Bangkok Hospital and AEK are advertising again that they will have Pfitzer & Modena vaccines for sale next month.
3,300 baht at Bangkok and 4,000 at AEK but you must book and pay in advance.
Seem to have heard this before.
Has anyone who has already paid been contacted by them.
Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
The protected need to be protected from the unprotected by forcing the unprotected to use the protection that doesn't protect the protected.
This is not about science or medicine or health. It's about control.
This is not about science or medicine or health. It's about control.
Ashli Babbitt -- SAY HER NAME!
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
I got the BKK Hospital e-mail advising that I could "pre-order" the Phase II "Booster" of Moderna which would arrive next spring sometime. Nope, I'll pass, this whole pre-order, -pre-pay stuff so the Thai government Pharmaceutical Organization can collectively order for all the private organizations then allocate the paid for doses as they see fit hasn't worked thus far... Still waiting on the Moderna the wife and I ordered back in June..
Dave
-
anefarious1
- udonmap.com
- Posts: 596
- Joined: October 9, 2014, 4:36 am
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
You'd think they would drop the pre-order BS since Pfizer became widely available for free to the very group Modern was of interest to.
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
That is a Logical conclusion, sadly Logic is NOT employed in the Thai mental thought processes.anefarious1 wrote: ↑September 27, 2021, 11:34 amYou'd think they would drop the pre-order BS since Pfizer became widely available for free to the very group Modern was of interest to.
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
Covid misinformation, home quarantine, village dictatorship
This novel is my Udon Covid lockdown experience in journal format. Feel free to embark or ignore.
Mostly venting, but my rose colored glasses have been ripped off and smashed underfoot by the ‘local official’ and volunteers here in the village in Amphur Muang Udon.
The backstory is the old and ailing family matriarch who had been in ill health for a year with probably about all of the 7 underlying conditions, bar obesity, as she was skin and bones. Health officials from Udon came on Sept.1st and administered her a 1st Covid vaccine dose.
About midnight Sept. 4th she had a spell so we rushed her to the clinic and they took her in an ambulance to Udon General. A week later, they sent her home slightly improved and confirmed she did not have Covid.
Sons and daughters and grandkids from Bangkok arrived to spend time with her during her final days. They all had their papers showing recovery from Covid and completion of 14 day quarantine. A few of them had also a first vaccine. All of these visitors are next door, and across the street from next door, to my wife and I. The puyai and her group of farmer / health volunteers came to argue the visitors needed to quarantine, but it seems they eventually and begrudgingly gave up winning the discussion. Part of her argument was threatening to call the police and a fine of 100,000 Bt. This is directed at one of the original village families and in addition to her mistaken understanding of quarantine, was completely uncalled for.
I had already had both shots, and my wife and a few other siblings got their 2nd about Sept 15th.
On Sept. 22nd a van from the hospital arrived to administer the 2nd vaccine dose to Grandmother, but realized she was too weak and still of steadily failing health. Luckily she is surrounded by and tended to by all 8 of her offspring, although only able to sit up in bed with assistance.
On Sept. 23rd, her great-grandson (16 months) across the street wakes up with a fever and his grandmother/caregiver also doesn’t feel well. Off to the hospital, the toddler tests Covid positive, the grandmother negative, and both are put into 14 day hospital stay.
Sept. 24th the village puyai and volunteer team puts all 4 houses (including ours) on 14 day lockdown, complete with blue string and hand written cardboard signs stating “24th-8th”. Grandmother takes her last breath peacefully late Saturday afternoon. (She never had a fever or was gasping for air.) Wonderful family woman and mother lived a full life in her 79 years. We all participated in last rights, bathing, placed her into a white coffin, police came to take down details. Candles and incense lit to begin the 3 day funeral.
By 8:30 pm, things are calmed down and I am asked to drive the eldest son to the police station to collect the police report. But wait, lockdown? Never mind, the police said it has to be tonight. Why not in the morning? Cannot. Now. TIT.
At the police station 30 minutes away, the document is done... and waiting to be delivered to Udon General! The hospital had been called, they rushed out to grab the body, and they now needed the police report. Now. 9:30 pm. Not tomorrow.
So I drive another 25 minutes to Udon General and drop the bil at emergency, as the guard doesn’t understand what we are looking to do. Turns out bil is directed by staff towards the morgue which is way in the back of the complex, zig zagging alone through dark hallways past closed up and unlit medical departments. He dropped of the doc to the lone morgue guy and bolted out of there!
We were told a team will come to test all of us on Saturday. The siblings and relatives from another village are notified to also come for testing as they had contact with the toddler the previous week. Then testing is changed to Sunday, then changed to ordering we have to go ourselves to Udon General. So Sunday we all pile in vehicles back to Udon General for our testing. Have I said, so much for effective lockdown? The puyai has told us we will be tested as a group, the hospital is expecting us. The hospital testers (big tent out in the road) tell us no way, they can’t handle a group. Calls are made, hospital wins over puyai bahn, imagine that. All head back home untested.
