totally thaied up

The CCP Virus has not affected me too much and my savings are not touched. I have saved more money from not doing coffee shops and restaurants then what I could believe. I needed a new TV, so from the savings of last month, bought one. I already have a good surround sound system and many other toys to play with. I have a stable income and nothing for me changes at all. My wife and I do not need much. I live in a old Lana House that one day in the future I will most likely knock down to build a small but well provisioned home as the location of the Land is worth a fortune and we could not afford to buy land in this area again. These are my plans for the next 10 or so years regardless of Virus or no Virus.

Life just goes on. 

I have two Shih Tzu's. Their coats are left long. They regulate temperature and my dogs do not seem to have any problem in the heat but they live inside and rarely go outside. During the heat of the afternoon, they come into the air-conditioning with me. In fact, I am rarely alone as the dogs are with me almost 24/7 due to my illness and the fact I rarely leave home. If I saw them suffering from the heat, I would cut them instantly. I get them bathed once every two weeks at the shop and kept them on Tick treatment. I only cut their feet. You must brush the coats every day to keep tangles and matting from forming. Keeping a Shih Tzu with a long coast is a lot of work and most people tend to cut the coats to ease the work load. Photos of Shih Tzu cut short and long enclosed. Good luck with what you choose. My dogs are only 7 months old and still have the puppy coat and look crazy at the moment. They are the last picture.

I have two Shih Tzu's. During the hottest part of the year, they are in a airconditioned room constantly. My Beagle suffers more from the heat then them. He will howl outside in the middle of the hottest part of the day and ask to be let in with the Shih Tzu's. He hates the heat.

36 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

But it'll likely be locusts descending again as soon as they can open the border for the Chinese.

Last year at CM airport, my wife and I were getting ready to depart to Australia. I was the only 'white guy' in my airport lounge and the rest of the area was just teaming with Chinese. I did not realize that so many Chinese were in the country till I saw the numbers that day at the airport. It will be impossible to get the tourism flowing again to those levels without the Chinese. The locals are just not in such numbers and most my Thai friends have no money. Also for me, it is cheaper to go home to travel in Australia for a break due to currency levels. Strong baht just kills it for me. If the baht was back to 27, I would be spending a lot more time travelling here and spending money.

Thailand will be gunning for the Chinese. The local tourism is not a 'spot on it' compared to China. The Thai Government in the future will be bending over to China for it's tourist but you only got to look at South Korea. The open nightlife recently produced 35 virus cases in a single day from just night clubbing. How are we going to get around that?

Long hard road ahead. Thailand may be amazing but give us some better holiday deals. I see nothing on Agoda at the moment that tweaks my fancy at a discounted price for future travel.

Just now, BobBKK said:

You can't so forget this stupidity and let people go about their business. I came here to get away from Nanny State and now Thailand is getting worse the Europe.

Yes you cannot do anything about this but I have friends who are going bust from not being able to open. If you can rush around the BTS like being in a mosh pit with 'no' social distancing, you should be able to open up most businesses that can social distance.

It is pure madness.

How can you put a stop to the BTS crush? Today was a prime example from what I saw on Richard Barrows Twitter feed. No social distancing at all as bluntly as anyone could see, it was impossible to do.

6 hours ago, overherebc said:

Any posters out there who don't actually care if tourism never comes back.

Just askin'.

I don't really care. In fact, I like it quieter now. Before in CM, it was just a rash of Chinese and black smoke bellowing buses. That has all gone away. Roads are better and once the coffee shops open up again, my life is back to normal.

It's going to take a long time to come back. What happens if we get a second or third wave of Covid over the next several months and say if it comes back hard every winter or wet season? Until we got some idea of what Covid is going to do (cure or vaccine), we are not going to see mass tourism anywhere for some time. Other Countries opening up are going to have Visa requirements as well. You need to be able to go back home easily. 

It's going to be a tough road. I cannot see a future for some time but I would say it will be the Chinese first coming back.

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Don't even drink since almost 10 years, but was so triggered by the alcohol ban I bought a few today when sales resumed. Don't suppose I'm the only plonky in Thailand that managed to abstain by relying on the fact that I could readily and easily buy it if needed. I used the same technique quitting smoking, always a pack at hand in case, and no dramas it was easy. I'm sure if they ban ciggies I will start smoking them too when available. 

 Prohibition sucks.

