TallGuyJohninBKK

It would also be better if you didn't misrepresent the actual data on the Sinovac vaccine and the BBC's reporting on it. The effectiveness stats you quote above from the BBC are those listed by the WHO at the time of WHO approval, which relied on trials in several countries that occurred PRIOR to the emergence of the coronavirus Delta variant as the main one in the world. As the July 2021 BBC report you partially quoted goes on to say (and which you chose NOT to include in your summary of their report): "However, there is little data about its [Sinovac's] effectiveness against the Delta variant." And the same BBC report went on to add: "Thailand has changed its vaccine policy to mix China's Sinovac with the AstraZeneca vaccine in a bid to boost protection after hundreds of medical workers caught Covid despite being fully vaccinated with Sinovac. Meanwhile in Indonesia, the main doctors and nurses' association said at least 30 healthcare workers died despite receiving two doses of the Sinovac vaccine." There are some questions about the real meaning/details of those Thai and Indonesia cases the BBC refers to above. But there's little question about the absence of much clear, credible, peer-reviewed evidence of Sinovac's effectiveness against the Delta variant.

When was the last time anyone remembers reading/hearing about anyone in Thailand being prosecuted and then fined or imprisoned for overcharging the public?

Personally, I don't care about the Sinovac vaccine one way or the other, as I've already had my two doses of AZ via the Thai government's vaccination program for expats. However, my Thai wife has refused the opportunity to get the Sinovac vaccine via the government's vaccine program because her mother upcountry doesn't like it. And when I asked the wife what the mother had seen about Sinovac, the wife's response was that the mother had been viewing Thai youtube and social media videos claiming people had bad reactions to Sinovac. Now, I personally don't reconsider Thai social media reports to be particularly credible on these kinds of topics, nor does the real science support that kind of stuff. However, none of that stops ill-informed or poorly-informed Thais (or even people of other nationalities!) from basing their personal vaccination decisions based on social media nonsense. If I had to make the decision still, based on what I know from credible science, I'd try instead to get two shots of an mRNA vaccine like Moderna or Pfizer solely for being more effective against the Delta variant than Sinovac... that is, if I had any such choices in the matter. And not because of any social media vaccine reaction nonsense or anti-Chinese sentiment relating to the Sinovac vaccine. And FWIW, my wife just today put in her 3300b payment for two doses of the Moderna vaccine thru a private hospital in BKK that are supposed to be delivered before the end of the year. So, she put her money where her mouth is, paying for Moderna instead of taking the free Sinovac doses offered by the government.

I see Twitter has the following info in their blog post about this Strike payments tie-up... "You’ll know an account has turned on Tips if you see this icon next to the Follow button on the profile page. Tap the icon, and you’ll see a list of payment services or platforms that the account has enabled, and you can select whichever you prefer. The services* available so far: Bandcamp Cash App Chipper Patreon Razorpay Wealthsimple Cash Venmo" https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/product/2021/bringing-tips-to-everyone Maybe someone here who's more clued into this can let me know... Are there any real consumer-facing businesses in Thailand that accept payments from ANY of these above kinds of payment methods? I buy stuff on Lazada.com from time to time. Last time I checked, they don't even accept Paypal, Samsung Pay, Google Pay or anything like that... much less any of the more esoteric kind of stuff Twitter has listed above.

If and when there's a real international legal framework supporting and legitimizing all the stuff being thrown out in this thread, that's when I'll start to take it seriously. Like consumer protections, deposit insurance, international acceptance, etc... Until then, it's just internet geeks in hoodies somewhere. It was funny! I watched the CNBC video report linked earlier in this thread. The older male anchor on the segment basically said to the Strike guy... I have no idea what you're talking about. Then the same anchor asked the Strike guy.... where are you at? And noted, it looked like the guy was being inteviewed from inside some large women's walk-in closet! And the Strike guy never did exactly end up saying WHERE he really is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZXU6mZKrm0

From everything I've read, I WOULD believe the notion that a vaccine regimen of one dose of Sinovac followed by one dose of AZ is more effective against the Delta variant than the prior regimen of two Sinovac doses for Thais under the government's vaccine program, which provides FREE doses. However, I think there's little to no credible evidence (outside of claims made by the Thai government) to show how effective the Sinovac/AZ regimen is compared to alternatives like mixed AZ/mRNA or two doses of mRNA vaccines like Pfizer or Moderna, which have very high rates of effectiveness in credible studies. For whatever reasons, credible or not, a lot of Thais seem to be fearful of the Sinovac vaccine. And not just because it seems to be less effective than its mRNA peers. I'm not sure comments like those in the OP article here are going to change the minds of Thais who have those preconceptions about the Sinovac vaccine.

