otherstuff1957

People can get three teaching license waivers (though the Kurusapa sometimes has trouble counting to three correctly).  Each waiver is good for 2 years.  As others have pointed out, each waiver is school-specific. If the school does indeed already have a waiver for you, then you have used up one of your 3 waivers. 

If you move to a new school, you will need to get a new waiver.  This will effectively reduce the time you can teach on waivers from 6 years to 4 years.  Y

For those of you who like to look at data, rather than other people's conclusions, here are some graphics from the article:

I find the drop in respiratory tract infections and the corresponding rise in Covid 19 cases to the quite interesting.  Did the authors take into account the increased numbers of people tested for C19?  Is the change of diseases real or just a change in diagnoses due to increased C19 testing?  Also, the data just used European countries, not Asian, so the conclusions might be modified with inclusion of more data.

If this is a one-year graduate level course that results in a degree/graduate diploma, then it should be accepted by the TCT.

The TCT seems to be willing to accept questionable degrees from the Philippines.  Probably something to do with ASEAN.

There is a huge amount of wasted time at most Thai schools.  Scouting and clubs are classes, not afterschool activities, Thai dance is mandatory, not an elective subject, as are art and music.  There are extracurricular activities almost every week.  I would say that there are at least two weeks worth of classes lost to extracurricular activities every term.

If the schools could cut some of the nonsense classes and non-academic time-wasters, they could easily teach the necessary academic content and still have a two week break between terms and finish by the 1st of April.

My (private) school's schedule:

Optional online lessons from May 18 to end of June.  We wanted to start real lessons, but about 1/3 of the parents could or would not go along with this.

Term 1 starts on July 1 to the end of November with no break in October.

Term 2 starts on December 1 and ends in April on the friday before Songran.  We will have a one - three week break (depending on whether we do the optional summer camp or not) and then back to school for planning.  Students will arrive on May 17.

The effects of the Coronavirus seem to be very hard to predict.  0 deaths in Laos vs 1560 deaths in Ecuador?  The number of US deaths could be 1/2 the number predicted or it could be twice.  At this point I don't think anyone really know.

So, why does Bangkok have only a small fraction of the number of cases that NYC or London have?  I think it's the climate, plus the masks, plus the wai instead of handshakes.

Here is a long and interesting article about just that question.  It seems that for every theory about the spread of C19 there is a counter example that seems to disprove that theory! 

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-COVID-19-Riddle-Why-Does-the-Virus-Wallop-15243670.php

I haven't gone over all the posts in this thread, but this crisis is having a big impact on the US health system.

Remember that the US is the only developed country without a National Health Service.  All hospitals in the US, except for Military or Veterans Hospitals, operate on a for profit basis.  So, what will happen to these hospitals/businesses as a result of Covid 19?

The majority of US hospitals are not in C19 hotspots and are seeing few or zero patients with C19.  Unfortunately, they are also not seeing the usual patients that bring in their day to day cash flow!  There are a number of reasons for this.

1.  Many people have lost their jobs and their health insurance because of the lockdown.  Therefor they cannot afford treatments and are not going to the hospital unless they absolutely have to.

2.  Less driving, so fewer accidents.

3.  Social distancing is not just reducing the spread of C19, it also reduces the spread of all communicable diseases.

4.  People don't want to visit hospitals and many elective surgeries are being postponed or canceled.  Elective surgeries are usually the most profitable.

Consequently, rural hospitals in particular are having a financial crisis.  I wouldn't be surprised if many states are faced with the choice of having to financially bail out many smaller hospitals or see large, mostly rural, areas lose their local health care options as community clinics go bankrupt and shut down.

So, what will be the ultimate effect of C19 on the US health system?  The federal government may have to step in with some sort of financial intervention.  If the Republicans win, we will probably see billions going directly to the owners of the hospitals and clinics.  If the Democrats win, we will probably see some form of "Medicare For All" being instituted.

Well, I finally got around to printing out my 1040 and 2555 forms and tried to mail them to the IRS.  The Post Office girl said "No airmail to the USA.  500 baht for Surface (boat) and it will take 2 or 5 months!

As I spent the entire year overseas and earned by entire income from Non-US sources, I do not owe or receive tax payments.  However, I do file every year just to be on the safe side.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I don't want to use TurboTax, as a friend who has sworn by them for years is now struggling with them. 

It's 2016 all over again.

Out of millions of potential candidates we chose two of the most flawed people possible.

I voted for Bernie, but the rest of the Democrats chose to throw their votes away and probably give Trump a second term.  US politics is just a race to the bottom! ????

31 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Wrong.

 

sci·ence

/ˈsīəns/

 

noun

1. the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.

