TallGuyJohninBKK

Then as far as the Japanese food ingredient natto / nattokinase is concerned along with COVID quackster Peter McCullough: False claim that nattokinase dissolves COVID-19 spike protein in your body | Fact check The claim: Nattokinase dissolves the spike protein found on the COVID-19 virus ... "A July 14 Instagram post (direct link) includes a quote from a controversial cardiologist known for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The video's caption quotes Dr. Peter McCullough as saying a supplement called nattokinase “is the only enzyme we’re aware of right now that dissolves the spike protein.” ... Our rating: False Experts have consistently said there is no evidence spike proteins from the vaccines pose any danger to the public or that nattokinase dissolves those proteins in the body. Public health officials have taken action against those making false claims about the supplement in advertisements. ... Study conducted in lab, not human body A Feb. 21 essay McCullogh posted to Substack about nattokinase’s effect on the spike protein included a reference to a study by 10 researchers in Japan. That study, published in August 2022, found the enzyme “exhibits potential” for inhibiting COVID-19 infection by degrading that protein. But the study was conducted in vitro, not in the body, and looked only at those spike proteins from an infection, not an mRNA vaccination. USA TODAY reached out to its lead author, researcher Takashi Tanikawa, but did not immediately receive a response." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/07/21/false-claim-nattokinase-dissolves-covid-19-spike-protein-fact-check/70443445007/

No, NIH is not acknowledging the issue, at least, not via the link you provided. The link you provided merely is a citation and weblink to an 3rd party article included in the NIH's online library of published research, both good and bad. And as the NLM/NIH website page you linked to notes at the very top: "As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. Inclusion in an NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health." Beyond that, the authors of the article you cited include several with dubious credentials, including one (Paul Marik) affiliated with the group Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), which is renowned for hawking unproven COVID treatments and supposed remedies, including the discredited use of Ivermectin as a COVID treatment. Earning it the following designation: Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) – Bias and Credibility PSEUDOSCIENCE "Overall, we rate the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance as a strong pseudoscience website based on the promotion of unproven alternative medicines that falsely mislead people and several failed fact checks. The Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) is a small U.S. organization of physicians and former journalists formed in March 2020 that has advocated for various alternative treatments for COVID-19, including the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin. Paul E. Marik and Pierre Kory lead the group. ... The website also features a disclaimer that reads, “The Ivermectin/Mask+ Protocol has not been adopted as a medical consensus. While clinical experience and research to date are promising, these products have not been proven safe and effective by prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies acceptable to US medical associations and regulatory bodies.” In general, the FLCCC promotes alternative treatments for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 while downplaying vaccines." https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/front-line-covid-19-critical-care-alliance-flccc-bias/

I think both versions related above are correct regarding whether/when BKK CW requires bank-issued annual statements showing proof of the 800K deposit for retirement extensions. In many years of obtaining extensions there, the ONLY time I was ever requested to provide a bank issued annual statement was several years ago when my bankbook due to a snafu had a time gap for listed entries at one point during the year. Similar to the episode Jack related above. In all the other years where my Krungsri account and its bank book showed multiple transactions every month due to interest being credited monthly and then tax with withheld, in those cases, I was never asked for a separate bank-issued annual bank statement. In all those years, just bringing the bankbook with monthly transactions posted and providing signed photocopies for the bank book pages of the past year was sufficient and accepted.

Thailand MoPH Weekly COVID report for Aug. 18 - 24, 2024: The latest MOPH COVID update below shows further improvements in all reported categories, and the various numbers are back below spring surge levels. As a result for the future, as long as the various reported COVID stats remain relatively low and stable, I'll simply let the weekly MOPH reports speak for themselves, without any elaboration, explanation or comparisons. If past history is any indicator, though, Thailand likely can expect another COVID surge toward the end of 2024 and moving into early 2025. https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

