Coronavirus in Bangkok

Even though most of the reviews, posts and videos you see are based in Phuket and even the brand name is Lovin' it in Phuket I normally don't spend all my time there while in Thailand. Phuket is cool and absolutely beautiful but it is exhausting to live there. The longest I ever managed to stay there is about 6 months. Patong especially is just not a place where a normal human being can function unless they have some stake in a business there. To put it in perspective, it's like living in high school or a bad after school special. So generally I hang my hat in one of the quieter provinces in the North East or Bangkok while I edit videos, write reviews and generate my posts. It's much easier to get work done, have normal relationships and the internet and electrical issues are non-existent.

Right now I am staying a little North of Bangkok and it's been great for passing time. Then started the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus in China. At first it was of little concern to me being in Thailand. China was issuing travel bans and of course the Thai government was crying about the loss of tourism. A loss of tourism I thought is little cost in comparison to a major public outbreak and the long term damage that would cause to tourism in the country and the government here surely is smarter than I am so they would realize this. It turns out I was really wrong on that.

The past few days reports have been coming in about the climbing death tolls in China (now topping 200) and the alarming infection rate that the coronavirus is spreading in China. Not a huge shock considering China has a high population density. Then the reports started coming in about cases being found in other countries. Japan, Canada, United States, and even Thailand. The shocking thing I found about those reports was that even though the number of people found with the coronavirus in Thailand was still fairly low (as of today it's 19) but it is the highest out of all the countries that have been exposed. The next disturbing information I found was that in the month of January approximately 60 000 Chinese tourists were allowed entry into the country, even from Wuhan city where the outbreak began. It turns out the Thai government decided to overlook the health issue in favor of tourism.

As of today (January 31st, 2019) Bangkok is number 1 on the list for possible places an outbreak of the virus may occur. Because of the amount of Chinese tourists allowed into the country over the past month and the lack of proper screening processes there is a high probability that we will see more infections here in the next couple weeks as well as in major tourist areas including Phuket. The government has "increased" their screening at the airports but they are not performing any kind of blood tests they are only checking for elevated temperatures and other symptoms. This is not really an effective way to test for the virus considering a couple pills can reduce a fever and some people do not exhibit symptoms until days after contracting the virus.

Now living in Bangkok has become very different. I was at a local pharmacy today and they are sold out of hand sanitizing solution. This was the same when I went to Big C who was also sold out of every type of face mask they carry in stock. The sad thing about that is only a certain mask will prevent transference so there are hundreds of people wearing masks as a fashion statement as they go about their daily lives. I have friends cancelling plans because they are afraid they are afraid. They are worried when they travel to work they will catch the Coronavirus, they are worried when they shop they can contract it and just the thought of going into public is starting to stress many people out.

The Thai government allowed people to come here in the middle of an outbreak in favor of tourist money over public health. Now as a result of public outrage they are being forced to increase spending on screening travelers. Certainly the month of February will also show a loss in income from other sectors as well not just tourism. If Thai people are afraid to go out they will stop shopping, stop eating out and stop spending.

Its going to be very interesting to see over the next month what comes of all this here in Bangkok. Will there be an outbreak? If there is an outbreak will the Thai government be able to manage it without outside help? Will those tourism baht they brought in during January offset the costs they will incur with higher costs for airport screening and loss of revenue from Thais spending? Also how will this effect the next couple months of tourism as more people from other countries that travel to Thailand decide not to visit after learning that public health is not a priority?

If you have a trip planned to Thailand and are wondering if you should put it off or go to another location it is completely understandable. So far there have been no major outbreaks here but reports all over the internet and from news rooms are suggesting that may not be the case soon. This coupled with a strong Baht may be making you think twice about coming for a visit and no one can blame you at this point. Public health should always be the top priority of any tourist destination and should never be ignored in favor of short term income. The ripple effect from this could last for years to come if there is an outbreak and with destinations like the Philippines readily available for travel, Thailand may feel a hard blow to tourism this year and even future years to come.

As the weeks progress and numbers change I will post updates about what is happening here. Right now it feels like a calm before the storm. Hopefully the storm blows over.

Thanks for reading, for more interesting articles from Thailand and around the world check out my profile here on Vocal. Your support is always appreciated and I look forward to bringing you more interesting content.