Chelseafan

On 12/1/2021 at 2:21 PM, RichardColeman said:

So as far as we know, nobody has died of this variant as yet - seems even the 61 on the plane to europe were so mild they did not know they had it - but we are shutting borders, stopping flights, closing businesses structures, imposing masks, adding more travel tests. etc.

 

It's nuts.

 

Way it's going someone will sneeze soon and the stock markets will fall 5%

I agree but the (UK) Government have to be seen doing something. With limited data at the moment, I think the decision of reintroducing masks is a prudent one. What if Omicron turns out to be more deadly and the Government did nothing.

There has to be a sensible balance until we have all the facts.

On 12/1/2021 at 11:56 AM, dinsdale said:

I said before this may be a good thing. Delta became dominant over Beta and Beta has disappeared. Omicron (which should have been named Xi) becomes dominant aver Delta and hopefully Delta dissapears. Again hopefully Xi Omicron is mild and this thing might fizzle out. Of course Omicron might mutate later into a more deadly strain albeit less transmissable. Let's hope for the former.

Given there's only 24 letters in the Greek alphabet, we only have 19 variants to go and then we're done with Covid ????

4 hours ago, pagallim said:

One week ago, I transferred 2K sterling from my UK account (HSBC) via Wise to my Thai (SCB) account.   I always use the debit card method.   Only difference this time was I needed to log onto my HSBC account to verify the transaction.   That done, transfer took the usual seconds before SCB receipt confirmation.   

That's just UK security checks, get these all the time now when buying online, even had one for a £10.99 transaction ...

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Roughly over £1,000 can trigger extra checks at the UK bank, if so it's delayed not stopped. That's even to Wise which is UK

Yeah, I'm aware of the checks but not the limit amounts. I'll send some money over 50k and see what Wise says.

2 hours ago, eyup said:

The problem could be paying by credit or debit card I transfer funds to Wise bank account direct from my UK bank account . Never an issue doing that.

 

Me neither.

I've heard a few friends are being limited to transfer limits of 49,999.99 baht per transaction when sending money to Thailand due to new anti-fraud regulations.

Does anyone know if this is true ?

6 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

I can't really argue with what you say, I've lived in Pattaya for 10 years and visited here for many years prior to retiring, the place could do with a coat of paint and a tidy up no argument there, but I can get the food I like, the locals ( most of them ) speak reasonable English, and loads of other things I can't be bothered to list.

 

It suits me, I haven't been to a girly bar in donkeys yonks, why bother ? I have a lovely lady at home, we've been together for over 10 years, I'm happy, relaxed & enjoying life with her, nothing wrong with that. ????????

I drink in the same bar in Soi Honey while I am in Pattaya. Mrs Chelseafan is a good friend of the bar owner so she gets to natter while I watch the world go by. I like the fact that each night can be totally random, some nights are quiet, others are manic but most of all, I enjoy people watching,

I've met some good friends over the years (I've also met some idiots). Having said all that, my days of spending all my vaction time bar hopping in Pattya are long gone and what I enjoy even more is spending time with her family in the jungles of Korat. Probably a sign I'm getting old ????

I used to dream of living on the dark side but now I want the peace and quiet which is why we're building our house far far away from the maddening crowd.

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I don't agree at all.

Penang has a special culture, cuisine, and lots of heritage architecture.

There is a there there for the kind of tourism that they attract.

Pattaya can't compete with a place like Penang on those levels.

I don't think it's bad for the powers that be to try to create new draws not related to the "entertainment" industry. I doubt they'll ever be serious about killing that entirely and no reason that they should be either.

If I wanted Culture, cuisine and heritgae in Thailand, I'd head to Chiang Mai or Bangkok with there numerous Wats, street food markets and long history. Pattaya offers none of that which is why its pretty unique. Kill Pattaya and you kill a lot of tourism. Love it or hate it, its a magnetic draw for all types.

We'll agree to disagree on this one.

3 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

Canada?

He was being sarcastic about Thailand I think ????

But on that note Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Turkey and USA also have monopolies

I think the

17 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

Government's vision of Pattaya is very different from yours. Their vision of what kind of visitors they want in the country as well. Take a trip to Penang, an open area of otherwise Muslim country and take a look at the quality of tourists there, then compare that to who visits Thailand... Pretty obvious to see why they'd like to change that.

 

COVID is an excellent opportunity to reset. Hope they succeed.

I hope they don't.

Pattaya is a golden goose for the the pseudo-puritans in power and while they appreciate its worth they see it as a blight on their landscape. There are thousands of place like Penang but very few in the world like Pattaya.

On 11/19/2021 at 6:15 PM, SidJames said:

Can anyone explain why Gibraltar is threatening to lock down & it has the highest vaccination percentage on the planet?

Also may I bring up the subject of attacks on unvaxxed people filling up ICU beds & ask if we know how many beds are filled with smokers?

I don't hear any government or political party in the world saying that they will ban smokers from working or going to social events & yet smoking is a real choice whereas catching a virus is not for the most part.

Will that only happen when the tax revenues from tobacco  don't meet the costs to health care?

Some countries are saying that they will make these vaccinations compulsory next year so will they also ban smoking?

Disclaimer: I'm double jabbed & used to chain smoke until I gave up 20 years ago.

I am a smoker but would be happy if it was banned, sadly though it raises nearly 5% of total tax receipts for the UK and no Government is going to be that courageous .

It costs the NHS £2.5b a year to treat smokers but is offset by £9b from taxation on ciggarettes - obviously these figures do not include indirect costs such as loss of producitivty

Alcohol is a bigger burden on the NHS than smoking at £3.5b a year - Let's ban that too...

On 11/19/2021 at 1:20 PM, GrandPapillon said:

absolutely crazy, let's hope the other EU leaders don't follow that path

Lets hope they do though how they implement it is beyond me. Random checks? Sounds a tad facist to me.

On 11/18/2021 at 4:02 AM, JonnyF said:

Good to see that someone finally gets it. Better late than never. 

 

Let's hope this insight catches on.

If only it would be so but the sad reality is that his comments will get no serious airtime on mainstream Thai media and even if TV did broadcast his statement, the government will do all they can to belittle him or even damage his reputation.

On 11/18/2021 at 3:27 AM, Karma80 said:

Give that man a prize. I feel sad for anyone genuinely sucked into coming here for a short visit. You need to be very very motivated.

Or married????

On 11/18/2021 at 3:21 AM, Zark Muckerberg said:

Smart guy this Thanet!

Absolutely - He'll be gone soon.

8 minutes ago, Petey11 said:

Fuel prices are rising over the whole world. Government stepping in to artificially keep price low will only delay the inevitable in my opinion. Also reminiscent of old Soviet block era where price is controlled. If the price starts to drop will they keep it artificially higher to recoup the money they have spent pegging it at 30bht?

Didn't someone try to control the price of rice a few years ago....Just saying...

1 hour ago, LukKrueng said:

Why do you have to go back to the airport? The big rental companies usually deliver to you if within their travel limit (around 30 km) and even if they don't, they'd have a city branch where you can get the car

Tried that before, they arrived 2 hours late. As with most things in Thailand, I find its just better to do it yourself rather than rely on other peoples tardiness. Also my hotel is only a few miles from the airport.

On 11/12/2021 at 8:26 AM, Darksidedude said:

waste of time and money fighting this as Thailand has no rules build stuff anywhere you want

That's not true, it's just the rules are generally ignored until it suits someone