samtam

Can anyone tell me whether Re-entry permits are being issued at Suvarnabhumi right now? Where is that office located? Is it a relatively quick process?

I'm knackered. It was the usual ineffectual ghastly experience. SNAFU.

No benefit whatsoever in going now, ahead of time..

UNLESS when they resume they will be back to a less competent level. 

I arrived at 12.30. Paid my THB100 into my account and went to get it photocopied, (the bank were not doing photocopies this year).

I then went up to the entrance, which is blocked off by barriers, and joined a small queue outside this. At 12.55 pm we were led to the lhs of the door and asked to form a queue, at 2 meters apart. This stretched out into the main atrium hall. We were then allowed in at 1 pm, and headed straight for the tickets, (no queue). There were 43 people ahead of me. We initially waited in the seating area opposite L counters. But it became obvious that it was going to be a slow process. As well as this, although seating was restricted for social distancing purposes, people just stood beside each other. So went outside to walk around....and around....and around, until about 3.40 pm (2 hrs 40 minutes) when my number came up. Saw the IO, everything in order. Then saw her senior, and was asked to wait outside. My passport was then sent for further review and I received it back an hour later, at around 4.45 pm.

Obviously no chance to get re-entry permit, as the queue system closes at 3.30 pm.

Home in Sathorn by 6.10 pm. Door to door 6 hours.

There seemed to be less people, but the processing is grindingly slow.

On 4/15/2020 at 4:32 PM, Cuchulainn said:

Thanks Samtam.

 

Was your bank letter dated the day before your application?

 

Sorry, missed your reply. The bank letter was dated before the visit to IMM. It tallies with the passbook. You pay in a further sum (THB100) and update your passbook, and photocopy the passbook of that transaction, so the bank letter and the photocopy all show that the funds on the date of the letter have not been removed, but added to by the transaction on the date of your visit.

I am going today to CW, so will be doing this, as in previous years.

I can't remember, do the banks and photocopy shops at CW close for lunch?

19 hours ago, blackcab said:

This has been posted on the forum for some time.

 

If it's urgent you will have to use DHL or FedEx.

How do DHL or FedEx transport mail? Are their own planes still flying?

13 hours ago, Letseng said:

If you see the picture Richard Barrow posted on Twitter this morning  you will see that CW is anything but quiet. 

I saw that too, so I was rather hoping this thread would have someone confirm or refute that experience, as I intend to go next week to do my EoS ahead of schedule, to take advantage of a perceived quiet time.

19 hours ago, Cuchulainn said:

If you get a bank letter dated 1 day before application, update your bank book by withdrawing B100 on the day, then the 2 amounts will not tally.

 

Will this be a problem,?

No. They can see your bank letter is for the day before, and the transaction is +100 and plus one day/date.

3 hours ago, TaoNow said:

At 8:45 I hustled back up to the L section to see where the queue was at.  Alas, they had passed my number and were already at L1-11.

 

I had to get a new queue ticket, this time putting me at L1-30.  

Did you have to get a new queue ticket because they told you? I think they would  normally allow you to be seen with your missed ticket, especially in the current circumstances. Last year, or the year before, we missed our number, because we were "social distancing" by being outside of the office, (even before SD was a thing), but they let us be processed.

Interesting time approach, (after lunch), which sounds suitable for me, when I go next week, so I can avoid the lunch limbo. I presume 7-11 and/or cafes are open, but I would rather avoid, so doing this timing would negate the need. I'm renewing 34 days in advance, so from what I read, that's allowed. 

My blood pressure is usually through the roof on these annual visits, so the added fear of Covid-19 will push it off the charts!

My LG has a water feed too, and is coming up for about 17 years. It has had a compressor replacement, (about THB5k) a couple of years ago, and the water feed has leaked, but been repaired. But otherwise it works well. I have heard the oddest noises recently, so I was trying to anticipate a breakdown, which I could really do without in this time, of all times, so I ordered this Samsung online, and my experience has not been good, including delivery of the wrong model the day before. Anyway, now that I know a little (!) bit more about plugs etc, I will re-instate the order.

Thanks, Lopburi & Metropolitan. I will have my condo technician weigh in on Monday. The new fridge was removed, as I cancelled the order.

7 minutes ago, Metropolitian said:

Before cutting the plug, check inside the machine if there's an connection for earth. If not, leave it. If there is; and the cable is 3 core then replace the plug and if the cable is 2 core then replace the whole cord.

