TallGuyJohninBKK

As best as I recall, the consequences can be pretty financially severe if the feds end up themselves having to catch someone who has deliberately not filed over a period of time. But I think there are ways to voluntarily get back into compliance. Per the IRS website on the subject: Penalties "You may be subject to civil monetary penalties and/or criminal penalties for FBAR reporting and/or recordkeeping violations. Assertion of penalties depends on facts and circumstances. Civil FBAR penalty maximums in Title 31 of the United States Code are adjusted annually for inflation. Publication 5569, Report of Foreign Bank & Financial Accounts (FBAR) Reference Guide PDF contains information about criminal penalties. Filing delinquent FBARs Filing an FBAR late or not at all is a violation and may subject you to penalties. If the IRS hasn’t contacted you about a late FBAR and you’re not under civil or criminal investigation by the IRS, you should file late FBARs as soon as possible to keep potential penalties to a minimum. Follow these instructions to explain your reason for filing late. If you’re using a compliance option, such as the Streamlined filing compliance procedures, follow the instructions for the specific compliance option. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/report-of-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts-fbar

I haven't gotten anything new from BKKB as yet.... But I'm guessing, the form they're likely to be sending out is merely one that asks recipients to confirm or report their US SSN, which is the identifying detail that ties together all the various international financial reporting for Americans. It still will be up to the individual American expat to tally up all their various foreign financial account balances for the 2024 year, and then determine whether they do or don't have a FATCA and/or FBAR filing requirement. BKKB isn't going to be telling anyone that, as they only know about your BKKB account(s), but nothing about any of the others. I'm pretty sure BKKB asked me for, and had me fill out, one of the FATCA/SSN forms some years back in connection with my account. But who knows, maybe that form ended up in a shredder at some Thai Immigration office somewhere!

Because of the relatively HIGH financial thresholds on total foreign financial assets that exist in the FATCA requirement, especially for those living abroad, I'd think MOST Americans living in Thailand, especially retirees, aren't likely to have a FATCA filing requirement. However, as noted above, the FBAR filing requirement is much lower -- merely $10,000 USD or more in combined financial assets held in foreign accounts. Thus anyone with just the standard 800,000 THB retirement extension Thai bank deposit (equal to about $23,000 USD) and little else in Thailand IS is going to trigger the FBAR reporting requirement, but NOT the FATCA reporting requirement. As noted, FBAR is a separate annual reporting requirement done apart from one's federal tax filing process.

HHS to maintain free at-home COVID tests by mail—for now The Trump administration for now will keep offering free COVID tests by mail as it considers whether to store or destroy the stockpile of 160 million tests, both of which come with significant financial costs, the Washington Post reported today. Federal officials speaking off the record initially told the Post that the website for ordering the tests would go offline on February 18, but a Department of Health and Human Services spokesman later told the Post that the free test program would remain for now as the government discusses closing the current round of tests. Tests to remain in the federal stockpile The spokesman also said the tests would be kept in the stockpile until they reach their expiration date. Federal officials told the post that only a small fraction of the tests in the government stockpile are expired. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/hhs-maintain-free-home-covid-tests-mail-now

Yep, the rep there at my SCB branch had me sign the same form, which I gather, pertained just to to international fund transfers... which I don't do thru SCB anyway. I rarely use SCB for much of anything. But I also was surprised to discover that since the last time I went looking, they also have scrapped their former online banking website and now are 100% mobile app only, something that CIMB previously did as well. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but this march toward reliance only on mobile phone apps in lieu of web based banking seems the wrong way to go.... I'm OK to have BOTH, but really dislike them discontinuing their web-based online banking. That also was another reason that I let my former CIMB account go inactive and ultimately closed.

And, where were the controls within the dating app operator's system to ensure that underage minors were not making use of those services? I asked my Thai wife, and these days, she says Thai children can get their national ID card as early as age 7....

I was in one of my major Thai bank company branches today for some business, and while there, happened to ask if I could register my biometrics for my account, because the same issue had cropped up recently in another issue.... The bank CSR there understood my request and replied that the banking biometric system, at least as used by my major Thai banking company, only is capable of registering THAIS, not farangs. Not sure if that's going to end up being a GOOD thing, or a BAD thingn down the road.... Just waiting for the bank, one of these days, to tell me I can't do this or that kind of transaction via their mobile app because I don't have the biometrics registered for my account....

