2 minutes ago, bumblebee said:

By any chance was that a soi off the northern end of Buakhao that goes from Buakhao towards Third Road.  I recall many years ago seeing about 10 pigs all prepped for party time somewhere around there.  It might have been the soi where the indoors Sensations was located or a soi either side of it.

Yes. And it maybe the soi where Sensations (indoor version) was located or just near there. It was a bit more of a remote location 13-14 years ago.

1 hour ago, Cherjam said:

I'm often asked why i know the city so well, Its because I walk, I am always taking everything in, and get a sore neck looking at all those high signs 555, seriously, If anyone is staying in Central Pattaya, there is no need to get the bus or moto taxi, you can even walk to the dolphin roundabout in 15 minutes from Buakoa easy

I used to walk everywhere around Pattaya the first few years. Not just places I needed to go but pretty much every street I could find. I knew just about everywhere. I still regret not having a camera with me the day I found the place where they prep the pigs on a grill for parties. There were like 30 of them setup in a parking lot, most with their server present, ready to depart for parties far and wide. 

These days, in my advanced years, I stay around Buakhao and Diana and still walk to Soi 7&8 and 13/1/2 but usually not a lot farther. And sometimes ride shorter distances when it's hot and I just got cleaned up to go out at night. Most trips I now go to the gym but walking and gym never seem to burn off the extra calories. Too much beer. But I've never been a serious walker like BB. 

Sorry, I better delete this to keep the peace.

3 hours ago, rxpharm said:

It seems that the Asian countries of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan were using that time effectively.

Hong Kong got good reviews also. However Japan, while somewhat flattening their curve, has some work to do. I saw TV reports of many people out and about enjoying good weather. There was no evidence of social distancing. Many of the population yet to take it seriously apparently.

Unfortunately possibly infected stuff is also a problem in civilized nations. Reportedly 180,000 pounds of African "bush meat" is smuggled into the US in a year. A possible source of all kind of bad things including ebola. And we can't even stop it in the US. Do a web search for African bush meat and pick the news source of you choice.

4 minutes ago, seven said:

And therefor its ok? I disagree with you.

  He didn't say it was OK he said that is the way it is.

9 hours ago, rxpharm said:

TC, it is not only testing that needs to be done, what a lot of the Asian countries have included is contact tracing and use of cell phones to enforce quarantine/self isolation. I am not sure western countries would go for that, but in a situation like this, I think it is necessary.

I've heard we are apparently so far behind the curve in the US that we are likely beyond contact tracing. But a moot point as there still aren't enough test kits.

I didn't realize until yesterday that when the Chinese found a infected family member they pulled them out of the household and sent them to wherever they were putting others that were infected. I was in Thailand when the Chinese stuff hit the fan so missed out on a lot of news.

52 minutes ago, Tomcat said:

Hey , better go to specsavers , i never even claimed this was a fact. These are guys are from Oxford Uni and probably left wing loonies and not Trump supporters

You keep posting this crap and i will respond ad infinitum

Sorry as I read what you originally posted I took you to be more serious about the report than you apparently were. 

1 hour ago, Ashoka said:

I'm seeing pictures on websites saying Elmhurst hospital overwhelmed.

Elmhurst Hospital had 13 COVID-19 deaths yesterday. It was reported some passed away without ever being admitted because of lack of beds. I saw a report on TV that some guy with virus systems had been to the that hospital three days in a row, waited many hours each day, and still hasn't been able to get a test.

4 hours ago, seven said:

Fastest spreading city in the world right now: New York

It's just a clusterfuck in the US especially NY. We started testing weeks if not a month or more too late. Hospitals still can't get simple supplies like face masks and other PPE. Although Governor Cuomo finally managed to get enough for NY for a few weeks. Many places are only testing people they think are sick because of lack of tests. Widespread testing is still mostly non existent. Certainly nothing like the touted South Korea method. So much for this super power.

One county in my state has a shelter in place order and working with a private company plans to test very person in that county. That should give an interesting snapshot of one county. The places hit in my state beside (now) the population areas are the counties with ski areas. I think they got it first. 

If I check the weather on my usual internet website before the weather they show the number of confirmed cases in my county. It is approaching 50 with no deaths reported. Good to hear there are no deaths as the first two cases in the county were in a seniors nursing home.  