 

But I did see inside, and there was an earth connection.. I will re-order the fridge, (as it's the only one I like on the market here, and one of the few with a water feed for chilling water and ice making), and see if my technician can install a new cable with earth wire included and 3 prong plug.

Back of fridge

Two prong plug, plus the earth wire they were going to insert into the socket hole, which they were gong to attach to the earth wire inside the socket.

Thanks, Metropolitan. 

Is earthing necessary?

I've obviously been running my old fridge for 15 years without it being earthed.

I have the Shucko on all my kitchen appliances, but without adapters, and not in Shucko sockets, and I have never had any electrical faults/shocks.

Thanks for your reply.

I understand the plug change, and I think the pigtail method was being suggested by them...the earth wire through the socket, which would making unplugging difficult.

The LG Schuko plug does not have an adaptor or a Schuko outlet. At no stage has anyone suggested this was not earthed, (including the installers yesterday)!

I have a box of adapters including these two, but I'm not clear whether a Schuko adapter should have 3 prongs?

Furthermore, as it's a new product, and it is not manufactured with an earthed plug, is earthing necessary? (I can't understand why it would be manufactured without earthing.)

Sorry for the ignorance. I should have had our condo technician up whilst the aborted installation was going on, as he's a wizard.

I bought a Samsung fridge and today they came to install it. 

The plug was a two-prong and they were going to attach the earth wire by tapes to the cable and then insert the earth wires into the third (earth) point of the wall socket.

I said "no". So they have taken the fridge away, and I've cancelled the order.

I find it strange that this method is up to code.

Having read the previous posts on here, it seems they could have cut the sealed two prong plug, and inserted all three wires into a three point plug, but it would still leave the green and yellow earth wire attached by electrical tape to the outside of the main electric cable.

Would that still be safe? The fridge has plumbed-in water for ice making and chilling water, and although the water hose feed is below the electrical socket, I was feeling very uneasy about the naked wires.

The present LG fridge I have has a properly earthed plug, but Samsung have said all their fridges in Thailand are installed the way I have described.

3 hours ago, Jimbo2014 said:

We had a house guest for the weekend who traveled from the UK and then onto Timor.  Shared drinks, meals, hugs, etc.. He displayed symptoms on the flight over (1 day) and was tested by Australia in Timor as positive patient number 1.  Three days later my wife and I and another person present in the house developed aches, pains, headache, a light cough in my case.  My wife soon after lost her sense of taste and smell completely (a very widely reported coronavirus symptom as it turned out).  This lasted for about 5 days after which I still had a few issues with the chest and a light cough.  My son had a small temperature for a day and some diarrhea but that was all. 2 weeks later my wife has her sense of taste back but not yet smell.   Im much better on day 17 but still need naps in the middle of the day and have a light cough and low energy.  Feel on recovery.  We are now wanting to get a hold of a new antibody test from US or UK but only an approved one as there are many dodgy ones around here.

Thanks.

My memory of timeline is a bit vague, because I was only looking out for the symptoms that were being identified at the time - dry cough, high fever and aches. I didn't have the first 2, and the aches seemed more pronounced than the usual neck and shoulder pains, which are chronic; in addition I had pains in both legs. I was desperate to have massage, but being aware of the dangers of close proximity to anyone, I avoided that completely. I also had very dry eyes, not painful, but discomfort, and then I developed a stye. These eye symptoms were self-treated and went away. I was also quite tired, and took to my bed in the afternoons a few times, and I had some diarrhea. I also had short painful headaches, but nothing too severe. Now I have occasional tiredness, and the dry eyes have returned, but this could be because of the pollution. I am in Bangkok, and am 63, (as of yesterday), so I put all of these things down to "just getting older". I usually swim 1200m every other day, but have stopped for 2 weeks, and we finally closed the pool yesterday. So I'm missing my usual exercise, but have taken to heavy house cleaning as a substitute, as I asked the daily maid not to come in about 2 weeks ago, and I stretch to ease my neck and leg aches.  

But who knows? Perhaps all these symptoms are coincidental; I just didn't feel 100%. I have had no respiratory symptoms. I am basically self-isolating, except for my weekly visit to the supermarket. I would dearly love to go to the ophthalmologist, dentist and to have my annual check-up at the hospital, but obviously avoiding all these establishments until we have a clearer picture of the situation. 

