TallGuyJohninBKK

For retirement extensions at BKK CW... for those applying on the basis of Thai bank deposits, USUALLY, BKK CW will be satisfied by inspecting your bank passbook AND you providing them with signed photocopies of your passbook covering the past 12 month period prior to your application -- which shows you met their 400K and 800K balance requirements. They DO NOT usually require a formal 12-month statement issed by the bank... as long as you have the bank-issued letter certifying the current balance of your account.

There's a lot about so-called Long COVID symptoms that the public health and medical experts are still trying to assess and understand... From what I've read, it's not uncommon for various Long COVID symptoms, including shortness of breath, to continue up to 2 years in some cases post-infection, and less in others. My general sense from what I've read is that people whose original COVID infections were more severe are more likely to have longer lasting or even permanent impacts, whereas those with mild or asymptomatic original infections are less likely to have permanent impairments. Sounds like something you'd want to consult with a pulmonologist (lung specialist) about....

Here's a new report that puts the world's COVID failures in better perspective, and calls out where the blame lies, and Bill Gates-related groups aren't at the top of their list -- though the WHO comes in for a major shellacking for being too timid and too slow to meaningfully respond. Anti-maskers and anti-vaccine folks in the general public also are blamed: Lancet Commission on COVID-19 response: 'Massive global failure' "Noting an estimated 17.2 million COVID-19 deaths worldwide through May 31, the commission said, "This staggering death toll is both a profound tragedy and a massive global failure at multiple levels. Too many governments have failed to adhere to basic norms of institutional rationality and transparency, too many people—often influenced by misinformation—have disrespected and protested against basic public health precautions, and the world's major powers have failed to collaborate to control the pandemic." https://aseannow.com/topic/1272054-lancet-commission-on-covid-19-response-massive-global-failure/

Yes, as this report found, the nonprofit groups cited failed to meet their ambitious goals of getting sufficient COVID vaccines and tests distributed to third-world countries... And then the article goes on to explain why: "The leaders of the groups say that they were unable to meet their goals largely because wealthy, Western governments were slow to step up and make available the huge tranches of vaccine and therapeutics that were needed to protect the world." And further, the article quoted Gates Foundation CEO Mark Susman as saying: “In some areas we saw successes. On the most critical issue of equitable vaccine access, the world as a whole failed as high-income countries initially monopolized available supply.” That's not something that the non-profits can chiefly be blamed for. Rightly or wrongly, various countries with access to COVID vaccines in the early going were prioritizing access for their own citizens over access for people in other countries.

I think that info regarding mandatory proof of ATK tests was required at some prior period of time, but no longer is. As I posted above, they now have just the questionnaire that everyone entering the building is required to fill out... asking various things such as... recent travel abroad, recent COVID symptoms, recently having been around COVID cases, etc etc... I answered no to all of those, and was allowed to enter the building without being required to present any proof of an ATK test or having to do an ATK test... Now, the question I don't know the answer to is, what would have happened if I had answered YES to any of the various questions on their questionnaire. If I had, perhaps (though I don't know for certain), they might have required something else. PS - I can't remember off-hand whether they had a temperature scanning machine set up at the entrance or not....

Just a side note on this re COVID vaccinations in TH... I had a COVID booster shot the other day at a private hospital in BKK, and of course they wanted to see my passport, which now is a NEW one vs. the prior 10-year one that was linked to all my prior COVID vaccinations in TH via the MoPH. So at the hospital, I explained to them that I now had a new passport number different than my prior record with the hospital and MoPH... And so they ended up updating my vaccination record in the MoPH database, so now all of my current and prior vaccination history is now associated with my new passport number.

I think the article is confusing on that point, since it references several different types of vaccines once you go past the brief excerpt posted here in the thread and read the full remainder of the article. In the full article, the main vaccine they're talking about for 2024 seems to be the following: "The development of mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 by Chulalongkorn University would enter the third stage of its clinical trial next year. It will precede registration with the Food and Drug Administration and then the vaccine’s use for people. The registration was expected in 2024, Ms Traisuree said."

As far as I know, the answer to your question is YES... if at least 4 months have passed since your last prior vaccination, and you don't have any other disqualifying factors.

And more of the same from Johns Hopkins.... U.S. and U.K. toward the top of the world list of cumulative per capita COVID deaths among the most affected countries: Mortality in the most affected countries "For the twenty countries currently most affected by COVID-19 worldwide, the bars in the chart below show the number of deaths either per 100 confirmed cases (observed case-fatality ratio) or per 100,000 population. [cited in chart below" https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality One might argue, based on the outcomes above, that at least some segments of the U.S. and U.K. populations could have benefited from a bit more well-placed fear.

