China’s reopening border, AOCR2023 in Bangkok, and Songkran

Abstract

After 3 years of absence due to COVID-19 pandemic, the first group of Chinese tourists from Xiamen arrived Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday 9th January 2023 just a day after China abandoned zero-COVID policies and reopened its border on Sunday 8th January. During 9th-12th February, the Royal College of Radiologists of Thailand (RCRT) and the Radiological Society of Thailand (RST) hosted the 21th Asian Oceanian Congress of Radiology (AOCR), 40 years after they last hosted the 4th AOCR in 1983. Leaders in Radiology from Asian Oceanian countries met and shared their experiences and opinions on various topics. This issue takes core messages from Asian Symposia in AOCR on tuberculosis and post COVID lung disease. In March, the missing caesium-137 in Thailand generated lots of fear and anxiety, fuelled by social media and inadequate statements from the authorities. The need of effective risk communication was discussed in this issue. Songkran, the water splashing festival which is Thailand’s traditional new year during 13th-15th April, marked the end of wearing masks and social distancing due to the pandemic as both local and visitors from around the world, as many as more than 100, 000, gathered in many famous parts of Thailand.