59 minutes ago, cncltd1973 said:

That's cute, you're still learning. Try googling the difference between hemp and marijuana and you'll find that example is hemp

That’s cute too.  But your first statement was….

On 1/14/2022 at 11:59 PM, cncltd1973 said:

try to find any strain of cannabis that has .2% THC, it doesn't exist

Hemp is cannabis (sativa)….scientifically speaking.
 

Legally speaking it is low THC cannabis (under .3% THC) whereas marijuana is over .3%.

Nice try at moving the goalposts.

https://www.healthline.com/health/hemp-vs-marijuana#marijuana

On 1/14/2022 at 9:59 AM, cncltd1973 said:

try to find any strain of cannabis that has .2% THC, it doesn't exist

Royal CBG Automatic.  0.09% thc.

*Link removed*

20 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

And what about the countries that don't provide public health care?

If people didn't get sick the hospitals wouldn't be profitable?

Studies have been done on the optimal hospital occupancy rates.  In the US, there were penalties in place for hospitals that fell under certain thresholds. In larger hospitals, 80-85% capacity was considered optimal.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC4191350/
 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC7060560/#CR4
 

ICU beds: less is more? Yes

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC7183391/

And if you look at one of the larger medical centers in the US, you can see that the occupancy rate is hardly at critical levels (overall for level 1, 2 and 3) and that a much higher percentage of ICU beds are occupied by non-Covid patients.

https://www.tmc.edu/coronavirus-updates/overview-of-tmc-icu-bed-capacity-and-occupancy/

2 minutes ago, shdmn said:

That is because the US is filled with overweight Fox watching anti-vaxxers.  If you want to look at what is going to happen in the rest of the world look at the UK.  Cases have peaked and hospitalizations should start plummeting soon.  The US is about 2-3 weeks behind the UK.

True.  The US has many overweight people (in every political party).  I can’t for the life of me figure out why, for the last 2 years, the government wasn’t hammering it into people to get their diets in order, start exercising and lose some weight.  I guess it’s just not politically correct.

But it’s really not as bad as some posters would want you to believe.  In fact, it’s really not bad at all when you look at the data regarding hospitals and hospital capacity/utilization.

https://data.thecalifornian.com/covid-19-hospital-capacity/california/06/

Sometimes I like to walk.

Sometimes, when it’s too far to walk, I take the BTS.

Sometimes when I’m going somewhere off the BTS line it’s more convenient to take taxi.

Sometimes, when I’m going somewhere that taxis don’t frequently drive by, I’ll use a Grab car.

Sometimes I like to take a road trip so I drive.  I like to drive.  It’s fun.  So I own a fun car.

If any of the above 5 choices don’t fit your lifestyle…up to you.  I don’t care.

On 1/15/2022 at 9:05 PM, Danderman123 said:

How do you explain young, healthy people dying from Covid?

Like this one?

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/19/health/teen-death-coronavirus-wellness-partner/index.html
 

Healthy teenager who took precautions died suddenly of Covid-19
 

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The price mentioned in the article referred to a "10 night quarantine package", not the price per night!

Oh….I see that.  In that case, it would be quite cheap.  I guess the article is more for sycophants who are enamored by whoever this woman is or just another Covid attention seeking post.

3 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Seems like your beef is with the Daily Mail?

 

Maybe fire of a letter to the editor expressing your indignance?

 

Honestly I took the 1,500 GBP figure as a total rather than a daily figure.

 

But that wasn't my main take-away from this story.

 

 

My CQ (Codger-Quotient) must be slipping?

 

 

 

 

Or the thread could just be deleted for being “fake news”

13 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

There is a key word missing from the headline of this thread... 

 

Model Poppy Delevingne, 35, reveals she spent 10 'extraordinarily lonely' days in isolation in private Bangkok Hospital where rooms CAN cost up to £1,500 after testing positive for Covid on arrival in Thailand.

 

 

A suite room may cost that much, but regular private rooms are far far less - the story inflates the price by 10x for that additional attention !!!!! 

 

 

Exactly…complete nonsense.

Here’s Bumrungrads rates for their Premiere Royal Suite (2BR Suite) @ less than £900 per night and also the ICU rates.

Bangkok Hospital (where the article says she stayed) costs even less.

1 minute ago, gargamon said:

When Absolut first hit the market, it was the cheapest vodka out there. After the marketing kicked in the price went up and up. No increase in quality though.

Oh…we could always go cheaper with Smirnoff….and when we were really slumming it, Popov.   But yeah…people were sold by those full back cover ads on every magazine.

