TallGuyJohninBKK

As of yesterday, in terms of achieving the government's endemic status goals: --only 36.8% of the general population had received their third shot booster dose -- far from the 60% goal. --84.1% of senior citizens age 60 and above had received their first vaccine dose -- meaning Thailand as a whole has met that 80% goal. --only 40.6% of senior citizens age 60 and above had received their third shot booster dose -- far from the 60% goal.

New COVID deaths and serious hospitalizations ticked upward to 127 and 1,827 on Thursday while newly reported official COVID cases declined slightly to 14,437 and total active cases under care continued its daily declines to 158,768. The COVID update Thursday by the Ministry of Public Health, for the most part, reflected only small changes from Wednesday’s report, where new deaths and new cases both had moved upward after several days each of daily declines. The 127 new COVID deaths reported Thursday compared to 125 yesterday and 120 the day before that. The serious hospitalizations at 1,827 was a slight increase from the 1,822 reported yesterday and the 1,825 the day before. But the 14,437 official new cases count was a decline from yesterday’s 14,887, but above the day before’s 13,816 tally. Overall, the total number of active cases under care continued its ongoing series of daily declines, falling from 162,967 yesterday to 158,768 today. The subset of the most seriously ill hospitalized COVID patients, those requiring intubation in order to breathe, remained unchanged Thursday at 850, compared to the year-high number of 940 on April 19. Among on the various updates reported Thursday, the new COVID deaths at 127 was the closest to Thailand's year' high tally of 129 set on several days earlier this month. But the daily new cases count remained about half of the year-high 28,379 count set on April 1. Thailand has now had 19 consecutive days of 100 or more daily new COVID deaths, a streak stretching back to April 10 when daily deaths hit 108. Thailand's counts of official daily new COVID cases are widely considered a vast undercount to the actual numbers of cases in the country. But the general movements up or down of the various statistics, especially daily deaths and hospitalizations, still gives some current picture of the direction of the pandemic in the country. For context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and the intubated share of those peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/550344586583870 https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

Interesting... that the actual CDC report on this has a breakdown of infection-induced seroprevalence by age group. And it's the youngest age groups, those with the lowest vaccination rates, that have the highest levels of past COVID infection, compared to the 57% national average. From December 2021 to February 2022, seroprevalence increased: --from 44.2% to 75.2% among children aged 0–11 years --from 45.6% to 74.2% among persons aged 12–17 years --from 36.5% to 63.7% among adults aged 18–49 years --from 28.8% to 49.8% among those aged 50–64 years --from 19.1% to 33.2% among those aged ≥ 65 years The CDC report suggests those surprising numbers are likely based on a combination of the low vaccination rates among minors [because their vaccine approvals came later] not preventing infections as much, combined with older people likely taking other COVID precautions likely not taken by youngsters. "The greatest increases in seroprevalence during September 2021–February 2022, occurred in the age groups with the lowest vaccination coverage; the proportion of the U.S. population fully vaccinated by April 2022 increased with age (5–11, 28%; 12–17, 59%; 18–49, 69%; 50–64, 80%; and ≥65 years, 90%).*** Lower seroprevalence among adults aged ≥65 years, who are at greater risk for severe illness from COVID-19, might also be related to the increased use of additional precautions with increasing age (3)." And the report also noted: "Seropositivity for anti-N antibodies should not be interpreted as protection from future infection." https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7117e3.htm It seems to me these above numbers are a pretty good sign that the COVID vaccinations have been effective, to a certain extent, in preventing even Omicron infections, as all the research data shows. Otherwise, those adults age 65 and above likely wouldn't have a seroprevalence rate (33%) less than half of that among up to 17 year olds (74-75%).

Meanwhile, COVID continues to worsen in China, and now has been documented as having spread to Beijing. This recent update: "As China battles an Omicron-fueled COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, its largest city, it is also now seeing cases rise in Beijing, its capital and home to more than 21 million people. ... Officials in Beijing have ordered mass testing for people in the Chaoyang district, triggering stockpiling of groceries and other key items, as people fear a lockdown similar to Shanghai's, according to Reuters. ... Deaths, typically a lagging indicator, continue to rise steadily, and China [Monday] reported 51 deaths, all from Shanghai. Fatalities are at their highest level since April 2020." (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/04/china-tracks-rising-covid-activity-beijing-us-cases-climb

