richard_smith237

I think the vast majority of people agree... BUT... there is also a discussion to be had, is there any point wearing a mask any more? Is mask wearing effective at all ? or are people wearing masks because everyone else is? I don’t think people want to be expected to wear masks in public in 5 years from now unless its proven as being absolutely necessary.... So, where is the line, at which point do we stop wearing masks in Public ?... OR.. will Thailands population still be wearing a mask in 5 years when other countries are not, simply because no one in society wants to be the one to stand out from the crowd by not wearing a mask ?

We're discussing mask wearing and you are going on about robots and porno ????? When unwell with a cold, the Japanese wear a mask to protect others... thats widely known. Regardless of all other issues, this facet of society is one the rest of us would do well to immediate. If we have a cold, we should wear a mask when out in public - its not a difficult concept.

Because no medical authorities are recommending that, unlike masks. OR because a Hazmat suit is completely impractical... Medical authorities would see us continuing to isolate, but that is not practical.... Masks are not so effective, but thats about as much advice as they can give because it's not so impractical - but is mask wearing really that effective in the current ’social climate’ where everything is open ?

Yep... given the extent of transmission, I’m inclined to agree. I think more people are wearing Masks in Thailand right now than in Japan. We have friends there - photos (Facebook etc) show many people not wearing masks... it looks about 50/50 when out in the streets... Agreed... I think when something is so contagious, just like common cold, its pretty much impossible to prevent without extreme measures.

Is the Camera specifically pointed at front of the Ops house, such that it ONLY records imagery from the Ops property. OR... if the Camera pointed at the owners property and also films some of the front of the Ops Property ?? There’s a difference... In the first example the Op may understandably feel strange about this. In the second example the Op is over-reacting... whats the big deal ??? It's not illegal IF most of the Image is of the owners property. ------- I wonder if this is one of those ‘merican’ cases where someone is looking for any slight so they can complain about their rights being infringed upon ???... If its just a security camera covering someones own property and inadvertently catching someone else’s property in the background, whats the big deal ?

?? So you can care less... So you care about football a more than other things ?? Or... you ‘couldn’t care less’... (its not possible to care any less than you already do)... I think this is an ‘American vs English English’ difference of the phrase - ‘could care less’ never made much sense to me... Anyway... IF you ‘couldn’t care any less [than you already do]’.... How is there ‘any hope at all for anything’... you don’t care at all.. and can’t care any less... right ? Would be nice to see a great take home the one trophy which has eluded him..... I’m completely on the fence on this one... and would like to see the team which plays the best football win. I just hope the game is not spoiled by some poor refereeing. The standards of referring has been atrocious at this WC (IMO) - that Ref in the Netherlands-Argentina match should never be permitted to step foot on a pitch again... The Ref in the England France Match was just as poor and inconsistent.

The same can be said for certain area’s of Thailand full stop... We perhaps chose the area’s we visit not only for what it offers, but for the type of person who'd be hanging around there... I avoided certain Bar’s when watching football because of the obvious ’t!theads’ who’d be attracted to such places.. The same can be said of certain other bars which attract some ‘knobs’ on their road to rediscovery as gods-gift... But.. I’m not sure the ‘weed’ specifically attracts any demographic over another... those ‘types’ you mention are perhaps visiting Thailand anyway... You’re noticing it more because Thailand has opened up again.. not because they can buy weed.

I nearly bought a Giant a while back, but I wanted a 29”er... they just didn’t have stock in that size and the 27.5” er’s were very limited. I ended up getting a Scott which I’m quite happy with (was about 25,000 baht) That said - I’m not sure of ‘stiffness’ etc... I don’t ride it hard enough to make a noticeable difference.

Why type of car was it that you escaped from while it was underwater ???

For taking one case and applying it to everyone else. There was an old black woman who had an accident, so we should stop black people driving too, and certainly women shouldn't be allowed to drive. Dumbest strawman fallacy I’ve ever read so far.... This is a UK related thread, I missed that point. I thought we were in Thailand where everyone can jump on a scooter or in a car and just drive with no worries about policing. You don’t think the same issues exist elsewhere and are handled differently.... You don’t think the fact that Thailand could apply learnings from elsewhere as a valid point ?? Again, irrelevant - bad driving at any age is not acceptable and the sooner the police pull him off the roads the better... more chance of that in the UK. Erm... you are confusing everyone now... This is a UK related thread, I thought you’d missed that point ?? !!! and we weren’t permitted to use examples and bring other nations into the discussion (according to your point above). Hence the need for an addition to the general checkup, 3 years doctor's note and a refresher driving test at 80 to be repeated before they get to 90, 100 etc. But more likely, traffic police should become aware of bad drivers and weed them out. So these cars were travelling at a fair lick, we might assume, but still I can pull up a thousand more cases from the past month driving here with people nowhere near this age. The most basic need isn't to think about how to make things better, or make new rules or regulations. The most basic need is to have more competent traffic police, and stop thinking that AI cameras will make things better by catching fines from people changing lanes or speeding - whether it's safe or not. Agreed.... and those police may well find more people ‘of age’ unfit to drive... but at least dealign with every situation at face value removes the ‘ageist’ issue - but age remains an issue, people do deteriorate... should we wait for people to become dangerous before they are stopped from driving ? There is no right or wrong answer here... just a series of uncomfortable truths that need to be addressed... from the fact that peoples ability deteriorates with age, to the inability of the police to police this effectively....