On Monday Sept. 27th we are again all told we must go into Udon for testing, as MIL was declared positive and cause of death is now surprisingly listed as Covid. Thusly, she will be immediately cremated behind the hospital with no family and no ceremony. Sad for all of us. Were were later told by an Udon General Doctor that is ridiculous and the post-covid group from Bangkok, at least, should have been invited to attend, along with other immediate family.
My new round of protests that sending us all into Udon was not a great idea were construed as being argumentative and it seems I was labeled a bad guy by the puyai, along with the bils and sils next door. The puyai has told us we will be tested as a group, the testing center is expecting us. By now it is becoming more obvious this is not the ‘competent official’ so often referenced in Thai law.
We are sent to the quarantine center at Rajapaht Udon, with our growing paper list from the puyai of people with recent contact of the MIL and toddler. The center was not expecting us. Now nearly 30 strong, we occupy red chairs under a hot tent with travelers and their luggage. (And a single barefoot farang.) After a disaster of a registration process, and numerous confused discussions with staff*, 3 hours later we are done and heading home in our private vehicles. So much for lockdown!
*It would seem straight forward to show up, submit ID’s and get tested. It is free if by referal, and the document from the puyai bahn was supposed to be just that. As the farang, I sat back and watched the chaos, occasional asking relatives what was the delay. After the second group of a dozen or so showed up and went straight through without doing time in the red chairs, I said screw this and went to lunch. It seemed to me at that point we were all sitting around waiting to get Covid. To avoid a domestic battle, upon returning I rejoined our group who were just then getting tested. Only the barefoot farang was behind us.
Sept. 28th, day 5 of lockdown, test results start trickling through the village by word of mouth, the old coconut wireless. The patriarchs remains are delivered by pickup, we all gather around for a wai. By noon, word came through of a positive. The eldest daughter #1 who had been sleeping near MIL and helping her sister #2 take care of the toddler. She is told to pack up and get ready to be picked up for mandatory quarantine/treatment. By late afternoon, it is confirmed she is the only positive from the 7 siblings and 4 adjacent households. Repeated calls about the ride were responded to with, “On the way.” By evening she is still stressfully sitting out front with her bag and at 8pm she goes in to bed. Siblings set up a tent with mosquito nets and blankets and boiled fah-talai-jone and other herbs for her to breathe overnight. Her ride showed up mid morning the next day and she was off to a ‘hospitel’. Notable that there has been no paperwork showing any test results, all second or third person word of mouth.
The Udon covid news mentions information about an elderly woman dying of Covid on the 25th. It states incorrectly that she was unvaccinated, and that she got Covid from her nephew. Really? A bed ridden old woman who cannot sit up and never leaves her mosquito netting got Covid from a 16 month old toddler, her great grandson? No idea who made that up, but it casts a shadow for me over how neatly controlled all the testing, cases, deaths and reporting always appear.
On Friday Oct 1st, we receive word that the sibling #2 caring for the toddler in Udon General is now positive, on her 9th day in quarantine. Two days before that a roommate had been moved in with them; relevant only for the mystery of why would patients be moved around within a quarantine space? The kid and his now positive grandma, daughter #2, are moved to a different ward, supposedly the ‘positive’ ward?
On Oct. 3rd, daughter #1 in “hospitel” gets word her son had a headache and fever, went to the doctor, and is positive They live in the other village mentioned earlier. We are notified by ‘not the competent official’ to be ready for covid testing here in the village at 9 am the following day.
It should be mentioned that our 4 houses were the only ones on lockdown, then for 10 days already. The family were told not to worry, that food and water would be delivered since no one can leave the property. We have seen a stack of small water bottles and a pile of mama noodle packs delivered next door, once, nothing more. Of course photos were taken of the delivery. For the higher ups, you know the drill. Luckily the family has chickens, and a garden so they are not going hungry. The local mom and pop has been taking phone orders and delivering. Being a farang and aware covid is a big problem, I had a pretty full pantry along with a chest freezer. Odd that nothing was even offered, though. Do people starve during forced lockdown?
Intermission, part two coming up.
This novel is my Udon Covid lockdown experience in journal format. Feel free to embark or ignore.
Mostly venting, but my rose colored glasses have been ripped off and smashed underfoot by the ‘local official’ and volunteers here in the village in Amphur Muang Udon.
The backstory is the old and ailing family matriarch who had been in ill health for a year with probably about all of the 7 underlying conditions, bar obesity, as she was skin and bones. Health officials from Udon came on Sept.1st and administered her a 1st Covid vaccine dose.
About midnight Sept. 4th she had a spell so we rushed her to the clinic and they took her in an ambulance to Udon General. A week later, they sent her home slightly improved and confirmed she did not have Covid.
