Lacessit

9 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

The problem with that conspiracy theory is that if someone in the Village dies of Covid, their family members, medical personnel, temple workers, etc will likely be infected. That would be hard to cover up. 

 

Realistically, in the village, if someone coughs, rumors about their having Covid start. 

This is quite novel, being called a conspiracy theorist.

I was told by a Thai guy who sells me chicken biryani the government hospital in Chiang Rai has 200 COVID patients in quarantine. At the same point in time, the official number for the whole of Chiang Rai province was 53 people. So who would you believe? Especially when my GF's village alone had 10 COVID patients taken to hospital as of yesterday.

As for the cremation conspiracy theory, to me it makes perfect sense a patient dying of COVID would be cremated where they died, and not returned to their home village. That's not conspiracy, that's basic epidemiology, and would no doubt be explained to grieving relatives as such.

6 minutes ago, Brierley said:

Yes, possible so. Anecdotally however, the crematoria in our village has seen no more and no less activity than it always has in the past, others seem to report similar observations.  

Do you really think any health authority in Thailand will sanction bringing back a body where the cause of death is COVID-related to the village where it occurred?

6 hours ago, Britman Free said:

Denial + Being Old & Fat and hanging round the wrong types ????????

According to the World Obesity Foundation, one is ten times more likely to die from a COVID-19 infection if one is obese. Vietnam has one of the lowest death rates of this pandemic, and also the lowest level of obesity.

Come to think of it, when I was in Vietnam on holiday a few years ago, McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut were conspicuous by their absence.

10 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Im wondering if this is the best a Military government can do, then how is the army run,

My experience of people who have spent their lives in the military are usually pretty well organised 

Perhaps you have missed the information Thailand has 1700 flag officers for a ratio of one to every 212 troops, whereas the USA has 920 flag officers, one for every 1430 troops. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians springs to mind.

Nothing to do with effective organisation, here it's all about getting the best postings, and enriching oneself.

Peera Pharmacy in Chiang Mai sells online, the female pharmacist speaks and writes very good English. LINE account, www.facebook.com/peerapharmacy.

My GF's village is fairly isolated, but 10 people have been carted off to the government hospital in Chiang Rai with COVID symptoms to date. The village is in lockdown; however, while they are checking cars in and out, scooters can use other routes that are not completely blocked.

I'm buying my beer from the local store from across a rope at the entrance, all the locals are wearing masks. Although I think the horse has well and truly bolted. It's now a tossup whether I am safer in the village, or in the Chiang Rai condo.

IMO time for the government to stop faffing about, accept tourism is dead and follow the science. Lock down travel between provinces for a month or two, shut the borders, provide financial support for those out of work.

2 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

Yes they unmistakeably exist in the heads of many people active in this thread, but I still haven't seen any proof that they are facts, and not just suggestions made in a poll

We will just have to wait and see, won't we?

You did use the adverb "only". Are you a yachtsman?

1 hour ago, Susco said:

 

Oh yes, I completely understand that all the points he brought up, exist only in his head.

 

Maybe you can point to credible sources that foreigners will be forced to be vaccinated with a specific vaccine, and at which price.

This is Thailand, anything can happen. Unless you are claiming to be omniscient, I daresay the points I brought up exist in other people's heads as well.

1 hour ago, GreasyFingers said:

I had a similar problem with some Australian banks that could not accept an international phone number (their database was not adequate for this digital world). This was when my carrier Telstra stopped international roaming on pre paid accounts.

I use a credit union in Australia, they have a phone contact number to verbally verify online transfers with various security questions.

Latrobe Financial sends a SMS code to my Thai mobile for completing my login.

Phone calls to Australia from Thailand are very cheap, usually 20 - 40 baht.

As far as passwords go, every site that needs one has an individual password, the incomplete passwords are then stored in a LibreOffice file accessible only via a thumb drive. Example password: .S.........&. The OS on my laptop and desktop are MX Linux, hackers are focused on Microsoft and Mac. Decentraleyes, Privacy Badger, uBlock and Cookie Autodelete are also there.

Paranoid maybe, but as Kissinger said, even paranoids have enemies.

Usually water about 95%, ethanol about 5%, with any slack being taken up by minor additives.

I don't know why, but I can drink Leo and Archa in comfort. Singha and Chang both give me a headache.

5 minutes ago, wprime said:

 

So what you're saying is tipping is only mandatory if you plan to visit the establishment again.

I keep it simple, I don't tip if I am dissatisfied with the service, and I never go back either.

I'd suggest anyone staying in a US town would run out of places to go if they never tipped.

As far as Thailand is concerned, I tip because I know what staff earn here, and their earnings are miniscule.

Boiling water will guarantee bacteria, viruses and oocysts do not survive. It will also eliminate chlorine by steam distillation, and MAY denature some pesticides. It will do nothing as far as heavy metals are concerned.

The cheap way to eliminate heavy metals is to pass the water through fine steel wool. A more expensive solution is activated carbon, or reverse osmosis.

8 hours ago, sandyf said:

Every government has the right to make the mistakes they feel appropriate at the time. Unless you are in full possession of the facts unsubstantiated comment is not helpful.

 

Frank Herbert nailed it in his book, The Dosadi Experiment.

Abridged version:

"The military mentality is a bandit and raider mentality. All military represents a form of organized banditry where conventional mores do not prevail, rationalizing rape, murder, looting and other forms of theft as part of warfare. Denied an outside target, this mentality always turns against its own civilian population, using identical rationalizations".

IMO Prayut etc. are making sure they are protected, the rest of the population will just have to take its chances.

Perhaps you missed the broadcast where Prayut was vaccinated against COVID on national television.

Certainly Herbert's observation is playing out in its entirety in Myanmar.

13 minutes ago, connda said:

Walking and calisthenics.  They closed the gym I go to also.  It hasn't stopped me from exercising.

Plenty of exercise videos on YouTube.

When I was a smoker ( quit 1983 ) my lung capacity was 3.5 litres. After that, it increased to 6 litres with exercise.

Assuming coronavirus reduces lung capacity by 50%, an infected smoker is not getting much oxygen with only 2 litres available.

6 hours ago, Surasak said:

I have a dinner table, only because if I were to get down on the floor, I would never get back up again.

Even the most obese Thais seem to have the ability to fold themselves like a pretzel. I guess if you are sitting on the floor from birth, chairs are unnecessary and effete.