jimmybcool

The problem as I see it is the extremists. For example calling this law "don't say gay" triggers many on the left and is itself demagoguery. And yes I recognize how the law was promoted in part to get traction with some voter segments on the right. I take no issue with some form of sex education including discussion of alternate lifestyles for kids in public schools. But not young children. It's hard enough for kids to be kids these days with the internet and all let's at least let them stay innocent as long as possible until it needs to be addressed. Maybe let them reach at least 11-12 years of age when they begin to have urges they don't understand. And maybe let parents have some say over how it is presented. Perfect solution? Maybe not. But I respect parents who don't want their 6 year old taught about sexuality.

She didn't humiliate him. Nor did she answer the question which is of course par for the course.

I am flying to USA via Narita on JAL on a few weeks. I get it that the USA only requires the ATK test but I'm not so sure JAL is accepting that. I have searche their webpage and of course can't find clarification. If anyopne has recently transited Narita I'd appreciate some input.

In my defense, I would have done both anyway. Still feel glad I tried to load that Q code and discovered my errror early on.

I do not know Thai specific traffic law. I do know self preservation law having driven bikes in the USA for years. That kid is lucky to be alive. And even if the cart driver didn't signal or anything clearly the speed of the kid on the bike is the sole cause of an accident. Logic says they should be grateful if the kid recovers. But, having been involved as a passenger in a car that had a collision with a moto inn Thailand years ago I understand where the family is coming from. My friend was on the motorway driving back to Pattaya. Woman on a cycle enters the motorway (no entrance just you know) and immediately starts crossing all the lanes. My friend is standing on the brakes, has gone as far right as he can without going into the ditch and we almost made it but she kept coming over and bounced off his car. damage to the side mirror, her bike and her. Clearly her fault and she didn't belong on a motorway anyway. Long story short, after she is cleaned up at hospital and we've cooled our jets waiting at the cop shop she shows up and the judge, policeman, decides fault and who pays. He says it is her fault. But, my friend has money so he can pay her hospital and 20,000 baht money she will lose not working for a month. And my friend gets to pay to fix his car. Total <deleted>. But that is how Thailand resolves some of this stuff.

Weird part of the story. He lives in a luxury condo. Is a big time drug dealer. And he drives an MG? I mean, if it is a modern Chinese made MG it's not exactly posh is it?

Thanks. Yeah testing has a purpose but I think unless someone is symptomatic it should be over with. And the fact that Thailand has as much covid as anywhere else in the world means they need to stop harassing tourists. Tourists are not the source of infection now. For myself I am hoping to test negative before I fly. I just 5 minutes ago used one of the free home covid test kits my government sent me. I originally tested positive back in January 26 on a PCR test. Since then 2 home kit tests have come back negative and all my symptoms are gone. But these home test kits are not as sensitive as the PCR tests. If I test positive prior to travel I am not boarding a plane. Period. I am not about to try and talk my way past JAL and Thai immigration with a doctors letter. Either I am good to go or I am not. If I arrive there and THEN test positive well I'll try using the doctors letter and talking my way out of quarantine.

I am currently trying to get my doctors letter stating I recovered from Covid within the last month. I had symptoms and tested positive middle of January and now test negative. But I applied for the day 1 and 5 test and go. Wondering if I should have applied the alternate angle. Much of this is confusing.

You assume wrong which I have learned communicating with the embassy. I can not believe I have been collecting all this data and creating a file on the Visa webpage thinking it was thai pass. I have a visa not a Thai Pass. In any case I am fortunate enough that despite my decrepitude and failing faculties I am paranoid and do stuff with a margin of error as in I don't travel for another 13 days. So I have now applied for a Thai pass. Pass long it didn't work with Firefox and I had to fire up Google Chrome on my iMac.

