Bday Prang

Any advance on two? but ok in the interests of accuracy ... As far as I am currently now reliably informed each successive variant of covid has been less deadly than previous variants, apart from two, apparently. is that better? nobody has yet answered my question about how many variants there have been to date must be hundreds by now maybe?

I'll take your word for that and revise my post, too late to use the edit function so...... As far as I am now aware each successive variant of covid has been less deadly than previous variants, apart from one, apparently. How many variants have there been ? I'd like to know my magnitude of error

a booster will not stop infection or transmission, you are in a hole, stop digging

you said that covid could be eradicated by immunisation in the same way as those diseases. It can not.

The heath risks of leprosy, rabies,and bubonic plague have not entirely disappeared either, should we spend our lives living in the shadow of fear of those diseases, constantly being advised, or told, by all and sundry what we should or should not be doing. day in day out.? Really ?

I never suggested that they did not die from covid I contradicted another posters assertion that they died due to being deluded or a car accident, or a snake bite,or rabies, or food poisoning, or a heart attack, or cancer, to name but a few more. Its not only covid that people need to look out for, You appear to disregard all other causes of death

Well from what I have heard, each variation of covid was generally less deadly than the one before, were are you getting your info from ? Your world view generally seems at odds with reality

Another totally inaccurate statement, Any links? you are really on thin ice today I think if you look you will soon find some statistics to back up the commonly held belief that the overwhelming majority of people who died from covid were Old, and infirm, or suffering from comorbidities. I don't remember that being deluded was cited as a contributory comorbidity

Sorry wrong again pal as were your two mates with the like emojis, More misinformation, how are you getting away with this ?

More rubbish! The only correct prophecy is .... "covid will never disappear, regardless of whether I get vaccinated or not"

Now lets see then.... It is apparently an established medical fact that vaccines do not stop people catching covid (Surely no link required for that assertion), furthemore, I have been vaccinated and i subsequently caught covid so I personally agree with that theory The other universally accepted medical fact, is that people who are vaccinated can still transmit covid, (again surely no link required,) this would explain why I was quarantined when I caught covid, ie despite having previously been vaccinated, I was still considered to be as infectious as an unvaccinated person. I personally know of many people who have indeed been vaccinated, later caught covid, and passed the virus on to others ,who were also vaccinated So I to agree with that too. In view of the above, two pretty much indisputable facts in, anybody who has received a normal education would soon realise that the eradication of covid by the use of vaccines is absolutely impossible So when you wrote this....... And this ..... You may have been correct with your description of "basic immunology" but you are completely wide of the mark if you think that applies to covid ! I note that you have failed to provide a link to any studies medical or otherwise to back up your claim yet you berate others for not providing links! Who to believe ? Well its certainly not you is it How are you on the flat earth thing? To be honest your posts should be taken down as "mis information" I can't understand why that has not happened

Are you aware that polio and smallpox are completely different viruses to covid. as indeed are the vaccines and the way they work. No comparison whatsoever!

Not only are there no regulations to enforce it , there is absolutely nothing written anywhere to suggest that is the intent! I have read the stories on here of, as you say , the extremely rare cases , were some people with valid visas have been denied entry by what would generally described as "rogue" immigration officers, Most however seemed to involve people with "back to back" single entry tourist visas, and I can't say that I personally remember any cases involving people with METVs. Although I'm well aware you spend a lot more time on here than I do, so I am quite prepared to accept what you are telling me. but, purely out of interest how many cases of people holding METV's actually being denied entry, specifically as a result of making in / out border bounces, as that is presumably what the officials don't "like", can you remember? 10, ? 20? more? When you say "the strong preference of most in high places" who exactly are you referring to? Again I'm not doubting what you say , but If the preferences were that strong , and the people expressing them were of such high stature surely you would have heard of a lot more denials? I can't agree that the actions of a small minority of rogue / overzealous officials is representative of immigration policy generally or even indicative of what the guys "at the top table" would prefer, if that was the case they would all be at it, and in my personal experience that has absolutely not been the case I also find it a bit strange that the denials of entry take place generally at airports, I mean at least those people have actually been somewhere, maybe those concerned had previous history, overstays for example? Or were they just victims of some sort of scam in which the airlines were involved. On the spot one way tickets home would not exactly be cheap would they All of my in /outs, and there have been plenty of them, took place at land border crossings, as I'm too lazy and tight fisted to make my way to an airport, and I have never experienced so much as a raised eyebrow, despite the fact that my last passport was the thickness of a telephone directory ! it is however a little worrying. I did at times consider flying in and out thinking it might appear more "genuine" glad I never bothered now. Now that the ME-non O visas have been resurrected I will probably revert to using those again, but is there any cast iron guarantee that I will be less likely to be denied entry? probably not I fear. It strikes me, that if they don't like the look of you , you aint coming in, whatever visa you have, except maybe in the case of those with the "elite" visa, were the necessary palms have already been crossed with "silver" What's your opinion?

