TallGuyJohninBKK

Nearly 7 million "official" COVID deaths around the world in the past three-plus years -- and the real number likely double that or more according to experts -- isn't enough for you? That's your version of "mild"? "Globally, as of 6:06pm CET, 21 March 2023, there have been 761,071,826 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,879,677 deaths, reported to WHO." https://covid19.who.int/

There is research going on in the West as to whether genetic or other factors provided natural immunity to COVID for some people... Doesn't sound like they have figured it out yet. Are some people immune to COVID-19? Association of American Medical Colleges January 19, 2023 ... "Strickland is among hundreds of people in numerous countries who are enrolled in lab studies to determine if genetic anomalies have protected them from contracting the virus or neutralized it before it could make them sick. They include frontline health workers and people who interacted closely with COVID-stricken relatives at home. “There are numerous examples of couples in which one partner got seriously ill, and the spouse was taking care of them yet did not get infected,” says András Spaan, MD, PhD, a clinical microbiologist at the St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases at The Rockefeller University in New York." https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/are-some-people-immune-covid-19 But, as the article explains, the future road on this is uncertain. Because, for example, researchers back in the mid 1990s found a man who was medically immune to AIDS... And yet here we are 30 years later, and no medical solution to provide population-level immunity to AIDS. "If genetic variations can make people immune or resistant to COVID-19, it remains to be seen how that knowledge can be used to create population-level protection. After all, while the discovery nearly three decades ago that some people have genetic immunity to HIV helped scientists develop post-infection treatments, there is still no vaccine to prevent infection."

Looks like the TH MoPH Institute of Dermatology near Victory Monument is continuing to offer bivalent Pfizer booster COVID vaccine shots on a walk-in basis, 9 am to 3 pm Mon. to Sat., at least thru the end of this month/March. They did a new FB post yesterday providing info about that ongoing vaccination center. Hard to tell from their TH language version whether the end of March (this Friday) is a hard end to the service there, or, whether it will continue until further notice to the contrary. The bivalent Pfizer vaccine is available to Thais and foreigners alike age 12 years and above who received their last prior COVID shot at least 4 months ago, and still free if you're a long-term resident as opposed to a tourist. Foreigners should bring their passport and any documentation of their prior vaccination history. It sounds like they also have available the original Pfizer vaccine version approved for youngsters age 5-11, and the non-mRNA AstraZeneca vaccine for adults. https://www.facebook.com/CentralVaccinationCenter/posts/pfbid02DYu9H52eufvfnL5VpHnCxKbhsT2BrBbk9s9RGDWT7mKjTJMMaFCdGt75NWLakzZNl "By extended open for service MONDAY - SATURDAY ( SUNDAY OFF) The whole month of March TIME 9 AM - 3 PM Until further notice the change At floor 12A, Dermatology institute building Victory Monument. The number 456 Rd. Rajawithi, Thung Phayathai province, Ratchathewi district, Bangkok." Google Maps link

I've never used them before, so let me ask, what kind of services did they perform for you? Just looking at their website, they seem like more of a logistics/package delivery company as opposed to a household goods moving company??? I'm sure they will transport boxes and cargo.... But not sure if they'll carry and transport unpacked things like household refrigerators, washing machines, furniture, etc etc

Indeed, when I read the headline, I was envisioning an entirely different kind of tournament than actually ends up being the case. But it would be a great thing to see... finding out who can shoot the ping pong balls the farthest in a certain way.... ???? Thailand certainly needs another local sport, even an Olympic sport, dare I say, where its homegrown women athletes can excel!

The problem is... they WOULD if they could... They didn't have control of the House before. Now they do.... and clearly they're aiming for more. The American people need to be clear in understanding, this is the kind of "despotry" they should expect when these kinds of clowns are elected.

What supporting photocopies or other materials did BKK want besides the form? And, were they charging any fee, or it was a freebie?

