Senior Player

I should add that for Britons aged 50 and over, they should already have enough robust protection against this virus as the vast majority would have had the smallpox jab as a child or as a teen. Britons were routinely offered smallpox jabs until the 1970s, when the scheme was deemed no longer necessary because the virus had been beaten into submission. Similar programmes were wound down across the world at the same time. There's plenty of articles available online about this, so don't let the WHO panic you into yet another Chicken Little scenario.

8 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

Base on your response I went back to story read click the BBC,  I see no video? 

Based on his word he said he saw I'm wondering until I do find and see the video if he knew the guy had grabbed from behind came to attack from behind there he must I have seen it coming. 

There's a video on the DM site. I'm sure it's carried elsewhere, too.

4 minutes ago, darrendsd said:

I agree, I'm sick of these go fund me stories, he could be home in 18 hours but is waiting to raise 15k which could take weeks to have the operation in Thailand?  

 

Something wrong here

There's been plenty of criminal cases that have fallen apart when the victim has returned home from Thailand. It would probably suit the police for it to be an open-and-shut case as the story would then go away.

No, I can fully understand why the victim needs to remain in Thailand to see that justice is carried out. Then there's the medical advice that he's been purported to have received from his doctor, stating that high pressure cabin airplanes can induce serious reactions when carrying contusion injuries. There is a thing about being medically sound to fly and the airlines might even refuse to take him.

2 minutes ago, BestB said:

personally what i find pathetic is not so much that he used a dumbbell, but the fact that he intentionally went to get out, which was out of his way and attacked while other guy was doing his set and from the back. I have seen rages in the gyms where guys throw dumbbells or plates into other guys heads, but this low life went out of his way, specifically to get a dumbbell and funny enough got the lightest one he could find(perhaps could not lift anything heavier? lol)

Yes, it was a cowardly attack. I still can't understand why the perp just couldn't wait a few more minutes until the other guy had finished his short set rather than try to bludgeon him to death. Without knowing the psychological makeup of the attacker, I'd say he's someone that's used to getting his own way and doesn't like it when he doesn't. I think it's called self-entitlement.

2 minutes ago, BestB said:

indeed, only the attacker is not on holidays, he is an expat living in Pattaya for 5 years ???? which actually works in victims favor because attacker clearly planning to live here, and if he does not pay, it may result in jail term and deportation

Interesting. I thought I read in an earlier post that the attacker was also there on a 6-month holiday visa. Thanks for clearing that up. And you're quite right, the fact that the attacker has been residing there for 5 years hopefully goes in the victim's favour. Nasty business and so unnecessary. 

6 minutes ago, BestB said:

He did have insurance but it ran out few weeks prior to incident, he could not renew it because he was already overseas and as he admitted he thought its the end of the holiday, so nothing to worry about, as he was about to go back home anyway

Once again, thanks for joining the dots. It sounds like he extended his holiday stay out there, like many thousands do, hence why his insurance ran out slightly early. Most unfortunate that he happened to bump into a deranged holidaymaker on his remaining last few weeks.

23 minutes ago, Rocking Robert said:

Well I’m sure his insurance will pay for it and surely he did have insurance only ###would travel without insurance

Yes, because travel insurance companies are world renown for quickly paying up when you're in dire need of urgent medical care. Without knowing the victim's insurance policy, he might have been told they need a police report before they process his claim. There could be many extenuating circumstances preventing him from still receiving the money to pay for his own medical bills.

On 5/25/2022 at 12:42 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

According to WHO....

Can I stop you right there? The WHO have a vested interest in keeping the general populace in a constant state of alarm due to them wanting every country in the world to sign-up to their Global Pandemic Treaty... And don't let the WaPo or any other mealy mouthed publication tell you otherwise.

There's plenty of expert virologists that will give you the straight facts about the monkey pox without the fear factor.