This reply is not particularly directed at you @JayClay, rather I just wish to dispel a myth promoted by others on here.... That the METV is "strictly" intended for anything is nothing but supposition on behalf of a few "troubled" members who post mis information on this site, the same members who had a bee in their bonnet regarding "covid extensions" and who invented their own imaginary regulations regarding who should and should not be entitled to them, the same members who have even dreamed up their own imaginary definition of what a "real tourist" is The METV replaced the triple entry tourist visa, It effectively allows the same total amount of time to be spent in Thailand , however it does allow the holders of it, more flexibility should they wish to make additional visits to other countries and as such does away with the need to apply for re entry permits There are no official conditions regarding the intended use of a METV other than it allows for multiple entries into Thailand for the "purpose of tourism", with each entry allowing a stay of 60 days ( each entry can also be extended by 30 days at the discretion of an immigration officer) If I remember correctly the METV is also referred to on the e-visa website as suitable for visiting friends and family, for stays of not exceeding 60 days So with a bit of planning an METV can allow almost up to 9 months here with just a couple of border bounces. The idea that it is only intended for people who wish to travel throughout Asia whilst using Thailand as some sort of "base" is not mentioned on any official immigration website that I have seen. Anyway, no need for anybody to take my word for it , much better informed members such as "Ubon Joe" (RIP) and "Doctor Jack" have clarified this on several occasions, just search through the threads if looking for confirmation

That is not correct. METV are only supposed to be available to people who are applying from their home countries or countries in which they have been granted residency rights. They want to see a flight into thailand from your home country as proof that this is the case. They then want to see proof of a ticket out of Thailand to show that you have an intention to leave There is no need to show a ticket for a flight back into Thailand at all, at least not as far as the London embassy is concerned.

Well whilst I agree with your sentiments, I can also understand that they may take the view that the immigration issues in the UK. and indeed the rest of europe for example are hardly a shining example that they would seek to emulate. Multiculturalism might look ok on paper but the realities on the ground are very different ! The UK has lost its sense of national identity, It is no longer acceptable to be patriotic, and on the whole that is a very sad state of affairs and it is all part of the continuing inevitable decline of a once great country that is destroying its self from within. Thailand still has a very strong sense of national identity , I applaud them for this, to be honest I'm a little jealous of the common bond they share and fully understand their reasons for trying to maintain it, even if sometimes it has negative consequences for me personally

I understand your optimism, but, I don't share it. so don't hold your breath. I genuinely doubt that much , if anything will improve, except perhaps for the new noses in the trough. We will just have to wait and see what happens. I may be pleasantly surprised but I seriously doubt it.

Visa rules have been getting progressively tighter over the last 30 years the only exception being the covid extensions that were handed out last year, which was purely due to the exceptional circumstances, No government has made any positive improvements for us , Why would they ? The downwards trend will continue as normal. If Pita becomes PM he may well enjoy a "honeymoon" period , but it won't last forever, and once his popularity fades due to him failing to fulfill his promises, he will show his true colours and revert to type, meaning we can expect a healthy dose of nationalism as he fights to maintain his position. This will have only negative consequences for foreigners here,

Tend to agree with you, Nothing much ever changes for the general population as a result of these events despite the rhetoric. Any improvement for foreigners is highly unlikely and would be a totally unintended consequence. All these naive posters gushing their support for this new kid on the block, expecting Thailand to evolve into some sort of left wing utopia are living in a fantasy world and are, inevitably, going to be very disappointed. The saying "things can only get better" is far from true, things can indeed get a whole lot worse and probably will " Better the devil you know" in my opinion

I'm not excusing anything , the whole thing was a absolute disaster, but there was a lot worse going on than a bit of a piss up or two. They are all just too happy to let the mainstream media and the outraged pearl clutchers get hysterical over this as it is a very effective distraction from what ever else they were up to at the time and what ever they want to bury at the moment. that's why this story goes on and on, it suits them just fine. if it didn't they would have stopped it ages ago.

Questioning the effectiveness or otherwise of any anti Covid measures is in no way indicative of whether one is left wing or right wing. It is however a normal response from those of us who are less inclined to believe everything governments and their agents tell us This whole party gate farce is merely distracting from the rest of the cluster<deleted> but if you think things would have been any better with starmer in charge you are delusional