Etaoin Shrdlu

It wasn't my intention to mislead, but yes, on further reflection, my generalization was probably not the best.

Some insurers provide a lifetime limit and some provide an annual limit. Usually the lower limits on offer are annual and the higher are lifetime, but you'll want to check. For example, a policy offering a 3 million baht limit is probably an annual limit policy and one offering 30 million is likely a lifetime limit policy. Since many lifetime limit policies have internal caps and other limitations per illness, hospitalization or procedure, the difference starts to shrink when you take a closer look and contemplate real-world scenarios, but the higher limits are still advantageous. In theory, you could use 3 million in benefits each year for ten years under the 3 million annual limit policy (if the insurer renews) and have used as much benefit as was on offer from the 30 million limit lifetime policy. Very unlikely, however. It is also unlikely that one could use up the full 30 million in lifetime benefits due to the policy's internal limits. Few insurers guarantee renewal or that they won't eventually increase premiums to the point they become unaffordable. This is the insurance companies' get-out-of-jail card.

I have a 70 mai dash cam that attaches to the windshield by means of an electrostatic decal. I've found this to be much more secure than previous dash cams that used suction cups and frequently fell off. 70 mai has a version of this dash cam with both front and rear cams. It also can connect to a mobile phone or tablet over wifi to transfer video clips. Best one I've had yet.

It is interesting to note that the US government operates a military medical research facility in Thailand specializing in infectious diseases under the auspices of the embassy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_Research_Institute_of_Medical_Sciences

One benefit of tinted glass is to reduce the amount of visible light that penetrates the glass, thus reducing eye-strain when driving in bright environments. The downside is that heavily tinted windows can make it harder to see a night, especially for older drivers. It also makes it more difficult to see into the car from outside, providing some privacy. Plain glass filters out UVB rays, but will let most UVA through. UVA can damage the car's interior and also skin. Window tints can filter out UVA, so there is a benefit from tinting beyond just the reduced eye-strain and privacy. They may also reduce solar heat gain, although cars left in the sun get pretty hot no matter what. A thin plastic coating is applied to the inside of the windows to tint them. Check to make sure it filters UVA, then get the level of tint that you prefer. It can range from minimal to the legal maximum (or more!).

Mine took about ten months, but that was more than twenty years ago.

I successfully registered with the MFA/MoPH website and was told I'd receive an email advising of an appointment date, time and place. After not receiving the promised email from them within a few days, I went ahead and registered with MedPark. MedPark gave me an appointment and today I received the first dose of Pfizer. Still nothing from MFA/MoPH. I think the two are supposed to be coordinating the administration of the Pfizer jabs, but it is unclear how it works. Maybe you have to register both with the MFA/MoPH website and also with one of the hospitals administering the shots. When I returned home this afternoon from Med Park, there was an email waiting for me confirming someone else's appointment for Tuesday. I have replied to MedPark that the email was sent to me in error. I am also trying to contact the person whose name appears in the message.

1) The names are the same in both passports, so the name isn't an issue. 2) Have never had to use an API form. When making the booking, we use the US passport if that is the passport that will be used at destination. 3) One of my children was stopped by the Thai immigration officer on the way out of Thailand when she showed only her Thai passport for a trip to the US. She had to get her US passport out of her purse and show it to the immigration officer before they would allow her to pass. I was with her at the time, so I know this is true. I do not know if this is always the procedure, but my children are aware of this and have the US passport ready if asked to produce.

My son has recently gone through the registration process with a university in the US. He was presented with a questionnaire asking him what gender he wished to identify as and a list of pronouns to choose from. He could even submit his own pronoun if he wished. We discussed for a few minutes making up an absolutely absurd pronoun and requesting it, but decided against it as we feared the request would be taken seriously.

