I am wondering why here in Thailand the number of cases has been relatively low so far (50 cases, 30 recovered, one death - most of them at the beginning of the crisis in Wuhan) considering that Thailand is one of the main destinations of Chinese tourism, business and familiar links, while at Italy and other European cities the number of cases has grown and keeps growing exponentially.
Perhaps it has been contained because here they've recently had experiences with other outbreaks, like SARS, MERS or H5N1, that were more deadly than COVID-19. So everybody takes it more seriously, regardless of the government announcements and actions.
I have observed that a majority of people in the streets started wearing masks since the first day it was announced (many of us were already wearing masks, to protect against the PM2.5 pollution). Also, they avoid congregations, and they are used to little details like avoid talking close to the face of other person, wash hands regularly, be mindful of what you touch, etc.
At the building where I work and at the condo where I live they installed disinfectant gel dispensers at all the entries and at the lift lobby in all the floors since it was announced last January. Everybody uses them religiously after they touch the lift buttons. You can also find them at all restaurants and shops, even at the street food stalls. All hospitals, the main malls and commercial buildings have temperature check at the doors.
I haven't heard any Thai saying "this is just a flu" or "influenza kills many more people every year". On the other side, most people at these other countries didn't took it seriouslly and they didn't adopted all these little behavior changes when the outbreak was announced. My family and friends in Spain are starting to adopt these precautions now, but perhaps it is too late.
They say that only a sick person or people taking care of a sick person should wear a mask. But, how do you know that you are not a carrier? The period of incubation is long, and you may not develop symptoms. So, I do really appreciate that people around me uses masks. Specially at places like the Bangkok Skytrain