Arkady

5 hours ago, rimmae2 said:

Autogates success rate for me more than 95% on departure and arrival, circa 100 of each. The 'previous' autogates which used one finger stopped working in early January 2020.

Thanks. I hope I might get a chance to try the autogates again in the not too distant future.  I don't need to travel and will not attempt to fly anywhere until COVID abates and we have vaccines in Thailand. Could be a long wait.

How well do the auto gates work now, if at all?  There was supposed to be a big new project, with the usual corruption allegations, to replace the old system.  I haven't been out of the country for three years but I hated the old system as the finger print reader failed to read my finger print about 40% of the time which forced me to go to a manned counter.  Once I nearly missed my flight because the system was down completely and Thais and everyone else were forced to queue up in the main scrum, as Immigration just gave up and didn't bother to man any gates for Thais only.  I understand they started scanning more than just the one finger since my last trip.  So hopefully it is a new and more efficient system but I am not holding my breath.  My old iPhone 5 was able to read my finger print without fail.  So there is no reason why a system costing billions of baht could not do the same.

2 hours ago, Kwarium said:

Thanks for your in depth reply. The misleading simplification came directly from the mouth of the sgt. maj. at SB who gave me my naturalization certificate. He specifically said not to use my other passport in Thailand.

 

Good to know what the actual regulation says! You’re probably right that  they wouldn’t bother trying to enforce 19.2 on someone due to activities outside Thailand.

 

Of course there is always the “...screwed up or annoyed someone” card they could play! TIT!

It was good advice from the Pol Sgt Maj but is not a specific Thai regulation.  Thai legislators deliberately  leave laws ambivalent so they can be interpreted differently on different occasions. 

BTW I didn't know there were any NCOs in that SB office.  In the front office I had dealings with a captain and two lieutenants but no reason why a Sgt Maj could not do the job.  In the PR section at CW they seemed all to be Sgt Majors. These are plum jobs for a a lot of cops who just want an easy life without pressure, specially for the women who usually have kids.  At Immigration you can see the horrible scrums the lower ranking officers have to deal with on a daily basis, while the Sgt Majors in the PR section sit gently "len LINE" waiting for a PR to come in.  My case officer at SB was pretty <deleted> off when they transferred her for a year to be an Immigration shift supervisor at Swampy.  Terrible place for her to get to and had to work various different shifts dealing with the incoming mobs and made it very difficult to take care of her kids.   Every SB officer's nightmare I would guess. 

6 hours ago, schlog said:

Gyms also closed. Overreaction again. Why always need the phuket gov  to top the bangkok restrictions??? Don't tell me their isn't a purpose behind that and it's not from the phuket gov.

There was an expat cluster in Hong Kong that was linked to a gym.

There was a lot of excitement about this drug early on in the pandemic but not now. It is strange that the government is allowed to spend taxpayers money on this "snake oil" treatment for COVID, whereas it said it couldn't invest money on production of Astra Zeneca, which it had to leave to the private sector, because it wasn't proven effective by the Thai FDA at that time.  This treatment will never be proved effective for COVID but the loophole is obviously that it is proved effective for certain types of flu.

Wikipedia sums it up well.  "There is limited evidence suggesting that, compared to other antiviral drugs, favipiravir might improve outcomes for people with COVID-19, but more rigorous studies are needed before any conclusions can be drawn.^[21]

As of April 2021 several clinical trials of favipiravir as a treatment for COVID-19 had been carried out or were underway, including one as part of a large UK scheme named "PRINCIPLE"^.

On 4/12/2021 at 10:45 AM, Kerryd said:

It would not surprise me at all to learn that what they use in China and what they export to other countries is not quite the same thing. (Kind of like how when this started and many countries in the West donated tons of high quality masks and medical supplies to China, but when those countries started needing that same stuff for themselves, China was selling them a lot of very low grade garbage. Selling. Not donating. That sparked more than a few conspiracy theories early on.)

