Lacessit

Unfortunately, the new information in relation to climate change is trending to worse model predictions, not better. Back on topic, vaccines make progress too, based on new information. Novavax has just been approved for use in Australia. I suppose some in the medical science field are wondering if it is possible to come up with a vaccine that would be acceptable to anti-vaxxers. Or perhaps the dogma of anti-vaxxers would never allow it.

I was referring to having the infection, getting over it, and getting tested a month or whatever afterwards. I went to Mengrai Labs in Chiang Rai, and asked to be tested for COVID antibodies. That was two weeks after my second vaccination. Result 64 U/mL. No vaccine police hauled me off to hospital. OTOH, when myself and my GF tested positive with RAT kits, we were given one hour to assemble our belongings for a 14 day stay in a quarantine ward. Which did not cost me a single baht. IMO the Thai government would do itself a tourism favor by allowing foreigners to choose between a private and a public hospital for quarantine, although I have to say the public facilities were quite spartan.

I think you've misunderstood me. If he gets tested, and has a viable antibody count, that is reassurance he has acquired some immunity. That's a problem? I don't know the incidence of false positives with PCR tests. RAT/ATK tests, IMO false positives are virtually impossible. False negatives are quite frequent in poorly designed kits, as the Thai health authorities found out with the Lepu brand.

It is also removable with acetone, AKA nail polish remover.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I understand you and Ms Rumak are very much keeping to yourselves, and minimizing contacts. I am not sure how effective that will be, given the extreme infectiousness of the omicron variant. Take a look at what is happening in Australia, it's spreading like wildfire. It's possible you have already been infected, and did not know. The only way to know for sure is if you consult the profession you prefer to avoid, and get tested for antibodies. OTOH, having been vaccinated twice, and contracted COVID once, I consider I am fairly bulletproof, although I still take normal precautions, such as masks and hand washing. I play golf, go shopping, in general move freely. It's a misrepresentation to say people are being jailed for not taking vaccines. They are being jailed for breaking laws such as breaches of quarantine. True, they are being discriminated against, but that's because it's a legal minefield to allow potentially infectious unvaccinated people carte blanche in what they can do. If you were a dentist, would you want to work on the open mouth of an unvaccinated person? OK, 40% death rate is scaremongering. Given the choice of an effective vaccine or bring it on, what would you do. You're a decent person, we happen to think differently, coming from different backgrounds. Stay well.

I have BPH as well as the other problems I mentioned, possibly I'll need a TURP in a couple of years. I agree medical science has progressed, and I sympathise with your situation. Sounds ugly. The medical profession is still feeling its way in terms of dealing with COVID. New vaccines, new therapies. I don't know if anyone has developed a useful prophylactic, despite all the BS about ivermectin. One of the problems for good science in the COVID era is its collision with political imperatives and social media. I have an ingrained skepticism about pharmaceuticals in Thailand, IMO many doctors here are just shills for the industry. I check side effects and interactions of every drug I am prescribed. I also respect statistics which say in my age cohort I am far more likely to die or be impaired unvaccinated than vaccinated. Having had COVID, I think I am living proof of that, albeit a statistical sample of one. Because you have had a bad time with medicos, that is no reason to reject everything to do with the medical profession from then on.

Are you in daily physical pain? That would be the only reason to say cancer is worse than death. Mental pain may well be self-inflicted. I've had four or five surgeries for bladder cancer, two for squamous cell carcinomas. I also have chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which may or may not be compromising my immune system. It's about quality of life. If that is bad, I agree, life would suck for me as well. I'm just not sure how your statement relates to a pandemic which for the majority of people is entirely preventable.

A Kia Stinger will leave you in the dust.

