Thailand has had fewer than 3,240 cases and 58 deaths from the coronavirus. There have been no cases of local transmission for the last seven weeks. Why is Thailand not a coronavirus hot spot? No one knows the reason.

Is it the social distancing that is a strong part of the Thai culture? For example, Thais greet others with a wai, a prayer-like motion.

Thailand adopted face masks early on. It has a good health care system. It has an outdoor lifestyle. Or maybe its people have fewer pre-existing conditions.

Is it genetic? Do the immune systems of Thais and others in the Mekong River region protect them? Do their immune systems make them more resistant to the coronavirus. Or is it a mix of all these factors? Thailand is a country of 70 million people.

Other countries in the Mekong River basin share Thailand’s low rate.  Vietnam has not recorded a single death. It has logged about three months without a case of community transmission. Myanmar has confirmed 336 cases of the virus, Cambodia 166 and Laos just 19.

A doctor said, “I do not think it is about immunity or genetics alone. It has to do with culture. Thai people do not have body contact when we greet each other.”

A public health expert was in the south of Thailand. He noted that more than 90 percent of those who tested positive for the coronavirus were asymptomatic. That percentage is much higher than found in other countries.

Students in school.

Thailand schools have reopened. Children are wearing face masks. They study at desks spaced apart.

Coronavirus patients have not overwhelmed Thailand’s hospitals.  But the virus has battered the country’s tourism-dependent economy.

Thailand banned almost all incoming flights as part of a lockdown. Bangkok once was the world’s most visited city. Now holidaymakers have stopped coming to Bangkok. The Thai tourism ministry says that 60 percent of their hospitality businesses could close by the end of the year.

A global finance agency  predicts the Thai economy will shrink by at least 6.5 percent this year. More than eight million Thais may lose their jobs or income in 2020.

Registering to receive financial aid from the government in Bangkok, in May.

Migrant workers in Thailand from Myanmar and Cambodia also are hurting. Some people managed to make it back to their homes before the borders closed. Others are stuck in Thailand. They get no wages from their jobs as hotel cleaners, kitchen hands and food stall operators.

A Thai health minister says, “Maybe the price for beating the virus is sacrificing your economy. With the disease still looming, we have to keep our guard up.”

Source: The New York Times July 16, 2020