Congratulations.  That is the correct answer for the 1st question on the 1st assignment in my 7th grade Science class this year! 

Phrayut is just being himself... a clueless idiot.

Here is an interesting article about immunity and reinfection:

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52446965

Basically, the body will create antibodies to fight viral infections.  Sometimes those antibodies will linger for years or even a lifetime.  However, antibodies for some diseases will fade away after a few months.  If we catch measles or chickenpox we gain a lifetime immunity.  The common cold or flu only gives us temporary immunity. 

It is too soon to see if antibodies to Covid-19 act like measles antibodies or common cold antibodies.  However, we should remember that Covid-19 is related to the common cold. Despite all the comparisons, it is not genetically related to influenza.

So, herd immunity may last forever, or it may last until the next cold season.  Personally, I suspect that Covid-19 will remain with us for years, if not forever, and will fade away every summer and come back every winter.  I also predict that it will be a long time before before we have an effective vaccine, as we have not developed a vaccine for the common cold.

Lockdown has to end soon, the economic cost is just too high.  Instead the new normal will see the "boomer remover" shorten average lifespans by a decade or so.

Getting back to the Durians...

I'm sure that there are some farmers here who know more about this than I do.  But here's what I have learned from a quick Google:

Durians can be very profitable.  300 Durian trees (probably 20 - 30 rai) could produce up to 2 million baht worth of fruit per year.  Estimates of profitability vary though, and other figures indicate an income of just a few hundred thousand baht.

However - they need a lot of water, so unless you have your own water supply (river, well, etc.) on the land you will need to spend a lot of money on irrigation and you will be very vulnerable to drought.

Durian Trees have a 20 year lifespan.  So you will spend 5 years (at least) growing them and 15 years harvesting them and then will have to start all over again.

IMHO countries like Thailand, Cambodia and India should start phasing out the lockdown.  They have very low rates of infection and death and their economies cannot cover the social cost of the lockdown.

European and North American countries, on the other hand, should be more cautious about opening up.  The infection and death rates are much higher there and the death toll might skyrocket if too many people come into contact with each other. 

The politicians are weighing the economic price of lockdown verses the political price of unleashing the "boomer remover" in their countries.  I suspect that they will mostly err on the side of caution.  No politician wants be be confronted by people complaining about their dead parents & grandparents at their next campaign rally!

Domestic is the first target, but China is in their sights for next year - or even 4th quarter.

China is the logical choice - both countries have very low infection rates and China is going back to work now, so they will have money to spend.

Well, I file my 1040 every year, along with an F2555 saying that I owe nothing.  Maybe I'll get lucky!

This may have been answered before, but rather than wade through 39 pages I'll ask it again.  I don't have a US bank account, but did file an FBAR when I opened my Thai bank account.  Is there any chance that they will send the check to my Thai account?

As others have pointed out, the measures that inhibit the spread of Covid19 also inhibit the spread of the flu.  Also, flu is very temperature sensitive and the 'flu season' in the temperate zone is mostly over now.  Here is the weekly data for the US from the CDC:

Private and Government schools in Thailand operate under different sets of laws.

Government school teachers are civil servants and cannot be fired or laid off arbitrarily.  However, foreign teachers cannot be Thai civil servants and do not have the same protections or rights.  Foreign teachers are temporary employees and can be terminated at any time, though some have successfully argued for severance pay in Thai Labor Court.

Teachers at private schools, including International Schools, are NOT covered by Thai labor law.  Although I have been told that the intent of the law was that teachers at private schools should have equivalent rights as other employees, that is not always how judges rule in cases of unfair termination or termination with severance pay.

To sum this all up, foreign teachers do not have the same rights as the maids who clean up the school, no matter which kind of school they work at!

Here is a breakdown of Covid-19 cases by province:

https://covidtracker.5lab.co/en/province

There is a note on the covidtracker map that says the current number in Pattalung should be updated to 8.

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

 

 

"...on casual clothes and the cap.scarf. ''

 

Sometimes some of the various govt., officers do wear a cap (come members of the volunteer border patrols is 1 example) and in some cases they don't have a full uniform. The scarf is meant as a checking / authentication process, early every morning their commander will indicate what colour scarf is aligned to that specific day and If someone is wearing a different colour people who have contact with them are expected to assume something is wrong, it could be a scam / fake officer etc.

The cap and scarf simply means that they have graduated from a volunteer training course.  Most, if not all, of the people who take that course are government employees of some sort - Military, teacher, local officials, etc.  So wearing the scarf and cap is probably a way of letting people know that they are some sort of government official and are working in some sort of official capacity.