CygnusX1

It would affect my enjoyment of the wonderful atmosphere of la bella Italia, especially the faces of the lovely ladies, much as if someone had scrawled graffiti on one of Italy's beautiful buildings.

I've been travelling around Italy for a couple of weeks. Not a mask to be seen - well, maybe one in a thousand or less. Lots of trip in packed public transport. Even better than in Australia, where there's still maybe 1 in 20 on trains. Italians are not letting hysterical fears interfere with their enjoyment of life. Wonderful to take a stroll through the crowds down the 'lungomare' of a coastal town with not a mask in sight.

April 1

You’re right, it’s none of my business, the fearful such as yourself can wear face masks, shields and disposable gloves for the rest of your lives for all I care. What I do object to is people trying to silence debate, all too prevalent among the woke left. There has also been reference in this debate to small children being made to wear masks for the protection of fearful adults, even though they’re at virtually zero risk. That has to be the ultimate act of cowardice.

You’re certainly no fan of free debate! The cancel culture personified.

Thanks for that. My mate’s back in Thailand next month, and I’ll ask him again when he returns to Oz.

I’m not disputing any of the data you’ve quoted. You’ve entirely missed the point I was making.

It’s hard to get a feel for large numbers, so let’s take your high estimate of 14 million deaths, and divide it by the world’s population, near enough 8 billion. Gives us 0.00175. Now multiply that by 30,000, population of my pretty sizeable town, and divide by 3 to get annual deaths of 17. Now, how concerned would I be about a virus that was killing 17 people a year in my town, almost all being very elderly. Just a little, especially since I’m not too young myself. Concerned enough to get a course of vaccines? Sure, especially if that was free. Would I be happy with being compelled to wear a face mask, and not being allowed to drive more than 5km from my home? Absolutely not, that would be a ludicrously over-the-top, paranoid reaction. And yet…

OK, great, thanks, but I still wouldn’t like to be the only maskless passenger. Happy to use taxis as a substitute for mass transit though.

I spent a week in Australia’s Gold Coast last month, and there were heaps of Japanese tourists there, speaking Japanese. Direct flights from Japan. I didn’t see a single one wearing a mask, in shopping malls or on packed public transport. I wonder if part of the appeal of Australia as a holiday destination for Japanese is that it’s now a place where they can escape from Maskland. I’d just disagree with Rooster’s estimate that 1 person in 20 in Bangkok was wearing a mask pre pandemic. I’d guess less than 1 in a hundred, unusual to see someone in a mask. Mate of mine returned from Thailand last month. He said masks were absolutely mandatory on airport bus to Pattaya and on Bangkok BTS. If I finally return to my place in Thailand, December at earliest, I assume that I wouldn’t have to wear one in a taxi? Maybe promise driver a good tip?

Do a web search for “‘cliff top monastery joke”. Never thought I’d see this ancient joke come to life in the real world.

Certainly not where I live in NSW, sadly, but maybe in other states.

Canberra (actually a NSW town next door, but effectively a suburb of Canberra). Population around 400,000. Only time air’s not so clean is on still winter nights when wood fuel stoves are being used.

0 in my city, so that’s another compensation.

Face masks (sorry!). Australia, Europe, Tahiti this year. Back to my Thai condo next year, I hope.

Almost identical view from my place, makes me homesick. Think the only way we’ll make money on our condos is if this imaginary development turns out to be a casino rather than a shopping mall.

Seems a logical place for a big shopping mall, between Jomtien and Pratumnak. Bonus if the developer could be persuaded to fund a pedestrian bridge over Thappraya Road. There’s been much speculation about that mysteriously vacant plot of beachfront land for years, and I was well aware that I’d probably eventually lose some of my view when I bought in VT5. Convenience of a really big supermarket around the corner would be some compensation.

