Lacessit

There will always be people who want to dictate to others, human nature. I wear a mask out of politeness, although having had 3 vaccinations plus a brief bout of COVID, it is probably completely unnecessary. If other people choose not to wear a mask, it's none of my business, and I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist about it.

I am quite convinced if I had not already been vaccinated when I was infected with COVID, I might not be posting now. I am in the most vulnerable age cohort. I do hope if you and yours are infected with COVID, which is almost inevitable, your immune systems can handle it successfully. Assuming you have not had it already. I find the problem with many sources is they are expressing beliefs rather than hard evidence. We all tend to select for the data we prefer to believe in, it's called confirmation bias.

I do fail to understand why people who have presumably been vaccinated against polio, typhoid, tetanus and hepatitis suddenly think COVID vaccines are a malign conspiracy of some kind. The data is in, a small chance of dying, depending on age group, and a much bigger chance ( 10-20% in Australia ) of developing "long COVID", meaning months of recovery and remediation therapy. Why gamble, when the after-effects of infection are so easily avoidable?

Proton's question is reasonable, social media is rife with charlatans making various claims. You or I could spout any BS we fancy, all that is needed is a desk, a shelf of books behind us , a teleprompter,and a sincere expression. One of the funniest I saw was some pseudo-doctor who attempted to illustrate masks did not work. He was out by a factor of 10 on the diameter of coronavirus, and did not know water vapor is a gas, not a liquid.

I've had Sinovac and AZ. After those two jabs, I had mild COVID which lasted 3 days. Then I had a Pfizer jab. For me, COVID is now on a par with flu, which I have not had for decades. So it will be an annual flu shot, and an annual COVID shot. It seems to me with each new variant the death rate and "long COVID" rate declines further, quite prepared to stand corrected on that. On that basis, three or six month boosters appear to be overkill.

If someone tells me I am ignorant and need to educate myself, without knowing anything about me, I figure it's a waste of time engaging in any further discussion. On ignore now, goodbye.

Many Christians get very upset when I prove many of their holiest days originated with pagan festivals, just as Muslims get upset when I point out Mohammed was a pedophile. I'd probably have religious extremists ( now there's a tautology ) trying to hunt me down if I was on Facebook or Twitter, so I don't bother.

If the OP is on Facebook, IMO it's a clear case of a self-inflicted wound.

The life of galvanised pipes is dependent on water quality. A high Langelier scaling index means the pipes will probably outlast you by many years. A low one, no. PVC pipes are only attacked by organics, such as kitchen oils. If you see red rust inside a galvanised pipe, it's definitely time to replace it. Rust means the cathodic protection of the zinc coating has failed.

Not just far from beaten, the Russians are being handed their a###s in Ukraine, according to a Dr. Ledwidge of the Institute for the Study of War. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-08/putin-victory-day-speech-may-have-clues-on-russia-ukraine-plan/101014774 If the EU bans Russian oil and gas, Russia will become a failed state. No income, a ruined economy, and a discredited military. All due to the overweening ambition of one person.

Shouldn't that be telling you something about the comparative value?

When one is ten, one year is 10% of your life. When one is 50 yo, it is only 2%. And so on. Time relativism, the rate at which time passes depends on your frame of reference.

Sons in Thailand are treated like gods by all the family, spoiled rotten. You don't count. Either learn to live with it, or dump the mother in favor of one who only has girls. IME the majority of teenage boys here would greatly benefit from a good kick up their backsides.

One may well ask how many narrow-minded religious bigots conservative presidents have installed on the Supreme Court as well. You may not have noticed, this is an open forum where everyone is free to express their opinions, so your suggestion to stay out of US politics will be treated with the contempt it deserves.

I've always wondered how some of the stores in Promenada stayed open, I never saw a customer in them. The upmarket brands. The restaurant next to Rimping was good value, a 3-course lunch for 120 baht IIRC. Perhaps the dumbest decision was to situate the food court on the top floor, who wants to eat a meal in a sauna? It will be interesting to see what happens to it.

I divide my time between my GF's house in the village, and a condo. She's a good woman who looks after me very well, but 2-3 days in the village is enough for me. If she were to die before me, I'd be sad. We have done a lot together. Whether I continued in the village would depend on the attitude of the rest of the family. I would be quite comfortable with walking away if that was what they wanted. I don't think I'd have to worry about finding a replacement, I can think of two women right now who would be lining up to take care of me if she died. Provided I took care of them, of course.

I would have become a multi-millionaire by following my own advice. I would have refused to have any relationship with a Western woman that lasted a year, due to punitive family laws in Australia. I probably would have retired at age 45 or so, independently wealthy, and come straight to Thailand for the rest of my life.

I've never been mugged; however, there are places where I have felt safe. Japan and Thailand are among them. OTOH, I was always very wary in the USA, and it wasn't just muggers I was on guard against.

You think religions should be off limits for comment? Or women should be told what to do with their own bodies? What an ignorant and intolerant post.

There is scarcely any packaged foodstuff in Thailand that does not have sugar in it. I am accustomed to reading น้ำตาล on all the labels. I recently bought some tinned coffee that was labelled "less sugar", it was actually sweeter than the brand I normally drink.

That is a two-edged sword, if China invades Taiwan I should imagine Australia will do the same to China as the West has done with Putin's Russia, i.e. freeze, or confiscate.

10 - 14 days is quite normal for some antibiotics. Doxycycline is an antibiotic, prescribed as an anti-malarial prophylactic. Recommended use is to take 100 mg/day while traveling in a designated malarial area, then for 28 days after leaving the area. Ending a course of antibiotics early may result in the infection coming back, with increased resistance to antibiotics.

You're in Khon Kaen, I am in Chiang Rai. Plenty of baking soda stocked in Tops and Big C here. Sounds more like some kind of distribution snafu to me.

You may be right, my impression is it is difficult to get doctors to prescribe them, a holdover from when the Thai government was trying to stamp out the opium trade in the Golden Triangle. When my GF's father was dying of kidney failure a couple of months ago, the only medication he got from the provincial hospital was paracetamol. AFAIK oxycodone is a no-no.

OP, you will need to take care of your mental and physical health. That means regular exercise of both faculties. There is sugar in just about everything here, so Type 2 diabetes is a distinct possibility with advancing age. There is no PBS here, and opioid painkillers are prohibited. The best one can hope for to relieve pain is Ibuprofen and paracetamol. Be aware the latter in combination with alcohol can cause severe liver damage. Use it or lose it. IMO the most comprehensive advice posted is from 4MyEgo. Good luck.