TallGuyJohninBKK

Ya, I was leaving there there mid-morning... 10 to 11 am... Perhaps you got caught in the afternoon rush hour and resulting dirth of taxis. That's why I always try to get there early in the morning... miss the morning rush hour out, take care of my business quick, miss the lunch break at Immigration, and miss the afternoon traffic on the way back home! ????

One nice thing I did notice on the way TO Immigration from Mochit meanwhile...when taking the paid tollway out to Laksi... There used to be an odd, typically Thai exit from the expressway there that took you off onto surface streets and traffic congestion before you could finally get to the corner of CW Road and turn down toward Soi 7 and the government complex. Now, with all the rail line associated construction there, they've redone the Laksi intersection and, believe or not, there's a regular curved downward exit from the tollway that descends and puts you right onto CW Road heading in the right direction... They seem to have gotten that part right, at least.

When I was there Tuesday, it was easy to wait for and catch regular meter taxis at the exit from the Government Complex B building right outside where Immigration is located. When I was there, there was a queue of them parked, empty and waiting, right along the curb at the entrance area there. They're also still running the internal shuttle that takes people from the B Building to the top of the soi along CW Road. But agree about the local roadways within the Government Complex area right now... It took my taxi almost as long to maneuver out of that current mess, as it did to make it all the way back to Mochit once we got on the highway.

Couple other details of my BKK CW visit today: --They're still requiring the COVID questionnaire form to be completed prior to entering the the building where they do NOT ask about your vax status, but DO ask about all kind of other COVID-related things in the prior week -- have you had any recent symptoms, have you been around COVID positive people, have you traveled internationally, have you tested positive, etc etc. --Also, they are enforcing the face mask wearing policy in the Immigration offices at BKK CW. While I was sitting inside there waiting for my queue number to be called, there were two other farang guys sitting nearby at various points who were NOT wearing face masks... And in short order, one of the female IOs came up to each of them, and said 'MISTER!" and told them to put on their face masks. They also chided another guy who was wearing his mask below his nose.... So, come prepared!

Here's the @SooKee post from 1-1/2 years ago in a related thread talking about encountering the same bank book and photocopies requirement at BKK CW as part of the transferring stamps to a new passport process. He also was on a retirement extension, I believe: "Quick update on this. Transferred my stamps to new passport at CW yesterday. Bit more hassle than I thought it would be due to some running around because of admin errors but in short I ended up needing, in addition to both passports: 1) Letter from Embassy requesting Immigration to transfer the stamps 2) Thai Immigration stamp transfer application 3) Bank book updated to the day of transfer together with a signed copy along with signed copies of these pages..."

Thanks Pib! Could be one of two things, I guess... 1. It's a new rule that didn't apply previously... or 2. perhaps they're only applying it to retirement extension holders (such as myself) who rely on the bank deposit method, and not marriage extension holders such as yourself... Because in your case, you can legally have your extension-linked Thai bank balance go to zero at times during the year while still complying with their rules.... whereas with retirement extensions, the person has to have at least 800K for some months and 400K for the other months, and never below that.

I could have done that, do the stamps transfer AND the new extension on the same day, but I decided against it, for the following reason.... I usually ask my Thai wife to accompany me for the retirement extension process (which I'm very familiar with and have no doubts about), and she typically takes the morning off work once a year to do that.... And, since I wasn't entirely sure of all the stamp transfer requirements (having not done that process since 10 years ago), I decided I didn't want to run the risk of not having something Immigration wanted for the stamps transfer process that would have prevented me from doing the extension part, and thus wasting her time off of work. And if I hadn't decided to bring along my Thai bankbook just in case, that's exactly would have happened today -- a wasted trip out to BKK CW for being unable to comply with a requirement that they don't seem to have made clear in the public domain. At least this way, now, I can go back next week with the Thai wife, just do the new extension part, and be sure that we're not going to get tripped up with any complication relating to the new passport.

