Kaoboi Bebobp

I am on a Non-OA-based retirement extension, expiring in August. So via the Thailand Pass, I could prove 30 days of insurance and likely be approved. Then Immigration at the airport would stamp me in? PS: Now I see DrJack54's reply above. So the answer would be "yes," Immigration will stamp me in. I would really like to visit Cambodia soon and return here to assess my future plans. I've lived there before.

I found out, through another earlier thread, that when you leave, your policy might expire. Checked my Tune Protect policy and sure enough, even though I have a 180 day policy and leave for a trip in the middle of the period and return, the policy is dead. So I'd pi$$ away 9,000 baht (half policy fee) and have to spend a similar amount to complete my stay (I'm on a retirement extension, multi-re-entry permit) until late April. This was done under the old COE rules in October last year.

^^^ On top of that, one batch can differ from another, making the Thai brand even worse than it normally is. Some batches have been absolutely putrid.

I have an alternative idea: close the valve at the feed pipe/hose connection at the wall by a quarter turn or one-third, thus reducing the pressure a bit. Might work.

My antibody count today came out to over 13,000 U/ml. I could not believe it. This comes two weeks after my Pfizer booster shot. I had two AstraZeneca jabs, the last one mid-September. As I read it on several medical sites, anything over 0.8 U/ml is deemed positive for antibodies. I had gotten a very, very low antibody count (2.96 U/ml) after my second AstraZeneca shot back in August. So today's post-booster number was so unbelievable that I called back MedPark Hospital expressing my doubts. A nurse I talked to said some people recorded more than 20,000 and even 30,000 after the booster. How effective those antibodies will be in beating back COVID19 variants remains to be seen. But anyway, my experience does match up with studies that show a vast improvement in antibodies with a booster. Thank you, Thailand.

There seems to be expats transiting through BKK from foreign origins such as UK, EU, US and Oz on their way to Phnom Penh, some who haven't been able to return to their Cambodian "homes" in a long time. There are no direct flights to PP from far abroad. And they are paying for COVID insurance in their brief transits. And there are many heading to Phnom Penh from Vietnam. Cambodia visa discussions are trending on many VN expat sites as many are getting kicked out due to denial of COVID extensions, and visa and work permit renewals.

Guess you missed the fact that this is posted in the Cambodia forum.

Update: No one answered the phone at St. Louis, despite calling 6 times in an hour and a half. Not even an answering machine. I gave up and then spent quite a bit of time researching my options. Ended up with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Permsarp Isipradit who has a few bookable hours at MedPark and at Bumrungrad. One of his specialties is hearing loss. After a chat and an ear cleaning, it was time for the sound booth and audio specialist. Very boring. Turns out my right ear has lost some ability with high frequencies, the left ear not so much. The doctor said there's nothing vital to do now since my hearing decline is not too steep. << My words as it was a bit hard, as usual, understanding mask-muffled speech. The doctor's English was fine and I felt very satisfied with his explanations.

LOL. Got a bit carried away.

I've been putting this off for a couple of years. I'm sure my hearing is degraded -- I'm in my late 60s. So in my research about age related hearing loss, I came across this from the National Institute of Aging. In that list of 7 signs, I can check "yes" to every item, except the TV sound thing because I don't watch TV. When I came to No. 7, having trouble understanding women and children (higher frequencies, said a friend who's been through this), I said to myself, bingo! Re Presbycusis: I also cannot tolerate loud sounds such as screaming motorcycles on Sukhumvit and diesel noise from the big Michelin-man bedecked dump trucks. So, any recommendations for an audiologist, @Sheryl or others? Thank you.

One clue is that before you posted this thread, the last comment on a previous thread was over 1 month old. Wow! No, I do not live there. However, I've watched a couple of fresh videos. Looks like a bit of evening life along the beach road. Hmmm, don't know if I can link a YT video, which was posted Jan. 6, but here it goes: Ao nang Krabi night walk - atmosphere of Thailand beach resort 2021 DEC

Great reporting, @simon43. Wow, you found cranberry juice: Langers/Ocean Spray/Ligo? Good price! Beats Thailand. Did you see V8 vegetable juice? I miss V8, which has gone missing in Thailand for over half a year. I'd appreciate a check into the price of ciggies (Camel/Mevius), beer 330ml (imported, I assume) and Irish whiskey (Jameson). Do they have the usual small convenience shops, a.k.a., 7-11 and such? Thanks muchly!

