BKKBike09

I love the irony of saying on the one hand "force people to wear masks" (disclosure: I DETEST them) and then on the other, raising "the authoritarian, legal and ethical implications" of vaccine mandates. I know, I know ... masks aren't the same as something injected into you and all that, but it's still the same authoritarian tendency "for your own good and that of people around you". I'm sure I could find reams of stats about how effective masks are (or, conversely, about how ineffectual they are), but I for one am fed up with all this. It's obvious that, for the vast majority, Covid is not the threat it was a year ago and there are many more medical options for prevention and treatment. As for the minority - sorry, but time to suck it up and keep on boosting / masking / distancing for as long as you feel you need, but spare everyone else the misery. Enough of the glass half empty, guys! I'm off for a run - without a mask.

One could argue a more accurate statement would be "people at greater risk of serious illness if they catch Covid NEED that third booster shot in order to gain the best available protection against Omicron". As for the thread topic: "Are we just going to have to live with unvaccinated people across Thailand?" - they should be hunted down and forcibly vaccinated in front of jeering crowds (the crowds of course socially distanced and all participants double masked and triple or, even better, quadruple jabbed).

Thought it might have been a transformer fire (oil cooled ones brew up nicely) but no, looks like just plain old wiring. Mind you, as StreetView shows, there was plenty of it!

Was just there this weekend (first visit in three years). Didn't go bar-crawling but did drive around that area and Soi 80 out of curiosity. Some bars open in both but many shuttered. All rather depressing. Even worse looking in daylight.

I also had a PCX for nearly 10 years and just changed it last month for an ADV. I only use it to run around town. PCX was rock solid. Twist and go. Change oil and tires from time to time. That was it. I prefer styling of ADV and I think it's slightly more comfortable ergonomically than PCX (I'm over 6'). It feels slightly less powerful than PCX but hey, they're both heavy scooters. The ADV is 149 cc and original PCX was 153 cc, or something like that. Space under the seat is pretty similar. I don't care for the all electronic display and the keyless ignition system is way more complicated than it should be. I'd rather have analogue dials and a key any day but those days are long gone. Is my ADV going to serve me trouble free for 10 years? Have to wait and see.

"For a while, she and her network was able to extract patients with residence in Thailand from the grip of the hospitals “who only follow the rules” and transfer them to self isolation in their homes or to public hospitals, but this loophole was recently plugged." From the article: don't like the sound of the 'self isolation' at home "loophole" now being off the table. The Day 1 / Day 5 hotel+test requirement is fine for tourists who generally need to stay in a hotel anyway but lunacy for anyone with a permanent address here. It also applies to Thai Nationals so we can't say it's a 'foreigner only' problem. Also, what happens if you have family/friends come to visit and they stay with you other than Day 1 / Day 5, and one of them tests positive on Day 5 ... how far does the 'close contact' net get spread (no need to answer, it's a rhetorical question).

How is the virus "winning" against those who are at extremely low risk of serious illness or death (e.g. because of age, physical health, previous Covid infection)?

Who cares what was the case nearly a year ago? Being vaccinated is of course a good idea for various at risk groups but the title of this thread is misleading because it implies it reflects the current situation. It does not. This shows what has happened since the study from May 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7104e2.htm

Theoretically could you book only first night/test "because you're only in Thailand 4 days briefly visiting friends" (and get a ticket showing departure after 4 days, albeit a ticket that can be changed) ... although, of course, your plans then changed because you were having so much fun and you decided to stay longer. I bet there's no way of booking a Day 5 package after arrival. I also doubt there'd be any way that you'd be picked up on this when leaving a month later. Not advising this - just curious if it would work because I see the good folk at CCSA have said that people visiting for less than 5 nights don't need to book Night 5 etc ... Personally I think this Day 5 requirement is farcical, but what do I know.

It's important that owners of fierce dogs provide appropriate warning signs, specifically signs that include pictures of the dogs in question so potential miscreants know they should be afraid. Very afraid.

Dogs, cats, people - all much the same. Nice as pie for years and then they suddenly snap, for no obvious reason. Not for nothing that in Thailand they have a saying "สัตว์หน้าขนไว้ใจไม่ได้" ["sat na khon wai jai mai dai - 'animals with furry faces can't be trusted', which also applies to monkeys]. Always makes me nervous seeing young kids playing with larger dogs (or adult cats) because the kids often don't have the nouse to know what might upset the animal in question. Or maybe it is feeling off colour / has an unseen injury and so just wants to be left alone.

