orchidfan

I have no "paper fetish" nor the yellow vaccine "passport". I lived and worked in Hong Kong for 20years and still have Permanent HKID, so know pretty well how it works ! My Thai wife is still working there (also Permanent HKID) and recently came back to Thailand. The ONLY record she had of her 3 vaccinations done in HK is a PAPER " Covid~19 Vaccination Record issued by their Department of Health. It has a QR code at the top which they scan on entry at.the airport. At the bottom of.this form in Bold. Large print is "Keep the record properly " Domestically they also have the "Leave home safe" app into which she had to scan, from her PAPER record, her vaccination status. I recall that she also had to show the CX staff.pre~checkin, her paper vaccination record and her PAPER, RT~PCR test result. So I agree with your sentiment but it's not a paperless world yet.

I personally haven't bothered with the yellow passport as any of the overseas places I have/will travel to readily accept the paper "certificate", but understand that some people might require it or prefer it for their travels. Incidentally there was a dedicated desk doing "vaccine passport" updates there that day too. So they had everything covered.

As I noted above, the person who printed me out a hard copy Vaccination Certificate also, without asking, updated Morprom and took my phone and showed me. I explained that I needed the paper certificate as some overseas authorities (Hong Kong etc) may not understand MorProm. But thanked him (her?) anyway.

I'm pretty sure that Red Line (to/from Rangsit ) stops at Bangsue.

Decided to get the 4th shot today (71yo) as it is free this month at Bang Sue station. Luckily had Thai stepdaughter to drive me there from Thanyaburi. It's a bit of a circuitous route to get into Bang Sue after leaving the tollway, but we made it. The place is gigantic and not easy to navigate into the huge vaccination center, but with helpful staff guiding us, we found our way. I was a "walk in" without appointment but that was sign posted, plus helpful staff to point us into Registration. This was amusing as the form I was given (one for Thais and another in English for "others") allows you to fill in all the questions including height, weight AND blood pressure! So as nobody took these measurements you could write anything ! Anyway, after nominating Moderna as the preferred vax (many choices) l was guided to the row of "stations" doing this jab. All very well organized and nearly nobody there (a few dozen overall) in a huge arena that could easily hold a thousand or so. No queues, no waiting....piece of cake! Then the mandatory 30mins waiting time...the "waiting over" period written on the form so no cheating on this. Finally handed in the Vax certificate to be stamped for release, and was told MorProm would be updated in a day or so. I requested an updated paper hard copy showing all 4 vaccinations (for International travel)and was shown to another desk, 4 metres away, where a nice young person put everything into his/her computer (hard to determine their sex) and not only printed me out a paper hard copy of all 4 vax but also instantly updated the MorProm app. Same nice young person also guided me to the exit door where daughter was waiting. Really excellent service, and free. Thoroughly recommend if you are in the oldies age group and want a Booster

That was a good and the correct decision by the crew given the threat to safety. Obviously the N Air crew were committed to landing "come hell or high water" !

I suspect the aircraft "slid" off the very wet runway due to "aquaplaning". Maybe the airport owners/operators need to groove the runway surface as is done in many countries where very heavy rain floods the runway ?

It was an."elderly matron" BA hostess, many years ago flying SIN to Oz, who knew/remember my name (in economy /world traveller) and my favourite Gin n tonic drink and checked on me regularly during the flight to keep me topped up. They don't come like that anymore ????

no again. Bali is predominantly Hindu, not Muslim. Hence the liberal availability of booze and other entertainment, and very low crime rate.

Bali is not part of Malaysia !

No Casinos in Macao allow smoking.....and there are plenty. They used to 20yrs ago then banned it.

Got a "+697" call the other day. Ignored it. Blocked it, deleted it. Never answer ANY number I don't know or isn't in my Contacts. Thanks to forum/ report earlier for highlighting this country prefix as a scam call and not to answer.

We're in the middle of.one now called the Holocene Epoch. People who talk about climate change need to look back 3 billion years , not 125000 yrs.