I play golf to enjoy it now. To me, there is no point in playing off the whites if I am going to do nothing but hit 3-woods for my second or even third shot all the time. Boring. I can break 40 around the shorter nines about 50% of the time. My aim is to break my age, have equaled it a couple of times. I play at least once a week with a Thai couple. He's 83, she is a very sprightly 81 yo. About 20% of the time, she will succeed in outdriving me, which brings a big smile to her face. Long swing arc. She's working on beating me off the stick, unsuccessful thus far. When I owned the Merc, the service bills were a lot more than I was paying for my golf. One invoice would have paid for six months'worth of caddies.

Of course you would, I am 78 yo. Duh. Although if you were to play off the blacks while I played off the reds, it might not be as easy as you think. But you would never experience the "in the zone" feelings I have had in winning championships. While I have never tried illicit drugs, I imagine the natural high is like that. Even at 20 yo, it's too late. BTW, the most highly paid athlete in sporting history is Michael Jordan. Second, third and fourth spots are filled by golfers - Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. I doubt they or their sponsors regard golf as a waste of time and money, neither do 440 million golfers.

Too late. One has to start at age ten or less to win championships later on. You would be incapable of training muscle memory or developing the necessary flexibility to that level at your age. Then there is the mental side. No amount of money can buy anyone a good golf game, and there's only frustration if it is played poorly. Golf is a metaphor for life, it tests character, patience, concentration and resolve. One of my measures of success in life is how I have done in my 65 years of playing golf. One of your measures is being able to drive a Mercedes. Each to his own.

I'm making the point money can't buy class. Even if people think buying a Mercedes does. Usually, people who don't play golf because they think it's a waste of money and time would be incompetent at it, that's a given.

I guess you've never heard of a Nissan GTR. Or the Toyota offshoot, Lexus. Just as luxurious as any of the Germans. Toyota outsells Mercedes and BMW combined two to one worldwide. There's a reason for that, reliability. Who are you trying to kid? A Mercedes 200C is just another sedan in Europe, they are used as taxis. These secondhand Toyotas are imported into Myanmar after two years in Japan. I really doubt the owners would agree with your description of Toyota crappy. Big, solid, comfortable, and quiet.

You ask them to talk to your previous landlord.

Warren Buffet was known for driving a 10 yo car, it depends on priorities and motivations. Before I came to Thailand, I was a member of the National Golf Club in Australia. https://www.nationalgolf.com.au/cms/ The membership was a mixed bag, as usual. There were two groups that were notable in my eyes. The first were seriously wealthy people. Old money. They kept a level head about their good fortune, had good manners, and were ferociously competitive at golf. A couple of them are still my friends. Sadly, several have passed away. The second group were newly wealthy. They bought a new set of clubs every six months, and had lessons with the club professionals. Hackers. Drove Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Maseratis. As pleasant as dog turds to play with, talked incessantly about money while searching for the balls they had mostly in the rough, sand traps and trees. Treated the golf club staff like dirt. I doubt whether they enjoyed the golf, it was more about the prestige of belonging to what is still IMO one of the best sporting facilities in Australia. They were in for a rude awakening if they thought their money could buy them a good golf swing. You see where I am going with this? Apologies if I've gone too far off topic.

I'm retired. Reasonably modest circumstances, but my GF's house is paid for, as is my condo. I live as I want to. I last owed money back in 1974. I will run out of money when I am 105. Anyone coming on this forum and boasting of their possessions and income IMO really is as shallow as a mud puddle. That's assuming they are not posting BS. If I had the money to buy one of the Germans new, I wouldn't now. I'd be spending it on a hot hatch, such as the Hyundai i30N. Something I could have fun with.

I have not paid security deposits for many years. I just look for a landlord who wants a trouble-free tenant, who looks after their property as if it is their own. Pays rent a couple of days ahead of due date, without fail. Did that in Australia, did it in Thailand after two years here. Every landlord and agent I have ever had, said they were sorry to lose me as a tenant.

On that logic, it would be reasonable to expect US Immigration to speak Chinese, Hindi and Spanish. After all, they are the most frequently spoken languages after English.