20 minutes ago, BestB said:

If you watch the interview, guy was actually caught on the spot, he did not get away, other members blocked him from leaving. He showed up to police interview with a lawyer, and made an offer of 100 000, which was turned down (naturally) as it is right now, i am guessing some negotiations taking place behind closed doors and case getting ready to go to court.

 

Attacker would have to pay the victim, plus cover all medical and pay lets call it police fine.

 

Attacker claims he has no money, but he sold his house and dojo in UK just recently, so he does have the money.

 

If i had to guess, he will fight it for a while and then cover all medical and most likely few baht to the victim and perhaps good behavior, but because it made international news, it may also go the other way, where he ends up in court and jailed

Thanks for adding more grist to the mill. The article I read in a British paper missed out a lot of those extra details. Though the victim, Gary Reed, did state: "This guy was still trying to hit me but I was strong enough to overpower him then he legged it." So it's understandable why some of us have got the impression the perp hightailed it out of there after the attack. 

11 minutes ago, wombat said:

i refer you to any of the Pattaya social media pages as to your answer for that one

Not every assault or go fund me is a scam, but I do take your point about some being just that. In this particular instance, it looks totally legit. Otherwise, it's one helluva an elaborate scam to get the British press, hospital, gym and everybody else involved in on it. Sometimes there are genuine cases that deserve our compassion rather than inbred cynicism.

39 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Got a link for that? It would be interesting to know what he actually said.

It was featured in a rival publication, so if I post a link, it'll be removed. You can Google "Anutin Charnvirakul has agreed to launch an investigation to find out why so many people have died from Covid-19 despite having had three vaccination shots" and get the desired result. Alternatively, there's this site below which has more of the same details, but it's behind a paywall...

https://www.trialsitenews.com/a/thailand-health-minister-launches-investigation-into-why-covid-19-vaccinated-persons-dying-from-sars-cov-2-807c1b87

I will add that the feature also stated: "Records showed that most deaths were among senior citizens and people with chronic diseases." 

Though this is welcome news, I don't believe for one minute that the Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul will make an early decision on dropping the Thailand Pass for foreigners until late June. That's another 4 weeks away. 

Dr Kiatiphum said that more restrictions will be lifted so people can live almost as before, but under new normal requirements. Depending on what these "new normal requirements" are, I still won't be making a decision on whether I'll be booking a flight to Thailand this year for my long vacation. I'll need to read the small print first.

Just for those that are interested in travelling to Thailand as a holiday destination—and not those that hold temporary resident visas—the Ministry of Public Health has given a loose time frame for when it will decide upon dropping the Thailand Pass for foreigners. 

"It's possible that we will cancel the registration requirement of Thailand Pass for foreigners. We need one more month then we will have a clear answer," Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul said.

So don't expect to hear a decision on dropping the Thailand Pass for foreigners until late June at the earliest.

16 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I never said Thailand has the right to deal with anything.

Sorry, the auto quote function has assigned your name to sandyf's. I'll see whether I can go back and re-edit and correct it. 

35 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Why should unvaccinated people be discriminated against?

I agree. Why should the so-called unvaccinated be discriminated against? It's Covid Puritanism in my book.

And, what exactly constitutes the unvaccinated? Having had your 2 main Covid shots but not your cyclical boosters that wane in just a few weeks or months (depending on which study you've read)?

It's interesting to note that Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has agreed to launch an investigation to find out why so many people have died from Covid-19 despite having had three vaccination shots. So clearly these three shots haven't worked for everybody. Just sayin'.

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

I am not a tourist, lived here since 2008. Last year I went back to UK in Aug and cmae back in Oct. I had to do 4 PCR test, Passenger Locator Form and 6 days quarantine to get into the UK, it was easier to return to Thailand.

Point is: if you came to the UK now, you wouldn't have to do any of those things, unlike Thailand today. All those restrictions you cited were dropped in March. Last August was a very different world to present day Earth, so what the UK was doing back in the summer of 2021 has no relevance today.

