   

I know if I was worried about covid and had a choice of socializing with 1,000 tourists all vaccinated and tested versus socializing with 1,000 locals who had not been tested and/or vaccinated which group I would choose. 

 

[Stonker]

2 hours ago, longwood50 said:

I am not sure where you get your lunacy from from but its obvious you are dedicated to it 

You seem incapable of understanding anything anyone says.

2 hours ago, longwood50 said:

Using your logic and I use that term loosely tourism should stop because the group least likely to have and therefore be able to spread it can spread it. 

No, that's the complete opposite to what I've said, repeatedly, consistently and very clearly.

Misrepresenting what I've written is rather short sighted since it's only two posts above yours.

2 hours ago, longwood50 said:

Vaccinated and tested tourists are not the spreaders, Unvaccinated locals whether Thai's or foreigners residing in Thailand are the spreaders

As I said, and you quoted me as saying, although as I also said the question of who is more likely to spread Covid is arguable:

6 hours ago, Stonker said:

Maybe you'd care to explain how allowing restaurants to not only allow dining-in but to serve alcohol, opening bars and nightclubs, allowing socialising, partying, meetings and concerts, allowing unrestricted travel, and ultimately not requiring masks to be worn since as has been said tourists won't want to go to a country where there are more restrictions than their own, won't spread Covid?

I'm not blaming tourists for that as arguably they're no more likely to spread Covid than anyone else - although arguably they are as they're more likely to be asymptomatic - but I'm blaming tourism since those are all very basic requirements for tourism here,  as pretty much everyone seems to agree.

If you think I'm "wrong" then please explain either how none of that loosening of regulations will affect Covid spreading, or how none of it is a requirement for tourism.

The ball's in your court, but I won't be holding my breath ...

What you're arguing with has nothing to do with what I actually said.