One article notes that China isn't selling their vaccine to the US, Western Europe or Japan "due to the complexity of the approval process". In other words, their vaccine may not stand up to a proper testing process. China isn't importing any vaccines made in other countries either.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/top-official-admits-chinese-vaccines-have-low-effectiveness/ar-BB1fwlU5
 

I saw an article where someone in the Czech Republic was accusing Russia of sending doses of the Sputnik vaccine that was not the same stuff that had a 96% efficacy in the peer reviewed stage 3 trial report in the Lancet. There is no way of knowing whether the Russian and Chinese products are consistently the same formulation.

I don't think any Western country could even consider the Sinovac vaccine for approval because no stage 3 trial data has been published in a peer reviewed journal like the Lancet.  I don't think there is peer reviewed data on any of the other Chinese vaccines either but I could be wrong. Not really an issue for them, as they didn't need to sell them in the West.

They are not doing a good job at controlling the latest outbreak and the vaccine roll out is going at a snail's pace. If things look like this on 1st July few tourists will want to come? 

The government is still resting on its laurels from the good luck it got in avoiding a full scale epidemic last year but the rest of the world has moved on and is now looking at percentage of population vaccinated which, in the case of Thailand, is not even 1%.

1 hour ago, heiri007 said:

 

How will the respective embassy know?

If they ask to see your passport, they will know that you are in Thailand with out a Thai visa.  If they make a record of the letters from SB informing them that people have been granted Thai nationality, which would trigger revocation of original nationality at some embassies. There may be something that makes them suspect you are a dual national, particularly in the case of dual nationals by birth, e.g. the existence of a Thai  parent.

The old blue Brit passports had a warning in the back that made things fairly clear,"UK nationals who are also nationals of another country cannot be protected by her HM representatives against the authorities of that country. If, under the law they are liable for for any obligation(such as military service), the fact that tey are United Kingdom nationals does not exempt them from it."  I don't suppose the US would guarantee intervention in the case of someone drafted for military service either but they might try in certain circumstances. Nevertheless, make clear that they regard all US citizens as qualified for consular protection, whereas the British government makes clear the oopposite is true which leaves it the discretion to provide assistance but not the obligation.  I can't see the British ambo sticking his neck out for a dual national Brit arrested for LM like the US ambo did.  The Brits seem to have become more and more craven towards Thai governments over the years in desperation to get weapons and other deals, viz the caving in over pension letters, not to mention the disgraceful behaviour of the FCO over the brutal murders of the two young Brits in Koh Tao.  Gone are the days when a gunboat commanded by a lieutenant R.N. would have settled the matter!

Re the military service issue.  I remember talking to a British consular official who had served in Bangladesh.  She said she had requests for help at least once a month from families of young British born Bangladeshi males who had been collared for military service, usually on their first ever visits to Bangladesh.  She said there was absolutely nothing they could for them.  The families should have known that a male travelling to Bangladesh on a Bangladeshi passport while of military age was an extremely high risk.  The only ways to avoid this were either formally renounce the right to Bengladeshi nationality at the London embassy prior to the trip or avoid visiting the country while still of military age.  The red EU passports dropped the warning, which made it less obvious to those at risk.

Another interesting point to consider is to what extent Thai diplomatic missions abroad are willing to assist dual national Thais abroad.  They seem to accept Thai born Thais as their own, even though they are obviously dual nationals.  Of course there are many countries that have no Thai embassies or embassies where the staff have little knowledge of the language or the country.  Unlike Western diplomats Thai diplos are not required to know languages other than English, Chinese, Japanese etc.  I met a senior MOFA official who told me he spent 8 years at the Thai embassy in Mexico City and never attempted to learn any Spanish at all.  In a country like that doesn't have much in the way of resources available in English and where English is not widely spoken, you have a very constrained ability to grasp what is going on without being fluent in Spanish.   

