1 hour ago, samtam said:

The Wall Street Journal has one about the new bivalent vaccine, which says it is not as effective as the original vaccine.

I think you may have misunderstood the article. All the research shows that the bivalent booster is superior but maybe not by much. See this Time article:

https://archive.ph/D5w2Q

The key thing is your age and whether you're in a clinical risk group. If you're under the age of 50 and not in a clinical risk group then you should definitely not get any more boosters. In fact, the UK is withdrawing vaccine availability for such people and if you look at data that informed that decision, it's easy to see why:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-2023-jcvi-interim-advice-8-november-2022/appendix-1-estimation-of-number-needed-to-vaccinate-to-prevent-a-covid-19-hospitalisation-for-primary-vaccination-booster-vaccination-3rd-dose-au

Rates of hospitalisation for someone aged 40-49 not in a clininal risk group are 4.3 in a million for those with one or two doses and 3.1 in a million for those with 3+ doses. These risks are miniscule and lower than other risks we take every day like driving our cars.

If you're older or in a clinical risk group, on the other hand, I'd say take the bivalent booster when it becomes available to you. I wouldn't take the monovalent because your recent infection protects you for at least six months and your memory B cells will continue to mature in a way that will protect you from future omicron variants. Getting injected with the Wuhan strain may in fact harm the maturation process.

5 minutes ago, matteo73 said:

At what airport did you arrive here in Thailand exactly?

The important thing is to avoid female immigration officers.

2 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

I don’t see a huge demand for it…China

I doubt it. They've been brainwashed about the supposed dangers of these western vaccines. Plus, it's not recommended to get a vaccine within two months of an infection and as almost all Chinese have been infected recently or will be very soon, there's no benefit for them. In fact, giving them the old vaccine could harm the hybrid immunity they got from the omicron infection.

Probably only a tiny handful of tourists are going to get vaccinated here. I note they haven't published any numbers yet.

I'm not sure using an agent would be a good idea given the current bad publicity about such services after the idiotic Chinese tourist chose to video it and share it on social media.

Why not apply for a SETV in your home country? You can be pretty much guaranteed a smooth entry if you do.

9 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

Life isn't a test drive and I don't want to discount any credible research in the hope that it proves wrong.

Up to you but personally I wouldn't live my life that way. If there's a 1 in 100 chance of a certain health outcome, then after a 20% increase it becomes 1.2 in 100. Hardly worth worrying about, especially if the evidence is weak.

Personally, I do follow a plant-based diet with moderate meat consumption because I like it and it makes me feel good. That's the best way to live life, not full of anxiety about all the things in the world that might kill you.

This very recent study suggests the evidence that red meat is unhealthy is weak:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01968-z

9 hours ago, Enzian said:

Is the writer of this piece being intentionally dense? It's all a function of the fact that western countries have a normal income 3 or 4 X Thailand. Same as why half of Syria and north Africa wants to move to Europe. Enough.

I gave up reading the Thai Enquirer a long time ago when it became clear it's just the inane rantings of a farang-hating Thai nobody.

Obviously the 2000 baht was not the deposit as such but an advance payment to secure the booking. Agents sometimes ask for this and may use some of the money to clean the place (later refunded by the owner). However, if you tell them you don't want to pay any advance fees but will pay the whole lot on the day you move in, they will usually be happy with this if you've met them in person and they're confident you really are going to move in.

Obviously, transfering money to someone on transferwise without being certain who they are is a really stupid thing to do and the best thing to do is learn your lesson and move on.

4 hours ago, hotchilli said:

He was in London.... 

The capital of dirty farangs?

Do as I say, not what I do.

Get checked for a nasal polyp.

No mask, Anutin?

11 hours ago, worgeordie said:

it's becoming more

like the West for this kind of behaviour to happen.

It's always been just as common here, probably more so. It's just in the past society and the media would turn a blind eye whereas now it's getting reported.

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Going from eg central plaza to airport is meter.

That would hardly get to 100baht. 

The other way round is a fixed price. 

 

Good luck finding a taxi prepared to turn on the meter.

I got a grab car to the airport for 139 baht after the 15% promo code was applied. I don't know if this would be possible going in the other direction.

Also, it's possible the 80 baht van service is available.

4 hours ago, webber4 said:

also is it possible do apply for Laos visa online and present it at the border instead of waiting in line for the visa on arrival?

The last couple of times I did it there was no queue for the visa on arrival, just a couple of other people so the whole process took only ten minutes.

In the end the grab cost 139 baht after a 15% discount code and arrived in a couple of minutes.

49 minutes ago, Caldera said:

If you like tuk-tuks, you could haggle for one. Otherwise that Grab car sounds like a pretty good deal.

I took a tuk tuk last time and it was a bumpy ride to say the least. Never again!

2 hours ago, BusyB said:

An unmarked taxi sounds a bit self defeating really ????

 

They look a bit like the "limo" vehicles you can get in Thai airports and they occupy the spaces outside Central that used to be taken by metered taxis. Nobody else seen them?

I once got a metered taxi from the bus station to the airport and it was actually a fair price (under 100 baht).

Last time I was in Udon there were unmarked cars waiting outside Central. What's the deal with them? They used to look like metered taxis. I only saw one metered taxi all day.

I'll be travelling from Udon city centre to the airport soon. Is a 160 baht grab car the least worst option?

On 1/14/2023 at 6:12 PM, BritTim said:

In the past, I would have recommended flying to Udon Thani, crossing the Friendship Bridge from Nong Khai to Vientiane, and getting an actual tourist visa in Vientiane. Historically, entering Thailand via the Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai would have been 100% safe. However, it appears possible, based on some posts, that the situation with Thai immigration in Nong Khai might have changed.

 

I still consider entering by air after three years continuously in Thailand on a combination of tourist visas, education visas, and Covid extensions to be a risky proposition. I wish I could confidently provide you with a safe alternative. In your position, I would still probably opt for Nong Khai. You could safely fly from Bangkok to Vientiane (cheap now on Thai Air Asia) just using the Friendship Bridge->Nong Khai->Udon Thani->Chieng Mai for the return.

What are these "some posts" you refer to of problems at Nong Khai? I've seen Facebook posts that relate specifically to the borders near CM but not about the Nong Khai crossing.

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

In UK Clinics don't do the swab anymore, think it was putting people off going, changed years ago, it's urine test now and antibiotics if symptoms. Clinics in Pattaya wouldn't do the old school swab test.l

 

The good thing about the swab is that it certainly did put people off going and also put people off unprotected sex!