TallGuyJohninBKK

It's COVID, and not the "pharma industry", that continuing to kill more than 1,000 people each week in the U.S. (COVID is either the underlying cause or a contributing cause of death). Kind of makes you wonder if Thailand is really capturing/counting all of its COVID deaths: source link

Another false (and unsourced and unsubstantiated) myth perpetuated by anti-maskers: Myths and facts when it comes to wearing masks "Myth: Masks don’t actually work to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and are incapable of stopping viral transmission. Fact: The use of masks to reduce the emission of respiratory particles – source control – has been part of medical science for years. With COVID-19, masks are effective at blocking most large droplets, but can also block the exhalation of fine droplets and particles. They can also help prevent the inhalation of these respiratory particles." https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/Blogs/BTH/Posting335.aspx

I'll "give it a rest" when COVID gives Thailand and the world a rest... Weekly counts of new COVID hospitalizations in Thailand over the past eight weeks (shown in the red boxes below) have quadrupled from 100+ to more than 500 for the most recent week, and have steadily risen for six of the past seven weeks: https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

Because the studies published overwhelmingly show wearing good quality face masks (N95, KN94, etc) helps keep the wearer protected and protects others around them -- notwithstanding your unsourced and unsubstantiated claim. Masks During Pandemics Caused by Respiratory Pathogens—Evidence and Implications for Action October 31, 2023 "Findings Literature review revealed many high-quality observational studies demonstrating the association of face mask use in the community and of mask mandates with reduced spread of SARS-CoV-2.... Robust available data support the use of face masks in community settings to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and should inform future responses to epidemics and pandemics caused by respiratory viruses." https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/article-abstract/2811136 Face mask effectiveness: What science knows now October 29, 2023 Linsey Marr, a Virginia Tech university professor specializing in aerosol science: "They are very helpful in reducing the chances that the person will get COVID because it's reducing the amount of virus that you would inhale from the air around you," Marr said about masks. No mask is 100% effective. An N95, for example, is named as such because it is at least 95% efficient at blocking airborne particles when used properly. But even if a mask has an 80% efficiency, Marr said, it still offers meaningful protection." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-mask-effectiveness-what-science-knows-now-60-minutes/

Thailand is pretty sparse in the details they release about such things. But the U.S. provides very detailed info on just that point: Deaths and hospitalizations from COVID long have and continue to far outpace those associated with the flu. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/illness-severity.html

Thanks much for the head's up about this upcoming session. Indeed, the promo code you provided above does work successfully, when you click the link to register for the event as a non chamber member. Also, it looks like the online session is going to be held using the Zoom video conferencing app. So folks who want to participate will need to install Zoom on their PC or other device. The no-fee promo code USBKK23 goes here:

The above excerpt says the opposite.... Maybe not "normal" as in the same as for regular commercial flight passengers... But supposedly still having to pass thru Immigration and have his passport and visa details checked.

Re this guy's supposed original arrival into Thailand on a chartered flight with someone else's passport: "do private planes go through customs? The short answer is: Yes. Private jet customs follow a similar process compared to commercial flights. You’ll need to present your passport and visa, and you may have to declare certain items you’re bringing into the country." https://accessjetgroup.com/do-private-planes-go-through-customs/

I don't know that there's any way to definitively establish what caused his individual lung cancer... But... the link between air pollution and premature fatality, including from lung cancer, is definitely there: "State Of Global Air reported that in 2019, over 32,000 deaths in Thailand were attributable to ambient particulate matter pollution (PM2.5). While more recent data is yet to be released, the trend is upward, and it’s very likely that in 2023, even more deaths will be attributable to air pollution." "According to health authorities in the country, more than 1.3 million people have already suffered from air pollution-related diseases in 2023. What makes this stat particularly staggering is that this data was published near the end of March – only three months into the year." https://breathesafeair.com/air-pollution-in-thailand/#Health_Effects_of_Air_Pollution

It will be a race to see who can get out of the country fastest after being criminally charged: --this drug and other crimes biker gang suspect, or --the child prostitution suspects from Pattaya, two of the three of whom have already fled... This Australian guy had better hurry! Maybe there will be a new "fast track" exit lane at Suvarnabhumi for arrested and charged alleged criminals who want to make a quick exit!

Unless he comes back again using someone else's passport, and Thai Immigration once again doesn't catch the fraud when he passes thru Immigration upon arrival....

The bizarre part of this is.... all the initial faux Thai outrage at the DW report for supposedly bringing Thailand and Pattaya to public disrepute... When in fact, the original raid on the Pattaya bar that found evidence of underage prostitution was conducted by THAI POLICE! and it was Thai police who arrested the British manager and the two customers, one German and one American.... And then publicized the whole thing to the local media here... So perhaps the faux outrage against DW is more than a bit misplaced! And then the irony of BJ talking about the documented case of alleged underage prostitution in Pattaya -- after Thai police officials and the locals in Pattaya regularly proclaim that they've found no prostitution of any kind occurring there.... PLEASE!!!!!

