TallGuyJohninBKK

In my experience, if someone is planning to activate new service on those kinds of MVNO providers, it's generally better to do the INITIAL activation while in the U.S. as opposed to Thailand. Because, some of them require you to actually activate on their U.S. network directly (the first time) before you can fully activate and proceed to setup wifi calling on their service. If I recall correctly, Ting, Ultra Mobile and US Mobile are all MVNOs on the T-Mobile network. So such a user, as you pointed out, would want to make sure that their mobile device is compatible with T-Mobile wifi calling.... and not all mobile handsets necessarily are... especially the China brand models. Though my Thailand purchased dual-SIM Samsung models seems to handle T-Mobile wifi calling just fine.

I'm not sure that U.S. mobile numbers are going to work for receiving SMS codes (like One Time Passwords (OTPs) from sources like Thai banks and various Thai retailers. Do you have some experience with that?

I've had Google Voice for years, and use it as my primary mobile number for receiving financial and other SMS codes from the U.S. (though I keep several other numbers as well, including a legacy prepaid $3-a-month T-Mobile # and a Ting postpaid #. However, it is true that SOME / A FEW U,S. financial entities' SMS systems do NOT work with Google Voice. Those certainly are the exception rather than the rule. But if someone happens to be using one of those, then another solution besides GV is going to be required.

My "laughing" emoticon above is expressing my mirth at the prior post and its multiple very interesting news reports.... My my... what those conservatives and Republicans are up to behind closed doors when they're not out trying to persecute and discriminate against gays and people of other sexual preferences.... It seems, they doth protest too much!

Drinking two to three cups of coffee every day helped maintain low blood BP, according to the results of a study published in Nutrients. The findings further showed that regular coffee drinkers had significantly lower BP, “both on peripheral and central levels, than those who do not drink it,” Arrigo F. G. Cicero, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the department of medical and surgical sciences with the University of Bologna in Italy, said in a press release. ... The researchers wrote that there is a “lack of a difference in the impact of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee” on outcomes, which “suggests that caffeine per se is not the main determinant of the effect of coffee on human health.” (more) https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20230214/moderate-coffee-consumption-may-help-maintain-low-blood-pressure Self-Reported Coffee Consumption and Central and Peripheral Blood Pressure in the Cohort of the Brisighella Heart Study ... "In particular, chlorogenic acid, which is the most concentrated polyphenol in coffee beans and for which the bioavailability is inversely proportional to the coffee bean roasting time, is thought to be one of the main compounds responsible for the potential BP-lowering effect of coffee [28]. Quercetin, even if characterized by low bioavailability, could also contribute to the positive vascular effect of coffee [29], also acting as a mild xanthine oxidase inhibitor. Moreover, it must be emphasized that coffee consumption is usually safe, even in individuals with high CV risk." https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/2/312 Interesting findings... Anyone have any background knowledge or experience on this topic?

This is the CDC study/survey that the AMA article drew its mask effectiveness figures from: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm?s_cid=mm7106e1_x#T1_down Although in fairness, this was a survey done in California back during 2021 before the more transmissible Omicron variant had become predominant. So the numbers these days probably would be somewhat lower across the range of mask types.

Your original claim that I had challenged you on was: "It has been established that the common cotton, or surgical mask that 99% use, is of minor effect when it comes to catching covid. It does help to prevent transmission of illness, a little bit." https://aseannow.com/topic/1286467-covid-count-reaches-around-2800-3889-a-day-in-thailand/?do=findComment&comment=17902022 Note your use of the claim "minor effect when it comes to catching covid" and "a little bit" in preventing transmission. The AMA article you cite above doesn't support your claim, since it specifically says surgical and cloth masks have significant protective value (66% for surgical masks and 56% for cloth masks)... not the "minor effect" and "a little bit" you claimed. From the AMA article you cited: "In fact, N95 and KN95 masks were found to be 48% more effective than surgical or cloth masks, according to a CDC study. Wearing an N95 or KN95 mask reduces the odds of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 by 83%. This is compared with 66% for surgical masks and 56% for cloth masks, further pushing the need to swap out such face coverings for an N95 or KN95 mask for protection from SARS-CoV-2." That said, I've long and loudly and repeatedly maintained here, as public health experts agree, that N95 masks are the best available mask that the public can use. Those are the variety I've used daily for the past 3 years. But that doesn't mean the others have little value as you wrongly claimed. However, it is nice to see you finally coming around to endorsing the wearing of N95 masks as an important protective measure against COVID -- considering your prior posting history on the subject.

