Guderian

Try the stationery/school & office supplies department upstairs in Friendship, it's surprising what they've got up there.

What official openings? This is Thailand, the magic place where plans either change every 30 minutes, or else they never existed in the first place, lol.

That's a lot more information than they gave me, but at least it confirms the location will still be the hospital (though another part of it, I think, weren't we in Building B last time?) and not at the SCB place.

I haven't bothered installing the Mor Prom app yet so the change came as a total surpise to me when I asked them about changing the jab location. This is what they sent me: ...we would like to inform that as per our recent hospital announcement, the appointment for the second dose of AstraZeneca has been moved to 28th September 2021 instead of October 14, 2021 What recent hospital announcement? Did anyone see it? I suggest that everyone who has a second appointment in mid-October should check if it's been changed. It's basically good news so I'm not complaining, but it would have been a minor disaster if I'd just turned up at Phyathai2 in October, as originally planned, and missed the second shot.

Yeah, thanks, I've got their contact number and they're pretty good at answering queries in my experience so far.

Fair point. You mentioned something about them not giving the second jabs at the hosptial anymore, but at an SCB office. No mention was made of that in the reply I got from onestop@phyathai. They already changed the date to bring it forward 16 days without asking me, you'd have thought they'd let me know if I was supposed to go elsewhere.

My second AZ jab is due in Phyathai2 hospital in Bangkok at the end of the month. After hearing that people in Hua Hin who had their first jab in Bangkok can now get the second one at a local hospital in Hua Hin, I thought I’d ask Phyathai2 if something similar is possible for people living in Pattaya. This is what they told me: “We would like to inform that Phyathai 2 Hospital is unable to transfer your vaccine allocation to another facility; nonetheless, please note that you can receive the second dose of your vaccine at any facility that is more convenient for you without the permission from our hospital. However, since we are unable to recommend a specific vaccination site, you will need to find a vaccination facility that can accommodate your request for the second dose.” I called my current least-favourite private hospital in Pattaya, BHP, as I know they’re giving AZ shots, and asked them if it was possible and was given a clear reply: “cannot”. OK, so where in Pattaya or its environs can I get a second dose of AZ, instead of having to travel all the way to Bangkok, any ideas?

Last week, the guy from the Thai travel agents association said he expects that 80% of people visiting the country after they relax restrictions will have family, property or business interests here. I guess the other 20% will mostly be snowbirds wanting to be somewhere warm during the northern winter. So, for the most part, it doesn't really make much difference if the nightlife reopens or not, most people coming here, at least initially, won't be doing it for the bars and clubs. It would be nice for everyone if they did reopen, but I doubt if it will be seen by the authorities in Bangkok as essential to the success of the scheme in its early stages.

What's the big deal with being 75? One of my friends just celebrated his 83rd birthday here in Pattaya, and he's more interested in his first beer of the day, and what wine to have with his dinner, than he is with breakfast tea! And as for having The Times delivered every day, I get the digital edition delivered to my PC, phone and tablet every day for just £9.99 a month. Printed newspapers are so yesterday and contribute to global warming. I also get the digital editions of The Economist and New Scientist every week, so I've got more than enough to read while the teelac giggles inanely at the lakorn on her phone, lol. Adopt, adapt, survive!

And at what number of new cases per day, hospital admissions per day, number of people being intubated in ICU wards, and number of daily deaths, will this plan be abandoned and the country re-enter lockdown? Best to have a well-formulated back-up plan, as you're likely to need it this winter.

And the only people in Cambodia with enough money to afford a ticket to get into the stadium are Chinese and their Khmer business and political associates!

I remember when I was a kid that somebody climbed to the top of the local TV transmission mast at St. Hilary. I can't remember why he did it, maybe protesting about something or else temporarily mentally unhinged, but the news at the time did mention that the TV programme transmissions had continued and as a result the radiation had probably sterilised the guy permanently. I don't suppose the microwave-length signals used by 4G are as much of a danger, but the guy might still want to get a sperm count done, lol.

It's interesting to note that the daily new case numbers and excess deaths have been following a similar sharp decline to Thailand in both Malaysia and Indonesia, while they are roughly stable in Vietnam but are still increasing in the Philippines. There seems to be a loose regional correlation in the way the waves of covid ebb and flow, and not just in SE Asia. This is odd given the different restrictions imposed at varying times by the governments, and the near-absence of travel between the countries. It's pretty clear, though, from the excess death figures that things changed for the better regionally last month. (Graphic taken from the latest Economist)

It's good to see some flexibility at last, I just hope they extend this scheme to the likes of Pattaya. It would be much safer and easier for everyone if I could drive myself to get the second shot locally rather than having to take a taxi to central Bangkok.

What could possibly go wrong with this cunning plan? Thailand is still on the forbidden list of most western countries, so quarantine on returning home will be required. China is locked up tighter than a clam as far as tourist travel outside the country is concerned. By December, the next Winter wave of infections and deaths will be ramping up nicely across the northern hemisphere. The Phuket sandbox has shown clearly that, no matter what precautions are taken, the virus will find its way into the community and spread like wildfire (55 cases per 100K people in Phuket, compared with 21 nationally). Now what else have I missed?

Tune in tomorrow for another episode of "The Thailight Zone" (cue spooky music), lol.

If what has happened with the virus spreading in Phuket, in spite of all their precautions, is anything to go by, then by the end of the year the country will be recording around 50,000 new cases every day, mostly in the newly-opened tourist hotspots. In spite of the vaccines, that's going to translate into a lot of deaths that otherwise would not have happened. Boris Johnson has put a number on it, saying that he's prepared to accept 50,000 covid-related deaths a year as the price of reopening the economy. It would be interesting to hear what the Thai government and people think is an acceptable number of deaths among their countryfolk in order to allow tourists back in.

My brother just sent me a copy of his NHS covid vaccination certificate, and the bar code is only valid for one month. He had two doses of Pfizer in February and March. He thinks it will just be a case of going through the motions on the NHS site again to get a new one when this one expires, but I guess they're keeping their options open until they decide how long you can be considered to be 'safe'. Being a type 2 diabetic in his 70's, he'll be very happy if he's offered a booster after 8 months, anyway.

It's only a short step from this idiocy to getting back to blaming farangs for importing and spreading the virus. I'm sure Anutin is sitting in his office slowly joining the dots, lol... that's it, d-i-r-t-y f-a-r-a-n-g-s

Have they closed the hairdressers and swimming pools again yet, lol? Better swim a few lengths this morning and then get my locks shorn this afternoon, because it can't be long...

My cleaner comes twice a month, but in between visits I seem to get a lot of small stones and stale bread crumbs and other sharpish bots and pieces lying around the place. I'm not looking for a replacement for the cleaner, but thought that having a robot vacuum roam around the place once or twice a week and clean up the annoying small bits and pieces that seem to come from nowhere might be a good idea. Looking at Lazada, I see that the top models are up around the 30K or 40K Baht mark, more than I paid for my smartphone, so way to expensive for what I want. There are a few below 10K, but they lack features like auto-room mapping, and I expect they have other limitations too. Given that I'm just looking for something to do a quick sweep of crumbs and so on once a week or so, a cheaper one ought to be OK, but not if it's going to get stuck in a corner for an hour until the battery runs out, or go in circles in the middle of the room. Does anybody have a robot vacuum cleaner, especially one of the newer models and would you care to share your experiences and opinions?