OK, I have jumped the hoops. Booked insurance and ASQ hotel etc. Filled in the forms in triplicate and apparently succeeded in getting approval via the Thai EVISA official website. I am approved. I received a letter with that statement and it contains a QR code which I am supposed to enter into morchana app. The QR code will not scan. I can enter the data manually except I haven't a clue which number is supposed to be the Thailand Pass ID. Just asking here if someone from the Thai services reads this stuff or if a member understands their terminology. Thanks

They can be fun. My regular caddy was shacked up with a guy a floor below me and one day I go up to the pool and there are 4 of the caddies from my regular group in swimwear. Nice. So I had to buy them some food and drink. Wouldn't be proper to let the poor dears starve. ????

I just wish I could find a current set of rules. I'm now free and ready to book. But I just got over covid and might test positive for several more weeks. I hear there is a way a doctor can sign you off as having had it and are now clear but I can not find an OFFICIAL Thai form for this and don't trust just a letter from my doctor to get me past a positive test on arrival. Thais respect THEIR forms and only their forms. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough on the thai visa site.

I mentioned earlier in the thread I wouldn't buy one in Thailand for that reason AND because the roads chew up cars. Barring really bad luck here my X5 will look and run like new 5 years from now here. With the roads there I thin one would be in a body shop multiple times plus suspension work done.

There is never a direct measurable 10x difference in value when comparing luxury items with economy items. As an example I am a guitar player. Looking at acoustic guitars that would stay in tune, and have reasonable action I can buy a Yamaha for about $500. In fact that is what I have in Thailand that hasn't been played now in 2 years. It will be a good guitar. And in fact I have one like that here in the USA also for taking out to dodgy places where your drunk neighbor thinks he still remembers how to play smoke on the water. it takes a beating. It performs the function of an acoustic guitar. I also own some guitars that cost 20x that. If you are not musically trained or a guitar player they might look and sound alike to you. Not to me. The action is so much easier. The intonation (tuning perfection up and down the entire neck) is perfect. They LOOK amazing. But most important to me is I can hear tones and depth of sound the Yamaha can not make. To me that guitar is easily worth the extra money. Is it 10-20x better? Only in the opinion of the buyer. The same is true of luxury cars. In reality a Toyota and Mercedes both do the same job. They transport you from point A to point B. Currently they both do it pretty reliably. So what adds value to the luxury cars. Well first where I live it isn't even close to a 10x factor. I would have to compare a cheapest Toyota to a highest end Mercedes made. Not comparable at all. So an S class here is about $120k versus a decent 4 door Toyota at $40K. So it is more like 3X. Where is that 3x value? As I said it isn't a measurable thing. But to ME it is certainly there. Riding in a vehicle that is much quieter, less bumpy on the road, safer in a collision and a more appealing interior design and materials has value. Plus the actual driving experience of power and handling factor. The question is how much value? I can only answer for myself. I could have bought a simple Toyota Highlander here. If has as much room and does what my BMW X5 does. To get the same features (almost) of my BKW would have cost $45K. My BMW (which had some ridiculous features I didn't need or want such as a $5k special paint color) was $85K. So I could have saved $40K. All I know is if I had bought the Toyota I know every time I got in the thing I'd have been disappointed in the acceleration, handling, sound system, cabin quality, and materials. It was worth that $40k TO ME to have the creature comforts difference. And of course don't forget it really isn't $40K in the end because in 5 years when I sell this care I will get some of that back i resale. Probably more like a $25K difference to drive that car versus a Toyota. So for $5K a year I drive in luxury versus acceptable. That is my price point. Everyone is different and those espousing the new Toyota might meet someone that points out you can buy a 10 year old car of 10% the cost of a new one and it will do everything the new car does. It's all relative.

