TallGuyJohninBKK

Anti-vaxxers are promoting mythical ‘vaccine detoxes’ to keep their movement alive Anti-vax groups are pushing vitamin supplements and snake-oil sprays to ‘detox’ COVID-19 vaccines from the body. The issue goes beyond making a quick buck. November 11, 2021 ... "This week, anti-vax and anti-lockdown journalist Morgan C Jonas featured an online interview with Professor Ian Brighthope, which was promoted as a “C-19 injection detox protocol” by Australian anti-vaxxer group Reignite Democracy Australia." vs. "Vaccines are safe and effective. Even if they weren’t, the concept of a vaccine detox is a myth. Professor Allen Cheng, who co-chairs the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), told Crikey that there’s no scientific basis for a vaccine detox: “‘Detoxing’ isn’t a concept that means much to me from a medical viewpoint — vaccines, like many exogenous substances, are metabolised and eliminated naturally by the body.” ... A key part of the argument for a detox is based on a popular fabrication that COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide, a type of material used in batteries and electronics. Graphene oxide isn’t present in any approved vaccine COVID-19, and even if it was, there’s no way to detox from it. " https://www.crikey.com.au/2021/11/11/anti-vaxxers-are-promoting-mythical-vaccine-detox-to-keep-their-movement-alive/

Anti-vax claims flood Senate inquiry. Officials say they’re wrong May 27, 2024 ... "Professor Ian Brighthope, on behalf of World of Wellness, said “fake vaccines and passports” were a factor in higher death rates." vs. "The TGA [Australian Therapeutics Goods Administration] says deaths from vaccines are extremely rare and in most cases deaths after vaccination were not caused by the vaccine.” ... The Health Department said vaccines had saved millions of lives and their safety and effectiveness had been “validated by both post-market surveillance and real-world data collected on millions of people globally”. https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/anti-vax-claims-flood-senate-inquiry-officials-say-they-re-wrong-20240526-p5jgq6

Another typical whack job post and Substack article from the OP, this time, from another guy who makes his money hawking supposed nutritional cures for things like AIDS and diabetes, among others... (There's a nutritional cure for AIDS? That's going to come as some surprise to the world....) Absolutely no credentials whatsoever relating to COVID or COVID vaccines, except being an ardent anti-vaxer. But then again, that's about what you can expect in this "Off the Beaten Track" nonsense subforum. https://nutritioncare.com.au/our-story/ Re Brightrope: "He graduated in Agricultural Science in 1965 and then in 1974 graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery." The Brighthope Clinics and Biocentres were developed in the 1970’s. They specialised in Nutritional Medicine, Environmental Medicine, intravenous therapies including chelation therapy and herbal medicine. https://isom.ca/profile/ian-brighthope/ Looks like he's an Australian version of prolific American COVID misinformation spreader Peter McCullough, who at least was a practicing medical doctor before he lost his board certifications, and went into the nutritional "cures" business.

The anti-vax "weirdos" here are a very "weird" lot... The same ones who often rail against COVID vaccines do so yammering about their supposed potential to alter people's DNA, a made-up bogus claim that has been widely debunked. For example: No, COVID-19 vaccines aren’t gene therapy https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-covid-vaccines-gene-therapy-806280914802 And yet in Kmetz's latest Montana legislation, it would specifically ALLOW for OTHER kinds of actual, real gene-altering therapies.... Can these guys please make up their minds!!! "Notably, the bill explicitly excludes gene therapy products used to treat cancer or genetic disorders from its definition of prohibited vaccines." https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1752986

Per the U.S. CDC's COVID vaccines website as of January 2025: Importance of staying up to date Getting the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine is important because: Protection from the COVID-19 vaccine decreases with time. Immunity after COVID-19 infection decreases with time. COVID-19 vaccines are updated to give you the best protection from the currently circulating strains. Getting the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine is especially important if you: Never received a COVID-19 vaccine Are ages 65 years and older Are at high risk for severe COVID-19 Are living in a long-term care facility Are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant, or might become pregnant in the future. Keep in mind Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer, more reliable way to build protection than getting sick with COVID-19." https://www.cdc.gov/covid/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html

