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Posts posted by spidermike007
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54 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:I largely agree with spidermike's views, but I am not so sure about your words above. Quite a large generalisation.
I have worked on the edge of the tourism business here for the last 20 years. On the whole, guests that I interact with leave with a very positive view of Samui. Many guests return year after year and many were unhappy at having to cancel their 2020 holidays.
There are some that stuck here, and about half of them even prefer being here rather than in their home country.
"With or without the hotels this will not be an issue for anyone." This is definitely true.
Obviously there are major exceptions to every generalization. I have met some lovely resort owners and some who took us for granted. It is the army, immigration and this heinous administration that are largely responsible for the major drop in "quality tourist" arrivals. Their pursuit of sheer numbers was the height of hubris and inane policy.
I too would rather be here, than have to go back to the US or Europe now, and even before. I am thrilled to be in Thailand right now and am not buying into the Zombie panic on any level.
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Lots and lots of places for rent on Samui. Low season combined with Covid means prices are likely lower than ever. With or without the hotels this will not be an issue for anyone.
However, this will be a huge issue for millions, who were employed in the tourism sector, many making just enough to live, with no savings. And since a total lockdown has never been done before, what are the expectations for a recovery in the tourism sector? Does anyone think it will just "bounce back" to 38 million arrivals? I for one believe tourism will never be the same here. Perhaps a total of 11 million arrivals in 2020 and a slowdown to 20-25 million arrivals in 2021 and 2022. After that it is anyone's guess. The industry is decimated. And not just Covid. It was in a slow decline already, for a dozen good reasons.
Expect a real spike in unemployment here that will last for years.
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11 minutes ago, simple1 said:I really hope the Dems do not screw up 11/20. They have so much ammunition to fight trump's massive efforts with spin and propaganda. You and others may be interested to note Google's policy on Covid ads which deliberately or not, blocks Dem attack ads.
https://www.protocol.com/google-coronavirus-ad-ban-democrats
Correct. We can see where Google's loyalties lie. And it is a rather dismal demonstration of a scary abuse of power.
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2 hours ago, Logosone said:
My company will shortly be releasing a robotic fishing rod that will enable the owner to open and retrieve grocery items from the porch. No need to bring foods into the house ever again!
It is a long plastic tube with a fishing line which has hooks, mini-knives and magnets attached that are controlled electronically.
Based on the common teddy bear angling machines this technology has been refined to such an extent you can even open cornflakes packets, retrieve each cornflake individually and shower each one with disinfectant before you put it in your mouth.
The disinfectant shower add-on is sold separately.
This product will only be relseased in the USA, but is made in China. If you would like to contribute to the funding of this game changing and life-saving device please send your funding to the bank account details I will send you in reply to your private message.
My guess is, that with the level of panic out there now, and the expectations of the coming Zombie apocalypse, you will do $10 million in your first month.
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18 hours ago, lannarebirth said:
Yeah, their leadership is terrible but whose isn't? Speaking for myself, I've never met an Iranian I didn't like, in Iran or the US. I hope they find a way to ease restrictions, while at the same time giving support to opposition bodies. I don't see it happening under this regime, or a Biden regime, but I live in hope.
Biden is a far more reasonable man and he has a heart. Sanctions relief is the right thing to do. The people in Iran are decent people. They have awful leaders. So do we in the US and here In Thailand. It is what it is. Do not make the people suffer and die. That is inane and cruel.
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On 3/31/2020 at 6:47 PM, Isaanbiker said:
Using Google search would show you many ways to find what you're looking for.
Of course, waiting for a virus test will be a big turn off.
Love is a crazy thing.
Parks and saunas....
Gay Romeo without Juliet, perhaps?
Especially at 8,000 to 18,000 baht each for a test here.
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10 minutes ago, rvaviator said:He stood up for him men ...
And in this day and age, standing up for your people, demonstrating honor and integrity, speaking the truth, calling out incompetence or dereliction of duty is considered a terrible thing, to be avoided at all costs, by the increasingly thin skinned guys in power, who seem to abhor truth, honesty and transparency.
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Well, it is probably never a good idea to eat bats, much less a hundred other animals they consume in China. But, we are all assuming the line they fed us about this emanating from a lone guy eating a bat is true. I have doubted that from the beginning.