Only right-wing Fox News seems to think the notion of "assisted suicide" for the terminally ill is controversial. If a terminally ill person still has their wits about them and is capable of making an informed decision, they certainly should have the right to make it as regards their own life and body. Perhaps it goes against the grain for some doctors' well-engrained professional notion of "doing no harm." But in my book, leaving a terminally ill person against their will with no resort but to suffer in pain and/or unable to control their own body and its functions is doing far more harm than letting them escape from than pain and anguish. Should be legal in all 50 states.

Interesting other thread currently running here regarding the variations in TM-30 policy based on different Immigration offices.... Read and enjoy! ????

I haven't seen any news report on this.... but the question arises... did the head of Thai Immigration get booted and replaced with a now "acting" new flunkie?.... Because, a week ago, this guy below, Sajjaphan, supposedly was the current head of Immigration: And then almost a week later in this current thread's report, we have: "Siam Rath reported an order from acting immigration chief Pol Maj-Gen Phanumas Bunyalak..." The only prior mention I can find on AseanNow of this Bunyalak guy is from a tech police related article from two years ago.... Did the almost daily toll of Immigration scandals and bad news finally take its toll on Immigration's leadership? And yet another transfer to place or places unknown?

Some people should just stay home...and away from Thailand. Plus, looks like this guy had trouble written all over him -- literally....

True.... I didn't want the poor waitress girl to have her salary docked for a simple mistake. But at the same time, I didn't want to pay extra (for the second dish I ordered but didn't receive) for her mistake.... So, my Thai wife stepped in... told the waitress to order and bring the correct dish I was supposed to have received, and my wife paid me back the difference in the bill out of her own pocket....

I've lived full-time in the same place in BKK for my entire duration in Thailand, many years... Never filed any TM-30 or was ever told I needed to for the better part of a decade until, as you noted, someone at Immigration got on their horse on that topic some years back and began requiring them big-time for a period of time. Caught me in that sweep as well, wouldn't do a new retirement extension without one... Since then, heard nothing further about TM-30s... The whole history of the TM-30s here seems to have been mostly arbitrary and capricious.

It's a good question.... I have no idea what Bangkok Immigration's TM-30 policy is on such matters regarding short domestic travel away from one's regular home. Especially when your short trip away may involve the hotel doing an Immigration report on your visit.

The wife and I were eating at a local restaurant near Victory Monument in BKK a couple weeks back... My Thai wife ordered food from the Thai waitress, and when the order eventually arrived, they had the wrong dish from what my order was supposed to be.... I had ordered pork curry, and they produced chicken kareage. I wanted the waitress to take the wrong order away, and bring my correct dish. But the waitress pleaded with my wife that if she made a mistake and had to do a new order for the correct item, the restaurant would charge her for that dish since it was her mistake.

And recall just who was accepting payoffs/bribes on a wide scale to issue visas to them so they could stay in Thailand long-term and operate their criminal ventures here....

Extortion and kidnapping of foreigners in Thailand... Hmmm.. maybe the Chinese have actually been reading the local news lately: https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7bjka/chinese-nationals-kidnapped-thailand A 62-year-old Chinese man and his Thai interpreter were abducted only meters away from his Bangkok residence earlier this month, then held for hours while their kidnappers demanded cryptocurrency payments. ... The scandal comes amid reports of Thai immigration officers partaking in fraud and the kidnappings of at least three other Chinese nationals in the country over the past week." Sometimes it's Thai police/immigration. But sometimes, as the above report recounts, it's criminal Chinese abducting and extorting their fellow countrymen here...

Still No Determination on COVID-19 Origin Posted on March 2, 2023 | Updated on March 20, 2023 ... "[U.S.] Government agencies are still divided on the origin hypotheses, and the reporting so far indicates the new information, while persuasive to the Energy Department, wasn’t convincing to other agencies. The Journal, as well as the New York Times and Washington Post, have reported, based on unnamed sources, that none of the other intelligence community entities has changed its assessment from the 2021 IC document in light of the new analysis. Four government entities, along with the National Intelligence Council, still say the natural spillover is most likely." (more) https://www.factcheck.org/2023/03/scicheck-still-no-determination-on-covid-19-origin/