Yes, if done correctly you’d be unconscious from a lack of blood flow to the brain before the noose tightened enough to cause a feeling of strangulation. For some bizarre reason, some people are apparently sexually turned on by having blood flow to their brains reduced, although it’s a dangerous activity! My barrister bro-in-law had to defend a case in which a lady had died after things went a bit too far. He lost the case, possibly because the jury thought that as the defendant was a doctor, he should have known better.

Yes, NSW. I assume your $90 for 2 months is your entire bill, including electricity use. Even when I’ve been at home for the whole month, the fixed service charge amounts to over 40% of my total bill. Doesn’t seem like a rational way of encouraging people to use less electricity.

Compare Australia, where the electricity service charge is around $50 per month. I love the fixed charge of less than $2 a month for my currently unoccupied condo in Jomtien.

This has been a problem for me, as I’ve been away from my condo for 3 years. I couldn’t even figure out how to contact the juristic office, and ended up paying the common fee through a lawyer’s office that I remembered was on the ground floor of the building. This worked well, and their charge was very reasonable. Luckily I’d already arranged an auto debit for the fixed electricity charge through my Bangkok Bank account, and had left enough money to cover the fixed water charge for a long time with the juristic office before leaving Thailand. The only remaining problem’s the tiny annual property tax, which is mailed each year. A friend staying at my condo for a short time paid one of these, but I don’t have any way of checking my mailbox for later statements, so hope I don’t have too much of a fine when I hopefully return to Thailand at the end of this year.

I don’t know about the current crop of Russians, as I’ve not returned to Thailand for 3 years, but when I first visited Jomtien about 10 years ago, there were so many Russians that if you didn’t look Asian, you were assumed to be Russian, and I had to memorise the Russian for “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Russian”. I never found them obnoxious, and some on the beach were gracious, happy to try out their limited English, and even offering me food. I didn’t find the presence of some of the younger Russian ladies at my condo’s pool too objectionable, either. As for the nightly Pattaya to Jomtien baht bus free-for-all, I think all nationalities were equally guilty. None of the above applies to their psychopathic president, of course.

Freudian slip? My place has a very large bed and sofa, but still heaps of free space. Balcony’s a generous size, unlike some new places where you can just about squeeze onto it if you stand up. Sorry, can’t answer your question on a sun shade, but I didn’t notice any obvious external shades when I was there last. Buy shady side if at all possible. Great idea to rent a couple of units before you buy - I Airbnb’d a unit a few floors below mine before buying. Apologies for late reply, I’ve just flown to Australia’s Gold Coast today, great view from 42nd floor apartment.

I own a standard studio in VT5 D (block further from the beach). Looking at the title deed, the 48 sq m comprises roughly 39 of internal unit and 9 of balcony. Internal unit is almost perfectly rectangular, about 8.8 by 4.4 metres. Balcony depth is about 2.3 metres (all rough estimates, don’t use for architectural plans!). I think some of the studios have a longer balcony. I’d strongly advise buying on the Pattaya (shady) side. Although I was last there back in March 2020, I remember that the only time I saw the sun was in the late afternoon, in time to see the it dipping below the water at sunset. Huge advantage in being able to keep the curtains open and enjoy the view all day. Although Block D is further from the sea than Block C, I think it has the advantage of a view entirely free of nearer buildings, looking out over several streets of single story villas that I’d think would be unlikely to be converted to high rise. There’s a large vacant seafront block further away that could be developed in future, but I don’t think I’d lose too much view. Other advantage is that it’s opposite the bus station to the airport, although that could change in future, as there’s not much room for the buses. I think it’s very quiet, but I am on the 21st floor. Great swimming pool that’s good for proper laps. No gym. The annual juristic fee is amazingly low, this year just 7260 baht. Can’t answer any of your questions on modifying units, sorry.

But a comparison of deaths per 100,000 population isn’t fair, because it doesn’t take into account the higher level of car ownership and use in the US. I do agree that the far greater use of motorbikes does account for much of Thailand’s higher death rate.