Trip Hop

2 hours ago, LikeItHot said:

Go to the nearest 1%'r bar and ask for one with cash in hand 

An approach like that would end up with you being told in no uncertain terms to <deleted> off? If you didn’t heed that polite warning it would most probably end up with you getting a severe kicking?

I suggest that you stop watching so much Sons of Anarchy and thinking that you know about the 1% sub-culture before you get yourself and possibly others in a lot of trouble with your wild suggestions?

1 hour ago, LikeItHot said:

Interpol does not issue warrants. International or any other kind.

I suggest that you read up on Interpol Red Notices?

4 hours ago, grain said:

I watched the vid last night but it may have been shot a day or 2 or 3 earlier. I was just surprised when the video went past TT there were a dozen or more in full PPE and tables set up and I saw them poking around up one guy's snout. I also noticed there were sections cordoned off with tape, like the cops do at crime scenes. 

Might have been shot even earlier as I passed through about 10 days ago and there was no longer any sign of the testers? Perhaps someone local can confirm?

You’ve got to laugh at the amount and type of PPE they wear though? Mind you there were quite a few travelers dressed exactly the same at the airport on the way home?

3 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

Expat insurance policies will almost always pay a hospital directly but many travel policies do not, or do so only by special arrangement.

As stated I think it depends who you are with when it comes to travel insurance? My bill at the Bangkok Samui some years ago was a shade over £500, so was settled direct as described. The experience was not the best though as despite them having the policy and the insurance agent’s confirmation that they would pay, until the money was in the bank, I was made to feel like a criminal and even tailed by a security guard every time that I went outside for a smoke. Because of this I just went to one of the local hospitals for my follow up jabs. Excellent treatment at the Bangkok Samui but their attitude just stank!

18 minutes ago, nahkit said:

3 people on a motorbike, what are you thinking of, you could start a riot on here with loose posting like that!

 

(I've got  the 150i click and I really like it for short trips)

My preference is the Aerox but too big for her and lacks the practicality of the flat step through floor that’s good for bags.  The Click 150i is a good bike and easier to park in town. 

I’ve just been through the process and bought one for the G/F to use on short trips instead of her pick-up and for me to use whilst I’m out here. As someone who’s ridden bikes on and off road for over 45 years and can rebuild engines, my advice if you’re planning to keep it a while would always be to buy new, preferably cash if you can because finance deals here are not that inviting? Second hand prices are also extremely high here compared to the west and I’ve seen some shops asking silly money for what is basically a high mileage ex-rental bike? Plenty of these often pose as private sellers but if you click on their other items for sale on websites such as BahtSold, they somehow have a fleet of bikes?  The majority of Thais by nature are somewhat adverse to maintenance and have the attitude that if it’s not broke why worry? Therefore you don’t really know what you’re buying and the same applies for auctions if you don’t know what you’re doing?

If you’re not too big physically and can get the 3 of you on a Click, I’d go for the 150i model which has the same power as the old PCX? As other posters have said, maintenance is cheap here, so keep it serviced when due and keep the receipts or get the book stamped? Honda engines are one of the toughest in the world so if you follow this, the bike will last you a long time. Additionally, if it’s looked after maintenance wise, if ever you want to sell, you shouldn’t have any problems and will get a decent price back?

1 hour ago, BangkokReady said:

Would have come in regardless, as it did with Thais for all the other variants.

 

Just racism to try and blame Thailand's problems on foreigners.  Sad.

I wonder who they would try to blame if Thailand had its own mutation? Most probably keep quiet until they allow it to transmit outside then blame them?

17 hours ago, arithai12 said:

 

 

Apart from the cost, it is some pain to find the lab, match the timing with the flight schedule, get appointments. Enough to make tourists think twice.

 

 

The extra cost was neither here nor there for me due to not having a holiday for 2 years. However as you say, the ball ache of having to schedule it all and the stress of waiting for your results will put a lot of people off coming. I was lucky that there was a lab within 30 minutes of work and I could slip away for an hour but not all people can do this, so it could be another day off their holiday entitlement?

I’m aware of certain companies in the UK developing their own type of Covid pass app combined with high accuracy LFTs. This might be the way forward if it was to be accepted by the authorities and airlines around the world as the test could be taken say before going to the airport and your status immediately uploaded to the app prior to check-in?

8 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing

 

I am sorry, but the official testing data shows a different story. Perhaps your personal experience is an outlier. 