There's also a new published study out of the Kaiser health system in Southern California that has some useful and interesting data on the Pfizer vaccine's effectiveness in preventing Omicron-related emergency department visits and hospitalizations for longer periods post vaccination, both for two doses and with a booster: Two Doses / 9 Months after: --"In adjusted analyses, effectiveness of two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine against the omicron variant was 41% (95% CI 21–55) against hospital admission and 31% (16–43) against emergency department admission at 9 months or longer after the second dose." [the recommendation is for people to get a third doses booster shot 4-5 months after the initial doses, so 9 months without a booster is a long time!] Three Doses / Up to 3 months after and longer: --"After three doses, effectiveness of BNT162b2 against hospital admission due to the omicron variant was 85% (95% CI 80–89) at less than 3 months but fell to 55% (28–71) at 3 months or longer." --"Against emergency department admission, the effectiveness of three doses of BNT162b2 against the omicron variant was 77% (72–81) at less than 3 months but fell to 53% (36–66) at 3 months or longer." And thus those beyond 3 months waning protection results are the reason 4th dose boosters are being recommended by various health agencies, especially for older people more at risk from COVID. Based on health records of COVID patients health records from the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system from Dec 1, 2021, to Feb 6, 2022. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(22)00101-1/fulltext# https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/950427

CDC: Majority of Americans Have Antibodies Against the Coronavirus From Previous Infection More than 57% of Americans had detectable levels of antibodies against the coronavirus as of February, according to new CDC research. That’s up from 33% in December 2021. "Roughly 3 in 5 Americans have detectable levels of antibodies against COVID-19 from prior infection, according to a new study published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ... The 57% estimate would amount to roughly 188 million Americans who have had COVID-19 – a much higher number than the official coronavirus case toll of 80 million. Researchers said that antibodies could be detected for at least 2 years after infection, so they believe the percentage to be a fairly accurate picture of the pandemic, which was officially declared in March 2020." (more) https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-04-26/cdc-majority-of-americans-have-antibodies-against-the-coronavirus-from-previous-infection Worth noting: AFAIK, this reading of the percentage of Americans with COVID antibodies IS an indicator of how many have contracted the virus at some point since the outset. However, it is NOT an indicator of the share of the population that would be currently immune from COVID due to prior infections, since that infection-based immunity is believed to last for a shorter duration post-infection than two years.

I'm a bit skeptical about the claims in The Nation report... 1. I believe those claims are at odds with most of the research studies I've read that generally show the mRNA being more protective than AZ doses. 2. It's less than fully persuasive when you have the people in the article making their AZ pitch being a person affiliated with Oxford, which developed the AZ vaccine, and a Thai vaccine official, who has a vested interest in AZ given that it's being produced in Thailand under official auspices. 3. A lot of the past research studies they're collectively relying on in making their claims were done involving the prior variants, not Omicron, meaning their applicability to the current Omicron situation in the world is questionable. As the article says... "While data available at the time of review relates to Delta and earlier variants..." 4. The Thai medical establishment often gets hung up on making vaccine pronouncements based on tested antibody levels post vaccination, which is one thing. But all the experts agree that antibody levels alone are not synonymous with real life levels of protection. It's more complicated that just antibodies. Here's what the UK health services agency reported in their latest April 21 weekly report on vaccine effectiveness based on real-world results in the UK specifically relating to the current Omicron variant (summarizing page 4 of the report): Protection against symptomatic COVID disease (not death and hospitalization, and note, these findings relate only to two shots, not boosters): --After 2 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, vaccine effectiveness against the Omicron variant starts at 45 to 50% then drops to almost no effect from 25 weeks after the second dose. --With 2 doses of Pfizer or Moderna effectiveness started at around 65 to 70% and then dropped to around 15% by 25 weeks after the second dose. They also have a chart (page 11 of the report) based on UK data and other international results that they call "consensus" findings in terms of the three vaccines' ability to prevent hospitalization due to Omicron where Moderna and Pfizer both do somewhat better than AZ at varying times after two original doses: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1070356/Vaccine-surveillance-report-week-16.pdf So, I'd take the self-interested reporting by the folks in The Nation article with a large grain of salt...

They seemed to have addressed the concealing evidence part in one of the other charges included in the long list cited in the news report here... " various charges, ranging from negligence causing the death of another person, giving false statements to the police and destroying evidence to operating a vessel without a licence, littering and using a vessel with an expired license."

