Stevemercer

No doubt the current pandemic will produce enough data and information to support 1000 PhDs.

One study I think would be interesting would be to test whether there are cultural/societal factors affecting viral transmission and fatality rates. For example, do certain cultural characteristics of a society make it more or less at risk of a pandemic. 

Or do environmental, or other, factors swamp any cultural/societal distinctions such that it does not matter?

Yes, it is good service everywhere now.

I went to the Government hospital for my regular 3 month eye (glaucoma) check and to pick up new drops. Normally there are a hundred people and a wait of 2 - 4 hours.

I was the only one who turned up! The doctors and nurses weren't busy and it was a thorough check-up. Normally they only give me 3 months prescription medicines, but this time they gave me 6 months.

Splendid service.

But I do wonder about all the normal Thai people with regular appointments. If they don't renew their medicines then they may be risking blindness or other symptoms.

There will always be errors in big government programs like this - doesn't matter whether we are in Thailand, Australia, Europe or wherever.

Part of the problem will be out of date data. A lady is registered as a farmer when the government was giving out drought money. Now she sells clothes, but she is still registered as a farmer and doesn't qualify for the current program.

Thai people are always changing their names, addresses and occupations. It is a wonder the government can keep up.

WE had leaks after the first big storm a few weeks ago. I cleaned out the leaves which seemed to fix the problem. I won't go on the roof these days and use a long pole with a rag tied on the end.

I used to get onto the roof myself once a year to silicon any cracked tiles and remove leaves from the caps. Last year I fell nearly 5 metres through the roof/ceiling. I knocked myself unconcious, and was in hospital for a few days, but suffered no permanent damage.

The pitch on our roof is not really steep enough so any trapped leaves can wreak havoc. The local neighbourhood lads often fire marbles out of home made pipe guns and these crack the tiles if they land on the roof. 

Yes, I agree with the above poster.

To an out-of-towner, there is still plenty of traffic, but it is all flowing well with no real delays. The tollways are virtually empty outside of peak hour and would make a good raceway.

I (and my wife) drove from Khon Kaen to Bangkok on 8 April, stayed overnight, and drove back again on 9 April. I had to attend an appointment at the Australia Embassy to renew my passport.

My wife's friends all said we couldn't travel, but I couldn't find any prohibitions on travel between provinces on our intended route. We did go to the local government office beforehand to see if we needed some sort of official letter. After checking they said no. They said we only needed a 'pass' if we wanted to travel during the night curfew (10:00 pm - 4:00 am).

Anyway, we weren't stopped at any check-points coming or going (there are usually a few during normal times). Various check-points were set up, but not manned when we went through. Maybe the police were sleeping after manning the checkpoints during the night curfew.

Off the highways the local checkpoints aren't normally manned until 8:30 am.

So, yes, you can travel, but you need to have a reasonable explanation as to why in case you are stopped. Make sure you have your masks ready if you are stopped.

The tollways in Bangkok are virtually empty, and only a few toll booths are open. There is often a police presence where they check temperatures, but this is pretty random and we weren't checked.

Retirement is a huge life change. I think you need some planning and adjustment to your way of thinking and life style.

Just moving to Thailand isn't going to cut it. You are moving to a different culture, plus adjusting to retirement and the drop in income.

For myself, I like being outdoors and knew I would need a stand alone house and a bit of land to keep me busy upon retirement in Thailand. It's not like Australia where you can enjoy the local parks, beaches or even just walking around the neighbourhood.

If I ever move back to Australia I might be able to live in a condo because I know I can spend plenty of time outdoors anyway (swimming, fishing, camping etc). 

Thank you very much for your quick response.

I'm just in the middle of an argument with my wife about whether it is 2 months or 3 months seeding time for my 5th annual renewal. I'll have to concede that she is right.

I'm after a quick answer as to whether a 12 month marriage renewal needs 2 months or 3 months of seasoning in a bank. Everywhere I read says 2 months for the first application and, thereafter, 3 months for each annual renewal.

My wife insists it is just 2 months for the renewal and that I don't need the 400,000 until then. She called immigration who agreed it is 2 months. 

I don't want to get caught out. Is it 2 months or 3 months?

I would have thought that the Land Office (for 5000 Baht) could give you a final determination of any boundary in dispute.

Having said this, it might not necessarily be in your interests because the Land Office will usually seek agreement between the various land owners when they fix the boundaries. If your neighbour (and his wife) want to dispute the outcome, or otherwise make problems for you, this is the time for them to call in any favours they believe they may have with officialdom.

Maybe the first option is not to force the issue at this point, but to build a secondary lattice structure along the offending boundary to keep them out.

Out of sight, out of mind (hopefully).

