95% say 'no foreigners' to prevent 2nd Covid wave: Poll
published : 19 Jul 2020 at 22:21
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Online Reporters
A vast majority of Thais -- 94.51% -- say foreigners should be barred from entering the country to prevent a second wave of the Covid-19 spread, according to a poll.
The poll was carried out online by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University or Suan Dusit Poll on July 14-18 on 1,459 people throughout the country to find their reactions to the cases of an Egyptian soldier and a Sudanese girl found to be infected with Covid-19 after they were allowed to enter the country.
Asked how they felt after hearing about the two cases, 52.23% of respondents said they were very worried; 39.68% fairly worried; 6.58% slightly worried; and 1.51% not worried at all.
Asked to mention "five things" that would worry them if there were a new wave of the Covid-19 spread, with each respondent allowed to give more than one answer, 95.89% cited the degree to which the disease spread; 94.45% unemployment; 92.05% a shutdown of businesses; 84.17% their children's schooling; and 84.17% another lockdown announcement.
A large majority, 73.82%, thought the chance that Thailand would announce a second lockdown was high while 26.18% said this was unlikely.
Asked to suggest ways of preventing a new wave of the pandemic, 94.51% said foreigners should definitely not be allowed to enter Thailand; 86.41% said the process of screening and quarantine of people returning from abroad must be stringent; 83.80% said people must wear face masks while outdoors and frequently wash their hands; 81.40% said people must be given correct and clear information about the virus; and 76.73% said people should be given free testing for Covid-19.
Asked what the government should do to ease the people's concerns about the novel coronavirus, 47.38% said the screening and quarantine process must be made more stringent, without exemptions for "privileged" people; 33.43% said punishments should be imposed on those who violate the ban on foreigners entering Thailand; and 23.20% said the government must quickly solve coronavirus-related problems that could affect the people.
Learn from listening
Vocabulary
- cite: to mention something as an example - กล่าวถึง
- degree: an amount of something - ระดับ
- ease: to relieve; to make a problem, situation or pain less severe or serious - บรรเทา
- majority: more than 50 percent of a group - เสียงส่วนใหญ่
- poll: an occasion when a lot of people are asked about what they feel about something - การสำรวจความคิดเห็น
- prevent (verb): to stop somebody from doing something; to stop something from happening - ขัดขวาง, ป้องกัน, กัน, กีดขวาง
- privileged: having special advantages not available to others - มีเอกสิทธิ์พิเศษ
- punishment: an act or a way of punishing somebody - การลงโทษ
- respondent (noun): someone who answers questions - ผู้ตอบคำถาม/แบบสำรวจ
- stringent: (of a rule, law, etc.) very strict and that must be obeyed - เข้มงวด
- unlikely: not expected to happen; probably won’t happen - ที่ไม่น่าจะเกิดขึ้น
- violate: to do something that is against a law, rule or agreement - ฝ่าฝืน, ละเมิด
- worrisome: worrying; causing worry or anxiety - ซึ่งน่าวิตก