Sons and daughters and grandkids from Bangkok arrived to spend time with her during her final days. They all had their papers showing recovery from Covid and completion of 14 day quarantine. A few of them had also a first vaccine. All of these visitors are next door, and across the street from next door, to my wife and I. The puyai and her group of farmer / health volunteers came to argue the visitors needed to quarantine, but it seems they eventually and begrudgingly gave up winning the discussion. Part of her argument was threatening to call the police and a fine of 100,000 Bt. This is directed at one of the original village families and in addition to her mistaken understanding of quarantine, was completely uncalled for.
I had already had both shots, and my wife and a few other siblings got their 2nd about Sept 15th.
On Sept. 22nd a van from the hospital arrived to administer the 2nd vaccine dose to Grandmother, but realized she was too weak and still of steadily failing health. Luckily she is surrounded by and tended to by all 8 of her offspring, although only able to sit up in bed with assistance.
On Sept. 23rd, her great-grandson (16 months) across the street wakes up with a fever and his grandmother/caregiver also doesn’t feel well. Off to the hospital, the toddler tests Covid positive, the grandmother negative, and both are put into 14 day hospital stay.
Sept. 24th the village puyai and volunteer team puts all 4 houses (including ours) on 14 day lockdown, complete with blue string and hand written cardboard signs stating “24th-8th”. Grandmother takes her last breath peacefully late Saturday afternoon. (She never had a fever or was gasping for air.) Wonderful family woman and mother lived a full life in her 79 years. We all participated in last rights, bathing, placed her into a white coffin, police came to take down details. Candles and incense lit to begin the 3 day funeral.
By 8:30 pm, things are calmed down and I am asked to drive the eldest son to the police station to collect the police report. But wait, lockdown? Never mind, the police said it has to be tonight. Why not in the morning? Cannot. Now. TIT.
At the police station 30 minutes away, the document is done... and waiting to be delivered to Udon General! The hospital had been called, they rushed out to grab the body, and they now needed the police report. Now. 9:30 pm. Not tomorrow.
So I drive another 25 minutes to Udon General and drop the bil at emergency, as the guard doesn’t understand what we are looking to do. Turns out bil is directed by staff towards the morgue which is way in the back of the complex, zig zagging alone through dark hallways past closed up and unlit medical departments. He dropped of the doc to the lone morgue guy and bolted out of there!
We were told a team will come to test all of us on Saturday. The siblings and relatives from another village are notified to also come for testing as they had contact with the toddler the previous week. Then testing is changed to Sunday, then changed to ordering we have to go ourselves to Udon General. So Sunday we all pile in vehicles back to Udon General for our testing. Have I said, so much for effective lockdown? The puyai has told us we will be tested as a group, the hospital is expecting us. The hospital testers (big tent out in the road) tell us no way, they can’t handle a group. Calls are made, hospital wins over puyai bahn, imagine that. All head back home untested.
On Monday Sept. 27th we are again all told we must go into Udon for testing, as MIL was declared positive and cause of death is now surprisingly listed as Covid. Thusly, she will be immediately cremated behind the hospital with no family and no ceremony. Sad for all of us. Were were later told by an Udon General Doctor that is ridiculous and the post-covid group from Bangkok, at least, should have been invited to attend, along with other immediate family.
My new round of protests that sending us all into Udon was not a great idea were construed as being argumentative and it seems I was labeled a bad guy by the puyai, along with the bils and sils next door. The puyai has told us we will be tested as a group, the testing center is expecting us. By now it is becoming more obvious this is not the ‘competent official’ so often referenced in Thai law.
We are sent to the quarantine center at Rajapaht Udon, with our growing paper list from the puyai of people with recent contact of the MIL and toddler. The center was not expecting us. Now nearly 30 strong, we occupy red chairs under a hot tent with travelers and their luggage. (And a single barefoot farang.) After a disaster of a registration process, and numerous confused discussions with staff*, 3 hours later we are done and heading home in our private vehicles. So much for lockdown!
*It would seem straight forward to show up, submit ID’s and get tested. It is free if by referal, and the document from the puyai bahn was supposed to be just that. As the farang, I sat back and watched the chaos, occasional asking relatives what was the delay. After the second group of a dozen or so showed up and went straight through without doing time in the red chairs, I said screw this and went to lunch. It seemed to me at that point we were all sitting around waiting to get Covid. To avoid a domestic battle, upon returning I rejoined our group who were just then getting tested. Only the barefoot farang was behind us.
