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what its really like here. well the attached video is our second in a series. the next one is in the can just got to finish it all up, and it takes ages but the foodlines are getting bigger now. most see up to 700 a day. I have always said that 10% would be on the take, but the 90% are broke. and its getting worse and worse. openign amusement parks, malls and hair salons doesnt do this lot much good at all, and employers wont be keen to re open, even bars, unless they already had an expat trade. latest guesstimate is we might see SOME tourism towards the end of the year but even thats only a guess and a carrot. 3 bars in LK Metro now give out meals at different times too. Lady love, as an example, cooked for 2=300 and had a 700 person queue. so they like others go along the queue handing out raffle tickets, when they get to the number of meals they have, they tell the queue and they leave, withe longest of faces. I think I am the most sceptical of people, and so it was only when we went to these places around the city that it really sunk in. it would shock you. seriosuly. the next vid is even more troubling, and the musicians who gave us their song for it will be a surprise too. Meanwhile, pls check out this one.. its a taster of things as they are

I have just found out that a friend of mine took his own life on Friday night. He has had depression issues in the past, but always managed to pull through. Speaking to him a couple of weeks ago he told me he was pissed off cooped up indoors 23 hours a day and all he was doing was getting drunk at home. Any death is tragic, but people should open their eyes and realise there is more to this shite than people dying in hospital. If my friend was allowed a semi-normal semblence of life, he would still be living. Lockdown is killing more than just covid 19 patients.

Took her into Glasgow today, our usual Chinese wholesalers closed. We found a new one and stocked up. Ok, hot and sour soup, then chicken with green pepper in black bean sauce. Thanks dear Wife, enjoyed it.

OK thanks for clarifying. I think there is a big difference between: a) Benefiting from deliberating trying to screw the economy b) Being relatively unharmed by the economy being screwed I wouldn't disagree agree with you on many of the likely outcomes of this, but at the start of this crisis the world economy was booming. No government, global business or banks (and they are hardly the most financial sound, a few could go under once corporates start to default), would want this. A Conservative government choosing to implement policies that would damage business? Massive majority, economy going well, why would they knowingly f**k it up? You may be shown to be right down the line, that the Government has been poorly advised. But the scientists haven't done cause Billy's bought them a new lab, nor has the Tory Government chosen to believe them, cause they wanted to grind the poor even further down.

So we are told that if we lift the lockdown in the UK that there will be 100,000k deaths. This is from the same people that told us there would be 600,000 deaths already, these people are utterly discredited. The number of deaths and infections was grossly overestimated.

The Longest Day, possibly the greatest collection of post WW11 actors in one movie.

Just lifted this off a U.K nurse's FB post. I am a nurse and I want to say to all my friends and family please do not clap for me tonight...you want to know why well I will tell you...today I have come out to do my shopping and I am truly saddened...I am sad that the traffic on the road is like any normal day...I am sad that so many people in the queue at the supermarket are talking about lockdown finishing next week...I am sad that social distancing seems to be all but forgotten...I am sad the general public believe this virus is all over and life can return to normal as we have hit the peak...why does all this make me sad...because we still have people in hospital we are battling to save who may have tested negative but are still displaying all the signs and symptoms of Covid-19...I am sad because I am still having to phone families and tell them their loved ones are very sick and they may need to prepare for the worst...I am sad because I'm still having to hold the hands of patients who are frightened whilst they struggle to breathe...don't be fooled people, a second wave will cripple the NHS if it comes...and also have you all forgotten 30,000 people have died from this virus including 150 NHS workers who I may not have known personally but feel like family...this is not over, it has not passed and it could come back at any moment...I beg you all to remember those who have lost their lives when you feel you have to make a non-essential journey and please,please stay at home...this may be hard, I know that I haven't had my boys at home for 5 weeks and it's painful as hell but I know they are safe...please keep each other safe and remember we will all meet again if we are sensible about this...I'm sure you would all like your friends and family to be there when lockdown ends