It was my roundabout way of encouraging the prior poster to actually name the specific doctor he was recommending -- as opposed to just listing the name of a business. He didn't, but you later more or less did... so all is good! ???? Interestingly, that doctor is listing himself as a specialist in orthokeratology -- which is a technique of using specially fitted hard (RGP) contact lenses often worn while sleeping to reshape the surface contour of people's eyes.... thus improving their vision and often letting them avoid wearing lenses or glasses during the days at all... And that's a very hard specialty to find in Thailand.

Yes, and the other poster who was claiming a relation to COVID vaccines -- to whom I replied the above quoted response "You have no credible source for what you're claiming" -- shortly thereafter had his post removed by the moderators. So it's no longer here... But the BBC report, despite member Lizzy Duang now trying to misrepresent it, clearly says: "No evidence of vaccine effect The rise in cardiac problems has been pointed to by some online as evidence that Covid vaccines are driving the rise in deaths, but this conclusion is not supported by the data. One type of Covid vaccine has been linked to a small rise in cases of heart inflammation and scarring (pericarditis and myocarditis). But this particular vaccine side-effect was mainly seen in boys and young men, while the excess deaths are highest in older men - aged 50 or more." My quoted comment above that Lizzy posted the BBC article in response to was specifically replying to the prior false claim of vaccine related excess deaths -- not other types of excess deaths such as those described in the BBC report.

Yes, except poster Nordo concluded his comment above with the final sentence... We don't usually refer to businesses with the pronoun "he".

As well as.... "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in April signed the "Stop WOKE" act, which restricts lessons and training on race and diversity in schools and in the workplace, particularly anything that discusses privilege or oppression based on race, or whether someone "bears personal responsibility for and must feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress" due to U.S. racial history. WOKE in the bill stands for "Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees." https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/florida-schools-directed-cover-remove-classroom-books-vetted/story?id=96884323 Roberto Clemente book removed from Florida public schools pending review over discrimination references “His story is his story. He went through racism. It’s something that can’t be changed,” Clemente's son, Roberto Clemente Jr., told NBC News. A book about late Afro-Puerto Rican MLB legend Roberto Clemente can't be found in the shelves of public school libraries in Florida's Duval County these days. “Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates” by Jonah Winter and Raúl Colón — and other books about Latino figures such as the late Afro-Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz and Justice Sonia Sotomayor — are among the more than 1 million titles that have been "covered or stored and paused for student use” at the Duval County Public Schools District, according to Chief Academic Officer Paula Renfro. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/roberto-clemente-book-removed-florida-public-schools-rcna70081

Obviously you haven't familiarized yourself with Florida or any number of other GOP-led morality crusade states in the U.S. "Don't Say Gay": Florida schools purge library books with LGBTQ characters " Florida schools are using the law to justify the erasure of LGBTQ people. Public records obtained by Popular Information through the Florida Freedom to Read Project reveal that several Florida schools have already removed books with LGBTQ characters from their libraries, citing the Parental Rights in Education Act. Further, training materials produced by the Florida Department of Education for librarians reveal that the DeSantis administration is encouraging this expansive interpretation of the law." https://popular.info/p/dont-say-gay-florida-schools-purge

The term "cash advance" usually means using a credit card to withdraw funds from your account via ATM or a teller. Most banks charge pretty hefty fees for credit card cash advances, sometimes up to 5% of the amount withdrawn. I believe, some of that goes to the card network (VISA or MC) and the other part of it is kept by the card issuing bank. Using a DEBIT card to pay for purchases or withdraw funds at an ATM or a bank teller is not generally considered or called a cash advance. Since all you're doing in reality is withdrawing your own already on deposit funds from your own account. In the case of foreign DEBIT cards, Thai banks have the typical 220b per withdrawal ATM fee... Though counter withdrawals with a debit card may not have any local fee, depending. And of course, both foreign / home country CREDIT and DEBIT cards may also have a foreign currency conversion fee of up to 3% or more assessed when the card is used outside the country where it was issued. In the worst case scenario, a person trying to use a foreign credit card here for a cash advance could get hit with BOTH a cash advance fee of 5% or more PLUS the foreign currency conversion fee of up to 3% or more.

