Etaoin Shrdlu

2 hours ago, DavidSSaville said:

In certain countries and states more than half of hospitalizations are double vaxxed, then what good is it really.

In a population where everyone has been vaccinated, the only people in hospital with Covid will be the vaccinated. This does not mean that the vaccine is not effective. The issue is how many hospitalizations had been prevented by having the population vaccinated. Vaccines are effective, at least so far.

It isn't just about protecting the children, it is about trying to protect them as well as those around them. Vaccination won't prevent 100% of infections or spread of Covid, but may reduce them. This may protect vulnerable family members and others by helping prevent the children from brining Covid home from school to share with their parents, grandparents, siblings and others.

The idea is to reduce serious illness or death in the near term. If one dies this month, what happens 20 years from now is irrelevant. If we were to wait until all possible outcomes of vaccines were completely known, we'd be waiting 30 years.  Other vaccines and drugs were rushed to use without waiting for years and years. Think Polio vaccine. Pfizer is now approved for normal use and I understand that the Thai government will use Pfizer to vaccinate schoolchildren. 

In the US, schoolchildren are required to have a number of vaccinations prior to attending elementary school.  My children were recently required to evidence their vaccination records going back to infancy before they were allowed to attend university in the US. Vaccine requirements are nothing new.

I have more faith in the medical community and their collective wisdom than in crackpot political hacks and conspiracy theorists. That does not rule out having a healthy skepticism of our leaders and their policies, but there is a difference between skepticism or criticism of policy and falling for absolutely nonsensical conspiracy theories. 

I can choose not to go to a restaurant to protect myself and I can prevent my family members from doing so as well. Restaurants are not really necessary and my family can pretty much avoid this risk if we want. The risk presented by the Ministry of Education ordering schools to re-open with unvaccinated students is harder to avoid. I would have to withdraw my daughter from school if I wanted to avoid this risk and there would be consequences for her future if I did so. Restaurants and schools is a false equivalency when it comes to workable risk mitigation.

All companies spin the truth and lie. We all need to be wary and watch out for this, but if the standard is to only patronize companies that never lie or spin, then I'm afraid we can't patronize any companies. Pfizer, for one, has a proven track record of producing pharmaceuticals that are safe and effective. While I would be wary, I would have to see some evidence that Pfizer has a particularly odious corporate culture or track record of major misdeeds before I would refuse their vaccine in the middle of an epidemic.

I don't have blind faith in vaccines. Nobody should. We will need to wear masks, practice physical distancing and hand hygiene for some time. Vaccines aren't a silver bullet, but they are a major part of a successful public health policy.

Taken to its illogical extreme, one could say that any time two or more people collaborate to gain an advantage in business or politics it is a conspiracy. In this case, all businesses are nefarious conspiracies to turn a profit and pay dividend to shareholders at the expense of consumers. This seems to be the world that many conspiracy theorists live in. I don't.

Based upon my experience as a landlord, I would offer the following:

1) The agent is the representative of the owner in most cases and the agreement between the owner and agent stipulates how the agent will be compensated. Since the tenant is not party to that agreement, the tenant is not normally responsible for compensating the agent.

2) I prefer meeting prospective tenants, usually when the property is shown. Agents won't perform much due diligence on prospective tenants, so I like to meet them myself. I have been willing to discuss terms with the prospective tenant in the agent's presence. The agent should not object to such a meeting, but would probably be wary of this occurring in their absence. The agent's presence in such discussions may also be of benefit to you as well.

3) Since the agent's commission is typically the equivalent of one month's rent, offering only one month as security deposit essentially means the landlord has no security deposit. You might offer to pay the agent's fee in lieu of giving the landlord the second month's rent and see if that works. But if the owner has a written agreement with the agent to pay the commission, the owner may not wish to do this as he would be in breach of contract if he did not pay.

4) The agent won't get any commission if you walk away from the deal, so getting the deal done at a slightly lower commission should be preferable to no commission at all. 

I know you did not ask, but you might wish to rent on an annual basis. You may change your mind and want to move, so don't tie yourself up. Technically, a lease agreement of longer than three years needs to be registered with the Land Office and there is a fee involved.

I'm sure others will offer additional advice and point out any deficiencies in what I've said above.

Good luck.

15 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

how is that a green card?

The app uses lots of green.

I think the Mor Prom app can be used for this. Matt Hunt's Twitter page has instructions on how to set up the app to show your vaccination status.

https://twitter.com/WritingByMatt/status/1430089278340562945

36 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

What is

 

DMHTTA?

Distancing, masking, hand washing, temperature, testing, application.

One of the issues that the Rural Doctors' Society raised is that the winning bid was 70 baht per kit, while the wholesale price for these kits is 35 baht otherwise. This article, along with one that appeared in another publication today, does not address this issue. Perhaps there is a good reason for it, and perhaps not.

One of the companies mentioned elsewhere as being involved in this purchase also sells CBD oil, gummies and cannabis face masks. It belongs to a large property development company. It does not appear to be a proxy for other interests, although it is difficult to determine full shareholdings of the importing entity with publicly available info.

Totally ineffective against internal parasites, unlike Ivermectin.

During the energy crisis of the 1970s, salvation lay with the miracle carburetor that would deliver 75 mpg in the family car, but was being kept away from auto manufacturers by Big Oil. Now, during the Covid crisis, we hear about Ivermectin and Big Pharma.

I'll wait for conclusive studies that prove Ivermectin either way. I'm still waiting for that magic carb.

I think conspiracy theories never die, they just change their clothing.

You might wish to contact the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Part of their remit is to resolve issues between policyholders and insurance companies. The OIC is generally quite consumer-friendly and you should get a fair hearing.