JensenZ

8 minutes ago, Nout said:

Harbour mall never really took off. Garden plaza lost its gloss years ago. Central Festival seemed quite busy when I was there. However, malls are only a partial indicator of how busy a city is. I always regard them as Thai places but admittedly the Chinese loved them.

Yes, most of the malls on my list weren't doing well pre-covid, making my prediction they won't survive even more likely. The malls I mentioned are a full indicator (not a partial indicator) of how many tourists Pattaya has... zero. I'm not discussing the general population of Thai residents. Even without tourists (permanently), the city will survive and morph into a typical coastal city such as Chonburi City or Si Racha.

You might have hit Central Festival on a long weekend or public holiday. I did witness some busy days in the last month, but visit on a typical working day and it's a different story.

2 hours ago, Nout said:

A nice hotel room for 14 days is not really a problem.

 I wouldn't spend 70k plus on a nice room, so I'd have to rough it in a cheap one.

22 minutes ago, fredob43 said:

What about the poor suckers that don't have a fire stick. Or a laptop comp: me for 1. I use a desk top comp: and I get all the Films, TV programs, Live news, +++ ever made via my TV Box. Suppose I could read the BKK post from page to page and do the crossword. That's if I could get the BKK P anyway. That leaves me with the Thai TV stuff. As luck would have it I do understand Those. The Man/Lady with a funny hat are the funny ones. Well that's me sorted then bring it on.

Don't these quarantine hotels have wifi?

On 9/17/2020 at 5:28 PM, andre47 said:

NON-O Retired Visa Is Not Enough To Come Back To Thailand

This situation is clearly known for a long time already. Nothing new at all and it will not change in the near future.

The OP must have slept for a long time if he did not know about it. 

... and we all thank you for your snide comments. 

On 9/16/2020 at 7:00 PM, Alfa said:

to fredob43,

 

Yes,  I am married to a Thai Lady as well.

But I did not want to stay here with a marriage visa and to show her I did not marry her to get a visa in Thailand. That's why I have this Non-O Retired visa with 800 000 THB in my account.

AND  I HAVE SEEN  the Videos on YouTube  about  quarantine.  You can't open doors or windows and you have to eat when they give you food ( no refrigator ) AND    after 7 days you have write to go out to fresh air ( a balcony) for  45  minutes. Exactly the same as prison. I haven't been to prison in my life and I am not going to be in prison either. Forget it.

WE SHALL SEE WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DECIDE ON 30 SEPTEMBER.

PROBABLY 6 MONTHS MORE AS THE BANGKOK DOCTOR SAYS.

Real prison is free. You pay for this one.

6 hours ago, cjinchiangrai said:

In Phuket it is 110,000 to 220,000 per person.  The special service costs have always been high there though.

Does that include meals?

12 hours ago, Matzzon said:

Even if it goes very slow, things change. If you can not see that, then you are blind.

Perhaps you are blind? Right now there are no tourists. Absolutely nothing is being done to improve "things" right now. This report is nothing more than self-promoting bs.  

1 hour ago, Matzzon said:

Where did I defend them? The only thing I asked was if it was better to do something late or leave it like it is? You avoided to answer that one.

They are not going to do anything. This article is pure bs and an attempt to make one official look like he's earning his salary. As soon as (or if) the tourist dollars start to flow, it will be business as usual. Thai authorities never focus on the big picture, although they sometimes like to give that impression.

2 minutes ago, vermin on arrival said:

It's very obvious. Vitamin D is cheap and easily accessible to the population. New vaccines and new treatments load in work and profits for the pharmaceutical industry.

As I have never seen vitamin D sold as a standalone supplement in stores in Thailand (only with Calcium in low dose) I had a quick check on Lazada. I was surprised to learn that many of the brands available on iHerb are now sold on Lazada.

A lot of people think that if you get some sunshine you will have enough, but to have decent serum levels of Vitamin D you need to expose a lot of skin for quite long periods of time, and the more tan you become, the less Vitamin D you will produce.

This presents a dilemma - a choice between skin aging/damage from constant sun exposure, or no sun exposure and supplemental Vitamin D. Due to the harsh nature of Thailand's sunshine, I choose to stay out of it if possible and get little direct sun exposure. My wife has fair skin and sunshine is her worst enemy LOL. We both take 5000 - 10,000 IU per day. We have been taking this dose (me - 10,000, wife - 5,000 IU) for many years. I remember when my wife first started taking it she had a huge increase in energy. Most certainly she was deficient.

1 hour ago, Longchop said:

You would need to think carefully, heard a wimper that as soon as this government has cleared out all the amnesty tourists on 26th they are intending to take a trawl through all recently approved visas double checking bank accounts etc and calling in anyone whose paperwork dos'nt add up.

Fake news.

1 hour ago, patient37 said:

I came from the US, unfortunatly I cannot pay to get out of situations unless the price is VERY HIGH. It would involve getting a high priced lawyer to abuse loopholes, or just find a way to get the case dropped.

As for immigration, you know the situation in the states. They are as racist as can be.

So basically it's all the same, only the price is different.

On 9/2/2020 at 9:02 AM, Orton Rd said:

Foodland is the best anywhere, everything is priced up so no arguments at the till and the receipts in Englsih

They have only recently started to print receipts in English, but not fully.

3 hours ago, Raphus said:

Thailand is doomed

i shall keep saying it every day when I see these stories.

i have said it since June. But now it is really starting to show.

