Estrada

A lot are closed better look at their web sites for the current list. Those that are open are often working shorter hours. Super Rich at Seacon Square is open but with shorter hours. Some banks are not doing FX currently.

I have noticed that the quarantine regulations are not being adhered to whereby the detainees must stay in their rooms with food and fresh bedding and towels delivered outside their doors. I have since noticed that several friends who arrived a week ago posted photos of himself using the hotel's fitness rooms and also meeting friends in the restaurant of the Mövenpick BDMS Wellness Resort Bangkok. It is no wonder that the virus can be passed on by infected persons that should have remained in their rooms.

The Bangkok Bank at Seacon Square previously refused to issue the letter and sent me to head office on Silom Road which is a hassle since Immigration used to ask for it to be on the same day. Once the Bangkok Bank Branch was opened at CW Div1 office I just go down stairs and get the letter in 5 minutes. Cost B100.

I went to CW for a Retirement extension. Arrived at 09.15 and  got queue ticket No. L - 41. Seen at 10.15 completed at 11.15 (delay of supervisors signature seemed to be the visit of reporters from TV Channel 5. Before COVID we used to get there at 06.30hrs and get queue ticket No. 120.

3 hours ago, quake said:

Yes French 

Actually dual national, Thai/French

The Japanese Supercomputer got it wrong. As we say "garbage in garbage out". ASHRAE research has been done years ago and is part of air-conditioning systems design considerations. The fact is that transmission efficiency of the virus at 30C and 35%+ relative humidity, is close to zero. However, at 20C and 35% RH the transmission efficiency is 100%.  If the RH is increased to 50% the transmission efficiency is reduced to 15%. The problem that the Supercomputer got wrong, is that if the % humidity is increased to 65%, the transmission efficiency is increased to 85%. If the humidity is increased further to 80% the transmission rate is close to zero yet again. In cold climates, if the temperature falls to 5C, the transmission rate at all RH's is not reduced below 45%. This is why the Corona viruses are most transmissible in cold winter climates.

41 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

Peg the Baht to the USD.  Or since they’re so enamored with the Chinese—peg it to the CCP Yuan. 

The Baht has been pegged to the US$ Dollar for years, that's the problem. Good for certain purchasers of Trains for the BTS

2 hours ago, Pilotman said:

in this respect at least, Thai Universities are well ahead of UK ones, who are still trying to get their Online teaching in place. well done them.  Now all they need to do is sort out the sorry state of the quality of that teaching at many of those universities that are little more than average 'colleges of further education', rather than establishments of higher learning. 

The UK Open University has been mostly teaching online for the last 50 years.

3 hours ago, bluesofa said:

I wonder what a green buffer zone is and if it has a definite use, or is it some management-speak in-phrase?

I think you really know the answer as buffer zones have been standard for many years. They are to separate each area of certain uses from others to reduce noise and other pollution as well as for aesthetics and for environmental reasons. The smart park will have industrial zones, utilities (Power Plant, Water & Waste Treatment etc), University, offices and residential zones. Here is a photo.

Soi 4 Sukhumvit has mainly Katoeys trying to pick your pockets and take you back to their place. Been like that for years and now they must be desperate to make some money seeing as there are much less tourists.

Could be a Sabre Tooth Mosquito.

19 hours ago, johng said:

Makro only excepts one brand of credit card  the name eludes me at the moment.

Makro accepts both my Citibank Visa and Mastercard credit cards. Have used Citibank for the last 25 years here, never a problem in Thailand where they accept credit cards.

I have manufactured 1,000s of large R.O. drinking water plants for many of the largest suppliers of R.O. plants for over 40 years. In one country we are supplying 6.43 Billion litres of drinking water per day from bore holes with minimal treatment at TDS 250PPM. Drinking R.O. water is not good for your health because it has no minerals If you put R.O. water in a metal car radiator it will eat through the metal until it leaks like a shower spray head. The natural balance is around 150PPM TDS which can be reached by adding minerals to R.O. water. The TDS of 250 PPM that you quote is a good standard for potable water from the tap in most countries. Many well known commercial brands of bottled water no longer supply R.O. water because they realise that R.O. water is not good for health. You can achieve good quality drinking water using Ultrafiltration membrane. I have lived here 26 years and I don't like drinking bottled R.O. Water, only the mineral water which uses Ultrafilitration. At home I boil the water for hot drinks and filter the water for drinking water with a multistage wall mounted system with ultrafiltration. Only once have we had a problem here with high sulphate taste, possibly because they over dosed the Alum at the treatment works. As far as Mi*ere is concerned you should contact Nestle. but first check the seals on the bottles when you buy them because for years the Thais have refilled all sorts of bottles with fake materials. I once worked next to a drinking water supplier in Bangkok and I saw them filling the bottles with tap water instead of from their water treatment plant.

21 hours ago, Logosone said:

So Sweden among the most successful countries in containing Covid19, now considered for special visas.

 

No masks, no lockdown. 

 

How did the Swedes do it? Oh that's right, no masks, no lockdown.

Sweden has a population of only 10 Million, with 5,865 deaths and 88,237 infections. The largest city has less than 1 Million people. The country is 3 times the size of the UK or Thailand so it is no comparison to Thailand or the UK with >70 Million population and 1/3rd the size in land mass. Contrary to right wing propaganda, the Swedes followed strict guidelines on social distancing, wore masks where necessary and sheltered at home as much as possible. Having said that, if Sweden had a population of 70 Million then its' deaths equate to 41,055 and infections of 617,655, worse than the UK and Thailand. The problem with COVID-19 is that many of those who have been infected will have long term health issues, which is why the Swedish Health Minister is not so happy with the results.

17 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that spread from person to person through microscopic droplets released into the air. This can happen when someone with the untreated, active form of tuberculosis coughs, speaks, sneezes, spits, laughs or sings. Although tuberculosis is contagious, it's not easy to catch.

Quite correct it is very hard to catch unless you spend a lot of time with an infected person. I have been coming here since 1982 and have lived here 26 years and never got infected. Some neighbours have had TB and died in the past but I social distance from them just like I used to have to do with smokers in pubs. In the United States there have been 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 thanks to the Trump Virus and likely to reach 1 Million before enough people have been vacinated. In the same period there have only been 525 deaths from TB in the U.S. out of a total of 8.920 cases. In the U.K. there have been over 41,000 deaths from COVID-19 compared to only 264 from TB out of 5,008 cases.

The Thai banks require you to take the cheque to one of their international branches in Thailand or head office. The last time I had a pension cheque, the Bangkok Bank did not want to deal with it (too much paperwork such as AMLO). Fortunately because of COVID-19 the pension provider that insisted on sending a cheque, that takes a month to process, finally capitulated and now sends it by electronic transfer.

We have been wearing masks here long before COVID-19 because of air pollution. Not withstanding the farmer's burning season, COVID-19 has greatly reduced PM2.5 air pollution worldwide. The problem is that Corona Virus is PM1.2 and also invisible. Every few days the government intercepts people coming across the border illegally and some are infected. It takes only one infected person to infect you and you can become one of the second wave superspreaders. Every day in the U.S. many people who refused to wear masks have died due to COVID-19. If you went into a building with Blue Asbestos, you would want to wear a mask wouldn't you.

They already have laid the keels of the submarines. They are still being constructed. Payment unchanged, still next year.

This order took 10 years to be placed!