14 hours ago, PerfidiousAlbion said:

You must have some essential part of your soul missing then. The human face is a vehicle for human emotion and connection. It is part of our shared humanity. Without facial cues our human experience is dulled. From a humanist perspective, they are just awful. In Europe, nobody has worn masks for 3 years now - not even old people. When I see all these young 7-11 girls wearing masks still knowing that my 90 year old Gran doesn't wear one still - I just can't help but think many Thais are soft and cowardly. 

 

If you so desperately need your daily dose of human facial emotional connectivity, hit up the chimpanzee enclosure at Dusit Zoo. That's as close as it gets.

 

...and stop moaning.

12 hours ago, Cameroni said:

 

Yeah, but those are the ones not wearing masks.

 

For  some reason it's usually young fit chicks wearing masks.

 

I've heard that aging Lothario farang needs to wear a mask in order to get the attention of 'young fit chicks'. The 'old enough to be my dad/grandad' is a guaranteed fall at the first fence, more so if you are licking your eyebrows or playing pocket billiards while completing your purchase at 7-eleven.

6 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

I've heard that aging Lothario farang needs to wear a mask in order to get the attention of 'young fit chicks'. The 'old enough to be my dad/grandad' is a guaranteed fall at the first fence, more so if you are licking your eyebrows or playing pocket billiards while completing your purchase at 7-eleven.

 

Yes, everybody hates on the old guys. Thankfully I'm still young and crispy, but I'm not looking forward to old age. I just saw a young girl on TF, "Old men, stop writing!!!!"

 

Lol.

They use them to hide those 13 smiles I keep hearing about.

16 hours ago, PerfidiousAlbion said:

That's good to hear. Maybe it's just a Bangkok thing then - as that is where I am.

I'm also in Bangkok, and only see a small percentage of people wearing masks. The OP sounds like a great exaggeration. 

2 hours ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

I'm also in Bangkok, and only see a small percentage of people wearing masks. The OP sounds like a great exaggeration. 

I am in Samut Prakan. God knows why my dad decided to leave here. Mask or no masks. The place is a mess.

3 hours ago, Cameroni said:

 

Yes, everybody hates on the old guys. Thankfully I'm still young and crispy, but I'm not looking forward to old age. I just saw a young girl on TF, "Old men, stop writing!!!!"

 

Lol.

 

Yes, I was truly a handsome man and still considered a catch at the bars and clubs well into my fifties.

 

Then I got the first knock-back. I was devastated... but only momentarily, and barfined her 'my sister me' instead.

19 hours ago, PerfidiousAlbion said:

It is not natural or normal to live like this. Not in any way, shape or form. It is anti-human and borderline dystopian. What's even more bewildering is that many seemingly well-educated foreigners think it's also totally normal. They pretend it has always been like this (it hasn't) or come up with the Pm25 bull<deleted>. PM25 on the top floor of a state-of-the-art shopping mall? Are you kidding me - what an insult to my intelligence to think I would believe such nonsense. I am just grateful that my stay is only for 3 weeks - I would go insane if I was living here full-time.

Perhaps you should stick to looking after your own health and not others.....😊

 

If seeing folk in LOS wearing masks would make you go insane, perhaps you are already there........🥴

37 minutes ago, transam said:

Perhaps you should stick to looking after your own health and not others.....😊

 

If seeing folk in LOS wearing masks would make you go insane, perhaps you are already there........🥴

I wouldn't say it makes me go insane. I just preferred Thailand when I could walk into 7-11 and see human faces. I don't think it is unreasonable to think that. I know not everyone agrees, but many do.

Just now, PerfidiousAlbion said:

I wouldn't say it makes me go insane. I just preferred Thailand when I could walk into 7-11 and see human faces. I don't think it is unreasonable to think that. I know not everyone agrees, but many do.

You must have a real problem in a hospital...............🤔

Me, I don't look at faces in 7/11, just the teller, no point....😏

13 minutes ago, transam said:

You must have a real problem in a hospital...............🤔

Me, I don't look at faces in 7/11, just the teller, no point....😏

Even without masks, I don't like 7-11. Tops is better as you can by card there. Way less Tops and Big-C employees wear masks compared to 7-11, which makes me think that usage is heavily influenced by company directives to their staff. 

