grain

I really liked Danang, saw the Dragon Bridge but the Golden Bridge wasn't built when we were there. Was planning to make another trip to Danang then you-know-what happened. Oh well, maybe some day.

Agree with you entirely.

olfactory evidence

In this case I would wai the wife's boss immediately. It's purely brown-nosing and will make both wife and boss feel happy and have their big faces. Just play the game...when in Rome and all that.

Not much good trying to keep it out, it's already here and probably by early Jan' we'll see it spreading like wildfire. As for being the dominant strain, my guess by March. As far as I can tell the entire world has had a gutsful of this pandemic and all the restrictions and lockdowns, those who want to get vaccinated know where to go, those who want booster shots can get them, or will very soon be able to get them, we've all been educated about wearing masks in public places, using hand sanitizer, and social distancing, so let the damn thing rip.

Come on now, Australia is "the envy of the world" if you watch Australian news you will hear the Prime Minister and state premiers reconfirming that fact on a daily basis. ????

OK many thanks for that info, puts my mind at rest.

Thanks for that ozfarang. I've checked both our vaccination receipts. On both it simply reads AstraZeneca. No mention of it being Vaxzevria or Covishield. Do you happen to know if Australia has approved the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by Thailand's Siam Bioscience?

Just watched Greg Hunt on ABC news talking about people from other countries who have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine not approved for Australia will still be required to do 14 days hotel quarantine. I'm planning to visit sometime in 2022. I've had 2 dose of AZ, I checked online and it seems both doses were from Thailand's Siam Bioscience. My Thai partner had 2 doses, one Sinovac and one AZ. We both plan on having a 3rd booster shot in a couple of months, probably Pfizer. So for travel to Australia will we be considered vaccinated or not?

Thais should use this tactic to keep the aliens in line: "Failing to do your 90-day reports on time can more than double the risk of erectile dysfunction." ???? Should be very effective with the Pattaya retirees.

Yep same here. I have family and belongings back in Australia and need to go there some time to see family and sort some things out, but as long as these travel regulations remain in place I sure ain't going anywhere near an airport.

You won't be reading any story like this when I fall off the perch, my relatives back in Australia couldn't give a rat's what happens to my worthless carcass. Tirak will arrange my cremation at the local temple, and that will be that. ????

Several people in SA posting reporting on Dr Campbell's YT blog, all saying omicron is wildly infectious and spreading like wildfire around them but everybody is getting only mildly ill and fully recovering after 2-3 days.

Couldn't even be bothered wasting my time filling in anything online for them. We live out in the boonies, it's approx 50km drive for me to Korat Imm, but it's a big shopping day for us, a couple kms down the road from Korat Imm is Makro, Tescos's and Wish Co. so 90-day report day gives us an excuse to go shopping for a bunch of goodies unavailable in our neck of the woods.

what part of "may well mean" don't you understand? Anyway, what's wrong with hope and optimism? The pandemic will end one day and for the past year and a half professionals have been saying the way it will end is the virus will eventually mutate to a weak strain no worse than the common cold and it will be over. That appears to be happening right now. I repeat "appears to be" FYI, statements such as "may well be" and "appears to be" are opinions not misinformation. Have a nice day you grumpy old pessimist.

Go on YT and watch Dr. Campbell's latest report with figures from SA. This Omicron variant may well mean the pandemic is coming to an end.

There only 1 decent restaurant near us they never stopped either, but there are a couple of nice restaurants in Pak Thong Chai town we used to go to and they are all dry now. But it's no great issue for me as I'm happy drinking at home and watching a movie. ????

OK thanks for your replies, obviously nothing exciting will happen. I'll be in KK and know a few spots where I can enjoy a few brews.

Just found out I'll be in KK at end this month. Is there anything good, fun, interesting going to happen NYE? Also what about Udon or Nong Khai, anything happening NYE. Nong Khai in particular would be nice if I could get in a riverside restaurant and there were fireworks on Thai & Lao sides. Any info/ideas for me?

I live in Korat, in Pak Thong Chai, but that's not on their list, so I can have a few beers with my dinner in Wang Nam Khiaw or in Korat city, but get refused 30km down the road in Pak Thong Chai.

Omicron may well be the end of this pandemic nightmare. Sure it's early days but so far no horror stories. Compare this to when Delta hit in India, it was an instant disaster, thousands of people being taken to the nearest hospitals in wheelbarrows and the backs of utes only to be turned away because there were no more ventilators. So far with Omicron we have some people feeling fatigued and with headaches.

You say you know nothing about cars. So do you have a farang friend who is a mechanic or has sound mechanical knowledge of cars? If so get him to come along when you look at 2nd hand cars. If you don't have such a friend then ask around in the expat community for someone to help you.. You can't trust a Thai to advise you because the car sellers will speak with him in Thai and tell him to tell you it's a great buy and they'll give him a small cut. Alternatively a Thai will be afraid to tell you a car is not a good buy because if the car seller sees him somewhere later he'll get a hassle or even a bashing for taking sides with the foreigner and doing the Thai dealer out of a sale. I know about this as I've been through it all a couple of times. In the end I bought a brand new car as I was sick to death of being BS'd to.

I contacted Roojai, but I'm too old for their covid cover.

Not a problem I will ever experience in my lifetime with my $25 suitcase from K-Mart.

Has anyone who took out this covid insurance for 850bt late last year renewed it for another year? I know it's not actually by Roojai but with another Thai insurance company. But I'm just wondering if they are renewing it and if the cost has gone up.