The latest mpox clade doesn't appear to be playing out the same way in Africa as mentioned in the OP... Right now, children are bearing the brunt of it there. Why is mpox being transmitted mainly between children? In the absence of details on how the new variant behaves, experts believe that the biggest difference is not in the virus itself, but in the environment AUG 21, 2024 "One of the big differences between the mpox outbreak spreading across Africa and the 2022 outbreak in Europe is how it is being transmitted. While transmission two years ago was confined almost exclusively to sexual intercourse, now the victims are mainly children, who account for 70% of cases. It seems that something has changed in the way in which this new variant (Clade 1b) is transmitted, and the extent to which this has changed is still to be clarified. But perhaps it is not changes in the virus we should be looking at so much as changes in the environment. ... What is not in doubt is that transmission is behaving differently. But this should not be surprising either, according to Aginagalde: “Poxviruses (such as smallpox, and now mpox) have always spread more among children than adults, and more among women than men, because it is usually women who take care of children. This is not new, and it has already happened with mpox in Africa,” he says. ... In principle, the transmission route is still considered to be direct and continuous contact. That clearly exists in the case of sexual relations, but it also happens when touching the secretions of an infected person, touching their clothing or even talking in close proximity for a period of time, with the potential for saliva droplets to be exchanged. These are the possible transmission routes cited by the World Health Organization (WHO). The more contact and the longer the contact, the greater the likelihood of transmission." (more) https://english.elpais.com/health/2024-08-21/why-is-mpox-being-transmitted-mainly-between-children.html The children bearing the brunt of the mpox outbreak 12 hours ago "Children in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo are worst-affected by the current outbreak of mpox, which has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization. The country accounts for nearly all of this year’s recorded cases and more than 450 deaths. ... Some 75% of the cases being seen by medics there are under the age of 10, according to Dr Pierre-Olivier Ngadjole who works for the charity Medair. Young people seem to be particularly badly affected by the mpox outbreak because of their less developed immune systems." (more) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdjwz77mmgmo

FYI, I filed my online 90-day report yesterday afternoon to BKK CW Immigration without any incident or complication. Easy peasy. Then got my confirmation receipt via email this afternoon in a bit less than 24 hours from my original filing. That's one of the quickest online 90-day reporting turnaround times I've ever experienced in many many years of living here and using the online system whenever it has been available. And, despite my fears going in, it was nice to find the online 90-day reporting web portal was actually up and functioning on a Sunday/weekend, which didn't always used to be the case in the past.

Well, technically, Thai Taco Bell does have rice, not as a standalone menu item, but as an ingredient in some of their dishes, including some burritos and I think what they call their California bowl... But I agree with you about the beans / frijoles issue... TTB simply doesn't have ANY of those in any form. And without frijoles, to me, they're simply not a real TB.

If nothing else, it's my way of reminding people here that COVID hasn't gone away, and is still killing people and sending many to hospitals, mostly but not entirely older folks, on a daily basis. From the U.S. CDC, by way of example -- at least 763 COVID deaths (partial count) during the first week of August. A weekly tally of COVID deaths that's more than doubled over the past two months. Much better than at the start of the year, and much better than the peaks of 2021 and 2022... But still too many deaths, many of them entirely preventable. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00

And yet here you are again.... Nice to have an interested and dedicated audience. 🙂

The WHO's last global update on COVID, in so far as data still is tracked and made public by a limited number of countries, was about 10 days ago in mid-August: COVID-19 Epidemiological Update Edition 170 published 13 August 2024 [emphasis added]... "Wastewater surveillance remains important as an early warning system and monitoring SARS-CoV-2 circulation. Around 30 countries from five WHO Regions have publicly available wastewater surveillance information. According to estimates obtained from wastewater surveillance, clinical detection of cases underestimates the real burden from 2 to 19-fold. • Globally, during the 28-day period from 24 June to 21 July 2024, 96 countries reported COVID-19 cases, and 35 countries reported COVID-19 deaths. Note that this does not reflect the actual number of countries where cases or deaths occur, as many countries have stopped or changed the frequency of reporting. From the available data, the number of reported cases and deaths have increased during the 28-day period, with over 186 000 new cases and more than 2800 new deaths, an increase of 30% and 26%, respectively, compared to the previous 28 days (27 May to 23 June 2024). Trends in the number of reported new cases and deaths should be interpreted with caution due to decreased testing and sequencing, alongside reporting delays in many countries. • During the 28-day period from 24 June to 21 July 2024, 46 and 35 countries provided data at least once on COVID-19 hospitalizations and admissions to an intensive care unit (ICU), respectively. From available data, over 23 000 new hospitalizations and more than 600 new ICU admissions were reported during this period. Among the countries reporting these data consistently over the current and past reporting period, there was an overall increase of 11% and 3% in new hospitalizations and new ICU admissions, respectively. The increasing trends in hospitalization and ICU admissions is mainly driven by countries from the Region of the Americas and the European Region." https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/covid-19_epi_update_170.pdf?sfvrsn=af869e8a_2&download=true

I can't speak to Canada, specifically. But, if you look at the CDC info right now regarding the U.S., it says levels of "respiratory illnesses" are low, in general, meaning flu, RSV, etc. In the very next sentence, though, they go on to add that levels of COVID are HIGH! Also, the U.S. has always had higher and more serious levels of COVID illness than Canada, AFAIK. It also could be your image is a generic hospital flyer on masking policy that was posted and has remained since who knows when. Current respiratory illness info postings from the U.S. CDC, by way of example: https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data/index.html