In the previous 9 pm cutoff period, some places kept on serving, switching from glasses to thermal cups and coffee cups, and occasionally closing shutters or moving upstairs. I speculate that night life will follow the same course, during this latest 9 pm round of early "closings." I cannot name names, of course, but if you wander down the following sois, you might just trip over friendly service: Sukhumvit sois 4, 7, 8, 11, 22 and 33/1. I expect police will respond to such brazen activities in their usual fashion.

Welcome back to the 11th century.

Excellent report. Thank you. I got confirmation of acceptance via DTAC on Dec. 16. My vaccination appointment is Jan. 18. I was debating about whether to go due to the huge crowds and potential exposure. Your detailed report has definitely relieved a lot of stress about the whole process. Question: What time did you get to the first lineup, the QR code check? Mine's at 4 pm, too.

For what it's worth, my Thai AZ vaccine shots are registered in Canadian municipal and provincial health department inoculation records and officially recorded on my federal vaccine certificate.

@paulsingle I have two accounts in my Bangkok Kbank branch. When I go online, it shows one account as Inactive. Did you log in to your account to look at it? I'm pretty sure you can reactivate it when you arrive. Actually, I wonder if you can reactivate it by phone to the Kbank help centre. They would ask you some questions to confirm it's your account such as the number of the account, the last time it was used and how much money is in the account, plus another query or two. This ought to work.

For sure Lazada has zinc chelate in 15, 25 and 50 mg tablets. Canadian brand is Natural Factors. Bought it myself. Range of prices on Lazada for this same brand.

I'd be interested in knowing too. Rajavithi Hospital is much closer via transit versus Bang Sue, where I'm booked for a Pfizer shot Jan. 18.

I checked Google maps. Many angry reviews report no ATM at the former head office in years, as noted in one month-old review. You can check the reviews yourself.

^^^ All this stuff about side-effects and drug interactions is in the massive new NIH meta-study I referenced in my post. Just published, Dec. 2021. It compares natural drug effectiveness with pharmaceuticals. Each treatment vector has its usefulness. Also, it notes, re finasteride:

I ordered it Sunday, received it this morning, less than 48 hours later. This order is a test to see if it works for me. If it does, I'll try the iHerb route, ordering multiple bottles. Thanks.

Great thread. Thanks for starting this. I just today received my order of Swanson Stinging Nettle Root extract. 899 baht. 100 caps x 500 mg via Lazada. My issue is the getting up 3-4 times a night. Things are quite OK during the day, even if I drink beer for a couple of hours. Sometimes I don't even have to hit the john for hours in the evening. Over night is another story. Background: I was treated for prostate cancer in 2014 at Bangkok Hospital Medical Centre. My first quarterly post-treatment (IMRT - Image Modulated Radio Therapy) checkup showed a PSA plunge to 2.5 from 14.xx. It's been as low as 0.6, ranging up and down from 0.6 to 2.5 over 7 years. Here's a fresh new study titled: Treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia by Natural Drugs, published by the US National Institute of Health, Dec. 2021. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8659259/ Search for "nettle". At the third instance, is Section 3.10: Urtica dioica (nettle). Sections 3.10, 3.10.1 and 3:10.2 are worth reading and are short. An extract:

Pretty much true, I'd say. Quite a few big bars along Buakhao were packed -- from about Soi Honey north to New Plaza Road. Tree Town, not my cup of tea, surrounded by semi-busy small bars, some -- oddly enough -- with lights out but still serving small numbers of customers. Restaurants (real ones) along Buakhao look busy, too. LK Metro rather dark and quiet except for the group of restaurant/bars shoulder to shoulder at the crook of the L that were quite busy. Buakhao traffic out of control. Very little else is open so Buakhao is the centre of the Pattaya universe. Didn't want to name any bar-restaurants.

Footnote: My usual taxi service never replied to my two emails in 24 hours. So, I took the noon Ekamai bus. Bought two seats, one for my bag. All but three seats occupied. Air con worked well. A pretty quiet trip. Took two and a half hours; traffic was very light, really.