Effective PM2.5 reduction is not only a matter of the clean air flow delivery rate, but also the type and quality of filter being used. "True" HEPA filters eliminate 99.97% of PM2.5 at the filter point. There are lots of lesser quality, less effective filters including some labeled as HEPA that do a much poorer job of capturing/eliminating PM2.5. Also, there's the issue of electrical use and economy. Air purifiers by and large use far far less electricity than split air con units do. You can run an air purifier around the clock and not rack up any big electrical charges. But running a large room air con unit around the clock just because you're trying to filter PM2.5 is really going to spike one's electrical bill by comparison.

The U.S. also is currently undergoing a serious wave of flu infections, hospitalizations and some deaths -- with current rates at the highest in years. US flu reaches high severity status as deaths outpace COVID February 15, 2025 With flu activity last week higher than or similar to the highest point of the season and hospitalizations and deaths on the rise, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today that it now classified the season as high severity for all age-groups for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Over the past 2 weeks, flu deaths have outpaced fatalities from COVID and now make up 2.6% of all deaths for the most recent week, compared to 1.5% for COVID. Outpatient visits for flulike illness have been above baseline for 11 weeks in a row, with very high or high activity reported in 46 states. Levels are highest in people ages 24 years old and younger. [emphasis added] (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/influenza-general/us-flu-reaches-high-severity-status-deaths-outpace-covid

Most traditional AC units sold here still don't do a meaningful job of eliminating indoors PM2.5, which is really where the focus should be, from a health perspective. "True" HEPA air purifiers are best for that job.

Ahh, this infamous Dr. Cahill? The Strange Case of Dr. Cahill and Ms. Hyde Professor Dolores Cahill’s scientific résumé can legitimize her false claims about COVID-19. Her crusade of misinformation raises the question of how far academic freedom goes. 13 Aug 2021 ... "Cahill, who until recently was teaching a class for first-year medical students called “Science, Medicine and Society,” has been making a number of staggeringly erroneous claims about COVID-19 and its associated vaccines since the beginning of the pandemic, never correcting her mistakes and always doubling down. She has said, falsely, that COVID-19 can be prevented by taking vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc, and that the most efficient treatment is in the form of hydroxychloroquine, a cheap medication against malaria and autoimmune diseases that turned into an object of worship for some individuals, even as the evidence clearly showed it did not work against COVID-19." ... Bolstered by Cahill’s academic and scientific credentials, her misinformed and hazardous claims have grown to the point where students at her university wrote a 33-page scientific rebuttal of these claims, a document that was signed by 133 students from the university’s own School of Medicine and sent to its administrators. One of the claims these students had to debunk: that once you get COVID-19, you are immune for life. This brazen assertion’s confidence is in contradiction with actual knowledge in the field, which is that we do not clearly know how long immunity does last. But this is the upside-down world at University College Dublin right now, where students are teaching their own professor basic facts about a topic she should be familiar with." McGill University, Office for Science and Society Separating Sense from Nonsense https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-health/strange-case-dr-cahill-and-ms-hyde

You're too "imminent" for me!!!

Anti-vaxxers are promoting mythical ‘vaccine detoxes’ to keep their movement alive Anti-vax groups are pushing vitamin supplements and snake-oil sprays to ‘detox’ COVID-19 vaccines from the body. The issue goes beyond making a quick buck. November 11, 2021 ... "This week, anti-vax and anti-lockdown journalist Morgan C Jonas featured an online interview with Professor Ian Brighthope, which was promoted as a “C-19 injection detox protocol” by Australian anti-vaxxer group Reignite Democracy Australia." vs. "Vaccines are safe and effective. Even if they weren’t, the concept of a vaccine detox is a myth. Professor Allen Cheng, who co-chairs the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), told Crikey that there’s no scientific basis for a vaccine detox: “‘Detoxing’ isn’t a concept that means much to me from a medical viewpoint — vaccines, like many exogenous substances, are metabolised and eliminated naturally by the body.” ... A key part of the argument for a detox is based on a popular fabrication that COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide, a type of material used in batteries and electronics. Graphene oxide isn’t present in any approved vaccine COVID-19, and even if it was, there’s no way to detox from it. " https://www.crikey.com.au/2021/11/11/anti-vaxxers-are-promoting-mythical-vaccine-detox-to-keep-their-movement-alive/

Anti-vax claims flood Senate inquiry. Officials say they’re wrong May 27, 2024 ... "Professor Ian Brighthope, on behalf of World of Wellness, said “fake vaccines and passports” were a factor in higher death rates." vs. "The TGA [Australian Therapeutics Goods Administration] says deaths from vaccines are extremely rare and in most cases deaths after vaccination were not caused by the vaccine.” ... The Health Department said vaccines had saved millions of lives and their safety and effectiveness had been “validated by both post-market surveillance and real-world data collected on millions of people globally”. https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/anti-vax-claims-flood-senate-inquiry-officials-say-they-re-wrong-20240526-p5jgq6