What to Know About the KP.3.1.1 Variant of COVID-19 August 23, 2024 "Chances are, at least one person you know—and probably many people you know—have caught COVID-19 this summer. Ever since the “FLiRT” variants emerged this spring, the U.S. has been hit with one new variant after another, leading to a seemingly never-ending wave of cases. The amount of virus in wastewater has steadily risen since May and levels are now “very high,” in part because there’s yet another new variant on the scene: KP.3.1.1. KP.3.1.1 was to blame for more than a third of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. during the two weeks ending Aug. 17, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data show. And that’s a lot of cases: about one in 34 people in the U.S. currently has COVID-19, independent data scientist and infectious-disease modeler Jay Weiland tells TIME. CDC data also show that lots of people are testing positive and that hospital visits and deaths related to COVID-19 are on the rise. ... “I think we’re at the peak of this summer wave,” he says. KP.3.1.1’s ascent might prolong the surge a bit, but Weiland thinks it’s unlikely to lead to a major second spike given how much immunity there currently is in the population. The exception may be among kids who are returning to school while COVID-19 is still spreading widely. There may be a noticeable uptick in cases within that age group, Weiland says. (more) TIME https://time.com/7014374/new-covid-19-variant-kp311/ https://twitter.com/JPWeiland/status/1827075333553607121

Rick, which location in the building is the exit 4 you're referring to? The one facing toward Soi 7 with the big planters area on the exterior to the right?

U.S. weekly COVID deaths reached a partial tally of 763 through early August, up from a low of 302 in early June, meaning U.S. COVID deaths now have more than doubled over the past two months. The rate of sampled hospitalizations due to COVID also increased through early August. But two other publicly reported COVID indicators plateaued in the latest update through mid-August, with the rates of sampled emergency department COVID visits and COVID testing positivity both remaining flat, albeit the latter at a very high 18% rate. From the CDC: CDC COVID update for August 23, 2024: "Many areas of the country are continuing to experience increases in COVID-19 activity, though other areas are experiencing declines in COVID-19 activity following increases this summer. COVID-19 test positivity, emergency department visits, and rates of COVID-19–associated hospitalizations remain elevated, particularly among adults 65+ and children under 2 years. Surges like this are known to occur throughout the year, including during the summer months." https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/snapshot.html https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home * the three gray columns above indicate totals for those recent weeks remain partial. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00 With the absence of any comprehensive COVID infection testing and reporting program in the U.S. and reduced reporting of COVID hospitalization data, public health officials increasingly have turned to wastewater monitoring of COVID viral content as a primary forward-looking indicator of COVID activity and trends in the country, as follows: "Wastewater (sewage) can be tested to detect traces of infectious diseases circulating in a community, even if people don’t have symptoms. You can use these data as an early warning that levels of infections may be increasing or decreasing in your community." https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-nationaltrend.html https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-currentlevels.html

Here's the charts from the latest UKHSA weekly COVID update for England as of Aug. 22: My text summary - Although new weekly COVID deaths rose for the second straight week back to the 200 level by the first week of August, two other publicly reported COVID indicators for England showed improvement / declines in the latest weekly update. Those included declines in new weekly COVID cases (not an especially reliable indicator these days), and a fourth consecutive weekly decline in the positivity rate for COVID tests (7-day rolling average), which dropped from 13.2% previously to 11.4% in the latest weekly report. In comparison, the positivity rate had peaked at almost 16% in mid-July. There was no updated data for COVID new hospital admissions since the last weekly report. https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/ https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/topics/covid-19#deaths Weekly COVID deaths from the recent low in May: Weekly data for deaths with COVID-19 on the death certificate in England Up to and including 9 August 2024 (some recent prior week figures have been revised vs prior weekly reports): Date -- Amount 9 Aug 2024 -- 200 2 Aug 2024 -- 193 26 Jul 2024 -- 174 19 Jul 2024 -- 212 12 Jul 2024 -- 205 5 Jul 2024 -- 165 28 Jun 2024 -- 186 21 Jun 2024 -- 149 14 Jun 2024 -- 158 7 Jun 2024 -- 146 31 May 2024 -- 113 24 May 2024 -- 147 17 May 2024 -- 168 10 May 2024 -- 93 https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/ https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/ https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/topics/covid-19#testing

