TallGuyJohninBKK

Except most of the studies they reviewed didn't even involve the current coronavirus behind the current pandemic. And all the other previously explained details that make their conclusions less than what they appear to be.

Then I must be "almost no one." Because, in keeping with the guidance of infectious disease experts, N95 masks are the ONLY ones I wear, on BTS and elsewhere, during the entirety of the pandemic. However, the experts in the field also advise that any mask generally is going to be better than wearing none.... which is pretty much common sense. Because masks, especially the best ones, don't only protect the wearer from inhaling the virus... But even the regular masks help prevent people who have COVID from spreading the virus by helping contain outbound respirations when they breath, talk, etc...

Thailand's 444 billion baht figure equates to about $13-$14 billion USD... And so by comparison: The U.S., with a population about 5 times that of Thailand, has spent $4.6 TRILLION through January of this year, and more since then..... "The federal government has provided about $4.6 trillion to help the nation respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106647 And, as just one piece of that... "A new study published in the BMJ has found that the United States invested at least $31.9 billion in public funds directly into the development, production and purchasing of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines... ... The study is based upon an extensive analysis of US government research grants and procurement contracts related to mRNA vaccines or technologies issued between 1985 and March 2022." https://healthpolicy-watch.news/u-s-government-invested-31-9-billion-in-mrna-vaccine-research-and-procurement/ Large numbers always sound large, until you put them into some kind of context.

I ride the BTS in central BKK almost daily, and the vast majority of riders I see are following the BTS's policy, and government's recommendation, to still wear face masks while riding the system. The main exception seems to be "some" tourists. And, repeating the flawed conclusions of the Cochrane article doesn't make them any more true... For example: "The review includes 78 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and clustered-RCTs assessing physical interventions to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses — all but six of which were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic. " https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20230216/qa-what-a-major-review-does-and-does-not-tell-us-about-masks-and-covid19 In layman's terms, they were comparing apples and oranges and pears, and came out with a fruit mush of conclusions.

How easily some folks here seem to forget (or try to ignore) that Thailand has recorded more than 30,000 "official" COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic, and there were periods when the COVID death toll exceeded 200 per day in Thailand. And those numbers are likely undercounts to the actual toll of COVID here. Needless to say, it would have been much worse if the government hadn't mounted the COVID vaccinations campaign they did, as well as the face masking and social distancing policies. "The actual death toll from COVID-19 is likely to be higher than the number of confirmed deaths – this is due to limited testing and challenges in the attribution of the cause of death." https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/thailand

The report you're citing has been widely debunked and cited as flawed by experts in the field.... Listen to actual experts in the field, who continue to recommend N95 type mask respirators as good protection against COVID: COMMENTARY: Wear a respirator, not a cloth or surgical mask, to protect against respiratory viruses "Two recent publications conclude there are no differences between surgical masks and respirators for preventing person-to-person transmission of infectious respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and influenza. But these studies are deeply flawed. ... Both are built on the premise that infectious respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, and influenza are only transmitted person to person by large droplets. This is not true." https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/commentary-wear-respirator-not-cloth-or-surgical-mask-protect-against-respiratory-viruses And another takedown of the Cochrane article: Q&A: What a major review does and does not tell us about masks and COVID-19 "We asked Linsey C. Marr, PhD, the Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech University and an expert on airborne virus transmission and mask technology, to share her thoughts on the analysis. ... "There is no question that a high-quality, well-fitting mask can reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection if worn properly and consistently. We know this from a study in California by the CDC that found that individuals who consistently wore an N95 or KN95 had an 83% lower risk of testing positive for COVID-19 compared with those who didn’t mask." https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20230216/qa-what-a-major-review-does-and-does-not-tell-us-about-masks-and-covid19 Both articles above go into much scientific details of why the analysis and conclusions in the Cochrane article are flawed, particular in regard to N95 respirator type masks.... Read the articles and their analysis for a deeper understanding on the issues involved.

From your linked source above: "Police did not suspect foul play and speculate that Cotter fainted and hit his head." While the above speculated scenario is certainly possible, that wouldn't be the first explanation I might consider given that the victim here was a relatively young and seemingly fit Army officer. Plus as we all know, the RTP are very well known for their off-the-cuff and often factually unsupported explanations for things that later turn out to be totally wrong. The above Coconuts report relies on a separate AP news report with the following detail, as related by a Thai police colonel: "Police Col. Raksak Mekchinda, superintendent of the Lopburi police station, said Cotter’s body was discovered in a bathroom at around 2 a.m. Tuesday. “He fainted in the bathroom, it was locked, his soldier friends were searching and couldn’t find him, so they kicked the door down and then found him,” he said. “He probably had a medical condition.” https://apnews.com/article/us-army-cobra-gold-exercises-thailand-death-91b123b690fcf2ad04d8d1aa86ba032c Hmmmm.... Maybe the veteran folks here among us can say better, but I would have thought that active duty U.S. army officers might not be sent abroad if they have some "medical condition" that might impair their ability to perform their duties.

