Megascott

17 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

How much did they quote you? our local private is taking bookings for moderna at 4k for the 2, thought it was meant to be 3k? Must be inflation!

They quoted 3k for both shots.

I’ve signed up for the Moderna jab at Bangkok Hospital, scheduled for October, which at the current success rate of the Thai government promises of a vaccine, I just might get vaccinated sooner than most.

Given the Sinovac Vaccine, trade named "CoronaVac" only has a 56-65% Efficacy as per https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n969 . The tech use to make the CoronaVac is the same as the Flu and only works on specific strains of Covid.

If Thailand is using this Vaccine they should closely monitor the strain (DNA) of Covid on the Thai population to insure that this Vaccine is still relevant.

Personally, I will get this vaccine if presented with the opportunity, however, I will still be getting the Moderna Vaccine when it comes available to private hospitals in Thailand.

Wait for the app, oh app no work.

Now wait for the Vaccine, oh no vaccine.

What difference does it make if anyone opens a walk-in Vac station, when there's no Vac available?

Just like the Covid reg app that won't work for foreigners, or the 90 day reg app that never worked in the first place. Someone please remind me why Resident Farang even have to register every 90 days? "Because its Thai law"  Did they secretly change  the PERMENANT address in my House book? It's all the normal way Thais do things. No reason or rhyme, its just how things are done here.

What exactly does “Approved for Emergency use” mean? Anybody? Bueller?

47 minutes ago, chalawaan said:

Didn't high ranking officials "failing to disclose information" start this third wave mess in the first place? The usual suspects, the top brass, pointing the finger downstairs as always, it's only a matter of time now before the masses get sick of it -and turn as one.

Also, maybe the scientific fact that the variants are far more virulent has also got something to do with it? 

This is true, the Thai Government had a big all hands meeting/celebration in several key places prior to Songkran and few if any at these meetings were masked and some were already infected and passing the virus before attending these meetings, Which then the wave of government workers who were now infected flew back to the home province and infected the locals. Songkran kicked in with all the Maskless celebrating at local pubs and disco's. Bam! full on Spike of Covid throughout all of Thailand. As long as were playing the Blame game, who's fault is this? Point your fingers at the Thai Government for total lack of due diligence. Thai Gov AKA PM Prayute has been behind he scenes wasting time trying to line his own pockets negotiating lucrative contracts with Western pharma and not even a worry that the medical personnel in Thai hospitals are the ones who need the Vaccine first, now more finger pointing....

21 hours ago, RickG16 said:

Just a wild stab in the dark, but I reckon it's an American who watches Fox News.

Fox news not withstanding, Germans, Brits and Aussies far out number Americans here in Chiang Mai, So very unlikely its an American. Not that I'm siding with the poor <deleted>. 

I totally agree with the article, however, Thailand is nowhere near the prices charged in Oz, as others have pointed out.

Back in my home country, before communism, I used to frequent what is now the Socialist republic of Kalifornia, before the commies took over and taxed everything to death. No tax on beer wine and spirits. Fill up the trunk of the car at Costco and drive back to Seattle. Sadly that deal is gone now. lol. Now, I get my Leo at a local shop near SanPatong, 30thb for the 750ml bottles if I buy a case. I'm not a big drinker, but just in case someone comes over, it's good manners to have a cold brew waiting.

If you can book a ticket, you can fly, Eventually. The fights now are usually not booked very full, so be prepared for possibly hours of cancellations until they get a full flight.  

Our Daughter just had a baby last week, So we asked around and researched and everyone said. "Oh, Bangkok, bad. Don't go, you need test. Very complicated. Not worth it"

Okay. The Wife and I went in for the Covid test, of course, Negative. Obtained a letter from our Tambon manager, which we were told to get and so we drove away. Yeah. Non stop, Chiang Mai all the way to Bang Na. Not even the normal Police speed trap in Nakhon Sawan.

New Baby and mother doing well, Father a little panicked...lol Normal stuff, my wife "New Grandma" a lot excited!.

We went Camping at Kaeng Krachen last Friday/Sat. The campgrounds were packed, but everyone wearing the mask and keeping the six feet. No worries.

Two weeks ago we drove from our house in Chiang Mai to the Northern mountain village of Ang Khang (just east of Chiang Rai). We pitched a tent on an overlook for a beautiful view. Strawberries were just coming in, Oranges were sweet and also the tail end of Avocado season brought well ripened goodness. Happy Travels.

When the corrupt Government makes up schemes they always involve some form of bribery by hospitality companies to provide them with customers. Previously tested non-Covid passengers must spend a minimum of 30,000thb in Quarantine at a short list of Hotels, previously chosen by the Government officials, "Insurance" must be acquired to provide 100,000usd in coverage, 500,000thb must be in deposit in a Thai bank before application. Does anyone but me see the possibilities of Corrupt practices here? Who in their right mind thought this list of requirements was even achievable, let alone something a tourist would even try to do to come to Thailand? To me, its a list of nearly impossible requirements insuring you DON'T have any tourists coming to Thailand.

