TallGuyJohninBKK

Hyperventilating posters here would be well-served to note: 1. The OP article says the rapid test scheme they're implementing at KSR ONLY applies for people whose most recent vaccinations are six months or more old. 2. The OP article indicates the testing in those circumstances is being done to Thais and foreigners alike.

As I mentioned in my prior post, Dunlopillo (the brand I just brought) claims to source their latex from the U.K., so the Korea Times article that discussed Thai made latex presumably would not be an issue for latex mattresses made in the UK.

Here's the latex mattress emissions issue I alluded to above.... All I know on this subject is what I read in this news report, which seemed to focus on Thailand produced latex mattresses as opposed to ones imported from the west: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2018/06/356_250111.html "A deadly level of radiation has been detected from anion-contained latex products sold in a number of tourist destinations in Thailand, including Phuket, Krabi, Bangkok and Pattaya, according to industry sources. Those products were found to include monazite powder. Monazite is an ore containing radioactive thorium to boost the anion production _ but it can raise levels of radon emitted. This, in a worst case scenario, could cause elevated risks for cancer. "I would say 95 percent of the anion latex products sold here are made with monazite. Monazite is a cheap mineral that has a large amount of anions. It generates a massive amount of radiation at the same," said an industry insider on the condition of anonymity during an interview with The Korea Times. "There are other substances that generate anions. But monazite is the cheapest material that leaves a big margin for retailers."

Gonna be kind of tough and or expensive getting such a thing delivered to Thailand, no?

I see their Experience model listed in the Dun catalog I just got. Their king is listed at 43,000 on sale, though presumably it can be had for considerably less. It's listed in their "Ultra Firm" category, but is listed as having "soft" foam layers, whereas the Ecstasy model we're getting is also classed as "Ultra Firm," but their catalog says it has "medium" foam layers. They list the Experience as 8.5 inches deep, while the Ectasy is listed as 10.5 inches deep. I sure hope I get a good 10+ years out of ours.... ????

My Thai wife and I were sort of happenstance shopping for a new mattress in the past week, and had some interesting experiences that I can share here: 1. By way of background, my wife, in her job, handles purchasing for one of the richest families in Thailand, including handling the purchases of their home mattresses. They buy Omazz and Dunlopillo brand mattresses, FWIW. But they also don't care how much money they spend on such things. https://omazz.com/en/ https://dunlopillo.co.th/ 2. I'm a big and tall guy, with a corresponding body weight. A couple years back, we bought for our home what started out as a perfectly good and comfortable king-size spring mattress from Robinson's of the Sealy Posturepedic brand of a firm type that I wanted for about 16,000b. Started out great, but four years later, it's become too soft with dips in the place where my body usually sleeps, and I wake up every morning sore. 3. So we happened to be walking thru a Central Department store this past week and stopped to look at some of the mattresses. After working our way thru a variety of brands and styles that were generally too soft, we finally came across a Dunlopillo latex mattress that I liked the feel of -- called Ecstasy Velour. Central had it listed at a regular price of almost 129,000b mattress only, but of course also had a supposed sale, offering it for 90,000 baht for the king. Talking ensued between my wife and the sales guy, and after a lot of back and forth, she had whittled him down to a price of about 50,000 baht for the same king size mattress, mattress only, which we said we'd consider and decide within the week. Went home, checked some more, found the same mattress listed on Shopee for a bit less, but not from a seller we knew. So my wife ends up calling Dunlopillo Thailand in BKK directly, more negotiating ensues. They have the same mattress listed on sale for about 70,000, but my wife ends up striking a deal for about 46,000b for the mattress, with the company including a whole set of related stuff I didn't really care so much about -- comforter, sheets set, regular pillows, long pillows, etc. So, that's 46,000 direct via Dunlopillo for a whole king set vs what started out as Central's sale of the same mattress for 90,000 baht. Message and lesson here is -- list prices and even sale prices for mattresses in Thailand are often wildly inflated, and subject to considerable bargaining. 4. If I understand right, there are three basic varieties of mattresses these days -- the traditional metal spring kind, the foam kind and the latex mattress kind, and various combinations of those. I think the different mattress brands often carry models in each of those categories at different price points. In the case of the latex mattresses, I've been told in the past and read in the news that you have to be very careful about Thai produced latex mattresses because of them reportedly often giving off harmful chemical emissions. In the case of the Omazz latex mattresses, supposedly their mattress cores are sourced from the U.S., while the Dunlopillo latex cores supposedly are sourced from the U.K. I've never slept on a latex mattress at home before, so this upcoming new mattress will be a new experience for me. I know it felt good in the store. But the test will be, how it holds up over time... Ahh... the Dunlopillo mattress we bought comes with a 12 year warranty. Of course, the Sealy Posturepedic brand of four years ago we have at home now has a 10-year-warranty. And although it is noticeably softer and very uncomfortable for me now, there's nothing visibly wrong with the mattress, and I doubt Sealy would honor any kind of warranty claim....

