TallGuyJohninBKK

I haven't seen anything reported about this in the local Thai news thus far... But the following credible source news report suggests BA.2.86 has been found in Thailand's wastewater. "Regarding the highly mutated BA.2.86 virus, which it recently deemed a variant of interest, the WHO said as of August 23, nine sequences have been reported from five countries. No epidemiological sequences were reported among the patients, and no deaths were reported. Also, two countries—Switzerland and Thailand—have reported the virus in wastewater." https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-markers-continue-rise-us-and-globally

Pib... I'm doing this from memory of info here, never having had a Thai marriage extension. But in your example, where the farang is going back for the 2nd visit to Immigration a month after originally applying to pick up his stamped passport, do BOTH the Thai wife and the farang husband have to be there.... or.... the farang husband can go alone for the 2nd visit? ...regarding @John Drake's questions above.

On the airport complex property where this rule supposedly will apply, I'd say NONE. But probably a few regular airport venues serving food and alcohol during permitted hours. From the OP: "The decision to allow around-the-clock operations was aimed at accommodating aviation activities that operate continuously, mainly for passengers in between flights to have a drink at airport lounges and bars." But what's not clear to me at least from the article is.... while the airport area venues will be able to operate 24 hours, the article doesn't say they'll be able to sell alcohol 24 hours, AFAICT... In fact, I don't see anything in the article that says the normal rules limiting alcohol sales throughout the country won't still apply. Just that the venues themselves won't have to close at the otherwise normal midnight or 2 am deadlines.

or more pissed up Thai airline mechanics doing the maintenance on the jet for your next flight!

Thanks much for all the detailed and specific info you've posted re Japan travel. It's very helpful and informative! ????

Thanks Pib... It's been my impression also that people in BKK who are doing renewed marriage extensions each year don't typically draw new home inspections each time, or at least, haven't in recent years... Of course, in our conversation at BKK CW, we were in effect talking prospectively about what would be my first / new marriage extension. So it's possible that might draw different treatment from them than renewals... Or not.... ???? Mainly, I was just curious to hear what she'd say in answer to the question. PS - I'm not planning on converting to a marriage extension.

You're a bit off on that above... There is a new emerging strain as you mention. And there are new versions of the COVID booster vaccine already scheduled to be rolled out in places like the U.S. and UK later this fall into early next year. No idea as yet how that will play out in Thailand. The upcoming new version of COVID vaccine boosters will be based on a prior Omicron version of COVID, not the newest, latest one you cite in your OP. However, the effectiveness of the upcoming vaccine, which is already being manufactured now awaiting approval, against the BA.2.86 variant as of right now isn't fully known. The current scientific thinking is that the newer vaccine will have SOME protective effect against BA.2.86, but how much and/or how much less than against the prior versions of Omicron isn't yet well understood, because there are so many mutations in the 2.86 variant. "BA.2.86 may be more capable of causing infection in people who previously had COVID-19 or who received COVID-19 vaccines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Aug. 23 in a risk assessment of BA.2.86." AND "The reactivity of the booster to this variant would be predicted to be low," says Pekosz, meaning that the variant is probably not a good match to the updated boosters. "This is something that could trigger a brand new booster based on its sequence, if this variant truly did become a significant cause of cases. But we don't know that now," says Pekosz. https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/ba286-pirola-covid-variant-symptoms-rcna100944 Also, AFAIK, there have been no officially reported cases of BA.2.86 in Thailand thus far. And it's not even among the various most prominent variants circulating in the world thus far. "As of Aug. 24, BA.2.86 has been linked to three cases in Denmark, two in South Africa, two in the United States, one in Israel and one in the United Kingdom, according to GISAID." So in brief, the makeup of the upcoming fall COVID boosters has already been decided and won't be changed for this coming fall, regardless of how BA.2.86 plays out in the months ahead. There's a months long lead time for new COVID vaccines involving research, testing, trials, regulatory approvals and ultimately manufacturing that doesn't allow the process to just turn on a dime.

just for the record, I haven't set foot in a Thai girlie bar in MANY MANY years.... But I do try to keep my finger on the pulse of things here... And do so enough to be able to say -- dress-up costume nights where the employees and/or female guests are encouraged to dress up in school girl uniforms are a common promotional staple of Thai nightclubs / bars all around the country. You can see those constantly promoted on FB and elsewhere.

Since when did this forum's World NEWS subforum become the nonsense right-wing fanatic opinion piece forum? I'm not even going to dignify the rest of the rubbish OP with any further response.

Do you mean you submitted the official 1-year bank statement INSTEAD of the signed bank book photocopies, or IN ADDITION to the book photocopies?

When it's being done in a bar or karaoke joint, no, I don't think that's a problem... The setting matters. If I were to go into a bar in Soi Cowboy and see a young lady dancing on stage a nurse's uniform, I don't think I'd be walking up to her and asking her advice on the best allergy medication to take!!!

I think there used to be a place in Nana Plaza where the young ladies were attired in flight attendant uniforms???

Just as an added tidbit.... As I mentioned in my OP, my Thai wife and the IO lady officer handling my retirement extension application end up having quite a friendly chat, and at one point the IO asked my wife how many years we'd been married... So, I took that comment and our answer to ask the IO a related question -- "So, if we ever wanted to, we could change to a marriage extension, right?" And of course, the IO answered yes, we could.... But, then she went on to say further, we'd really be better off staying with the retirement extension. Easier to process, she said, and you don't have to come back for a second, month later visit to BKK CW as we would with a marriage extension. So I decided to ask her further, "So if we ever did a marriage extension here in Bangkok, would we still have to have a home visit from some Immigration officers to check that the wife and I are in fact living together as a couple." And the IO replied, yes, we'd still have to do a home inspection, even in BKK.

