Red Phoenix

I live in the sticks (rural South Isaan), and fortunately in my neck of the woods masks are a rarity and nowhere are they imposed.

Of course I know, it was short-speak which everybody understands, and in this case there is no risk of it putting people on the wrong foot.

Good advice by @Liquorice Don't get yourself in the quagmire of the Non Imm OA compliant Health-insurance, which is mandated when applying for and extending a Non Imm OA Visa. Due to that @#$%^ mandatory Health-Insurance it is only in very specific cases that applying for that Visa might be considered (e.g. if you do not have or definitely do not want to keep +400K on a personal Thai bank-account). Re the other option you mention: Applying for and extending a Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement does indeed involve far less administrative red-tape than the Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage. But the latter only requires +400K on your personal Thai bank-account in the period from 2 months pre application till the actual Permission to stay stamped is stamped in your passport, while the Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement requires you to permanently keep +800K during 5 months of the year and +400K during the intermediate 7 months.

Here a link to a study whether COVID-19 vaccination affects long-COVID symptoms. > https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38324547/ And this small scale study confirms that the vaccinated have a higher chance of getting long-COVID than non-vaccinated people. Note: As it is a short study, I posted full text below. Objective: The current study aimed to identify the association between COVID-19 vaccination and prolonged post-COVID symptoms (long-COVID) in adults who reported suffering from this condition. Methods: This was a retrospective follow-up study of adults with long-COVID syndrome. The data were collected during a phone call to the participants in January-February 2022. We inquired about their current health status and also their vaccination status if they agreed to participate. Results: In total, 1236 people were studied; 543 individuals reported suffering from long long- COVID (43.9%). Chi square test showed that 15 out of 51 people (29.4%) with no vaccination and 528 out of 1185 participants (44.6%) who received at least one dose of any vaccine had long long- COVID symptoms (p = 0.032). Conclusions: In people who have already contracted COVID-19 and now suffer from long-COVID, receiving a COVID vaccination has a significant association with prolonged symptoms of long-COVID for more than one year after the initial infection. However, vaccines reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 (including reinfections) and its catastrophic consequences (e.g., death). Therefore, it is strongly recommended that all people, even those with a history of COVID-19, receive vaccines to protect themselves against this fatal viral infection.

As I wrote several times before, one should look at these figures in context. The population of Thailand stood at 71.85 million in January 2024. And so these cumulative figures since the start of the current year translate into: # COVID new hospitalizations (14,937) > stands for 1 COVID hospitalization per 4.810 persons during that 4.5 month period # COVID deaths (104) > stands for 1 COVID death per 690.865 persons during that 4.5 month period Pretty scary he? Oh yes, and of the 11 new official COVID deaths, the MoPH below is reporting that 4 were male and 7 female. By age, 10 were 70 and above, and one was age 60-69. I think that pretty much shows that COVID could be a small risk for the ELDERLY, but that it is a Big Nothing-burger for the younger and working-age population. And hey, why would the Public Health authorities want EVERYBODY to be up-to-date with their Covid-shots considering that they now finally admit that the shots have 'rare uncommon' adverse effects? And remember that these adverse effects are all short-term...

The study mentions" "we observed significantly higher risks of myocarditis following the first, second and third doses of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 as well as pericarditis after the first and fourth dose of mRNA-1273, and third dose of ChAdOx1, in the 0–42 days risk period." And the cherry on the cake > Quote from the Funding Statement of that study: "The GCoVS project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totalling US$10,108,491 with 100 % per cent funded by CDC/HHS." Whose bread i eat... Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X24001270?via%3Dihub

> Researchers found HIGHER than expected cases that they deemed met the threshold to be potential safety signals for multiple AESIs, including for Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), myocarditis, and pericarditis.

For some reason I have more confidence in the results and conclusion from the study, than how the FactCheckers did (try to) 'debunk' it as addressed in TGJ in BKK's posts. But that's just me folks, a deluded anti-vax conspiracy loon...

Try the free https://www.chess.com/play/online It allows to play short (10 min each) or regular games with opponents of similar strength (ranging from absolute beginner to seasoned professional). The site features also puzzles, learning (e.g. opening theory) and much much more.

The current TT Head Moderator is still regularly confronted with the 'heritage' from the previous moderators, and in such cases he removes the blocks, A simple request suffices...

And it is not an either/or choice. The current AN Forum has its merits and strong points, reason that I am a contributing member to both Fora. But open and honest debate on controversial subjects, allowing all points of view is not one of them.

> Only this time, it is genuine as the consequence of a Free Speech policy is that it also applies to viewpoints that are controversial.

