Stubby

13 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

What about the none smokers?? these e-cigarettes are terrible with the amount of pollution that comes out of them and are offensive to the extreme for none smokers 

Not as offensive as the toxic fumes that spew out of vehicle exhaust pipes considering the differences in apertures Mr. Geoffggi. Do you drive a vehicle, or have you ever smoked? I ask because, in my experience, the ex-smokers winge ten times more about smokers than non-smokers ever do.

2 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

So which plan did you subscribe to? And what was the price?

5GB data | Package Type: Auto-renew | Validity 30 days
 

Package Price: 199.00 ฿
VAT 7%: 13.93 ฿

Total: 212.93 ฿

Stubby

UPDATE

Thanks for all your help, everybody. It seems that there are other choices than the 600B plan, after all. I must have overcomplicated my options or allowed the girls in the shop to confuse me. The first link that @mtls2005 points to is about the same as I had with a 1GB loss. That should do it. 

OVER TO THE TRUEMOVE H LINK

I just learned something else. I always thought you had to go into the phone shop to top up mobile internet. But I dialed the number on the bottom of the screen, and it sent me a password to enter. I did that, and True immediately deducted the money from my regular mobile credit. So, all I have to do now is make sure I have enough balance each month for the auto-renewal. Sorted! 

BETTER THAN BEFORE

Also, this deal might even be better than my old one because it says something about 5GB at max speed. But if I use 5GB before the 30 days is up, I still have internet access at a slower 128kbps. If I understand it right, that's an even better deal than before.

I couldn't be happier, so thanks once again, folks ????

Stubby

12 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

If possible going there in person with someone who speaks Thai will avail you to the best packages.

 

I routinely change because there's always cheaper packages. 

 

If you don't ask they won't tell you.

 

It's all very confusing.

So true. And when you think you've understood, you realize later that you agreed to something completely different. That goes for a lot of things, not only smartphones and data.

9 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

How much data do you use? You can check past usage, Settings, Network & internet, Internet, Data usage, choose a date range.

 

What is your budget?

 

Do you make voice calls? Send SMSes?

 

Do you need to keep a specific number? And then add on a data package?

Hi, folks; thanks for the replies.

I have my usual phone balance for making calls, SMS, etc. But if I use that for the internet, it eats the phone credit in minutes. That's why I have a separate internet package for online use, which is very light. 

I only use mobile internet for the occasional search on Google, weather checks, and listening to UK radio stations. That's about it, and I don't think I've ever gone over the 6GB allowance on the previous package. I'm not a skinflint, but I don't want to pay for services and speeds I don't need.

At home, I have WiFi, so I don't even use the mobile internet indoors. The old package was for 60 days, which auto-renewed after 30 days. I would then revisit the shop to top up another 60 days. But last time, I got very confused with what they were trying to tell/sell me. And the TrueMove H website confuses me even more, hence this post.

I've had this True sim and number for a while, so I want to keep that. Does that mean I have to choose a True mobile internet package?

Stubby

Morning, Folks.

Every two months for the past few years, I head down to my local phone shop to renew my mobile internet. My ISP is TRUE, and my internet package was 12GB 60 days for 400 Baht. That's 6GB for 30 days that auto-renewed. 

Anyway, the last time I went to the shop, they said my promotion had ended. I had no idea it was a promotion as I've been using it for years. The replacement package was 600 Baht for 60 days (auto-renew), although it was supposedly faster and unlimited. The thing is, I didn't even use the 6GB from the old package, and the speed was perfectly adequate for my usage.

Anyway, I paid up and didn't think any more about it until this morning. It seems that the 30 days expired a few days ago, and the phone then switched to my call credit which has taken it down to 0 Baht. I didn't get SMS notifications about either of the above. Or maybe I did but delted them as spam as I get a lot of that daily from TRUE.

There are so many ongoing packages and promotions I don't know what I'm looking at. So I'm asking for advice from those who are better educated than me on simplifying this prepaid mobile internet malarkey so that I can choose a seamless package.
 