Every time my children travel to the US or to a country that allows them visa-free entry on their US passports, but not on their Thai passports, when they check in with the airline they show both. They also present both at the Thai immigration booth when departing to show the immigration officer that they are allowed to enter the destination country without a visa in their Thai passports. When entering the US or the destination country, they show only their US passport. They have never been asked to show an exit stamp from Thailand in either passport when following this procedure. When returning to Thailand, they present only their Thai passport which has neither an entry stamp nor an exit stamp from the US or other country.

I'm scheduled for Sunday. I did not receive the confirming email within the promised 24 hours of registering, so followed up a few days later and MedPark confirmed.

It looks like Covid will be with us for a long time. If we are fortunate, in the near to medium term a combination of vaccination and/or infection will confer sufficient resistance so that illness becomes much less severe and hospitalizations and deaths decline significantly. If we are really lucky, science will deliver a vaccine that confers sterilizing immunity, preferably one that can be administered orally, or at least does not require expensive and complicated storage. Think polio vaccine. This would be the endgame for this virus. Until we reach such level, all we have is preventative measures such as masking, hand washing and restrictions on certain activities and gatherings. To me, it does not stand to reason that we should abandon such measures and open up at this time. That will be appropriate a bit later on, after more widespread resistance to severe illness is attained. We just aren't there yet. It is extremely difficult to determine the optimal level of restrictions so as to save lives and reduce the strain on healthcare services while still keeping the economy running at an acceptable level. This calls for a nuanced approach and one that can change quickly depending upon circumstances. Simply opening everything or locking down everything in an on/off manner won't work other than in extreme situations where a real lockdown may be necessary to curb a severe outbreak. One hopes this would only need to be done in geographically-limited areas and for a very short time. There have been many mis-steps on the part of both experts and politicians since the pandemic emerged, not to mention deliberate mis-information spread by other actors for whatever reason. We were told that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission by the WHO as late as mid-January 2020. We were told that masks won't help the general public, until were were told that they did. Some leaders said that wearing masks was a sign of weakness or a loss of personal freedom. Politicians of many stripes have used the pandemic to push their own agendas, often at the expense of the public, Charlatans and snake-oil salesmen have made their attempts to cash in. I suspect our experts and other leaders will get things wrong again in the future, but I'm hopeful that reason and science will prevail and we'll get past this low point. To do so, we somehow have to be able to distinguish signal from noise and focus on the strategies that will get us to higher ground. I think we should listen to institutions and experts that have proven records in their respective fields and also look for general consensus among them, even if they got things a bit wrong at the outset. Sorry this post is so lengthy. I did not have time to write a shorter one. Stay safe.

Many rental agreements will contain clauses that state the landlord is entitled to inspect the property and to show it to prospective buyers provided that notice is given in advance to the tenant. I don't think it is wise to refuse a genuine request by the owner as long as you have verified that the agent is indeed acting on her behalf. Normally there is nothing in a rental agreement that would prohibit the owner from selling the property while you are a tenant. The new owner would have to honor the lease agreement until its end, but after that there is likely no guarantee of your continued tenancy.

It is already very difficult and expensive to prosecute a medical malpractice claim against a physician or hospital and the judgements tend to be quite modest in the few cases that are successful. Actual medical practitioners have little to worry about and medical malpractice insurance is available. This is all about amnesty for policymakers.

Back in the 1990s finance companies offered very good interest rates on promissory notes and many individuals and companies purchased them, not being fully aware of the risk involved. My recollection is that when 56 of the approximately 90 finance companies operating at that time were closed by the Thai government in December of 1997, those who had invested in those promissory notes had them transferred to Krungthai Bank and converted to bank deposits. They were not able to withdraw the money immediately. Although many of the closed finance companies had ties to commercial banks, none of these funds were originally in the form of bank deposits. These were not insured deposits and yet I believe the Thai government eventually made good on them. I'm not sure the same delay in recovering insured funds from a defaulting bank would apply.

Google his name. I followed the story of Bangkok Bank of Commerce while it was unfolding. Saxena fought extradition from Canada for 13 years, but eventually he was brought back to Thailand to face the music and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for embezzlement. This isn't really a good example of a Thai bank going under because of business conditions, but rather a case of misconduct and criminal activity. It does make for interesting reading. BBC did collapse and was taken over by the Bank of Thailand.

