Enzian

12 minutes ago, Leaver said:

Happy to stand corrected, but some months ago, wasn't it reported on TV that the test was free, or the treatment was free?  

I know a bar owner who got tested three times, earlier on, at different hospitals, had to pay for all three because they all came out negative.

1 hour ago, CH1961 said:

Yes, you are late ????

Thanks! You've reminded me what I should have shown the IO last month. For years I'd been using the requirement of the 90 day report to give me an excuse to leave the country and go somewhere interesting. Somehow that didn't work in the late spring early summer of 2018. I made a report by mail officially July 25 and received a paper receipt saying report your address again before Oct.25. My passport shows I left Thailand on 14 August and went to Europe and returned from Russia on 28 Sept. Then I left Thailand for Milan on 15 Oct. and returned to Thailand on 22 November 2018, less than 30 days before I renewed my Non-O for a year. My problem in a way has been that living in my ex-GF's condo for so long, being in her blue book with my own yellow book and pink card, I got completely out of the loop on these requirements. Thanks again and thanks if you wasted 2 minutes of your life reading this. 

I'm in the same situation. I tried in person to do a 90 day at the temporary building in early September exactly 177 days from my last entrance to the country on March 11 before lockdown; I had skipped the first 90 day because of advice here on forum regarding amnesty. The IO didn't like the fact that I had forgot to report my change of address and my lease said month to month. He looked at my last report receipt which said report before Oct. 25 2018, and said come back with a different lease around Oct. 15, in other words 10 days before Oct. 25 THIS year. I have no idea how that makes sense (any help here?). So it's going to be interesting what happens when I go back with my new term lease on this Thursday 15th. The good interpretation would be that they are phasing out the 90 day in effect. Or I got an oddball IO. An agent may be required at some point, and maybe that's what he was hinting at. (He did say an 800 baht pro forma fine would be assessed.) TIT.

Tonight I was in line to pay for a couple of food items in the Tops market at Suk 17 under Robinsons, and there is this farang paying (for flowers!) without a mask on. The Thai lady in front of me said something to a manager-looking guy and he asked the farang to put on a mask. The guy said he forgot one and then ignored the manager, who did nothing. I couldn't tell from his accent what nationality he might be, but honestly he looked like a thug, with his shirt open down his chest.  On my way out the lady was complaining to another manager, and I was feeling angry myself but happy that I hadn't been too close to the guy to give him hell. 

The point is that that lady is a microcosm of the fact that the Thai middle class do not want people like him and I believe they will sacrifice those below them on the social ladder to ensure we don't have them. Get ready for a quiet "high" season.

I don't fully understand all the details of this article, but the basic idea is that one buys corporate bonds from say a hospitality company and if the  company defaults one can recover from a government fund. So: what would be involved in getting the government to pay in case of default? And what kind of returns would we be talking about? This would seem to be "junk" with a capital J.

It's the lack of policing. There is a police booth and tent together on Sukhumvit between soi 13 and soi 11 and the cops hang out in the tent awning and the "working ladies" hang out a few feet away in front of the little building. My question is why don't they stand all together in the same spot, they are so close anyway? They are exactly the same people.

Part of the problem is that the "government" (the military) and the police are two separate entities that have been in competition for decades, and have a kind of unspoken truce that they will let each other go on as they historically always have and thereby preserve the status quo and the flow of income. The government can talk about reform but in reality have agreed not to touch the police. It would take something very radical to change that.

Replying to post #140, I can't help being reminded of some reading I did regarding average national IQs around the world. Thais seem to fall around a number of 90, whereas the benchmark uses Americans and Europeans at around 100 for the sake of the curve. Sorry if saying so hurts anyone's feelings. But I don't think this can account for what we see on the roads. I feel it has to be more cultural. It really is incredible. 

I once hired a father-son team to drive me a long distance in their nice pick-up, the son behind the wheel, we go pulled over at a check point and and I was required to sign and pay a 200 baht fine because the son didn't have a license it seemed. Then we just continued on our journey of course. Needless to say there was no tip at the end.

Speaking for myself (and a little for the out of work Thai female I'm currently supporting) I'm not so sure I want anything to change. It's such a pleasure to walk down Sukhumvit soi 11 at 8 on a Saturday night with few people and fewer vehicles. If this is ever over we'll look back on these moments as a bit of dream-like paradise never to be seen again. And I know I'm being totally unrealistic.

As soon as we broke up earlier this year my ex bought a house near Chiang Mai; I wasn't surprised at all since she wanted to do it earlier but for my constant veto. There's no way I have confidence that the government will put a dent in the dangerous pollution that that area suffers from every winter season.

I agree with Leaver in post #17, and I really really don't like having that 30G in a FCD account, even if it's true that I could recover from its loss. But at the moment I like even less the prospect of contributing to the institutionalized corruption of the agent system. It's a question that needs to be under constant review. I almost hope that there will be some combination of reasons to move back to the US and take that dough home with me, but for now we're all in limbo.

24 minutes ago, Scott said:

I think you are getting mixed up between immigrants and refugees.   Refugees are people fleeing a country because of persecution.   They do not necessarily wish to leave.

I still want to know the end game and why the US in its current form is obligated to relieve the suffering of the world, and why it is some but not others. Next door in Burma there are millions treated badly and could make a good case to relocate; I've met some in the border camps. The pollution in Manila shortens one's life by many years and gives reason to relocate. The evil of Hun Sen gives grounds to relocate at least a couple of million of Cambodians. I don't trust the whole process; it's token virtue signaling at best.

Does the Vatican's accord with Beijing really give the pope final say? I thought that was the issue. 

I look at these kinds of articles because there is no deposit insurance at present for Foreign Currency Deposit accounts, which is what I keep for my Non-O renewal. I know there is a lot of BS flying around, but I do tend to accept statements like the above more or less at face value. 

I'm not on a visa extension (I mean I'm Non-O), but reading about all the stress experienced here gives me insight into why I've spent a good part of this year studying the ins and outs of Scotch whisky.

Italy is the country, with 60 mil pop, I follow most closely. For a while the number of daily new cases got down to 200/day with an average of 5 new deaths/day. Now it's close to 2000 new per day with an average of 20 deaths per day. Literally 99% of all new cases are classified as "mild". The chance of an Italian catching it at all (not counting asymptomatic untested) is 1 in 180. The death rate for closed cases which had an outcome, however, and probably due to the initial virulence, has been 14%. Almost all older of course. Given this outlook it is understandable that the country is trying to open up. The wild card, as everywhere, is long term effects. Particular to Italy is the way the Conte government has been letting in illegal migrants who are positive, and the full results of that are not yet apparent.

What about the tables of ED drugs and the like always being sold in the open around Sukhumvit 11 and a couple of blocks in either direction? I would never buy any, but I've always wondered 1) are they fake, packaging and all? 2) even if they are real, does sitting out in the heat and sun do anything? 3) why is it allowed to go on at all, don't drug stores have to be licensed? 

And finally, are the efforts described in the article serious and wide spread, or just token and window dressing?

Hope springs eternal in the human breast,

Man never is, but always to be blest.

Alexander Pope, 18th century