Good call Ian, I rang up my credit card company last night and explained the situation, they could not understand why they were not offering me a full refund, and so they set up a dispute. I come of the phone to the bank and emailed PH Travel informing them that a Credit Card Dispute had been set up and it would be in the interesst of all parties if they agreed to give me a full refund and I would then call off the Credit card dispute. I received the following email this morning:

That is what Trump said and now look how many cases of Covid 19 there are now. I would rather rely on science than people with no knowledge whatsoever and engrossed in conspiracy theories and blatant denial. I wonder how many lives could have been saved during the Spanish flu pandemic had we had the science and technology that we have today. No government in their right mind would spend the trillions of dollars needed to to deal with C19 unless they viewed it as a very serious threat to their people. I am borderline high risk group and in almost total isolation. That is my choice. But if irresponsible individuals who only care for themselves want to help spread the virus by denying its severity then the longer we will ALL be in the shit and many will struggle, lose their livelihoods, even their lives not mention the economic impact. The longer it goes on the more into recession we will go. It is the responsibility of governments to help and advise the nation. But its a greater responsibility for the people to work together. In the UK we are fortunate that many businesses have received grants and employees being able to get 80% of their salary. In many other countries, people are starving. Even Pattaya has had queues over 1km long for free food parcels. Total easing of restrictions has not be fully tested anywhere and there are No guarantees that there will not be a second wave of the pandemic

Britain’s Supreme Court has thrown the country’s deportation policies into chaos by ruling that a foreign criminal cannot be deported to a country with poorer free healthcare than the United Kingdom. Wow .. what f**king idiots !

Ok, let me make this clear and what I mean. Covid 19 is real, it's out there. It's another virus to add to the list of infectious viruses that help kill ill and old every year. The scam is the government, media have terrified the Nation and blew this way out of proportion. The Southern general (queen Elizabeth) and Royal are in Glasgow. The nurse I know from the Southern has taken a long holiday. In my opinion, the government has been ill advised by media and scientists. Scientists who work and take money from the likes of Bill gates. Banks, global businesses and governments want to reset the economy. And our government are in their pockets. What's to be gained from doing this. . New police powers and tracking laws. . A cashless society. . Generate a massive pool of manpower because of unemployment. . Increase in tax, vat. . Increase pension age. . Wage and benefit freezes. . Climate change by reducing travel. . Increase in mortgage, credit card loans interest rates etc. Win win for the money movers.

That could be dangerous if he finds discussions on thousands of other subjects he knows fluck all about to disagree with. His head could explode.

Years ago I saw a couple of vids of the wet T shirt comps in Angeles,looked like a riot!....Google is your friend....

the bar with the mob was the Hollywood bar In fields in 94 it is long gone.the girls was from the old "Aussie bar" in M.H del Pilar Ermita,the bar that was the best bar in Manila back in the mid 1980s.the bar that I judge every bar on that I have been allowed to get pissed in Asia.with the Best big bot mamasan I ever met Elsia,shit she was good,she looked after her punters,like they was family,she said " if you treat the customers like family they will keep coming back"[something a few mamsans in LOS could learn from]there was 70-90 BGs on any given night most BF before 9pm,blokes would come in at 5pm when the BGs was arriving for work and pre book their favourite,i would ring Elsie the day or so before each trip to line up the bar queen Rona.we would get in about 7pm and I would get the taxi to stop and run in and get Rona on the way to my hotel.shit those really was the days my friends,i had 7 trips in 1985 from a 4day week-end up Angeles for the Swaggy wet-shirt comp what a day that was,to 20days just drinking and banging Rona whoever was the lucky BG if Rona was on a long BF till I found Pattaya in 1993 I thought that Filipino women was the best looking in the world. shit!shit! you had to be in PI in the early 80s or Pattaya in the early 90s to fully understand why blokes will rave on about the times and standards of the BGs back then iam so glad that I experienced it fellas. it really was the best of times.especially if you was in group,sitting around the pool or bar telling lies about your exploits the night before,or the mob given it to some poor bastard, who did last the session,before passing out in the bar and then been carried to his room,with his BF fussing over him like he was her baby. sessions was midmorning till 3/4pm and then back to the room for a bang/suck and lick, proper session in the bars that night from 7pm or so,or you could have had a ST up stairs of what ever the bar was you was in in the arvos barcrawl.reckon I was not sober one night on any trip in the 80/90s. and I will tell you the PI bgs was the first "workers" I ever laid who would get horny and wet without and any KY.they was up for it------------anytime regards grayray

