Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu Fears

July 9, 2009 -

Swine Flu remains a concern in Thailand, where government officials are considering a shutdown of game centers in an effort to control the spread of the illness.

GameCulture reports that Thai prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will decide today whether such a step is warranted. Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai recently named game parlors as hotspots for the spread of Swine Flu. From the GC report:

Thailand, which has recorded more than 2200 H1N1 infections since the virus started spreading globally earlier this year, saw a spike in cases over the past weekend... Interviews with patients pointed to Bangkok's popular gaming cafes as a hub for transmission. On weekends, and particularly during holidays, Thai teenagers crowd into the cafes, where they chat and play games until the wee hours...

Posted in

Comments

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by Thomas McKenna on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 15:01.

In other news, 2200 cases of the real flu have been reported this week (not really, making that number up).

A number I'm not making up though, is that approximately 36,000 deaths and over 200,000 hospitalizations happen each year from the standard flu (thanks wikipedia) in the USA alone. Meanwhile, Swine flu has had about 108,000 reported cases and only 560 deaths. So, despite the fact that Swine flu kills about 0.1% as much as the real flu, this one gets all the media attention.

Can we be over this BS already?

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by chadachada321 on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 15:25.

Exactly what I had been thinking. Swine Flu is just a strain of the normal flu, it's no more deadly as long as you don't have other underlying medical conditions (most that have died of swine flu had other diseases/conditions as well). The only reason that swine flu could be a LITTLE bit worse is because no one has gotten it before, meaning that no one has any antibodies for it. I'm sick of the coverage of flu.

-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away....what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-

-Optimum est pati quod emendare non possis-It is best to endure what you cannot change-

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by Ashton on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 18:21.

With the difference being that normal flu deaths are caused by negligence (not going to see a doctor) or bad health care (exacerbating the conditions). Generally, we know how to deal with the flu, as long as people go to see good doctors.

What makes the medical community scramble every time one of these new viruses are discovered are the unknown factors. Who knows if, once they start replicating in the human body, they start mutating at an exponential rate? That would make them impossible to cure. You never know when a new virus is going to start a pandemic, so it's always better to be safe than sorry in terms of health, in my humble opinion.

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by Alyric on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 18:01.

It really is ridiculous. In the time it took for there to be ~8 deaths attributed to the Swine Flu, there were ~13,000 deaths from the regular flu. In the United States alone. And that was months ago, the number has no doubt soared by now; flu is a fairly common cause of (or contributing factor to) death - even here in America.

Now, there was a legitimate cause for the scientific and medical communities to keep a close watch on the outbreak; it is suspected (though not proven, as far as I know) that the 1918 pandemic was caused by a mutated version of the swine flu.

That said, the chances of this swine flu outbreak mutating into a similar strain were abysmally low, and even those few facts were lost to a media that simply wanted to sensationalize the fear factor.

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by Wormdundee on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 14:48.

Huh, I thought this whole swine flu thing was a done deal. I guess the media here finally got tired of blabbing about it all the time.

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by E. Zachary Knight on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 14:54.

No. Michael Jackson Died. Now everyone is focusing on that and soon they will forget what they were talking about before hand.

E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma

E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by chadachada321 on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 15:26.

I'm sick of seeing about him too. Shouldn't spend more than a week on a dead person unless there's a real scandal or something interesting about it, not spend two weeks STRAIGHT of memorial stuff.

-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away....what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-

-Optimum est pati quod emendare non possis-It is best to endure what you cannot change-

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by PumaFau on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 22:58.

At least it wasnt Anne Nicole Smith going about for 3 weeks.

Never underestimate the power of idiots in large amounts.

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by Cheater87 on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 09:23.

And when will they reopen it??? I'm thinking an anti gaming excuse. >_>

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by Ashton on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 09:38.

Dude, you have no idea how bad the Swine Flu scare has spooked Asian countries. I'm talking serious airport security. If you even have so much of a sniffle they'll run you down and ask you a battery of questions on your health.

For once, I actually believe the Swine Flu reason.

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by DarkSaber on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 12:39.

I don't remember them taking these precautions over Avian Flu, or SARS. (Remember those, they were supposed to kill us all as well.)

--------------------------------------------------

I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

-------------------------------------------------- I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by Ashton on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 12:52.

They didn't.

The West did.

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 13:08.

Since we aren't getting any word of other public venues being closed, it seems all the more sketchy.

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by JustChris on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 12:22.

Well, Asia is bursting with wildlife and people so a lot of diseases get quickly transmitted there.

GameSnooper

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by beemoh on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 11:26.

To be fair, it is a bit suspect that it's only game centres that are being mentioned, certainly as far as I can see.

Re: Thai Government May Close Game Parlors Over Swine Flu ...

Submitted by jedidethfreak on Thu, 07/09/2009 - 17:08.

Well, considering it's called GamePolitics, not RestaurantPolitics or MallPolitics, I think they'd only mention the gaming aspect, not all the other stuff they've closed down since the outbreak started.

---

Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.

--- With the first link, the chain is forged.

Shout box

Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm

Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm

Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm

Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm

Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm

Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm

Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm

Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm

ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm

MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm

Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm

MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am

Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am

quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm

Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm

Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm

Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm

james_fudge: I think Evan killed it. He's a great guy and super smart.10/17/2014 - 6:38pm

All shouts

<< Return To Top

Forgot your password?
Username :
Password :