I went thru this lately.... in trying to remember and refreshing myself on what the differences are between the following: --opthamologists --optometrists --opticians The easiest part and highest level of training are the opthamologists, who both here in Thailand and back in my home country are regular MDs who have undergone additional years of specialized training in eye disorders / eye diseases, etc. I would argue opthamologists at hospitals are not necessarily the best place to simply get a new prescription done and then acquire glasses / frames / contacts. The lowest level, AFAIK, are the not medical optician staff that probably staff most commercial retail eyewear shops here, who as far as I can tell, aren't necessarily required to undergo any specific training or licensing in Thailand. I would NOT generally want them to do my eye exam or provide a new prescription. Then in the middle are optometrists. In my home country, they're required to have a 4-year college degree and then typically 4 years more of professional training in order to become OD's, who I believe tend to be the mainstay of doing routine eye exams and providing new prescriptions and frames / lenses. But here in Thailand, from what I can tell, people can get optometry degrees with less training than that. For example, Ramkhamhaeng University in BKK has a Bachelor of Optometry program that runs 6 years and that they say allows graduates to be called Doctors of Optometry. For whatever it's worth, I needed an updated eyewear prescription and lenses lately, and without giving it much thought, scheduled an appointment with an opthamologist at a mid-tier private hospital in BKK, where they quoted me a price of 3,000 baht just for the appointment (and not including anything in the way of new lenses or glasses). I canceled that plan, searched around, and found a very well reviewed (via Google Maps reviews, and largely from farangs) optometrist clinic in central BKK where the English speaking optometrist happened to have graduated from the Ramkhamhaeng University program years back (which is why I spent the time looking at what it means to obtain a Bachelor of Optometry / DO degree from there). Went to the optometry clinic yesterday, and the optometrist used the different mini lenses fit into a glasses frame holder to generate my new prescription in what was a quite lengthy process of trialing and testing different configurations on each eye. I was pleased and impressed with his service and manner. And after the exam was finished, I had my new lenses ready in 15 minutes, as did my wife. All told, the exam was 200 baht for each of us, and we each had new regular lenses put into our existing frames for a price of 600 baht apiece. So total bill for the two of us was 1,600 baht.

And another option soon coming to CentralWorld in BKK -- Shake Shack (which somehow I don't think I've ever tried anywhere in my life). Feb 2, 2023 | 12:09pm Bangkok time "Months after teasing its opening, the American burger and shake institution Shake Shack finally officially confirmed yesterday that it will open its first restaurant in March at the CentralwOrld shopping mall. Located on the first floor of what used to be the old Isetan, Thailand’s first Shake Shack will feature a mural by Thai artist Navin Rawanchaiku – the same artist who painted Shake Shack’s original “I Heart Taxi” cart in Madison Square Park. ... No specific date in March was announced for its opening. Nor were many menu details revealed, but it’s safe to say fans can expect beef burgers, milk shakes, and more." https://coconuts.co/bangkok/food-drink/thailands-1st-shake-shack-at-centralworld-set-to-open-in-march/ Shake Shack's map below shows their current locations worldwide, including in the LA and SF Bay areas in California. But I don't remember them as a presence there before I bailed out 15 or so years back. https://shakeshack.com/locations#/ Tommy's Burgers, on the other hand, that's a different story!

As we've discussed here before, the issue of whether IOs at BKK CW want copies of TM30 and TM47 receipts seems to be hit and miss. Dunno if it varies by officer and/or varies by time with whomever's in charge at the time. For my own experience, I think the past two years I haven't been asked for either when doing my retirement extensions (my most recent visit last fall predating the recent Chinese/IO scandal), although I had brought copies of both with me, just in case. But the year before that, about 3 years back now, I was asked for both and hadn't included them in my submitted paperwork, because I don't think I'd ever been asked for them before, up to that point. Fortunately, I had the originals of both with me in my passport, and was able to make the requested copies. YMMV. That's why, as someone advised above, I always tend to carefully read these kinds of threads in the couple months prior to my annual IO visit, to try to get some feel of which way the winds are blowing.

So, for those who may not have read all the way thru the entire thread, several members posting above have now clarified that the two copies policy at BKK CW is ONLY applying to MARRIAGE extension applications. And NOT retirement extension applications.... FYI.

