thaipara

4 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

The arrivals referred to in the headline were foreigners not Thais.

The numbers quoted come to about 8,000 people. What makes you think that the remaining 5,000 are not Thai?

Well said, that Rooster! 

In my experience the crucial word in customer service portion is "wait". I have had quite a lot of success in such situations around the world, but especially in SEAsia, by judicious waiting. 

"We do not have/cannot." Wait. Consultation with colleague; "have/can".

And, yes a bit of judicious humor can also work wonders.

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

What's "ultimate" about the "experience" of visiting such a version of Pattaya?

Perhaps they mean that your first such experience will be your last.

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

While there is a case for some dual pricing of tourists who don’t pay tax in Thailand,

Tourists don't pay tax in Thailand? Where does one find such? Or isn't the VAT a tax? (Do retirees living on retirement income from abroad pay any significant tax _other_ than VAT?)

In 2019 total tax income in Thailand came to a bit less than 3,000 million baht. [1] There were about 54 million adults, [2] so the average such Thai paid around 50 baht in taxes in the year. Did the average tourist pay less? Hmm, 7% VAT on a 1000 baht per night room is 70 baht.

[1] https://www.oecd.org/tax/tax-policy/revenue-statistics-asia-and-pacific-thailand.pdf

[2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/667800/number-of-adults-in-thailand/

14 hours ago, miketu said:

The hospitals in Israel and Iceland have overwhelmingly more vaccinated patients with covid than un-vaccinated.  Both of these countries have 80 to 90% vaccination rates, someone's lying to us.

50% of auto fatalities happen to people wearing seat belts and 90% of people wear seat belts (US numbers). Should one conclude from this that wearing seat belts doesn't matter? 

9 hours ago, pattayaorganic said:

Delta is a game changer. Vaccination doesn’t prevent or even reduce viral shedding. Clearly alternate policy goals need to be considered. 

On the other hand, the US CDC reports that viral load in breakthrough cases descreases remarkably after the forth day:

"Fully vaccinated adults infected with the Delta variant had a faster decline in viral load, implying a shorter duration of viral shedding during hospitalization, compared with unvaccinated adults."

https://www.cdc.gov/library/covid19/08132021_covidupdate.html

No doubt I reveal my lo-so-ness by saying that my first trip to MBK took my breath away. I felt that I had wandered onto the set (non-CGI) of a sci-fi film set at least fifty years in the future. No other mall had as great an impression. Well, maybe with the exception of the Mall of America, back in its heyday, and that impression was no doubt influenced by its having a Hooters in which I could hide out while family members shopped.

On 9/11/2021 at 4:29 AM, DaiHard said:

I was just highlighting the fact that it completely safe for humans.

I'm sorry to have misunderstood.

13 hours ago, DaiHard said:

In 2015, the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, in its only award for treatments of infectious diseases for six decades, . . .  ivermectin . . .

Is it being suggested that every Nobel prize for treatments of infectious diseases has produced a drug that will work against the current covid scourge? All 33 of them? 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971216300017

Talk about a non-sequitur! (It won a Nobel therefore it's a good treatment for a disease that arose years later.) 

Or perhaps something else was meant.

On 8/30/2021 at 10:23 AM, connda said:

It's too rich of an opportunity to display the Bangkok elite's power over the commoners

Yes and it will provide a splendid opportunity for them to show that they _are_ the elite. Just as they don't have to wait in line for anything. Does anyone think a chap driving up in his Fazzaz [1] with his dolly-de-jour [2] and parking in a handicapped spot will actually dig out and flash his green card at the entrance? What plebe would dare to question his right to enter? [3]

Vaccine passports, either you need them or you don't: don't you know who I am? What a great chance to show off to the world how special they are as they breezily enter wherever, preferably with abundant staff bowing and perhaps a little bit of scraping.

[1] Extra points for knowing this ancient reference to Ferrari. 

[2] Oh dear, is one allowed to use "dolly" in this context anymore?

[3] Anyone at what rank police and sojers get to play "know who I am" card among the big fish, say, in Thonglor?

On 8/30/2021 at 3:31 AM, connda said:

It's a stretch to believe a sample size of 1510 people is representative of the nation as a whole.

The science says otherwise. See, for instance the article titled "How can a poll of only 1,004 Americans represent 260 million people with only a 3 percent margin of error?" from Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/howcan-a-poll-of-only-100/  Or google 

poll size and population

for less technical explanations.

Of course the fine point here is the people being polled. The quoted accuracy depends on the pollees being selected truly at random. To attack a poll, sample selection is the place to start (see the polls saying Dewey would defeat Truman in 1948) . Or one can question how likely it is that the sampled people answered honestly (see the polls in the recent US presidential election).