Did you just wake up from a long, deep sleep? The tourism industry has been dead all over the world since March. Thailand is going to do a lot better than a lot of Western Nations that have been working their printing presses overtime. Thailand does not die without tourists.   

1 hour ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Post pandemic?

 

Only after Donald J. Trump is carried out of the White House.

 

Either in handcuffs or a pinewood box.

 

And even then it'll take months to comeback. ????

There's a long list of Democrats that need to be gone first.

6 hours ago, rexall said:

Why on earth would an owner do that unless he expected that he could find a new, full-paying tenant, or if he  had some other plans for the property?  Makes no sense.

You'd have to wonder how people this stupid can ever get together a deposit to buy a property. Maybe he inherited the money. These idiots have no hope of finding new tenants for a very long time or never as there is already a huge glut of empty commercial property and tourists in any decent number could be years off. He was getting 70% rent, which was far too much considering the circumstances... but he prefers no rent, or any hope of getting any.

40 minutes ago, heybruce said:

In the 2016 election:

 

"The total number of voters who voted early, absentee or by mail more than doubled from 24.9 million in 2004 to 57.2 million in 2016, representing an increase from one in five of all ballots cast to two in five of all ballots cast."   https://www.eac.gov/documents/2017/10/17/eavs-deep-dive-early-absentee-and-mail-voting-data-statutory-overview

 

The same source shows in the 2016 election 16 states had more than 50% of votes cast by mail or early voting (early voting is essentially mail in voting except the voter personally delivers the ballot to a designated voter drop point).  These 16 states include California, Texas and Florida, the three most populous.

 

There are some states that don't have experience in large scale mail in voting, but they have months to prepare and lots of advance warning.  They also have lots of experienced states they can go to for advice.

 

What do you base your supposition that 'most states fit the category of "don't have the infrastructure to handle such ballots on a massive scale". Probably all.'?

What do you base your suppositions on that any states can pull this off? This has never been done before so we are all guessing, aren't we? You can revisit this after November 3, when you find out my guess was better than yours.

On 9/7/2020 at 11:36 PM, Morch said:

 

The President refused to commit when asked if he'll accept the results.

The President both sabotaged the Postal Service, and encourage his supporters to vote twice.

The Republicans blocked or tried to block legislation, reports and investigations related to foreign interventions.

LOL. The Democrat Party still hasn't accepted the results of the 2016 election. Hillary was still going on about it at the DNC. She was suggesting that Trump "stole" the election in 2016 due to having 3 million less votes:

Hillary Clinton: Quote:  

Transcribed DNC speech: 

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/19/politics/hillary-clinton-speech-transcript/index.html

"Remember: Joe and Kamala can win 3 million more votes and still lose. Take. It. From. Me. We need numbers so overwhelming Trump can't sneak or steal his way to victory. So text VOTE to 30330 and let's go win.

What she didn't grasp was that if the popular vote was the decider, Trump would have campaigned differently and more than likely chinched the popular vote. Trump beat them because he's smarter than them and had a much better team. They are just a bunch of bad losers. Hillary was the probably the dumbest Presidential campaigner on record, until Joe Biden came along, that is.

He hasn't encouraged people to vote twice. He encourages them to make sure their postal vote have been tabulated, and IF NOT, then vote (which would be 1 vote, not 2). That's good advice as a lot of votes will not make it and probably end up in the garbage. It's going to be a disaster.

You're just reciting all the same twisted nonsense we hear from the Democratic Party every day. 

12 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Hmmm....senior Republican leaders don't agree with you.

 

[House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is privately encouraging voting by mail and warned President Trump the party could be "screwed" by his fight against mail-in voting.]

[McCarthy is particularly worried about deterring senior citizens.]

[McCarthy said he's spent hours telling Trump that this preoccupation will hurt the president's own re-election, as well as Republicans running for Congress.]

["I tried to show him ... you know who is most afraid of COVID? Seniors. And if they're not going to go vote, period, we're screwed," McCarthy told me.]

 

https://www.axios.com/republicans-mail-in-voting-trump-a75b7b58-6405-4840-a48f-e26caf72b0fc.html

 

Senior leaders? In your "scoop" 1 Republican, McCarthy is mentioned.

Assuming it is true, you left out this one:

 Between the lines: McCarthy says he agrees with Trump that there's a difference between absentee voting, in which voters request a ballot, and vote-by-mail programs, where jurisdictions automatically send ballots to registered voters.

• McCarthy sees vote by mail as particularly problematic in states that don't have the infrastructure to handle such ballots on a massive scale.

I would say most states fit the category of "don't have the infrastructure to handle such ballots on a massive scale". Probably all. It has never been done before on such a scale. Do you think they will get it right first time?

You'll find out in less than 2 months.

5 hours ago, Timwin said:

Restaurant business is cruel and the margins are usually quite thin. Even 5-10 percent drop in traffic per month could mean closure in normal times and now we are talking about 80-90 percent down. Thais just do have the buying power and prefer home cooked meals or street food anyway.

Central Mall is quite busy on weekends (don't know during the week as I only go there on weekends). Some restaurants were doing well. MK was full when I walked past... but lots of Thai people walking around the mall will not keep most of these shops afloat. I wouldn't be surprised if the more upmarket shops went days with zero sales. I don't even like to walk in to many of these shops just to browse as I don't want to keep give the sales staff false hope for a sale... very sad!