siamike

Listen to an expert giving a TED-x talk: 

I had an implant done by the dental clinic in Bangkok Hospital Pattaya a few years back.  Very professional, and they have all the best equipment.  I'm still very happy with their work.  

10 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

Two paths:

1) Non Imm OA obtained at your Thai Embassy or Consulate

2) Non Imm O Ext of Stay obtained after arrival in Thailand.  Obtained at Thai Immigration.

 

 

An American in Thailand on a tourist visa recently (last week) tried to change his tourist visa to a Non Imm O at the Si Racha office and was told Non Imm O visa was only available thru the Thai Embassy in his country. 

Sadly, the rules seem to change at the discretion of whichever Immigration officer you speak to.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to all those holding a PR for sharing the details of acquiring and maintaining Permanent Residence status.  The information you've provided has helped me, and likely many others, to make the decision to begin the process of acquiring PR status.

The process and requirements to obtain a Permanent Resident Visa (PR) are adequately explained on the Thai Immigration web pages, https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?page_id=1744  But the steps needed (if any) to maintain your PR once you have it are vague and contradictory at best.  As an example, one web page describing the process states that your must be renewed yearly at your local police station, while a different source was told that 90 day reports are still required, with the only change being that you must do them at the local police station.  Neither of these "requirements" are mentioned on the immigration web pages.

If anyone has a PR and is willing to provide PR maintenance requirements, or has reliable knowledge (UbonJoe) I would appreciate any clarification you can provide.

Like many thousands of others, I pre-paid for my wife & I's Moderna shots and after receiving the first jab 2 weeks ago the hospital informed us that the second jabs would be delayed beyond the scheduled 4 weeks, because the Gov had failed to authorize the second round of vaccines in a timely manor.

Since our private hospital cannot get pre-purchased fully funded Moderna into Thailand,... well, best of luck to you finding any free jabs.

Really wish the poll had included eBay as they have become my first choice.  Although eBay is not always the cheapest option, I find that most of the time they are.  As others have already mentioned, shipping time is also important, and over this past year I've become frustrated with both Lazada and Shopee sellers that indicate the item I want is located in Thailand, but all too often the delivery takes a month or more, suggesting to me the product was most likely ordered from China.  Also, most eBay sellers provide a tracking number and always provide a delivery window of time, and if your parcel fails to arrive on time, eBay guarantees to refund your money.  

 If you spend a little time searching eBay you can usually find Kirkland brand (sold by Costco in the US) Cetirizine and Loratadine sold in 365 pill bottles.  Total costs including shipping can be found for around $30, which works out to about 8 cents per pill (or just under 3 Bhat per pill)  Kirkland brand names are Aller-tec = Cetirizine 10mg and Aller Clear = Loratadine 10mg.    If you have any friends living in the US that will be coming to Thailand,  once tourism picks up again, you can ask them to bring over a few bottles.  

I am unfortunately a life-long allergy sufferer.  I have allergies all year round in Thailand, but this time of year is always worse.   What works best for me is 1/2 tablet (5mg) Cetirizine and 1/2 tablet (5mg) Loratadine taken roughly every 6 hours.  I'm not a doctor so don't take this as medical advice, it's only what works best for me.  

I renewed my 5 year license in Rayong earlier this year, so my info is a bit dated, but hopefully still at least partially relevant.  I took the online 3 question test but it didn't help me because at that time, the  online site was for Thais only, so I still had to sit through several hours of watching the same videos presented online.  The classroom was packed the day of my appointment and those in charge elected to omit the vision depth perception test as it takes the most time, and required only the color blindness and reaction time tests;  I would expect all three tests to still be required today.  

Good Luck and keep us posted on what tests you're required to pass. 

Along with the listed contributing factors of age, obesity, pre-existing conditions, etc, it would be interesting and perhaps quite useful to know which vaccines had been given to the 8.8% whom were fully vaccinated and still died.  Also, how long had it been since their last vaccination.   

17 hours ago, Artisi said:

Irrelevant comment, you didn't answer nor did the sighted study address manufacturing and disposal costs and environmental impacts. 

You state that the study I sighted did not address various issues, However, I did not sight a specific study, so I'm curious which NREL study you believe I am referring to.  

The NREL study I am referring to does indeed address manufacturing and disposal costs and environmental impacts;  here's an excerpt from that study:

On 8/24/2021 at 5:37 PM, Artisi said:

Of course you have carefully analysed the costs in manufacture along with the costs of disposal at end of life along with the environmental impact of producing and disposal. 

Of course you have, the manufacturers can be trusted 100% in their presentation. 

NREL (a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy) analyzed over 400 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies and concluding that Solar Panels do in fact pay for themselves in a relatively short period of time, both in carbon reductions, embodied energy and electricity, all redeemed well within their operational lifecycle.   I seriously doubt any independent study I might perform would reach a different conclusion.  

You don't need to trust or distrust what manufacturers are telling you, but you might want to have a little faith in what independent researchers have found, and also by doing a little digging yourself.  

I live in Rayong and have made the trip to Hua Hin (and beyond) many times over the past 5 years and I've discovered the BEST route can be different depending on day of the week, time of day, road construction, accidents, etc.

In general, the directions given above are good, but my advice, use Google Maps and just follow their directions.  Google Maps uses live data gathered from everyone's phones that are also traveling and allowing their positions to be tracked, meaning the software sees slow areas and traffic jams in real time and will direct you around them whenever possible.

If you're a morning person and you really, really don't like heavy traffic,  leave Rayong at 2:00am or 3:00am and you'll find the roads rather empty.  

Safe travels ???? 