Don't forget... They're supposedly the party of small government and reduced regulation -- except when it comes to attacking people of different ethnicities, nationalities and sexual persuasions.

Are you really saying there's a Thai eye doctor in Bang Kapi with the real name of Dr. Vision??? Doesn't sound much like a Thai name to me... ????

You saw in the news the other day how the Thai police had raided a bunch of places that were supplying counterfeit brand-name toothpaste to both shops and online sources like Lazada??? There seem to be few if any things here that some crooks won't sell counterfeit, low-quality knock-offs of....in order to make an illegitimate baht.

Glad to see the local government's annual anti-burning campaign and (toothless) threats of jail for offenders are proving so successful! ????

Great..... ???? https://aqicn.org/station/thailand/chiang-mai/outdoor-/ชุมชนหมื่นสาร-จุดที่-5a-อาสา-dustboy/#/z/11

I don't think I have..... Just presenting the facts and evidence on the topic, and explaining why I do what I do.

I pay attention to credible information sources on the subject (including the primary public health organizations like CDC and WHO), and actually read and comprehend the entirety of what's reported. Scientific evidence supports the use of face masks to reduce COVID-19 spread, mainly by preventing infectious liquid particles from reaching uninfected people "COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through infectious liquid particles spread from infected to uninfected individuals. Masks act as simple physical barriers that reduce the dissemination of these liquid particles, which are generated by people when they cough, sneeze, or speak. Several published studies showed that wearing face masks reduces the spread of viral infectious diseases like COVID-19." https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/scientific-evidence-supports-wearing-a-face-mask-to-reduce-covid-19-spread-mainly-by-preventing-infectious-liquid-particles-from-reaching-other-people/

I see the BKK Post has an article today (Feb. 15) on the donation by South Korea. The last sentence of the article claims there will be a total of 1.5 million doses of the bivalent vaccines donated by South Korea and France combined. But no details in the article on when or how they'll be distributed in Thailand. Interestingly, there was another news article just in the past week in which a MoPH official claimed Thailand plans to continue buying the original version of the Pfizer vaccine, while still evaluating whether to purchase the bivalent version. The MoPH here seems to have got caught up in some of the early reports on the bivalent vaccine, based solely on antibody level testing, that raised questions about its effectiveness... And since then, they seem to be ignoring the considerable and mounting real world evidence that the newer vaccine is in fact MORE effective than the original version against the currently circulating COVID strains. One example: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7206a3.htm

AFAIK, the current Thai government policy here is that.... --COVID booster shots for long-term residents are supposed to remain free from gov vax sites. --but they've lately implemented a pay for vax program aimed at tourist visitors.... but those remain (at least for now) the original COVID vaccines, not the newer bivalent ones.

And your source for that claim is??? You think that today, even in the time of Omicron, that the US CDC and the WHO both recommend people wear face masks because they don't work?

Your "psychological damage" claim for those who wear face masks is unproven and unsubstantiated rubbish, which as usual, you have no credible source for. People have been wearing face masks in Asia long before COVID came along, including in Thailand in recent years because of very bad seasonal air pollution. If they continue to wear them now because of concerns about COVID, or whatever other reason they may have, more power to them.

I myself am age 60+, so I'm in the higher risk group for negative COVID outcomes, should I become infected. Because of that, I handle my behaviors accordingly. Overall, I'd guess that a large majority of the posters here on this forum are in one or more of the higher/high risk groups for bad COVID outcomes, based on age, chronic health conditions, overweight, etc. Those folks have good reason to take precautions.