Give it up FF$, you’re not even there, living it on a daily basis but somehow you talk as if you’re an expert? You haven’t got a clue of the reality of it all full stop and are only commenting based on what you can find on the internet to make yourself sound interesting? The words clueless and clown come in mind?

1 minute ago, Danderman123 said:

Lots of places Test a lot. Like the UK.

 

One approach is true random testing, where a sample of random individuals is taken. This informs the government of the true extent of infection. 
 

Positive PCR tests drive hospitalizations which drives deaths. If PCR tests were flawed, this would not be the case. Except for Omicron, it’s early yet, we still don’t know about it’s lethality.

 

so, yeah, Covid Deniers claiming PCR tests are not valid only make sense to the misinformed.

The UK uses mainly the LAMP test and LFTs for general mass screening as PCR takes too long and is too expensive. This has been the case for obout 12 months now. If you try to book a PCR, the first thing that they ask you is as to whether you have any symptoms? If you have no symptoms they’ll refuse you a PCR and tell you to do a few LFTs first and if you test positive on these, only then will they give you a PCR to confirm. The only general exception to this is if your doctor or hospital requests a PCR prior to an appointment? I have plenty of experience of the booking system due to my father being in ill health and requiring regular visits to the doctor. 
 

Also, despite working continually throughout this pandemic on a series of large high profile civil engineering projects with associated large workforces in both England & Wales, not once has myself or anyone I worked with, been asked to attend mass screening despite cases occurring within the workforce?  This is because generally they only carry out mass screening locally in areas that are experiencing high numbers of a new mutation. 
 

This is my experience and assessment of the testing in the UK over the last 2 years. Unless you live there yourself and can tell me different?

21 minutes ago, Cherrytreeview said:

I appreciate all the posters who take the time and effort to publish all the daily figures.

However, what the Thai government feed to the masses is a total disgrace.

Anyone who knows what's going on on the ground in Pattaya, knows that these figures wouldn't even cover bar/entertainment staff that have tested positive and our self isolating.

The Thai government are not only feeding their citizens lies they are sucking some knaive tourists into a covid testing incarceration trap.

It's a disgrace. The unofficial figure in the UK, for a virus as contagious as measles, is 500,000 infections a day.

Yep, there are a lot of bars closed, some even with signs up saying that it’s because of Covid?

7 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

So Chonburi is still following suit with 10% of the daily numbers reported.  I wonder how many ATK test positives through the centers they set up they have had.

Drove past Treetown in Pattaya last night and the mobile testing station wasn’t even there? Didn’t notice any bars open in the complex either but wasn’t paying too much attention?

15 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Thailand will never reach tourism targets with pcr tests before flight, after flight and another one later in sanbox.

 

Drop all the pcrs, change to just laterals (with pcr on testing positive)  and the tourists will probably come.

And do something with the forced hospital isolation if found positive?

5 minutes ago, Paul Henry said:

Concideration is being give to RAT tests prior to travel. Eventually these RAT test will become the standard. As Omicron takes hold and numbers balloon the labs will not be able to  cope and will be under so much pressure there are bound to be stuff ups caused by human error.

Already there has been close to 2,000 lab results that were wrong in one state of Australia. Resulting in a class action aginst the Labs.

Rat test are 95 - 90% accurate and inexspensive.

Depends on the manufacturer but there are some good ones out there? There’s also a lot of bad ones too!

1 hour ago, Danderman123 said:

And yes, there is an excellent correlation between a positive PCR test, and subsequent symptoms. Almost as if PCR tests were accurate.

 

Covid deniers have been criticizing PCR tests since day 1, but don’t have the technical  chops to prove their case. Like convince 1 lab to do PCR tests the “right” way. No lab will do that, because they don’t want to issue negative results for people who are subsequently hospitalized.

I agree that for liability purposes, labs may be reluctant to do the tests with a more realistic CT threshold. 
 

However your comments regarding the correlation of a positive PCR and the subsequent onset of symptoms are a bit baffling? Excepting Thailand’s entry requirements, where in the world are people being given a PCR test before having symptoms? It’s normally the other way around, you get the symptoms and you go for a PCR to confirm? Unless they’re paranoid or a hypochondriac, why on earth would people clog up their countries’ state medical/testing facilities if you you have no symptoms?

1 hour ago, mtls2005 said:

Seems odd to me that there is a Test & Go hotel in Koh Chang?

 

Where was their test performed Bangkok, a PTT station in Chonburi, the pier, on the boat, on Koh Chang?