Another typical whack job post and Substack article from the OP, this time, from another guy who makes his money hawking supposed nutritional cures for things like AIDS and diabetes, among others... (There's a nutritional cure for AIDS? That's going to come as some surprise to the world....) Absolutely no credentials whatsoever relating to COVID or COVID vaccines, except being an ardent anti-vaxer. But then again, that's about what you can expect in this "Off the Beaten Track" nonsense subforum. https://nutritioncare.com.au/our-story/ Re Brightrope: "He graduated in Agricultural Science in 1965 and then in 1974 graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery." The Brighthope Clinics and Biocentres were developed in the 1970’s. They specialised in Nutritional Medicine, Environmental Medicine, intravenous therapies including chelation therapy and herbal medicine. https://isom.ca/profile/ian-brighthope/ Looks like he's an Australian version of prolific American COVID misinformation spreader Peter McCullough, who at least was a practicing medical doctor before he lost his board certifications, and went into the nutritional "cures" business.

The anti-vax "weirdos" here are a very "weird" lot... The same ones who often rail against COVID vaccines do so yammering about their supposed potential to alter people's DNA, a made-up bogus claim that has been widely debunked. For example: No, COVID-19 vaccines aren’t gene therapy https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-covid-vaccines-gene-therapy-806280914802 And yet in Kmetz's latest Montana legislation, it would specifically ALLOW for OTHER kinds of actual, real gene-altering therapies.... Can these guys please make up their minds!!! "Notably, the bill explicitly excludes gene therapy products used to treat cancer or genetic disorders from its definition of prohibited vaccines." https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1752986

Per the U.S. CDC's COVID vaccines website as of January 2025: Importance of staying up to date Getting the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine is important because: Protection from the COVID-19 vaccine decreases with time. Immunity after COVID-19 infection decreases with time. COVID-19 vaccines are updated to give you the best protection from the currently circulating strains. Getting the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine is especially important if you: Never received a COVID-19 vaccine Are ages 65 years and older Are at high risk for severe COVID-19 Are living in a long-term care facility Are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant, or might become pregnant in the future. Keep in mind Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer, more reliable way to build protection than getting sick with COVID-19." https://www.cdc.gov/covid/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html

COVID vaccination saved more than 5,000 US lives in 7 months in 2023-24, CDC estimates February 8, 2025 COVID-19 vaccination averted more than 5,000 US in-hospital deaths, 13,000 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and 68,000 hospitalizations in 7 months in 2023-2024, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated late last week in Vaccine, although with considerable uncertainty. ... The averted COVID-linked burden was highest in adults aged 65 years and older (hospitalizations averted, 57,665 [95% UI, 35,442 to 84,006]; ICU admissions averted, 10,878 [95% UI, 3,104 to 21,591]; and 4,779 [95% UI, 0 to 13,132) in-hospital deaths averted. ... More vaccinations would further cut poor outcomes Older adults had the highest averted burden "due to higher COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates in adults aged 65 years or older compared to other age groups; adults aged 65 years or older accounted for between 80% and 90% of the averted COVID-19- associated hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and in-hospital deaths," the researchers wrote. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-vaccination-saved-more-5000-us-lives-7-months-2023-24-cdc-estimates

Montana Weirdos Fail To Ban Vaccinated People From Donating Blood "based entirely on a bunch of sad, made-up nonsense about the vaccine" https://www.wonkette.com/p/montana-anti-vax-blood-donation

The same welder guy above who brought Montana his COVID vaccination bill was the author of a prior piece of Montana state legislation that would have banned people who had received a COVID vaccine or been diagnosed with Long COVID from donating blood in the state. That bill by the same state Rep. Greg Kmetz failed even in the overwhelmingly Republican Montana state legislature two years ago, with opponents pointing out that it would have decimated the available blood supplies in Montana. So it goes in Montana: Montana Weirdos Fail To Ban Vaccinated People From Donating Blood There is literally a blood shortage right now Mar 03, 2023 ... "It went so far in Montana that Republican lawmakers actually tried to pass a law barring people who have had the COVID-19 vaccine from giving blood, based entirely on a bunch of sad, made-up nonsense about the vaccine being dangerous and people who have it spreading murderous "spike proteins" that can harm the brilliant "purebloods" who wisely refused to get the "clot shot," as they call it. House Bill 645 would have made it a misdemeanor with a $500 fine for a vaccinated person to donate blood or for any donation center to accept the blood of a vaccinated person. It also would have banned donations from people diagnosed with long COVID, an interesting choice given that I am pretty sure the anti-vax people do not believe that long COVID is a thing. ... The bill, had it been enacted, would have reduced the blood supply in the state by 80 percent — which would be a pretty terrible plan considering that there is also a national blood shortage right now. It means that people would die. Lots and lots of people. https://www.wonkette.com/p/montana-anti-vax-blood-donation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Kmetz