I believe KBA (Kite Board Asia) still has stores open on Sumi and Phangan,...not sure about Tao.    You can also try Kiteflip on Phangan.  If you make it to Hua Hin you have your choice of either KBA or SAP kite school/rentals.  There's another KBA school/rental in Pattaya.  You can probably find a little more info here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/KitingThailand.   This weekend and the following few days are starting to look good for kiting at my home location Pak Nam Prasae: https://www.windy.com/12.693/101.706?12.339,101.397,9,m:d0kaiYF

Happy kiting ????

40 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

I am well aware of  the process for gaining permission for compassionate use. It applies to drugs that are already developed and in use in clinical trials. It does not apply to the technology you are talking about which has not even been commercially manufactured yet and has not yet had a single clinical trial.

You're talk about the strict interpretation of how the law defines compassionate use, and I'm talking about what actually happens in some rare cases.  I personally know of such a case; a young man in his early 30's received a totally experimental radiation treatment for an inoperable brain carcinoma at Stanford U about 8 years ago.  Doctors advised him that this procedure had never been done before on someone's brain, the odds of success were very, very small, and there would likely be lose of brain function.  Without any treatments, my friend was facing certain death in under a month, so after signing a stack of release forms the totally experimental procedure was performed.   The radiation initially shrank the tumor but did not kill it and sadly my friend died a little over a month later. 

In rare, exceptional cases, Experimental, one-of-a-kind procedures are indeed performed.  This why I hope the OP will research the possibility of using Nanotechnology; he has nothing to lose by looking into it. 

19 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

This is not available outside of a research setting and for good reason.

You should read this AMA article: https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/expanded-access-investigational-drugs-what-physicians-and-public-need-know-about-fda-and-corporate/2015-12

4 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

This s still in very early experimental stages and not available as a treatment. There are no available treatments whereby a simple injection unblocks the arteries.

As the Nanotechnology article makes quite clear, there is indeed a treatment whereby a simple injection unblocks arteries, it's simply not yet generally available.   I've made it quite clear in all my postings that this drug is still in the early stages of development, and that interested parties should do their research.  Doctors and research labs will occasionally grant humanitarian use of experimental drugs when the patient has no other alternative; with 95% blockage, allergies to metals used in medical equipment, and his own doctors unwillingness to perform a traditional bypass, the OP may be granted humanitarian access.  The OP has nothing to lose by making inquiries and requests for humanitarian use. 

On 4/19/2021 at 11:10 AM, Sheryl said:

There are no "simple injections" that unblock coronary arteries, experimental or otherwise.

According to research published in Nature Nanotechnology, your statement is incorrect.

You should read the article I posted the link to earlier:    

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200128114720.htm

A few excerpts from the article: 

Michigan State University and Stanford University scientists have invented a nanoparticle that eats away -- from the inside out -- portions of plaques that cause heart attacks.

Injected nanoparticle home in on atherosclerotic plaque due to its high selectivity to a particular immune cell type -- monocytes and macrophages. Once inside the macrophages in those plaques, it delivers a drug agent that stimulates the cell to engulf and eat cellular debris. Basically, it removes the diseased/dead cells in the plaque core. By reinvigorating the macrophages, plaque size is reduced and stabilized.

 future clinical trials on the nanoparticle are expected to reduce the risk of most types of heart attacks, with minimal side effects due to the unprecedented selectivity of the nanodrug.

On 4/15/2021 at 12:43 PM, starky said:

So will he be able to have that done in Khon Kaen ya reckon ?

If I were looking at the choice between having my chest opened, my ribs broken apart to gain access to perform open heart surgery, vs a simple injection, I would most certainly be willing to fly to a different country to get that injection;  wouldn't you?   Given the OP's unique circumstances and the Dr.'s reluctance to perform a traditional bypass operation, a clinical trial with an experimental drug may be his best/only option.  As I previously stated, it's certainly an option worth looking into.

If your need for a by-pass is caused by a plaque build up, then you might want to look into using nanoparticles instead.   Nanoparticles are still in the early stages of development, and may not be ready of use on humans,...but it's probably worth looking into.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200128114720.htm

5 hours ago, calbts2 said:

 

So if you are in Thailand you can

1.) Deposit fiat (Thai Baht) to Satang via your Thai bank account.

2.) Purchase crypto then withdraw to your personal wallet or send it to your Binance.com account wallet to exchange for other crypto or staking.

 

When selling just deposit crypto back to your Satang exchange wallet, sell the currency, and withdraw to your Thai bank  account.

 

 

Thanks for the step-by-step on how to navigate a path to buying, trading, & selling cryptos using Thai Baht as my fiat currency.  

But my end goal is just a little bit different.  As I mentioned in my OP, most of my cash income is in US banks, in dollars, so I would much prefer being able to use dollars as my fiat currency.  If Binance.US will ever resolve my Thailand address issue, I will hopefully be able purchase crypto coins using my US Dollars.   I will then transfer those coins to my wife via her Bitkub account thereby making the transfers of dollars to Thai Baht nearly fee free.  But there are still a few parts of this process I'm unsure of, such as the cheapest way to get Dollars into my Binance.US wallet; will I be able to set up my Binance.US wallet as a payee?  

On 2/26/2021 at 8:28 PM, calbts2 said:

I also recommend using Binance.com (not Binance.us) as they are an industry leader and have the best selection of coins for investment. You do not need to go through the KYC process with Binance.com if all you do is send and receive crypto. They also offer staking and decent interest.

 

From what I've read on the internet, Binance.com will no longer accept anyone with a US Passport; but  perhaps I could use my Thailand driver license as proof of ID instead of my US Passport.  I've been able to partially sign up with Binance.US but I needed to contact their customer support for help with inputting my Thailand address, a process which is taking weeks and weeks to complete ☹️.

Does Satang Pro allow you to link a US bank account to your wallet,...  I know that Bitkub does not.