cormanr7

Empty shelves in 7-11s seems to be a common problem now. In my area (Ladphrao) I checked the nearest five 7-11s and all have problems. Three of these are situated on the main Ladphrao road itself, and one of these has actually closed a few days ago (not sure if this is due to cost-cutting, covid among staff, ...), the others are inside various sois. Things like meals, yoghurt, bread and a host of other items are delivered in tiny amounts (if at all) and sell out in no time.

After having done on-line 90-day reports for some time, last week I got the notification to go to the office. This was apparently due to the fact that they had not updated my new extension of stay date though it was listed on my previous 90-day on-line report in early May. So I was on '70 day or so overstay'  in the system. Went to MTT, arrived at ca 08.30. Small copy shop at the entrance, 2 Baht/page, same as CW (and same terrible quality by the way). Signs point to the A counter in a parking lot 2nd floor where you get a que number. Mine was in the high sixties. There is seating for ca 60 persons or so. People are called in batches of ten. They were just starting when I got my que number and it took about 40 min to reach the counter. Actual process took less than a minute, only passport and TM.47 required (but bring a print of your last 90 day approval just in case). MTT is a bit in the middle of nowhere but lots of taxis. A taxi to the new Red Line Laksi station is less than 80 B (little bit more the other way as there a U-turn on CW road required). Nice flashy train (free for the moment) but only goes twice an hour outside peak periods. At Bang Sue Grand Station you can follow the signs to the MRT Blue Line.  

As noted above, there is presently no air of bus transport to Phuket from Bangkok. Some airlines stubbornly maintain that they will be flying again on the 2nd of August. However, Thai AirAsia has just announced a further suspension to August 8th https://newsroom.airasia.com/news/travel-advisory-temporary-hibernation-of-airasia-thailand-flights. Although I have no info to support this, i think it is likely that there will be another ban of at least two weeks after August 2nd. In principle if anyone has 'a good reason' to travel they could enter Phuket by private car subject to the mandatory PCR test AND having had one (AZ) or (Sinovac) two vaccinations at least 14 days before travel https://www.tatnews.org/2021/07/measures-for-domestic-travel-to-phuket-during-15-31-july-2021/. Not sure if this is viable if you are not a resident of Phuket.

Unable to do my 90 report on-line as they have not updated my extension of stay date (they still have May 2021 instead of 2022). So unfortunately next week have to make the trip to MTT. It appears that the on-line booking system is still down. Questions: 1) is there a public copy shop in the building a la CW. 2) any suggestion regarding the best (read usually quietest) time for a visit?

Thanks in advance.  

You might try the (free) extreme download manager 2020 (XDM 2020), it is very fast for youtube videos and also quite effective as a general video manager. Apparently quite a few people use XDM as an alternative to the (paid) IDM.

On 7/22/2021 at 7:39 AM, Mutt Daeng said:

I've got a HL-1110 which I've been using for a couple of years now and am very happy with it, although I don't print the same volume of paper as you. It's attached to an Asus RT-AC86U router via one of the router's USB ports, allowing it to be configured as a "network" printer even though it is not ethernet or WiFi enabled. 

I also got the Brother HL-1110 but print quality is terrible and I have to set the density at the darkest point to get a barely acceptable output. Apart from that it gets extremely hot in a manner of minutes.

Yes, it is cheap (ca 1,500 Baht a few years ago) but IMO that is reflected in the quality. 

Maybe the following should bring tears to some eyes: https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/16/uk-records-51-000-new-covid-cases-highest-daily-tally-since-january

Israeli Govt data regarding the Pfizer vaccine. 'From May 2 to June 5, the efficacy rate in preventing hospitalization was 98.2%, compared with 93% from June 6 to July 3. A similar decline in the rate was recorded for the vaccine’s efficiency in preventing serious illness among people who had been inoculated'. https://fortune.com/2021/07/05/israel-data-plunge-efficacy-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-delta-variant/. Data from the UK (which do not distinguish between AZ and Pfizer vaccines) claim an effectiveness (period April 12-June 4) against hospitalization of 96% (CI 91-98) and 79% (CI 78-80%) against symptomatic disease https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000512/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_27.pdf. This report is quite extensive with lots of interesting graphs.

In vitro studies by the Univ of Texas with serum from people that had received two injections of Pfizer vaccine confirm that there is a strong reduction in the neutralization of the the B.1.617.1 (=Delta) variant relative to neutralization of the wild-type virus but not with other variants. However, at sufficiently high serum levels, the Delta variant could be neutralized completely https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03693-y.

Overall these data suggest that vaccination is still highly effective, but some fully vaccinated people do end up in hospital and some die.  

Try the MedConsult clinic which is just north of Samitivej hospital. You can book online ( https://www.medconsultasia.com/) and if you book in the 8-10 am time slot, you will get results the same day between 8 and 9 pm.  Lots of foreigners here. Note the remark on the website that cash is NOT accepted.

Disclaimer: I am not in any way connected to this outfit.

On 7/14/2021 at 11:12 AM, Havenstreet1940 said:

Having had the first vaccination, how sure can anyone be that the 2nd dose will be adinistered, since there is a shortage ofvaccine in Thailand.

There is an additional complication now: if some of those who received a first dose of Sinovac now need a second shot with AZ, it will further stretch the already very limited supplies.