I drive BMW in the states. I like mid size SUVs and had several choices in that range for luxury and yes, I do like the blessed mother of acceleration. Mercedes GLE - this was my preference. Interior surpasses all the others. Problem was the standard engine in these is a 4 cylinder. Yeah, a modern engine and it is adequate. That's the word. Adequate. I could not find the upgraded version with a 6 cylinder. Lexus - either an old tech body on frame for more money or a weak assed slightly smaller vehicle. And ALL of them lacked any driving cred. Like hugging your grandmom. Ford - that new Explorer is kick ass. Pity they can't make a decent interior. Chevy - nope. Just nope. Audi - came in second. Dealer had ZERO inventory. Bought the wife unit a Q3. Really nice and solid car. BMW - X5 with the standard 6 cylinder kicks ass and mine had the interior upgrade. Close to the Mercedes quality. For those that think buying these cars is only for "cachet" I don't see it. I do not feel special because I drive a BMW. Mine isn't that expensive (to me). If Honda or Toyota made cars that drove like my X5 and had interiors as nice I'd be happy to save the $20-40K. I don't care what anyone thinks about me driving down the road. And like the Hun if I lived in Thailand where parts and service are compromised I would not own it. I'd own a Toyota or Honda.

I made no comment on the value of mask wearing. I merely pointed out how it compared to the seatbelt comment. Notice I have both sides of the issue. For the record I am not a great mask advocate. I do not believe wearing a mask makes ME a lot safer. I do think if a person is in a highly contagious stage of a virus (a few day period) it can help reduce spread when they cough or sneeze. Perfect? No. Do I advocate wearing masks? If you are sneezing and coughing and have to go out in public yes. Do I like mask mandates? No. Heck with omicron we are all going to be exposed to it and it's just a question of if you get ill. I am now in day 10 of it. Played golf yesterday (poorly) and it really wiped me out. Still a bit phlegmy. But no reason to shut down the world for this variant if I am the norm. Which it seems reports indicate.

Living in the USA the price delta between a BMW and a Chevy isn't as great. For example a Toyota Forerunner which is their midsize SUV kitted out somewhat luxury and AWD is gonna cost $50K. A BMX X5 comparable in size etc about $62K. Trust me the BMX drives a LOT better than the Toyota. And as I drive mostly well maintained roads I don't need especially rugged (not even sure the BMW isn't fairly rugged) so I pay a little more and have a much more luxurious vehicle that also runs rings around the Toyota. If I ever move to Thailand I will not own a BMW or Mercedes there. Several reasons really. For example I would prefer to NOT look like I am flush and a target for criminals. I also don't want to pay the premium cost difference in Thailand. And I expect with the state of roads and drivers there the car will sustain some kind of damage every year. Tires destroyed. Undercarriage smashed. Motocys hitting the side. nah it's like combat driving there and I would want the most disposable easily repaired car I could get. Probably would be the Toyota Fortuner.

Now you got it. And understand fully - it doesn't matter if you committed a real offense AT ALL. This isn't Europe or USA etc. Police there have almost no oversight and are used to everyone showing deference. When a westerner shows any belligerence that triggers their response which is to make it hurt for you. And as you can see they win. Every. Time.

Interesting video. But I suspect those who do not believe masks are effective will find fault in it somehow. Seems once entrenched in a position people refuse to keep an open mind. Sad really.

My 2021 X5 is covered free for the first 3 years. After that I have a certified non-dealer mechanic for all work I want done. What does <deleted> me off is the stupid system tells you it needs service at specific time intervals as well as mileage intervals. Well hell, I don't drive much and my car sits in an enclosed garage most of the time.

Well for those who do not believe the masks actually prevent transmission of covid the difference is seatbelts protect you from injury in an accident while the masks do nothing. That is a difference. So for anti-maskers it is a big difference. For those who believe masks do help prevent transmission of covid then they are the same thing. There is no difference. Not sure if it matters in this context though. The reality is the government of Thailand believes masks serve a purpose and they have decided they can set the rules. While I make no comment on if they are right or if government should have such powers it is a reality and we as guests are idiots if we don't just toe the line so we can party there.

Checked my local auto store. None in stock. ????

Well I hope we ALL know exactly what it means when an indicator is flashing on a motocy in Thailand. No, it doesn't indicate direction of travel. Or anything other than - the key is in the ignition. LOL

Very good point. All I know is it is my favorite dish in Thailand.

I agree it belongs in the top 20. But the list is a failure if it doesn't include Khao Soi.