Caldera

Congratulations!

Funnily enough, he tweeted the following earlier today: "I’m always a bit nervous when I hear that my name has been mentioned on the Thai Visa forum. But thanks for that nice article guys. And also thanks for turning off the comments! Happy New Year!"

Makes me wonder, why is he so afraid of comments on here? Which - evidently - are NOT turned off, and most have been very positive. I, too, appreciate the information he provides. His Covid-19 updates are quality.

Meanwhile provincial governors all over the country have been busy issuing lockdown, shutdown, ban and quarantine orders. Due to be updated on an almost daily basis.

Chaotic, it has already become impossible to keep track!

They should have reintroduced social distancing. The resulting ticket price increase in itself would ensure that only people who really need to travel do so.

Let's just say I wouldn't call it "brave".

6 hours ago, JoePai said:

In malls, supermarkets, pharmacies, banks and mobile phone shops can remain open.

 

Any idea why phone shops should remail open as not necessary ?

I'd say having a working phone is pretty much essential nowadays, especially when you're stuck at home in lockdown. To order food, to do banking, to socialize with friends and family elsewhere... it's an increasingly long list.

If your phone breaks and you need a replacement, it's not really any different from needing to replace or replenish other essential devices or goods that can also be sold.

It would have been prudent to hold off announcing new holidays until it's clear when the next lockdown will be over.

The longer they wait, the longer the lockdown will need to be to bring down the numbers. I'm surprised that they didn't at least outright ban interprovincial New Year trips - those will do wonders to spread the virus around across the whole country.

I can only guess that they will impose stringent measures based on these doomsday figures. Otherwise, what's the point of scaring people, if nothing will be done?

Have they found a way around the restriction that you cannot stay longer than one year from your original (visa exempt, or tourist visa) entry?

For informal studies such as at language schools, that used to be quite a limitation in times of Covid, even if they were willing to do the conversion to a Non-ED visa at a local immigration office.

Drinking at bars or clubs just isn't compatible with any social distancing efforts, simple as that. There's no way to make it "safe" or do it in a safer way.

All things considered, for me it's clearly the easy life that I can live in Thailand. I can pretty much do exactly what I like to do.

Rabid bigots from back home that I occasionally see on TV annoy me a lot more even from a distance than the occasional xenophobic outburst by a Thai official. So there's that, clearly subjective and personal of course.

The problem with "almost winning" is that it's so easy to gamble it all away, like the Roulette gambler who hits a series of red he's betting on finally encountering black.

Not specific or limited to Thailand, of course - other countries who initially did great had to battle with major outbreaks later on as well.

Dream on! That Thailand is late in the vaccination game might prove to be a real game changer by then. But even if that won't make any difference, this number still seems far too optimistic to me.

They should definitely allow private hospitals to join the vaccination effort, maybe after the high priority groups have been vaccinated first.

The price quoted in the OP amounts to daylight robbery, but I think even at private hospitals that ought to make a profit, vaccinations will eventually be available at a reasonable price.

So it's pretty much found wherever they test, whenever they do actually test. Just like some people have long suspected.

No need for a national lockdown, because each provincial governor will cook up his own version.

The result will eventually be almost the same.

Standard procedure for the Covid extension, in Bangkok, you get an "under consideration" stamp first and need to return to get your final extension stamp. So that part sounds alright.

10 hours ago, travelerjim said:

Get the correct visa for your stay before you come.

Oh hello, I thought the "get a proper visa" brigade has gone extinct thanks to Covid...

Seriously though, converting a visa exempt or tourist visa entry to a non immigrant visa at immigration is straightforward, as long as the requirements are met. Depending on how easy or difficult the OP's embassy is, that might or might not be a better option. Not to be dismissed with a generic throwaway comment.

That they publicly acknowledge the fact that corrupt officials facilitate illegal immigration is long overdue and at least a step in the right direction.

That said, I doubt their hunt will be very successful, unless the outbreak grows that much that they desperately need a bunch of low-ranking scapegoats.

Best case scenario, the 60-day Covid extension will still be available by the time you need it. In that case, you can easily get it without an agent's help for the official 1900 baht price, directly at your local immigration office.

Ultimately it depends on your long-term plans though. If you plan to stay longer, go for a long-term extension to minimize hassle and uncertainty.

7 hours ago, Tug said:

The car is the easy part imo it’s the software and battery’s that are the key maybe apple doesent think Tesla has anything to offer in that regard 

Exactly. Much cheaper for Apple to buy a struggling or failing traditional car maker for the car stuff at some point - if that's even necessary at all.