I am not allowed to drink due to certain medications I take. It is funny but due to prohibition, I did want to drink a beer. It was the fact my freedom was taken away from me that made me think like this and wanted to just throw it back in their face and tell them to if off.

Anyway, today I ordered a couple of Heineken 0% and will celebrate everyone right to freedom again when they arrive. 

Just now, J Town said:

Source?

Richard Barrow - Twitter

Even though I am not a drinker for medical reasons, I would be pretty <deleted> off if they took the right of my morning coffee away. It is a freedom expressed. On Twitter, there are circulating many reasons why such bans are in place and I would most likely get barred from TV if I started to write them. Also from from another well know website saying all emergency decrees to remain in place for another month. Lets see what happens.

Just now, Spellforce said:

That shows us clearly that when Thailand will reopen his borders to tourists, all will have to be tested.

Really good move for us living in Thailand and to show to the world that Thailand will be one of the 1st "free covid" country ????

Now if that was true, it seems that will be a kick in the head for Thailand because all I can see is the virus being imported to the Country when they open up the borders. A virus doesn't understand borders and will just slip in like with these detainees easily.

I rarely watch TV but I have only two favorite movies

A Beautiful Mind

Cloud Atlas

I can remember the first article I read on human to human transmission in January and I said, wow, this is going to be big. I am not political at all but I cannot understand why the WHO did not do something a long time before this. I mean, once you find out something is human to human and it is a big unknown, would you not throw all your resources at it? I mean it seems China has lied about this as they knew a lot more then what was let on. Did the WHO drop the ball?

I cannot answer this but the virus is now here to stay and questions in the future when this has settled down somewhat need to be asked how this got away so quickly. I have been watching many different TV shows from both ends of the political spectrum over the last two days and it seems there has been a smaller resurgence of the virus in China. Should we not be getting reports on this? 

In reality, just about anything I have been reading about numbers in Asia seem surreal so can anyone truthfully tell me what is really going on? We know Singapore is doing it tough but the rest of the region I cannot work out. Fluffy BS numbers or the truth. I wish I knew in a perfect world.

Just now, OneMoreFarang said:

Most of the time I have 4 shots espresso in the morning. And sometime 6 shots.

The 6 shots is probably less than 100ml. So your "half a liter" is similar to 30 shots espresso.

Two options:

- your "half a liter" was slightly incorrect

- you don't drink "good coffee" but water with coffee taste

Thank God for someone telling me that - I have two shots of espresso every morning and in the afternoon I normally have a iced Latte (very little milk with the coffee floating on top) for something cool and refreshing. I thought my coffee intake was too much.

Just now, bubba45 said:

Because there is so much duty on the imported Bialetti. The Bialetti should sell for about 1000 baht ($30US). But you’re in Thailand.
If unsure buy the knock off and see how you like it. It’s all I use, every day. (The real Bialetti, but I live in USA). I love the simplicity, and it makes bad coffee taste worse and good coffee taste better. Just a matter of finding which coffee does it for you. 

Thank you for taking the time to answer me. Really appreciated. 

Just now, Logosone said:

Well, you should definitely buy a machine. There are some machines that are not very expensive.

 

I recommend the DeLonghi Distinta, because I used it for a long time and it does the job and never broke down. I had much more expensive machines before, Saeco and two Gastroback, and they all broke down.

 

The reason why a machine is better than a Moka Pot or a Bialetti is that only a machine can muster the full nine bars of pressure that are required for perfect espresso. The Moka Pot or Bialetti can give you 1.5 bars of pressure. Still a good coffee, just not as good as machine coffee and not true espresso. The machine has to be a portafilter. 

 

The Bialetti is more expensive than a generic moka pot because Bialetti make some models in Italy. Even Italian brands often make the machines in China now. Obviously that's cheaper. But there are very serious quality differences between a Bialetti and generic Moka pots see here:

 

http://101coffeemachines.info/moka/bialetti-vs-chinese-moka/

The machine you quoted is not that expensive. I was surprised at the cost. I was looking at a Breville (at around 29k) but I am worried about if they break down, how easy are they to get fixed here in Thailand. How long have you had the DeLonghi Distinta for? I will also need to buy a grinder.

Just now, Logosone said:

Only the required pressure will bring out the most in coffee beans. An expensive machine is not necessary, a Bialetti stove-top will also achieve this.

A Bialetti is much more expensive then a generic Moka Pot. Any reason for this. I am in the throws of either buying a Bialetti or a decent coffee machine as I like my coffee so much. I don't know what to do!