Onrai

4 minutes ago, Onrai said:

 

4 minutes ago, Onrai said:

 

And I was making the point that your parents might have thought twice about deliberately infecting you with measles if they knew your risk of dying was 20 times greater. 

9 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

On 7/13/2020 at 7:48 PM, Onrai said:

The current death rate in the USA is about 4% (137,000 deaths/3, 370,000 reported case). Death rate from measles is .2%. Given the current statistics you are 20 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than measles. In my opinion those are not great odds.

I wasn't comparing the death rate. I was saying that I was deliberately infected with it so I developed immunity.

 

11 hours ago, Starmocihc said:

 

Is it better to count ALL the cases or shut down the country claiming NO cases?

Or you can follow the wonderful logic of the USA president- slow down the testing so the numbers don’t look so bad. Great strategy. Like asking authorities to stop reporting traffic fatalities to make the numbers look better. 

On 7/11/2020 at 10:10 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

It's taught me that there are a lot of people that think hiding in their room from a virus is a good idea. Unless old and decrepit or have health problems the best, IMO, idea is to get it and develop immunity, just like when I was deliberately infected with measles by my parents.

The current death rate in the USA is about 4% (137,000 deaths/3, 370,000 reported case). Death rate from measles is .2%. Given the current statistics you are 20 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than measles. In my opinion those are not great odds.

On 7/9/2020 at 6:19 PM, Lacessit said:

It's stopped life in the US for nearly 135,000 Americans, at today's count. If you don't know anyone with CV, that may be because your circle of friends is limited. Check out hospital wards that are close to being overwhelmed, such as New York.

Hasn't stopped life one bit? Most US airlines are grounded, and Americans are pariahs in other countries of the world. No-one wants plague carriers. Although you may be right, as long as you stay in America.

Perhaps Trump will get the Mexicans contributing to his wall after all.

I agree 100%. I might add -if you believe in the social theory of 6 degrees of separation it is virtually impossible to not know someone who has contracted Covid-19.

5 hours ago, 5633572526 said:

No one saw it coming. No one ever predicted it could happen

Everyone saw it coming. Virologists, epidemiologists, the CDC, the NHI, Bill Gates, the list is exhaustive.

There was the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. People have been preparing at least since then. We choose to dismiss the experts.

Yes, contrary to popular opinion in the USA -you can’t eat toilet paper, it won’t stop the virus, and my bowel movements have remained the same through-out the pandemic. No need to hoard it. 

While I don’t the scientific basis for what you experienced I offer the following observations:

1. Let’s take beautiful women as an example- one day you can go out and don’t see a single pretty girl/ woman. Maybe you go out to the same place 2 or 3 days later and the store, the beach, the area is flooded with beautiful women. Go figure. That is the first phenomenon.

2. The second is things run in 2 and 3s- meaning if you get a traffic ticket after years of not getting any chances are you’ll get a second soon after the first. Anyway that is how things have worked for me and it may explain what you experienced.

On 6/17/2020 at 6:33 PM, Traubert said:

 

I know Americans that have never stopped travelling regularly throughout the last 3 months, no restrictions.

You mean to the grocery store and back home.

I love it. Sandwiched between expertise on high season and ignorance on Jellyfish in low season is an admission that he wouldn’t/ doesn’t go to the beach. 

Patong beach opened last Tuesday and there were a few jellyfish on the beach. 

20 hours ago, pineapple01 said:

Rolex are repaired by Rolex in Bkk.  A decent place in Udon wouldnt touch it

Says who? The watch repair shop is directly across from Central Plaza in Udon Thani. They advertize Rolex repairs on their window and are excellent. 

21 hours ago, thequietman said:

 

I do get upset when I can't get any level of customer care here in Thailand. However, I feel that is something even the Thai people expect, but cannot get.

No matter I have been in Thailand I have found customer care exceptional. I am comparing it to what I am use to in the USA.

If you call an airlines, Agoda, Lazada, AIS you actually get a real person, not a pre-recorded message telling you to go to their website. If I want my motorbike serviced they do it on the spot. No appts or waiting around for hours. When I was back in the USA in Feb I had an appt to have my oil changed. It took them 2 hours. 

My absolute favorite example of customer service is having my Rolex watch serviced in Udon Thani. The main spring was broken and it needed a complete servicing. This would have taken weeks in the USA. It took the watch repair 1 hour and 10 minutes to completely dissemble, clean, reset and rebuild the watch. 1 year guarantee and it runs beautifully. That is customer service.

Most beers last beyond the printed expiration date on the package. When stored at room temperature, you can expect beer to last for six to nine months beyond the use-by date. Refrigeration increases this time period to up to two years.