That's not correct. The Pfizer and Moderna two-dose vaccines have been shown in studies to be very effective against the Delta variant... though that effectiveness does decline over time... Thus, the reason for the booster shots isn't to fix some failing of the original vaccine, but rather, to restore the original effectiveness of the original vaccine shots that have declined over time since the original vaccination. In contrast, AFAIK, the reason for adding a Pfizer or AZ booster for people who've already received two doses of the Chinese vaccines is simply to improve their otherwise lagging effectiveness.

Alexa does the same... Just tested it. "Alexa, how do I say in Thai.... XXXXXXXXX?

Should Thai researchers ever develop a vaccine that protects against the habit of ignorantly shooting your mouth off.... I know who I'd nominate to be first in line for the clinical trials.... ????

I think the two Chinese made vaccines likely ARE inferior to the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines... Inferior defined as -- I've never seen any credible studies/research on vaccine effectiveness that showed either Sinovac or Sinopharm OUTPERFORMING either Pfizer or Moderna, especially against the current Delta variant. When the WHO approved both Sinovac and Sinopharm for use, based on data that preceded the wide spread of the Delta variant, both had lower rates of effectiveness against symptomatic infection and hospitalization than either Pfizer or Moderna. And the prior's performance surely has not improved against Delta. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/coronavirus-and-your-health/covid-variant#INDvariant vs https://fortune.com/2021/08/31/china-covid-vaccine-sinovac-sinopharm-delta-variant-effective/ There also hasn't been as much credible, publicly released data regarding the two Chinese vaccines against Delta as there has been for the western vaccines. And the Chinese manufacturers have consistently issued vague, general claims, often without providing any credible evidence to support them. Here's one actual non-China research result cited in the above article: So yes, I'd say the above clearly provides evidence to show the Chinese vaccines are "inferior" -- lower in rank, status, or quality, or in this case, effectiveness -- in performance to their western counterparts. "Inferior" regarding the Chinese vaccines does NOT mean they're bad or they don't work at all... It just means, the credible scientific evidence thus says they don't work as well as the alternatives. But no doubt, as the above article says, the Chinese vaccines are better than not getting vaccinated at all...

So this is the explanation of the vague reference in the OP post between Anutin's vaccine history supposedly actually would have allowed him to enter the country... But, without the additional Swiss COVID certificate that he would NOT have been eligible to receive, he would have been limited in terms of where he could go and what he could do there. This part surely would have been the killer issue:

Interesting... the recent trend lines in vaccinations for the E.U. and the U.S. appear to show Pfizer pulling well ahead of Moderna in terms of total shots given, and broadening its lead in those two regions. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-vaccine-doses-by-manufacturer?country=~USA

Have no idea what this above is supposed to mean for actual travelers??? Clear as mud!