8 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

Had a text from Chulalongkorn yesterday with date and time for a sinopharm jab. Applied in May I think, don't know if it's still possible, cancelled it as had AZ already.

Same here, got an invitation for July 19th but cancelled as I already had a jab in June via the intervac site.

4 hours ago, Agusts said:

It's the same in all countries , why is it hard to report this, if counting positives, just do another for negatives, very easy and would have great information value....! 

 

Actually it IS reported by some countries, Below the Dutch figures; green is number of tests/week, yellow: positive tests (both left y-axis) and red (right y-axis) the % positives. It is not that easy to interpret as the number of tests varies significantly in time. Source: RIVM.

Preliminary data from Israel suggests that protection by the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine may start to fade after only six months. However not everyone is convinced. Sadly hard data are lacking as usual. https://www.timesofisrael.com/data-appears-to-indicate-covid-vaccine-protection-starts-fading-after-6-months/ . A brief discussion of the subject can be found here: https://www.npr.org/2021/07/06/1013496220/protection-provided-by-the-pfizer-vaccine-may-might-be-fading-israeli-officials-. It is not a secret by the way that Pfizer has been pressing for a third shot for some time.

If PCR COVID tests are advertised for 10 Euro (or the equivalent) or so, this means they are heavily subsidized as just the material/instrument costs exceed this amount. In France, the actual cost for test + labor is estimated at ca 43 Euro.

To give some idea of costs of PCR tests in some European spots (prices from last week);

Holland: Travelclinic 95 Euro, Pcrtestnederland 119 Euro (from their websites)

               KLM healthservices: 90 Euro

               However, Corendon (the airline) provides a test for 40 Euro, but only for its customers.

Germany: Frankfurt Airport : 69 Euro, results in 24h up to 199 Euro, results within 75 min

                 Dusseldorf airport 59 Euro (24h) up to 149 Euro (45 min) 

                 Average for various airports is 69 Euro (24h result) https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.pcr-test-kosten-mhsd.de782a46-1bee-4e6a-a35f-9984e7593372.html

Spain, Barcelona (various locations): 85 Euro https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/testen-fuer-die-ferien-so-viel-bezahlt-man-fuer-coronatests-in-europa. Some charge much higher prices.

So with 100 Euro = ca 3,850 Baht, a cost of 3,000 Baht/test would seem reasonable. Note that in Thailand, fine chemicals are taxed heavily as I remember all too well from working at a Biotechnol. Dept.

The idea of potentially reducing interval for AZ jabs to 8 weeks in Thailand was probably based on a decision by the UK to reduce interval to a maximum of 8 weeks for both Oxford/AZ and BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines due to the ever growing dominance of the Delta variant, see https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/news/introduction-shorter-interval-between-vaccine-doses. Whether it will actually occur in Thailand with the present vaccine shortages is another matter.

On 6/30/2021 at 6:30 AM, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

8000 baht for 3 tests? that is a lot !!

 

Then maybe you should look at this list from skytrax. https://skytraxratings.com/the-varying-costs-of-a-pcr-test-at-airports-around-the-world Admittedly these are airport tests which may be more expensive than in city hospitals/clinics. Still most fall in the range of US$ 75-150/PCR-test, with some cheaper and some with outrageous prices, topped by Kansai (Osaka) at US$ 404!! 

NHS draws up plan to provide booster shots from September. Only for certain categories. More info here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/30/nhs-draws-up-plans-to-roll-out-covid-booster-jabs-from-september

16 minutes ago, grain said:

So where are all the locally produced AZ vaccines, the ones that were going to vaccinate all of Thailand and much of SEA?

See https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/astrazeneca-working-with-southeast-asia-countries-after-delays-from-thai-plant

Stupid question maybe: suppose you re-enter on NON-O and re-entry permit  with COE early July and and your extension expires October 1st so you buy sufficient insurance coverage (3 months) till this date. But then what happens on Oct. 1st? Do you have to buy coverage for one year then or is the requirement dropped?

Chulaphorn Royal Academy and health providers allocated the vaccine will charge 888 B per dose of Sinopharm but this apparently does not include hospital fees etc. so total cost for two shots may well be around 2,500-3,000 B. 

20 hours ago, khunjeff said:

Correct. There have been numerous posts over the last several months claiming that the one year statement is now required even when using the 800k option,

I did NON-O extension end of April (800k bank method) and was not asked for a year statement or TM.30 (in fact they also never asked for the latter during the previous extensions). Do NOT provide all sorts of additional papers on your own accord , they mind find fault with some or make a habit of asking others to provide these too. I do have a copy of my rental agreement in my bag just in case but have never been asked for it.  By the way, I have no idea what or where desk L-27 is, the lady at the reception (inside) told me to go straight to L-32 (this for on-line appointment). 

12 minutes ago, tethered goat said:

would you be so kind to mention if you are in the over 60s/medical conditions group and approx. how long ago you registered and with whom.Ithink it would help people who have no idea what is going on that the system is working in some way.Thank you

Can't speak for others, but I registered June 09th on the thailandintervac site for Phyathai 2 on June 22nd. I am 60+ but no underlying conditions. Got a confirmation e-mail around 6 pm on the 20th. Experience at Phyathai 2 was excellent. However, by a wild guess I do not think they vaccinate more than 400-500/day.