COVID vaccination saved more than 5,000 US lives in 7 months in 2023-24, CDC estimates February 8, 2025 COVID-19 vaccination averted more than 5,000 US in-hospital deaths, 13,000 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and 68,000 hospitalizations in 7 months in 2023-2024, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated late last week in Vaccine, although with considerable uncertainty. ... The averted COVID-linked burden was highest in adults aged 65 years and older (hospitalizations averted, 57,665 [95% UI, 35,442 to 84,006]; ICU admissions averted, 10,878 [95% UI, 3,104 to 21,591]; and 4,779 [95% UI, 0 to 13,132) in-hospital deaths averted. ... More vaccinations would further cut poor outcomes Older adults had the highest averted burden "due to higher COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates in adults aged 65 years or older compared to other age groups; adults aged 65 years or older accounted for between 80% and 90% of the averted COVID-19- associated hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and in-hospital deaths," the researchers wrote. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-vaccination-saved-more-5000-us-lives-7-months-2023-24-cdc-estimates

Montana Weirdos Fail To Ban Vaccinated People From Donating Blood "based entirely on a bunch of sad, made-up nonsense about the vaccine" https://www.wonkette.com/p/montana-anti-vax-blood-donation

The same welder guy above who brought Montana his COVID vaccination bill was the author of a prior piece of Montana state legislation that would have banned people who had received a COVID vaccine or been diagnosed with Long COVID from donating blood in the state. That bill by the same state Rep. Greg Kmetz failed even in the overwhelmingly Republican Montana state legislature two years ago, with opponents pointing out that it would have decimated the available blood supplies in Montana. So it goes in Montana: Montana Weirdos Fail To Ban Vaccinated People From Donating Blood There is literally a blood shortage right now Mar 03, 2023 ... "It went so far in Montana that Republican lawmakers actually tried to pass a law barring people who have had the COVID-19 vaccine from giving blood, based entirely on a bunch of sad, made-up nonsense about the vaccine being dangerous and people who have it spreading murderous "spike proteins" that can harm the brilliant "purebloods" who wisely refused to get the "clot shot," as they call it. House Bill 645 would have made it a misdemeanor with a $500 fine for a vaccinated person to donate blood or for any donation center to accept the blood of a vaccinated person. It also would have banned donations from people diagnosed with long COVID, an interesting choice given that I am pretty sure the anti-vax people do not believe that long COVID is a thing. ... The bill, had it been enacted, would have reduced the blood supply in the state by 80 percent — which would be a pretty terrible plan considering that there is also a national blood shortage right now. It means that people would die. Lots and lots of people. https://www.wonkette.com/p/montana-anti-vax-blood-donation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Kmetz

Another totally misleading article from the reliable king of COVID nonsense posts here. The "USA" reference and "House committee" references in the OP headline would lead most readers to assume the cited news report is about the U.S. House of Representatives and federal legislation. It IS NOT! The cited article is from a small, obscure newspaper in the U.S. state of Montana, based in that great urban metropolis of Kalispell, Montana, pop. about 25,000, and pertains to legislation pending there in Montana state's House of Representatives -- none of which is made clear in the OP post. https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1752986 MT HB371 Ban mRNA vaccinations in Montana for humans "Introduced Session 2025 Regular Session Bill Summary AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT PROHIBITING THE ADMINISTRATION OF GENE-BASED VACCINES FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES INTO HUMANS IN THE STATE OF MONTANA; PROVIDING A DEFINITION; AND PROVIDING A PENALTY. Last Action (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended (H) Judiciary (on 02/12/2025)" Of course, nowhere in the OP post, nor in the newspaper article it links to, do either of them say that the legislation is only STATE legislation and would only apply, if passed, to Montana... But hey, when you're on a nonsense anti-vax crusade, the actual facts and reality of things take a distant back seat. And, the state rep. who sponsored the bill in question certainly has a good background to be legislating on medical and public health issues: "Greg Kmetz was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and lives in Miles City, Montana. Kmetz earned a bachelor's degree in industrial education from the University of Wyoming. His career experience includes owning his own welding and machine shop and working as a welding instructor. [emphasis added] https://ballotpedia.org/Greg_Kmetz