Thank you in advance,
 

Stubby

27 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Your concluding good news summary bares no resemblance to the article you linked to in its conclusions which are:

 

"Future variants, if and when they appear, may have yet other modifications to their structures and abilities. “I’m not confident that we can rest on our laurels and say this is all over,” Barclay says. With infections continuing to spread and evolve among many populations around the world, the virus is going to come up with more ways to transmit—including ones that scientists haven’t even thought of yet."

Firstly, I never said anything about COVID19 being over, but rather one of its unwelcome headings. 
 

So yes, it's goodbye and good riddance to the "Even More Contagious Than...." headline once and for all. From a psychological viewpoint, that is very good news indeed because folks have had enough of 2+ years of grim updates. Hopefully, the next one will be that coronavirus is less harmful than a mild cold, but let's wait and see, a?

TIME FOR SOME GOOD NEWS FOLKS

When COVID-19 made headline news worldwide, the experts banged on about why it's so dangerous to humankind. They told us it hovered around in the air like invisible smoke. 

BE AFRAID, THEY SAID, AND MOST OF US WERE

Whenever you were close to someone, you never knew if you'd breathed in a gobful of the submicroscopic infectious agent. So I was one of those who rushed out to buy disinfectant and hand gel. Yes, I sanitized anything and everything that came in from outside... including the cat!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

Over time, researchers announced new predominant variants and sub-variants. And each one that became the latest headline was even more transmissible than the previous. I couldn't get my head around this. I mean, the experts described Delta to the lay public as highly infectious. 

"It's more transmissible than viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, seasonal flu, and smallpox..." they said.

It's no wonder everyone was bricking it.

THE GOOD NEWS

The good news is that there are no adjectives left to describe the transmissibility of the Omicron sub-variant BA.2. And yes, it's even more contagious than those before it (no surprise there). But it seems that it's reached its end in terms of transmissibility. I've read numerous reports that the most contagious virus known to humans is measles, and BA.2 is pretty much aligned with that now.

So, we should never see that awful headline again that includes the words "Even More Contagious Than (previous variant here)."

Stubby

One of multiple reliable resources: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/omicrons-surprising-anatomy-explains-why-it-is-wildly-contagious/

21 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Probably more like "Fully vaccinated with the last jab being within X months".  That seems more practical.

You're probably right, BR. The old jabs are waning fast, hence the need for boosters. And there's talk of omicron-specific vaccines in the pipeline. Indeed, the vaccine makers have been working on this since last year. The reason is that the orignal+booster jabs are not working as well as against omicron as the experts had hoped. If they were, big pharma would not need to invest time and money into shots tailored for protection against omicron and its subvariants. So yes, it seems that authorities won't care about earlier jabs; it's the last, most relevant vaccine that'll get you in.

Thanks, everybody. Who would have thought there wouldn't be a straightforward answer to this? There are so many Thai video tutorials online, yet I've never seen one by a Thai teacher for spelling words out aloud. And believe me, I've looked. There might be somewhere, but I've not come across any tutorials yet.
 

@digbeth, that's what I thought. If you spell every character aloud in a word, you are not pronouncing/practicing the vowel sounds.
 

I will message some Thai language teachers to see what they have to say. Perhaps I should have started there. I will update my findings here, so be sure to follow the thread ????

Stubby

15 hours ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

Yes, I believe spelling out loud in Thai is the same as writing/typing in Thai. Each letter/symbol is pronounced individually even if two of the same appear in a row...such as your example with 'meet'. 

I'm sure you're right, ColeBOzbourne, but I'm pretty sure I was taught otherwise. Either that or I read something somewhere once that planted it in my subconscious. Or maybe that's how Thai educators used to teach it, although I can't be sure (it's been a while), which is why I posted here.

However, your way does seem more complicated in that you're spelling out many more characters instead of a single vowel sound. Anyway, if I hear anything contrary, I'll update this post by quoting the source. Of course, it may turn out that it's either-or, so who knows.

Stubby

1 minute ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

Yes. Agree with Richard W that this would be the spelling. 

You can't enter sara ea (เ–ีย) on the keyboard with one stroke. Each part is entered separately, so each part is also spelled out loud separately.