Sept. 28th, day 5 of lockdown, test results start trickling through the village by word of mouth, the old coconut wireless. The patriarchs remains are delivered by pickup, we all gather around for a wai. By noon, word came through of a positive. The eldest daughter #1 who had been sleeping near MIL and helping her sister #2 take care of the toddler. She is told to pack up and get ready to be picked up for mandatory quarantine/treatment. By late afternoon, it is confirmed she is the only positive from the 7 siblings and 4 adjacent households. Repeated calls about the ride were responded to with, “On the way.” By evening she is still stressfully sitting out front with her bag and at 8pm she goes in to bed. Siblings set up a tent with mosquito nets and blankets and boiled fah-talai-jone and other herbs for her to breathe overnight. Her ride showed up mid morning the next day and she was off to a ‘hospitel’. Notable that there has been no paperwork showing any test results, all second or third person word of mouth.
The Udon covid news mentions information about an elderly woman dying of Covid on the 25th. It states incorrectly that she was unvaccinated, and that she got Covid from her nephew. Really? A bed ridden old woman who cannot sit up and never leaves her mosquito netting got Covid from a 16 month old toddler, her great grandson? No idea who made that up, but it casts a shadow for me over how neatly controlled all the testing, cases, deaths and reporting always appear.
On Friday Oct 1st, we receive word that the sibling #2 caring for the toddler in Udon General is now positive, on her 9th day in quarantine. Two days before that a roommate had been moved in with them; relevant only for the mystery of why would patients be moved around within a quarantine space? The kid and his now positive grandma, daughter #2, are moved to a different ward, supposedly the ‘positive’ ward?
On Oct. 3rd, daughter #1 in “hospitel” gets word her son had a headache and fever, went to the doctor, and is positive They live in the other village mentioned earlier. We are notified by ‘not the competent official’ to be ready for covid testing here in the village at 9 am the following day.
It should be mentioned that our 4 houses were the only ones on lockdown, then for 10 days already. The family were told not to worry, that food and water would be delivered since no one can leave the property. We have seen a stack of small water bottles and a pile of mama noodle packs delivered next door, once, nothing more. Of course photos were taken of the delivery. For the higher ups, you know the drill. Luckily the family has chickens, and a garden so they are not going hungry. The local mom and pop has been taking phone orders and delivering. Being a farang and aware covid is a big problem, I had a pretty full pantry along with a chest freezer. Odd that nothing was even offered, though. Do people starve during forced lockdown?
Intermission, part two coming up.
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
Continued home lockdown saga.
On October 4th at 2:30 pm, (oh, not 9 am?) we (pretty much the entire village) are directed to walk to the meeting hall for Covid testing. Me being the troubling making farang, protest that we should not all walk together and meet in the tin roofed villge hall, as we are on day 11 of lockdown! Seems they told the family that if I didn’t show up, police would be called and a fine levied.
After the road was clear of potential covid cases, I rolled out my saleng, untied the Q-tape and rode down to the hall. Sure enough, a few dozen masked people inside the hot meeting hall on red chairs with one fan pointing along a wall, with the mid afternoon sun blazing in. I walked straight in and to the tripod fan, moving it 45 degrees to blow through the room and towards the exit. I asked a milling ‘official’ about the other fan that was turned off, whether it worked and was told firmly “Cannot!” which was quickly echoed by a female brown suited official seated and filling in forms. It seems that it’s ventilation that spreads Thai Covid, not lack of ventilation in a hot crowded room. Who knew?
I held my tongue and headed for the exit, but was called back for testing. Somehow test kit #001 had my name preprinted on it. Coincidence? Or was it get the farang in and out! I can assure you it was not vip treatment. My wife and her family sat there (in the hot breeze of the single fan) with 20 others for another two hours while 40-50 people were tested.
The official testing truck was the same as (or) the Rajabaht unit, it has two pairs of large silicone sleeves protruding from an acrylic panel. The technicians are fully isolated in an air conditioned food-type truck. Very professional aside from the staff are very aggressive with their sample taking. It was certainly not a swab, more of a nasal drilling both times I have been tested. There is a throat ‘swab’ as well, which I pulled away from gagging after about the fifth back and forth action.
A few days later we would hear that a member or two of another large family on a different block was known by the village head to have already shown symptoms of Covid and was there to be tested with everyone else anyway. Genius!
Later that afternoon my overheated and stressed wife returned and we had discussed our latest occurence of being forced to break quarantine in the interest of testing even though we were both fully vaxed and not showing any signs of illness. That along with the lack of common sense with the waiting area and grouping of people from two villages. They had brought a large group down from the other village by six wheel truck to join the testing party. Actually, they had mistakenly trucked them 25 minutes into Udon for testing, but were informed to come back out to our village, instead.
Realizing that our fence and quarantine string were down and the saleng was in the driveway I suggested a ride around the temple to get some fresh air and cool off. After all we hadn’t left the house for 11 days! The temple perimeter ride is almost a daily occurence in normal times and we usually have dogs and kids along to see the sights, listen to birds, check out the sunset. The mile or so ride includes passing alongside two homes, the rest is agricultural land. We saw one person while out just before sunset and of course, it was the puyai bahn. The next day we heard bright and early that she came and told some family members if we are seen “breaking quarantine” again the police will be called and a large fine levied. (But the group meet in the hot hall was fine, right?) As you can imagine I am getting pretty full of this mini-dictator and her power trip.