Got a delivery tonight , Indian set for one .. poppadom , chicken tikka and onion bhaji starter - garlic chilli chicken , vegetable curry , plain naan and pilau rice .. not bad for £16

Thought the PMs statement tonight was as clear as mud ... if you can work from home then stay at home , if you can't then go to work tomorrow.. but don't use public transport , unless you don't have a bike ...and be alert ...unless you are Scottish ..then stay home

Yup. The lockdown started 23rd March it looks like it will continue up here until June at some point, and even then, past Xmas into 2021 until pubs, restaurants, gyms etc open. Even then if the 2 metre rule applies, there's no point of them EVER opening again. Most places are packed out only at weekends, trade poor week days. We are looking at the total annihilation of the UK leisure industry. Millions of job losses. And the Nation has been so frightened that it might take Months or years for many to want to go out again. We could be looking at the total annihilation of the UK travel industry too. By f**k, what a mess this Government has created.

, Of course they rise but not anywhere in the same proportion as the Covid 19 epidemic has spread. You say that the "only people You can see" etc... I really don't think any of us are qualified to make such a statement as we are not all seeing and all knowing, even if some may think they are. Everyone wants to get back to work and back to normality but that has to depend on when it's safe. You can't just categorise people's opinions by their political or social class. I am not a Boris fan but I think that he has handled the situation quite well thus far. Of course mistakes have been made as they have in other countries but we are dealing with the biggest threat to our nation since WW2. In terms of cancer treatment, I have recently finished my cancer treatment and I can assure you that the Royal Marsden is still treating cancer patients every day. What has to be understood is that treatments such as Chemotherapy Considerably weaken the immune system and leaves them very vulnerable to the virus

Answer to all 3 is the irresponsible spreading of the virus leading to death in some cases and placing the economy over human life. Very easy to answer. I don't need to virtue signal. I am way to old for that stuff. I am giving an honest opinion. After all, isn't that what forums are about? Sharing opinions? I certainly would not waste time articulating a belief or opinion just for the sake of it or to try and impress.

The Longest Day is my pick for the best WW 2 film. The cast was incredible and the story lines were across the board.

an amazing photo of great actors...and not an instagram virtue signal amongst them

Nobody mentioned The Longest Day ?? Always worth a watch. Not a bad movie up there apart from the Sound of Music. In that Tele article The Cruel Sea came top. I hate to say it but agree with young Ivan ---Schindler's List. Visited Krakow couple of years ago to see where it was filmed. Very moving ......

Operation Daybreak, based on the true story of the assassination of Heydrich and its repercussions. It's also got one of the best scores of any WW2 movie.

https://southeastasiaglobe.com/cathay-pacific-flight-cx700z/?fbclid=IwAR0wj9qt4o7wuwxGt8mESst9u9eW1BvNtxsIZapL9I_NMM1lzPZvC9S-jXs

I know what you mean. It's frustrating dealing these anti-covid-19 creeps. Never mind how they want to infect the 64% that wouldn't enter the workforce even if lock downs were lifted.

