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...

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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.

---

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Papa Midnight: Something about the Wii U is reminding me a lot of the Dreamcast...05/21/2013 - 9:57am

Papa Midnight: http://bgr.com/2013/05/21/nintendo-wii-u-sales-analysis/05/21/2013 - 9:55am

E. Zachary Knight: AE, James, You can't get rid of me that easy.05/21/2013 - 6:18am

BearDogg-X: Spike TV is airing the new Xbox reveal with help from GameTrailers starting at 11am CT.05/21/2013 - 12:56am

BearDogg-X: http://kotaku.com/couric-offers-mea-culpa-for-one-sided-violent-video-g-50892937105/21/2013 - 12:49am

james_fudge: of course he does :)05/20/2013 - 10:23pm

Andrew Eisen: EZK lives!05/20/2013 - 10:17pm

BearDogg-X: Not game related, but found it interesting: http://www.upworthy.com/the-real-reason-they-still-play-mrs-robinson-on-the-radio?g=2&c=mrp1 - 90% of the music/TV/news media in USA owned by 6 companies.05/20/2013 - 2:38pm

BearDogg-X: @PHX Corp: It's like they're just throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks at this point.05/20/2013 - 12:15pm

Kajex: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/05/20/neverwinter-money-making-exploit-sees-cryptic-turn-back-time/ My understanding is that none of this was illegal, either.05/20/2013 - 11:42am

PHX Corp: http://www.gamezone.com/news/2013/05/20/violent-video-games-are-bad-for-your-body Most rediclous Study about violent video games ever05/20/2013 - 10:13am

Cecil475: @PHX Corp - The dude's a moron who wouldn't know crap if it came up and kicked him.05/19/2013 - 6:36am

PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/ea-sports-developer-calls-wii-u-crap-and-nintendo-wa-508481261 EA Sports Canada Moron calls Wii U 'Crap' and Nintendo 'Walking Dead'05/18/2013 - 11:42am

E. Zachary Knight: If the videos are of sufficient quality that people subscribe and watch regularly, then those let's players are providing a service that people want. That is the heart of capitalism. That is not something that should be shamed.05/17/2013 - 8:06am

E. Zachary Knight: I have no idea who either of those people are. However, I still don't see why making a business out of creating let's play videos is somehow evil or wrong.05/17/2013 - 8:04am

MaskedPixelante: It sure is if you're just doing it for the money. See Tobuscus and/or Pewdiepie for what happens when people get into it just for the money.05/17/2013 - 7:30am

E. Zachary Knight: Why is it wrong to make money doing LPs? Why should that be something that should be shamed?05/17/2013 - 6:20am

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E. Zachary Knight: I responded in writing to all this "let's play" stuff Nintendo Started. No need for my permission, I won't give it. It's not mine to give. http://divineknightgaming.com/?p=29205/16/2013 - 2:21pm

E. Zachary Knight: Lars Doucet of Levelup Labs has a Reddit going on game companies that allow monetization of Let's Play videos. http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1egayn/lets_build_a_list_of_game_studios_that_allow/05/16/2013 - 1:04pm

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