Just my two cents from my experience as an Irish man in Thailand during the coronavirus pandemic...
In SE Asia it is taught in schools to be respectful and thoughtful of how your actions affect others. When you see an Asian person wearing a mask, this is usually because they have the cold and they wear the mask so they don't spread the germs around. Respect.
How many times have you been sitting in work with someone rubbing their wet nose and coughing over everyone then the whole office has the cold?
This is built into people from a young age and is one of the main reasons I believe SE Asia's general public is combating corona so well.
As per WHO, each case of Covid-19 Coronavirus infects 1.4-2.5 people. Hong Kong for example, having a population density of 17,300 per square mile managed to contain the virus to 274 confirmed cases (as of writing this 22nd March 2020), compared to the numbers of confirmed cases in Italy, which has reached 53,300 cases today with a much less densely populated country of 532 people per square mile.
In 2014 I went on my very first solo trip to Morocco, on this trip I met my long term good friend Connie. Connie is from Hong Kong and she works for the government, so she has been a very interesting person to give me insight into life, economics and government in Hong Kong. 3 years after meeting and keeping in contact I was lucky enough to meet her and have a tour around when on a family trip to Hong Kong.
I consulted her for her opinion on the contrast between Hong Kong and Italy's containing of the virus. Connie had this to say:
"I guess the main reason is HK people experienced SARS in 2003 and we pay extra attention to hygiene before the first case confirmed. After the first case confirmed in HK, around 95% people immediately wear mask when we go out and we tried to go out less during the first two weeks after the first case confirmed. Even we cancelled to visit our relatives during Chinese New Year , which is a big festival among Chinese people."
Still, back home in UK and Ireland generally I finding that it is considered uncool amongst younger people to wear a mask and to be seen worrying about hand sanitizer. For us, viruses and diseases are generally viewed as something that happens in Asia or poorer countries, so we almost maybe disregard the possibility of it actually reaching us personally.
It was reported that Spring breakers in USA (having a very similar culture to UK and Ireland) were reported to have been saying, 'we don't care if we get corona as its only a flu - nothing is going to stop us from partying!'. Then it was reported the day after Australia went into lockdown, their most popular beach, Bondi was pictured absolutely packed with people having fun and sunning themselves completely disregarding the pandemic.
I passed through a police checkpoint before boarding a boat back to the main island today and was made to take my temperature and sanitise my hands before boarding. The Thais really don't mess about.
Its an interesting role reversal when Thai people think we Europeans are disgusting haha although earlier, as I drank my watermelon shake, the barman was grazing on deep fried bugs like they were m&ms... Jeez. I respectfully declined his offer to try one.
Anyway, I thought I would throw up a status to show you what it's like in Thailand right now. They view us all as dirty 'farangs' or 'foreigners'. Bloody Europeans!
In SE Asia it is taught in schools to be respectful and thoughtful of how your actions affect others. When you see an Asian person wearing a mask, this is usually because they have the cold and they wear the mask so they don't spread the germs around. Respect.
How many times have you been sitting in work with someone rubbing their wet nose and coughing over everyone then the whole office has the cold?
This is built into people from a young age and is one of the main reasons I believe SE Asia's general public is combating corona so well.
As per WHO, each case of Covid-19 Coronavirus infects 1.4-2.5 people. Hong Kong for example, having a population density of 17,300 per square mile managed to contain the virus to 274 confirmed cases (as of writing this 22nd March 2020), compared to the numbers of confirmed cases in Italy, which has reached 53,300 cases today with a much less densely populated country of 532 people per square mile.
In 2014 I went on my very first solo trip to Morocco, on this trip I met my long term good friend Connie. Connie is from Hong Kong and she works for the government, so she has been a very interesting person to give me insight into life, economics and government in Hong Kong. 3 years after meeting and keeping in contact I was lucky enough to meet her and have a tour around when on a family trip to Hong Kong.
I consulted her for her opinion on the contrast between Hong Kong and Italy's containing of the virus. Connie had this to say:
"I guess the main reason is HK people experienced SARS in 2003 and we pay extra attention to hygiene before the first case confirmed. After the first case confirmed in HK, around 95% people immediately wear mask when we go out and we tried to go out less during the first two weeks after the first case confirmed. Even we cancelled to visit our relatives during Chinese New Year , which is a big festival among Chinese people."
Still, back home in UK and Ireland generally I finding that it is considered uncool amongst younger people to wear a mask and to be seen worrying about hand sanitizer. For us, viruses and diseases are generally viewed as something that happens in Asia or poorer countries, so we almost maybe disregard the possibility of it actually reaching us personally.
It was reported that Spring breakers in USA (having a very similar culture to UK and Ireland) were reported to have been saying, 'we don't care if we get corona as its only a flu - nothing is going to stop us from partying!'. Then it was reported the day after Australia went into lockdown, their most popular beach, Bondi was pictured absolutely packed with people having fun and sunning themselves completely disregarding the pandemic.
I passed through a police checkpoint before boarding a boat back to the main island today and was made to take my temperature and sanitise my hands before boarding. The Thais really don't mess about.
Its an interesting role reversal when Thai people think we Europeans are disgusting haha although earlier, as I drank my watermelon shake, the barman was grazing on deep fried bugs like they were m&ms... Jeez. I respectfully declined his offer to try one.
Anyway, I thought I would throw up a status to show you what it's like in Thailand right now. They view us all as dirty 'farangs' or 'foreigners'. Bloody Europeans!
I am currently following government advice by limiting interactions with others, I have booked myself a private pool villa and am taking all precautions possible to ensure I do not catch, and more importantly for other move vulnerable people, spread the virus.
🙏 Be good
🙏 Be good
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