Educate drivers of any vehicle into pulling over to answer their phone, and continue the conversation parked well away from traffic. That's what I have taught my Thai GF. Unfortunately, driver education here is more conspicuous by its absence.

I wouldn't say a capital outlay of 2-4 million baht on a car is insignificant, that's more than the cost of many condo apartments. IMO spending that amount of money on a depreciating asset is downright stupid, unless your income or assets are so massive it is a fleabite in comparison. I'd suggest there are not many people in Thailand in that category, more likely some are stretching their finances so they can impress their relatives, friends and neighbors. I guess I wanted the experience of owning a Benz. If that's cachet, so be it. I've had the experience, no desire whatsoever to repeat it. I was more interested in it as a performance vehicle. If you want to keep insinuating I'm as shallow as a mud puddle, IMO I'm a bit more complex than that. I understand some years ago, the list of quality defects in new Beemers occupied 34 pages. Having said that, I also understand in Australia, BMW has the reputation of looking after its customers, even to the point of fixing problems that occur outside the warranty period. Unlike Mercedes, who have acquired a dismal reputation even inside warranty. As I said before, I have no idea if the same metric applies in Thailand.

There are some statistics which are impossible to explain away. For example, the statistical data that says a smoker is 20 times more likely to die of lung cancer than a non-smoker, although the tobacco industry gave it one hell of a shot over decades trying to explain that inconvenient number. Similarly, anti-vaxxers find it difficult to explain the statistic that says if they get COVID, they are far more likely to occupy a hospital bed or ICU than a vaccinated person. They are far more likely to be spreading COVID, because the duration of the illness is longer, and the symptoms more severe. And they wonder why vaccinated people get impatient.

Hands-free phones IMO are OK, it should be possible for people to be able to talk, breathe and drive contemporaneously. Studies have shown using one's hands with a phone has the same impairment level as drink driving. It's no wonder Thailand has so many motorcycle fatalities, using a phone on one of them is probably a lot more hazardous than using one inside a car.

Sir bought a used one here, which was a massive financial mistake. I thought by spending on restoration I could return it to its former glory. I can't say if I bought it for cachet, more so I could go fast in it on wide highways. It did stick to the road like glue, and felt very solid. IMO buying a new Benz here would have been an even bigger mistake, due to the huge tariffs levied, and the fact the brand has deteriorated in reliability. The Japanese and Korean makes have the Germans whipped in that attribute. I am still driving a 16 yo Toyota Vios, which has been driven all over northern Thailand, has never let me down, and is still going strong. I bought it before the Benz. My mechanic loves it because it is simple to work on, and what he charges is a pittance compared to what I had to shell out for the Benz. In addition, he does a lot better job of maintaining it than the Benz dealership I went to ever did. Call it an old man's toy/folly.

Wanted a refund from Air Asia about ten years ago, IIRC 2000 baht. Never got it, so I never flew with them again. Pre Covid, I was flying back to Melbourne business class every six months. Airfare one way 16,000 - 20,000. I was also using them for the Bangkok-Chiang Mai leg when I came back. I figure their decision to avoid making the refund lost them at least 150,000 baht in airfares that went to a competitor. Cheat your customers, and it won't be long before you have none, no matter how many glitzy advertising campaigns you run.

I owned a Benz here a few years ago. After breaking down in traffic twice, and having to be towed, I got shot of it. Bloody thing was a money pit. I suppose there are people that think owning a Benz or a Beemer is a kind of cachet for their success in life. TBH, owning a modern Japanese or Korean car is much less stressful on the wallet in terms of maintenance. IMO the engineering is just as good, and they are much better value for money in terms of capital outlay. Last time I looked a couple of years ago, the Kia Stinger was about AUD 20K less than the corresponding Mercedes 200 SLK,and the turbo delivered 30% more power. I don't know what the situation is in Thailand, but in Australia, when it comes to problems under warranty, Mercedes has acquired the reputation of throwing its customers under a bus. The only reason I can think of for owning one of the Germans is masochism.