spidermike007

Well I think it's good news that this kind of report is being released and is getting attention, it certainly goes against the covid narrative, and it certainly defies what Big Pharma, the CDC, and the WHO has been trying to convince us of all along.

I was always a bit of a vaccine skeptic and thankfully information like this confirms what many of us thought might be the case. 

4 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

If the car and the guy are the ones shown in the photo then there is no way the car driver would not have seen him.

Unless he took his eyes off the road to look at his phone, to determine where his next pickup was, instead of doing that before he started driving. That would be where the negligence came in. 

6 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I used to be somewhat against the idea of ‘self-insuring’ – it was the last resort, something I never wanted to consider. But now, I completely understand why people feel pushed into it.

 

It’s not a choice, it’s a consequence. I often wonder what premiums will look like in 20 years – if they're already this high, how much further can they climb?

 

Having comprehensive cover through my employer has been a blessing of the past years. But as is often the case, when the job ends, so does the policy. There’s no option to carry over that corporate cover to a personal plan, which means starting afresh (first hand experience of this a couple of times) – and with that, comes the realties of facing exclusions for any pre-existing conditions.

 

Even worse: our family’s premium has almost doubled this year from to around $6,600 USD. Naturally, I refused to renew. But any new policy comes with the inevitable catch: exclusions on pre-existing conditions.

 

Then there’s the situation with Thai insurers. Many impose a moratorium on serious illnesses like cancer. So if you go for a check-up and something suspicious shows up – say a mass on the lungs – and it’s within the six-month exclusion window, you’re out of luck. Coverage isn’t truly continuous or secure.

 

Frankly, we’re held by the short and curlies. And as we age – like you, Spidermike – adequate cover becomes less a matter of cost and more an impossibility.

 

This, in my view, is one of the most pressing issues for long-term expats in Thailand today.

 

We can get our Marriage Visas, Retirement Visas, even the 20-year Thai Elite Visas… yet there’s no meaningful pathway into the national healthcare system. There should be. A system where we can contribute – financially and consistently – and in return, be entitled to care at public hospitals.

 

Take the UK as an example: the NHS surcharge for those on a Spouse Visa or ILR is currently £1,035 per year (roughly 46,000 baht). That seems entirely reasonable – even by Thai standards – and something many of us would gladly pay for reliable, long-term security.

 

As it stands, the only real options are:

Be wealthy enough to self-fund your healthcare indefinitely, sticking with the same insurer to avoid exclusions (but you're looking at over 600,000 baht per year for such cover)

 

Or, acquire Thai citizenship and join the public healthcare system - not possible for most who haven't been working here for 3 years.

 

Well… there’s one more route, but wives' tend not to let us marry a Thai government official just to piggyback on their health coverage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well the one possibility that you didn't mention is using the best public hospital that you can find. I have one in Bangkok that I use for things that are of a serious nature and the treatment is outstanding and world-class, and the cost is affordable. Even for things that were of a fairly serious nature, they never even approached the amount that you're looking at, as an annual premium. 

And then there is a great deal of satisfaction in just saying no to the insurance mafia. 

1 hour ago, NickyLouie said:

 

Are you that daft ?

 

The car made a wide turn and approach well before running the guys head over.

 

 

 

 

Forgive me, your highness. I did not realize there was a video link. You are correct. Looks like he was distracted and was not looking at the road? 

35 minutes ago, riverhigh said:

"The biggest element is the total loss of moral authority".

 

When I first came to Thailand and walking in a park, I saw an elderly Thai scolding another person for not standing to attention to the 6 pm national anthem. Roll the clock forward 20 years, I now see Thais merrily walking and talking in the park and completely oblivious to the 6 pm national anthem. "Moral authority" , "blind authority"  .... call it what you will  but it's definitely in the decline. You can now go to Thai karaoke parties and see young Thais make fun of traditional (brain washing) songs they learnt at school. Changing of the guard and most probably for the better (smile).

 

I agree with your preference for the PP. IMHO the election was a complete shambles. The Pheu Thai party and the unelected military senate/ government agencies have no business in being in power. Just my outsider opinion. 

 

I think what your interpreting as a moral decline is actually an awakening on the part of the youth, and the realization that the authorities and institutions that they may have once respected, no longer deserve any of that respect. 