I watched an online version of the DW report last night... And in the version I viewed, at the very end, there was now an ending screen text message saying the German guy had been arrested by authorities in Germany and was going to face criminal charges there.

So that's an interesting Thai study...and it seems as though they ran two different studies within the same study -- one on preventing COVID infection, and the other on treating confirmed COVID infection. At the outset of the study, to get into the prevention part of the study, participants had to have a negative RT-PCR test for COVID, to ensure they weren't already infected. "The primary outcome of the prevention study was the proportion of participants with a positive RT-PCR within 14 days after enrollment among those with a negative RT-PCR result at enrollment in the mITT population." "Participants in the prevention study were instructed to collect an NP swab for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen ... on Day 14 and whenever they developed new symptoms suggestive of COVID-19." "A high dose of ivermectin (400–600 µg/kg/d) for 3 days did not show a significant benefit for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection."

So you're talking about whether there have been any RCTs that have shown ivermectin has any value in preventing people from becoming infected with the coronavirus -- as opposed to clearly having been shown to have no value in treating COVID disease?

"Of all participants vaccinated before infection, 0.4% were diagnosed as having long COVID during follow-up, compared with 1.4% of their 290,030 unvaccinated peers, a nearly four-fold difference." https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/studies-suggest-even-one-vaccine-dose-may-cut-risk-long-covid

I've had contact lenses shipped from the U.S. to TH in the past via regular international mail (not private couriers like DHL) and had no problems. AFAIK, shipping lenses via WeShippingUSA shouldn't trigger any extra custom's duty or blocking of your item -- but if you want to pursue that with certainty, you could ask them specifically via their FB Messenger account.

"Thai students rank below average in science and maths – and much lower in reading." So what is it: Is it that too many Thais don't LIKE to read? or too many don't KNOW HOW to read very well?

I was outside in the afternoon and sweating as I went about my business outside... In the evening, it rained for a brief bit... barely long enough to open up an umbrella. Wasn't any "torrential rain" anywhere around my BKK neighborhood, not thus far.

But they're in the hospital and dying because of COVID...at least when their death certificates say so.

The first part I assume is more or less true... The second part is your unsourced and unsubstantiated nonsense. COVID: millions of older people have died without being counted "The WHO global estimates on excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic raise many uncomfortable truths about how we as a global community value the lives of older people and those in low- and middle-income countries. ... Many of those older people who died may have lived five, 10, 20 years or more – in one study published in the BMJ, additional years of life lost in 31 countries in 2020 alone were estimated at more than 28 million and concentrated among older people. The loss of these individuals to their families and communities is unquantifiable." https://reliefweb.int/report/world/covid-millions-older-people-have-died-without-being-counted

And of course, you're going to ignore the doctors' medical certificates that specifically find those classified as COVID deaths in fact died primarily due to COVID or with COVID as a contributing factor.

Heart-disease risk soars after COVID — even with a mild case Massive study shows a long-term, substantial rise in risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke, after a SARS-CoV-2 infection. 10 February 2022 "Even a mild case of COVID-19 can increase a person’s risk of cardiovascular problems for at least a year after diagnosis, a new study1 shows. Researchers found that rates of many conditions, such as heart failure and stroke, were substantially higher in people who had recovered from COVID-19 than in similar people who hadn’t had the disease." https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00403-0

ICMRA statement on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines (International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities) "Evidence from the more than 13 billions of vaccine doses given worldwide shows that COVID-19 vaccines have a very good safety profile in all age groups. The benefits of the approved vaccines far outweigh the possible risks." ... As for all medicines, reports of medical events after COVID-19 vaccination (suspected side effects) are collected and continuously evaluated by the authorities. These evaluations show that in most cases the medical events were not caused by the vaccine. ... False and misleading information about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines on social media often exaggerates the frequency and severity of side effects. Misinformation also wrongly attributes unrelated medical events to the vaccines." https://icmra.info/drupal/strategicinitiatives/vaccines/safety_statement

There have been more than 13 BILLION COVID vaccine doses given in the world since they were first released. The relative number of deaths documented as related to COVID vaccination has been exceedingly tiny. The number of deaths from COVID has been huge, ranging from 7 million officially recorded vs estimates of actual COVID deaths approaching 20 million or more. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/coronavirus-excess-deaths-estimates Even now, according to the WHO, current official COVID deaths in the world are running at several thousand per month, and that's with a lot of countries no longer COVID deaths at all (only 43 out of 200+ did). "Globally, during the 28-day period from 23 October to 19 November 2023, 104 countries reported COVID-19 cases and 43 countries reported COVID-19 deaths. Note that this does not reflect the actual number of countries where cases or deaths are occurring, as a number of countries have stopped or changed frequency of reporting." https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20231124_covid-19_epi_update_161.pdf?sfvrsn=a23783d6_3&download=true Do the math. The current health risks from COVID vastly exceed the very rare risks associated with COVID vaccination, as virtually every public health agency in the world has attested.