Naughty boy! ???? The folks at BKK CW definitely don't seem to like (or accept) scanned and printed copies of things, as opposed to traditional machine generated photocopies. I found that out, the hard way, in the past.

And: "Wray's admission marks the second government agency to publicly back the lab leak theory. The Department of Energy also has backed the assessment that COVID began in a lab, but has labeled it with its "low confidence" rating. Other intelligence agencies are split or undecided on the origin, with some having "low confidence" that COVID-19 began naturally when the virus transmitted from an animal to a human." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/01/covid-19-lab-leak-christopher-wray/11372746002/

U.S. government agencies appear to remain divided on the COVID origins issue: "Wray’s comments come just days after news of the Department of Energy’s “low-confidence” assessment that Covid-19 most likely originated from a laboratory leak in China, underscoring a divide in the US government as the majority of the intelligence community still believes that Covid either emerged naturally in the wild, or that there is still too little evidence to make a judgment one way or another. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a 2021 report that revealed the National Intelligence Council, along with four other unidentified agencies, assessed with low confidence that the initial Covid-19 infection “was most likely caused by natural exposure to an animal infected with it or a close progenitor virus.” The FBI also apparently has had its same opinion for the past two years, so Wray's comments to Fox News appear to simply re reinforcing what the bureau has believed for some time. "CNN reported in 2021, citing two sources familiar with the matter, that the FBI had “moderate confidence” in the lab-leak theory." (more) https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/politics/wray-fbi-covid-origins-lab-china/index.html

I live in Bangkok. I wouldn't mind living in CM, except for the very bad seasonal air pollution, which makes it a NO-GO place for me as long as that persists. And, I wouldn't live in Pattaya proper because of the seedy factor combined with the Russian influx. But other nicer residential areas in the surrounding region might be acceptable. Bangkok was mentioned in the guy's video as well as Pattaya. I gather, and agree, probably on average somewhat more expensive than Pattaya.... But BKK has numerous other advantages, including the higher end of things for those so inclined, as well as retaining the bargain basement options for those so inclined. And important for me, the best and broadest public transportation system in Thailand, making most places in Bangkok proper relatively easily accessible, even without having to keep one's own car. The first main flaw I considered in the guy's video, which I don't believe anyone has mentioned above, is that all of his other world city comparisons were based on New York City as the standard. But the truth is, NYC is one of the most expensive cities to live in the U.S.... So the savings he promises vis-a-vis NYC would not be so great if the default comparison was some other more affordable larger city in the U.S., of which there are many. He also seemed to gloss over in various cases just how easy, or not easy, it is (financially or otherwise) to obtain ongoing/permanent legal residency status in some of the other world cities he listed.

I've been buying and wearing N95 masks since prior to COVID, because of Bangkok seasonal air pollution. And considered myself very fortunate to have had a good supply at home by the time COVID came around. And I've never reverted to "cheap cloth masks." As for Fauci's email response re masks, that came at the very beginning of what shortly would be declared the COVID pandemic, and was asked by someone who was planning to travel to a "low-risk" location. I'm not finding anything that says that inquiry was not spurred by the COVID outbreak. I don't know what public health authorities have that "consensus." What is generally agreed upon, AFAIK, is that masks overall are relatively more effective as a source control (preventing infected people from spreading the virus to others) and effective but somewhat less so (depending on the type of mask) in preventing uninfected people from catching the virus. N95 masks, when fit and worn properly, are the most effective among commonly available mask types in preventing the wearer from contracting the virus.

Thailand doesn't really make those kinds of statistical data comparisons public for its own cases, but the U.S. and others do... and you'd be wagering wrong. "Going strictly by the numbers, COVID-19 is still claiming around 400 lives per day in the U.S., which is roughly 3 times as many as the flu. A recent report used death certificate data and found COVID-19 to be four times as deadly as the flu in England and Wales." https://www.goodrx.com/conditions/covid-19/flu-vs-coronavirus-mortality-and-death-rates-by-year AND Omicron hospital illness 54% deadlier than flu hospital cases, study finds News brief February 17, 2023 Adults hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infections in Switzerland died at 1.5 times the rate of those diagnosed as having influenza A or B, shows a multicenter study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/omicron-hospital-illness-54-deadlier-flu-hospital-cases-study-finds

Perhaps this explains why the TH MoPH is appearing to try to treat this foreign outbreak seriously: "Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent disease that causes haemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88%. It is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease." and "The virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus." https://www.afro.who.int/countries/equatorial-guinea/news/equatorial-guinea-confirms-first-ever-marburg-virus-disease-outbreak