I think there is little doubt as to the effectiveness of everyone wearing masks in public…. … but, as you pointed out, with bars, restaurants, gyms, sports-halls etc all open there is sufficient non-mask wearing going on to make mask wearing relatively ineffective…. The community benefit of Mask wearing relies on a ‘critical mass’ of wearers above which mask wearing provides a benefit & below which makes little difference. With everything being open, I suspect we are ‘below’ that ‘critical mass’ & intermittent mask wearing in some places but not others is simply ineffective. For mask wearing to be effective it must be on an ‘all the time everywhere’ basis & this isn’t practical when the symptoms are no longer as serious as we originally thought at the beginning of the pandemic.

Is there a current law, rule or regulation in Thailand that people have to wear masks, anywhere ??? I think this is part of the argument some are presenting... There is no current ‘official’ mask mandate in Thailand... just some businesses. I’m one of those who are happy to wear a mask in a Bank if asked... Life is too short too make a big deal of such issues. But... I don’t want do be expected to wear a mask whenever outside of my house at all times. I don’t want to have to wear a mask whenever in a Bank or supermarket for the next 10 or 20 years.... (unless there is another pandemic etc). So... like others, I question the logic behind some of the behavioural traits, specifically this contagion effect where no one wants to be the one standing out from the crowd by not conforming. ---- I am going to my Son’s school today... A big international School. No one at the school is wearing masks with the exception of a handful of the parents. We’ll be in a big auditorium watching children do their Christmas performance (i.e. in a closed area)... i.e. maybe less than 5% of parents wearing masks (no kids, no teachers etc). I wonder, if those same people who are wearing a mask all around Bangkok (in Supermakerts, shopping malls etc) will take off their mask in the school because they don’t want to be the ‘odd ones out’.... the ‘contagion effect in reverse’ !!!

There seems to be an interesting facet at play with many of these discussions.... Are foreigners who have remained in Thailand and not travelled more likely to continue wearing their mask at all times than foreigners who have been traveling outside of Thailand and witnessed that the vast majority of people are no longer wearing masks and hence are questioning the need to wear a mask at all times in Thailand. Is the ‘contagion effect’ impacting those foreigners who have not travelled outside of Thailand, even subconsciously ?.... Would those who are ’staunch mask wearers’ still be staunch mask wearers if no-one else in Thailand were wearing masks ? To me - this is an interesting point - not to argue, but from a sociological perspective: How influenced are we by our surroundings (in this case social surroundings) and how to we allow that influence to impact our bias ??.... How do some of us recognise this potential influence and deliberately resist and perhaps go over the top to resist and prove we cannot be socially ‘manipulated’ ???

Agreed.... What is it with all this news publicly embarrassing victims... ??? Do news reporters standby at police stations waiting for victims to publicly embarrass ???? Surely going to the police is such situations ‘should’ be something which can be done with privacy and in confidence.... Its almost as if the journalists (term used very loosely) pay the BiB so they can hang around and hopefully get a juicy story... OR, the BiB call them in when there is some potential story and they get a ‘pay out’... ... either way.. its pretty characterless behaviour and shows an underbelly of distaste.

Mask wearing in Japan has been applied intelligently in the past. There is a strong degree of social responsibility. IF someone is unwell and suffering some mild cold symptoms etc... they wear a mask to protect others - I like this idea. This is a facet of mask wearing I’d like to see adopted everywhere else. I don’t think blindly wearing a mask is a good thing. From the sole perspective of transmission of viruses and public health, mask wearing throughout all of society may have its advantageous, but there are many things we could do which would be advantageous to society on a whole.. We could ban alcohol... reduce ALL speed limits to 30mph... Ban Sugar... Limit Television... etc etc... all extreme measures of course and somewhat ridiculous to consider... but a line is drawn somewhere.... and placing a ‘filter’ over our faces as a just incase measure when we are no longer in a pandemic situation may also seem extreme to many / some.

Absolutely agree... I carry a mask with me at all times, just incase I’m asked to wear it or in an area where its busy. Now... I’ll be away again for the next 6 weeks... Europe and Middle East. The next time I wear a mask will likely be back in Thailand if I go on the BTS or a hospital.. Unless the virus takes a turn for the worse, or there is a major flu outbreak etc..