Another totally misleading article from the reliable king of COVID nonsense posts here. The "USA" reference and "House committee" references in the OP headline would lead most readers to assume the cited news report is about the U.S. House of Representatives and federal legislation. It IS NOT! The cited article is from a small, obscure newspaper in the U.S. state of Montana, based in that great urban metropolis of Kalispell, Montana, pop. about 25,000, and pertains to legislation pending there in Montana state's House of Representatives -- none of which is made clear in the OP post. https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1752986 MT HB371 Ban mRNA vaccinations in Montana for humans "Introduced Session 2025 Regular Session Bill Summary AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT PROHIBITING THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENE-BASED VACCINES FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES INTO HUMANS IN THE STATE OF MONTANA; PROVIDING A DEFINITION; AND PROVIDING A PENALTY. Last Action (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended (H) Judiciary (on 02/12/2025)" Of course, nowhere in the OP post, nor in the newspaper article it links to, do either of them say that the legislation is only STATE legislation and would only apply, if passed, to Montana... But hey, when you're on a nonsense anti-vax crusade, the actual facts and reality of things take a distant back seat. And, the state rep. who sponsored the bill in question certainly has a good background to be legislating on medical and public health issues: "Greg Kmetz was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and lives in Miles City, Montana. Kmetz earned a bachelor's degree in industrial education from the University of Wyoming. His career experience includes owning his own welding and machine shop and working as a welding instructor. [emphasis added] https://ballotpedia.org/Greg_Kmetz

More than 1.2 million COVID deaths in the U.S. alone since the start of the pandemic, a number that continues rising every week now more than 5 years after the pandemic began. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_totaldeaths_select_00

COVID vaccination saved more than 5,000 US lives in 7 months in 2023-24, CDC estimates February 8, 2025 COVID-19 vaccination averted more than 5,000 US in-hospital deaths, 13,000 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and 68,000 hospitalizations in 7 months in 2023-2024, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated late last week in Vaccine, although with considerable uncertainty. The investigators estimated COVID-related deaths, ICU admissions, and hospitalizations prevented by vaccination from October 1, 2023, to April 21, 2024, using a novel multiplier model that used causal inference, conditional probabilities of hospitalization, and correlations between data elements in simulations. ... More vaccinations would further cut poor outcomes Older adults had the highest averted burden "due to higher COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates in adults aged 65 years or older compared to other age groups; adults aged 65 years or older accounted for between 80% and 90% of the averted COVID-19- associated hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and in-hospital deaths," the researchers wrote. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-vaccination-saved-more-5000-us-lives-7-months-2023-24-cdc-estimates

Long COVID impacting more than 1 million children: CDC study suggests Higher levels of long COVID were found in lower-income households. February 3, 2025 More than 1 million children may have been affected by long COVID as of 2023, new federal data published Monday suggests. Long COVID, a condition that occurs when patients still have symptoms at least three months after clearing infection, has been well-documented in adults, but its impact on children has been less clear. ... Results of the analysis, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, showed approximately 1.01 million children, or 1.4%, are believed to have ever experienced long COVID as of 2023 and about 293,000, or 0.4%, were experiencing the condition when the survey was being conducted. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/long-covid-impacting-1-million-children-cdc-study/story?id=118393880

5 years since COVID declared public health emergency in US, still killing thousands February 1, 2025 Friday marks five years since the COVID-19 virus was declared a public health emergency by the United States. But five years later, the virus is still killing thousands, according to experts. "One of the things we have learned is that COVID came to us new, and now is integrated into our way of life," said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "COVID is not going away, and it still causes a substantial amount of illness each year." While the world might not be in a global pandemic anymore, Sean Clarke, a professor of nursing leadership at New York University, said COVID is still a constant presence. "The virus is still persistent and still moving. It's still not a trivial thing," Clarke told ABC News. "It hasn't vanished, it's just at a different point." https://abcnews.go.com/Health/5-years-covid-declared-public-health-emergency-killing/story?id=118316756