John Drake

Many on this forum have dismissed and ridiculed Sinovac ever since its efficacy was first determined to be just above 50 percent. If that is the standard, why are you so enthusiastic about Pfizer against the Delta variant? According to Reuters: By the self proclaimed standard of so many on this forum, wouldn't this news make Pfizer "rubbish?" Clearly, Moderna should be the only choice. And, btw, compare the 2.5 million doses of Pfizer the US gave to Thailand with the 5 million doses of Moderna they gave Vietnam. I think there is a message there.

Because, as this story indicates, the Sinovac is here, right now, when a vaccine is needed. You don't need to wait four or five months at the minimum for a delivery.

Sounds like buy one, get one free to me. The Chinese get the longans and can also eat the mealybugs for free.

Thanks. I didn't know about the change. I stopped using the online system when I got my new passport in April 2019. I have been using mail ever since, because I've not gone out of the country since then and returned to get on the 90 day database. And, in fact, for my next report, I was planning to do exactly what I suggested above: mail in a 90 day report on the edge of the 15 day before deadline and then try the online in the next day or two. I've read that you suddenly started being able to use the 90 day and thought it worth it to try myself next time.

Have you tried that link yourself? It requires a US telephone number and address in order to send an email. Most congressvermin use the same sifter to keep out expats, even if your last US address was from their district and/or state.

I might be wrong. But I think it was Richard Barrow who caused them to take down the reservation system. He started spraying all over twitter that there was a security breach (a minor one IMO) and then Immigration took the system offline. Oh, well, Barrow got his clicks and, of course, he already had his extension.

Can't you try both ways? Why not go ahead and mail in a 90 day report right at 15 days and then also try the online the next day during the 7 to 14 day online window?

I'm just going by how Immigration usually counts things. That is, the due day itself is day one, so that would make three days the 24th, 25th, and 26th. If that is the three days before everyone's expiration on the 26th, that is. What a fiasco! Now, we need to find out what their interpretation of "three days before" means.

It's a one day window, because the 26th is a Sunday. Everyone will need to go on Friday the 24th.

I hope people have looked at the calendar. The implication of your message is even worse than people think. If everyone must come back within three days of 26 September, then that means a one day crunch. Why? Because 26 September is a Sunday. That will leave only 24 September, a Friday, for everyone with a 26 September expiration to get their extension. That also means everyone will need a bank letter on the same day.

Why no Moderna? Is this the answer??? "In January, US vaccine-maker Moderna proposed to build a Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing facility in the government’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) industrial zone, created to lure high-end foreign manufacturers, but Anutin’s office did not deign the shot-making proposal worthy of a written reply, according to the same government sources." https://asiatimes.com/2021/08/covid-blame-game-spreads-like-a-virus-in-thailand/

Maybe they should have got the Moderna instead? "The study found the Pfizer vaccine was only 42% effective against infection in July, when the Delta variant was dominant. "If that's not a wakeup call, I don't know what is," a senior Biden official told Axios." https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-vaccines-pfizer-moderna-delta-biden-e9be4bb0-3d10-4f56-8054-5410be357070.html

And Tops

Most of the branches of Bangkok Bank in malls are closed.

Two top ranking diplomats arrived in Thailand over the past few days. One from the US, who accompanied the chaotic and controversial donation of the Pfizer vaccine, and one from China who emphasized being part of the family. Which one came off the best do you think?

What continues to strike me about all this is the controversy the US "donations" make. Since the day they were announced, most of what I've seen and heard is criticism, suspicion, and accusations of corruption. Contrast this with the Chinese donation. Yes, there was some commentary questioning it. But for the most part, the Chinese put their people in place, implemented their vaccine distribution, and that was that. As a result, who looks better and stronger, diplomatically?

Priority for frontline workers at K Village.

Seem to be a lot of British and Australians lined up to get the American donated vaccine.

That's okay. 7 Eleven has cold storage for your body, too, if you have an unfortunate reaction to the vaccination.

I wonder where that $5 million no strings attached money will end up going? I do remember seeing in the Bangkok Post a couple of weeks ago that the Chinese Charge and acting ambassador had announced that Thailand and China's state owned Sinopharm would be working together on developing second generation mRNA vaccines. You know, the kind that will compete against US vaccines, such as Moderna and the Pfizer that the US just gave away to Thailand with no strings attached. Just a thought.

Do Chinese in the PRC use google?

The only problem is that 7 Eleven's owner is invested into a competing vaccine.

It probably seemed longer because I sent my 90 request in three weeks before its expiration, rather than 15 days. I thought it might actually help reduce the return time. At any rate, I received the receipt on the 7th, which was still 12 days before the 30 day window from when you are required to go into immigration because you haven't received the receipt. They're stringing things out. My return letter was postmarked on the 6th. And if I have a complaint it's about that. Before, when I did my 90 days with the online system, my new 90 days always started from the day my receipt was processed. Now, even though they didn't process this until some time around the 6th, they still backdated the receipt to the 19th of July. And that is causing me to have an ever decreasing amount of time before I need to mail in yet another 90 day.

Yes, FWIW, my last 90 day was due on July 19. I mailed in the form with the SASE on June 29. I just today received my 90 day receipt back from Chaengwattana. Oh, and the due date on my new 90 day notification is October 18. So basically less than a two month period from the time I received the 90 day until it's time for me to mail in the October form, probably around 30 September.

One thing Covid should have taught the world: online learning, distance learning, whatever you want to call it, is a vastly inferior form of teaching compared to in-class instruction. It shortchanges students at every level, primary, secondary, and college and university. Once this plague has ended, I hope it also drives a stake through online learning. But somehow I think just the opposite is going to happen. A two tier educational system, one online for the serfs and a traditional classroom setting for the elites.