October 5th, day 12 of our home lockdown, once again test results are passed by word of mouth through village volunteers and neighbors with no paperwork or anything official. From our four house compound there is one more positive, a middle son of the deceased matriarch, positive sibling #3, who is told to pack up before noon and is then picked up after dark. Turns out there are 15-20 other local positives, none in our immediate vicinity, but the daughter of positive-daughter #1 and her husband from the other village and their two negative sons are also whisked away to a ‘hospitel’ in Udon. In the subsequent days we hear that they are in a room like a hotel and are given only khao-tohm, boiled rice, for 3 meals per day. I am trying to get the address so I can drop off some food for them. Would anyone venture that the operator is getting paid more than just boiled rice money each day?
October 6th, lockdown day 13, the day after a next door bil tests positive, along comes a big group of Udon health officials, volunteers and two soldiers. They are armed with signs declaring Covid lockdown “6th-20th” and are stapling them onto the existing “24th-8th” signs. I am out to the fence in a flash to declare that we have had no contact with the family next door since the MIL had passed, and to ask them to remove the new lockdown sign. There is fencing between properties, not to mention that the infected guy is the black sheep of the family and we never even speak to him. The officials from Udon discuss it briefly and remove the new sign from our fence with mutual wais. Mrs. competent puyai bahn is visibly miffed. I point out as they are leaving that tomorrow the 7th is our 14th and last day of quarantine.
About this time the coconut wireless is claiming that the large family (3 homes) on another street has stated they must have got Covid from the toddler. Only problem is although they do have kids, we (no one in our family) have never seen them here, even briefly. Pre-lockdown they would occasionally ride by on bikes, but never stopped. The coconut wireless also says the adults are known to regularly gamble and drink in the next village over. I guess that wouldn’t do to report where they actually got Covid. The final Covid rumor includes the farang! I allegedly carried the toddler (grand-nephew) to the local school (which as far as I know has been closed since last year) and spread Covid to kids playing there. Nope. Never happened. Have never carried the kid anywhere beyond the street between his house and hours. 50 yards of stroller pushing is about my limit. Again, not that these claims really matter, just that they are false and no one gives a flip whether they have the truth or not.
October 7th, lockdown day 14! Toddler kid is freed from the hospital! About 9am, the doctor from Udon General calls to have us pick up the kid; his 2 weeks are completed. Never mind that his care giver grandma tested positive 6 days ago. I guess they are thinking he now has sufficient antibodies. So when the puyai got wind of the kid coming home she went into dictator mode. Came by and warned the family to not drive to Udon to pick him up, under threat of.. oh cut the BS. After a phone call she decided in her infinite competency that 1 person could go in the car to pick the 16 month up. Really? And have him crawl around in the car on the way home? Idiocy. They went and brought him home without issue.
She must have thought, “Wait, while I’m in idiot mode let’s screw with the farang”. (For the record, prior to this Covid mess, we were on good terms and chatted in a friendly manner when our paths crossed.) She calls through the fence that tomorrow, the 8th is our last day of lockdown but we need to wait for some paperwork before we are free. OMG! I tried to be nice, but for anyone who knows how calendars work, counting 2 weeks or 14 days starting on a Friday, you will end on Thursday as the 14th day. Friday the 8th is my first day after 14 day quarantine. Now I am having to draw out a calendar on A4 paper to show that I have served my 14 days. And on the 8th I am no longer in quarantine. The Udon officials got it. The puyai bahn is raising her voice and telling me she is right and I must listen to her. I even had to urge my wife to lower her voice as she joined in.
October 8th, my 15th day of quarantine. I have food, AC, Internet, I decided since you can’t win an argument with an idiot, and it will not benefit me to be in a feud with the puyai bahn, I will postpone my road trip and grocery run until tomorrow. Mai pen rai. If she thinks I’m waiting on some paperwork, it better show up in the morning!
Maybe someone told her my calculation of 14 days was correct after all. Puyai and team just showed up next door with a couple small bags of food to photograph, I mean donate. She spoke with a very kind tone and asked if I could wait until tomorrow for the papers as the doctor was off work today. She also presented us with a gift “from the village” for enduring lockdown. One thousand Baht cash for our troubles. Without my rose colored glasses which she destroyed, I have to wonder whether it was five thousand originally and the money dissipated like road works money for the Khon Kaen highway. TIT!