23 minutes ago, Tomcat said:

hang on ... my point was that you dismissed what i said out of hand when its clearly not the case. I was making some observations on the current thinking

And I posted a response, that was printed today (that makes it current thinking), with information by doctors that disagree with the UNPUBLISHED study you mentioned.

Maybe I have this wrong. Have 50% had the virus and already recovered? Or do 50% have the virus and a large number will now get sick? If they have already recovered it makes absolutely no sense that there would not be a large number of deaths of the elderly and immune compromised. Perhaps COVID-19 can be cured with a stiff upper lip. Or there is some other UK magic that makes this virus less serious. If 50% have it now but aren't showing symptoms yet I misunderstood and wish the UK all the best luck as they will need it.

IMO that study will turn out to be seriously flawed. So I felt the need to point that out and not just let it go by as fact. So I post a rebuttal of that study that also consulted doctors. The study sounds like something Trump would say. If I turn out to be wrong I will apologize. Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong but IMO the virus facts just don't support the claim unless the UK has some miraculous way that people with COVOD-19 don't get sick.

I will stop now as there is no point in continuing. You made your point and I made mine. 

There would be no reason to bet. Even if the unpublished study is right, which I doubt, you could still be in the 50% that didn't have the virus and be at risk. I still find it ludicrous that 45M in the UK could have the virus without at least a serious mortality rate in the elderly or immune compromised.

I won't bet my house but how much would you like to wager?

7 minutes ago, Tomcat said:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oxmu2rwsnhi9j9c/Draft-COVID-19-Model (13).pdf?dl=0

This i do believe is the basis texts of what i was alluding to .. from Oxford University i do believe... 

And this is the group of doctors that doesn't believe that unpublished study:

https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/368/bmj.m1216.full.pdf

3 minutes ago, Tomcat said:

It was on the national news .. its not my theory.

I'm sorry but that makes no sense. Even if 1% of COVID-19 patents needed hospitalization (which in reality is a way low number) the UK hospitals would have seen 450k patents. So the hospitals didn't notice this was happening? If they even saw 45k patients with similar symptoms would that no set off alarm bells?

1 hour ago, Tomcat said:

Some Scientists have put the lower estimate at 45,000,000 in UK but of course its still a theory among others but  its getting more credence every day. In Wuhan there is speculation that 80% may have in fact have had it and so herd immunity was reached.

 Again if you had 45M cases in the UK your medical system would have been overrun IMO.

6 minutes ago, Tomcat said:

some reports are coming out that suggest that 50% of the UK population may already have had this disease....it could be in Wuhan that many more have had it and that maybe it will burn itself out.. so many theories its all confusing . The new test coming on stream will show if you have  had Covid and not if you have it it now , a big difference

Yes there are some antibody tests that can tell if one already had the virus and recovered. Although considering they don't have enough regular COVID-19 tests that will probably be a way off for most. I heard something about that test that shows if you have COVID-19 or if you already had it. But not much lately. Who knows maybe by summer/fall they will have do-it-yourself home tests?  

It is actually a possibility to take the blood from those that have recovered and have antibodies, refine the blood and make something that will help the very sick. But it's so labor/machine intensive it doesn't seem much of a reasonable option. It got a little media play a week or two ago as being successful but not much since. So maybe the idea is no longer in favor or just too hard.

I'm not a doctor but I play one on the LB sites. I would think that if 50% of the UK population had the virus at some point the ICU/critical services would have been overrun long ago. At the very least they would have seen a steady stream of patients letting them know the virus was already on the loose. But since I'm not a doctor...   

This was a nice story:

1,000 retired health care workers volunteer to work in NYC

https://news.yahoo.com/1-000-retired-health-care-062334411.html

20 hours ago, Tomcat said:

Maybe herd immunity is a way out of this ... the virus is going nowhere otherwise . If the economy goes down the pan life wont be worth living anyway and civil disorder will follow... ( in the UK)

I think in three or four weeks they will relax the rules as in secret they probably want all the under 50s to catch it and hope it burns out( this was the  original plan)....

