rickthompson

2 hours ago, rupert the bear said:

i have read some of the comments and theyve bewildered me.these people are on holidays or staying here just like  most other readers,they are the same as us.they do not make foreign policy or move chequers on the map,western banks have screwed them and said sanctions were supposed to be directed at the top not the ordinary person in the street and as for the rest of this verbal garbage what of blair and bush and their weapons of mass destruction?napalmed kids in the countries next door,libya and syria beirut and kabul where USA stole half of a starving populations money and left with a targeted rocket attack that killed a bus full of children.democracy ?what was manning and assanges mistake?telling the truth and exposing USA war crimes-look what happened to them.as our lord said he who has not sinned may cast the 1st stone.of course theres iraq and that illegal war so what of that and the responsibility of all you westerners from the countries that played a part in that then?your all guilty just like these people who have great problems not of their own making,shame on you,fools and racists,obviously basic concepts of humanity and understanding are far from your grasp.uncle sams old logic of  'surround everyone with everything weve got and let em have it' is also your mantra of the day

Exactly right! As a US citizen, I find it despicable that we have learned nothing from the xenophobic behavior we exhibited during World War 2 when we put Japanese Americans into camps because they were 'Japanese'. Targeting all Russians, most of whom likely wouldn't support Putin's policies if they were told the truth, is no different.  It is a slippery slope that we should not embark on lest we end up sliding down ourselves.

3 hours ago, Swampy999 said:

Plenty of red and white zebras after being attacked by a lion.

The ZEBRA crossing was first introduced in the UK in 1951 then at a later date the stupid Americans adopted the idea but used the wrong colour paint and the Thailand followed suit ????????

True on name and date, but the color was initially black and white according to the UK National Archives, quote "By 1951 the black and white stripes, with Belisha beacons on either side of the road, were approved as 'Zebra' crossings; the first officially installed in Slough."

9 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Last year at the immigration I go to, I completely forgot about my 90 day report, and ended up going a day  after the grace period.

I knew I was late, and the officer spotted it and said "you late, 2,000 baht fine". I knew he was right to fine me, so I asked if he would give me a receipt. and his reply was "no receipt, only 1,000 baht !" .

I took out my wallet, looked inside it and said "I only have 500 baht, he whispered "OK", accepted it, and slipped it into his pocket discreetly !

I think most officers are corrupt if they think they can obtain money and not get caught. 

Had exactly the same thing happen at my local office. Officer checking us in downstairs told my wife we could pay 1000 baht there with no receipt, or go upstairs to the officer and pay the full 2000 baht fine with receipt.  We chose the latter as I refuse to support the corruption.

This is apparently it.

On 12/3/2021 at 11:17 AM, AhFarangJa said:

I just tried to register, filled all the boxes along with the captcha letters. Then was taken to a page to type my e mail address and add a password. When I entered a password it told me invalid information. Do I need to wait for an e mail from them?

I got the same thing when I tried.  Waited an entire day but no confirmation or password. I suspect if you get this message, it hasn't gone through to the system for some reason. No idea why as my email is valid.

5 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

I have never seen a checkout option with WISE listed

 

And you likely won't. It's not Wise's business model, at least currently.

On 11/8/2021 at 8:06 AM, Pravda said:

Absolutely not true. 

 

Back surgery in a cheap hospital. 500,000 baht.

 

Head excision - over 1 million baht.

 

These are the prices my ex wife's father paid despite being a retired school director meaning he had government insurance.

 

 

Exactly right. While public hospitals are a lot cheaper than private, still expensive. I had a pacemaker installed a year ago at public hospital. Relatively minor operation as those go, but still cost was 140,000 baht. Not cheap, but better than private hospital. Same operation at BNH was quoted at 560,000 baht. And that was being done by the exact same surgeon, who works at both hospitals. Pays to look at public for major operations, but still not smart to forego insurance.

3 hours ago, Chad3000 said:

Unpaid medical is a total red herring to be polite. We all know this. Most hospitals will literally escort you to ATM before discharge. No joke.

Especially the private hospitals.  Why do you think they always have a person come to escort you to the cashier.  No slipping away then... ????

23 hours ago, Henryford said:

Can anyone reference for me the scientific papers where they have tested the effect of mixing different vaccines?

Currently no major medical organizations recommend this as a regular practice. Websites for WHO, EMA, NHS and the FDA all recommend it in a "trial setting" only until further research confirms that it is safe and effective.  Many studies are currently being done, but have not heard of any large peer-reviewed ones that have been completed.

20 hours ago, cclub75 said:

Me too.

 

As i wrote before : look at "serious conditions" and "ventilators" patients....

Since end of june (so almost 2 months), the daily increase in % has decelerated, constantly... and now (since a few days) is in negative territory.

 

forget "cases" stats". We all know it's BS.

 

So from the hospitals point of view (real ones, not "hospitels" BS)... the wave is clearly GOING DOWN.