that was tame compared to the swaggy days,the first pic in post 32 that is the winner from 84 or 85,she was bloody great BF. swaggy comp would always end with one or 3 naked the winner was always sort after.sunday at the swagman in Angeles after Saturay arvos where they showed the Races from Australia live and they even had a bookie working,was always great so was the Capt Cook hotel great pool, shit I got burnt sitting in the pool drinking just from tits to the top of me head,in the pic with the mob in the bar you can see how red my face is,plus I was a wee bit pissed regards grayray

Beef cheeks vindaloo in the slow cooker for tonight’s dinner. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

WW2 was a worldwide conflict including a genocide that esulted in the deaths of 75 million people. This is a viral infection with a fatality rate estimated to be about 0.66%, which kills mainly those who are very old and those with severe underlying illnesses. There is no comparison to be made between the two.

Ham and cheese omelette for brekkie again today followed by a chicken tikka masala on Mexican rice.

Found this interesting OPINION It's time to face grim Covid-19 reality CHARTCHAI PARASUKFREELANCE ECONOMIST PUBLISHED : 7 MAY 2020 AT 04:00 NEWSPAPER SECTION: NEWS 2 At the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, there emerged an outbreak containment option called "Hurt and then ending" which in Thai is jeb tae jop. The complete lockdown of Wuhan was a prime example of that. In Thailand, the lockdown measure was first implemented in Buri Ram before it become a standard practice nationwide. The effectiveness of the measures varies across the globe -- from a seemingly complete success story in Wuhan to a not-yet sustained success in Spain, to a success and then failure in Singapore. I do not think anybody doubts the effectiveness of the lockdown on controlling the outbreak, but many, including myself, are starting to come out and question the cost of lockdown, which I have previously mentioned. I was watching a programme on Japan Public Television (NHK World) and was surprised to hear that Japan's largest life assurance firm -- Nippon Life -- is concerned about the prolonged lockdown measure imposed by Shinzo Abe's government. According to its research, the current one-month lockdown due to end yesterday will cause 1 million people to become unemployed. Based on 30 years of statistics, there is almost a one-to-one relationship between unemployment and suicide. From that statistical relationship, I can calculate that 1 million more unemployed workers could mean an additional 10,000 suicide cases. Japan currently has about 500 Covid-19 deaths, but unemployment-induced deaths could be 20 times higher than that. Now you see why Nippon Life is concerned. The company has to pay for death claims regardless of the cause of death. A one-month extension of the lockdown to May 31 has already been announced in Japan. According to the study, one million more people are expected to lose their jobs as a result -- meaning the lockdown will shed 2 million jobs. The title of the presentation, by the way, is "Not a choice between 'saving lives' and 'saving the economy'". When you think about it, that really says it all. It does not matter whether you support strong containment measures or if you prefer a more balanced approach. Either way, there are two indisputable facts to consider: Fact one: a vaccine will not end the outbreak. It is every government's dream that the discovery of a Covid-19 vaccine will put an end to this, after which life and the economy can get back to normal. Recently, an €8 billion (280.2 billion baht) fund financed by 30 countries was set up to to develop a vaccine. This pooling tactic was implemented to accelerate the development of a vaccine and prevent a single lab or country controlling the supply. Right now, there are around 70 labs worldwide working around the clock to find a cure. I have no doubt that a vaccine will be discovered soon, but I have strong doubts about production capability limits. There are already several promising developments in China and at Oxford University, with tests at the human-testing level. It does not matter which lab is the first to come out with a vaccine. The formula will be shared around the globe to quickly produce the vaccine for distribution. Here is the real problem. The world population is 7.8 billion and, thus, we need 7.8 billion doses of vaccine. How fast can the labs produce it? Let's optimistically assume that every lab combined can turn out 1 million doses of vaccine a day. It would take 7,800 days to completely vaccinate the world population, which means the last person to get vaccinated will have to wait 21.4 years. Whoever that person is, I am afraid they might not live that long. The first option is to boost production capabilities and facilities. Fine; hire 1,000 hand Buddhas to work there. But the production of vaccines will be limited by raw materials used in the manufacturing process like glass tubes. One million doses of vaccine need one million glass tubes and one million syringes for injection. Syringes are the most critical supply as the vaccine cannot be taken orally. I do recommend that my readers stock up on syringes. It could save your life and your friends' lives one day. A more practical option is not to vaccinate the entire population. A limited (privileged) number of people will get to be vaccinated according to the availability of supply. To vaccinate only 1% of the population, we will need 78 million doses of vaccine. I do hope that all the labs can supply that amount in a year. Two questions. How does one choose privileged persons? And would it make any differences if only 1% of the population is "clean" while the remaining 99% are roaming around as potential carriers? The issue of a vaccine is pointless as only a small number of people will be fortunate enough to be vaccinated. I am not going to bother discussing the cost issue. Those privileged few can surely pay whatever price you ask. Fact 2: lockdowns are effective only for a limited time and limited territory. There are two issues here -- asymptomatic Covid-19 carriers are difficult to trace, and the outbreak is global. Even if a country shows low or zero numbers of infected patients, there are a large number of asymptomatic carriers walking around ready to transmit the virus. According to the Mers outbreak statistics, about 29% of infected people show no symptoms. For Covid-19, studies of limited cases indicate about 18% to 50% of infected people are asymptomatic. Therefore, one can never really get rid of the virus, particularly after the reopening of borders. When a vaccine, if available at all, is in limited supply and a resurgence of infections is certain, my recommendation is to live with the virus as we live with other infectious diseases. Protect as many as we can without destroying economies and social lives. Once doctors and governments wake up from the dream vision of a virus-free world, it will be time to talk with economists on how to do damage control. Chartchai Parasuk, PhD, is a freelance economist. CHARTCHAI PARASUK FREELANCE ECONOMIST Chartchai Parasuk, PhD, is a freelance economist.