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20 minutes ago, Saltire said:
This may help you.
Don't buy much fruit as it's safe off the trees, but we do launder money now.
That is one of the most bizarre videos I have ever seen. I mean everything he says is logical. But, it is such an extreme reaction to all of this. Who is actually going to do everything he suggests? It is just crazy.
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3 minutes ago, sandyf said:I think that "staggering incompetence" is a bit strong but there is certainly an indication that those controlling access to public areas should be better informed on what to look for.
At this point in time any unusual symptoms should be questioned. Diabetes is known problem as far as covid-19 is concerned, a 53 year old UK female died in Bali.
At no point in the past six years, could the term staggering incompetence be considered a bit strong, or inappropriate, when it comes to the army, and this administration.
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6 hours ago, Crazy Alex said:Even WaPo and Snopes have debunked your claim about Trump saying the virus was a hoax. Now who said covid would go away like a miracle? And the broader question... why do you make claims that have been debunked or are obviously unsubstantiated AT BEST?
As for Biden: he is clearly slipping away with dementia. That is why some are trying to prop up Cuomo. That is an interesting choice, given his governance in New York has resulted in New York being the runaway worst-infected state in the union.
You are incorrect again. It must get very hard defending this guy. Watch the portion on Feb. 28th. The inane and inaccurate statements he made. And then watch what he says at the end. A rather extreme change of attitude. Dementia is far better than delusion and insanity.
Trump has come in for heavy criticism from political opponents for what they say was his failure to take the threat of the virus seriously when the outbreak first emerged. "Thirty five thousand people on average die each year from the flu. Did anyone know that?" Trump told supporters at a rally on February 28. "Thirty five thousand. That's a lot of people. And so far, we have lost nobody to coronavirus in the United States." "Now, the Democrats are politicising the coronavirus… this is their new hoax."
https://www.france24.com/en/20200320-from-hoax-to-pandemic-trump-s-shifting-rhetoric-on-coronavirus
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16 hours ago, lannarebirth said:Actually, the bankruptcies would be counted among his successes. Businesswise, that is.
At least personal successes when you consider the hundreds of millions of dollars he looted from each business, before sticking it to the small family contractors, and banks. There is a reason why to this day, no bank in the world will lend him money, other than Deutsche Bank, and he went into office involved in over 3,600 lawsuits, mostly from small contractors whom he bled dry. That is just who he is, and how he rolls.
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He was very sick, and showing major symptoms. There is now video of him getting on the train, and he could barely walk, and was coughing on people without wearing a mask. Officials should be manning every station, and handing out free masks for public transport. He was very sick in Hua Hin, vomiting on the train. Apparently some officials inspected him, and due to a normal temperature, he was allowed to continue his travel.
So, my question is this. Why go to the extent the officials have gone, in shutting down the nations economy, and then allow this kind of inane recklessness to happen? It is public transport. Public transport by it's very nature is forced social gathering. Why not have officials taking precautions? Is this just staggering incompetence? Or just an oversight? Or is this more damage caused by the ridiculously unqualified health minister Anutin? He needs to be replaced yesterday.
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27 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:
Not sure Joe Biden has any core supporters. Most castaway from Bernie’s campaign, or still suffer from TDS...
It barely matters. Trumps failure was so massive, at the time he was needed most. It will not be forgotten. Shai Leboauf could beat Trump at this point.
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I have the global version and it is all English. The unit works well and is the best air filter for the money that I am aware of.
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44 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:You mean the highest rated cable news channel.
And what does that say about America?
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21 minutes ago, dlclark97 said:
I can't believe anyone would come here now to work in the dive industry. Over the last 3-4 years many of Thailand's liveaboards moved to Indonesia and Malaysia. Now even they are in the same boat (pun intended) as everyone else. SCUBA in Thailand is just not what it used to be and it was getting harder and harder for the liveaboards to even come close to filling their boats for 4-7 day dive excursions. Until recently many of these boats that had moved to Indonesia and Malaysia were fully booked months in advance and even had wait lists for trips that were months away. There are organizations working in conjunction with the Thai Navy harvesting and replanting corals in the many areas that have been devasted by over fishing and from boats dropping their anchors on the coral reefs and from the polluted runoff from what are sometimes torrential rains that wash all the dirt and sewage from the tsreets into the ocean. Pattaya once had pristine corals and abundant marine life a short ways from the shore. Now it's a great place to dive if you like sea urchins and little else.