 

It doesn't mean it can't go up again. But the evolution is looking good.

And that seems to be Delta variant's pattern in other countries. Quick rise in infections but overall infection fatality rate is much lower. Fast spread leads to more natural immunity and starts to reduce cases dramatically. 

12 hours ago, beachbuggy said:

Anyone seen the data proving this please

There is no data. Thailand is the first country trying this combination according to the article. How much testing could possibly have been done? More false bravado...

36 minutes ago, heybruce said:

In the provinces where most of the people live people struggle to get on a waiting list for a vaccination, while in the capitol city of Bangkok 50% of the population is inoculated.  In what other country would that be considered acceptable?

It just depends on which province you live in.  If you're in a stronghold for the government coalition, you get booster shots before most of the population has any shot...whether you believe the official explanation is another story.   https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2155083/buri-ram-police-defend-booster-shots-for-officers

3 hours ago, Thomas J said:

This can't be.  Thailand was "the model" for the rest of the world according to WHO

 

That was then. This is now.

https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/thailand-ranked-3rd-to-last-worldwide-on-covid-19-handling

18 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

 

I also found that there may be problems traveling to the US if vaccinated with the AZ vaccine as it has not been approved there

Actually, the CDC's Guidance on travel requirements to the US do allow AZ as it is approved by the WHO.  From the CDC guidance on international travel:

"* This guidance applies to COVID-19 vaccines currently authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson (J&J)/Janssen COVID-19 vaccines. This guidance can also be applied to COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization (e.g. AstraZeneca/Oxford). See WHO’s websiteexternal icon for more information about WHO-authorized COVID-19 vaccines."

14 hours ago, riclag said:

Ah yes ,the sinovaccians will surely being looking over their shoulders , with a false sense of security ,so to speak because of the spread of the variant  and its poor performance that's been repeatedly reported

I know I would !

We have a friend who is a big supporter of the government's procurement of Sinovac... she has had 2 shots of Sinovac already, but recently, she is looking to see if she can get a booster...  of Sinovac...  looking over their shoulders is right on.

11 hours ago, EricTh said:

Many people still don't understand that being fully vaccinated doesn't mean you won't get infected again.

 

You can still get infected but the symptoms will be less serious as your body already encountered the virus before.

Exactly.  No vaccine is 100% effective, ever.  That's why they have an efficacy percentage.

13 hours ago, asiacurious said:

There is a BIG difference between saying 95% of people developing an immune response and saying what the headline says, "Two doses of Sinovac can stop spread of COVID-19".  The latter simply isn't supported by ANY evidence, including the "evidence" in this so-called study.

 

The article starts with this (hopefully true) great news...

 

 

And then falls off the rails as the sentence continues...

 

 

No, no, no, no, no.   An immune response on a petri dish does NOT mean a vaccinated person can't still catch the virus and transmit it to others!

 

The sentence concludes by attributing the claim...

 

 

Well, we don't have a link to any data. 

 

Well, there are no links to the study's findings and no links to any data.  We don't know how or what they actually tested.  We don't know anything about the study except for what the author of this piece wrote.  And the article doesn't even have an author named, so there's no way to find out if the author even has a basic understanding of the science.

 

Basically the article is worthless, though the study may not be.  We just don't know what the study actually says.

 

If anyone finds a link to it, I hope you'll post it here.  

Not to mention that recent studies in the Seychelles, Mongolia, Bahrain and Chile all show some indication that Sinovac is not very effective at stopping transmission and some people getting two jabs are still getting Covid-19, albeit mild cases.  In response to this, the Chinese themselves state that Sinovac is designed to stop serious disease and hospitalization, not to necessarily stop transmission of the virus.  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/how-countries-are-struggling-with-chinese-vaccines/articleshow/83769994.cms

Idiotic and potentially harmful.   https://blog.werobotics.org/2020/04/09/drones-coronavirus-no-sense/

"It appears there is little to no evidence that outdoor spraying of disinfectants or other substances (by hand or by drone) has any impact on reducing the transmission of the novel coronavirus. On the contrary, this fumigation could create public health problems and add to environmental pollution. As The Lancet Journal on Infectious Diseases clearly noted on March 5, 2020, “air disinfection of cities and communities is not known to be effective for disease control and needs to be stopped. The widespread practice of spraying disinfectant and alcohol in the sky, on roads, vehicles, and personnel has no value; moreover, large quantities of alcohol and disinfectant are potentially harmful to humans and should be avoided.”

On 4/29/2021 at 10:14 AM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Course Changed! Government says private sector has no need to order vaccines

 

Thailand’s government, through the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said late Wednesday that the private sector and hospital groups have no need to order vaccines on their own as the government would be able to provide for all vaccine needs.

 

The government clarified this on Thursday. The statement from the Thai Chamber of Commerce is only meant to refer to private business procuring their own vaccines.  Private hospitals are still being encouraged to procure their own vaccines to supplement the government's efforts.