On October 4th at 2:30 pm, (oh, not 9 am?) we (pretty much the entire village) are directed to walk to the meeting hall for Covid testing. Me being the troubling making farang, protest that we should not all walk together and meet in the tin roofed villge hall, as we are on day 11 of lockdown! Seems they told the family that if I didn’t show up, police would be called and a fine levied.
After the road was clear of potential covid cases, I rolled out my saleng, untied the Q-tape and rode down to the hall. Sure enough, a few dozen masked people inside the hot meeting hall on red chairs with one fan pointing along a wall, with the mid afternoon sun blazing in. I walked straight in and to the tripod fan, moving it 45 degrees to blow through the room and towards the exit. I asked a milling ‘official’ about the other fan that was turned off, whether it worked and was told firmly “Cannot!” which was quickly echoed by a female brown suited official seated and filling in forms. It seems that it’s ventilation that spreads Thai Covid, not lack of ventilation in a hot crowded room. Who knew?
I held my tongue and headed for the exit, but was called back for testing. Somehow test kit #001 had my name preprinted on it. Coincidence? Or was it get the farang in and out! I can assure you it was not vip treatment. My wife and her family sat there (in the hot breeze of the single fan) with 20 others for another two hours while 40-50 people were tested.
The official testing truck was the same as (or) the Rajabaht unit, it has two pairs of large silicone sleeves protruding from an acrylic panel. The technicians are fully isolated in an air conditioned food-type truck. Very professional aside from the staff are very aggressive with their sample taking. It was certainly not a swab, more of a nasal drilling both times I have been tested. There is a throat ‘swab’ as well, which I pulled away from gagging after about the fifth back and forth action.
A few days later we would hear that a member or two of another large family on a different block was known by the village head to have already shown symptoms of Covid and was there to be tested with everyone else anyway. Genius!
Later that afternoon my overheated and stressed wife returned and we had discussed our latest occurence of being forced to break quarantine in the interest of testing even though we were both fully vaxed and not showing any signs of illness. That along with the lack of common sense with the waiting area and grouping of people from two villages. They had brought a large group down from the other village by six wheel truck to join the testing party. Actually, they had mistakenly trucked them 25 minutes into Udon for testing, but were informed to come back out to our village, instead.
Realizing that our fence and quarantine string were down and the saleng was in the driveway I suggested a ride around the temple to get some fresh air and cool off. After all we hadn’t left the house for 11 days! The temple perimeter ride is almost a daily occurence in normal times and we usually have dogs and kids along to see the sights, listen to birds, check out the sunset. The mile or so ride includes passing alongside two homes, the rest is agricultural land. We saw one person while out just before sunset and of course, it was the puyai bahn. The next day we heard bright and early that she came and told some family members if we are seen “breaking quarantine” again the police will be called and a large fine levied. (But the group meet in the hot hall was fine, right?) As you can imagine I am getting pretty full of this mini-dictator and her power trip.
October 5th, day 12 of our home lockdown, once again test results are passed by word of mouth through village volunteers and neighbors with no paperwork or anything official. From our four house compound there is one more positive, a middle son of the deceased matriarch, positive sibling #3, who is told to pack up before noon and is then picked up after dark. Turns out there are 15-20 other local positives, none in our immediate vicinity, but the daughter of positive-daughter #1 and her husband from the other village and their two negative sons are also whisked away to a ‘hospitel’ in Udon. In the subsequent days we hear that they are in a room like a hotel and are given only khao-tohm, boiled rice, for 3 meals per day. I am trying to get the address so I can drop off some food for them. Would anyone venture that the operator is getting paid more than just boiled rice money each day?
October 6th, lockdown day 13, the day after a next door bil tests positive, along comes a big group of Udon health officials, volunteers and two soldiers. They are armed with signs declaring Covid lockdown “6th-20th” and are stapling them onto the existing “24th-8th” signs. I am out to the fence in a flash to declare that we have had no contact with the family next door since the MIL had passed, and to ask them to remove the new lockdown sign. There is fencing between properties, not to mention that the infected guy is the black sheep of the family and we never even speak to him. The officials from Udon discuss it briefly and remove the new sign from our fence with mutual wais. Mrs. competent puyai bahn is visibly miffed. I point out as they are leaving that tomorrow the 7th is our 14th and last day of quarantine.
About this time the coconut wireless is claiming that the large family (3 homes) on another street has stated they must have got Covid from the toddler. Only problem is although they do have kids, we (no one in our family) have never seen them here, even briefly. Pre-lockdown they would occasionally ride by on bikes, but never stopped. The coconut wireless also says the adults are known to regularly gamble and drink in the next village over. I guess that wouldn’t do to report where they actually got Covid. The final Covid rumor includes the farang! I allegedly carried the toddler (grand-nephew) to the local school (which as far as I know has been closed since last year) and spread Covid to kids playing there. Nope. Never happened. Have never carried the kid anywhere beyond the street between his house and hours. 50 yards of stroller pushing is about my limit. Again, not that these claims really matter, just that they are false and no one gives a flip whether they have the truth or not.