Back when I was in University, Absolut was all the rage….due to the advertising of course.

Did a blind taste test with shots for all my friends.  Stolichnaya vs Absolut.

100% picked Stolichnaya.

1 hour ago, The Hammer2021 said:

The problem is that anti social juveniles have little self awareness and frequently  do not care how much misery  they cause. As adults we accept that certain living conditions determine  certain lifestyles. The greatest improvement  to music  listening in the last 50 years has been the  development  of headphones technology creating the most brilliant  multi dimensional soundscapes. The greatest source  of complaints, fights, arguments and unhappiness  in modern communities  is noisy neighbours.

“Anti social juveniles” as you seem to histrionically refer to usually don’t start threads asking about soundproofing.  They also usually don’t engage with their neighbors in order to determine how loud something can be without their neighbor hearing it.  I’m sure if someone started a thread asking where is the best place to shop for stereo gear, you would probably feel the need to come in and berate them, call them “anti social juveniles” and then extol the virtues of headphones….but whatever….you do you.

3 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

 

DIY for subwoofers is always an option, start small with a single one and upgrade over time (or not), most peoples audio system grows over the years, no one really starts with lots of stuff. 

 

Partsexpress has good DIY kits.

 

Small subs like the SVS micros, REL t5 or t7 etc work also fine for small rooms, position and having multiples is more important than lots of headroom and a bigger sub imo. Especially in condos. Thailand also has a healthy used market on facebook marketplace, fortune town in bkk etc...

 

personally in our condo i have a KEF LS50W system and 2x KC62 subwoofers from KEF, it does well enough and i don't need an extra AMP. 

 

 

Facebook marketplace is great for stereo gear.  I can’t keep myself off of it.  Lots of high end bargains.

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Thanks. And I am reading the recommended book already. Interesting! And I have a lot to learn.

And then there is of course the money issue. I am willing to pay a couple of thousand USD to have a good sound system. But when 3 or 5,000 is not enough anymore then at some stage the question comes up: How important is that for me. Am I really willing to spend huge amounts of money on that? Especially with the subs. One good sub is already expensive. Two or more of them cost a lot of money and then I can't even crank them up in my apartment. I guess one should be enough for me.

A subwoofer will actually help with low volume listening.  I only have one subwoofer in my system and feel that it is adequate.  Of course, two would be better but I am trying my best to avoid the upgrade bug.  A couple thousand quickly becomes that 3-5k that you talk about which then becomes a slippery slope and sooner or later you’ll end up with too much damn stereo gear that you should probably sell but will find a reason not to.

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe you should have a look at the beginning of this thread.

It's about sound isolation and it's about making sure not to annoy the neighbors.

If you want to listen with your headphones, fine. I also enjoy music and movies together with my gf and I am pretty sure it wouldn't be much fun without speakers and with both of us putting earbuds in our ears.

And I care about my neighbors, this is why I started this thread. 

You can’t start a thread like this without all the malcontents rushing in to tell us how “antisocial” and “juvenile” we are…even when we try to be thoughtful towards our neighbors.  It gives them a purpose in life.  Whatever.  And I agree with you.  Earphones suck.

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Maybe you should have concentrated on surrounding yourself with a family that won't do that.

Although old folks get abused by families/nursing homes/carers all over the world.

I’m waiting for Tesco to have a sale on “trustworthy wives” 

26 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

You're in complete control of your trust while you're alive. If you don't like the way someone is treating you in your latter years, you can (have your home country attorney who set up your trust) simply write them out of your trust, and they'll get nothing, if you so desire.

 

 

Yes…but what happens in the event of Alzheimer’s or something like that?  I too understand how trusts work as I’m currently dealing with it too.

I also agree with what you say about the difficulty regarding assets outside Thailand and the accessibility issues that a “typical domestic Thai” will have.  But, sometimes, the amounts involved would be too great to trust to the Thai financial system imho.  YMMV.

I too have recently had to deal with my late fathers estate and even though it didn’t need to go through probate in the US, it was still a PITA to deal with (and is ongoing).  So I understand completely what you say in your edited comment that you wouldn’t wish your Thai wife to have to go through the headache of it all.

It’s a tough situation.

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The type of trusts we're talking about here ONLY give control over your finances to someone else (your successor trustee) AFTER you've passed (unless you wish otherwise). While you're still alive, you would want to remain the trustee of your own trust and retain complete control over everything in it.

 

I went thru this with my own father, who had a trust for his assets, when he passed away last year. He was the sole trustee of his own trust while he was alive, and I was the designated beneficiary of his trust. While still living, he also designated me to be his successor trustee that would take effect once he passed away.