20 hours ago, bojo said:

So, OP, the 'engine oil eating problem' that you mention initially by the sound of it, could possibly be different from your current problem of a leaking sump gasket (couldn't tell exactly from pics) which he has fixed with a sealant. Nothing wrong with that, quite common in older cars

Those wanting more info can see the concise summary here: http://casestudies.atlanticmotorcar.com/audi-engine-oil-consumption-correction/

In short, the original problem was internal, the current problem is external, and there seems to be no reason to believe that the 100K baht was ill-spent. If the sealant fixes the consumption rate (for now), then there is no reason to think that the original internal repairs were badly done. 

On 7/15/2021 at 6:58 AM, Sparktrader said:

Wow, what was he like ?

Very intense, in an artsy sort of way. Really into becoming a stage actor. Couldn't take a joke well, but never showed any violent tendencies that I noticed. A drunken football player once mistakenly broke into our room one night (he was on the wrong floor, thought it was his room) and my roomie cowered in his bed.

I changed roommates at the first opportunity; he wasn't fun to be around.

My first roommate at university has been on death row for several years awaiting execution. At the time he was convinced he would be a Broadway star.

Does anyone recall seeing what the numbers were for the nine (?) days in May when vaccinated travelers could get by with only 7 days of quarantine? How many were there and how many of them tested positive during those 7 days? I can't remember reading of any such.

16 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

Here’s something to think about as you wait for the good vaccines….the mean age of Covid fatalities in USA is 81.  The mean life expectancy: 78 years.  Probably  very similar here.

Rather more to the point is the fact that the average 80 year old USAan can expect to live for another nearly 8 years. Using very broad strokes, 600,000 covid deaths at an average of 8 years lost per life = nearly 5,000,000  person years consumed.

See https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

And in the future we will no doubt see haw that number was reduced by covid last year and this.

"Gathering to drink alcohol, in a way which may contribute to the spread of COVID-19 or which may cause a nuisance to other people, is . . .  banned".

I wonder if officials realize that they seem only to have banned gathering and not actual consumption? If people gather for a birthday party and later someone shows up with a bottle of the best, they should be home free. Of course the "may cause a nuisance" clause runs the other way; it doesn't say they have to have actually caused a nuisance to be liable to arrest, just that what they did "may cause a nuisance". Lots judgement calls = lots opportunities for funding . . . whatever.

I know that in normal times, a quick trip to the airport would be in order, paying the 20,000 baht fine on the way out, hoping not to be stopped by police before getting to the airport. Does anyone have an idea how to proceed in these covid times?

On a continent far away I have an old Thai language/grammar book that quotes the then reigning monarch expressing ideas similar to those you present. 

On 6/3/2021 at 11:38 AM, ColeBOzbourne said:

An interesting experiment, I've often wondered what the results of something like that might be.

If you have access to JSTOR, or the like, you might be interested in a study entitled 
"Speech Melody and Song Melody in Central Thailand" which includes information similar to the above as well as noting that, when presented with nonsense syllables spoken in one of the tones, native Thai speakers could not reliably identify the tones. Very interesting, at least to those who find such things interesting.

22 hours ago, Antonymous said:

The highest estimate I have read so far is that 37% of the US population has been vaccinated.

Googling "50% of americans vaccinated" brings up several stories updating that 37% to 39%. That's the percent of the total population including youths and children. 50.4% of adults have been fully vaccinated, and 81% of seniors.

5 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

Domestic tourism in the US is red hot.  Hotels selling out

Not what I experienced just now reserving a hotel at the Houston airport for two nights at the end of June. Total cost for the two nights is _less_ than what I paid for one night at a lesser hotel there in June two years ago. I have been checking the prices there for a couple of months; not much change. The prices are the lowest I've ever seen there ever before (been using IAH for transpacific flights for several years already).

2 hours ago, Guderian said:

 

Please provide a link, because that view is either outdated or incorrect. The latest findings I've seen regarding the AZ and Pfizer vaccines is that between 50% and 60% of people are still likely to be able to transmit the virus to others.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-56904993

 

That link points to a two week-old article that talks about the how well the _first_ of the two-dose mRNA vaccines works. 

Folks who have looked into getting a COE will have run across the very colorful chart explaining the workings and essentialness of the ThailandPlus app "required" on entry. Nary a word was spoken about it during my processing. (Perhaps its absence is in part responsible for the fact that I arrived at my ALSQ in Pattaya exactly two hours and five minutes from the moment the plane touched down.)

Have other recent arrivals found the same? I gather that it will work in lieu of using MorChana app.