The Sun also seems to have another, separate article saying that Google is going to be blocking Google access to YouTube, Gmail and Google Maps on Android devices with version 2.3 OS and older... https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/16252672/google-maps-youtube-gmail-android-blocked-ewaste/ "Google said it plans to block users from signing in with their Google Account on devices using Android 2.3. The ageing version of Google's operating system launched in December 2010." ... "As part of our ongoing efforts to keep our users safe, Google will no longer allow sign-in on Android devices that run Android 2.3.7 or lower starting September 27, 2021," a Google spokesperson explained. ... Smartphones that remain stuck with Android 2.3 include Sony Xperia Advance, Lenovo K800, Sony Xperia Go, Vodafone Smart II, Samsung Galaxy S2, Sony Xperia P, LG Spectrum, Sony Xperia S, LG Prada 3.0, HTC Velocity, HTC Evo 4G, Motorola Fire, and Motorola XT532."

Glad to hear that! If future trip reports from BKK CW remain the same on that point, I'll plan on leaving it out of my paperwork packet next year.... and see what happens.

Thanks for following up on that issue, continuing to press Krungsri on it, and then updating the results here! Of course, nothing that you're recounting above comes as any great surprise, this being Thailand. As a parallel example, I lately asked one of the major supermarket chains via their online ordering customer service manager to add one item they sell in the stores to their online/delivery catalog. They said "no problem" and promised to do it. Six weeks later now, still hasn't been done. So goes it here.

Re the TM 30 and 90 day reporting slips, as I said above, last year I didn't provide photocopies of those in my packet, and the IO then specifically wanted them, even though I hadn't moved/changed my residence or had any other triggering activity. Fortunately, I had the originals with me stapled in my passport, so the IO unclipped them and made a photocopy of them there in her office. Given that experience last year, this year I included photocopies of both with my paperwork packet, and this year's different IO didn't return either of them to me as un-needed/unwanted. Would she have asked me for them if I had NOT included the photocopies, that I don't know. So from my perspective, I can't say I know they're requiring them. But I can say from a safety and preparedness perspective, if I wasn't including photocopies of those two documents, I'd certainly want to be sure to have the originals with me just in case they are asked for. Re the map, Immigration at BKK CW is usually fine with either a hand drawn map OR a printed version, as long as it clearly shows your home location. Re the rental housing lease, in +-15 years of living here, I think Immigration has only once ever asked to see my rental lease... although, I always bring it as part of my backup / just in case packet of extra stuff.

Not sure I understand your question, given that you're replying to a post of mine talking about the current TM47 90-day reporting process at BKK CW. For the retirement extension process, you only need ONE completed TM7 original form along with all the other various documents and photocopies. For the 90-day reporting process done there at BKK CW as part of doing a retirement extension, you only need the completed TM47 form and its various supporting photocopies. You don't need another/second TM7 form in order to do the 90-day reporting part.

Don't know about the bus part at Chatuchak MRT station. But line 52 at the other end is the bus that runs along Chaengwattana Road and lets you off or picks you up on the main road just a block or so from the CW Soi 7 entrance leading to the Government Complex area.

Last week, because of my transit travel experiment, I didn't arrive to BKK CW until about 9 am, meaning the morning cattle call had already occurred. Nonetheless, I accomplished a retirement extension, re-entry permit and 90-day report in just a bit more than 2 hours overall, and was done and out by 11:15 am. That said, the most time-consuming part of the morning was having to wait to get in to see the IO for my retirement extension. When I got my queue ticket for the retirement extension about 9:20 am, there were 17 or 18 people ahead of me in the queue. And it took about an hour from that point sitting outside in the designated waiting area before I finally got into see the officer for my extension at about 10:20 am. My habit is generally to go in the morning as early as possible and to get there before or as close to opening as possible, so that I have the best odds of being done and out before their hour-long dead-time lunch break.

In the past, I've successfully and satisfactorily taken the route 166 expressway bus that runs between Victory Monument and a stop at the Government Complex building that houses Immigration. However, during COVID time in Thailand, I'm avoiding those kinds of trips and crowd exposures as much as possible. Likewise, years living here have taught me to avoid the local van service for safety reasons as much as possible, and even moreso now during a continuing COVID problem in Bangkok, the last thing I want to be doing is sitting crammed in a van for a half hour trip with 8 or 10 other people within breathing distance.