The Australian Embassy is still processing these. I did mine today and there were no dramas (apart from having to get new passport photos). It cost 8300 Baht. They post out the new passports now and they say the process takes 3 - 4 weeks. However, they cancelled my old passport and returned it. Hopefully that won't cause any problems. Anyway, I don't intend to travel overseas and my visa extension is 6 weeks away.

I had to drive in from Khon Kaen the day before (and drove back today). The traffic, as expected, was light. We didn't get stopped at any checkpoints. The hotel we used in Bangkok was about half full.

The only point at which we were closer than 2 metres to a third person was when someone got on our lift at the hotel for one floor. I think the covid ettiquete is one person/couple per lift (e.g. wait for the next one if possible)?

A small silver lining was that my wife didn't want to stop every 30 minutes to eat and look at roadside stalls. Although on the way back we had to stop for chicken eggs (which are cheap in Korat), tree eggs (from the usual roadside stalls) and pig eggs (a new Thai delicasy for my wife). 

If you want beaches that are decent swimming (clean sand, clean water, a few waves) then the Andaman coast is where you should be looking.

I, for one, will try to do my 12 month extension when it falls due in a few weeks. I would hate to be in the line at the immigration office when everyones'  30 day extensions expire at the same time! 

I had a weird cold four weeks ago after passing through Suvarnabhabi on my way back from Australia. The most unusual symptom I noticed at the time was losing my sense of smell for two days. I had never experienced that before. Apart from that i had a headache, vague sore throat that came and went and persistent tiredness. But I never had a cough.

I read a few weeks ago that loss of smell could be a symptom of Covid 19. But then I read elsewhere that loss of smell is sometimes a flu symptom (occurring when you have thrown off the virus, but the lingering inflammation in the nasal passages blocks up the smell receptors).

But it could be all imagination. After all, when sitting next to someone with a cough we all start imagining the germs/viruses invading and start to feel symptoms developing. But then the person moves away and we forget all about it.

The names and addresses have been doing the rounds of Facebook for the last few days. 

Next will be the names and addresses of all the farang hiding out around Thailand.

Maybe governments will have to accept a threshold number of new daily cases (which are within the capacity of the country's medical system to effectively treat and minimise deaths).

Hospitals will obviously properly gear up to routinely treat cases within the next month or two (provided there is not a sudden spike in numbers).

Treatments will get more effective over time with experience. If hospitals are working within capacity, tr and there is no need to make life or death choices.  

So what is a sustainable threshold of new daily cases? I'm sure the calculations have been done. For countries like Thailand and Australia it might be 100 a day (and assuming a fatality rate <1%). If these thresholds (whatever they are) are met than governments can progressively ease restrictions with a view to getting the domestic economy back on track.

But full freedom of international travel will not resume until there is an effective vaccine.

2 hours ago, Bogbrush said:

Part of an interview with Lord Sumption, former Justice of the UK Supreme Court....

 

But the real question is: is this serious enough to warrant putting most of our population into house imprisonment, wrecking our economy for an indefinite period, destroying businesses that honest and hardworking people have taken years to build up, saddling future generations with debt, depression, stress, heart attacks, suicides and unbelievable distress inflicted on millions of people who are not especially vulnerable and will suffer only mild symptoms or none at all.

No, the real question is whether people want governments to put risk the economy or risk their parents, grandparents and other elderly people.

The cohort most at risk (elderly) are our parents, and no government can be seen to be sacrificing their lives for the economy. So governments have no real choice.

It's different during times of war when it seems ok to put young people's lives (ours sons and daughters) on the front line.

4 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Police cracked down on the group after receiving a call that residents in the house were holding a party and disturbing the neighbours with loud music.

 

If only the cops were this responsive to loud parties during more normal times!

8 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

What part of "stay home" don't you understand?

All authorities recommend continuing exercise, including outdoor exercise, for one or two hours per day.

I wondered about the Thai Government making it so difficult for their own citizens to return home (effectively abandoning responsibility for them). What will the government do if some of those citiens manage to avoid the paperwork or an airline undertakes a humanitarian gesture (despite the fines they will face). Deport them if they make it home to Thailand?

I hope the Thai national who is challenging the order is successful. What happened in Auckland is not good.

I don't think the Thai government is that insensitive, but just that they didn't think through the consequences of their 'cunning plan' (which, after all, was always just about public appearances).

6 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

talk about the worse possible thing for a bank to say or do during a global freakout!

 

i saw groups of Thais at banks yesterday in Hua Hin. 

 

i am using BB Visa credit card to pay for food wherever possible.

I think you are right about the banks not thinking ahead! The most likely outcome is misinterpretation by the public creating a run on the banks!