That's SO strange! I have no idea what's going on there at BKK CW with the reentry permit section. On the day I was there (which intentionally was a Thursday, which you wouldn't expect to be especially busy), there of course were tons of people waiting in that section... But it didn't look like they were all part of some large group or groups that happened to inflate the crowds that particular day. The next time I have to go there next year, I'll definitely plan on making an online appointment for the reentry permit part, which seems absurd... Because, during the depths of the COVID years, for example, things got so quiet there that they did away with the queue system in the C2 reentry permit section... And for like a two year period there, you could just walk up and hand-in your paperwork, and get your passport back in 5-10 minutes... No queue ticket required. Now, not any more.

Re retirement extension financials, hope you're right! We shall see....

That's certainly a possibility... The other thing, IMHO, that people need to consider regarding Big Joke's wrongheaded plan is what was his stated purpose for wanting to raise the financial requirements for retirement visas/extensions? His stated purpose was to help rid Thailand of undesirable criminals staying here on retirement visas/extensions, which he somehow equates to retirees here on limited financials, which again, I think is a total non-sequitur. And although I don't see any real connection between the two things, it wouldn't make sense from HIS perspective to start grandfathering a lot of folks, because he'd be grandfathering the low-finance "criminals" and undesirables he wants to boot out. In his mind, apparently, being a wealthy expat or having lots of money in the bank is somehow a sign that you're a good, law-abiding citizen -- which IMHO, is total nonsense.

I'll certainly be happy if that ends up being the result... But, if I were a betting man, I'd bet your prediction above will end up being wrong in this instance.

If you read my earlier comments on this, you'd have seen that the bank book update machine problem with Krungsri isn't limited to just the branch in the basement of BKK CW.... The same failure also occurs at other Krungsri branches, including my home account branch in Central BKK. The same failure has been reported here previously by other Krungsri users as well at other locations. It's some problem with some portion of their machines, not with that one particular location.

For my personal situation, I already addressed that option raised by another poster earlier in the thread. Typically, my outbound flights tend to leave around midnight or later, and I've never been sure that the Immigration desk at Suvarnabhumi for reentry permits is going to be reliably staffed late into the evenings. If anyone has any first hand knowledge on that, I'd certainly like to hear it. But more generally, I don't like leaving something so critical as a valid reentry permit to be a last-minute deal on the verge of a flight out. Something goes wrong, the Immigration folks have taken a powder that night, and my annual retirement extension is VOIDED upon my return to Thailand, and I have to start all over again...

I just wanna know -- in Thaksin's case, is having delusions of past political grandeur considered a legitimate medical condition requiring treatment???

That would be an interesting detail to hear more info / clarification about... Did Thaksin come down with COVID and get very sick at some point during the pandemic, necessitating ICU care? I don't recall ever hearing about that... But cardiac and respiratory problems are well-established potential aftermath effects of COVID. Or did he just happen to end up in an ICU for something else at some point during the pandemic?

If memory serves, this wasn't the first time this same kind of thing happened on the BTS system. I recall a similar incident not too far back.... The fact these things keep occurring is concerning..... Concrete Panel Falls from BTS Ari Onto Bus Stop Below Jul 10, 2019 — BANGKOK — A piece of concrete panelling fell from BTS Ari station Wednesday morning, luckily injuring none. Isara Ariyachaipanich posted . BTS pillar collapse injures 5 – VIDEO ThaigerThursday, August 6, 2020 https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/bts-pillar-collapse-injures-5-video And then of course the mother of such things lately, fortunately NOT involving the BTS: Elevated road collapse in Bangkok kills at least 2, 11 injured At least two people were killed after an elevated road being built in Thailand's capital collapsed, authorities said Tuesday.

Any general idea of the typical rates for those?

Solely because I have a fundamental distrust of the Thai banking system, and have always done my best to avoid keeping anything more than the absolute minimum amount of funds in it... That currently is a not insignificant 800,000b. That's why I'm concerned about the potential increase... But beyond my personal issue, it's hard not to recognize that a significant increase in the bank deposit requirement for retirement extensions could pose a very significant hardship to a lot of expats here who don't have much in the way of savings. That kind of hardship would be ameliorated some were the government to combine any increase with a grandfathering provision for those who are already living here... But the way Big Joke was talking about his plan, it didn't sound like that was the way he was thinking. It sounded like he is looking to get his proposed increase to be a means to (in his mind) root out the "undesirable" criminal elements in Thailand who are here are retirement extensions/visas....stemming out of the motorcycle gang murder. But somehow, he appears to be operating on the foolhardy presumption that somehow criminal activity by older folks here (like with the motorcycle gang members) has some correlation to retirees with limited financials, which is simply plain stupid, IMHO.

In my experience, at least at BKK CW, the only time that particular IO tends to demand 12 month bank official bank statements is when there's some perceived problem or lacking with the printed entries in the bank passbook itself. On my visit Thursday, they were fine with the normal stuff -- examining the bank book itself that was updated earlier that day, and getting the signed photocopies of all the pertinent bank book pages. Of course, not commenting on what other IOs may be doing.