AseanNow and ThaigerTalk can peacefully co-exist besides each other (I am a member of both). It goes without saying that due to its much larger member-size some AseanNow sub-fora on non-controversial subjects are quite interesting (e.g. the Visa-forum) and these are my mean reason to visit and post on AN.

You would be surprised when visiting ThaigerTalk now. The only fair and decent Mod is now Head Administrator and he is the ONLY moderator left on the Forum, with Free Speech now being their policy. None of my post there have been altered or deleted since that radical change now 6 months ago with all TT-moderators leaving or being booted.

On the contrary: you are missing a lot...

If the common claim you are talking about is that "The average age of Covid-19 deaths is higher than the average life expectancy, which means that people who get Covid live longer." that 'deduction' is indeed nonsense. And nobody on this Forum has claimed that. What we DO claim is that the average age of Covid-19 deaths is very high (+80 years in UK). And that begs the question why the push to jab EVERYBODY irrespective of age and risk, considering the then unknown adverse effects of these jabs. Cui bono (who profits) is the question that almost always leads to the motive behind seemingly unlogical or nonsensical actions.

In UK the average age of covid death it is 80,3 years of age. Source: https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/averageageofthosewhohaddiedwithcovid19 And this tells you all you need to know about the necessity of pushing the covid-jabs on the entire population...

Yep, huge market-potential for a Covid-vaccination subscription service to keep you 'updated' with your shots. The wet dream of Pfizer and Moderna would be to make that mandatory...

Say no more, say nor more...

Pure nonsense! The average age of a person dying with/from COVID was 82.3 years of age. How could you then lose about about 10 years of your life? That implies they would have lived on average till 92.3 yeas of age if they hadn't caught COVID. As I wrote before > That average of 82.3 years of age for persons dying with/from COVID shows that the large majority of those that died were already very senior, and for every tragedy of a young person dying from COVID there must have been dozens of +82 year old seniors that died from/with COVID.

I also lived in Thailand throughout the pandemic, but our small village in Isaan got an unanounced visit of a Healthcare delegation of 10 (!) people (with 2 nurses) going door-to-door, persuading people to get the jab, which they would administer on the spot. Needless to say that with such social pressure as good as the whole village rolled up their sleeves. Me and my girlfriend being the only ones not succumbing to their pleas and arguments, and of course we being also the only ones in the whole village that did NOT catch Covid-19. It's a small sample but it's very clear that the number of funerals here in the village has sharply risen, from approx once a month to about once a week.

Nice try to change the subject. The risk of dying of Covid-19 always has been in the senior part of the population (average age of dying from/with covid-19 being 80,3 years of age). A poll in UK showed that people thought the average age of a covid-19 death was 65 years. And there are millions of young people in their 20s, 30s and 40s that were indeed not mandated to take the jab, but the consequence of not complying would have been loss of their job. I personally know several young people that reluctantly gave in to the pressure, as they had a family to support.

Of course you have to do die from something (accident, cancer, covid-19, old age). And whatever the reason for the death, it will wipe away the 'remaining life expectancy' for your age at moment of death. Below the median and mean age in years for the UK population end 2021 (couldn't find any more recent data). Source: https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/averageageofthosewhohaddiedwithcovid19 > It shows that the average age of dying from/with Covid-19 was 80,3 years of age. All those that died at that age FROM THAT CAUSE had their remaining life-expectancy thus wiped out. But the crux of the matter is> > Did these figures justify mandating Covid-19 jabs for EVERYBODY irrespective of their age? A simple example will illustrate what these figures mean. > When somebody died with/from Covid-19 at age 60 (20 years before the average age of dying from Covid-19), that means there would have been 4 people dying at 85 years old to 'make up' for that average, or 2 of 90 years, or 20 of 81 years of age. > When somebody died with/from Covid-19 at age 40 (40 years before the average age of dying from Covid-19), that means there would have been 8 people dying at 85 years old to 'make up' for that average, or 4 of 90 years, or 40 of 81 years of age. So, however your slice it or represent it, Covid-19 deaths were abundant among the OLDEST people in the country (average 80,3 years of age). And there is no denying that it must have been relatively low for the younger and middle-age people, because every death of somebody under 80,3 years of age, has to be 'compensated' by people dying above 80,3 years of age. Mandating covid-jabs for teenagers and people in their twenties/thirties amounts to 'pure gaslighting' in the light of the actual age-mortality figures.

Ha Ha Hancock, are you for real taking that disgraced serial liar serious?

Parts of the population, scared stiff by the incessant fear-mongering for the 'deadly virus', demanded assurance that Something Was Done resulting a.o. in the testing craziness. Perception is everything, no matter whether it is sound or effective.