TallGuyJohninBKK

And back on the topic of the thread: From Hotez: How did you see this play out during the COVID-19 pandemic? "Some 200,000 Americans died because of anti-science aggression.... "When I went into the more conservative, rural areas of east Texas, essentially everyone I talked to had lost a loved one because they refused a COVID-19 vaccine. In the intensive-care unit, you saw some people deny COVID-19 existed, yet in their dying words feel remorse and advise their friends: ‘Don’t do what I did, get your COVID-19 immunization.’ https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02981-z

There's scientists and news outlets who do their best to research and report Covid related content to the best of their ability, and with the credible research and info that's known and believed at any given point in time. And then there are mostly right-wing political activists and fringe medical types who deliberately spread patently false and disproven claims and misinformation over and over again, weaving conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact or evidence of proof. The first group is doing their imperfect best in a challenging, fast-moving public health crisis that became a global pandemic. The second group is simply doing their worst, period. And Hotez maintains it's aimed at undermining democracy and pushing the rise of authoritarianism.

Seems as though you and/or your source are conveniently forgetting about the official 7 million COVID deaths worldwide since 2020, and the estimates that the actual number taking into account undercounting is more likely in the 15-30 million COVID-related deaths range: "Globally, as of 7:50pm CEST, 4 October 2023, there have been 771,151,224 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,960,783 deaths, reported to WHO." https://covid19.who.int/ https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/coronavirus-excess-deaths-estimates 14.9 million excess deaths associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 5 May 2022 "New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that the full death toll associated directly or indirectly with the COVID-19 pandemic (described as “excess mortality”) between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 was approximately 14.9 million (range 13.3 million to 16.6 million)." https://www.who.int/news/item/05-05-2022-14.9-million-excess-deaths-were-associated-with-the-covid-19-pandemic-in-2020-and-2021

Vaccine Scientist Warns Antiscience Conspiracies Have Become a Deadly, Organized Movement Vaccinologist Peter Hotez explains how the movement to oppose science and scientists has gained power ... "I think it’s undermining the country because we’re a nation built on science and technology and on the greatness of our research universities and institutions, and they are under threat. ... I think there was a kind of hope that it would just go away on its own. But we’ve seen from past experience that this kind of stuff doesn’t go away on its own." https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccine-scientist-warns-antiscience-conspiracies-have-become-a-deadly-organized-movement/

"Scientist and researcher Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, has just published his fifth book, “The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist’s Warning,” on the global assault on science, vaccines, and scientists, which he considers a threat to democracy in the United States. ... "It’s not only COVID vaccines; you’re starting to see this spill over into all childhood immunizations. It’s globalizing, and now it’s targeting not only science but scientists." (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/anti-science/deadly-societal-force-qa-author-dr-peter-hotez-anti-science-movement Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, is the founding dean of The National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, as well as director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of National Academies as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A pediatrician and an expert in vaccinology and tropical disease, Hotez has authored hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and editorials as well dozens of textbook chapters.

Should take them a week, or two at most, before anything they're claiming to have done, or promising to do, will have been long forgotten.... And things will be back to the way they were before, and always have been here.

Reuters -- April 27, 2008 "A decorated policeman was shot dead in a Bangkok bar in 2001 after a fracas with the son of a top politician. The next day, the son, a military officer, went AWOL before surrendering six months later to the Thai embassy in Malaysia on a murder charge. Then, two years later, he was acquitted due to a lack of evidence since nobody in the bar at the time will testify. Four years on, and Duangchalerm Yubamrung is back in the headlines in the Southeast Asian nation having been reinstated this week as an army sub-lieutenant." https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-33255620080427 Dad was the Interior Minister at the time.

During this past year, I had multiple overnight domestic trips inside Thailand and an international trip where i was gone 2 weeks before returning back home to BKK (the only home I've ever had here) via the standard reentry permit. When I went to do another annual retirement extension at BKK CW a couple months back, they were perfectly fine with the one and only TM30 I've ever done in Thailand circa 2019 that's still stapled in my passport. No request/demand to do a new/updated TM30 just because of my prior travels, given that I had a valid reentry permit for my extension AND was merely returning to my same / unchanged place of residence.

