Amethyst

A post with disallowed private party social media content has been removed for contravening the forum's Community Standards: "18. Social media content is acceptable in most forums. However in factual areas such as but not limited to news, current affairs and health topics, social media cannot be used unless it is from a credible news media source or a government agency, and must include a link to the original source."

Several trolling and off-topic posts have been removed. Please comment on the topic, and not on each other.

Off-topic comments and posts commenting on fellow forum members have been removed. Please comment on the topic itself and not each other. Per the forum's rules: "31. You will not publicly discuss other members..." "2. Do not post off-topic responses as they can often hijack the topic."

Another post with an unsourced and unsubstantiated claim has been removed. There is some scientific debate on the comparative protection levels conferred by COVID vaccines vs. the protections from prior COVID infections (which carry with them the health risks of having COVID). But I'm not aware of any credible research that suggests merely being healthy alone provides equal or greater protection against contracting COVID. Being generally healthy has been shown to somewhat lessen, but not eliminate, the risks of serious outcomes once someone contracts COVID.

A series of off-topic diversion posts have been removed. Please try to stay on-topic for the subject of this thread.

A post flaming a fellow forum member has been removed for violating the forum's Community Standards. "9. You will not post disruptive or inflammatory messages. You will respect other members and post in a civil manner. Personal attacks, insults or hate speech posted on the forum or sent by private message are not allowed."

This 2022 topic by now is out-of-date, and therefore to avoid any further confusion, it is now CLOSED. //

A post with an unsourced and unsubstantiated claim has been removed for contravening the forum's Community Standards. "In factual areas such as news forums and current affairs topics member content that is claimed or portrayed as a fact should be supported by a link to a relevant reputable source."

A post with entirely unsourced and unsubstantiated claims has been removed for contravening the forum's Community Standards. "In factual areas such as news forums and current affairs topics member content that is claimed or portrayed as a fact should be supported by a link to a relevant reputable source."

Several more off-topic and trolling posts have been removed.

Two posts that were off-topic for this thread have been removed, along with several ensuing replies.

A post from a disallowed social media source has been removed for contravening the forum's Community Standards. "18. Social media content is acceptable in most forums. However in factual areas such as but not limited to news, current affairs and health topics, social media cannot be used unless it is from a credible news media source or a government agency, and must include a link to the original source."

Also, a Spotify premium music streaming subscription is much cheaper if subscribed via a TH IP than a U.S. IP, and I'd assume the same for a UK IP -- even though the available content is the same.

So if u read the full meandering, tortured article above, what becomes clear is the Cabinet gave a policy direction vs actually approving a real plan. No date for implementation or what if anything tourists will need to do to gain coverage. All of that is now dumped into the lap of the Tourism ministry to work out the details and launch an actual insurance cover program, sometime, who knows when. Right now, there remains NONE!

This is a good website that displays AQI data from both the government pollution monitors and those maintained by private parties... Pick the closest up-to-date monitor to you on the map. Then for each monitoring site, it shows the latest hourly readings and hourlies for the past couple days. https://aqicn.org/station/thailand-chiang-mai-สถาบันนโยบายสาธารณะ-มช.-ต.สุเทพ-อ.เมือง-จ.เชียงใหม่/#/z/14

Two posts with entirely unsourced and unsubstantiated claims, including one that would divert this thread off-topic, have been removed for contravening the forum's Community Standards. "In factual areas such as news forums and current affairs topics member content that is claimed or portrayed as a fact should be supported by a link to a relevant reputable source."

December 10, 2023 "Doctors and pharmacists are seeing a surge in requests for COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the Christmas break amid concerns about higher rates of the virus and visiting vulnerable loved ones. Indicators such as sewage monitoring, test positivity rates and hospital activity suggest the virus has been circulating at higher levels since the start of November. ... Dr Fei Sim, a Perth pharmacist and national president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, said pharmacies across the country were reporting an increase in vaccine appointments coming up to Christmas." (more) https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-keep-throwing-vaccines-out-i-d-rather-get-them-into-arms-20231207-p5epru.html Note: the headline in the above Sydney Morning Herald report is a reference to the fact that the prior bivalent Moderna vaccines ordered by Australia are due to expire on December 20. The Australian government has approved use of the newest monovalent COVID vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna targeting the more recent XBB.1.5 COVID variant, and those doses are expected to become available in the coming week, per the SMH.

A pair of posts with trolling and multiple unsourced/unsubstantiated claims have been removed for contravening the forum's Community Standards. "In factual areas such as news forums and current affairs topics member content that is claimed or portrayed as a fact should be supported by a link to a relevant reputable source."

A post with an unsourced and unsubstantiated claim has been removed for contravening the forum's Community Standards: "In factual areas such as news forums and current affairs topics member content that is claimed or portrayed as a fact should be supported by a link to a relevant reputable source."

Former PM Boris Johnson apologises for pain and suffering during pandemic "LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he was deeply sorry for the loss of life during the COVID-19 pandemic and accepted he had made mistakes, but struggled to say specifically what he could have done differently. Johnson said he took personal responsibility for all decisions that were made and he understood the public's anger after the inquiry heard testimony of government incompetence, backstabbing and misogyny as it battled the biggest health crisis in decades. ... Johnson, prime minister for three years between 2019 and 2022, resigned in disgrace after a series of scandals including reports that he, and other officials, had been present at alcohol-fuelled gatherings in Downing Street during 2020 and 2021 when most people in Britain were forced to stay at home. (more) https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/former-pm-boris-johnson-defend-record-conduct-uk-covid-inquiry-2023-12-06/

Boris Johnson has begun giving evidence at the COVID inquiry, to answer for the decisions made during the pandemic, when he was still prime minister. Johnson apologises - but it doesn't go down well with bereaved families "As expected, given it was trailed in the press (much to the inquiry's displeasure) the former prime minister began with an apology "for the pain and loss and suffering" caused by the pandemic. He acknowledged that "unquestionably" his government "may have made mistakes" in its handling of the crisis and said he hoped the inquiry could provide answers for victims and bereaved families. The statement was interrupted by four women, all who lost loved ones during the pandemic, holding signs saying "the dead can't hear your apologies". They were removed from the inquiry and said they didn't want his "waffle". (more) https://news.sky.com/story/key-points-so-far-as-boris-johnson-gives-evidence-to-covid-inquiry-13024055

Picked up in Thailand News as well:

A post making a factual claim without any supporting source / weblink has been removed for contravening the forum's Community Standards. "In factual areas such as news forums and current affairs topics member content that is claimed or portrayed as a fact should be supported by a link to a relevant reputable source."

A post has been removed for plagiarizing a non-credible social media blog that misrepresented the findings of a study on COVID vaccinations. Please note the following forum rule: "Topics or posts deemed to be scaremongering, deliberately misleading or which deliberately distort information will be removed." https://aseannow.com/forum_rules/

A lot of recent bickering, baiting, flaming and general off-topic posts have been removed here. For a couple of the more agitated posters here, I think it's time to take a break and cool down, and try to regain some composure.