1. You might want to read more: Surgical masks reduce COVID-19 spread, large-scale study shows ... “We now have evidence from a randomized, controlled trial that mask promotion increases the use of face coverings and prevents the spread of COVID-19,” said Stephen Luby, MD, professor of medicine at Stanford. “This is the gold standard for evaluating public health interventions. Importantly, this approach was designed be scalable in lower- and middle-income countries struggling to get or distribute vaccines against the virus.” https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2021/09/surgical-masks-covid-19.html 2. And as for the Fauci comment you refer to, which he sent as a response to a private email, came prior to the official declaration of the pandemic and before scientists understood how COVID could be spread by asymptomatic cases. Fauci later changed his advice re face mask when COVID was better understood, as the following fact-check explains: "The claim that an email from Fauci proves he knew masks were ineffective at mitigating the spread of COVID-19 is MISSING CONTEXT, based on our research. Fauci sent the email on Feb. 5, 2020, more than a month before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic. The understanding about the effectiveness of masks and guidance about wearing them evolved during the pandemic, as did Fauci’s position on their use." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/03/fact-check-missing-context-claim-mask-emails-fauci/7531267002/ CNN also covered similar terrain: "While Fauci, along with several other US health leaders, initially advised people not to wear masks, Fauci later said that he was concerned that there wouldn’t be enough protective equipment for health care workers. This was also early in the pandemic before public health experts fully knew how contagious the disease was and how it spread. ... That makes it overwhelmingly important for everyone to wear a mask.” https://edition.cnn.com/factsfirst/politics/factcheck_e58c20c6-8735-4022-a1f5-1580bc732c45

You were replying above to a different poster... but the following addresses the valid point you raised regarding the spread of COVID by people with no visible symptoms. The truth about COVID-19 and asymptomatic spread: It’s common, so wear a mask and avoid large gatherings "Asymptomatic spread definitely plays a role in community spread,” said Dr. David Beckham, an infectious disease specialist who studies viruses in a lab he runs at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Wearing masks helps prevent asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 That means it’s all the more critical for people to follow public health measures that clearly work, chief among them wearing masks, staying far apart from people and washing hands frequently." https://www.uchealth.org/today/the-truth-about-asymptomatic-spread-of-covid-19/

They all will tend to REDUCE the risk of spreading... not STOP it. Even a cloth worn over one's face. From the University of California infectious disease dr. quoted above: "The bottom line is that any mask that covers the nose and mouth will be of benefit." You're trying to use the "mask quality" element as some reason that people shouldn't wear them in general. And prevailing public health expertise simply disagrees with you on that point.

The prevailing public health advice is any mask is going to be better at reducing your risk of contracting COVID than wearing no mask at all. The better the mask, the better the reduction of risk -- along with all the various other factors involved. Still Confused About Masks? Here’s the Science Behind How Face Masks Prevent Coronavirus ... "The bottom line is that any mask that covers the nose and mouth will be of benefit. “The concept is risk reduction rather than absolute prevention,” said Chin-Hong. “You don’t throw up your hands if you think a mask is not 100 percent effective." https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/06/417906/still-confused-about-masks-heres-science-behind-how-face-masks-prevent

/////deleted post edited out//// Children have been at risk from COVID since the very beginning.... just not as much risk as older people and those with other medical conditions. If "children were never at risk," then the U.S. would not have reported 670 COVID deaths among youngsters ages 0 to 4, and 1,007 COVID deaths amoung youngsters ages 5 to 18 since the beginning of the pandemic. And many many thousands more hospitalizations beyond those deaths. https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Deaths-by-Sex-Ages-0-18-years/xa4b-4pzv A lesser risk is not a non-existent risk.

Strange thing about COVID in Thailand.... Once the government decided to stop testing for and counting COVID infections here (now they only count hospitalizations and deaths), suddenly there isn't any COVID in Thailand anymore... Except, recognizing that the official looking the other way policy fails to recognize that there are still COVID infections out there who continue spreading the virus, one Chula expert (not Dr. Yong) recently estimated in a news item reported here that Thailand is probably running 2800 to 3900 new infections PER DAY. Just because people now don't require hospitalization or die as often as they did at earlier points in the pandemic, that doesn't mean COVID carries no health consequences, short and long-term, for those infected.

Still going on with your continuing anti-mask tirades... against all recommendations from the U.S. CDC, WHO and various other public health/COVID experts. Most people were never trying to prove that masking alone would have "stopped the spread of Covid" as you put it. Rather, the consistent public health advice has been that masking, along with other precautions, REDUCES people's risk of contracting COVID. And, it DOES!