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sqwakvfr

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Everything posted by sqwakvfr

  1. If the question is about applying for a new OA Visa from an overseas Thai Consulate then money in a Thai bank is not required. Also, remember the need for Health Insurance that meets the 400K IPD, 40K OPD and the $100,000 USD Covid 19 coverage requirement. My first OA Visa was really simple. It was drive to the Consulate and drop my application packet. Then I would return the next day and pick my passport with the Visa. Those days are long gone. It is now a combination of Evisa with uploaded documents(some documents have to be scanned as JPG and some have to be in PDF) and then mail the passport. Also, one now has to apply for a COE. I just got my COE to return to Bangkok in a week and this time the COE process was easier(I got the COE approved in 2 days)..
  2. The Income Certificate for an Non Immigrant OA application at an overseas Thai Embassy/Consulate is from the the agency or specific entity that actually pays the recipient. This can be a government agency or private entity. I have applied for 3 OA Visa 's from the Los Angeles Consulate and each time I submitted an original Income Certificate from a public pension agency. The money from my pension has always been deposited into a US bank. The income certificate and where it is deposited are two different issues. In order to extend an OA visa at Thai Immigration using the 65K Baht Income Method the monthly pay has to be deposited into a Thai bank or transferred into a Thai Bank on a monthly basis.
  3. #3: 72 hours before departure. Departure Flight time - 72 hours.
  4. 2 shots of Pfizer. CVS Pharmacy in Southern California. Now waiting for my COE.
  5. Ahhhh and 555. I am landing in BKK on October 1. I just booked my Quarantine Hotel and now waiting for my COE. I am fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. I seriously doubt this "opening" will happen in less than 12 days. As far I know the only place I will gong to from the airport is my quarantine hotel.
  6. "Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration rejected Pfizer’s application to add a third, booster dose of its coronavirus vaccine to the two-dose regimen. Members of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee rejected the application by a vote of 16 to 2. " I recently got my second Pfizer shot and feel reassured that I am protected from getting sick from Covid 19. Scientists require data(in most cases lots and lost of data) to make a recommendation. President Uncle Joe has been pushing 3 shots and has even set September 13 as the start date of booster shots. I wonder what Uncle Joe does now because he always said "follow the science and the recommendations of scientists"??
  7. On the Los Angeles Thai Consulate they are two statements that may be somewhat misleading: "e-Visa and COE processing time is 15 business day" "The Certificate of Entry (COE) will be processed within 15 business days" Which is it? Could be both? The COE is a simple process if all the required documents are submitted on the first attempt. The actual Visa application process can be difficult and time consuming. I know this because I did both earlier this year. I had some difficulties but in the end I got my COE in a week and this includes multiple attempts at uploading documents which were "not readable" by the consulate. I am about to apply for another COE soon and I expect it within a week.
  8. "You go ASQ Route in Bangkok?" Tomacht8, yes. 1) Did ASQ BKK earlier this year. This time I know more about it and more prepared. The key is Grab and FoodPanda Deliveries. 2) The cost to fly international from LAX to Phuket was more than just going to BKK from LAX.
  9. When Chris Berman and Tom Jackson were on ESPN they had a feature called "Come On Man"??? My return flight to LOS lands on October 1. I will be fully vaccinated with Pfizer and guess where I will be headed to? My quarantine hotel.
  10. A medical certificate was never required for entry into Thailand or to board a flight. A Fit to Fly Certificate along with a Negative Covid 19 RT-PCR test were both required to board a flight bound for Thailand. At present I believe only the Covid 19 RT-PCR negative(actually a "Not Detected) test result with the sample collected no earlier than 72 hours the flight is required.
  11. The United States FDA just approved the Pfizer vaccine. The others are under an EUA(Emergency Use Authorization). AKA: Technically J&J and Moderna vaccines have not been approved by the CDC yet. Do not know if the Sinovac or AZ has even been considered by the CDC or FDA. Of course I am speaking as an American and I try and follow the recommendations of the US CDC, FDA and NIAD. Of course if you are not American then my plan will not apply to you.
  12. Anyone willing to volunteer to be the the first subject who gets inoculated with Sinovac,, AZ, Sputnik, Pfizer and Moderna in matter of 6 to 8 months? EGBOK= Everything Is Going to OK???
  13. If a 3rd Booster shot becomes the recommend regimen for Covid 19 then if one has AZ and then Pfizer which vaccine is next? Israel has started giving booster shots to it's citizens and the US is going to start 3rd Pfizer shot as the booster. In my case I will have my 2nd Pfizer shot shortly and at least I can consider a 3rd Pfizer shot sometime in mid 2022. I was offered Sinovac plus AZ in Chiang Mai but politely declined.
  14. This incident happened during Game 6 of the 2020 World Series. Dodgers 3rd baseman Justin Turner's first PCR test came back as inconclusive. A second PCR test was performed at a different lab the next day and it came back positive. Turner was pulled from the 6th inning of the final game of the World Series. There wasn't time for a 3rd test due to the fact the World Series title was on the line. If the next time comes back as positive then if allowed I would ask for a 3rd test at my own expense. Also, I plan on brining at least 2 rapid Anti-gen test kits with me to have some indication of my Covid status. Though an anti-gen test is less reliable than a PCR test it is has been a reliable screening tool. A day before my last PCR test I took a home Rapid Anti-gen test and it came back as Not Detected and so did the PCR test.
  15. At this point I doubt not having your passport number on your CDC issued Vaccination Form(I have this form and it only has my name and DOB) will result in the denial of your COE. Currently everyone has to quarantine for 15 days(yes 15 because first day is Zero Day). I will be applying for a COE in a about two weeks with the LA Consulate. The only other vaccination supporting document I will submit is the specific form from the Pharmacy that has the vaccine name, lot#, expiration date and the Pharmacist who administered the vaccine. If these document are not enough then i will stay in the US or go elsewhere.
