connda

Ahh, the trial and tribulations of living in Thailand. I've installed good doors and windows in the house and have air filtration when we need it. The problem with pushing a issue like burning with your neighbor is that you may end up being the next AseanNow story about a farang murdered with a machete or revolver by some poor misunderstood Thai man who the evil farang made to "lose face." Also the guy is smoking outside on his patio which - unless smoking in the building is against condo rules - would be his right. Suggestion? When your contract is up, rent a house with enough land around it so that you have security in numbers but not so close that you don't have privacy.

Over the last year iHerb deliveries have been slug-slow. Many of my orders were taking upwards of 8 weeks to arrive. They consistently seemed to get hung up in Germany??? It seems they have remedied that choke-point. Post office guy showed up today with a package??? Both my wife and I are looking at each other - "You order that?" Turns out to be my iHerb order. I checked tracking. I took 6 days to transit from the US to delivery today. That's got to be the fastest I've ever received an order for iHerb.

I've kept all my friends who came here annually up to date with the Test&Go scheme as well as the warnings. None of my friends from the US are coming here until after they drop this scheme and return to a semblance of normalcy.

You're right. I'm just interpreting what the journalist, Gregers Møller, wrote in his article: "The SHA+ and ASQ hotels where the travelers are required to stay, must all have contracts with a specific hospital, usually a private hospital. The PCR tests are performed by the hospital who has the exclusive rights to receive all the patients from the hotel they stay at." (i.e., it's the hospital's responsibility to arrange lab-work) "Collusion?" Interesting word. If you want to use that word then the journalist implies 'collusion' although my guess is that he has done his due diligence and has researched that the hotels, hospitals, and labs are 'following government regulations.' If there are not contracts between hotels, hospitals, and labs - well, then it's the reporter's error. However. my guess is that what you consider to be "collusion" is in fact the way the government has set up the Test&Go scheme. Hotels, hospitals, and labs are just willing participants who see a highly profitable economic benefit from entering into such a contractual agreement. If this isn't factual? Contact the reporter, Gregers Møller, Editor-in-Chief • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand. As far as mentioning that such a "highly profitable...contractual agreement" could be exploited? Well my friend - TIT - This Is Thailand. https://thethaiger.com/news/national/thailands-score-drops-to-more-corrupt-on-organisations-corruption-perceptions-index

In the 2030s, that will be the new Tales Around The Campfire that we'll tell our children to scare the dickens out of them.

There are contracts between the hotels, the hospitals, and the labs? This combination is a recipe for monetary exploitation!!! In order to "feed" the hospitals "rich foreigners" all that needs to be done is for the labs to manipulate the Covid-19 PCR test cycle counts as cycle counts are not standardized. Push the cycle count for foreign arrivees to 35, 40, or 45 and it will be pretty much guaranteed to create numerous false positive which in turn make this unholy union a s**t-ton of money. Then you wonder why Thailand keeps dropping in the global corruption index? If I was outside of the country, you couldn't pay me to come here right now.

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Quite the gig. Thai insurers will be Happy to sell you $50,000 Covid travel policies for a price; Thai labs will be Happy to sell you highly inflated PCR tests (and Heaven Only Knows what the cycle count is. The higher the cycle count the more positives (฿฿฿)...and then); Thai Hospitals are more than Happy to have you as a forcefully incarcerated Guest whilst charging you ฿10,000+ THB per night even if you're completely without symptoms; and Thai SHA+/ASQ hotels will be more then Happy to supply you with an overpriced room during your forced stay whilst waiting for your mandatory PCR tests. Money money money money money for all our good, connected friends!!! Much more profitable than simple - tourism! In the meanwhile..... https://scandasia.com/warning-against-traveling-to-thailand/

Looks like South Africa is a better place to plan a vacation. Test positive but no symptoms? No isolation. Test positive and with symptoms? 5 day isolation. https://www.businessinsider.co.za/trending/isolation-only-with-symptoms-sas-new-covid-19-rules-2022-1

Fine and dandy, but with only 20% of the population paying the fines? Perhaps work on fine collection first? 'Eh?

Psst! Someone wants to be the new PM!

BIB: You no wear mask!!! 1000 baht! You: Anutin says I don't have to wear a mask. BIB: Ok. 100 baht!

There are places where I prefer to wear a mask, e.g., in a hospital waiting room, and then I wear a 'real' mask, i.e. a 3M 7502 P100. Cloth masks don't stop particles as small as a virus. N95 masks are effective at most for about 1 day of wear. Wearing masks indoors in places like a hospital or in a crowded flying tin-can: yeah good idea maybe...if it's a real mask! Wearing them outdoor? That's just virtue signaling. Thai government no doubt loves that rule to keep the commoners compliant. I seldom wear one outside unless I'm somewhere were I may get fined. Why? Read below: "Leonhardt explained that CDC officials chose a high benchmark of 10 percent that had little basis in scientific reality. Dr. Muge Cevik, a virologist at the University of St. Andrews, said the benchmark “seems to be a huge exaggeration.” His report cited multiple epidemiologists who believe the share of outdoor transmission is closer to one percent and could be below 0.1 percent. When rare outdoor spread does occur, it is in crowded venues and congested spaces, according to the report." -CDC Director Defends Agency’s Use of Inflated Outdoor COVID Transmission Rate, Caroline Downey May 12, 2021, Yahoo News Cited study linked below. Risk of outdoor transmission below 10%. https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/223/4/550/6009483?login=false * Why don't I wear one outside? It's stupid and I like to breath. * It's the law? It's a stupid law. * Oh, by the way. Our illustrious leader of the MoPH says: I like Anutin more and more every day!

Submitted without comment: A Literature Review and Meta-analysis of the Effects of Lockdowns on Covid-19 Mortality By Jonas Herby, Lars Jonung, and Steve H. Hanke Studies in Applied Economics - John Hopkins University This systematic review and meta-analysis are designed to determine whether there is empirical evidence to support the belief that “lockdowns” reduce COVID-19 mortality... While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted. In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument. https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu/iae/files/2022/01/A-Literature-Review-and-Meta-Analysis-of-the-Effects-of-Lockdowns-on-COVID-19-Mortality.pdf

Tarantulas are cool.

"We're going to jam digital currency down your throats - and you'll be Happy."

When everyone from construction tycoons to common villagers are blasting these animals on sight - not much hope is there.

Western-mind vs Thai-mind. Western-mind comprehends the economic damage of two years of draconian regulations and eases up to stimulate the economy; Thai-mind revels in the draconian regulations as status conscious elites love nothing more than making the commoners submit and conform and dance to their dictates and whims, and as far as the economy? As long as the Wealthy and Connected benefit by gouging "Rich Foreigners", who cares about the economic suffering of the little people?

A hell of a lot more than are coming now. That seems to bypass the logic of the simpletons at the top.

I hope the country's leaders understand that they will now experience in influx of radical Wahhabism. And they think they have problems just in three Southern provinces now? Just wait for that to expand country-wide.

The ultimate sign of full submission. Masking will become a cultural icon as it completely fits the Thai culture of the commoners submitting to power. Which is why masks will never go away. They'll simply be institutionalized. "Come - Vacation in wonderful Masked-Up Thailand!" And they will lose tourism market share to countries who open up first and dump these restriction - Like forced masking outside in the open air.

But but but - there is no "flu" any longer. Guess there is no need for flu shots? ????

Time to lock the world down again.

They'll be counting Burmese immigrants as tourists to make up the gap between pipe-dream forecasts and reality.

The inactivated virus vaccines are the only vaccines I'd allow my children to have.