zydeco

^^It does beg the question of what level of risk is acceptable. That said, flights are not being cancelled between affected areas and major transit hubs, far riskier in my opinion.

And those flights should be cancelled until this threat is verified as being over.

 

 

 

 

 

I think it's just so the poor soul gets the best care. They can handle infectious diseases like Ebola without spreading the virus.
 

 

 

If it's true that "they" can prevent Ebola from spreading, then how did these two aid workers get it?  I presume that while they were treating Ebola patients the aid workers were taking every precaution possible--but it didn't work. 
 

 

 

Hectic situation, poor resources. CDC in Atlanta = totally controlled situation.
 

 

Are you really sure about the CDC?  I've already said that I don't care if we do over-react.  I think that bringing these cases into the US is reckless, especially considering the CDC's recent sloppy handling of anthrax.  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/us/after-lapses-cdc-admits-a-lax-culture-at-labs.html
 

 

 

Ebola crisis: Infected aid worker heads to US
 
A hospital in Atlanta is preparing to receive a US aid worker infected with the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa.
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-28596416

This is troubling and interesting. Why bring here. Do we have some experimental medication? Am I insensitive and reading too much into this?

 

 

I think it's just so the poor soul gets the best care. They can handle infectious diseases like Ebola without spreading the virus.
 

 

If it's true that "they" can prevent Ebola from spreading, then how did these two aid workers get it?  I presume that while they were treating Ebola patients the aid workers were taking every precaution possible--but it didn't work. 
 

As for those who consider insisting on having the stamps is being petty and mean, over the course of a year my wife and I spend a lot of money at the 7/11s, at least over 3000 baht per month and the value of these stamps certainly adds up over time. It is customers like myself who help keep these stores in business and the staff that work in them employed, plus the stamps are something customers are entitled to and well paid for, this is not charity on the part of the stores.

A bill of 3k in 7/11 would only be 2k in a normal corner store.

Learn to shop elsewhere and forget the stamps.

For example 440ml bottle pepsi/coke, 17bht in 7/11, 12bht in mom and pop.

There is a mom and pop two stores down from my 7-11. I go to both. I buy everything I can at the mom and pop (I believe in supporting the locals) but there is simply more variety at the 7-11. Can get Pepsi Max at the 7-11 but not at the Mom and Pop. Both store owners and 7-11 staffers are nice. BTW, the girls in my 7-11 speak better English than the Indians do in the 7-11s back in the US.

Well, whaddyaknow. An utterly reasonable and, yes, friendly statement that should assuage all those posters who have been calling Thailand a police state, a concentration camp, and the reincarnation of North Korea. I hope the guy who asked if he would soon be forced to wear a Yellow Star didn't leave in a panic already. Or, maybe not.

Thailand went full-retard. It's a challege to find the right words for the amount of stupidity that is here.

 

I have been googling other countries almost daily for when I liquidate my belongings here and take my 500,000baht savings + my salary wages to a new country that wants me. No it's not a lot of money. But I think many other people are thinking of doing the same and even the smallest pebbles make a ripple in a vast body of water.

 

I haven't decided where to go quite yet though.

Please do remember you are only allowed to take 50,000 baht out of the country with you. 

 

"One nation in particular has all but dumped its under-pensioned retirees on Thailand's already wafer thin social welfare net.  Another nation has seen fit to create mafia state no-go areas in certain parts of Thailand.  Those people need to be gotten rid of, sent back home.  This overstay crackdown is the most effective way of doing it."

 

I would be very interested to know which 'particular' nations you are TRYING to point your finger at, at a wild guess I will assume the second nation your 'trying' to refer to is Russia, but the first has totally confused me, in any case, why would Thailand's NON-EXSISTANT social welfare net have anything to do with 'under-pensioned retiree's', IMO your an deluded idiot full of BS....

 

IMO you should push your fat gut away from the bar and sober up.

So it's worth $50 and they decided to charge what looks like $50 duty - that's 100%.

What a rip off

And now we know why you can't buy farang sized underwear in Thailand.

Really, I don't know what it is about 7-11s that bring out the worst in tourists and expats. I used to read the PDN website and it was always full of stories about how some tourist had gone berserk and attacked one of the girls behind the counter over five or ten baht. It usually turned out in the story that the tourist was so drunk he or she (yes, a lot of shes, particularly Russian shes, for some reason) wasn't able to identify the coins correctly. I remember seeing photos. Pretty good action, sometimes.

As many people have pointed out, the issue is not only the stealing but more importantly the rudeness. I was at all times polite and calm so it was completely uncalled for. Thanks to those who provided contact details. It's certainly worth a 5 minute phone call.

That five minute call to the US is going to cost you a lot more than the 9 baht in stamps you didn't get.

Yes, I realize that the laxity of immigration law enforcement has created much of the appeal for people to retire to Thailand.  But that laxity was always built around the principle of flexibility.  It wasn't that you were supposed to ignore the law entirely and get away with it but that you could take your time in getting things done.  Why has that changed?  Seems to me that the citizens of certain European nations decided that they could come to Thailand and act and behave in any way they want, thumbing their nose at Thai laws, customs, and traditions.  Eventually, the Thais had enough of it and have now decided to clean house.  One nation in particular has all but dumped its under-pensioned retirees on Thailand's already wafer thin social welfare net.  Another nation has seen fit to create mafia state no-go areas in certain parts of Thailand.  Those people need to be gotten rid of, sent back home.  This overstay crackdown is the most effective way of doing it.

