vermin on arrival

1 minute ago, at15 said:

Italy, Germany, Spain, France and the USA are banned from entering cambodia

 

I heard it is traveling from those places and not for all passport holders.

49 minutes ago, at15 said:

looks like evisa website on lao is only saying china is banned. i would like to go to lao if possible. 

I will go to BKK consulate tomorrow. In another thread someone said they heard a full border closing will occur for Lao on the 20th. I suspect that if that takes place even with a tourist visa one would be denied entry.

1 hour ago, at15 said:

Discuss asian options by air. Im thinking japan or indonesia. We cannot get lao visa on arrival. 

Can anyone confirm if hong kong or taiwan is an option 

Taiwan is not an option. It closed to all foreigners who don't have an ARC at midnight. I was going to go there on the 29th, and couldn't get on a flight arriving before midnight  yesterday. Hong Kong is a mess checking everyone going in and would be be difficult to do a return I think without a test result showing you are COVID free, and one would also need proof of 100,000 US health insurance flying back in to Thai airports as reported in BP today. 

4 minutes ago, Kaopad999 said:

It will end up as the following for people who overstay.

No blacklist for overstay, but still have to pay 500THb per day for your overstay. 

They ain't gonna let Ai'Farang off the hook that easily! 

Mark my words.

I could see that. Would it stop at 20k?

1 minute ago, sapson said:

 

Just had a thought they could actually kill two birds one stone etc .....by making a free 90 extension for all as above..........

Also now close all immigration offices for at least a month or two, so to ease the worries from staff continually having to deal with the unwashed in crowded offices and contain the virus spread.

I'd love that but since they make tons of money on extensions and overstay fines it seems unlikely. Area K alone in Chaeng Wattana probably generates 1 million baht a day now with all the extensions

3 minutes ago, domgaf said:

I am currently in Thailand on a 30 day (visa exempt) stamp. I am due to leave the Kingdom on 28th March. However, the country I am supposed to be returning to has closed its borders. Will it be possible for me to apply for a visa to stay here, or is it better to try to get an extension on the 30 day stamp?

I would get the extension. I already have one so being blocked from Taiwan flight has put me in a bad situation. Laos land exit is also blocked.

Seems like getting any kind of visa will require a proof of being covid free and may also require proof of medical insurance if you can even get to an issuing country.

11 minutes ago, superatoz said:

my visa is granted till 5th april .... was thinking of going to laos to get passport extension for 30 days but now its impossible ?

 

what do i need to do then ? go back my own country this sure sucks <deleted> 

Yes I was to fly to Taiwan on the 29, but could not get a flight there after it announced its closure. Second choice was Laos land exit, but turns out Laos closed yesterday. Brother's house is in quarantine and parents are in seclusion so nowhere to stay in US. I feel the same.

Just now, jacko45k said:

Not yet heard of anything other than 7 or 30 day extensions with an Embassy letter.

So I would need to make an appointment with the US embassy to get the letter? I really don't want to go back to what is going on there. My parents are in seclusion and my brother's house is in quarantine, so I really would have nowhere to go.

The question I think lots of people are having is for those who have their extensions already, will Thailand issue additional emergency extensions as many countries are shutting their borders?

I also would extend my visa exempt if they would allow us to do so after our first one. I hope this pans out because I am starting to feel hemmed in by closing borders

So is overstay people's only option or is their some possibility of visa exempt people being granted emergency extensions?

Yes I need to get out too. Right now Laos seems my only option.

1 minute ago, BritTim said:

You cannot get a visa on arrival. That much is certain. The consensus seems to be that the border Mukdahan/Savannakhet is still open if you have an existing visa (but unclear for how long)

So I won't be allowed to enter Laos anywhere? Is there any word of Thailand giving emergency extensions to people not being able to find a way out?

Does anyone know the situation at the crossings into Laos, in particular Mukdahan Savanakhet? I was to fly to Taiwan on March 29 and was unable to get on a flight yesterday before the country closed at midnight. Is an in out run still possible or will I have to ride things out in Laos?

Also canceling Taiwan's VoA makes no sense as it's response has been exemplary. Lumping it in with China is clearly wrong and purely political.

So if the voa was canceled for Taiwan would an American on visa exempt traveling from Taiwan also have problems. Things are changing so much I don't <deleted> is happening. I travel there at then end of the month and plan to return here in 3 months. Then again trying to plan 3 months in advance makes no sense now.

2 hours ago, fruitman said:

Well Singapore is just as hot and it spreads fast there.

Well actually not so fast. The numbers just don't compare to Italy, Korea and China or Iran. Germany and France have just blown past it. Maybe the ubiquitous use of aircon is responsible for the spread there. Here is what their ministry of health stated: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/coronavirus-turn-off-air-conditioners-and-open-windows-to-reduce-risk-of-being

2 hours ago, Kinnock said:

You don't come across as someone who will consider another person's viewpoint, but although I'm not a microbiologist, I do work with many people who are, and my own background is public health.

 

The popular press loves to stir up a scare, so I understand why some people are worried, but there's many scientific journals that are estimating the probable CFR at well under 1%.  

 

Here's a discussion on why its still difficult to know the true figure, but around 0.2% looks most likely.

https://smw.ch/article/doi/smw.2020.20203

 

 

Thanks for that article. They also did say there that the lower case fatalities in the outer areas of China may also be underestimated and we could have regions with false lows as well. In a way it seems like they are saying we aren't sure, but it's somewhere between .18 and 2.8% and different regions with stronger and weaker hospital systems may truly differ. However, they are certainly leaning towards a lower figure for cfr.

3 hours ago, soalbundy said:

I would have thought from a government's point of view this can only be positive, the pension collecting old with weak immune systems and compromised health would unburden the pension funds, the housing market and the health system all at once. The average person with normal health wouldn't be overly affected, two weeks off sick, which is why you can't extrapolate, the influenza you speak off killed the old and weak, not the healthy.

Well you know since I am 55 and with some chronic health issues (although nothing severe) and pretty much all my friends and immediate family are in somewhat similar situations (some with severe and some not), I can't say that I agree with you. Being older does not mean that it is ok that you just go die. Certainly all these people have some voice in their societies and unlike you, their younger family members may not be happy with cosigning them to the dustbin of history. Do you have living parents or grandparents, etc. that you would be content to just see vanish?

44 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

An interesting update video from Dr John Campbell who at 2:10 discusses the fatality rate and puts it at 0.1% to 1.0% (but later says 0.5% to 1.0%).

 

 

He later also says that in Iran where the response has been poor that the mortality rate looks to be around 5%.

14 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

My intention is to not play down the possible lethal impacts my intention is to play down definitive statements based on guesses without indicating they are guesss/estimates.Because of how contagious this outbreak seems to be the estimates seem to vary wildly which makes it easy to scare people with inaccurate data.I am looking at how this is developing,in fact I'm quite fascinated by it as are many. 

My intention was not to scare people, but was to point out why it was legitimate to be concerned.

@FarFlungFalang Fair point, but should we do nothing, and end up with a possible disaster like that in Wuhan? I understand why the global heath community is trying to squash it even if it may not result in those huge numbers.

@fruitman No masks were offered. I believe hand gel was available.