Bangkok Bank of Commerce in 1996. Remember Rakesh Saxena?

I would be a bit careful purchasing high-end electronics from a seller on Lazada. A couple of years ago I purchased a Samsung Galaxy S9 that was supposedly new. It did appear to be new and had all the correct (apparently) packaging, labeling and accessories. After checking its serial number online, It turned out to have been a model made for the Korean market and it had been rooted with software that was flagged by Bangkok Bank's mobile banking app. The software that was used to root the phone could not be uninstalled. The good news was that the seller accepted it for return and offered me a replacement. If the iPhone is really coming from an authorized Apple reseller, then I don't think you would would receive a counterfeit, but perhaps a grey market or refurbished one. Check the seller's return policy before you buy, however. You also might contact the seller and specifically as if it is a refurb or grey market phone.

All very good points. Renter's insurance is a very good idea. One should insure one's own property and also have liability insurance to cover one's legal liability for bodily injury or property damage to third parties. Basic renter's cover isn't expensive.

I have seen some rental agreements that contain a clause that states that the tenant will return the property to the landlord in the same condition as it was at the outset of the agreement, less normal wear and tear. This may seem fine at first glance, but it does not absolve the tenant from being responsible for damage that occurs to the premises that is beyond the tenant's control. While it may seem common sense that a tenant is not responsible for things beyond his or her control, it is possible to assume such liability under contract and this clause seems to do just that. An example would be a fire that starts in the unit next door and spreads to the tenant's. Similarly, a pipe that bursts in the floor above and damages the tenant's unit. A solution would be to insert a clause that exempts the tenant from liability for damage to the unit and any of the landlord's property that is caused by something beyond the tenant's control. An even further step would be to insert wording that would require the landlord's insurer to waive subrogation against the tenant, but in my estimation the subrogation waiver would likely not be understood by Thai landlords or agreed by insurers. Wouldn't hurt to try, however.

Going forward we are likely to see governments or other entities specify that vaccination is required for entry and that the vaccine must be one approved by the WHO or US FDA. Many universities in the US already require that students be vaccinated with a US FDA approved vaccine prior to attendance this coming semester (though some accept WHO approved ones). Since locally-made AZ is not approved by either the WHO or the US FDA and none of the Chinese ones have FDA approval, vaccination with these vaccines may prove problematic for some. This already presents a hurdle for Thai students going to America to study in the coming weeks and may be a reason to be selective when getting vaccinated. I wonder what the response would be to a foreigner who has already been vaccinated with a non-approved vaccine when asking for an approved one in order to comply with US or other international vaccination requirements.

I submitted a registration request on the MedPark Hospital website on the 7th at 21:09 hours and was advised that I would receive an email within 24 hours. So far, no email. When I submitted the form, the earliest appointment was for the 15th and that is the date I chose. I have just sent a chaser via their website's contact page.

The date stamp on the message states that it was sent at least four days ago. Since the MFA has said that emails would first go out starting the 9th or 10th, this can't be from the MFA-sponsored sign-up that is supposedly for the Pfizer vaccination. It also refers the recipient to the Bang Sue station for the vaccination. The MFA site has stated that the vaccination sites would be based upon the applicant's location, implying that the vaccines would be administered at several different places and not Bang Sue. I think the notification in Richard's tweet results from the earlier MoPH website and not the MFA one that referred to Pfizer.

When the cabinet refused to recite the entire oath of office and left off the bit about upholding the constitution.

The children decided that the dog needs his "VIP treatment" at night while he sleeps on his cushion by the front door. This consists of a mosquito zapper with some sort of black or UV light on a ledge nearby and a small fan placed on the steps near his cushion. While the bug zapper does fill with insects over time, the fan seems to be more effective. Depending upon the time of year, the steps will be covered in the morning with literally hundreds of mosquitos that have been killed by being sucked through the fan.