Thanks, ColeBOzbourne.

But writing and typing isn't quite the same as spelling out loud, or is it? I mean, if I were to spell the word "meet" aloud in English, I wouldn't say em, ee, ee, t, but rather em, double-e, t, though double-e is not on the keyboard. But hey, I'm probably overcomplicating things… it happens ????

Stubby

1 hour ago, Richard W said:

The old system is not quite as simple.  It's onset consonants first, then the tone mark if the vowel is all to the right of the onset consonants, then the vowel, then the tone mark if not already said, than karan.  This ใหม่ 'new' is ho hip, mo ma, sara ai maimuan, mai ek.

I don't think the compound vowel symbols are treated as units in the modern system, but spelt out individually, so the เชียง bit would be sara e, cho chang, sara ii, yo yak, ngo ngu - as you type it, which is simpler, and handles anomalous spellings like เทอม 'term', which by the rules should be *เทิม.

Thank you, Richard. It's not so easy or clear-cut, then. Perhaps that's why the gazillion Thai teachers online shy away from spelling, but I wish someone would tackle it. Like all learning, there must be a beginner's level on which one could build their skills.
 

Regards,
 

Stubby

Thanks for your replies, guys.

Apologies for the late response. For some reason, I didn't get notifications despite having clicked the Follow Topic radio button.

I'm still a little confused, though. And I'm surprised at how hard it is to find a Youtube or text tutorial on Thai spelling. 

Richard, in your example, เดี๋ยวนี้ I think I was also taught to speak the consonant first, followed by the vowel sound, followed by any tone marks. Alas, it's all become a tad distant, hence this post, but it's starting to come back.

On that note, I would spell the word Chiang Mai (เชียงใหม่) out loud like this (I think):

Cho chang (ช) sara ea (เ–ีย) ngo ngu (ง) ho hip (ห) sàrà ai maimuan (ใ) (mo ma (ม), mai ek (◌่)

But now I'm not so sure after reading ColeBOzbourne post. Is your girlfriend saying Thais would spell it like so:
 

sara ea (เ–ีย) cho chang (ช) ngo ngu (ง) sàrà ai maimuan (ใ) ho hip (ห) (mo ma (ม), mai ek (◌่)?
 

Why Spelling Matters
 

When someone says an unfamiliar word that you need to know—but can't quite grasp—it's helpful if they can write it down or spell it out loud. Or at least it is for those who can read a bit of Thai.
 

Sorry, could you spell that for me, please?
 

"Kŏr tôht kráp kun sà-gòt kam dâai măi kráp."
 

ขอโทษครับคุณสะกดคำได้ไหมครับ
 

Unfortunately, I'm one of these expats who's been here for donkey's years who's useless at speaking Thai. Even so, that doesn't stop me from trying.
 

Stubby

Hi, Folks.
 

I used to know what order to spell out Thai words, but I've forgotten (probably and age thing ????). And I can't seem to find the answer by searching on Google.

I vaguely remember that if a vowel goes in front of a consonant, you spell the consonant first and then back to the vowel before continuing. Am I right?
 

For example, the word for smart is gèng or เก่ง in Thai. In this case, would you spell it Gor Gai (ก), Sara E (เ), Ngo Ngu (ง), and finally the tone mark Mai Ek?

Thank you in advance,
 

Stubby
 

5 hours ago, gearbox said:

The longer a person has already lived, the progressively longer their projected "life expectancy" becomes!

 

Why is this? This is because all those younger ages when they might have died..... get factored out. They've already lived PAST those ages! Therefore, the average gets recalibrated!

True, but as one gets older, a whole new set of age and lifestyle-related health complications come into play that are rare in younger people. The pessimist might say that every minute over 50 is a bonus. And let's not forget, people today do live longer, but they're also sicker for much longer than they ever were. In some cases, they exist rather than live. Sadly, I've known quite a few. 
 

Thus, the burden on younger families to care for aging relatives used to be... on the scope of life... a short-term commitment. But now, it's often a full-time job that drags on and drains carers for decades.
 

Heck, if sick, aging populations of humans were horses, they would have been shot long ago. And the cullers would say, "Well, it's the humane thing to do.