Perhaps you should try doing some reading on the subject. Things already have been changing, but seemingly you're not noticing. "Major hurricanes are devastating coastal communities and bringing flooding thousands of miles inland. Wildfires are burning for months. Heatwaves are scorching places where people don’t have air conditioning. Events like these have all happened just this year, and they contributed to another huge annual bill of billion-dollar disasters tracked by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). ... NOAA began tracking billion-dollar disasters in 1980. During the 1980s, the U.S. experienced, on average, three disasters per year, giving agencies an average of 66 days between disasters. In 2020, we had 22 disasters, leaving only 14 days for recovery between events. NOAA just announced that in the first nine months of this year we have already surpassed the total disaster costs for all of last year. And we are on pace to set a new record for total number of disasters, with 18 on record through the end of September." https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/576130-disaster-fatigue-is-getting-worse-with-more-billion-dollar-extreme Extreme weather tormenting the planet will worsen because of global warming, U.N. panel finds This summer’s extreme weather is just a tame preview of the future, scientists warn "August 9, 2021 at 11:28 a.m. EDT From record-crushing heat waves to ruinous floods and fires, extreme weather has punished the planet in recent months. Human-caused climate change is intensifying these devastating extremes and will make them even worse in the coming decades, a panel from the United Nations concluded in its review of climate science. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released Monday states that the human influence on weather extremes has “strengthened” since its last review in 2014, particularly for heat waves, heavy downpours, droughts and hurricanes. “We have much clearer evidence on changes in climate extremes as a result of human-induced climate change,” said Sonia Seneviratne, a panel coordinating lead author and climate scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich." (more) https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/08/09/ipcc-2021-extreme-weather-climate/

I've gone thru this -- successfully -- with my Thai wife and the U.S. consulate in BKK. Here's the three most important things I learned going thru their process that are key to a successful application 1. Make sure the Thai wife brings with her to her appointment both your original U.S. passport that hopefully shows an extended period of annual visa/extension permissions for you to live in Thailand, as well as photocopies of your main passport page and all those retirement / marriage / business visa/extension stamps. And that she hands all those (your original passport and the photocopies) separately and prominently to the consular office who is interviewing her at the very start of the interview. The upshot is, they're going to base their decision as much on the details pertaining to YOU as they will the details regarding your wife. And the history of visa/extension stamps for Thailand is going to show you have an ongoing, stable, well-established history of residency here. 2. If the reason you're planning the trip is to visit your parents / have the wife meet your parents in the U.S., have your parents write a signed letter addressed to the BKK Consulate in which they are extending an invitation for you and your Thai wife to come to visit them in the U.S. on (whatever the dates are of your trip). Have them write that you've been married together for X years living in Thailand together, but the wife has yet to meet your parents (or whatever other applicable personal details apply), and mention that your parents are of such and such age (getting up there in years). Include a reference to that letter in your online application for the tourist visa, and have the wife bring a printed/signed copy of the letter with her on the day of the interview, and make sure she also presents it separately to the consular staff. [In that case, I also included with the letter a marked photocopy of my father's U.S. state ID card, along with his personal email and phone contact info, just in case any Consulate staff folks might think I was trying to pull a fast one on them. The ID card copy also served the second purpose of documenting the age of my parents, as I had explained in the letter.] 3. Make sure you fully and accurately complete all the details of the tourist visa application, and have the wife bring with her a well-organized set of supporting photocopy materials of any pertinent stuff, like land ownership docs, bank account statements, written permission from her work to travel to the U.S. for the specific time of the trip, and any other pertinent stuff. And make sure she's familiar enough with what she has to be able to tell the consular officer what she has and offer him/her to see those materials, if they have any interest. In my wife's case, all they really cared about and were interested in was my history of visa/extensions living in Thailand and the invitation letter from my parents wanting us/her to come visit them. She had everything else, but they pretty much didn't show any interest in the rest. PS - You mentioned having applied and being denied. Once denied, I don't think you can immediately simply apply again and likely expect a different result. You probably need to give some time (I can't say I know exactly how much) before re-applying again... though probably at least some months would be best.

What model of jet is ANA typically using for the long-haul segments -- Japan-U.S.? And, how's the legroom and seat characteristics for their economy seat layouts on those flights?

