gearbox

I can't see any benefits at all, especially for the tourists on the wrong side of the Beach road, they either have to trespass through some hotel or walk up to a kilometer or two to access the public entry places to the beach. It is a pleasure to walk the promenade at the Patong beach, walking Chaweng sometimes it is just not possible, the resorts and restaurants in their greediness encroached so much beach land, now at high tide the beach is not passable and their structures suffer damage as well.

You usually need to pay some tax if you withdraw before 60. https://www.superguide.com.au/how-super-works/access-super-under-60-tax Look here: 2. Over your preservation age but under 60 If you have other money it is best to wait: https://www.superguide.com.au/how-super-works/access-super-over-60-tax-free "When it comes to super, reaching age 60 triggers an important change. It means you can withdraw your super benefits more easily and, for most people, they are tax free."

Portugal is requiring PCR or antigen test before arrival from today: https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/1528258/portugal-travel-rules-covid-test-restrictions-british-tourists Thailand's appeal is during the northern winter. Try to get sunburned now in Portugal.

As far as I know there is no law to force you to go to a proper hospital in case of asymptomatic covid. Demand hospitel or field hospital, just tell them you don't have funds to pay ???? In case of a field hospital you'll need power banks to post here as there are usually no power points for charging available. As the ATK kits are now widely available IMO it is wise to do a self test first.

So what's the explanation then for the low number of cases and deaths in countries like UAE, Cambodia, Uruguay etc which used large quantities of Chinese vaccines for their vaccination campaign? Even the Thai numbers look very good in comparison to the numbers in Europe, shouldn't be the country falling apart now?

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hotel-quarantine-back-on-the-cards-as-omicron-lands-in-sydney-20211128-p59ctn.html The nanny state panicking again even as 92.4 percent of the population above 16 years old is fully vaccinated.

A reasonable quality coffee beans can be purchased from Lazada for around 500 baht/kg. From 1 kg usually one can make 120-150 coffee cups. With Nespresso machines and Nespresso capsules purchased from Lazada one coffee cup comes at 25 baht, 100 cups = 2500 baht, 150 cups = 3750 baht. We have also a Nespresso machine and the cheapest capsules to be found are 150 baht for 10 capsules. It is the same scam as the computer printers, the printer itself costs less than the consumables.

I haven't seen machines from these brands in the 3000-5000 range. The brand name coffee machines are pretty much double the prices in the western world. If OP has a trip back home consider bringing back a coffee machine. I brought from Europe Philips automatic machine, paid less than 12k baht there, here they are between 25-30K baht. Before that I bought from Lazada a dodgy brand for less than 3k, it was working OK for an year, then it became a bit unstable, cleaning didn't help.

I had the same experience in Turkey, any covid related paperwork is completely ignored and not looked at. They could replace the IOs with passport stamping robots. One does need HES code to travel within Turkey internally, many online booking portals were requiring it, but this can be obtained easily by sending a sms message to a specific number.

It is not a sovereign state recognized by most of the countries in the world, but de facto is. However it names itself "Republic of China" and for long time was claiming ownership of the whole China. Taiwan maintained for long time the stance that Tibet is part of China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_sovereignty_debate The government of the Republic of China, which ruled mainland China from 1912 until 1949 and now controls Taiwan, had a cabinet-level Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission in charge of the administration of Tibet and Mongolia regions from 1912. The commission retained its cabinet level status after 1949, but no longer executes that function.[citation needed] On 10 May 1943, Chiang Kai-shek asserted that "Tibet is part of Chinese territory... No foreign nation is allowed to interfere in our domestic affairs".[24] He again declared in 1946 that the Tibetans were Chinese nationals.[25] The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission was disbanded in 2017. You could compare Taiwan and China to North and South Korea, just the proportions are different. Same people divided by ideology.

Ahaha..you are right, the latin transcription is "xi", although "Xi" is pronounced "chi", and the Greek "xi" is pronounced "ks". https://www.news18.com/news/world/why-omicron-not-nu-or-xi-who-says-two-greek-alphabets-jumped-to-avoid-stigma-4492670.html I wonder why they skipped nu as well.

Many wealthy individuals travel to Switzerland to check how the money laundering process is going on or deposit a briefcase or two. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banking_in_Switzerland#Connection_to_illegal_activities " Swiss banks have served as safe havens for the wealth of dictators, despots, mobsters, arms dealers, corrupt officials, and tax cheats of all kinds." Non-wealthy criminals need not apply there.