15 minutes ago, transam said:

You must have a real problem in a hospital...............🤔

Me, I don't look at faces in 7/11, just the teller, no point....😏

And oddly, I have no issue with masks in hospitals - the presence of masks in hospitals is congruous with the environment, so thus it doesn't bother me. If it's a restaurant, then I do not like being served by people in masks. It doesn't create a relaxing environment and hinders communication. It is a total waste of time. If there are two restaurants sitting side-by-side and one of them has masked staff and the other has maskless staff, then 100% of the time I choose the latter. Maskless faces are infinitely friendlier, more welcoming and more trustworthy. There are studies that prove this. Again, I don't think that is a controversial or uncommon opinion to have. Most business owners in tourist areas realize this, which is why you see way less masking there. Areas like Samut Prakan or Bang Na, however, well I can't envisage a moment in time where staff in supermarkets or shopping malls will ever take their masks of. This is them for life now. 

4 minutes ago, PerfidiousAlbion said:

Even without masks, I don't like 7-11. Tops is better as you can by card there. Way less Tops and Big-C employees wear masks compared to 7-11, which makes me think that usage is heavily influenced by company directives to their staff. 

If so, thinking of their staff's health, especially with the thousands of customers they may come in contact with.

Do you have panic attacks at the dentist, with staff wearing masks...?  🤫

Just now, PerfidiousAlbion said:

And oddly, I have no issue with masks in hospitals - the presence of masks in hospitals is congruous with the environment, so thus it doesn't bother me. If it's a restaurant, then I do not like being served by people in masks. It doesn't create a relaxing environment and hinders communication. It is a total waste of time. If there are two restaurants sitting side-by-side and one of them has masked staff and the other has maskless staff, then 100% of the time I choose the latter. Maskless faces are infinitely friendlier, more welcoming and more trustworthy. There are studies that prove this. Again, I don't think that is a controversial or uncommon opinion to have. Most business owners in tourist areas realize this, which is why you see way less masking there. Areas like Samut Prakan or Bang Na, however, well I can't envisage a moment in time where staff in supermarkets or shopping malls will ever take their masks of. This is them for life now. 

I think you are overthinking, perhaps a people watcher........🤨

Just now, transam said:

If so, thinking of their staff's health, especially with the thousands of customers they may come in contact with.

Do you have panic attacks at the dentist, with staff wearing masks...?  🤫

Again, dentists have always worn masks - that was normal pre-covid, so you are missing the point. And those paper masks many 7-11 staff wear do nothing to protect health. They simply wear them to because they are easier to breathe in. They are purely performative facial decorations that are used to feign a sense of moral superiority. Masks do very little to protect human health - being healthy is about sleeping well, exercising and getting the right nutrients. If 7-11 really cared about human health then perhaps they should offer food and drink that isn't saturated with salt, sugar and chemicals. 

1 minute ago, transam said:

I think you are overthinking, perhaps a people watcher........🤨

I have always been very attuned to people's emotional state - I am an empath. Perhaps this is why I am more bothered by masks than others. 

1 minute ago, PerfidiousAlbion said:

Again, dentists have always worn masks - that was normal pre-covid, so you are missing the point. And those paper masks many 7-11 staff wear do nothing to protect health. They simply wear them to because they are easier to breathe in. They are purely performative facial decorations that are used to feign a sense of moral superiority. Masks do very little to protect human health - being healthy is about sleeping well, exercising and getting the right nutrients. If 7-11 really cared about human health then perhaps they should offer food and drink that isn't saturated with salt, sugar and chemicals. 

Yep, people watcher..........

5 minutes ago, PerfidiousAlbion said:

I have always been very attuned to people's emotional state - I am an empath. Perhaps this is why I am more bothered by masks than others. 

Tune into yourself mate. I have a feeling your are having trouble tuning in. The broadcast range for Thailand seems to be just too distant for you... Jeez....

Masks were definitely common in Thailand decades before Covid.

 

It has long been a thing in East Asia. That cultural phenomenon filters through to South East Asia.

