BKKBike09

3 hours if from Helsinki.

If you can claim to be a UK resident (registered with a UK GP) then you can buy from a broker like South Downs. High level of coverage and cheap by comparison to the policies offered for visitors from here. That said, insurance companies will take your money happily if you say you are eligible etc so if you have no intention of claiming and just want something to wave at officials here then it doesn't matter. I bought a policy in the summer for one of my kids coming over from UK simply to meet the COE requirements and IIRC it was about £80 for an AXA policy from South Downs valid for 2 months. Plus it covered Covid and didn't have one of those tricky 'no claims accepted within 14 days of arriving in Thailand' which some of the policies here slip in.

Too right. Plus 72K for business return is an absolute steal. You lucked out. I'm going to UK for much of November; booked Qatar last week and am paying 56K for outward business and return economy. Business both ways was over 100K. Last time I came back on Qatar eco I was offered an upgrade for DOH-BKK for £240 which I took. Maybe that will be the case this time but if not, Qatar eco is pretty good and certainly way better than TG. Benefit of flying via Middle East is that it means wide-body twin-aisle jets on every flight. If you go via Frankfurt or Helsinki etc, it's wide-body to Europe and then jammed into a narrow body B737 or A320 for the flight to UK.

Does 'family friendly' still include dildos and fake Viagra on sale next to the T-shirts and wooden elephants?

Yeah, watches are 5% import duty and 7% VAT. If you hand carry and declare and they accept the declared value, no problem. But I was talking about sending from HK. Then it's 5% on CIF. I wouldn't want to risk a 5000 USD watch or whatever to a courier service un-insured. Plus if you're leaving all the clearance work to the courier, and Customs assess a ridiculous value, then they've got you over a barrel because they have your watch. Sure you may be able to talk sense into them, but who wants the hassle?

There's one in Onnuj just past Soi 21 and the Makro on LHS if you're heading towards Pattanakarn. Just drive in. They'll do the check and also will do your tax renewal for you if you want (for a small fee). Plus they can do the compulsory Third Party insurance if you don't have that; need it for the tax renewal. I forget the cost for the inspection but it's 100s not 1,000s.

Also don't forget the double standard of not requiring Thai nationals to take a PCR test before flight back to Thailand. As reported today in the newspaper that shall not be named: "The country logged one of the highest numbers of imported cases from one country in recent weeks -- 54 Thai workers returning from Sweden. They arrived in Thailand on Wednesday and their tests on the same day were positive although all the workers were asymptomatic." Bad luck for any non-Thai passenger sandwiched between all those dudes on a 12-hour flight.

The rules are pretty pointless when for every PCR-tested, doubled jabbed international air arrival, there are 100s of illegal, untested, un-vaccinated border crossers coming in from Malaysia, Myanmar, China, Laos and Cambodia. Those flood gates have been open throughout ...

Veera at top of Sukhumvit Soi 71 just before bridge over the klong / Klong Tan intersection has excellent range of tools but is not the cheapest. There are several other shops in the same immediate vicinity - http://www.veerasiamhardware.com

Appreciate the sentiment but I haven't had Covid, dengue and amoebic dysentery in the same month - I said "over the years". After first bout of dengue (when I was working in Laos) I was laid low for about a month with post-viral malaise (sound familiar ... Covid's not the only viral illness than can impact for months). Second bout (caught at home in Bangkok) was hospitalised because of falling platelet count although ironically the pain and fever was much better by the time I was admitted. Amoebic dysentery came from water during a Japanese Death March-like trekking 'experience' (5 days of solid rain, nothing to eat apart from food we carried with us, chased at one point by an extremely unhappy elephant, fun times ...). My enduring memory of amoebic dysentery is that I had 54 bowel movements in 4 days in the hospital: I had to record each visit to the dunny in order for the docs to see whether the medication was working. Plus I lost 15 kg. Since we were trekking 3 hours walk from the nearest road I was very lucky I didn't get ill till the day we got back.