 

So they arrived at Suvarnabhumi, made their way via van/car, boat to an island - a journey which probably took what, eight plus hours.

 

They probably gave phone numbers all along the way, could some thai general simply ring their mobile and ask where they are?

 

So, I guess hotels aren't filing TM.30's <SHOCKER>.

 

 

The one that I stayed in the other week was SHA+Plus so most probably qualified for test and go too?

7 hours ago, kiwikeith said:

Lateral flow test, I think it’s called as RT PCR can bring up false positives for just  normal flue, and are not reliable they have suddenly discovered 

PCR tests have been known for a long time to be over sensitive, especially if used for screening if someone is infectious. It’s due to the fact that the PCR amplifies the sample and therefore can pick up minute traces of the virus possibly from an infection several weeks before. In Europe, they normally use a maximum CT (amplification) of 32. However in Thailand they use a minimum of 40 and upon checking my test and go paperwork, they actually ran one of my samples at a CT of 45. This possibly accounting for the number of people that have tested negative before departure but positive upon arrival in Thailand?

it is generally accepted these days that if they have to increase the CT of the PCR to above 28 in order to get a positive result, whilst you still have traces of the virus in your body, you are no longer considered infectious. 

Your understanding of Cq (or equivalent CT) values is somewhat incorrect. The Cq<25 is just as important if not actually more important than Cq>25<30, as it identifies higher viral load and therefore more infectious. 
 

I agree that there a lot of poor performing tests out there but there are also some very excellent ones. The UK made and CE marked Avacta AffiDX test has been independently verified to have a sensitivity of 100% at CT<27 and 98.3% at CT<28 with a specificity of 99%.  The infectious range generally being acknowledged to be CT<27-28. There are also other UK made tests that whilst not as good as the AffiDX, are not that far behind?

https://avacta.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Brochure-Type-00901-SC2-Product-Specification-Sheet-v3-ID-33989.pdf

4 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

Whole drawers stuffed with bundles of 1,000-baht bills. And yet she paid for her bachelor's degree, had her teeth done, didn't skimp on cosmetics/electronics and fashion.

 

Promoting beer must be very, very lucrative.  

I met an interesting bar owner in the states once. She paid her way through college and onto becoming a lawyer by stripping/dancing. She later bought the very same bar that she worked in but changed it into a more general roadhouse. She even got up on the tables once to give us a bit of a show before happily dropping us off at our condo at the end of the night. 

4 hours ago, Artben said:

I used to visit Thailand 3 times a year, am fully vaccinated with three jabs and willing to take my chance with Omicron however I am not willing to take a chance on the Thai Government and and commit thousands of dollars to a vacation that may turn out to be a horror story.  I'm convinced that the Government does not want so called quality tourists because their constant flip-fops are what caused me and several friends to cancel our vacation.  Net loss for Thailand:  3 people not traveling on Thai Air, a villa in Phuket that will not be rented for 3 weeks and 200,000 baht that will not go into the local economy.  Hello Vietnam!

I have a few friends who are over for 6 weeks. Through general chat the other day, it became apparent that their expected spending was to be in excess of 350,000 baht each. However, if Prayut and Anutin were to meet them, at face they would dismiss them as not being quality tourists?

Makes you think though, as yourself, with all the continuing changes and forced hospital isolation risks, as to how many similar high spending tourists have either chosen to stay home or go elsewhere?

It depends on the airline and whether you are flying direct or have a transit in another country whereby you’ll have to comply with their rules too?

I’m flying back to the UK via Singapore and whilst the UK no longer requires any sort of pre-flight test if you’re double vaccinated, Singapore requires an antigen test from a clinic or hospital along with the associated paperwork in English. 
 

If any readers can recommend a clinic in the Pattaya area that can do this, I’d be most appreciative?  I don’t really want to go to a hospital for obvious reasons and if for some reason I was positive, I have the facilities to isolate at home. 

18 minutes ago, nchuckle said:

An example of critical thinking that eludes the Thai ????. If you already have a variant that is widespread amongst your indigenous population and whose effects are minimal,then draconian restrictions on entry from outside is of little benefit and comes at significant cost to your travel /tourist industry. Trying to keep something out that is already there! Additionally,with something that infectious and widespread the chances of getting a false negative are also diminished so the more expensive PCR is of little value. But don’t expect the likes of Anutin to be blessed with that clarity of thought 

I totally agree