2 hours ago, GuyFawkes said:

I've just had some plastic dry sleeve tubing prescribed by my doctor in UK to do self dilating - they weren't NHS freebies - and I had to pay 13000THB to  get them released.  In future will use Royal Mall and see what happens.    The items I use are new to the market and not available LOS.

My last experience with Royal Mail, (before CV19 got serious), a registered letter, took 21 days from UK to Bangkok.

29 minutes ago, BobbyL said:

The only way I have found to get around these obscene charges is to address the package to a Thai. 

Have done that previously, but it too failed.

28 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

No, its NOT use courier services ! wherever possible.

I have been charged duty on an item shipped by courier (DHL).

3 hours ago, HHTel said:

Reported as if that's a plus!!

 

To the government and others:

 

STOP PROMOTING THE USE OF MASKS AS THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY.

Because of this, Thais actually believe that if they're wearing a mask then they're safe!

I went into 7/11 yesterday afternoon.  I used the sanitiser on the way in and on leaving.  If there's no sanitiser then I'll use my own, which I'm never without.  Then consciously keep my distance from others.  When I arrive home, I wash my hands with soap and water before doing anything else.

I decided to watch people going in and out of 7/11 for 15 mins.  In that time I notice most Thais wearing masks but NOT ONE used the sanitiser and were certainly not practicing social distancing.

 

The emphasis needs to shift from masks to hand washing, social distancing because until then, masks become the be all and end all of protection.

 

Retail outlets etc have now banned entry without a mask.  The government have now classified used masks as hazardous material to be disposed of in red bins, highlighting again the importance of masks as the number one priority.

 

Until people get real on how to protect themselves, it's not going to get better.

 

There is indeed a belief that the masks are somehow "magic". It's the same mindset that believes some people are less of a risk than others: maids who look after pu yai who may be self isolating (elderly), when the maid visits the supermarket, probably using public transport to and from. Or indeed the vast army of staff that serves the good and the great on a daily basis. We will never know the extent of infection, or indeed the level of infection, (mild vs. severe...well we will probably know about severe). This is the truly frightening aspect of this virus. I have friends in UK who still have their daily cleaner, because "she does the downstairs when I'm upstairs", as though somehow CV19 doesn't "travel", or certainly doesn't go upstairs...but the cleaner does, once she's finished the downstairs, and the employer goes downstairs, so they are socially distant. If only it were that easy!

2 hours ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Or in Bangkok - we had covid (from a friend who stayed from UK) and were told flatly that if its just mild symptoms stay home and isolate.  Either they dont think they want the numbers on the record or testing is inadequate.  Further, no antibody testing yet in Thailand so no idea who has had the virus and recovered.

Would be curious to hear of your symptoms, and how the virus manifested itself. I too think I've had a mild dose some weeks ago, but I have no way of knowing, or indeed whether I developed antibodies. However, not sure that is helpful, as we do not yet know whether antibodies create immunity for future infection:

http://theconversation.com/antibody-tests-to-get-a-grip-on-coronavirus-we-need-to-know-whos-already-had-it-134547

As I've said in another post, (about condo pools), these links would suggest that chlorine at around 2.0 - 4.0 is ideal (table below), and follow CDC advice, (third link).

1 hour ago, Rod the Sod said:

Are you sure about that? I am one of about 3 residents left in our Condo and I am on the Board, yet I found the pool closed (in fact the whole roof top was closed including Gym). I went to the JP Office and they informed me it was a requirement from Bangkok Municipal Authority and they had to comply. I managed to get them to agree to leave the Fire Door open so that I can go up and sit by the pool if I need a break from my modest unit, and they agreed to that so long as I promised not to go in the pool. They may not have jurisdiction, but it seems like they have heavyweight influence here in BKK. There was genuine concern that I might dip my toes!!

I am on my board. I have asked to see the BMA directive, or at least an accurate translation of it. Apparently it is not specific in relation to condo pools, so I think it is open to interpretation. I await further clarification.

48 minutes ago, RBOP said:

Why don't you try going for swim and see what happens.  Do let us know. 

I have. The water was lovely. I would say "come on in, the water's fine", but it really would be tempting fate...

water mark

90 day reporting has now moved back to Chaengwattana according to Richard Barrow.