I said I thought I got it from a friend during dinner (in a BKK restaurant) if only because timeline fitted (first symptoms 4 days after that dinner, that friend had similar symptoms starting a day or two after the dinner although has always tested negative, and people are most infectious it seems a couple of days before symptoms start and a couple of days after). But maybe I got it from someone else like my wife, if she was an asymptomatic carrier etc. I think unlikely because she is paranoid about covid to extent of wearing a mask in the car when on her own ... She tested negative twice with rapid kits and has never shown any symptoms. Can't say she was never infected because rapid test kits are not very good at picking up asymptomatic cases.

They only get it a little, and the infection period is shorter than normal. It's strange they get it at all, though, given the amount of time they spend outside.

Thanks. Perhaps it did save my life. Or perhaps the mild illness I had was as sick as I would have been if unvaccinated. Probably that is unlikely but we'll never know. At least 4 friends of my age had Covid in UK last year before they were vaxxed; none went to hospital. Over the years I've had 5 days hospitalised with amoebic dysentry (not fun), and a similar period with dengue (also not fun; second time I've had that) I've never seen Covid as being something terrifying. I'm not fat, don't smoke, don't have any underlying illnesses etc. Living in the tropics there are all manner of diseases that can make life very miserable or worse. True, in Thailand for the moment. But 'compliance with the law' is often a flexible concept in Thailand, which is one of the pleasures - and sometimes frustrations - of living here.

So that will be for another 3 years or so. If that's how you wish to live, that is your prerogative. But not for me.

One was UK NHS free test (brought some back) and one was bought locally. They're both made in China but I didn't look to see if made by same company. Did another LFT after 10 days from 1st symptoms. Negative. That's good enough for me. NHS / CDC /WHO guidance all says that 10 days after 1st symptoms you're no longer infectious IF no ongoing fever / no new symptoms etc. Your choice, of course. But for me the whole point of getting vaccinated is to ditch masks and social distancing. Sure there's a risk of catching Covid but I was happy to take that risk and still am. Partly. but more the comment below from Denim: last thing I wanted was to be put in a 'hospitel' for 14 days. Tenants in house of mine thought they had Covid: next thing they knew ambulance with guys in space suits turned up and carted them all off to an expensive private hospital. They all tested positive (mum, dad, two young kids) but weren't ever very sick. The mooban management were on the phone to us in 30 minutes demanding to know their timeline etc etc. I told them I had no idea and to ask the tenants. People are so conditioned to be fearful of this disease that yes, I didn't want to panic my neighbours. Exactly why keeping shtum if you're not very sick is an attractive idea. Out of interest, why is he 'an idiot'? For wanting to have a life? As you say, in most cases symptoms are minor - especially in that age group - so why not live a bit?

I'm mid 50s, double vaxxed with AZ (1st dose in UK in April, 2nd in Thailand in early July). I felt a little off colour a couple of weeks back. Thought it was a head cold (main symptoms: runny/blocked nose, sore sinuses). No cough or fever. Did a rapid test two days later: negative. Did another one (from a different manufacturer) the next day: positive. Did another rapid test 3 days after that: also positive. Symptoms didn't get any worse but my sense of taste changed considerably after about 4-5 days and was off for about the same length of time. Taste came back but then realised sense of smell had basically disappeared. That came back a few days ago. I didn't do a PCR test because it would have meant going to a hospital when I was almost certainly infectious and then, of course, there's all the palaver that follows a positive PCR test. The wife was on my case to ring the MOPH Help Line to get official support for home isolation. I resisted that vigorously because I just wasn't very ill. I meet the criteria for home isolation (under 60, no underlying conditions, able to keep distance from other family members) but I didn't want to take the chance of guys in spacesuits turning up at my house and panicking all the neighbours. Instead I checked temp, BP, O2 sat four times a day for 5 days after the first positive rapid test. Wife insisted I take that herbal medicine (Fa Talai Jone) which I did to make her happy. I also said that if any symptoms worsened significantly - especially O2 sats - I would ring the help line or go and see a doctor. Took about 10 days or so for the symptoms to go and to feel fully energetic again. That said, I didn't feel very unwell at any point. I think I picked it up from another (double vaxxed) friend at a dinner 5 days before I first felt off-colour. He had many of the same symptoms as me starting a couple of days after that dinner and before I had any - although he subsequently tested negative three times with rapid tests. But who knows and I really don't care. I want a life that includes meeting friends and eating out. I hate wearing masks and I consider the primary purpose of vaccination is to reduce an individual's chance of getting seriously ill or dying. Which it appears to have done in my case - although of course it's also impossible to know whether I would have been more ill if I wasn't vaxxed / fully vaxxed. As for my double-vaxxed missus, despite sharing a bed, sharing food, sharing a car right up until I tested positive ... no symptoms and consistent negative rapid tests. Possibly because her 2nd shot was about 3 weeks before I tested positive, so she was at peak immunity? Who knows. So, anyone else in the DVBCC [Double Vaxxed But Caught Covid] club?