22 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I was led to believe that as Naturalized Thais, we can't get assistance from our former embassies, US included. 

It may well be true of the British Embassy but like I said most of the Americans given consular assistance in Mexico were also Mexican citizens and some were not even fluent in English.  Many were incarcerated or even murdered there but all received consular assistance, if requested by themselves or their families.  In Thailand, if you recall, there was a Thai American called Joe Gordon who was banged up for lese majeste on a trip to Thailand to seek lower cost medical treatment.  The US ambassador intervened vigorously in the case and make herself rather unpopular iwith Thais. Eventually he was pardoned and allowed to return to the US.

34 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

This is disgraceful.

The British embassy has gone from an institution that helped its citizens to a place that bows to the Thai government to make life difficult for Brits here, and even lies to them about services offered. 

 

Back in 2017, I spoke to an employee of the consulate who told me to make an appointment to get my birth certificate legalised. After making further appointments with Thai authorities, booked flights and hotel for my family, the consulate folks me they couldn't do this service. Also, a Thai employee rudely shouted/ordered "you telephone" when I was going through the entrance. 

 

I had some nasty experiences with the Thai staff at the Bangkok consulate.  When I asked for that affidavit and was the first person to ask for it in the days you could just walk in, one of them said they couldn't do that but tried to make me renounce citizenship without any other citizenship which they definitely can't do.  I tried to ask to speak to someone more knowledgeable but was summarily kicked out.  I decided to give it another try a couple of weeks later before writing to the ambassador whom I had met.  Luckily when I went back I got one of the few British consular staff who said of course they could do that and couldn't have been more helpful.  I have also encountered horrible, offensively rude Thai staff (always women) in the Swiss and German consulates when applying for Schengen visas for the missus under EU rules prior to Brexit.  In the German consulate I demanded to see a German consular official and managed to get a German guy who agreed with me and told the grumpy Thai staffer to do as I said, i.e. accept the application under EU freedom of movement rules with less documentation.  The Thai staffers on both occasions talked to my wife as if she was a naughty little girl trying to do something wrong and obviously assumed she was a bar girl, if married to a farang. I had to intervene and quote EU law to them in both cases, which they seemed unable to understand but I have to blame the embassies for hiring such low quality local staff and not bothering to train them properly. In most cases they have now either given up providing the services or have outsourced them.

My brother became a US citizen and joined the US foreign service as a second career where he worked in a couple of different consular posts.  He was shocked to hear of the British cheap Charlie practice of appointing local staff who are ignorant of British laws and regulations to consular jobs where they deal with Brits.  He said the US foreign service only allows accredited US diplomats to deal with Americans face to face in their citizen services section.  The local staff only work in support roles.  Another difference is that the US foreign service still helps dual citizens in countries where they are dual nationals.  In Mexico most of the US citizens they had to provide consular assistance to where dual citizens.

Soi Cowboy street in the Sukhumvit district of Bangkok, where much of the city’s nightlife is concentrated.

Last time I drove past that soi of an evening it was almost completely dark.

The Astra Zeneca was first sent to Korea but forwarded to Thailand. So it is second hand, as far as Thai authorities are concerned.  No mention of where it was manufactured.  India maybe?  The Thai FDA only approved the AZ made in Europe where it is made by several different European licensees.  It would be safer to approve them one by one, rather than assume all European manufacturers are safe, whether tested or not, but Indian production, which they turned down, is not.

In the photograph it looks like police are honoring the motor cycle taxi driver for doing a good breed to one of their now rare foreign tourists.

Thailand's precious metals market is gold only but you can trade silver futures on TFEX.  With a brokerage account you can buy shares in the SLV silver ETF in New York or shares of silver mining companies like First Majestic Silver listed in Toronto and New York. A lot of countries make investment in silver coins or bars inconvenient by charging VAT as they consider it a raw material not an investment. I don't know if Thailand does.