Google is your friend... omicron (O) is before X (chi). Not there yet. https://www.theonlinegreektutor.com/the-greek-alphabet/

You got it wrong here. The name of the country is Taiwan ROC, or Republic of China. There are 2 Chinas, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the People's Republic of China (the mainland) For long time both claimed that they are the sole legitimate representative of the Chinese people, and all of China belongs to them. If you look at the claims in South China Sea you'll see Taiwan has the same disputes as mainland China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_disputes_in_the_South_China_Sea

Why would they...they are much richer than the Chinese, and what good would an authoritarian regime bring to them? However if the wealth is reversed the things are not that certain.

Looks like the key is to vaccinate fact and then provide different type of boosters...even the average performing vaccines do well in these circumstances, Cambodia and UAE are good examples. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/mixing-cansinobio-sinovac-covid-shots-induces-stronger-response-than-sinovac-2021-09-07/ "Participants who received a CanSinoBIO (6185.HK), booster dose three to six months after a second Sinovac shot showed a 78-fold jump on average in neutralizing antibody levels two weeks later, according to a paper published on Monday before a peer review."

I don't think you'll be shipped to a hospital in case of a positive ATK test - most likely it needs to be confirmed with a PCR test. But with 0.1-0.2 percent arriving positive they should foot the bill for the asymptomatic cases and remove one of the major uncertainties. If the positive case is symptomatic it needs to go to hospital anyway - this is a medical necessity and would be covered by the insurance.

Nothing wrong with Sinovac, it is just less effective compared to the mRNA vaccines. It is like comparing beer and sangsom, both will get you drunk, you just need more beers to get proper result. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50976098/choosing-chinese-vaccines-over-covax-was-a-wise-choice-says-eiu/ "Cambodia’s decision to get most of its Coronavirus vaccine supply from China, rather than relying on donations from Covax will help its economy outperform other Asian nations, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit."

China and Taiwan would probably be unified peacefully at the request of Taiwan. The seeds of that were sown by Donald Trump with his chips war on China. Prior to that the Chinese were happy to buy chips designed and produced anywhere else, how they are hell bent on getting at the top of the food chain on this. Taiwan's wealth is based on semiconductors and the export of them mainly to China. If the Chinese come ahead in that area expect Taiwan to become much poorer, and would be a matter of time a new "unification" party to come into existence. Of course in that scenario another possibility is a dictatorship and "our son of a ...", this has happened before.

This may happen if they go back to the pre-covid volumes of 3 mil passengers per month....not a slight chance going near that figure. I did a PCR test at the Phuket Airport, everything was organized very efficiently. The second test (ATK) I did in the hotel took just a couple of minutes. In the end the travelers are customers, if Thailand needs them it has to keep on removing any inconveniences. It is a fairly confusing move to book only taxi transfer before arriving - world's first ????

Why should any foreign warship dock in a country which used to take 40 million tourist per year? This wouldn't produce much confidence and leisurely thoughts for the average tourist. The Thai government is not that dumb to take sides in a perceived conflict where there is nothing beneficial for the country out of this.

It is a commercial port and that was commercial transaction...I guess nobody else was willing to pay but the Chinese. The real fun would be further along the road if the Chinese try to implement the level of automation currently seen at the Chinese ports and try to get rid of the massively overpaid bogans employed there. Would keep the newspapers busy for a while.

Well..if the federal government forgets to make announcement they will arrive "unannounced" ???? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-03/chinese-warships-enter-sydney-harbour-south-china-sea-claims/11172578 "Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the arrival of the warships in Sydney had been planned for some time."

If as you claim you have the means you are definitely not trapped in Thailand. You can go back to UK and come back with travel insurance for less than the amount of the bill quoted above. I left Samui and went to Europe and I'm back in Samui after 3.5 months absence. You don't need Thai insurance to enter Thailand, I have travel insurance from Tokyo marine/Worldtrips which would exclude your preexisting conditions (but may include acute onset). I paid $715 for 7 months, yours would be a bit more expensive - different age bracket. https://www.worldtrips.com/atlas-travel-insurance#/atq Overall Maximum Limit Age 80 or older: $10,000 Age 65 to 79: $50,000 or $100,000 All others: $50,000, $100,000, $200,000, $500,000, $1,000,000, or $2,000,000 *Acute Onset of Pre-Existing Condition (excludes chronic and congenital conditions) (only available to members under age 80) Up to the overall maximum limit $25,000 lifetime maximum for Emergency Medical Evacuation

Mr Don doesn't seem to be too upset on the photo. Thailand is not a democracy for sure, but even if it was, what's in for them at this so called "democracy summit" ? The most they'll get is to cop some bullying to drop Chinese investments here and there. If the Americans don't want them to buy Chinese phones, just ship to Thailand free iPhones, I'm sure the Thais won't refuse the offer.