If they're small parts these guys might be able to help. Their focus is guns but cerakote involves sand blasting slide / frame etc.

I would not buy online unless from a seller that has an established and provable track record. Even then it's risky (there was a very good web site called TimeOfSwitzerland, which operated out of Switzerland and Hong Kong for many years; the owner however had a melt-down two years ago and subsequently died, leaving many paid-for orders in limbo). If you buy online and there's a problem, it's much harder to get any redress because the web site and/or business may not be registered in the country where you send the payment etc. There is WristCheck in HK which has been around for years, but it's not cheap. And since it's impossible to go to HK at the moment for non-residents, you'd have to have it sent, and then it would almost certainly get caught by Customs here and be subject to extortionate taxes etc. https://wristcheck.com/buy/rolex If you really want a second-hand Rolex I'd suggest you buy in UK whenever you next go back. There are a couple of places selling second-hand in Burlington Arcade in London, for instance. If you do buy a watch overseas and bring it back to Thailand, 'a friend' tells me the best thing to do is wear the watch and have the box either sent separately, or bring it over on another trip.

Is it an option to have your kid do an antibody test? If that comes back showing an antibody reaction, then that means your kid has had Covid without realising it. That would provide similar immunity to (if not better than) a vaccine. Maybe the school would accept that in lieu of vaccine. It's a hard choice for kids of that age. FWIW, the UK guidance is: Those aged under 16 The following groups of children and young people are also eligible, following previous JCVI advice: 12-15-year olds ‘at risk’ with the underlying health conditions specified below: severe neuro-disabilities, Down’s Syndrome, underlying conditions resulting in immunosuppression, and those with profound and multiple learning disabilities, severe learning disabilities or who are on the learning disability register Children aged 12 years and older without underlying medical conditions who are household contacts of individuals (adults or children) who are immunosuppressed. https://www.essexcovidvaccine.nhs.uk/coronavirus-vaccine/vaccinating-young-people-aged-16-and-17/

I've no idea either why in Thailand they call them Sparta Knives (มีดสปาต้า - 'meed Sparta', though actually 'Spata' would be more accurate because there's no ร์ in สปาต้า). One of those things like why they call a backhoe a 'Rot Makro' (รถแม็คโคร - not a 'Rot Backhoe') ... (note to self: must get out more).

In Thailand it mostly means long bladed knives like these. Not something you want your 'drinking buddy' to attack you with.

Fingers crossed. But they have Beta down in the South and that, on top of the other deficiencies, could be enough to keep Thailand on. It all (hotel quarantine) seems pretty pointless now. Pre-departure and 1 x post arrival test should be enough.

Good to see them seizing some real weapons. There've been several cases recently of big 'gun busts' but the weapons were all BB guns (some brave souls here convert them to live fire but I think they'd be more dangerous to the user than anyone else).

Well they won't be getting any Chinese tourists till well after CNY 2022 (beginning of Feb next year). China is not allowing any foreign spectators to attend the Winter Olympics in Beijing, which run 4-20 Feb, so it's reasonable to assume that the fear of imported Covid will also preclude allowing mass outbound tourism. Not that I'm missing Chinese outbound tours here in Thailand ... https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/29/beijing-olympics-to-ban-foreign-spectators-implement-covid-vaccination-protocols.html

They're good cars but it's not 400 bhp all the time. From memory something like 230 from the petrol motor and the rest from the electric. Perhaps more to the point, all Volvo cars are now electronically limited to 180 kmh "for safety" (but it's okay to have a 2-tonne car that's posted to do 0-60 in sub 5s).