This is a crypto exchange in New York.  What about the offshore crypto exchanges in places like the Bahamas that offer promotional free coins and leverage?

I don't see much sense in trying to rebuild Pattaya as a commercial centre with high rise office buildings.  The EEC  was a buzz word coined by Somkid, a disciple of Michael Porter of Harvard Business School, who promotes the concept of "competitive clusters" and there is no evidence I have seen that it has attracted to the already existing Easter Seaboard significantly more foreign direct investment than would have been attracted under existing BoI policies.  The businesses are industrial in nature and build offices on site.  There is little need for offices elsewhere to service them.  They can be adequately serviced for most thins from Bangkok without the need to set up new offices  Sales people can work from home. If a commercial hub were needed to service it, Rayong would be much more suitable. Why bid for overpriced land in Pattaya and contend with all the traffic and hassle there.  Rayong is much closer to most of the factories.   

DJ Matoom has finally achieved nationwide fame.

This is just the right time for the government to introduce that special levy on arriving tourists.

7 hours ago, Purdey said:

I am a bit unclear about the word naturalization. Does it mean after a certain time you can become Thai by nature of you haveing lived here a long time or is it applied whenever you apply for citizenship regardless of the length of time?

I have read about hill tribes people getting Thai citizenship and wonder how they did the paperwork.

It's in the Nationality Act. There are 3 paths for expats  to apply for Thai nationality.

1. You have had permanent residence for 5 years and have been working with a work permit and salary of at least B80,000 per month continuously for the last three years.  You need to be able to speak Thai and sing the National and Royal Anthems.

2. You have a Thai wife (but not necessarily permanent residence) and have been working with a work permit and salary of at least B40,000 per month continuously for the last three years. You do not need to be able to speak Thai, although it is preferred, and you do not have to sing.

3. You are a woman with a Thai husband. You do not need to be working but your husband needs to be able show he has received income of at least B15,000 a month for the past year. You do not have to speak Thai or sing.

The stateless hill tribes and other minorities who were born in Thailand have another process to apply for Thai nationality, if they are qualified. They have to apply to their district offices and are often done in batches. Expats have to apply to Special Branch in their province. Bangkok Special Branch has a dedicated department for processing citizenship applications, which makes things much easier, but all the other provinces do not.  In practice this makes it virtually impossible for expats to apply for citizenship unless they live in Bangkok or a province like Chiang Mai, Chonburi or Phuket that has a lot of expats.  All  other provincial Special Branch offices with either refuse to accept the application or, worse still, offer to process it but ask for bribes and then screw it up.  The work around is to get on a friend's or relative's tabien baan in Bangkok and apply at the Bangkok office.  

2 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I just got an eye test at an expensive shop. 

They showed me the prescription after testing my eyes in a machine. It took just about a minute, with no test for reading. 

Is this what they do nowadays? 

All I saw was a picture of a house, she never asked when I could see it clearly or anything. 

She said it was the same as my last one 3 years ago. 

 

I went ahead and ordered the glasses but just thought about it now. 

 

Is that what every opticians does these days, a very quick test with no input from the customer? 

The machine with a picture of a house can be easily used by staff who are not trained optometrists and gets you most of the way there. But the fine tuning of a prescription is done by using a frame with interchangeable lenses so the optometrist can keep asking which lens works best for you.  And they have specific reading tests to fine tune your prescription for reading, if you need one.  I got my first pair of glasses many years ago the same way as you describe in a shop in Bangkok without testing any physical lenses and they were OK for a year or so. But in recent years I have noticed that shops like Top Charoen and KT Optical test the eye sight more thoroughly with interchangeable lenses, even though their staff may not be qualified optometrists. Nowadays I come with a prescription from the eye hospital where they do a very thorough job.  Having said all that, I expect your glasses will be fine, if you just need them for a touch of short sightedness with out astigmatism or other complications and don't need reading glasses yet.