Personally, I would rather have an occasional forced slowdown police check rather than a police state with Cameras placed everywhere. With those Cameras, also comes the automatic fines in the mail that do virtually nothing but rid your pocket of 500thb for going 2km over the speed limit. However, I think most of this is just talk. Any new guy is just gonna make a good show of it for the first couple weeks, then it's business as usual after that.

In Chiang Mai, Songkran brings in a ton of foreign visitors, at least during previous years. Postponing it during the time at which a limited amount of tourist can fly to Thailand means only locals and long stay falang will be in attendance. Sounds even more fun! 

Just this last Tuesday I renewed my Retirement Visa using the 65K baht per month option, I had the amounts from my Transferwise statements for each month for the past 15 months and I had the kind lady at my Bank draft a letter stating that every month these amounts were deposited for Immigration purposes. Simple letter, took her a few minutes to make up using the info I provided. Getting the 1 year extension was a breeze, and since there is amnesty until the Sept. 23, they even made my extension valid through Sept 23 2021. I showed no proof of insurance. No letter from the lazy folks at the US Consulate.

5 hours ago, Saltire said:

Totally agree.

 

Kill it and give it to my neighbours who would be over the moon at some free food.

I'm all in on this one, my neighbor is the first one to call if I find a snake on my property, He is always very grateful for the free Snake, Delicious!

Chiang Mai Makro on the Hang Dong road seems to always have everything we need, We don't need allot of Foreign sourced items though. Cheese? Of course I can echo complaints about the guy with the full to the brim cart in the 10 items or less lines. We have that same guy here in the North too. What can you say? "Land of Smiles", grin and bear it. I can tell these people have never been taught customer service, but I have not had any problems asking where they moved something, which seems to be a constant problem, they are seemingly constantly moving stuff around. Coffee? on aisle 17 one week, aisle 4 the next. Who knows why? For some reason they seem totally oblivious to the reasons why people are always asking them where they moved things.

One immigration lady asked me about this, I promptly showed her the transactions on the Transferwise app. She said "Okay ka!" I think She just wanted to know how I did it. No docs. No requirement. 

23 hours ago, rumak said:

pretty long and somewhat boring advertisement

100% Agree.

1 hour ago, dingdongrb said:

I had that same thing catch me near Nakan Sawan years ago, Reminded me living back in the USA. I lived in a college town and during the summer a police officer would dress in shorts and a tank-top while sitting in a lawn chair in the easement area using a radar gun to catch speeders. 

This is exactly what I saw in the median near Sakhon Sawan the last time I drove through there. Young kid in the median, sitting on a lawn chair, large brimmed hat, holding something like a radar gun or camera...I didn't see it very clearly, as I zoomed by him at over 130...

We were stopped near Nakhon Sawan on the way to Bangkok about a month ago. I was following another speeder for a few dozen K and we were going 135. After awhile I throttled back to the set speed on my adaptive cruise control of 120 but apparently too late. We were pulled over at the traffic stop and the guy who was in front of us also. The police quoted 132KPH, perhaps so, but then I showed the young policeman my dashboard which plainly shows the speed control set at 120. Fortunately the very kind police officer let me off with a warning.

I'd have to concur with most people here, this is a spot where I've seen police stops before, If you speed you will eventually get caught.

Quote

  5 hours ago, Almer said:

Easy, White skin quadruple  the entrance fee

 

30 minutes ago, Chelseafan said:

 

That might catch on in Thailand ????

Since there was no "Entrance fee" before, quadruple of nothing is still nothing. Maybe you were referring to the National park fees? in that case, quadruple the Thai Citizen fee would be a savings!

10 infected Thai's on a packed bus of 100, 33 did not get the virus. How did they do it? Were they wearing level A Haz mat suits?

When I retired I decided to buy a new vehicle, my wife wanted an SUV to haul people around up to the mountains, so I shopped around and really liked the Ford Everest. Three row seating, power everything and a very good aircon system. I bought the 2wd version because I never need 4wd in my other vehicle, but need the extra ground clearance that these vehicles have. My other car is a Nissan March, which is a drive to market car. Easy to park in tiny soi's and cheap to drive. 

15 hours ago, Yorkshire Tea said:

LMFAO!

When you compare the area which measures in the 180's or higher, your talking about the equivalent area of roughly just one small part of Bangkok and relatively few people.

I live in SanPatong and of course I have a HEPA filter in my Bedroom and it's sealed up pretty good from outside air, so naturally i walk outside this morning and yes, the air quality is degraded slightly as compared to yesterday. I would estimate the visibility here is about 5 miles. I've lived in India. No way is it anywhere even close to that, with huge swaths the size of Texas with air quality so bad you can't see 1/4 mile away, not just one day, but for weeks at a time. 

Me thinks these people doing the measuring are right in the path of localized smoke from a farmer burning a Rice field. Those are way crazy totally exaggerated numbers.

S.

16 hours ago, Brickbat said:

I am next to a 4 star Holiday Inn and it’s pretty empty. So are the streets in CM. Nice! 

It's particularly nice to be able to drive downtown without getting cutoff by Tourist van or having to worry about if that Chinese driven Scooter is going to keep it's lane. So nice to be able walk around the market in leisure instead of shuffling around the crowd like Tim Conway on the old Carol Burnett shows.  In fact All I've seen for tourists are Farang, and few of them even.