Ya, what "first world" countries came out looking bad in all of this vs. what "lesser" country did comparatively far better by comparison. Cumulative COVID deaths per 1 million population -- the U.S., U.K., and Thailand Source link

Yes, I took the paid tollway on the outbound trip...The tollway fare was, I believe, 80 baht.

However, the U.S. CDC has done exactly that kind of analysis in the U.S., where there remains larger populations of unvaccinated folks, and found the following for the age 50+ cohort as of June: Unvaccinated people age 50 and above had a 14 times greater risk of dying from COVID than the vaccinated 50+ year olds with two primary and at least two booster vaccine doses. And the actual numbers underlying the chart above -- COVID deaths in that older age group per 100,000 population: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#rates-by-vaccine-status

There's also the following caveat in the NSW report cited above regarding the issue of whether the reported deaths (largely among 80 and 90+ year olds) were BECAUSE of COVID or WITH COVID. From the report: "Under this definition, deaths are considered COVID-19 deaths for surveillance purposes if the person died with COVID-19, not necessarily because COVID-19 was the cause of death. Deaths may be excluded if there was a clear alternative cause of death that was unrelated to COVID-19 (e.g. major trauma)." Past fact check reports have also addressed the misleading way in which the NSW data often is characterized in terms of vaccine effectiveness. "Nancy Baxter, the head of the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, told AFP that the misleading posts had misrepresented Covid death rates in Australia. "Virtually all the people at most risk of dying of Covid are vaccinated so even though they are at considerably less risk of death than those who are unvaccinated, most deaths will occur in vaccinated folk," she said. "Those that are unvaccinated tend to be younger and are at less risk of dying than those who are older." https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.328W9C3 The only way to meaningfully address the issue raised above would be to compare comparable populations of 80 ad 90 year olds (where most of the cited deaths occurred), one group vaccinated and the other group unvaccinated... And then compare the COVID death rates between the two comparable groups. But AFAIK, that's going to be pretty difficult if not impossible to do there, since the vast majority of those most at risk there from COVID have already been vaccinated.

I arrived at BKK CW on Tuesday at 8 am, having traveled by taxi from Mochit on the tollway to Laksi... And had no traffic whatsoever on the outbound trip at all.

For those who want to use MS Office products like Word and Excel but not pay, there is a simplified online version of Microsoft Office that's free. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/free-office-online-for-the-web But short of that, Windows 10 still has two free and basic text editors included in the Win 10 install called WordPad and Notepad, both listed in the "Windows Accessories" folder. WordPad is kind of like a "light" version of MS Word. Allows you to create, open, save and print files locally on your PC. And use the standard Windows commands.... Highlight the desired text and Ctrl-C to copy...then... Place the cursor where you want the text to go, and hit Ctrl-V to paste.

COVID vaccine may cut long-term symptoms up to 80% "COVID-19 patients who had received two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine reported 8 of the 10 most common long-COVID symptoms 50% to 80% less often than their unvaccinated counterparts, finds an ongoing Israeli study published in the Nature journal npj Vaccines. A team led by Bar-Ilan University researchers invited adults tested for COVID-19 at three affiliated hospitals in northern Israel from March 2020 to November 2021 to complete an online questionnaire about demographics, vaccination status, and any symptoms they had or continued to experience. ... After adjusting for age, time from symptom onset to questionnaire completion, and baseline symptoms, infected two-dose vaccine recipients were less likely than their unvaccinated infected peers to report fatigue (-62%), headache (-50%), limb weakness (-62%), and muscle pain (-66%) (risk ratios [RRs], 0.38, 0.50, 0.38, and 0.34). Shortness of breath was also reduced 80%." (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/09/covid-vaccine-may-cut-long-term-symptoms-80 Also, source study: Association between BNT162b2 vaccination and reported incidence of post-COVID-19 symptoms: cross-sectional study 2020-21, Israel https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-022-00526-5 ... "We invited individuals PCR-tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection at participating hospitals between March 2020 and November 2021 to fill an online questionnaire that included information about demographics, acute COVID-19 episode and symptoms they were currently experiencing. ... After adjusting for age, time from beginning of symptoms to responding to the survey, and baseline symptoms, those who received two vaccine doses were less likely than unvaccinated individuals to report any of these symptoms (fatigue, headache, weakness of limbs, persistent muscle pain) by 62%, 50%, 62%, and 66% respectively..." ... Our results suggest that BNT162b2 vaccination may have a protective effect against longer term COVID-19 symptoms."