  16. When I was in ASQ(February 2021) front desk called me the day before check out and asked me what time would I like to leave. I said 0700 because i had a 1000 AM domestic flight. If I were you I would contact the front desk the day before and request a specific checkout time. The only issue that could see is your checkout documents(ASQ Completion Certificate and the Covid 19 test results might no be ready if you checkout before 0600 or 0700) I had wait for an escort to come to my room at checkout. The only other business left was to get my checkout documents from the front desk. Then it was a short Grab ride to BKK airport.
  17. Had my first Pfizer 3 days ago. Stiff arm started about 8 hours after the shot and it lasted about 24 hours. No other side effects so far.
  18. Ah, if she had Covid, was hospitalized and tested negative before release then she is no longer infectious? Then she has natural antibodies for Covid and should be safer than someone who has not been vaccinated(at least that what is being said by many in the medical field). To be reassured then possibly purchase a rapid anti gen test from a pharmacy(some pharmacies will sell a single test for under 300 baht). So far I have taken 6 PCR tests and 5 rapid anti-gen tests. All were negative. or not detected.
  19. Had a minor dilemma when I landed at LAX today. After I cleared Customs I walked into the arrivals area and noticed 4 people looking very bored at a table. This table was the free J&J Covid 19 Vaccine station. No one was getting inoculated at this table. I almost got the J&J vaccine but though better of it. Instead I picked up my rental car and drove to a CVS Pharmacy and got my first Pfizer dose 2 hours after arriving back in the United States. CVS has a very quick and smooth process and the Pharmacist was cute as well. Now I am drinking a bottle of $3 dollar wine which is very good. 21 more days and I get my second Pfizer jar. So far no ill effects and even the arm does not hurt. Good night from Los Angeles. One more thing: Nothing was open at BKK Airport. I had to buy a bottle of water at a vending machine. On the other hand LAX was packed.
  20. I go to a pharmacy where the employees spray the money I hand over with sanitizer. "The New Normal"???
  21. The 300,000 number is the biggest lie of all. The combined ANSF(Army and Police) never got to 300,000. This is because accountability of personnel and of equipment was never achieved. On paper the ANSF was at 300,000 but in reality not even close.
  22. Of course it is Trump's fault. Every soldier who achieves any rank has this basic understanding on how to drawdown from deployment and/or combat operations: 1. Establish a large security perimeter and employ sufficient combat power This means have our guys with big weapons standing guard. 2. Evacuate noncombatants(AKA Civilians) first. All US Embassies(even in BangkoK) are supposed to have a NEO program. NEO stands for Noncombatant Evacuations Operations. The Embassy in Kabul is huge(I have been there multiple times) and has or had a lot of people supposedly working on things like NEO??? Or were they too busy working out at the gym or planning Cheese and Wine night on Thursdays(this event actually occurred because the embassy had a store that sold wine, beer and other spirits). 3. Conduct Retrograde Operations. This is a fancy term for "get our equipment out or leave it behind". 4. Then all Combat Forces start evacuating. Something like this for a country like Afghanistan should have taken months to achieve. 5. While Combat Forces are evacuating in a staggered manner host nations military forces are handed over what the country that is leaving does not take. This is commonly called "the handover". I am not a very smart person and I was not a great soldier but even I know this much. Being President is like being the Quarterback of a football team: When things are going great you get too much credit. When things are going bad you get all the blame. Too bad Mr. Biden. What is the next play you are calling?
  23. If the game is all about numbers then tell the US Government to send as many Afghan Refugees to LOS that can be stuffed in the cargo hold of C-17's???
  24. 1st Afghan Deployment was 2005 to 2006 2nd Afghan Deployment was 2010-2011 Worked with a lot of Afghans(Police Trainees, ANA Soldiers and most importantly our Interpreters-God Bless Them and I am not even religious.). The most important things I learned were" 1. How Afghans view the concept of time. We in the west have a rushed sense of time. Most of the Afghans view the concept of time in a much less urgent manner. Hence many of the Afghans I worked with knew eventually the Taliban would be back because they have been taught not to believe what westerners promise. Most of the Interpreters wanted to get out but even back 10 to 15 years ago getting an Afghan a visa from any western embassy was a minefield. Recently I noticed not much has changed. Based upon my experience the United States Department of State is one of the most organization in the US government. The only organization more useless is the United Nations. For Americans in LOS just remember this the next time you have to deal with the Embassy in Bangkok or the Consulate in Chiang Mai. 2. I believe many have heard of the term "Inshallah"? In short it means: Alllah(God) Willing". This was the number one excuse(I mean reason) when an Afghan did not do what he or she was supposed to do. For example, "you will be here tomorrow for work?". 'yes, Inshallah" etc,etc. In order for the Afghan Army or Police to be effective foreign advisors were need to apply the needed motivation(AKA-A kick in the pants). Otherwise some would go AWOL or sell their uniforms and/or equipment. Hence some members of the Taliban now look like an army. As for the current Charlie FoxTrot at HKIA(Hamid Karzai International Airport-why was it named after him?) I am not surprised except for the fact it only took a matter of days and not months for it to occur. POTUS will have no choice but to keep a stabilization force in Kabul for the time being. The only problem is all of the bases in the Kabul area have been closed. The main base (Camp Eggers) and the large Logistics Base(Camp Phoenix) are both closed so any foreign military has virtually no place to stay except at the airport. Everything an Army needs will have to be flown into HKIA. HKIA has only one runway and the airspace is no longer clear of threats to aircraft. Keeping Bagram open would have been a logical idea but what has logic have to do with anyting? Sabai ,Sabai and 555.
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