Not if Thailand signs up to the WHO's Pandemic Treaty, which will handover all its pandemic sovereignty to them in the near future. Then they will no longer have the right to deal with things as they see fit.

7 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Well...  in that area of Pattaya its difficult for some to tell what has nuts and what doesn’t !!! 

Precisely. Which is good enough reason not to dine-out abroad if you suffer from anaphylaxis. Why take the risk? Rent a condo and prepare the food yourself to be on the safe side.

11 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

In the same manner we can test with a lateral flow test for Covid-19 - surely there must be a similar manner we can test for allergens such as shrimp, seafood, peanuts etc...  

I'm not entirely convinced these lateral flow tests really work. Any number of them can give-off false positives or negative results. The irony of all ironies, I see Jimmy Kimmel has tested positive again for Covid twice in just two weeks!! And I've still yet to catch it once.

This story posted on Facebook does seem rather odd. The woman did show a level of naivety by eating at a eat-all-you-can buffet and not double-checking the food she'd just spooned onto her plate first. And it's really their word against the waiter's. It certainly doesn't help that she didn't notice the prawn on her fork, and neither did her partner, who should've sampled the food first before she did as it's such a big concern.

Reminds me of a moment when I overhead an Aussie diner asking a waitress in a Soi Buakhao cafe did the dish he wanted contain nuts as he had a life-threatening allergy called anaphylaxis. The waitress DID ask the chef and came back and told him it didn't. Fortunately for him the chef was right. But it did make me wonder how a person can go confidently on holiday and put their trust in a restaurant that they're unacquainted with, especially when they have a life-threatening allergy. If it was me, I probably wouldn't risk it and stay home or prepare my own food in a rented condo.

It's always a jolly wheeze to read the fantasy-based news releases from the dreamy TAT. If they really want Thai tourism to boom again, then get rid of the childish and useless restrictions. No more Thailand Pass, vax or testing proof. No more forced Covid insurance and end the superstitious muzzle wearing habit.

On 5/12/2022 at 1:00 AM, hotchilli said:

I personally don't have an issue with face mask wearing.

On flights or in close proximity to others in any location, it means I don't get infected with anything.

Just out of curiosity, do you intend to keep your mask on for the full duration of your long-haul flight (whether that be 12 hours +) or will you remove it for essential refreshments such as food and water? And if you DO remove your mask temporarily, why do you then think a circulating virus wouldn't choose that exact moment to infect you, especially as everybody else has removed their masks to replenish their bodies?

Personally, I don't have a problem if people want to adopt one-way masking, meaning they wear a mask in the belief that they are protecting themselves. But to insist that everybody else wear one because they don't trust their own vaccines or are hypochondriacs, has smacks of being stuck in a priggish world of Covid Puritanism. Just saying.

On 5/9/2022 at 6:04 PM, Stargeezr said:

Meanwhile the lockdowns in China continue. Is that because the original

COVID variant was reported from there, and still likely exists

in small pockets around the country. How about the origin areas of the

other variants of COVID, is that variant still in existence?

The original went the way of the dinosaurs over a year ago, at least in humans, according to Dr. George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UC San Francisco. It's been displaced. Elbowed out of the way by the newer, more competitive strains which we've seen since, starting with Alpha, Beta, Delta and now Omicron.

The subvariant causing problems in China is the Omicron variant, not the original virus from 2019/20. The reason that China is going for another lockdown is due to their strict Zero-Covid policy. And now Xi Jinping is acting like King Canute.

It's great that Thailand is on track to soon declare Covid endemic, but what are they going to do with this new status? Are they still going to continue with their red-tape and make entry into Thailand still problematic, or will they learn to live with it like many countries in the West are doing and reopen properly?

The FTI expects a brighter economic outlook in the second half of this year, depending on how many foreign tourists come to the country following the easing of mandatory entry rules.

Well, temper your expectations, Thailand. Until you learn to live with Covid and bin all your Covid red-tape, the majority of the travellers will be staying away in their droves.