kimamey

I'm sure you know this but you need to work with percentages not just compare absolute numbers between counties with vastly different populations.

That's probably why the number of deaths as a percentage is higher in Thailand than in other countries with similar high numbers of motorbikes. Such as those you mentioned. Of course it isn't just those on motorcycles that need to be looked at.

The police break the laws as well.

We may be sick of it but it's still here. I haven't been keeping up with the Thai Covid figures but I believe they are still high. They did really well early on but they do seem to have lost there way a bit lately. Some restrictions are a compromise between keeping the country and particularly the economy going but others aren't. I don't know all the figures so I'm only basing this on what I think is the case. Allowing businesses to open and in particular those that are tourist related is important to the economy and people's ability to live so they need to be opened as soon and as much as is possible. Dropping the need for Covid tests is good but I think it should either be all tests or if they insist on testing then before departure will mean you're unlikely to be bringing in Covid. After 5days you're most likely to have caught it here anyway so you aren't any different to anyone already here. My guess would be that all tests should be dropped. Masks don't really affect the economy or have a great detrimental effect on people's lives and do cut the chances of spreading Covid so they could be kept although I do think that the wearing of them outside should be dropped. As for Boris Johnson, well I wouldn't trust him with anything important. When he dropped the legal requirement to wear masks indoors he said the government were going to rely on British common sense. If that were the case why have the legal requirement in the first place? Then when he was going to drop all restrictions he said they weren't needed to get people to do the right thing. So why did you have them in the first place. Much of what he does is to try to keep the right wing of his party happy. The good thing here in Thailand is that if you don't like the rules as they are don't worry as they'll probably change next week anyway.

Just thought I'd give an update. I arrived in Bangkok on the 9th. The flight via Bahrain wasn't a problem and I was amazed by how dry I was despite a lot of walking around airports. After my negative test result on the 10th I had to wait for my wife to arrive that evening so I did a reasonable amount of walking and again very dry. Very much a relief to be honest. It has got a little worse in the last couple of days but not too bad. Fining pads is a problem as the information on many here doesn't seem that good even with my wife translating. the length and sometimes the width but the absorbency is a bit more difficult. I've got some that seem to have the length and the a 3 where I would expect an absorbency rating might be and then a couple of Thai letters after it. I asked my wife what it said and she told me "3D". Seeing as it wouldn't work if it was 2D I think this might be related to absorbency. I saw some incontinence pants in Tesco (sorry Lotus's) that had a 6 on it that the wife told me was absorbency so maybe I'm getting somewhere now. I'll try Big C next. Today we also went to the local temple to measure for granite name plates to place on the holes in the temple wall were the bones of recently decease relatives are placed plus her younger brother who died long ago. Then we went to order them. Bloody hell this is fun isn't it? Who needs beaches, beer and girls eh. ????

Yes and they're more fun than swab stuffed up your nose. Done right of course

My wife will make sure I don't see it and having seen her with a meat cleaver I'll make sure I don't accidently see it

Yes definitely but where in La La Land? North, South, Isaan, Bangkok? I think we need to know.

My brother in law in the UK has the same problem. I can do the throat ones but it's much easier with someone else doing it.

It might depend on the entry requirements and covid restrictions. ????

A lot of western governments advise against travel to that area so that might put a lot of people off visiting plus any insurance would probably be invalidated. My wife's friend worked in Songkhla in givens offices for a while for which they get paid extra and she said it was a case of going from home to the office and back. She was probably in a government house insure as well. I don't know if there are any on here living in the south who can give a picture of what it's like? It's possible my wife may have to work there. I do remember seeing an article by a Dutch guy who decided to travel down to the border and it looked a great experience.

I can't answer this question but it seems others can. It may seem trivial but these questions still need answering whatever else is going on and the answer is something others will probably need to know as well

Just had a quick look and most research seem to suggest helmets do save some lives and also reduce the chances of brain damage.

A good point. In a different set of circumstances if through no fault of your own you hit a motorcyclist and a helmet reduces the injury to something recoverable then you as the driver will probably still be affected but not as badly as if they weren't wearing a helmet which meant they suffered brain damage. Its the same with allowing young children to ride motorcycles without training or helmets. As for whether the crime or effect should determine a charge or sentence that can be difficult. If someone deliberately drives at speed in an area where there are children but none are hit is that better or worse than someone who kills or injures a child due to an unintended momentary lapse in concentration? Do you give more weight to the misdeed or the result?

I forgot all about the app until day 4 and once I installed it it just came up with an error when I tried to scan it and the same when I input the details manually. The lateral flow tests I've used in the UK have had a QR code and ID number but the ATK here had neither. One other thing. The RT-PCR tests I've had done in the UK have all involved swabs taken from the mouth and nose and the same for the lateral flow tests. The PCR test in the hotel on day 1 was just a nasal swab and the ATK instructions which were so small as to be unreadable suggested both oral and nasal but my wife said they just do nasal when she's had to do it. A bit confusing

That's not what I'm saying at all so my mind isn't warped at all thank you. As I've also pointed out on the thread about the bus passengers being killed and injured its what lawyers will always do and in fact that's their job. Even in a situation such as this where it's likely the driver was at fault a lawyer will try to find mitigating circumstances to reduce compensation and responsibility for death or injury. In the case of the bus passengers if they weren't wearing a seat belt then their death or injury will be claimed to be partly at least due to their own actions and they may also be held responsible to some extent for any injury to other passengers they hit when thrown from their seat. In the case of the of the motorcycle rider then not wearing a suitable helmet might be claimed to have made the effects of the accident worse regardless of whose fault it was. This will be expected by the insurance companies and given the lack of appetite for punishing the upper classes its what I'd expect them to do in order to reduce responsibility. If the sentence can be reduced to compensation and a non custodial action then I think they'd probably be happy.

Didn't I see something about PTT installing charging points in its properties? I guess you're more likely to see it in Bangkok than I am in Isaan.

There will be a lot of debate around the cause of this crash but I would expect the lawyers for the bus company to try to reduce their responsibility based on seat belt wearing, or lack of. Firstly they would clarion anyone not wearing a belt would be at increased risk of death or injury to themselves. Secondly as they are thrown around they may cause injury to other passengers. A sad loss of life and possibly life changing injuries.

That's true but I know petrol and diesel prices were going up in the UK before the Russian attack on Ukraine. It just started rising quicker after that.

If he wasn't wearing a suitable helmet then I'd expect that to be used at the very least to get a reduced sentence. Probably non custodial.

I would guess its the same situation as gas prices. Its sold on the world market so it goes up and down based on that. If you produce your own then it might be a bit different although I think oil comes in different types so what you produce may not be suitable for everything.

I'm in Isaan and for every day use an EV wouldn't be much of a problem assuming the electricity supply to our house could cope. Easy to connect in front of the house and no printemps with range with any EV I know of. The only problem is when we go away as the range, charging times and options would be an issue at the moment although things will get better. I can't afford a Tesla. We could just hire a vehicle for longer trips but we tend to go away quite a bit and rental options aren't close by. Possibly an EV for every day and petrol or diesel for weekends away. Up to now when I'm in the UK is slightly different in that an EV is almost always ok and I could rent easily for the odd occasions is not but I don't have the ability to charge at home. There are quite a few public chargers but unless you wait with the vehicle whilst it's charging apparently there's now a chance your cable will be stolen.

A weightless punch-up. I hope they video it. ????

If Taiwan are on the list of nations that aren't friendly to Russia won't that upset China? In their view Taiwan isn't a country but part of China.

I hope this helps. Of course it depends on the company