EVA has long been my go-to carrier for LAX-BKK flights.... But it's been months since I checked on them, once the government in Taiwan adapted a no-international air transit thru Taipei for non-Taiwan nationals policy. Am I hearing from you guys, that policy is still in effect even now, and thus no ability still to fly BKK to LAX on EVA?

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20211019/Waning-COVID-vaccine-efficacy-especially-against-reinfection.aspx I couldn't agree more with the comments expressed above by the authors of this study on vaccine effectiveness. My personal observation is... too many governments / localities have gone wrong in the COVID pandemic by thinking they could/should lift mask requirements and the other preventive measures mentioned above either once individuals have been fully vaccinated, or once some overall share of their society has been fully vaccinated. Yes.. in different areas, there's public and political pressure to cease mask requirements and other measures as vaccinations progress. But as the results above show, current vaccines are not a 100% solution, and they're generally much more effective at preventing illness and death of the vaccinated than they are at preventing the vaccinated from spreading the virus to others. Thus, I'm now fully vaccinated with two doses of AZ.... But recognizing all of the above, I really haven't changed my habits and routines at all from back in the earlier time when I was totally un-vaccinated. Still wear a mask when outside my home, still avoid bringing others into my home, the wife is working at home instead of in a public office, still avoid close quarters contact even when wearing a mask, and avoid crowded settings in general. All aimed at avoiding exposure to the virus. But at least I know, should my avoidance efforts fail somewhere along the line and I do contract the virus despite my best efforts, I've taken the best vaccine available to me, and one that has a good track record of preventing the vast majority of COVID hospitalizations and deaths.

In your attempt to discredit / diminish current COVID vaccines, you cherry picked one statistic out of the above cited study regarding the effectiveness of the J&J vaccine at preventing infections in mid 2021 -- about six months after the study's population began being vaccinated. But you neglected to also mention the same study's comparable findings re the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, so let me add those here: "Initially, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 88% effective in preventing infection. But by August, vaccine effectiveness dropped to 3%. For the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, vaccine protection started at 91% and was reduced to 50% protection by August. The Moderna vaccine showed the smallest reduction in vaccine effectiveness. A 92% vaccine effectiveness decreased to 64% by August." I'll take a Pfizer vaccine that gives me 50% protection simply against becoming infected from the Delta variant, likewise a Moderna vaccine that gives me 64% protection against the same. And that study data, of course, didn't address the even higher levels of protection that those same vaccines provide against COVID-related illness, hospitalizations and deaths. As the article you cited quotes the study's authors as aptly saying in summary: “COVID-19 vaccines remain the most important tool to prevent infection, severe illness, and death, but vaccines should be accompanied by additional measures, including masking, hand washing, physical distancing, and other public health interventions, in the face of increased risk of infection due to the Delta variant,” explained the researchers."

Although effective Nov. 22, as my post above shows, the UK is gonna start accepting mixed vaccine combos that include one or the other of the Chinese vaccines, in addition to the various others.

Gomen nasai! ????

I don't think it matters what country or companies you bought the devices from as much as what country your Amazon account is based in. That's what is going to have more of an impact on what you can and can't do, AFAIK. You can always change the voice and language settings for those devices via the Alexa app.

These days in Alexa, you can tell it to play Spotify music on a specific named Echo device in your voice request. Or, in the Alexa app, you can set up named groups of multiple Alexa devices, and direct the music to play on all the Alexa devices in that group (such as whole house, or whatever you've set up in terms of groupings).

My Alexa account is in the U.S. My Spotify account is a Thai one debited from my Thai bank account. They work perfectly fine together... though I'm usually using both with a U.S. IP via VPN... I can't recall whether switching to a local Thai wifi IP creates any problems....but I don't think it does, as long as everything's on the same wifi network.

I think you can have only one Spotify account connected at any given time to one particular Alexa account. You can always change the setup in Alexa to a different Spotify account. But I don't think you can just swap back and forth via voice request.