More than 1.2 million COVID deaths in the U.S. alone since the start of the pandemic, a number that continues rising every week now more than 5 years after the pandemic began. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_totaldeaths_select_00

COVID vaccination saved more than 5,000 US lives in 7 months in 2023-24, CDC estimates February 8, 2025 COVID-19 vaccination averted more than 5,000 US in-hospital deaths, 13,000 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and 68,000 hospitalizations in 7 months in 2023-2024, researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated late last week in Vaccine, although with considerable uncertainty. The investigators estimated COVID-related deaths, ICU admissions, and hospitalizations prevented by vaccination from October 1, 2023, to April 21, 2024, using a novel multiplier model that used causal inference, conditional probabilities of hospitalization, and correlations between data elements in simulations. ... More vaccinations would further cut poor outcomes Older adults had the highest averted burden "due to higher COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates in adults aged 65 years or older compared to other age groups; adults aged 65 years or older accounted for between 80% and 90% of the averted COVID-19- associated hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and in-hospital deaths," the researchers wrote. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-vaccination-saved-more-5000-us-lives-7-months-2023-24-cdc-estimates

Long COVID impacting more than 1 million children: CDC study suggests Higher levels of long COVID were found in lower-income households. February 3, 2025 More than 1 million children may have been affected by long COVID as of 2023, new federal data published Monday suggests. Long COVID, a condition that occurs when patients still have symptoms at least three months after clearing infection, has been well-documented in adults, but its impact on children has been less clear. ... Results of the analysis, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, showed approximately 1.01 million children, or 1.4%, are believed to have ever experienced long COVID as of 2023 and about 293,000, or 0.4%, were experiencing the condition when the survey was being conducted. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/long-covid-impacting-1-million-children-cdc-study/story?id=118393880

5 years since COVID declared public health emergency in US, still killing thousands February 1, 2025 Friday marks five years since the COVID-19 virus was declared a public health emergency by the United States. But five years later, the virus is still killing thousands, according to experts. "One of the things we have learned is that COVID came to us new, and now is integrated into our way of life," said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "COVID is not going away, and it still causes a substantial amount of illness each year." While the world might not be in a global pandemic anymore, Sean Clarke, a professor of nursing leadership at New York University, said COVID is still a constant presence. "The virus is still persistent and still moving. It's still not a trivial thing," Clarke told ABC News. "It hasn't vanished, it's just at a different point." https://abcnews.go.com/Health/5-years-covid-declared-public-health-emergency-killing/story?id=118316756

On its 5th anniversary, experts address questions about COVID-19 February 07, 2025 “The pandemic is over if you define pandemic as something that changes the way we live, work or play,” Paul A. Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center and attending physician in the division of infectious diseases at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told Healio. “We are back to normal, but the virus isn't over.” According to WHO, more than 777 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported globally, including more than 7 million deaths, with 103 million cases and 1.2 million deaths being reported in the United States alone. ... According to a recently published study, nearly 5% of people with a SARS-CoV-2 infection go on to experience myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), the symptoms of which overlap significantly with long COVID, according to Walter Koroshetz, MD, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Cases of ME/CFS are now 15 times higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, the study found. ... https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20250207/on-its-5th-anniversary-experts-address-questions-about-covid19

Re the nonsence OP post in this thread, perhaps the answer to the question posed has something to do with the following: Now, more than 5 years after the arrival of COVID, we still have nearly 1,000 people-a-week dying of COVID in the United States, with the recent year-end spike shown below that has become commonplace with COVID. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00 The gray colored columns for the several more recent weeks not shown in the above chart are PARTIAL counts that will become final/blue colored columns in the chart once the counts for those weeks are finalized. The last blue column above for the week ending Jan. 11 is the latest finalized weekly count. From the footnotes section of the above CDC website: "Source: Provisional Deaths from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). Provisional data are non-final counts of deaths based on the flow of mortality data in NVSS. Deaths include those with COVID-19, coded to ICD–10 code U07.1, as an underlying or contributing cause of death on the death certificate."