FDA green-lights season's updated mRNA COVID vaccines Amid rising US COVID-19 cases, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its approval of the updated 2024-25 monovalent (single-strain) mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for people aged 12 and older and granted emergency use authorization for those aged 6 months to 11 years. The updated vaccines are called 2024-2025 Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (2024-2025 Formula) for those aged 6 months through 11 years and Comirnaty (made by Pfizer/BioNTech) and Spikevax (by Moderna) for those 12 years and older. Updated vaccine dose strongly encouraged The vaccine, intended as a single dose for those 5 years and older previously vaccinated at least 2 months earlier, is adapted to the currently circulating Omicron KP.2 strain of the JN.1 SARS-CoV-2 lineage to better protect against hospitalization and death. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/fda-green-lights-seasons-updated-mrna-covid-vaccines

With the summer Covid wave still rising in the U.S., experts say the timing for getting vaccinated is important Aug. 22, 2024 The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the new Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. It’s the third time the vaccines have been updated to match circulating strains since the original series. The shots should be available within days. The agency hasn't yet approved a third vaccine, from drugmaker Novavax. The timing of the new vaccines — last year's rollout was in mid-September — is significant, since most of the U.S. is still caught in the summer wave of Covid illness. As of Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, the number of people testing positive for Covid keeps rising and emergency room visits for Covid have been increasing since mid-May. Hospitalizations are rising, too. (more) https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/new-covid-vaccine-what-know-when-available-timing-rcna167121

I'm assuming you're a U.S. citizen? And what, you nominally had a U.S.-based RJ account, but somewhere along the line informed Raymond James that you are/were living in Thailand instead of in the U.S.? Or, they in the past were formally handling brokerage accounts for Thailand residents, and now have decided not to anymore?

Thanks for clarifying on the above details... I saw the Imm. stamp image you posted above. Indeed, never seen that particular stamp notation before, that I can recall.... But obviously it's a premade stamp, so they must have found some regular recurring use for it.... 😞

Anyone have any recent experience with trying to use the online 90-day reporting system (in my case for BKK) on the weekends (Sat. and Sun.)? In the past, it seemed the online reporting system used to be regularly UNavailable during weekends... But I haven't tried it lately. Any updates on that?

I've requested and received the annual statements via email from both BKKB and Krungsri.... In both cases, they arrived the same day as requested, usually within hours. However, I have no experience and thus can't say whether any given Immigration office would accept that version of an annual statement in the same way they would a formally stamped one a person pays for and receives directly from a branch.

At BKK CW, there are some activities that might trigger a request for an updated TM30.... Such as... --if you actually changed your residennce or did some transaction at a different Immigration office. --if you traveled internationally and returned with a new visa or without a re-entry permit --if you got a new passport with a new passport number? Any of those kinds of situations apply in your circumstance?

I've been doing annual retirement extensions based on the same original visa at BKK CW for years with a corresponding annual re-entry permit. I've only ever done one TM30 in 2019, and have had numerous international trips since that time, and have never yet been asked for a new/updated TM30. But again, that's only pertaining to BKK CW... Other offices, YMMV,

Yep, that was one other correction I was going to add to the OP's check list above... As you said, BKK CW allows the bank deposit verification letter to be up to 7 days prior to your Immigration visit... The deposit verification letter does NOT have to be dated/issued the day of your visit. However, that notwithstanding, you still have to update your bank passbook on the day of your Immigration visit prior to meeting with the IO, and I believe, have the photocopies of your bank book activity for the prior year include that latest update you do on the day of your visit. It's OK if the bank letter and the bank passbook balances don't match (so long as they're both 800K or above). But I like to avoid that mismatch by doing a 100 baht deposit AFTER I get my bank letter prior, and then doing a 100 baht withdrawal at the ATM in BKK CW on the morning of my visit, to bring the account balance back to the same amount as the deposit letter. PS - Also re the OP's documents checklist above,.... At least in my case, BKK CW has always been fine with just the bank deposit verification letter AND my own photocopies of my bank passbook face page and transaction activity for the past year. They almost never have asked me to ALSO provide a formal, stamped 12-month bank transaction statement issued by the bank. The one exception to that was a couple years ago when my bank issued me a new passbook, and because of the way they handled it, there was a time gap between the last transaction date in the old book and the first transaction in the new book. In that case, the officer asked for a formal bank statement. I think they'll do that if when checking your bank passbook, there are any gaps or other issues, such as with printing snafus, that don't allow them to see regular, recurring balance updates.

Anyone with any updates on this? I'd presume that by now 7-8 months later, they've managed to open an entry-exit for the Pink Line Govt Complex Station on the CW Soi 7 side of the road.... 😞