One can only imagine how drunk this guy must have been to fall to the ground and be in such a vulnerable position that his head got run over by a car. It's an absolute miracle this guy survived. I wonder if he'll consider cutting down on the drinking once he recovers? And that's assuming he fully recovers, having your head run over by a car could result in all kinds of issues. 

Kudos did the Bolt driver for being man enough to stay at the scene, and show responsibility for his actions, even though they appear to be accidental. If the guy's head was right in front of his tires there would have been no way for him to have seen or been aware of the fact that there was a drunk guy that had fallen under his car. 

The people will not tolerate these goons much longer. My theory is that the army brass already knows this, and are now forming an escape plan. Hopefully into exile, but far better, into prison. 

They can fight a few tens of thousands. They cannot possibly beat many millions. And that is what we will see when this army created debacle is over with. 

They are utterly desperate to hang onto power, and access to the trillions of baht that likely generates for them. Using the LM and sedition laws shows how utterly intolerant of criticism these very small, very weak men are, that they need to hide behind and utilize these laws, to attempt crush the will of the people. 

The time is coming, when this will no longer be tolerated. Just wait. The army is on it's way out. It could take awhile, and it could get ugly, though it will never get to the hellish level of Burma, as the Thai parents would never, ever permit that kind of genocidal behavior from their sons. You take out one Thai, and you are forever disowned by this family. That is all it would take to bring about mass defections from the army ranks. That would sure be fun to witness. Are the pompous generals going to put themselves into harms way? Never. They do not have it in them, they are cowards. 

5 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

The army is meant to protect the country against invaders and enemies.. Not to be involved in politics, so i don't understand why the army is warning... Is the real enemy the Thai people and the politicians??? The Sinawatra clan is a real enemy indeed, but there is no need to perform a coup for it to get rid of this family... A good justice court could fix the problem, as a coup will throw the country back economical, financial and political...

The Thai army has never been an ally of the people. 

1 hour ago, Mike_Hunt said:

You are the company you keep. 

Can't handle the possibility that the US is on the decline, the quality of life is dropping, prices are skyrocketing, and very few people seem to be manifesting much in the way of and joy? 

15 hours ago, Shocked farang said:

The official inflation in 2024 in the US was 2.9% based on the consumer price index.

I agree but when the government lies to us, as they always do, and they use obscure commodities like magnesium ore to skew the Consumer Price Index, it has no bearing on reality. When you're actually spending time there and going into the supermarkets and buying your normal staples, that's when you have a sense of where inflation really is, and it really is truly in the neighborhood of 20% right now. 

14 hours ago, Presnock said:

I agree with your comments on Thailand and its people.  I already spent a couple of years in VN, enjoyed some of it but after all it was war!  The beaches are nice, I like the food and I can speak and read (or used to anyway and got paid for it) Vietnamese.  I married a Thai after my American wife passed away from breast cancer, and have a daughter from each of those ladies.  My half Thai daughter doesn't plan on living in Thailand, has taught herself to be fluent in Korean and after college plans to work in Korea and not Thailand.  Her mother of course only wants to live here in Thailand and I still enjoy life with her so I plan to stay until they burn the bones.  As for the political scene, it could never get any worse than that currently in the US with DJT, as it seems to me none of the citizens there are happy anymore based on what I hear from many different areas, and different generations of Americans.  Here, they came out with a long term visa perfect for my situation and I don't have to concern myself with 90-day reports, nor taxes on my civil pension.  I love it here, have travelled throughout, enjoyed that and meeting the different people and did that over time from 1972 until I retired here in 2005.  Good luck to all on whatever is to come.

Total agreement here. I travel back to the States frequently, a minimum of twice per year and I can tell you for a fact that Americans right now are rather joyless, and lacking in humor, they don't seem to be enjoying their lives very much, they're living, working, eating, and sleeping. Not much of a life, and many of them seem bitter, disenfranchised, disappointed, highly divided, and utterly joyless, no thanks. 

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I wanted to take just these two particular points because many of the others are largely subjective. That said, I broadly agree that Thailand stands out as a significantly better destination for foreigners compared to its neighbouring countries.

 

However, healthcare remains a serious concern.