Don't know what the VN "authority" was banging on about times taken to vacate the runway. VVTS (SGN) has 2 parallel runways which are operated dependably.....one for landings one for departures. So no one is left lined up and waiting for the aircraft ahead to vacate the runway. He.is cleared for takeoff when the "landing " aircraft on the other runway has landed. Nothing to do with the time ot takes the landing aircraft to vacate......60vs70 seconds sheesh! Also, times to vacate depend on many factors such as wind, aircraft type and landing weight. Mentioning inexperienced pilots as being a factor in delays is hogwash.

@Jumbo1968, Just wanted to say thanks for your help. Have successfully set up Wise AUD and THB accounts, topped up the AUD account from my Oz bank.....which was almost instantaneous.....then transferred the money to my Thai BB account which they (Wise) converted at exactly the same exchange rate as quoted on XE.. The money was in my BB in minutes ! I'm just kicking myself that I hadn't done this years ago and not wasted all those fees from Oz bank, local ATM fee and lousy exchange rate. Really excellent ! (My only one small hassle was doing a clear selfie showing face and passport page....but after about 8 tries it was accepted and ID verification done)

I don't think its changed. The odd thing is the 180 days are for certain countries only. My then Thai gf (now wife) used to get 30days, and Philippinas got 14 days. I once asked the Immigration officer why I got 180 days (Oz pp) and she only 30. Answer was that they considered 30days enough time to "see" and experience HK. So my reply to her was "so we westerners are slower lookers needing 180 days?" No reply. She also told me that they didn't have a gf Visa and if I wanted her to stay (gf having come numerous times during the year on 30day stamps ) then I needed to marry her. So I did !

Thanks for that but where do I tell Westpac to send it to ? I dont have an account number for my new Wise AUD account ?

I've started the Wise account process, which was a pain being 71 and trying to take a selfie holding my passport open. Finally got "Approved" so now the next step is depositing some money into the Wise AUD account. I think I've registered my BB account here as the one to receive funds, but just have to work out how to transfer money from my Westpac account to Wise. Any tips or advice greatly appreciated.

Recycling bins in local shopping malls and outside 7/11 just show how a very large proportion of people here don't give a damn. Both bins ("recycle" and "other waste") are both full of just anything which people wish to discard. Makes it hard for those poor buggers going through it all try7ng to find a few plastic bottles or cans to sell ! Education. That's where it was drilled into us from a young age.

Totally agree. Not only the necessary letter and statements for immigration, but getting a new passbook.....which I have to do this week because the pathetically small one they provide very quickly fills up ! Will have to stop doing updates ! Both my "local" BB and SCB branches have closed during Covid. One space now occupied by a Watson and the other a Starbucks. That local BB branch was 5 minutes from home. Now the nearest big Center is a 20 minute drive. Finally, I still withdraw my Oz pension# from a BB atm and deposit it into a CDM alongside. Think I'll have to look at opening a Wise account and use that to transfer to my BB account here. # Oz pension (Superannuation) will only pay it into an Oz bank !

Dr Jack, I have to get a new passport from Oz Embassy next year. (Old one expires Mid December 2023) So if they do not issue any "letter" I assume I just have to request the IO (Pathum Thani Immigration) to transfer over the extension stamp or simply wait until old passport expires (which will be the same date as new extension will be in 2023, given that Immigration will only give new extension up until expiry date of old pp). Normally extensions are March to March. Any thoughts?

Thanks Joe. Now I've changed the password, no problem. But I think other members have also had a login problem using their original emailed password. Just a suggestion if this happens to use the "forgot password " link and set a new one if this happens. By the way, many thanks, over the years for your constant help and up to date advice for we old guys navigating the Thai immigration maze. Much appreciated

Joe, as I posted some time ago.,when my second online report was due, I opened up the same "new" website and entered my email address and their previously sent looooooong stupid password. Didn't work. Incorrect data. (And the password was exactly as they had sent me originally ) Twice failed. So did the "forgot password " link and changed it to a simple 8 digit one that I can remember.... Worked perfectly....and Approved the next day even after misspelling my name.

Yes, Dr Jack is (as usual) correct. You most certainly can change your password to something meaningful via the "forgot password " link.

Just be aware that the password they sent you may NOT work for your next login 90 days later. Mine didn't and others have reported the same.. But, if so, just click "forget password" and reset a new one that you can remember instead of their ridiculous 10 odd digit thing they sent you. But overall it's a working system for most users and big improvement on the past.