nigelforbes

It looks like a messy topic but probably worthwhile putting into perspective. The US EPA defines HEPA filters thusly: " This type of air filter can theoretically remove at least 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and any airborne particles with a size of 0.3 microns (µm). The diameter specification of 0.3 microns responds to the worst case; the most penetrating particle size (MPPS). Particles that are larger or smaller are trapped with even higher efficiency. Using the worst case particle size results in the worst case efficiency rating (i.e. 99.97% or better for all particle sizes)". https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-hepa-filter Note the word, "theoretically" in the above definition. Using the links I supplied previously, it looks as though the IQAir device, probably the best one sold anywhere, is this effective: "During testing, it removed 97.4% of airborne particulates. On the other hand, the Xiaomi looks like this: "Within the 1 hour test, the Xiaomi removed 96.5% of air particulates". Also, neither test, nor the HEPA definition above, says how long it takes or should take to reach the standard, minutes, hours, days perhaps? Obviously the term HEPA is abused and involved in marketing fuzziness but to what extent, I am unsure. Finally of course there's the cost/performance trade off aspect. Xiaomi costs 12k and removes 96/5%, IQAir costs 70k and removes 96.5%. Lastly, it is unclear to me whether HEPA standards for air purifiers have been overtaken by other standards such as air quality standards. Of course it's great to make sure that no small bad particles get into your lungs but is the HEPA standard of 99.7% of all particle sizes absolutely necessary or achievable in a residential setting? In a clean room where fine products such as optical lenses are made, yes and in some sterile settings such as isolation wards of hospitals, yes. But in the average house or apartment, I doubt it. The cracks and gaps around windows and doors in many houses would prevent that target from ever being reached plus there is unlikely to be an air lock chamber on the front and back doors! My guess is that for domestic air purifiers, the HEPA standard is a goal rather than an absolute and that proximity to that goal is determined by price.

It sounds like you had bad luck with Xiaomi, it happens I suppose. Our Xiaomi's on the other hand are in their third year and have been problem free. If you look inside the guts of a Xiaomi or indeed any other air purifier there's very little to go wrong. It's nothing more than a plastic shell containing a fan and a filter plus some electronics to change the fan speed and turn the unit on and off....that's it. There's not that much to go wrong and there's not much difference between the various units because you can't improve the process! The real value is in the filters, if I had the spare cash to throw around I might buy the IQAir Health Pro Plus because in tests it removes the greatest volume of particles from the air....that's a function of the filter. This guy tested a number of products: https://moderncastle.com/xiaomi-smart-air-purifier-pro-4-review/ I personally can easily justify spending 12k baht on an air purifier that removes 96.5% of all particles after one hour. But I can't justify spending over 70,000 baht on an IQAir device, just to get that number up to 97.4% . https://moderncastle.com/iqair-healthpro-plus-review/ Even if my Xiamoi dies after three years and I have to buy a new one, that's still only 4K baht per year. On that basis, I don't care if the device is built to last or not, what matters is the cost per year to operate and the efficiency levels. Anyway, chances are that after 5 years the technology will have been improved so it's probably not desirable that it lasts forever.

If you want the very best, IQAir Health Pro Plus air purifiers are of Swiss design and used by hospitals world wide. They are not cheap outside of Thailand but if you're buying from inside, they are very expensive. https://www.amazon.com/IQAir-HealthPro-Plus-Medical-Grade-HyperHEPA/dp/B002VXDCHW?th=1 Whatever you're going to buy you should buy soon, because prices will start to go up, if they haven't already - the best time to get a bargain of course is mid year.

For the police, yes, but for the public! Why does the public need to know this?

Not to belabor the point but I only just read this/understood what you wrote. A crime was committed in the link I posted, they killed the black whilst he was jogging because he was black, in a white neighborhood and because he was running, they shot him dead.

My question is, why is it important to know the nationality, why is it even necessary?

Now that more posters are running into the same issue, I'm beginning to feel vindicated for posting news about this several months ago and being told it wasn't happening. Heads up, it's a new world as a result of AMLO regs.

https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/foreign-direct-investment

400 billion Baht of investment requests were received, less than half were accepted, the rising baht doesn't seem to be stemming the flow of companies that want to buy in to Thailand, does it!

Yep, it was far too early in the morning for me to work out, especially without coffee.

The report stated that foreign investments totaled 112,466 billion baht, a 74% increase over the same period in 2021.

Lots of countries use that term, I'm regarded as a non-resident alien in the US and have been so for years.

I see that your mind is nicely open to different cultural traits and customs whilst resisting the urge to be judgmental.

Keep digging!

True, but it has a whole bunch to do with your mindset when you wrote: "That's a weak argument. If you are a black male, 200 pounds, wearing jeans and a white tee-shirt and are running from the scene of a crime there is an incredibly strong chance you are who the authorities are looking for".

It already does, Burmese. Laos and Cambodians are second class citizens here.

Maybe, but then there's the "others" part. You can't tell me that many expats aren't biased against certain nationalities when they read the news and see a crime has been committed and then say, "no surprise there" or "again". That sort of thing is contagious, dangerously so.

Aren't you leaving things rather late, shouldn't you get a move on and start doing something?

Remember this: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/video-appears-show-georgia-man-shot-while-jogging-lawyers-call-n1201301

Which only refers to a white westerner.

Which announcement is more likely to lead to bias and prejudice against innocent people?

Racial bias and prejudice has no place in any culture, regardless of the races involved.

I don't think that's the angle at all. It's a sensible measure to prevent automatic bias by locals and others, based solely on nationality, I think it's a good thing.

Coffee drunk, coin dropped. The story in the OP should probably read 112,466 billions, not millions.

I like to think that's true but I also think the state of covid in China could be a game changer.