 

First, there's the issue of dual pricing. At the lighter end of the scale, we see it in places like national parks - and while it's objectionable in principle, most people aren't too bothered. In the private sector, we have the freedom to take our business elsewhere. The real problem arises with state-sanctioned dual pricing in government hospitals. If we fall seriously ill, we're can be charged substantially more than a Thai citizen would be for the same treatment (i.e. long term cancer treatment and operations costing 2 Million Baht instead of 1 MB.

In my view, this is indefensible. When it comes to healthcare, there should be an option for long-term residents to pay into the system and receive equitable care. For me, this is where dual pricing becomes genuinely troubling - it's the big stuff that matters.

 

Secondly, while the quality of treatment is generally excellent, there's a troubling lack of accountability when mistakes are made - a factor that certainly helps keep costs down. Personally, I’d prefer to be in a private hospital in Bangkok over most places in the world. But the question is - at 80, will I still be able to afford the premiums? And that brings us full circle, back to the need for a system that ensures long-term, affordable care.

 

I can’t say whether neighbouring countries offer anything better in this regard, but this remains a major red flag when considering a long-term life in Thailand, especially if one hopes to grow old in comfort with the security of health care.

 

 

 

I agree with what you said about private hospitals here, but I also feel that I'd rather be in a public hospital in Bangkok than most other hospitals anywhere else in the world, unless I had a great healthcare plan which I don't. So, as someone who's self insured the top public hospitals here work for me very well. 

16 hours ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Yes it is - but that is not the4 main problem here. If anyone wants cheap living with English speaking and reasonable services etc etc then India is the best bet.  However, India has some disadvantages - and unless you have been there, you will never know - suffice to stay I will never visit there again.   

I lived in working India for a long time and I've been there in several occasions before and after, and I love India, and so does my Thai woman. I'd go back there in a nanosecond, it's a fascinating country with a super rich culture. But it's not a destination I would choose as an expat, on any level. 

It is no doubt a display of absolute moral bankruptcy on the part of the highly toxic CCP. They just care about the optics. They never have. 

They put so much fish sauce, oyster sauce, shrimp paste in addition to dried shrimp, in so many Thai dishes that for anyone suffering from seafood allergies I recommend eating only in vegan restaurants, or avoiding Thailand altogether. 

1 hour ago, RAZZELL said:

The simple fact is that in many ways Thailand is no longer "cheap".

 

Prices are literally double what they were from 20 years ago (in £, $ or €.)

 

Unless you want to eat in cheap restaurants or drink on the steps of a 7-11 it costs a mint 

 

I haven't been to Vietnam in 6 years but I will go again soon.

 

One of my extremely well travelled friends raves about parts of Indonesia. 

 

I need to explore that more to.

That can be said about anywhere in the world, covid seemed like it was a generational opportunity for people to engage in price gouging, and prices continue to go up in price.  In the US I am fairly certain inflation continues to rage at about 20% annually, every time I go back things have gone up 10 to 15% in 6 months or less. So this is not exclusive to Thailand. I do notice that inflation here is less than it is in most other places, and though Thailand has gotten more expensive it's still very reasonable. 

1 hour ago, RedRoadRunner said:

Oh Really...???? 😳😳😳

 this has been going on for more than 20odd years, and now they suddenly realize?

 This is another classic example for the shortsighted people running the show there....

 I came to the country in late 70s and spent a lot of time there and saw this ship going down coz of stupid people.

 Not there anymore, better places around than Thailand !!!

 

Different strokes for different folks I guess, when I travel after a few weeks more than anything I want to be back in Thailand, and when I finally get back here it's it's like a celebration. For me everyday here is a very good day. 

1 hour ago, save the frogs said:

 

Goon is an understatement. The guy's a mobster. 

 

I agree the difference is that Tony Soprano was organized, he was smart, and he had the ability to project power in a way that didn't make him look like a circus freak. 

5 hours ago, save the frogs said:

 

Yeah, I posted a quote from Trump in another thread about this. This is what he told the G7:

 

Trump is such a goon, his lack of understanding about Putin, Russia and geopolitics is rather stunning. I don't know if a more ignorant, corrupt and compromised man has ever occupied that office of US president. 

Illegal and criminal activity activity in Pattaya, that's absolutely astonishing, and almost boggles the mind to think that that's even possible.