100% on that! I was going to try to explain to them -- but then figured it was hopeless -- that I've got to be back there at BKK CW next week to apply for a new extension of stay with my new passport. And when I show up asking for the new extension, they're going to require me to produce all the same bank stuff all over again.. And the IOs there today would have known that, because they could see the same as me that my current extension will expire later this month. So why they felt they needed to make me duplicate the exact same process again today, when they'd know I'd have to do it again within the coming two weeks anyway, is lost on me.... ????

Note: my experience below involves a person on a retirement extension based on a supporting Thai bank deposit: Just an UPDATE from BKK CW today, re the process of transferring one's extension stamps into a new passport, and it was a SHOCKER! In addition to the list of required photocopies I posted in the prior post, all of which Immigration indeed wanted today, they also wanted to: 1] inspect my original Thai bankbook holding my 800K retirement extension deposit to make sure my balance hadn't dropped below the required levels; 2] have me do a print balance update of that bankbook today as part of my application, and 3] provide them with signed photocopies of all the bankbook pages covering the entire 1 year period of my current extension. None of that pertaining to the bank info is listed anywhere on Immigration's own documents checklist (posted above) for getting stamps transferred into a new passport. So I checked with the officer handling my application, and she confirmed it, and I later spoke with her supervisor there in English, who also confirmed it. I couldn't quite get them to clarify if this was an old or new rule... But the supervisor told me, nowdays, if you are doing any business at BKK CW's L section where they handle retirement extensions, and your retirement extension is based on a Thai bank deposit, they're going to ask you for all three of the bank-related things above. I asked them further, and they clarified that the bankbook update and related photocopies stuff will NOT apply if an extension holder based on a Thai bank deposit is going to BKK CW to do business at the 90-day report section or the re-entry permit section or any other sections. But if you're doing any business at the L extensions section, they said they will require you to produce the bank stuff. Yesterday, in preparing for today's visit to BKK CW to get my stamps transferred to my new passport, I read a half dozen or so related threads on that general topic here on the forum, and I think there was only one poster (SooKee) who mentioned BKK CW requiring the bankbook update and photocopies as part of the transferring stamps to a new passport process. My guess last night was that he was probably wrong about that, since pretty much nobody else had mentioned it in their various posts. But I figured I'd bring along my Thai bankbook holding my retirement extension deposit just in case. And I'm glad I did, because he was 100% correct about that. And if I hadn't brought my bankbook, it would have been a wasted trip and day out to BKK CW. Two other detail issues that have gotten discussion in these threads: 1. As least for me as of today at BKK CW, there was NO FEE charged for transferring my Immigration stamps from my old passport to my new one. 2. And other than the bank info subject I've explained above, Immigration's documents checklist that I posted above is correct. They only wanted the photocopies of the most recent stamps for current extension, most recent entry, most recent visa, etc. -- and NOT photocopies of every used page from my old passport, which would have been a LOT of photocopies. Hope the above is helpful and useful.

I just came back from BKK CW this morning. Fortunately, dry as a bone on the way, while there, and on the way back. No water or flood impact at all, for the time being... However, since the last time I was there a year ago, they're going crazy with huge new construction all around the Government Complex property, with major new buildings going up... So getting in and out is a bit more hectic than usual. But Immigration itself, this morning, was about as un-busy as I can ever recall it being on a regular weekday morning. So now's a good time to go, if you've got any biz to do there. PS - Thanks for all the feedback above!!! ????

I thought the page 2 of the document you linked above was pretty interesting -- an Immigration checklist of all the various photocopies they'll supposedly want as part of transferring stamps to a new passport. My last time doing it was a decade ago, so I have little memory of the details back then. But when I go back to Immigration this week to request the stamps transfer to my new passport, hopefully now I'll be well prepared for any eventualities! ???? I don't think anyone in this thread mentioned being required to produce all of the above photocopies... ? But those types of photocopies are pretty much the standard kinds of things Immigration often wants to see for almost everything, including blowing your nose! ????