It's been nearly a year since the coup and several years since the Rohingya persecution got really bad so, given how long both Total and Chevron have been operating in Yadana, it's taken them a while to develop a conscience. Chevron and many other oil majors are pulling out of many SE Asian production fields largely because a) many of the fields are heavily depleted and nearing end of life and b) fossil fuels are becoming a liability. I don't think "ethics" has much to do with it. Just bottom line.

Thanks. The SB guy who did the letter for me also said that Bang Khun Thian DO requires SB to verify the docs. Much easier to get to SB from Wattana than Bang Khun Thian!

I can't see it would be a problem. They ask for your full name when taking the ID photo: the official who takes the pic then enters your name and thumb prints (scanned electronically) into the computer system and prints out a form with English / Thai names on it that you sign, said form then taken to another desk at which point the official there takes your old ID card - in my case my pink card - and sends you off to the ID card printing desk.

Picked up my ID yesterday from Wattana DO. In at 0900 and out at 1030. The process involved: House Registration desk (application to change my nationality in my current Blue Book) > ID Card desk > ID Card Photo Desk > ID Card Photo verification desk > House Registration desk to change nationality and issue a new book because I said I'd rather have a new book than one with crossings out etc etc Would have been a bit quicker but first time around they spelt my middle name in English wrong and I didn't notice till I got back to the House Registration desk ... so back to the Photo Desk for a new photo and a new ID card. All very helpful and friendly and, best of all, all free, even issuing a replacement Household Registration. Of course, it took three weeks of bureaucracy to get to this stage: Day 1 - go to Wattana and check with them what docs etc needed to get ID, as I was going to pick up said docs that day from SB. Given a list of 13 items. Day 2 - go back to Wattana with all the docs on the list: asked if I had made copies; I said no, because they didn't ask for copies and only 1 item on the list specified original + copy (house sale and purchase contract - but only required if the Household Registration you use doesn't have a recorded Owner 'jao baan'). Also told I will need to schedule an interview for the House Reg application and that Wattana will also need to write to SB to have SB confirm that all the docs they issue are genuine. Asked if I wanted to collect and deliver said letter myself or have it sent by post ... Day 3 - back to Wattana to get the letter for SB. Went to SB who were very helpful and typed up a letter while I waited. Could have gone back to Wattana same day but couldn't be ar**d. Day 4 - back to Wattana with SB letter and all docs. They told me which ones to copy etc. Copied them at a copy station next door. Told to wait for phone call to make interview appointment. They called a day or two later and interview date set for two weeks later on 21 Jan. Then got a call to ask if I could do 19 Jan (thankfully an easier day for me and my missus). Wed 19 Jan - Interview by House Registration officer to process application to amend entry in House Reg and then get ID. Routine if redundant questions. Asked about vaccination status (dates of shots / type of vax!). Tempted to say 'none of your business' but ultimately who cares. Had to bring two witnesses - one of them my wife. The other was one of my employees. Mon 24 - Wattana called to say DO Chief had signed docs. Could I come today? I said I was busy and we fixed up for Wed 26. Wed 26 - As per above. I only brought 1 witness (my employee) because my wife wasn't free (working on a film set upcountry). We knew she wouldn't be free after 22 Jan for 2 weeks when we went for the interview and told the officials then. They said it was no problem if my wife signed some power of attorney forms in advance and I used those as required, which I did. So, all done in 3 years 9 months!

Of course, the rigorous actions taken against vaxxed and testd foreign visitors arriving by air are somewhat offset by the thousands of illegal workers crossing land borders every month, untested, untraced, and off to work in crowded conditions in factories and sleep in crowded worker dormitories.

You need to qualify this statement by noting that it also depends at what stage of the pandemic a particular country finds itself. The UK, for instance, still has very high levels of infection, by any measure, but has opened up (to a greater or lesser extent) and is now showing better economic growth than most of the rest of Europe. There comes a point when the raw level of infections is no longer a metric about which to worry, whether because of level of vaccination, mildness of prevalent strain, natural levels of immunity or whatever.