I’m neither against masks or for them.... I’d just like to see intelligent balance in these discussions. It seems these discussions can’t be held with out someone either forcing those with a balanced opinions into a 'for or against camp’ where the extremes shout louder and are the only voices heard. I think there are situations where mask wearing would be preferred and beneficial and other situation where mask wearing would be considered excessive; - To some, this makes me ‘pro-mask’ and against the freedom of peoples individual rights not to wear a mask. - To others, this makes me ‘Anti-mask’ and a disease spreader. ------ I’ve traveled a lot in the last 6 months - Thailand is the only place I have seen where there still prolific mask wearing.... That said, I don’t see 100% of people wearing the mask. No one is wearing a mask at my Son’s international School. But, I see many Thai’s still wearing a mask in and around Bangkok... In Big-C etc. My Wife will tell me that people are still wearing a mask not because they fear a virus, but because they don’t want be the ones ’standing out’ - I think much of the mask wearing in Thailand comes down to that point - the 'Contagion effect’ (doing something because everyone else is). There is one facet of this discussion which I do think is important. The ‘contagion effect’ is what it is... its just copying everyone else... people are using this to suggest that people are smart and wearing masks because of the risk from Covid-19... I don’t see this so much in Thailand... its simply just ’the contagion effect’. BUT... as you ThailandRyan pointed out... IF there is a more serious strain of Covid-19 going around, if the symptoms are getting worse or there is greater risk of contracting influenza then increased mask wearing makes a lot of sense. The problem is the lack of balance and the extreme arguments which are the only ones being heard.

There are lots around... Do you want them hard-wired or battery operated. I installed ‘Blink’ (bought off Amazon) for the ease of installation and simplicity of use. They are not 24 hour recording - rather, they record only when there is movement. We can set sensitivity, zones of coverage etc... Batteries are supposed to last 2 years. The cameras can be accessed remotely (they connect to Wifi) and record either to the cloud (if you want) or to a base station which can be accessed on a home Wifi network. I think for something with 24 hour recording it would need a hard wired power supply.

You missed my point..... IF we have to be concerned about the risk we may potentially pose to every single other person around us we’d have to take extreme measures.... (hazmat suits) and that is clearly not practical. Is mask wearing everywhere we go, in everything we do practical ?... I don’t think so. Should we be wearing masks forever now ??... everywhere we go in public ?... I’ll ignore your obvious bias and use of the word narcissist which lends nothing intelligent to the discussion... ...but you do ask a reasonable question... ‘how does an immune compromised person go about protecting themselves ???.... ... How did they go about protecting themselves before Covid-19 ??? Would your argument therefore be, we should always have been wearing masks all the time, decades before Covid-19 ???? i.e. as soon as we knew what viruses are and how they are transmitted...

We should all be walking around in Hazmat suits then !!!... I think common sense can be applied... When the virus was serious being sanctimonious about mask wearing was justified... now it just seems like virtue signalling amongst those who are not aware of how things have moved on outside of Thailand. As I wrote - Wearing a mask on public transport makes sense - not for covid, but for any illness such as the common Cold and Flu... And busy area’s too but there is also a balance with practicality. And of course at hospitals because there are unwell people there with weakened immune systems. Anywhere else... those with weakened immune systems should be taking extra precautions to protect themselves... as harsh as it sounds thats life. Every other country I’ve been to in the last 6 months has moved away from mask wearing... except Thailand... it seems strange returning. That said, if I walk into a Bank or a Big-C etc and the staff are asking that we wear a mask, I’ll wear a mask... but otherwise I won’t. There’s no mask wearing at my Sons school either..

I wore a mask today for the first time in about 3 months. I’ve been flying in and out (to and from Middle East) - No mask wearing at the airport (BKK) or on the flights. I think the last time I wore a mask before today was on the BTS about 3 months ago... I wore it because there was an announcement asking that people wear it (I’ve not been on the BTS since). Then again today in a hospital, because its a hospital and there could be unwell or immune compromised people there. I don’t mind wearing a mask when its necessary... i.e. on Public transport I think its fair enough to wear a mask and in a hospital. But for other aspects of daily life I think we are past it. I’ve just been away for a few weeks... It's seems strange coming back to Thailand and everyone is still locked into the pandemic fear and wearing masks.

Are you suggesting compression socks are ineffective in reducing risk of DVT on flights ?

Policeman asks for a Passport... I answer “No”.... nothing else happens and I walk off... Thats happened twice. A further time the BiB (a group of them) were not so easy to ignore... they wanted me to get out of the taxi. They’d stopped the taxi and asked me for my passport, I held up a copy of my DL... They wanted a passport... So they told me to to get out.... I refused... Told them to wait and they can speak to the person who’s about to take my call... 5 mins later, waved on my way... ... some of these guys are just after a shakedown... I don’t want any part of it, but I also don’t want to carry my passport around (the risk of loss is higher than risk of getting stopped and having a major problem).

Nope... thats not how it goes down at all.... but you know that already just as we know you are not really that stupidly obtuse... The obvious answer is don’t over-stay. Anyone who’s spent any time here knows that law and regulation has little relevance as the Police don’t know or follow their own laws, they just follow the ‘legacy’ of their peers. Whether it involves BiB asking for IDP, Licence, Thai Licence or our Immigration status etc... the best option is to ensure our ducks are in a row... it just makes things go more smoothly. If asked for my Passport in the street... I’m not going to try and teach a half-witted policeman his own laws... I just play the game, I don’t carry my passport so what happens next depends on the situation.. i..e show Pink ID, Driving Licence, Photo of Passport... etc.. if they don’t accept that things get a little trickier... I have BiB friends I can call, so never a major issue.