So for your experience at BKK CW, are you saying it was a two-step process? First have to deal with transferring your extension of stay at that section, and then separately had to go to the re-entry permit section to get that stamp transferred as well? It's been like a decade since the last time I had to do this at BKK CW... But my vague recollection of my experience long ago was that it was all done in one step at the extensions section and by the officers there...

Were you there recently? If so, how was the general international transit experience there now, compared to what it was pre EVA's transit shutdown?

Anyone been out or around BKK CW Immigration in the past couple days? Any info if there's any impact there, either on their operations or access to the area, from the flooding that's apparently occurring in the Laksi area?

From your link regarding the new 2nd gen Moderna vaccine: "The European Medicines Agency therefore decided that the benefits of Spikevax, including its adapted vaccine, are greater than its risks, and it can be authorised for use in the EU. Spikevax has been given ‘conditional marketing authorisation’. ." 01/09/2022 Recommendation to authorise Spikevax bivalent Original/Omicron BA.1, a vaccine targeting the original SARS-CoV-2 and the Omicron BA.1 subvariant, for use as a booster in people aged 12 years and older who have received at least primary vaccination against COVID 19."

Seems like we're not reading the same Guardian article, based on your single sentence quote... You seem to have ignored the rest of the article, such as: "The decision to reduce the number of children who are offered Covid jabs has prompted outcry from parent groups and academics." AND "Prof Christina Pagel, of University College London, criticised the move.... “There is also the additional benefit to children of providing additional protection from developing long Covid, missing school during the acute illness and reducing transmission to household members, other children and teachers.” “When we know there is a safe and effective vaccine available this seems unjustifiable to me,” said Pagel, adding that – while rare – children had died from Covid.

The deaths of young children from COVID are pretty rare, though some have occurred in Thailand. However, dying from COVID isn't the only reason to consider vaccination for young people, as explained in the following: Life as a young person with long COVID: “You go through so many phases of up and down, it’s like being on a rollercoaster forever” ... "In March 2020 Kitty McFarland was a fit and healthy 14-year-old. She enjoyed ballet, paddleboarding, running and netball. Then she contracted COVID-19. ... About a month later the pair attempted some very light exercise, but the relapse Kitty suffered left her bedbound for the next eight months. “I mainly felt dizzy and exhausted. I would faint a lot and get heart palpitations; I could be just sitting around, and my heart would suddenly leap to 190 beats a minute,” says Kitty. She also developed a gluten intolerance and acute abdominal pain that caused her to faint and required several hospital stays." https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/30-08-2022-life-as-a-young-person-with-long-covid---you-go-through-so-many-phases-of-up-and-down--it-s-like-being-on-a-rollercoaster-forever

In the one confirmed myo case in the Thai students study, I believe they did follow-up exams sufficient to determine there was NO lingering after-effects, and indicated such in their paper.

If I were a person in my late teens or 20s, I'd opt for the Pfizer vaccine over the Moderna vaccine... because the science and research supports that choice. Even though as the Thai study above involving students explains, all of the cases where they found any vaccine side effects had short-term effects and all recovered quickly and fully.

Yes, and their full finding of that study was: "the risk of myocarditis associated with the vaccine was lower than the risk associated with COVID-19 infection before or after vaccination – with one exception. Men under 40 who received a second dose of the Moderna vaccine had a higher risk of myocarditis following vaccination." Rare myocarditis cases associated with COVID vaccinated typically have been mild and short-term. People usually recover fully and quickly. COVID death, they don't recover from.