Where's there any scam or legal fraud in any of this? AFAICT from the article, the stupid guy voluntarily did everything he did. No one forced him to spend millions/billions in cash, gifts, cars on the woman. And it's not like she stole the money from his house or forged his name on bank withdrawals. She apparently may have misrepresented where she was living, and some other personal details... But hard to see how any of that equates to legal "fraud" or theft. There's an old saying.... some people just have more money than sense. But at least now he's seemingly managed to solve that particular problem in his case.

Had the same exact thing happen at DM a few months back.... A half empty tube of Bengay muscle cream (113g / 4 oz when full) forced to throw out.

Suvarnabhumi Airport Clarifies Situation After Passengers Secretly Bring A Veritable Zoo on Board

Good job guys!!!! Always on the ball, tip top security Thailand style. "The covert cargo included a white rat, an otter, snakes, and various other critters..." How exactly does anyone miss ALL THAT going thru luggage screening???

I'm a bicycling fan and enthusiast... But.... 1. I would never ride a bike on Thailand roads in the darkness. 2. I won't ride a bike in Thailand anywhere where I'm sharing the path with cars / trucks. There have been plenty of this kind of multi fatality bicycling-motor vehicle crashes here over the years.

"Every year, in late February or early March, before that year’s flu season ends, the FDA, the World Health Organization, the CDC and other public health experts collaborate on collecting and reviewing data from around the world to identify the flu viruses likely to cause the most illnesses during the next flu season." https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/its-good-time-get-your-flu-vaccine The last figure I saw indicated that the recent flu vaccines reduce the risk of illness by between 40 and 60%.... so basically cut your risk of getting sick in half. "While vaccine effectiveness (VE) can vary, recent studies show that flu vaccination reduces the risk of flu illness by between 40% and 60% among the overall population during seasons when most circulating flu viruses are well-matched to those used to make flu vaccines. In general, current flu vaccines tend to work better against influenza B and influenza A(H1N1) viruses and offer less protection against influenza A(H3N2) viruses." https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/vaccineeffect.htm

Flu vaccines have been around for years and widely tested. The basic vaccine remains the same, but is just adjusted each year to target whatever flu strains the health authorities expect to be circulating. FDA-Approved Flu Vaccines Are Safe "A rigorous evaluation of laboratory and clinical trial data was conducted by FDA scientists and physicians to determine the safety and effectiveness of the influenza vaccines for initial approval. If a vaccine meets the FDA’s scientific and regulatory standards, it receives an FDA approval. To ensure that updated seasonal flu vaccines are safe, effective and of high quality, the FDA prepares and provides reagents (materials to standardize vaccines) to those manufacturers that have an existing FDA-approved influenza vaccine to ensure that they can make their updated influenza vaccine and to verify its identity and potency." https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/its-good-time-get-your-flu-vaccine

Stock file photo.

A lot of those on that list appear to be politically motivated killings, with a goodly number of them being related to the ongoing insurgency in the South -- as opposed to the more ordinary criminal type of incidents.

Legally speaking, everyone is presumed innocent until/unless they are found guilty in court (or in an equivalent juvenile court proceeding).

An interesting back-story of how it can be a daunting task to produce groundbreaking scientific achievement, when even your own university doesn't believe in you: Some Academics Urge Penn To Apologize "Katalin Karikó won this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine alongside Drew Weissman for their research that led to the development of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, but a post from the University of Pennsylvania—where Karikó was demoted from tenure track in 1995—claiming her as a Penn researcher angered the medical community. ... Though initially on track to become a tenured professor, the university reportedly offered Karikó a choice to either leave or be demoted with a pay cut in 1995—which she said was “particularly horrible” because she had just been diagnosed with cancer and her husband was stuck in Hungary because of a visa issue—because her mRNA research was deemed too risky and did not attract enough grant funding. Karikó took the demotion and continued her work, but later left her senior research investigator position at Penn (where she retains an adjunct professorship) in 2013 to serve as vice president at BioNTech—co-manufacturer of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine—because Penn refused to reinstate her to a tenure track position, reportedly considering her research “not of faculty quality.” (more) https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/10/03/researcher-demoted-by-university-of-pennsylvania-wins-nobel-prize-for-mrna-discoveries-and-some-academics-urge-penn-to-apologize/ Yet after the Nobel Prize award, the university put out a post lauding "Penn’s historic mRNA vaccine research team”

