CygnusX1

That seems screamingly fast. I have a 50 Mbps fibre to the home connection in Australia, and that’s more than enough to stream Netflix in 4K. Interesting for me as if I can ever manage to return to Thailand, my condo doesn’t have fibre, only VDSL, and I’d love a 5G service like that. I think line of sight’s required for 5G? My condo’s on the 21st floor in Jomtien facing Pattaya, so hope I could get a 5G signal - 5G is now widely available in the Pattaya area?

I think it’s mandatory mask wearing and PCR tests rather than fear of the virus that’s deterring most people. If those become a permanent part of travel, then travel’s over for me for life, to Thailand or anywhere else.

You’re right, just checked their website and they do have English/Thai keyboards. Thanks for the tip. I’ve mostly stopped learning Thai after travel shut down, but if a return to Thailand ever looks possible, I might get one. My gaming PC here in Australia has an illuminated mechanical keyboard, once you’ve used one of those you never want to go back to ordinary keyboards.

I actually found it hard to buy a keyboard in Thailand with Thai characters. I was looking for a fancy illuminated keyboard, and just about all of them were english characters only.

63 years old, zero reaction to first AZ shot given in Australia apart from a very mildly sore arm. Probably means it didn’t work!

I retired at exactly the same age - took an “involuntary” redundancy which was in fact purely voluntary. Had eight fantastic years of almost nonstop travel, before this virus from China put a stop to it. Now it’s looking like I may never be able to travel again, my decision to retire so early has proved to be by far the best decision of my life.

The cost of the PCR tests wouldn’t bother me, it’s just that I’ve heard that they’re really painful. For anyone that’s had one, is that correct?

First AZ last week in Australia, second AZ booked 5 weeks after first shot. Expect to get mRNA vaccine booster in next 6 to 12 months, probably annual booster after that.

I’ve found the Russians who used to hang out at Jomtien beach to be gracious people - happy to try out their limited English, complimentary on my handful of Russian words, and some have even given me food. Lots come straight from a Siberian winter, and revel in the sun and warmth. When I used to join the Russians on a baht bus to escape the China hell of Tawaen beach on Koh Lan to go to Tien or Samae, I’d almost think of myself as an honorary Russian.

I’ve suddenly realised that when I’m next deciding on what model new car to buy, the likely availability of spare parts should I keep the car for a long while no longer needs to be a factor in my decision.

I’d second that, I’ve swum hundreds of times at Jomtien beach. Not Mediterranean water quality of course, but it’s nowhere near as bad as people say, and has never made me sick. As there’s no surf, there are no rips, and lifeguards aren’t needed. I think box jellyfish are a risk in many tropical seas, but you’d have to be really unlucky. Maybe don’t swim in the summer wet season if you’re worried about them, and don’t swim just after heavy rain if you’re concerned about polluted water.

Seems to me that in the 2nd para he’s saying that if everyone in Thailand were double vaccinated (as is the case for everyone on the arriving flight), and if the number of infections in Thailand was very low, then there might be a case for PCR tests of the passengers, but otherwise not. Only possible objection I can see to this logic is that you might argue that there’s a small risk of an arriving passenger introducing a new strain of virus to Thailand.

Good summary, I’d agree with all that though I would somewhat dispute the “so dangerous” bit. My argument against anti-vaxxers would be that hundreds of millions of doses of the main vaccines have been administered, with a minuscule percentage of deaths and serious side effects. So you don’t have to know anything about virology, or biochemistry, or the different mechanisms of viral vector vaccines vs mRNA vaccines to know that they’re extremely safe, you just have to look at the stats. Just as in pre virus days when I stepped on a plane I didn’t need to understand the intricacies of aerodynamics to know that flying was exceedingly safe, just had to look at the tiny number of crashes from millions of flights. To the anti-vaxxers who say they’d prefer to let their own immune systems handle the virus, that’s also the case for the vaccinated, the vaccine doesn’t fight the virus. It just gives the immune system a “heads up” so it knows something about the pathogen, just as a general who has intelligence about an enemy is more likely to win a future battle.

Not too much chance of that in my case, I’m afraid. You seem to be assuming that I’m an anti-vaxxer, not true at all. I’m getting the vaccination soon, and I think the arguments advanced by anti-vaxxers are ludicrous, not that I think that vaccination should be mandatory. However, I also think the risks of the virus have been exaggerated, and that we should try to enjoy life instead of eking out as many boring years as possible, so my opinions are somewhere in the middle - nobody likes me!

Now that I’m well into my sixties, for the first time in my life a woman recently indicated that she was interested in me. Unfortunately for her, as I’ve aged I’ve changed from an incel to a vcel, and had to reject her as gently as I possibly could. As the ranks of us males thin more rapidly with age than females, there is a shift in the balance of sexual power. I do now have an insight into what it must be like for young women who have to continually reject male advances.

True, I didn’t say that I wasn’t. I never said anything about birth rate, although now you mention it, 140 million new babies each year shows that the virus is certainly no threat to humanity!

Saw a TV doco which advanced the theory that the main transmission route was human to human via lice, claimed that flea infested rats should be absolved.

You’ve chosen an absolute number to maximise the seriousness of the virus, I’ve pointed out that the relative number shows that the risk is low. A bit like people who think that air travel’s suddenly become extremely dangerous after a single crash, without looking at the huge number of planes that have landed safely. I think we just have a fundamentally different outlook on life. It’s an unfortunate fact of the human condition that life is short for even the most health and safety conscious among us. There’s a 100% chance that I’ll soon succumb to one of the many diseases of old age, but I would far prefer to have lived an interesting life, rather than being obsessed with minimising risk to try to eke out as many years as possible. If you want the level of rat droppings to be zero, you might be out of luck, I’ve read that a surprisingly high level of contamination’s permitted in some common foods.

I would have thought that was obvious, it’s not a difficult calculation.

Context is the % of people who’ve died from the virus. What do you mean by “‘throwaway post”? I’m trying to show how a number can look very different depending on how it’s presented.

Unless you are one of the unfortunate 0.059% who have so far died (I’m one of the fortunate 99.94% who’ve survived).

You must have been very unlucky. I’ve been using them for many years, and have found that the batteries easily last 4 or 5 years, about the same as the lead-acid batteries used in cars.

I have my LG C1 OLED behind a good quality UPS (uninterruptible power supply). No burn in whatsoever after 18 months of intensive use, both watching TV and computer gaming. I do use it in a darkened room, so never have the brightness cranked up to maximum.

Yep, the most exotic and expensive restaurant I’ll ever visit.

Thanks guys!! Bit of a walk for me to Pizza Company, but that’s the first place I’ll visit for a celebration dinner if I ever manage to return to my Jomtien condo some day. Good to see that Subway’s still hanging in there too, just around the corner from my place.