Caldera

On the bright side, the UK doesn't only treat immigrants (with the exception of Russian oligarchs) with contempt, but also their own citizens - all the proof you need is what level of support Brits stuck abroad have gotten from their embassies, compared with citizens of more civilized countries such as France and Germany.

A nonsensical waste of time and resources that would be better spent doing proper contact tracing.

Temperature checks? I think it does make sense in supermarkets or at airports, if only to discourage people who have a fever from going there. But going door to door is nonsensical, many spreaders don't even have fever in the first place.

What happened to Thailand's very own wonder drug cocktail that was widely reported?

Where I stay (Central Bangkok), carrying a thermometer when "stepping out" is redundant, as there's pretty much no building left that you can enter without having your temperature taken by staff.

Gloves are probably a terrible idea, but carrying hand sanitizer and wearing a mask are pretty much no-brainers at this time.

I'm not one who's prone to showering the Thai authorities in praise, but this is a welcome announcement, quite a bit broader than expected. Excellent news for many!

Unfortunately there's no single cashless payment option that works everywhere. For what it's worth, I use the following:

Kasikorn Bank contactless Visa (Wave) Debit Card: Tesco Lotus, Big C. I use the same card for Grab Pay (rides and deliveries).

Prompt Pay (Kasikorn Bank app): Various food stalls, electricity and water bills

True Money app: 7/11, Chester Grill

Rabbit Card: BTS, McDonald's, Burger King, MOS Burger

There's some overlap though - I just meant to give examples.

16 hours ago, smedly said:

any bets this will be Thai only

I guess you're right. The code you have to dial to apply for this includes the subscriber's Thai ID number.

As a nurse or pharmacist, for example, you should still be able to use public transport to get to work. Instead of shutting it down, it should be restricted to those who legitimately need it, which will lower the numbers and make social distancing easier.

I don't really care, I drink hardly any alcohol when I'm at home. As I cannot hang out to drink anyway, a sales ban makes almost no difference to me.

I did stock up on beer early this month, when I stocked up on pretty much everything I might need if locked down. The first bottle still hasn't been cracked open though.

What Lies Ahead? Lies! 555

Nice one.

I would apply for an extension before your permission to stay expires. Any COVID-19 extension will be "under consideration" first anyway, so if they make a change in the meantime, chances are they will also be applied to those already in the process.

I agree that attending a crowded immigration office is risky, but in the big scheme of things, going on overstay in this situation is even riskier. Depending on how things will develop with regards to border closures and flight cancellations, resolving any overstay could well become very difficult for a long time.

9 hours ago, elviajero said:

Anyone thinking overstay is an option might want to research conditions in the International Detention Centre.

Pray tell, is it even worse than the Immigration Detention Center?

28 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

For you maybe, you could be sick without knowing and infect others.

That's why I wear a surgical mask and keep a safe distance from others. I'd tell you to crawl back into your hole, but as it appears, you never leave it these days anyway.

That announcement is great advertising.

Thais in general don't strike me as more healthy or resilient than people in my home country. Many Thais I know are prone to over medicating and/or self medicating with what would often be prescription drugs back home (more often than not, antibiotics).

I think different lethality rates are mostly due to demographics and the scope of testing. An outbreak in a retirement home is more deadly than an outbreak among young travelers. The more people a country tests, the more asymptomatic and mild cases don't go unreported.

I think sanitizing banknotes is the wrong approach. Your expectation should be that anything (including but not limited to banknotes) you touch is potentially contaminated. The only sane conclusion from this is that you need to sanitize or wash your hands frequently.

I just got the "Communication Error" others reported last week, at two different Bangkok Bank ATMs in Central Bangkok. Apparently it was resolved last week (I did some withdrawals myself) and now made a reappearance unless it's a new and unrelated issue.

No big deal for me, as I had stocked up, I'm just curious what's going on. Anyone else has any issues today?

The points he makes range from common sense all the way to ludicrous. I don't buy the exact percentages he's giving and this makes me trust him less - as a matter of fact, nobody knows yet, not even a professor from Thailand, the undisputed hub of medical advances.

If they close the branch from March 30 to April 13, what's with that "major cleaning"? Looks like that's just for show, as the virus would be inactive after those two weeks anyway.

I've never seen such a red bin. Next.

As it so happens, last week I finally asked my Thai landlord to register for TM30 online reporting. He got his username and password instantly, filed a report for me and provided me with a screenshot.

Looks like that might come in handy when it's my time to ask for an extension, I thought they had relaxed this at CW but apparently they ask (some?) people for proof of address.

I went to Benjasiri Park today. They've closed the outdoor gyms, other sport areas and playgrounds, otherwise it's open. When you enter the park, your temperature is checked. I just walked around, others were jogging or doing exercises on the lawn. Nice weather, too.

1 hour ago, BigJ said:

This matches with what I was told - "the chief wasn't here today." and that I would just need to show my 1900 baht receipt when I returned and they would extend it longer.  However, as I informed @bangkokboy888 and others in another post, I won't take that as gospel and will hopefully get another letter from the US Embassy (just in case) for my return around April 22.

I think the reason why they ask people to bring along a new letter is because they'll let you apply for yet another extension when you go there again.

What I mean is that they will give you the remainder of 30 days without extra charge and requirements when you show up after the "under consideration" period is up, but at the same time, they'll let you apply for another 30 days extension (assuming that nothing changes) which requires a new set of papers and payment.