It's already gas cookered mated. There is an ill-fated belief that once the lockdown is over everything will just take off again. You can't just crash the world economy for 2-3 months and not expect there to be any long term implications.

No, I don't think any number of deaths is acceptable. Seasonal flu kills tens of 1000s every year in the UK, as does other viruses and illnesses. It's also NOT acceptable that life saving treatments have been reduced by 75% in the NHS. I understand you're not well at the moment and I'm sorry to hear that. People going through treatments that weaken their bodies will of course have to isolate. The immune system will be shot, any type of flu, Covid etc could finish them. I totally get that but what I don't get is destroying the economy, and stopping life saving treatments on the NHS because of this. Without a strong economy and business, the money to run the NHS will soon dry up. This is our money they are playing with, not theirs.

His taste in Women is quite good though, bet She takes it up the Gary Glitter. He is/was on Gov payroll, He'll say anything they want him to say. I can't wait until the economy here is truly fried. I want to see massive job losses and some of these people suffer. My friend called me today, He can't even visit His daughter because neighbours put photos on facebook and call the Cops. The majority of these people are idiots living in this Country. Snitches should get stitches. Feel sorry for the sensible ones but British are too sheep like, wont question, just obey.

Ahhhhh the media sensationalising the extremely rare cases of young people dying of Covid19. It's amazing how well this tactic has worked.

Yeah this is sad for sure and a real reality wake up call for many. Wife had her brother take 30k baht from her bank account and give it to some local food bank. I think for most of us who have been around awhile, the haves and the have nots have been on this planet for many years now.....100 years from now, it will be the same. Puts into perspective what sometimes we take for granted.

Is that not because there has been some kind of a lockdown it's been kept down though?

Understatement mate. The damage to the economy will take years to repair.

The pianist Stark reality of the scary scenario facing the Jewish population in 1930s Germany.