The list of available really NO fee accounts to use abroad really isn't that long these days.... Schwab, Fidelity and Capital One among them. But then you get into what "no fee" really means. Ideally, you want a bank that does the following: --doesn't charge a percentage foreign currency fee on foreign debit card use --doesn't charge a flat fee for using any foreign/out of network ATMs. --reimburses any ATM transaction fees charged by foreign banks. Schwab and Fidelity are good because they're generally available to the public without any big restrictions. Cap One is good for not having a FCF, but not so good because they don't reimburse other banks' foreign ATM fees, which would encourage users to do counter withdrawals instead. Then there are various smaller banks and credit unions that cover some of the check items above.... but sometimes may have eligibility or other restrictions. For example, Service Federal Credit Union charges a 1% FCF on foreign debit card transactions, but will waive its own ATM fee and reimburse both their 1% FCF fee and the foreign bank's ATM fee up to varying levels ($15 or $30) per month IF you have a qualifying min $500 per month direct deposit with them. Also, their accounts are only open to people who have some past or present military affiliation, including having an immediate family member (including parent) who ever served. " Direct deposit in your checking account of net pay includes but is not limited to payroll deposits, social security deposits, retirement payments, and other sources of net income. Direct deposit must total at least $500 per month to qualify." https://servicecu.org/bank/checking/#everyday-checking The State Department Federal Credit Union has similar kinds of offers available, though with them, you don't have to have a military affiliation, but you do have to go thru the pretty easy extra hoop of joining the American Consumer Council if you don't have any State Department affiliation. If you do that.... https://www.sdfcu.org/checking "**Advantage Checking. $2,000 Minimum checking account balance. Personal accounts only. Dividends calculated daily. Minimum $200 Direct Deposit monthly. Ten posted Debit Card transactions by close of business on last day of the month. Must be signed up for Online Banking and eStatements. ***Privilege Checking. $25,000 Minimum checking account balance. Personal accounts only. Dividends calculated daily. Minimum $200 Direct Deposit monthly. Must be signed up for Online Banking and eStatements." There are some other similar smaller entities out there, but also with their own individual restrictions and conditions.

I got my first booster shot of Pfizer in early January, without incident, at the Central Vaccination Center at Bang Sue Grand Station in BKK. Today, somewhat to my (pleasant) surprise, I got an SMS from the MoPH informing me that I have an appointment for my 2nd Pfizer booster shot at the same location in early May (4 months later). That's quite a change.... Originally, I had to be searching and pushing, pushing to get my original vaccinations here. But now, this time, they're making it easy and they (MoPH) came looking for me! And then there was this today also: https://www.facebook.com/thailandprd/posts/356900726472744

https://www.facebook.com/thailandprd/posts/356900726472744

Schwab used to offer a pretty good VISA credit card some years ago, but then they discontinued it... And these days, AFAIK, their only credit card offerings are Amex branded and I believe those carry Amex's standard foreign currency conversion charges. So non-starters for many here.

After days of declines, new COVID deaths and new cases took a modest but sudden upward move on Wednesday, as Thailand reported 125 new deaths and 14,887 official new COVID cases, although serious COVID hospitalizations dropped by three cases to 1,822. Wednesday’s report by the Ministry of Public Health ended five consecutive days of daily declines in new COVID cases, and three consecutive days of declines in new fatalities. Even so, the total number of active COVID cases under care dropped again from 167,124 on Tuesday to 162,967 today. The new COVID fatalities increased from 120 on Tuesday to 125 today. The new COVID official cases increased from 13,816 on Tuesday to 14,887 today. The current number of COVID hospitalizations in serious condition fell slightly from 1,825 on Tuesday to 1,822 today. In addition, the subset of the most seriously ill COVID hospitalizations, those requiring intubation in order to breathe, also fell from 868 on Tuesday to 850 today, well below the year-high number of 940 on April 19. Relative to this year's record highs for Thailand, current deaths at 125 continue to run just below the year-high number of 129 reached on several days earlier this month. But official new daily cases now are almost half of the 28,379 high number from April 1. For broader context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and the intubated share of those peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/549742176644111 https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

When it means 300+ to 500+ COVID deaths per day in the UK.... and Thailand is running in the 120s, yes, I'd agree.... That's terrible.

Amid the spectacle of this whole case, are the police really recommending that prosecutors charge one or more of the abovementioned suspects with LITTERING? Really? Does anyone ever get charged with littering in Thailand? OUCH! That one's gonna hurt!!! -(

Regarding the UK, and their lifting of COVID restrictions, it's actually more of a "dying of COVID" approach right now... as they currently have one of the highest reported per capita COVID death rates in the world -- and almost three times the current per capita rate in Thailand. https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&minPopulationFilter=1000000&time=2022-01-01..latest&facet=none&pickerSort=asc&pickerMetric=location&hideControls=true&Metric=Confirmed+deaths&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Color+by+test+positivity=false&country=GBR~THA COVID cases increase across the U.K. "Throughout the pandemic, the U.K. has consistently been a sign of what is to come in the United States. When Britain dropped its COVID restrictions in late-February, COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths soared and may have only recently peaked." https://www.cbsnews.com/video/covid-cases-increase-across-the-uk/ Thailand and the UK have similar size populations... Thailand's daily COVID deaths have been running in the 120s. The UK recorded 451 on Tuesday. UK records 16,579 more Covid-19 cases as infections plunge - but daily deaths rise to 451 "The UK announced a further 16,579 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday as confirmed infections continue to plunge. However another 451 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test result were announced - 110 more than Monday’s figure." https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/covid-cases-daily-latest-deaths-uk-omicron-tests-b996413.html

I can withdraw up to $1000 per transaction.