October 7th, lockdown day 14! Toddler kid is freed from the hospital! About 9am, the doctor from Udon General calls to have us pick up the kid; his 2 weeks are completed. Never mind that his care giver grandma tested positive 6 days ago. I guess they are thinking he now has sufficient antibodies. So when the puyai got wind of the kid coming home she went into dictator mode. Came by and warned the family to not drive to Udon to pick him up, under threat of.. oh cut the BS. After a phone call she decided in her infinite competency that 1 person could go in the car to pick the 16 month up. Really? And have him crawl around in the car on the way home? Idiocy. They went and brought him home without issue.
She must have thought, “Wait, while I’m in idiot mode let’s screw with the farang”. (For the record, prior to this Covid mess, we were on good terms and chatted in a friendly manner when our paths crossed.) She calls through the fence that tomorrow, the 8th is our last day of lockdown but we need to wait for some paperwork before we are free. OMG! I tried to be nice, but for anyone who knows how calendars work, counting 2 weeks or 14 days starting on a Friday, you will end on Thursday as the 14th day. Friday the 8th is my first day after 14 day quarantine. Now I am having to draw out a calendar on A4 paper to show that I have served my 14 days. And on the 8th I am no longer in quarantine. The Udon officials got it. The puyai bahn is raising her voice and telling me she is right and I must listen to her. I even had to urge my wife to lower her voice as she joined in.
October 8th, my 15th day of quarantine. I have food, AC, Internet, I decided since you can’t win an argument with an idiot, and it will not benefit me to be in a feud with the puyai bahn, I will postpone my road trip and grocery run until tomorrow. Mai pen rai. If she thinks I’m waiting on some paperwork, it better show up in the morning!
Maybe someone told her my calculation of 14 days was correct after all. Puyai and team just showed up next door with a couple small bags of food to photograph, I mean donate. She spoke with a very kind tone and asked if I could wait until tomorrow for the papers as the doctor was off work today. She also presented us with a gift “from the village” for enduring lockdown. One thousand Baht cash for our troubles. Without my rose colored glasses which she destroyed, I have to wonder whether it was five thousand originally and the money dissipated like road works money for the Khon Kaen highway. TIT!
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
Good read on the current, regional Covid renaissance and the end of zero Covid. I guess the realities of severe and prolonged economic damage features on the balance sheets of more nations than outwardly admitted? The rising energy prices have been a catalyst here.
https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/10/ ... strategies
https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/10/ ... strategies
'Don't waste your words on people who deserve your silence'
~Reinhold Messner~
'You don't have to be afraid of everything you don't understand'
~Louise Perica~
~Reinhold Messner~
'You don't have to be afraid of everything you don't understand'
~Louise Perica~
-
Drunk Monkey
- udonmap.com
- Posts: 10147
- Joined: October 14, 2013, 4:39 pm
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
Claret n Blue all way thru .. Up the Iron
L2 Season 19/20 Codheads 0 Scunny 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2qrsItFUug
8 minutes is the point of lift off !!!!!!!
L2 Season 19/20 Codheads 0 Scunny 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2qrsItFUug
8 minutes is the point of lift off !!!!!!!
No more Covid tests to enter phuket for domestic travel.
As of last night the governor of Phuket has signed off that those vaxed can now enter Phuket without the need for proof of being Covid free as of this Saturday the 16th.
Air Asia has resumed direct flights from Udon Thani to Phuket as of next month November starting on the 2nd for approx 3400 Baht return.
So time to pack your bags and breath some sea air after all this time being stuck at home in Udon.
Happy travels all.
Air Asia has resumed direct flights from Udon Thani to Phuket as of next month November starting on the 2nd for approx 3400 Baht return.
So time to pack your bags and breath some sea air after all this time being stuck at home in Udon.
Happy travels all.
YKICAMOOCOW
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Drunk Monkey
- udonmap.com
- Posts: 10147
- Joined: October 14, 2013, 4:39 pm
Re: No more Covid tests to enter phuket for domestic travel.
Hope that doesnt prove to be a tad premature and causes a surge in cases down there .marcus1 wrote: ↑October 12, 2021, 9:23 pmAs of last night the governor of Phuket has signed off that those vaxed can now enter Phuket without the need for proof of being Covid free as of this Saturday the 16th.
Air Asia has resumed direct flights from Udon Thani to Phuket as of next month November starting on the 2nd for approx 3400 Baht return.
So time to pack your bags and breath some sea air after all this time being stuck at home in Udon.
Happy travels all.
DM
Claret n Blue all way thru .. Up the Iron
L2 Season 19/20 Codheads 0 Scunny 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2qrsItFUug
8 minutes is the point of lift off !!!!!!!