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

If people have to rely on god then we should all learn how to paddle...

May the Lord bless you, Bluespunk ????

8 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

The younger people are developing more western thinking.  They don't want to take care of old people.

People aren't as caring as they like to portray themselves. I don't know about Thailand, but most young people crave a family in the UK. But, then, once they become parents, they live for the day their kids grow up and sod off. We really are a strange species. 

And, out of the 8.7 million creatures inhabiting the earth, humans are the only mugs that have to pay to stay alive.

Still, at least we have the good lord above to watch over us, or the elderly would definately be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

Who nailed you? Foreigners or Thai’s ???

 

In Bangkok I find pretty much everyone to be respectful of motorcycle riders if they are not in the ‘main water throwing area’s’.

 

Close to the ‘main water throwing area’s’ the stereotype of the pi$$ed up idiot foreigner usually plays out and there is some western tool trying to ‘hit’ motorcyclists with a wall of water.

There were no foreigners where I was, but I didn't see who did it. Probably teenagers, though. I can remember how stupid things seemed funny when I was a youngster. Dangerous, yes, but still funny if you're a kid... unless something tragic happens. Anyway, I've got enough supplies in now, so I'll stay off the roads for the next few days.

Drunk foreigners along roadside tourist hotspots are a real pain in the ass during normal times. One of these days, they'll pick on the wrong bloke and end up with a bloody good horsewhipping ????

8 hours ago, malibukid said:

they don't give a toss about old people

It's a global phenomenon, or at least in most modern and developing societies. I first experienced ageism at 39. I passed a telephone interview for an IT position with flying colors. I was then I was asked to email my CV (resume). The response was:

"Oh! We're so sorry; we had no idea you were that old. We're ideally looking for younger talent, someone who can bring a fresh perspective with no set ways to our young, dynamic business." 

Aside from parents and grandparents, most younger people don't like or respect their elders anymore. They see them as doddery, inconvenient, and a drain on society. Some youths even think they should be offered a peaceful pill on their 50th birthday. But I'm sure they will have a different opinion when they reach the big five-oh.

So, I doubt many people are bothered about the elderly dying of COVID outside the immediate family circle.

1 hour ago, impulse said:

A lot of them are waiting for the next 10,000 page dump of the Pfizer documents, which seem to be painting a much different picture than the one we've been spoon fed.  For example, that natural immunity is as good or better than the jabs.  Meaning that 80.2 million Americans don't need the jab because they've recovered and have immunity.  They're not right wingers.  They're following the science.  Instead of the narrative.

 

I still don't understand why the Pfizer documents didn't make headline news worldwide. I wouldn't be surprised in over 90% of the global population have no idea they are even public. However, the findings certainly concerned leading UK cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra and other respected medical experts. If I quote him, my response will probably get deleted, so I'll say no more.

But...

WHY DO OPPOSING OPINIONS GET CANCELED?

I've noticed several intelligent posters on this forum, and you know who they are by their articulate, detailed posts. But it seems that most of them decide to believe a certain way and won't be swayed come rain, come shine, come hell or high water. In fact, they're sometimes mildly aggressive if anyone dares to disagree with them. That probably means they're gentlemen of... how can I put it... ok, of a certain age.

I find this fascinating, considering their ability to collect scientific data and deliver it in non-doctor speak. You would think that such people would be open to all sides of a debate if only to prove the opposition wrong and win the counterargument.

Stubby 

5 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand has reported its first case of Omicron XE, a hybrid of two previous Omicron variants, shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning about the new strain.

Oh my goodness, here we go again! This news will be music to the ears of some on this forum. Seriously, there are folks on here who can't get enough of COVID-19... they absolutely LOVE IT. I would even go as far as to say they're going to need some serious therapy to cope with the withdrawal symptoms when the coronavirus conversation runs its course. 
 

Ee by gum, there's non funnier than folks, that's for sure!
 

My advice? Pop outside for 30 minutes a day and get yourself a free vitamin D top-up, fellas. It'll also give your eyes a healthy rest from this 'ere screen. ????