Regarding international wires, again, at least for U.S. based accounts, they do offer a limited number for free (with no wire fee). But I believe the accountholder needs to have a combined accounts balance with them exceeding $100,000 for that quarter in order to qualify.

I know for my OTHER smaller, non-mega bank U.S. checking accounts / debit cards, the daily withdrawal limits reset at midnight at the time of where the bank company is headquartered. But I don't think / can't recall ever having to deal with that issue with Schwab, so I'm not sure how it works in their case.... I believe Schwab Bank is headquartered in Nevada, which is in the Pacific time zone... But I can't say for sure that time zone applies in regard to their debit card daily limit resets.

Krungsri ATMs (yellow) allow max 30K baht per transaction. TMB (blue) used to allow the same, though I haven't used them since their merger. Bangkok Bank ATMs allow up to 25K per withdrawal. I don't know of any other Thai banking companies, off hand, that also allow the max 30K per withdrawal from their ATMs. Although, SCB in some BKK locations was rolling out some fancy new ATMS that allowed up to 150K per withdrawal. But I never got around to finding out whether that limit would apply only to domestic SCB card withdrawals, or also to using other Thai bank cards or even foreign cards with those particular SCB ATMs.

It's the second of the two options you mention above, simply a debit transaction against the checking account via the associated VISA debit card.

Actually, Schwab has a nice feature relating to that.... The Schwab debit card, for U.S. domestic based accounts at least, is linked to a checking account at Schwab Bank. So your debit account balance is there. But, if you need to make a debit card withdrawal or purchase for more than the current cash balance in your checking account, Schwab will automatically pull the needed funds out of your CASH balance in your main brokerage account with them to cover the extra amount.... without any penalty or fee.

Ya, I was surprised by the OP's mention of having a $500 limit on his Schwab debit card. Most Schwab account holders, domestic U.S. based accounts, that I've known typically have the $1000 limit you mention here...

All the major COVID statistics reported by the Thai government continued their post Songkran holidays decline on Tuesday, with new deaths down to 120, new official COVID cases down to 13,816 and serious COVID hospitalizations down to 1,825. Each of those tallies marked the country’s lowest daily numbers of the past week by wide margins, with still no sign that the government’s feared post New Year’s holidays surge of COVID cases is anywhere in the offing -- at least according to their official reports. New COVID deaths fell from 124 yesterday to 120 today. Official new COVID cases fell from 14,994 yesterday to 13,816 today. And the current tally of serious COVID hospitalizations declined from 1,876 yesterday to 1,825 today. The total number of active COVID cases under care in the country also declined from 174,500 yesterday to 167,124 today. In addition, a subset of the serious COVID hospitalizations in the worst condition, those requiring intubation to breathe, also dropped from 903 yesterday to 868 today. For context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and the intubated share of those peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/549118726706456 https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

A week-plus after the close of the Songkran New Year’s holidays, Thailand on Monday reported continuing declines in new daily COVID deaths, new official daily cases and current serious hospitalizations. With no sign of predicted post-New Year’s increases in sight, the Ministry of Public Health said new COVID deaths declined from 126 on Sunday to 124 today. New cases fell from 17,784 on Sunday to 14,994 today. And current serious COVID hospitalizations declined from 1,929 on Sunday to 1,876 today. Overall, Thailand’s total number of active COVID cases under care fell from 183,154 on Sunday to 174,500 today. The deaths tally, daily new cases and serious hospitalization tallies were all the lowest in the past week. The one exception to the downward trend was Monday's tally of the most serious COVID hospitalizations requiring intubation, a subset of the larger group that increased from 899 on Sunday to 903 today, but still well below the year-high total of 940 set last Tuesday. The Thai government's official COVID numbers are widely considered a significant undercount because of lack of testing. But if uncounted cases are increasing out in the country, at some point, those would begin to surface as increased hospitalizations, which have yet to happen, at least according to the government's reports. For context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and the intubated share of those peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/548497366768592 https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main