L2 Season 19/20 Codheads 0 Scunny 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2qrsItFUug
8 minutes is the point of lift off !!!!!!!
Re: No more Covid tests to enter phuket for domestic travel.
I think there will be a surge the same as there will be a surge in every other province, state or country that is suddenly dropping all sorts of travel restrictions, reopening schools and taking all the other steps to get their world back on track. They are all relying on having a large proportion of their population either fully vaccinated or on whatever booster regimen is being followed. I guess the key is how prepared they are to handle this surge? The additional dangers of the traditional flu season and the risk of a new variant need to be factored into that state of preparedness. In the near term, I don't see any reason for me to stop washing my hands or using sanitizing gel, wearing a mask and keeping my distance. In my current neck of the Lancashire woods, it's only old buggers like myself that are masking up to go inside shops while the younger ones mostly don't bother. Most sales staff are masked up behind their perspex screens though.Drunk Monkey wrote: ↑October 13, 2021, 7:50 amHope that doesnt prove to be a tad premature and causes a surge in cases down there .marcus1 wrote: ↑October 12, 2021, 9:23 pmAs of last night the governor of Phuket has signed off that those vaxed can now enter Phuket without the need for proof of being Covid free as of this Saturday the 16th.
Air Asia has resumed direct flights from Udon Thani to Phuket as of next month November starting on the 2nd for approx 3400 Baht return.
So time to pack your bags and breath some sea air after all this time being stuck at home in Udon.
Happy travels all.
DM
'Don't waste your words on people who deserve your silence'
~Reinhold Messner~
'You don't have to be afraid of everything you don't understand'
~Louise Perica~
~Reinhold Messner~
'You don't have to be afraid of everything you don't understand'
~Louise Perica~
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
Covid is never going away, it will be a part of everyone's life's for as long as I can see.
There has to be a point in time where things have to open up.
We have done our best by getting vaxed, masking up, social distancing etc and can not see anymore what one can do..!!!
Thailand is struggling and the need for tourism dollars has to taken into account for the people to survive as it makes up a huge proportion of GDP.
I for one support the re-opening.
We can not live our life's in fear anymore.
There has to be a point in time where things have to open up.
We have done our best by getting vaxed, masking up, social distancing etc and can not see anymore what one can do..!!!
Thailand is struggling and the need for tourism dollars has to taken into account for the people to survive as it makes up a huge proportion of GDP.
I for one support the re-opening.
We can not live our life's in fear anymore.
YKICAMOOCOW
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
As I am not in Udon Thani yet and so don't understand what curfews/restrictions are in place, am I correct in presuming that you can still at lease buy Booze from MAKRO and the 7 Elevens during the daytime.
pipoz4444
pipoz4444
That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
Thanks, nice to know that some things never change
Are there any night time restrictions or curfews, at Day and Night
pipoz4444
That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
WOULDNT YOU KNOW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"US throws out millions of doses of Covid vaccine as world goes wanting"
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-throws-mi ... 10221.html
This isnt the USA's fault this is the UN's and CDC's fault USELESS ORGANIZATIONS that have MILLIONS of $$$ pumped into them and no backbone, no organization, no ownership USELESS
"US throws out millions of doses of Covid vaccine as world goes wanting"
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-throws-mi ... 10221.html
This isnt the USA's fault this is the UN's and CDC's fault USELESS ORGANIZATIONS that have MILLIONS of $$$ pumped into them and no backbone, no organization, no ownership USELESS
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
Day & Night is all bars so it's all shuttered. The curfew has recently been shortened and is 11 pm to 3 pm which means restaurants and businesses close at 10 pm. No booze allowed to be served in restaurants.
YMMV
TiT
TiUT
tam
'Don't waste your words on people who deserve your silence'
~Reinhold Messner~
'You don't have to be afraid of everything you don't understand'
~Louise Perica~
~Reinhold Messner~
'You don't have to be afraid of everything you don't understand'
~Louise Perica~
-
jackspratt
- udonmap.com
- Posts: 16900
- Joined: July 2, 2006, 5:29 pm
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
I think you need to revisit your linked article, Dd.
For example:
For example:
.....But as vaccinations across the country have stalled after peaking in mid-April, a growing issue is simply that the vaccines are expiring amid vaccine hesitancy in the US that is more widespread than first imagined.
Before June, a little over 2m doses had gone to waste, NBC News reported. But over the summer, those figures surged – alongside the virus itself – sixfold as doses expired and vaccinations flagged...
...... In the face of global inequities, it’s not as simple as states donating unused vaccines. The doses already distributed to states can’t be repurposed internationally because of bureaucratic and safety concerns around storing the vaccines correctly......
Re: Miscellaneous COVID-19/Corona Virus Discussion, Questions, etc.
Curfew 11pm until 3 pm, that is 16 hours , are you sure you have that right ....just asking . lol