The Strongest Evidence Yet That an Animal Started the Pandemic A new analysis of genetic samples from China appears to link the pandemic’s origin to raccoon dogs. ... A new analysis of genetic sequences collected from the market shows that raccoon dogs being illegally sold at the venue could have been carrying and possibly shedding the virus at the end of 2019. It’s some of the strongest support yet, experts told me, that the pandemic began when SARS-CoV-2 hopped from animals into humans, rather than in an accident among scientists experimenting with viruses. “This really strengthens the case for a natural origin,” says Seema Lakdawala, a virologist at Emory University who wasn’t involved in the research. (more) https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:IZ8P3iTWxGQJ:https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/03/covid-origins-research-raccoon-dogs-wuhan-market-lab-leak/673390/

Explosion??? Chevron stops production at Thai oil field after fatal explosion Mar. 20, 2023 Chevron (NYSE:CVX) said Monday it has suspended production at the Benchamas oil field in the Gulf of Thailand following an accident last week at an oil storage vessel that caused seawater to leak into the vessel's hull, killing one crew member. Thai government agencies are on alert for a potential oil spill from the floating storage and offloading vessel. The FSO, which for more than four years has been operating at the Benchamas field, had ~400K barrels of oil on board at the time of the incident. (more) https://seekingalpha.com/news/3948788-chevron-stops-production-at-thai-oil-field-after-fatal-explosion

"Group 3 – special cases • Group 4 – cases in which the state is the victim. Five other foreigners were found to have committed Group 4 offences, which refer to “offences against the state”." I hope someone from Immigration is going to be coming forward publicly and soon explaining just what kind of conduct qualifies as group 3 and group 4 offenses.... Special cases? Offenses against the state? And 5 foreigners already having fallen afoul of the latter. ????

There was something in the news the other day about Thailand and Russia reaching agreement on a new extradition treaty. Wonder how that's going to fit into the whole "Russians flee Russia for Thailand" story? Thai cabinet approves draft extradition treaty with Russia "According to Rachada, the treaty does not require the approval of the Parliament..." Putin declares them all draft-dodging criminals, and demands their extradition from Thailand???

That certainly worked for the Chinese for a long while.... until it didn't.

Depends on what you mean by "work"... First there's so-called "source control." Even cheap and loose fitting masks have been shown to be helpful in reducing the likelihood of an infected wearer to spread the virus to others...because the mask surface covering their mouth catches their exhaling as they breath. Then there's wearer protection, the ability of the mask to prevent the wearer from breathing in virus elements in the air. That's the area where having a better mask like an N95 mask is more effective than the cheap, simple ones. There have been studies done on all this, but in short, the advice from public health officials these days is -- any properly maintained mask is better than no mask. "Wear a Mask to Protect Yourself and Others Masking is a critical public health tool and it is important to remember that any mask is better than no mask. Wear the most protective mask you can that fits well and that you will wear consistently." https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/masks.html As for the various protection rates of masks: "A study from Tokyo tested how well different types of masks protected the wearer from actual coronavirus particles. The study showed that even a simple cotton mask offered some protection (17 percent to 27 percent) to the wearer. Medical masks performed better, including a surgical mask (47 percent to 50 percent protection), a loosefitting N95 (57 percent to 86 percent protection) and a tightly sealed N95 (79 percent to 90 percent protection)." https://www.nytimes.com/article/covid-masks-protection-stats.html

From that article: "The reported incidence of (epi-)myocarditis after vaccination is low and the risks of hospitalization and death associated with COVID-19 are stated to be greater than the recorded risk associated with COVID-19 vaccination [29]." And further from the authors: "Finally, we cannot provide a definitive functional proof or a direct causal link between vaccination and myocarditis." And, the authors also posit that possible mistakes in the administration of the vaccines (giving the shots intravenously instead of intramuscularly) in their handful of studied cases may also have been the cause. "Of note, it has been recently reported that intravenous injection of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is able to induce an acute (epi-) myocarditis in a preclinical model [28]. Interestingly, we recorded inflammatory foci predominantly in the right heart, which may suggest a gradual blood-stream derived dilution effect and based on this finding it is at least tempting to speculate that inadvertent intravascular vaccine injection may be contributive."