On 6/5/2020 at 2:45 PM, Orton Rd said:

It is possible to pay the bills, have a shower and avoid argements, yet still drink every day. No need to give up drinking, just cut it down to a few days a week.

Alcoholism is an addiction and a disease. Cutting back is not an option. 

8 hours ago, Max69xl said:

Because the reason for Phuket airport not being open is old news

I would beg to differ. Phuket airport was originally closed by the Phuket governors because of Covid-19 concerns. The aviation authority, pre-empted the governors decision to open the airport May 16. Since then The Thaiger and Phuket news have not had any up-dates on why the airport remains closed. You can go to Phuketairportonline.com to get some idea of flight status. 

It is refreshing and I am grateful to be in Thailand where the safety of the people trumps money and politics. Pun intended.

On 5/28/2020 at 3:21 PM, banagan said:

I'm interested in purchasing a condo, but not at the asking price (2019 prices)

 

I think a 2016 - 2017 price would be more than fair, around 8 - 12% less. Considering

 

1. Pre Corona

2. Rents haven't increased in the past 5 years

 

If they don't want to accept the actual value of the property < 10% of asking, I was thinking of offering this,

 

Offer asking under the following conditions,

 

50% now and the balance paid monthly over 36 months (0% interest)

 

I think face and stubbornness plays a big part in the property market here, rather the current reality of the situation

Essentially you are buying an option and betting  prices will increase within  the next 36 months? Prices go up 10% you are win. Prices stay flat or go down then you’ve overpaid and lost your 50% deposit and any other payments made.

Sounds a lot simple to offer him 10% less. 

By differing accounts Trump has cried wolf 15,000-18,000 times during his presidency. By this time the press may reflexively assume everything he says is incorrect. Who could blame them? The record clearly shows he is a pathological liar bending truth to fit his own self serving version of reality. 

Unfortunately the press is so polarized in their opinions and views it is impossible for most to be objective anymore. 

I think Trump is P.T. Barnum incarnate. It is almost impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff in his remarks. The press pouncing on Trump about taking Hydroxycholoroquine is not worthy of credible journalism. I took the drug as does everyone in West Africa or any place malaria is present. It is a simple choice- take the drug or get malaria. That the press can malign a drug that has been around 65+ years is unconscionable. Sure if you take it indiscriminately it can cause damage. You can also die from taking too much Tylenol. 

On 5/19/2020 at 6:02 PM, purplesage said:

I had flights from Rome to Chiang Mai in May cancelled due to Covid-19. I bought the ticket through Expedia who have assured me that it will be refunded by the airline. As Thai Airways has now filed for bankruptcy, what are the chances of still getting this refund?

I have the same problem. I am calling my bank to dispute the charge. 

23 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Really! I bet that Brazil does not have any of this nonsensical  reporting to anyone every 90 days.

Having lived both in Thailand and Brazil for 2 years-Brazil’s bureaucracy is Kafkaesque compared to Thailand. 

On 5/7/2020 at 6:33 PM, CanadaSam said:

The one thing that immediately springs to mind is spices, chilies, etc. which is really not used in the "western" countries to the extent that they are in third world countries, and the reason they are extensively used in cooking here is to preserve food, not allow germs/bacteria to thrive, and sometimes even for medicinal purposes from generations old recipes.

The chili is a new world plant as is the potato, corn and beans. Chilies are used extensively in a majority of countries. For sure British, Italian and Spanish cuisine do not use a lot of chilies. But you’d have to go country by country to see if your theory holds up. Chinese Sichuan cooking is using a lot of chili. 

Thailand is not considered 3 world but a fast emerging country.

I don’t know where you got your information about chilis used to preserve food. Thai food is cooked fresh and served to order. Vinegar and salt are used in preserving foods, not chilies.The overwhelming reason people use chilies in their cuisine is for the heat. 

9 hours ago, fourpack said:

All I can add is workers arriving back from the south were told to self quarantine here in Khon Kaen. We will never know if they did or not. 

Ok. Thanks for the info. Flights canceled out of Phuket so I can’t make it off the island and back to Khon Kaen until the 17th of May.

On 4/27/2020 at 10:53 PM, rabas said:

What gives? My guess is much of this confusion may be due to multiple strains of the virus in circulation that are not being taken in to account. It would explain a lot.

Virologists have been able to trace the virus strains across the US. 

They have concluded that the east coast was infected by a strain from Europe and West coast by the Chinese strain. Makes sense since the West coast is closer to China and the East coast closer to Europe. Netflix just released a well made documentary on the Coronavirus. Very informative.