27 minutes ago, PerfidiousAlbion said:

Even without masks, I don't like 7-11. Tops is better as you can by card there. Way less Tops and Big-C employees wear masks compared to 7-11, which makes me think that usage is heavily influenced by company directives to their staff. 

 

Driven by work in smaller shops with a far higher footfall, especially from the more grubby, lower castes of Thai society.

17 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

Driven by work in smaller shops with a far higher footfall, especially from the more grubby, lower castes of Thai society.

Regardless - they should move on. Spending your whole life worrying about catching something that will at worst make you sniffle for a few days is a terrible way to live.

20 hours ago, Celsius said:

I love masking up

If I was as ugly as you I would also be masking up

There are multiple problems with masks that the sheeple don't realise:

1. These surgical masks you see are designed so that surgeons and staff don't infect patients when operating, not the other way round.

2. Wearing a fabric mask all the time means you are inhaling micro-fibers from the mask all the time, which isn't good.

3. Wearing a mask all the time increases how much Co2 your are inhaling and lessens the amount of oxygen you are taking in.

4. On a social level, it dehumanises you and others, as you can't see their facial expressions or smile, which leads to less personal connection and isolation in some ways.

5. You can't be a germophobe, as that will decrease your exposure to normal bacteria etc. and decrease your immune system's effectiveness.

6. You can't evade it as eventually all bacteria and viruses will get you... you either live or die. The germophobes are kidding themselves.

 

If you are sick with the flu or Covid etc., then yes, common decency would dictate wearing a mask... but otherwise it's nonsense.

7 minutes ago, Sir Dude said:

There are multiple problems with masks that the sheeple don't realise:

1. These surgical masks you see are designed so that surgeons and staff don't infect patients when operating, not the other way round.

2. Wearing a fabric mask all the time means you are inhaling micro-fibers from the mask all the time, which isn't good.

3. Wearing a mask all the time increases how much Co2 your are inhaling and lessens the amount of oxygen you are taking in.

4. On a social level, it dehumanises you and others, as you can't see their facial expressions or smile, which leads to less personal connection and isolation in some ways.

5. You can't be a germophobe, as that will decrease your exposure to normal bacteria etc. and decrease your immune system's effectiveness.

6. You can't evade it as eventually all bacteria and viruses will get you... you either live or die. The germophobes are kidding themselves.

 

If you are sick with the flu or Covid etc., then yes, common decency would dictate wearing a mask... but otherwise it's nonsense.

Nail on the head. Articulated it far more coherently than myself. You're right on all points, in particular number 4. Many Thais are already beset by high levels of social anxiety - chronic mask-wearing only exacerbates this.

3 hours ago, flexomike said:

If I was as ugly as you I would also be masking up

 

When hookers visit your place they always wear a face mask. I was always wondering if it's because they were shy or ugly.

 

Now I know the answer.

1 hour ago, PerfidiousAlbion said:

Regardless - they should move on. Spending your whole life worrying about catching something that will at worst make you sniffle for a few days is a terrible way to live.

 

For info, a condo-dwelling New Zealander friend of mine in Singapore, in his seventies and his Indian wife, have both suffered half-a-dozen quite debilitating bouts of COVID infection since the 'plan/scamdemic' kicked off.

 

It's not healthy to assume everyone's natural immunity is the same.

Here you go, this picture is not taken in Thailand but in Japan.

 

On 11/6/2025 at 1:43 PM, PerfidiousAlbion said:

That's good to hear. Maybe it's just a Bangkok thing then - as that is where I am. 

I would think during the pandemic mask wearing times, Bangkok residents realised how they felt better from not inhaling the pollution and continued wearing masks. 

I walk into a work meeting, 20% of the Thai's put on a mask when I do.

I assume they think cause iam not vaxed Iam a covid carrier.

Tis funny though, I direct my questions at them, they answer (mask on) I say sorry what did you say, they repeat..... do this a few times and tell them to take the diaper off their face so I can understand them!

1 hour ago, still kicking said:

Here you go, this picture is not taken in Thailand but in Japan.

 

Japan is the worst country I have ever been to - brainwashed lemmings with zero personality