Regarding Anutin's supposed pronouncement, where was the Thai government following the various prior mass shootings that were even worse??? It's not like they didn't have plenty of prior knowledge that the system wasn't working: After Third Major Shooting in Four Years, Thailand Debates How to Stem Gun Violence Updated Oct. 5, 2023 "Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership and gun homicide in Asia, though it pales in comparison to the levels in the United States." ... Paul Quaglia, the Bangkok-based chief executive officer of PQA Associates, a risk assessment firm, said he would characterize Thailand’s gun regulation as “nonexistent.” ... Of Thailand’s 7.2 million privately owned guns, only six million are registered, according to estimates from gunpolicy.org, which tracks weapons worldwide." https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/04/world/asia/thailand-shooting-gun-violence.html ------------------------------------ A massacre that rippled through generations in Thailand Mar 5, 2023 After the attack — which killed 36 people, 24 of them children — Thai authorities ordered law enforcement agencies to tighten gun ownership rules in Thailand, which has more guns than anywhere else in Southeast Asia. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/03/05/asia-pacific/thailand-massacre-generations/ ------------------------------------ Thailand massacre: ex-cop kills 24 children in knife and gun rampage October 7, 2022 Police identified the attacker as a former member of the force who was dismissed from his post last year over drug allegations and he was facing trial on a drugs charge. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/least-20-people-killed-mass-shooting-thailand-police-2022-10-06/ --------------------------------------------- Soldier kills 29 people in Thailand before being shot February 9, 2020 NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (Reuters) - A soldier angry over a property deal gone sour killed at least 29 people and wounded 57 in a rampage that spanned four locations in and around the northeastern Thai city of Nakhon Ratchasima before he was shot dead early Sunday. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-thailand-shooting-idUKKBN2020T7 Per the NY Times, in Thailand, unlike for civilians here, government employees (including police and military) have NO limits on the amount of guns and ammunition they can buy.

Sorry to say.... it was a fair bit MORE than that!!! ????

Potential beyond fighting Covid-19 "Early studies suggest mRNA technology shows promise as a treatment for cancers, including melanoma and pancreatic cancer, and it’s being studied for use in vaccines for seasonal flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and HIV. Other avenues of ongoing mRNA research include exploring a new avenue to treat autoimmune diseases. And mRNA technology is also being checked out as a possible alternative to gene therapy for intractable conditions such as sickle cell disease." https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/02/health/mrna-vaccine-technology-explainer-scn/index.html

Moderna combination Covid, flu vaccine moves to final stage trial after positive data Oct 4 2023 "Moderna on Wednesday said its combination vaccine targeting Covid and the flu will move to a final stage trial in adults ages 50 and above this year after showing positive results in an early to mid-stage study. The biotech company hopes its shot, mRNA-1083, can win approval from regulators in 2025. Moderna and other vaccine makers like Pfizer believe combination vaccines will simplify what people can do to protect themselves against respiratory viruses that typically surge around the same time of the year." (more) https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/04/moderna-combination-covid-flu-vaccine-shows-positive-data.html

mRNA COVID vaccines saved lives and won a Nobel — what’s next for the technology? Nature talks to experts about how messenger RNA is transforming medicine. "In just three short years, mRNA vaccines have saved millions of lives, achieved household recognition and, as of this week, become the subject of a Nobel Prize. Yet the field shows no signs of slowing down. In the wake of the technology’s dramatic success in generating quick-turnaround COVID-19 vaccines, investors have poured billions of dollars into expanding mRNA’s therapeutic reach. This influx of cash promises to fuel the research and infrastructure needed to deploy mRNA medicines in ways that could transform public health by tackling hard-to-treat infectious diseases, cancers and rare genetic disorders." (more) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03119-x

Again, I realize you have little to no familiarity with the concept of credible sources... so let me give you an example: PRO-SCIENCE Overall, we rate Healio Pro-Science based on well-sourced peer-reviewed research and low biased and factual news. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sources and a clean fact-check record. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/healio/