Here's the greater risk people need to be worried about, per the U.S. CDC, and it's for the UNvaccinated -- not the vaccinated. 14 times greater risk of dying from COVID among the age 50+ group who are UNvaccinated, vs those vaccinated with two booster shots or better. Source link

I did read the entire opinion piece, and suffice to say, I believe a lot of the negative public attitudes toward the CDC have been pushed by, and reside in, the anti-vax, COVID denying/minimizing right-wing and their mountains of COVID and vaccine related misinformation. Note that it's at least in part Republicans in Congress right now who have been blocking additional funding allocations to buy more COVID medications, test kits, even the new vaccines. "The Biden administration purchased 171 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna's updated vaccines this summer, but only after reallocating about $5 billion in funds intended for other pandemic resources. Amid resistance from Republicans, Congress failed to reach a deal on supplemental funding and so in June, the Biden administration's top health officials decided they needed to find another way." https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/31/politics/joe-biden-booster-shots/index.html That meant having to halt the federal program offering free at-home COVID test kits, pull funds for Personal Protective Equipment and reduce funds to promote the use of the new vaccines, among other redirections. "The funding trade-off also means that it will might be harder for the US to detect and slow transmission in the fall and winter months as testing will likely become more scarce once again. " Can't lay this one at the doorstep of the CDC. Rather, it's politics and federal lawmakers who believe in bogus stuff like ivermectin.

The CDC has faced numerous challenges during the pandemic.... including but not limited to: --political interference by political appointees during the Trump Admin., and misinformation by the president himself. --underfunding and underinvestment in capabilities to respond to emerging threats. --and the changing/shifting scientific realities that occurred as the coronavirus surfaced and then continued mutating. That said, the CDC recognizes it can and needs to do better, hence the recent developments: In an effort to address its missteps during Covid, CDC plans an ‘ambitious’ agency overhaul Aug. 17, 2022 "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency that has had its reputation battered by a series of missteps in the Covid-19 pandemic, and a slow response to the monkeypox outbreak, will undergo an “ambitious” overhaul, Director Rochelle Walensky announced Wednesday. In an email to staff, Walensky said the renewal effort will focus on making the agency more nimble and responsive to needs that arise in health emergencies. The priority will be to gather data that can be used to rapidly dispense public health guidance, rather than craft scientific papers." (more) https://www.statnews.com/2022/08/17/cdc-ambitious-overhaul-covid-missteps/

Funny how every time anti-vaxers want to try to criticize agencies like the CDC, they end up dredging up studies or commentary by ECONOMISTS... Though as in your case, neither you nor The Hill article the guy wrote make it clear the guy's field of expertise has nothing to do with either public health or COVID, though he does have a background in hospital finance. "Carl J. Schramm is an internationally recognized leader in entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth." https://ischool.syr.edu/carl-schramm/ "Carl J Schramm is an American economist, entrepreneur, author" "Schramm is recognized internationally as a leading authority on innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth." https://carlschramm.com/about-me/ Next time I need advise or expertise about the COVID pandemic, I'm sure he WON'T be the first person I'll ask!

In reading the pre-print analysis that the above Nature article is based on, the Nature article appears to be somewhat underselling what the Australian analysis actually says about the new 2nd generation vaccines.... The Australian analysis found a 1.5 times increase in neutralizing titres in the new vaccines vs the old vaccines against the newer virus variants. "Considering only neutralisation of SARS-CoV-2 variant strains, we found that variant-modified vaccines on average produced 1.51-fold higher titres than the equivalent ancestral-based vaccine." In other words, they found the original vaccines post injection resulted in an 11 fold increase in neutralizing titres, vs a 16.6 fold increase with the newer vaccines. "Synthesis of the currently available data suggest that variant-modified booster vaccination can provide significantly higher (1.5-fold) neutralisation titres to a diversity of current and historic SARS-CoV-2 variants compared to ancestral-based boosters. This is predicted to provide up to a maximum of a 9.7 percentage increase in protection [against symptomatic infection] (dependent on the pre-boost level of population protection)." In short, they're saying that the advantage of the newer vaccines over the original ones in preventing symptomatic infection or serious COVID disease is greater in populations with less pre-existing immunity from prior infections or vaccinations, and less in populations with greater pre-existing immunity. In one example they gave, they said if the newer boosters were used in a population with 50% pre-existing immunity, the overall protection against symptomatic infection would rise to 90.2% with the new vaccines vs. 85.6% with the original vaccines.