She goes on to state "I read that Vietnam has the best Covid response in the world, do you feel safe there?
Excellent question @bugavi. Yes I felt very safe there. However I'm now in Thailand. I was in Vietnam until March 21st and got on the last plane to Thailand. My visa was expiring and I prefer to be locked down in Thailand than in Vietnam.
Fortunately I'm yet to experience any lock down in either country. I'm still yet to be in a city or town with a confirmed active case other than when I transferred through the Bangkok Airport.
The response and preparedness of both countries' governments is impressive. What was more impressive has been the enthusiasm of the public to follow guidlines. The one main rule in both countries is that everyone must wear a mask when out in public. In my opinion this has added to both Vietnam and Thailand's success for containing this thing so far.
In both countries but especially Vietnam the state is respected and holds total authority. Vietnam quickly closed their border with China, and were also one of the first to start banning flights from Italy, France, and Spain. They did great trace reporting of the few clusters that broke out within the country and managed to stop any wide spread break out.
I believe further more these two countries have common sense policies from the start. Everyone wears a face mask if they go out, and there is hand sanitizer everywhere; the store's entrance, at the cashier, even randomly in isles.
I also believe that the hot sunny weather in both countries add benefit in the fact that the virus will not live as long in the sun, and that people here are exposed to the sun elevating levels of immune supporting vitamin D in their systems.
I believe the overall health of Thai and Vietnamese people is significantly better than that of the west. They have low rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, compared to the countries getting hit hard at the present moment. Vietnam and Thailand both have very young healthy populations as well, and we know the virus is most harmful for elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
So, How am I living?
Life is actually really good here in Ao Nang Thailand on the beach. It's a small town outside of the bigger city of Krabi that now has a couple cases. (none here so far in Ao Nang)
Back home in the states my father said they were all sold out of chicken! Let alone toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and many other products. Here in Ao Nang Thailand, there is no panic buying, and the stores are full of food. In fact they have so much they are offering discounts to move product. You can also buy masks and sanitizer everywhere.
I must say Thailand could have closed their flights down sooner and it would have stopped some of the spread in this country, but they chose not to as 20% of their economy is made up by the tourism industry. I was fortunate and able to take advantage of their late closure to get into the country last minute on March 21st and get myself set up here for as long as I have to.
In final. I'm feeling very fortunate and safe. My girlfriend and I have rented a nice airbnb apartment for about half it's normal price due to the supply and demand being severely disrupted. The Thai Government is automatically extending foreign visas too.
I chose Ao Nang as I knew it was a bit away from any densely populated areas and it has high hopes of remaining virus free. There is an 8pm curfew and restaurants open for delivery and pick up, even though we prepare all our own meals. Beaches are still open here and life is good, just very very quiet outside.
How about you? How do you live during the pandemic?
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