GF and I are in the Philippines, a much poorer country. Her family in Manila received 8k pesos each month from the government and as well as the cash the local Barangays are distributing food parcels every week. Same here in Angeles. I have no doubt some is creamed off by the politicans but it is getting thru

Today's update on the Beach Rd drainage project. This is what happens when you employ the color blind for footpath repairs.

Reckon we'll be seeing a bunch of UK refugees here over summer considering our pubs open 1st of June. Send them back at the border I say see how much they like Brexit still.

I feel your pain. I'm sure there could be a tax deduction in there somewhere.

Here's a version of the story from Deutsche Welle, a German public international broadcaster. The DW story relies in turn on stories from Reuters. AFP and German media sources. I'll leave to BMs themselves to compare the DW story with the Australian version. Evil Coronavirus outbreak closes German meat-packing plant Days after Germany readied to ease coronavirus restrictions, three districts saw outbreaks that will delay reopening. After COVID-19 infections at slaughterhouses, two states will test all meat-processing workers. Interior view of a a beef processing plant in Germany Following a COVID-19 outbreak at a meat processing plant in the town of Coesfeld, near the western German city of Münster, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has become the first to activate an "emergency mechanism" and delay the loosening of lockdown restrictions in the administrative district of Coesfeld until May 18. As Germany draws down social distancing restrictions, and slowly reopens schools and businesses, the emergency mechanism is designed to stop a COVID-19 outbreak locally before it spreads further by reintroducing restrictions on public life. In most parts of the country, the restrictions are expected to be lifted on May 11. Read more: Germans rally behind Merkel government's coronavirus response Also referred to as an "emergency brake," the mechanism is triggered if 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants are detected in a district or city. NRW Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann said that the number of new infections in Coesfeld is now at 61 per 100,000. Laumann added that schools and day care facilities in the district would be allowed to open as planned on May 11. The localized spike in cases comes after a test Thursday of 200 employees at the Westfleisch meat processing plant revealed 151 were positive for COVID-19. The company said 13 people have been hospitalized with moderate symptoms, and the rest are isolating with "mild" symptoms.The plant will be closed until further notice. State authorities orderd Westfleisch to close for the time being Laumann said the majority of workers were from Romania and Bulgaria, and their shared accommodation in tight quarters was a possible reason for the outbreak. At the end of April, a similar outbreak at a meat processing plant in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg involved around 200 foreign workers who were infected. Read more: Cheap meat hard for German farmers to swallow All NRW slaughterhouse workers to be tested Laumann said on Friday that an estimated 17,000-20,000 employees in all of the NRW's 35 slaughterhouses will be tested for COVID-19, included all 1,200 workers at the Westfleisch plant. The health minister added that a smaller outbreak has been found at another NRW meat-packing plant in the town of Oer-Erkenschwick in the Ruhr region, with 33 workers out of 1,250 testing positive. In the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, health officials on Friday also called for state-wide testing of all slaughterhouse workers. Earlier this week, 109 workers tested positive at a plant in Bad Bramstedt in the district of Segeberg. As with the other cases, most of the workers come from abroad and live in shared housing near the plant. The district of Segeberg will also delay the easing of lockdown measures, Germany's DPA news agency reported. A district in the eastern state of Thuringia also initiated the emergency measurements due to a coronavirus outbreak in an elderly care facility. wmr/sms (dpa, Reuters, AFP)

Back in the end of February on one day Chiang Mai registered as the most polluted place in the world. It certainly has the worst air quality regularly in Thailand particularly during the months February to April when they burn off the old crops to clear the fields for replanting so I would definitely recommend giving a visit a miss during those months.

A few others....

Yesterday afternoon...late...

This is the end result and it tastes great. It will go down well tonight on a bed of brown rice. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The misses kept complaining that she had nothing to cut the grass around her roses, so i bought her a Bosch strimmer/brush cutter. But that was not good enough for her, so I went to Amazon and got her something that would put her on her knees for hours, at least then she would know what it was like for me these past 20 years.