That PWC booklet said its 2023/24 info was based on Thai tax rules/laws as of July 2023, although it includes some reference to the first TRD change dated Sept. 2023. However in quickly perusing the front section on personal income tax: --It doesn't seem to say much if anything about the impact of double taxation treaties that may exist between Thailand and various expats' home countries -- which can serve to limit or exclude Thai taxation in various categories, and --It doesn't seem to make any mention at all of the subsequent clarification by the TRD (P162) that said all foreign income earned pre-2024 would be considered SAVINGS and thus not subject to Thai taxation, even if remitted into Thailand in later years. There seems clear agreement that the pre-2024 savings exception does cover any funds held in bank accounts as cash at the end of 2023. There's some disagreement, though, about whether the same tax exception also does or does not cover cash and stock holdings held in brokerage accounts up thru that time.

Crazy... insane on the TRD staff's part there.

FWIW, this YT video from a couple days ago by Integrity Legal is saying their contacts suggest there is no plan / intention within Thai Immigration to start making tax status certification a criteria for retirement extension approvals.

Interesting article I came across from back in 2020 on the same general subject: The Thailand Revenue Department launches a new service to directly share tax information with the Immigration Bureau December 16, 2020 "On November 18, 2020, the Revenue Department launched a new service to directly share the tax information listed below with the Immigration Bureau. The objective is to reduce paperwork and shorten the processing time for visa holders and companies to obtain officially certified copies of tax documents." https://eiglaw.com/the-thailand-revenue-department-launches-a-new-service-to-directly-share-tax-information-with-the-immigration-bureau/ I have no idea if their system from back then is still up and running, or what became of it post 2020.

Asked and answered! Just one example, from American tax advisor Thomas Carden in a recent interview: 2025-02 Carden - prospect for future TRD-Immigration integration, req to show tax clearance.mp4

Supposedly yes... not because of anything to do with a DTA necessarily, but because of the announced TRD policy to exempt savings that existed pre 12/31/23. Any interest it accrued up thru the end of 2023, to the extent it existed as of 12/31/23, also would be exempt.

There's some chatter, just chatter for the present, about the Thai government supposedly having some plan down the road to link Thai tax compliance with the issuance of visas/extensions of stay. That is NOT the case now, and AFAIK hasn't even been formally proposed anywhere public as yet. However, if that ever were to become a reality, it would be interesting to see how they'd intend on making that work when at least under the current rules, you can absolutely be a foreigner living in Thailand who has absolutely NO legal obligation to file a Thai tax return... chiefly because, you can have zero assessable income to report.

One of the interesting things about all this is... IF the TRD ever gets their act together on all this, supposedly, one of the first areas they're supposedly going to look at for potentially taxable foreign remittances will be incoming foreign wire transfers to foreigners here. In the case of Americans, many thousands living here have their monthly SS payments direct deposited into their Thai bank accounts. Hopefully, along the way, TRD and their tax enforcement will recognize that they need to disregard/ignore the incoming U.S. Social Security monthly payments, given that they are Thai tax exempt!

Before this year, most retired expats in Thailand whose only income was remitting foreign funds into Thailand rarely ever needed to file a Thai personal tax return. Now suddenly, the rules have changed somewhat, and suddenly, there are 61 or so Dual Taxation treaties that Thailand has with 61 or so other countries that can dictate what Thailand can and cannot tax for retired foreigners from those countries. To expect that peon TRD staff spread all over the country are suddenly going to become knowledgeable about the intricacies of many different tax treaties is a hill far too high to climb for a Thai government agency.

There's somewhat of a debate on whether those with ONLY exempt income are or are not required to file a return under the new rules for foreign remittances. There's probably more weight at present on the opinion that filing a Thai return for only exempt income is NOT required. Part of what feeds into that opinion and would seem to support it is that the current Thai tax forms for TY 2024 provide NO section / field for reporting exempt/non-taxable income. And, the RTD's own very sparse public guidance on foreign remittances has talked about the Thai tax only applying to ASSESSABLE foreign remittances. And exempt funds like U.S. SS are not assessable income and can ONLY be taxed by the U.S., per Article 20 of the U.S.-Thai DTA: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/thailand.pdf