My wife and I both got out open water certification on Dark Tao. Worst diving of my life. Ten dives and never visibility better than three to four meters. I can see why the industry is dying. Andaman is far better but like you say, mostly live aboards. Indonesia diving can be stunning. Thailand is not even a pale shadow of that experience.
And many do not want to have anything to do with Dark Tao, as it's reputation is horrendous. Plus it is really overpriced. Phangan has its charms.
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35 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:You were pulling "mark my words" statements about Bloomberg being the definite dem nominee. So, much credibility is lost.
True. And Mike really blew the debate. But, not on the epic level Trump blew his chance to save the American people. He will be remembered for all of that loss of life he could have saved, had he been man enough to muster up just a tad of selflessness. Failure is failure. Besides the five deferments and the five bankruptcies this is the largest failure of his life.
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1 minute ago, stevenl said:He may have made a turnaround, and I think it could have been on time for his re-election.
In general events like this favour the ruling party, provided their response is seen as adequate. And while it has fallen whofully short in the first 2 months, the elections are still far enough away to turn that perspective around.
Not gonna happen. Not by a long shot. He failed. He let his people down. He put his own politics first, in a time of national crisis, and that MUST NOT be forgotten.
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Very hard to feel a great deal of sympathy for a couple who sold their home in the UK, and likely moved over here with a substantial amount of money in the bank. There are hundreds of millions in India, and other nations, that made $2 to $10 a day prior to this economic shutdown, and were living hand to mouth, owning nothing, and having no money in savings, no retirement plan, no pension, and no safety net. Now, what will they do to survive?
This shutdown may end up causing ten to fifty times the number of people to starve to death, than are taken out by the virus. And we are talking about young and healthy people, not older people who have lived rich lives.
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In my opinion the Covid virus has knocked out Trump in the first round. Knocked him out cold. Even Mylie Cyrus could beat him come November. His fight against this thing was pathetic from the start. Remember, Covid was a democratic hoax. Until it was not. It was just a little worse than a common cold. Until it was not. And it would go away like a miracle. Until it did not.
The election is already lost. All Joe has to do is simply show up. Covid has done to Trump what the collusion with Russia, the coddling of dictators, the alienation of our closest allies, the devastating trade war with China, that he started, his inane wall, his unbelievable Ukraine crimes, and his 15,000 lies could not do. It knocked him out of the race, and beat him before the elections could even be held. At least one good thing has come from the virus.
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1 hour ago, pathologix said:To my best understanding (as per daily emails I'm getting from embassy) – US State Dept is recommending TOURISTS return home. They have suggested that expats avoid international travel. I haven't seen them tell citizens who reside in Thailand or Cambodia to give up residency and return to the States.
Come back to the epicenter of Covid. Leave a pleasant place that has relatively few cases, and come back to a place that is raging with the virus. Abandon a pleasant lifestyle to come back to one of the most joyless places on earth. And come back to a place that will leave you utterly bankrupt, if you end up hospitalized, without insurance.
Not much credibility that demonstrates, and not a whole lot of common sense and reason either, coming from the State Department.
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I suspect this will top out at around 5,000 cases and level off quite soon. With millions of Chinese running all over Thailand in Dec. and Jan., if this were going to blow up, it would have happened already.
Take a few deep breaths. This is not the zombie apocalypse. The nuclear bombs are not raining down.
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47 minutes ago, Cashboy said:
Maybe you would like to expand on what "Dictator Putin" has done wrong and what "no good"he has done?
Sorry. If that has to be explained to you, you are already beyond convincing. Homey don't play the baiting game.
Engineer crashes LA train near U.S. Navy hospital ship deliberately, prosecutor says
in World News
Posted
This kind of reaction does not surprise me. The media is whipping the public up into a frenzy, and they are attempting to promote this as the Zombie Apocalypse. This is a serious event. Surely the world will be quite different when we emerge from this dreadful economic shutdown. But, it its not the end of the world.