Actually that study says nothing really about the unvaccinated and long Covid. In fact, the researchers go to some lengths to state that it's not clear whether vaccination status has any relevance to the risk of contracting long Covid: Dr David Darley from St Vincent’s Hospital, who is also a lead author on the paper, says there is no data as to whether different variants like Omicron cause the same changes, or what role vaccination may play in reducing the risk of developing long COVID. “From some early international data, we are very hopeful that with a milder variant and with high vaccination rates we may see less long COVID, but we will need further immunological data before we can say this for certain. “We are currently looking at some data from the Delta wave to understand whether vaccination may reduce the possibility of long COVID.”

I heard there was an incident at a condo in the soi. Thai family. Domestic mental health issue of some sort. Son had a gun; father tried to take it off him and got shot. Son apparently then hunkered down in the condo. Father apparently in hospital.

It was in the 'other newspaper' this morning. "The cabinet on Tuesday approved new ministerial regulations requiring Thai citizenship seekers to pass a Thai language test, with fees for citizenship applications going up by twofold, deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said."

Yeah, I got the "there are so many foreigners applying for Thai nationality in Wattana" spiel as well. But on the 4 consecutive days I went there the Registration section had no more than a handful of people waiting at any one time.

My khet (Wattana) insist on a copy of the MOI letter sent to the individual applicant - NOT the letter sent by MOI to SB advising that 'X' has been approved for Thai nationality, a copy of which you get given by SB. Luckily I did receive said letter although it's literally just a pre-paid postage item folded and stapled, not even in an envelope and certainly not registered / EMS delivery. Incidentally, the letter says that the process at the khet has to be completed within 60 days of getting Thai nationality, which it specifies as the date of publication in the RG. Of course the letter was dated a month after RG publication and didn't arrive at my address for another 2 weeks ... Once I've completed all the steps at Wattana I'll post more fully but for now let's just say it's by no means "in an out in a day".

Herewith further examples of all that awaits the reopened world, building on never before seen images as previously unveiled in: https://aseannow.com/topic/1245947-our-world-in-pictures-1-tasty-treats https://aseannow.com/topic/1246198-our-world-in-pictures-2-safety-first 1. It's a big shout out to all Liverpool fans in the construction industry. 2. Courier services have boomed during lockdown. But I wouldn't want to upset these guys. 3. Still, at least they can spell. I mean, come on guys, you spend millions on a BTS campaign and yet still this 'srips' by. 4. Sometimes, though, you almost wish it was incomprehensible. "Darling, guess what I've got you for Valentine's ..." 5. And pity the poor pooch sent in to this doggy spa. "The usual shampoo oh, and give his glands a go too". 6. Strangely, anal gland cleaning was one of the only activities that didn't feature on this promotional poster for the teen movie "The To Do List" at SFX Emporium some years back. 7. Nothing like gratuitous copulation in a pictorial guide to the wonders of your land. As well as a cock pic. 8. Mind you, perhaps the introduction to the guide should have been a clue as to the likely contents. 9. Finally, if anyone has ever made it to Bears Town ski resort outside Seoul, let me know. I'm still trying to work out the instructions, which were a bit 'suttle' for my liking. Perhaps I shouldn't have spent so much trying to "get it off in the middle" beforehand. Remember, keep that camera close at hand!

Glad it brought you some amusement. Some of the food-related pics I've collected over the years are also quite amusing.

Hot on the heels (or should that be "bottom legs burn") of 'Our World in Pictures #1: Tasty Treats' (https://aseannow.com/topic/1245947-our-world-in-pictures-1-tasty-treats), with lockdown and the pleasures of home confinement potentially soon to be but distant memories, it's still important not to let that guard down. Safety first, children! 1. Don't let the artwork fool you. These hounds are savage! 2. I was all for buying this electric scooter until I realised what was required to slow down. 3. Reading further, I discovered, too, that, potentially, Covid and other ailments might also preclude use. That said, the last time I remember leaking out any, ahem, 'material', was after a pub crawl in Southend. 4. I'm not a big fan of zoos, and I guess the inmates would also rather be elsewhere. So gold star to this zoo in Laos (hopefully now shut - it was a woeful place) for best use of the words "unpredictable sharply biting" in a sentence. Reminds me of an ex, but that's another story. 5. "Mind The Gap" as they used to say on certain Tube stations. Not so sure about this "gap" in Taiwan. 6. One of my favourite destinations is Nepal. Domestic flights can often encounter turbulence so, in a case of a picture being worth a thousand words ... 7. Sometimes instructions are best kept simple. 8. While on other occasions, compliance can be, well, challenging. 9. Finally, this has nothing to do with safety. I think. Signing off until the next time ...