Study finds Omicron hospital risk 10 times higher in unvaccinated vs. boosted After the emergence of the Omicron variant, the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States was 10.5 times higher in unvaccinated adults and 2.5 times higher in those who were vaccinated but received no booster than in booster recipients, according to a new study. ... In the first study, a team led by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers analyzed data on 192,509 hospitalizations from more than 250 hospitals in 13 states participating in the COVID-19–Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network from Jan 1, 2021, to Apr 30, 2022. The research was published [Sept. 8] in JAMA Internal Medicine. Monthly COVID-19 hospitalization rates were 3.5 to 17.7 times higher in unvaccinated patients than in their vaccinated counterparts, regardless of whether they had received a booster. Hospitalization rates were 10.5 times higher in the unvaccinated and 2.5 times higher in vaccinated patients with no booster than in booster recipients. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/09/study-finds-omicron-hospital-risk-10-times-higher-unvaccinated Also, source study: COVID-19-Associated Hospitalizations Among Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Adults 18 Years or Older in 13 US States, January 2021 to April 2022 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2796235 "Findings In this cross-sectional study of US adults hospitalized with COVID-19 during January 2022 to April 2022 (during Omicron variant predominance), COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates were 10.5 times higher in unvaccinated persons and 2.5 times higher in vaccinated persons with no booster dose, respectively, compared with those who had received a booster dose. Compared with unvaccinated hospitalized persons, vaccinated hospitalized persons were more likely to be older and have more underlying medical conditions. Meaning The study results suggest that COVID-19 vaccines are strongly associated with prevention of serious COVID-19 illness."

Just fyi, for those needing a bank letter to document their 400K or 800K Thai bank deposit for Immigration, BKK CW Immigration will accept bank letters dated up to 1 week prior to your visit... though I usually try to get mine just before, regardless. And it's OK / no problem if the balance on your bank letter obtained days before doesn't exactly match your required bankbook update the day of your visit -- though obviously all your balances have to remain above the required amounts in order to satisfy Immigration. For the BKKB and Krungsri branches at the Government Complex, at least, there's no appointment required, just walk in and request and pay... Though there may be a wait of 30 minutes or more at times... So figure that risk into your planning and whether you get an IO queue ticket beforehand.

Yes, last time I saw, SCB was gone from the Govt. Complex building.

I believe they are still there.... but... caveat... they weren't the focus of my attention yesterday.

And yellow Bank of Ayudhya / Krungsri is still there, among others.

They do the queue tickets thing mainly in the morning at opening, I believe, to prevent the otherwise crush. You'll note, my prior post read: "BKK Immigration seems to now have a newish COVID inspired queue system at opening in the morning..."

If you want to do any business with Thai Immigration in BKK, you'd better be wearing a face mask, because they REQUIRE it. During my visit there this week, the IO's were going up to several non-mask wearing farangs sitting waiting for service, and telling them they had to don a mask, and not leaving until they put one on.

Well someone must be taking notice, because at least 99% of the people I saw today riding around on the BTS, Thai and foreigners alike, were wearing face masks.... And that's well above the general rate I see when out and around elsewhere in town in BKK. Perhaps, just perhaps, it has something to do with standing packed in close proximity to many strangers in a closed environment during a time of COVID.

Depending on when the last time was that various folks were there... BKK Immigration seems to now have a newish COVID inspired queue system at opening in the morning that's a big improvement, compared to what it was the last time I was there a year ago. This week, when I arrived about 8 am prior to the official 8:30 am opening of the Immigration Office, there were three IOs sitting at a table in front of the closed IO entrance handing out entry queue tickets and TM forms to those that wanted/needed them. When I arrived, I walked right up to their desk and NO ONE was in line waiting for their service. At 8 am, they gave me an entry ticket number of 136, which I soon realized relates to what now are long rows of wooden chairs that snake along the side of their office heading back a long way. Each chair has a number tag pasted on the back, which corresponds to the queue ticket number they've given you (i.e., that's where you sit to wait in socially distanced style). By about 8:15 or 8:20 am, they began allowing the queued up chair folks to line up and then enter the actual Immigration Office, and then onward to the line at the IO's front counter where you get the real queue ticket number for service at whatever Immigration section you're headed to. The entry into Immigration was all very orderly and organized, and they had an IO checking every queue ticket number outside to make sure no one was cutting into the line or going out of order relative to their queue number.... A far cry from the old days of long standing queues outside the IO office, people without queue tickets cutting line, and a general mob rush into the IO office once they opened the doors. None of that is occurring now under the current system, AFAICT.