For anyone with Fire TV devices or wanting to know about them, this U.S. site is one of the best out there. The author also has a free email newsletter that you can subscribe to to automatically get emailed whenever they post an article: http://www.aftvnews.com For Android TV folks who want to know how to best expand its content options, this UK based site is one of the best I've seen. And the author also has a YouTube channel where he does very straightforward and clear video tutorials on where to get various apps, how to install them and configure them. (Some of his content also is dual purpose, working on both Fire TV and Android TV devices, since both are Android-based.) https://www.techdoctoruk.com/tutorials/ https://www.techdoctoruk.com/category/tech_videos/

You can use a Roku device in Thailand to access home country content like that from the U.S. But it requires having a Roku account based in that home country, and then, having a VPN-capable router like many made by ASUS where it can provide a VPN IP via wifi to the Roku device. Android TV boxes and Amazon Fire Tv devices are nice because both pretty much have available a full array of apps for most of the major paid VPN providers that you can install and use on those devices, thus bypassing the geo restrictions. But Roku doesn't allow for on-device VPN apps, so you have to go the VPN router route or a DNS redirect service, the latter meaning you have to mess with the settings of your ISP-provided router. However, the range of streaming apps/services available on Amazon Fire and Android TV devices, either directly or via sideloading, FAR exceeds the much more limited range of channels available on Roku devices. So for that reason, I use my Fire TV and Android TV devices daily, but my Roku devices are sitting in a drawer.

I know the paid Spotify service allows downloads via the Spotify app to your various devices, which you can then play via the device's Spotify app. It also allows you to stream the music to any Amazon Echo devices/speakers you might have in your home. I don't off hand know whether Spotify downloads interface or not with ITunes. https://www.spotify.com/th-en/premium/#plans

It's still perfectly possible to access various U.S. streaming content via VPN like Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc... But it IS more complicated than it used to be. Some paid VPN services still work fine with those commercial streaming providers. But others no longer do. I gave up an Express VPN subscription more than a year ago now because, despite their claims, NONE of their U.S. servers at the time would prevent getting a "VPN error" from Amazon Prime... But now I have a different paid VPN service that thus far has not been blocked by any of the major U.S. streaming services I use. Both Netflix and Amazon at various times have taken technical measures aimed at denying access to VPN connections. But for those with perseverence, it's still perfectly doable.

If you sign up for a paid monthly Spotify plan through their Thailand website and set up a monthly debit from a Thai bank account, the price is just a fraction of the monthly fee in the west... I believe I'm paying about 110 baht per month. And the paid plan means no commercials and the ability to stream albums in order instead of tracks being shuffled around. Also, the Spotify catalog for Thai subscriptions give you access to all the content you'd get with a US or UK subscription.

ya, another member who went to BKK CW a few days after me mentioned the same thing about being handed a TM47 form while waiting to go in for their extension visit. I never had any sit down time inside on the day of my visit, but I'd brought along a completed TM47 with me anyways, because I'd heard in advance that BKK CW Immigration might be doing the 90-day report updates now along with the extension renewals, which happily turns out to be true!

I took a photo of the K-Bank branch entrance doors the day I was there also...because I was trying to keep track of which commercial banks there were open and not... I couldn't see any clear mention posted on their doors of why they are closed or for how long that will be....

I personally have never been entirely locked out of the online 90 day reporting system for Bangkok because of passport issues or not having re-entered the country in any recent years... I normally do my 90-day reports online, but was unable to do one cycle online this past spring when the whole entire online system was down for some months. But my most recent 90-day report prior to last week at BKK CW was back in July, and that one was once again done online.

Thanks for mentioning that... I realized after that I made very short mention of the re-entry permit part of the visit... Yes, the re-entry permit process is a different and separate process and service desk inside Immigration from the extension process, as it always has been at BKK CW. But it can be done on the same day and same visit as your extension visit, but just immediately after. While I got a separate queue ticket for the re-entry permit section/process after I had completed the extension process, the re-entry permit staff at the C section (I believe) desk weren't really using it now for the second year in a row. Last year and this year (last week), I just walked up to the Re-entry permit section/desk where several IOs were sitting doing nothing much, and handed them my application paperwork. They had me sit down, and pay the 1000 baht single entry fee, and then go back out and sit down in the adjoining waiting area. Got my stamped passport back within 5 minutes. Re-entry Paperwork: Standard TM8 form completed with photo attached on the reverse side, along with signed photocopies of the basic passport pages -- face page, any transfer info from prior passport, most recent visa or extension stamp, most recent entry stamp and copy of airport departure card. Note: because you've just been issued a new extension stamp for the coming year that you didn't have when you walked in the door, one thing I always do AFTER the extension process is go downstairs to the copy shop and get a new photocopy of my new extension stamp page, and use that one as the most recent extension stamp photocopy in the paperwork I give to the Re-entry permit folks (not my soon to expire extension stamp that was issued last year).

My Thai health insurance company has not adjusted their rates for inflation in recent years for existing policyholders (though they do increase their premiums at designated age points). However, in doing a recent renewal earlier this month for the year ahead, the Thai agent who handles my health insurance policy warned to expect premium increases at next year's renewal because of COVID.

The bank book update can be done different ways, depending on the bank. I do a minimal 100 baht deposit and withdrawal the morning of my appointment, and then update the passbook after that, just to keep my book balance the same as my bank letter, even though that (having matching amounts) is not technically required. Some Thai banks, including BKK Bank but not the bank that holds my account, also will do a so-called balance forward update that prints a new current balance when the update is done, even without any deposit or withdrawal.