No flights out of or into Africa.  Better safe than sorry,.

global travel should stop immediately for however long it takes to get this under control. will it, of course not. 

Yes.

7 eleven have a large office on the corner of Silom Road and Convent Road. Maybe you could make a complaint directly to head office?

Bad idea they won't listen. Go direct to Tokyo. Speak to 7/11 San.

7-11 HQ is in Dallas.

How can you spend 3000 baht per month in a 7/11 when the majority of the stuff is total rubbish?

I easily spend 4000 or so at my 7-11. It's just a walk across the street from the village. I use it for water, eggs, bread, butter, milk, PepsiMax, potato chips, and even an occasional bottle of Jacob's Creek. It beats getting in a taxi and going down to the Lotus every time I need something convenient. The girls are usually friendly, always give stamps, and even chased me down the street one time when I left something in the store. Not to mention it's a very convenient place to pay bills. That said, I don't care about the stamps. I always give them to my housekeeper who gets a genuine thrill out of it. I think one time I used them to get cash off a purchase, but the clerk went through so many motions in completing the transaction, it was just worth more to make my housekeeper happy. I just can't believe someone would go ape sh@t over nine baht. This is like the thread where some guy wanted a pizza delivery boy punished because he took too long and the guy wanted a free or discount pizza. This has to be somebody on a visa overstay.

 

 

Foreign nationals in the USA have to carry passports at all times. Does that count as a first world democracy?

 

That is simply false.

 

Absolutely true. Foreign nationals are required to carry proof of their legal status at all times. Individuals used to be issued certificates they were required to carry, but now it is simply a stamp in the individuals passport. 

 

Actually, I think the wording indicates that foreign nationals in the US must carry documentation that indicates their immigration status.  Of course, these days that could be a matricula consular from the Mexican embassy for many local police departments.  Many US cities actually forbid any civil servant from inquiring about immigration status. I seem to remember some California cities passing regulations that forbade cooperation with Homeland Security/ICE.

 

 

 

Well put.  The most unsurprising thing about this thread is observing how all that First World sense of entitlement collides head on with hard reality.  Thailand doesn't care about what they think.  And, btw, neither do I.

Hope you will not be bothered by the fact that in turn, nobody else cares about what you think 

 

And I can live with that, easily.  For the First World entitlement brigade, such as . . ., not so much.

 

 

 

 

I just love this. Can you imagine what would happen if a Thai/Venezuelan/Greenlander/whatever  pitched up in your country and told you that your laws were "antiquated and unnecessary" Bwana?  

 

 

Oh, I don't know.  A bunch of illegals "pitched up" in front of the White House just today, insisting that OUR laws are pretty much what you say, and that they should receive welfare benefits, etc., just like everybody else.  No police; no soldiers; no immigration...  just some news media (and not many of THEM!)   Nobody cared.   In front of the White House!    

 

how do u know theyre illegals?

 

 

Because they were wearing t-shirts & carrying signs.   Lol.   And it was the point of their demonstration!   (Try Google - or watch the TV news - not a very difficult thing to research yourself actually....)   The ICE comment was that they don't bother with illegals unless they're committing "serious" crimes...  (and so weren't going to be arresting any of the demonstrators, and would let them go even if the DC police were to pick them up).

 

 

In the US, illegals are even invited to testify before congress, where they give their sob stories and go on the merry way without any enforcement action whatsoever.  Thailand is absolutely right to protect their country and the interests of its citizens.
 

 

 

 

 

 

All departments, and everyone, is frightened by the military. They are scrambling and jumping through hoops to enforce the rules and laws many of which are IMO antiquated and impractical and or unnecessary. 

 

I just love this. Can you imagine what would happen if a Thai/Venezuelan/Greenlander/whatever  pitched up in your country and told you that your laws were "antiquated and unnecessary" Bwana?  

 

 

Yes, I can imagine that.  When there are enough voices to point this out, then eventually civilized countries respond by including them in their decisions, instead of vilifying.  And in so doing, those countries usually prosper for it.  And, there are always voices like yours, who can't comprehend the reality.

 

The reality is that sovereign states are entitled to pass laws to suit themselves and are not required to take into account the requirements of people who are not citizens.

 

The fact that those laws don't fit in with your particular circumstances is not their concern Bwana.

 

Well put.  The most unsurprising thing about this thread is observing how all that First World sense of entitlement collides head on with hard reality.  Thailand doesn't care about what they think.  And, btw, neither do I.
 

Thanks for putting up that link--although it will not be there for long.

When I think about back home in the US, where the governments, state and federal, give illegal aliens driver's licenses, free education, free medical, identification access with Mexican matricula consular ID cards, homeowner loans, taxpayer IDs, and free money with Earned Income Tax Credits, I can understand why Thailand wants to protect itself.

I've always carried my passport and work permit with me.  If for no other reason than I fear leaving it in my house might result in its theft. And had my fears confirmed when I once had someone try to break into my front door while I was at home.