 

While he was alive, I had absolutely no control over or say in what happened with his trust. But upon his death, I became the trustee of his trust, and was then legally responsible for allocating his inheritance to his designated beneficiary, which he had chosen to be me.

 

I understand what you’re saying.  I just want some sort of poison pill in my trust so that the beneficiary has some obligations before they inherit my estate and if not followed, then they get nothing.  

6 minutes ago, Paulaew said:

This is a harder problem, I think. There are "Living Wills" in Thailand which provide instructions specifying what actions should be taken in the event that you are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity. These Living Wills usually specify your request that you be allowed to die instead of being kept alive by artificial means. I don't know what else could be included in such a document, you would need to consult a lawyer here.

 

Paul Laew

 

 

Definitely a harder problem.  I’m not worried about being kept alive by artificial means because I too would have a DNR stipulation so that the healthcare industrial complex doesn’t steal any potential estate from my heirs.  But I remember living in Chiangmai and not only did I read about a Farang who was found in a bed full of urine and feces when an old friend went to check on him, but also have witnessed numerous times where an elderly (80+) Farang was being abused (quite obviously) in public by their younger wife.  
 

I’m not sure how I’ll handle it all myself then the time comes.  Most likely suicide while I’m still capable and let whoever inherits my estate do with it what they wish.

8 minutes ago, Formaleins said:

What worries me is that oncw you die, they can overide your wishes once they get the death certificate which will give them total control and what you put in place is ignored.

Got to look into setting this sort of thing up from the home country tather than hanfing over control to the Thai legal sysyem

I too have thought about the whole issue and have to comment that although what you have written is something that I too have thought of, what really worries me is that when I’m at the age where I can’t take care of myself, will they let me rot in my own feces (I’ve read some horrible stories about elder abuse of Farangs here in thailand) barely feeding me so that they can “save money” in the end?

Not only would I want some sort of trust set up so they can’t burn through the money in a “Weekend at Vegas” kind of way, but have it also be conditional on there not being any kind of abuse or neglect if I ended up with something like Alzheimer’s in the future.

11 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Thanks for your reply.

 

Normally I like your very knowable replies. But in this case I am a little confused.

Noise, talking, screaming, music, maybe using some tools, are not only low frequencies.

I understand that it is difficult (and maybe very difficult to impossible) to soundproof low frequencies which are often created by subwoofers.

But medium and high frequencies can be soundproofed.

I am sure you know all this. So maybe what you are saying, or not saying is: Don't worry about the medium and high frequencies because they are not a big problem. The big problem are the low frequencies and you can't remove them easily. Is that what you think?

I am learning and I appreciate your advice. 

Yes, it’s primarily the low frequencies that will travel through walls.  
 

The mids and highs not as much (at relatively low levels).  Also, when it comes to soundproofing, different materials/densities etc seem to be used for different frequencies.  Some people will just say “put up another sheet of gypsum board” or “get some roxul” but at best, you’ll lower the sound a few decibels.  I looked into what would be needed to get a truly soundproofed room (like those piano practice rooms or professional recording studios) and what goes into building them is quite intricate.  It’s not just “get some green glue and some roxul boards and you’re good to go.

Condo living comes with compromises.  Both for you (and myself) in that we can’t blast our stereos at all times of the day and night.  But also for the neighbors in that they can’t expect tomb like silence 24/7.  If either side wants that, then they should have rented a house in the woods.

I knew that sooner or later I would get a complaint.  It’s just that I was surrounded by empty units for about a year and had nobody living within 2 floors of me.  Now that someone has moved in above me and I also have a couple neighbors on my floor (not directly next to me yet thank God) I accept that I have to change my ways.  So, at night I’m quiet with music (movies) at low levels and during the day once in a while (noonish-3pm) I’ll turn the volume up a bit.  Of course, never to the 113db (average) that I was rocking out that one time.

Maybe the best thing to do is when you meet your neighbors in the hallway, introduce yourself, tell them that you don’t want to bother them with your stereo and let them know that if it’s too loud, then please come and let you know so that you can work out appropriate levels together (actually testing them walking back and forth between units) and also see if there is a time that they are agreeable to on occasion (like a Saturday afternoon) or whenever that you can cut loose.

Of course, a well sealed door make some difference, but 1. Don’t most decent condos have well sealed doors anyways? And 2.  It’s not going to be the people down the hallway complaining as much as people that share a wall/ceiling/floor.