  Unfortunately it's likely, from what I have seen lately, that a fair number of under 50s will have serious cases. I could see us maybe turning to this after the numbers have peaked. Even if the under 50s don't get seriously ill they will have to work like hell not to infect the elderly. However if we screw up and overload the hospital capacity badly the death percentage will go up like Italy IMO. But to pick a firm date at this time seems a bit wishful.

  But it's all a matter of how long one thinks the economy can stay shutdown and still recover. And what does reviving the economy while the virus is still here mean exactly? I sure as hell won't be eating in a restaurant or hanging out in a bar (hypothetically as I'm over 50).

  Probably will be interesting to see what happens in China now that they are reopening. Although all the Chinese factory workers I see on TV news are wearing masks. Nice that someone has a big supply.

======

  Sorry but do we really need pictures of girls in this thread?

3 minutes ago, Annat said:

Also, Boris is showing leadership qualities I did not think he had – well done to him

I'm not in the UK but I think Boris like Trump's government is a month or so behind the curve. But better late than never I guess.

I'm watching a replay of Trump's news conference AND HE DID SAY they will reevaluate in 15 days. Be interesting to see if we even have a case peak in 15 days. 

6 minutes ago, ciobha said:

Yeah that pretty much sums up what I read. The truth is that if Trump does go ahead and reopen everything or most things well ahead of when it is safe to do so, other countries, including the UK will probably follow for fear of falling further behind in terms of their economy. Much as this lockdown/restrictions are pain in the ass, I am willing to go along for as long as it takes to make sure as many people as is possible can survive. There are going to be deaths, absolutely no doubt, but if they can be limited then that is good. Sadly some governments will view the old and sick as collateral damage and get back to business.

There seems to be more numbers everyday that it's not just the old. If hospitals get overwhelmed there are going to be a lot of deaths. The US numbers, now that we are actually starting to test a lot of people, will spike over the coming weeks. At this point days 15 days is likely a ridiculous time frame. I think a lot of these early reopen proponents don't really understand what is going to happen to the health care system. But just my opinion.

Right wing Fox News has been having an occasional guest on that suggests we should have never shut down the economy. Who knows what out commander and dumb ass will do.

22 minutes ago, ciobha said:

On another note, I think I read somewhere the Mr.Trump is already considering returning to normal after 15 days, as one of his advisory "experts" reckons that the overall cost would be more damaging than the death toll if current measures prevailed. Can any of our American friends confirm this, or is it just whispers.

The Donald just had a press conference. He was talking about the future when things reopen. He said it would be sooner than a lot think but gave no date. But he says lots of stupid untrue things at these press conferences. 

He was again touting the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine along with azithromycin (generic Zithromax) taken at the same time as a possible help for the very sick. Doctor Fauci was not at the press conference. He usually steps in later and gives a more realistic view of whatever drug Doctor Trump says is going to be the next great thing. But Fauci was recently quoted  in an article saying in regard to Trump "I can't jump in front of the microphone and push him down." Reportedly Trump is growing a bit tired of Fauci. So we unfortunately maybe losing that voice of reason.

  https://news.yahoo.com/trump-reportedly-getting-frustrated-dr-142831198.html

1 hour ago, Pdoggg said:

I wore a mask and one glove.   Next time may skip the mask as I wasn't talking to anyone except one extremely brief conversation.  But the mask makes it easier not to have to reply to the girls who try to engage you into conversation.  Not sure if I needed the glove except for the doorknobs and elevator buttons in my building.

Getting you Michael Jackson on with one glove? For me a mask makes it easier to remember to not touch my face. Gloves do no good if you are touching your face.

On 3/20/2020 at 2:30 PM, Tomcat said:

i suppose all the gloves will be sold by next week... panic buying

That would be last week, or the week before, here.

11 hours ago, Quietguy said:

I had a lb in Soi 6 st room laugh when I took off my shorts, my legs up to shorts level were a deep brown, but from there to waist I was quite pale.

I took my shirt off in a ST room with a Soi 6 GG, many years ago, to reveal my very white skin. She blurted out "I should have a baby with you" (or the equivalent in BG language). I guess that love of white skinned possible baby makers is kind of lost with LBs.   

Sorry

6 hours ago, bumblebee said:

Now back to the action ...:)

Third from the right looks like Tong? How old is this picture?