khunjeff

17 hours ago, oceaneyes said:

Thinking of getting a Corolla Cross as it looks like a practical all round car. Any one got one, or want to share their thoughts?

 

Also considering a Subaru Forrester or CX30. The CX30 is probably the best to drive but least practical.I like the size and 4WD of the Forrester. But the Corolla cross seems to have decent space, plus it would be good to have a hybrid.

I recently got a Forester, and quite like it - roomy and comfortable in the front and back, good visibility through the large windows, and some nice safety features. To me, the Cross feels more cramped, but as you say, it would be great to have a hybrid, and the Forester doesn't have a hybrid option.

16 hours ago, sungod said:

Open until 10pm if I'm not mistaken.

Restaurants in Bangkok are currently only allowed to have dine-in customers until 9pm.

23 hours ago, bluesofa said:

That gives the impression they can continue to pollute the outer areas at will.

 

After spending time and money building a new station, the SRT now appear to be working out how it will actually work, suggesting it hasn't been considered until now.

The whole exercise of building Bang Sue Grand Station seems to have been a bit like the Field of Dreams - build it, and they will come.

18 hours ago, ukrules said:

It's called reciprocity, get used to it - I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of it handed out over the next few years from all around the world.

This has nothing to do with reciprocity. As the article mentions, there is a long-standing principle in US law of "consular non-reviewability", which basically says that visa eligiblity decisions can not be appealed or challenged in US courts. The plaintiffs in this case were trying to use some language in the Thai-US Amity Treaty to get around that, and the court told them no.

9 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Yeah, whilst Thailand calls us all aliens and creates constant hurdles for people just wanting to live with their family

US immigration law also refers to non-citizens as aliens.

15 hours ago, Why Me said:

5. Photocopy of the 90-day Receipt of Notification.

...

8. Proof of address: copy of rental agreement and TM.30 Notification from House-Master (applies to renters), copies of utility bills (I had 3BB and AIS) and map/pic of residence (Google maps will do).

Thank you for the very thorough report.

Just to clarify, were you actually asked for the items in bold above, or did you just volunteer them? I've never been asked for any of those when doing my retirement extensions at CW, though I've always had them in my bag just in case. (The rental contract WAS required for the actual Non-O application, but not for any extensions.)

33 minutes ago, DUNROAMIN said:

BS, True vision keep telling me we can get up to 500 megs per second, rarely see over 50 megs. Maybe in Bangkok but definately not in Issan country.

I'm in central Bangkok, and even here True has told me that I can't get over 100mbps in my building.

"Buddhipongse said the government had taken sole control of the app because of a significant rise in users, and because it wants to ensure users’ privacy is properly protected."

????

1 hour ago, natway09 said:

Why BMA ?

Is this not the responsibility of Central Government ?

The PM has given individual localities the authority to handle it themselves if they so choose. I'll admit that I don't quite understand the reasoning behind that, or whether it means the funding would come from a different source.

19 hours ago, webfact said:

Commuters can use their BTS Skytrain passes or Rabbit cards for the line.

Haven't all previous stored value BTS cards been replaced by Rabbit by this point?

This is the cheapest one I've seen:

https://www.thaitravelclinic.com/FrontNews/covid19-med-certificate-en-2.html

18 hours ago, jackdd said:

Technically the day you withdraw the money your extension ends and if you stay after this you are on overstay.

There has been speculation about this since the new policy went into effect a couple of years ago, but I've never seen any official statement that this is actually the case.

Maybe I missed something, but as far as I can recall, all the forum members who have reported on their experiences applying for an extension after screwing up the bank deposit requirement have only had their extension denied - I don't remember hearing of anyone being slapped with a 20k overstay fine and deportation. 

7 hours ago, asiasurfer said:

And how is the fee gonna be collected? Another desk at the airport to create more queues (assuming tourists will ever come back)? Very welcoming indeed... 

According to the article, "The online fee will become effective once the measure is published in the Royal Gazette." (Emphasis added)

5 hours ago, impulse said:

I don't worry about the $10.  It's how they're going to collect it.  They should make it part of the ticket price, and not a fee that has to be paid separately.  Just for convenience sake.

I don't disagree, but if they add it as a surcharge on the ticket, it would end up being paid by Thai citizens, diplomats, and others who will presumably be exempted.

7 hours ago, Guderian said:

Given that the first week of ASQ involves being locked in your room and only then after a negative Covid test are you allowed to use the gym or sit on the rooftop or whatever for a limited time each day, it might be worth the extra cost even if you're not a golfer just to get out of doors for a few hours every day and get some exercise walking around the course.

Agreed, it sounds a lot more attractive than sitting in a room all day, even for those of us who don't play. But if this is possible for golfers, why isn't something similar possible - albeit without golf - for other large resorts? Let the inmates wander around the grounds or the beach, far away from one another, without limiting it to an hour in a little yard. It could undoubtedly be arranged if they wanted to make it happen.

2 minutes ago, PGSan said:

Is that 10.5m for Bangkok alone, or the whole conurbation? 

Supposedly for the city of Bangkok itself - the "metropolis" would be 15M.

2 minutes ago, PGSan said:

And what are the relative populations of these two areas?   I estimate the ratio to be far higher than the 3:2 for cases.

Bangkok's population is about seven times as high as that of Chonburi (10.5M vs 1.5M). So yes, Bangkok's infection rate is much lower on a per capita basis.

Yes, this was from my US-based health insurance:

"While it's not yet certain when all vaccinations will begin and how they will be handled in different states, rest assured that there will be no cost to Aetna® members to receive the COVID-19 vaccination."

Two days is a long time to spend in a nonexistent casino.

6 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

I wasn't commenting on whether their advice was right or wrong.  I was simply pointing out that their advice was aimed at killing the virus, not improving health to help fight the virus as your comment suggested.

My apologies if that post came across as accusatory, which wasn't my intention.

As for where that advice came from, the fact that they specify "hot" and "well-cooked" would tend to support your view, since presumably high temperatures would tend to kill off viruses.

It's also the case, though, that this department has published posters every year - even well before the pandemic - exhorting people to "eat nutritious foods to stay healthy during the rainy season!", as though healthy eating - rather than keeping clear of people who are coughing and sneezing - was the key to avoiding colds and flu. So who knows what they're really getting at - that hot food kills pathogens, that folks who have healthy lifestyles generally have stronger immune systems, or both. Your guess is certainly at least as good as mine!

15 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Hot, well cooked and hygienic meals; to lessen the chance of catching covid from the food.

According to WHO:

"There is currently no evidence that people can catch COVID-19 from food or food packaging. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness and the transmission route is through person-to-person contact and through direct contact with respiratory droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes."

According the the US CDC:

"- The risk of getting COVID-19 from food you cook yourself or from handling and consuming food from restaurants and takeout or drive-thru meals is thought to be very low. Currently, there is no evidence that food is associated with spreading the virus that causes COVID-19.

- The risk of infection by the virus from food products, food packaging, or bags is thought to be very low. Currently, no cases of COVID-19 have been identified where infection was thought to have occurred by touching food, food packaging, or shopping bags."