TallGuyJohninBKK

My recollection when I did mine a year or so back is that when I paid the new passport fee online, I also had pay a separate amount for a return prepaid envelope... That's PAY for them to provide a return envelope... not send them or otherwise provide them with an actual return envelope.

Life expectancy went down markedly in the U.S. and elsewhere throughout and because of the COVID pandemic. But rates have been beginning to recover lately as the pandemic has become less severe. The COVID vaccines saved millions of lives of people who otherwise would have died from COVID, as numerous credible studies have found. Among them: COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say June 24, 2022 "Nearly 20 million lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year, but even more deaths could have been prevented if international targets for the shots had been reached, researchers reported Thursday. ... The researchers used data from 185 countries to estimate that vaccines prevented 4.2 million COVID-19 deaths in India, 1.9 million in the United States, 1 million in Brazil, 631,000 in France and 507,000 in the United Kingdom." (more) https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-england-54d29ae3af5c700f15d704c14ee224b5

Regarding the abovementioned claim regarding chlorine dioxide, also NO! Factors associated with the consumption of chlorine dioxide to prevent and treat COVID-19 in the Peruvian population: a cross-sectional study Published: 17 November 2021 Chlorine dioxide consumption "Chlorine dioxide is a reactive synthetic gas that has been used in the paper industry, decontamination of public buildings, and water purification [5]. Its high reactivity explains its properties to eliminate microorganisms, however, this also determines the potential adverse effects [5]. Despite this, chlorine dioxide has been promoted as a cure for diseases such as malaria, HIV and cancer, among others [13]; it has also been proposed to prevent or treat COVID-19 [14]. However, there is no evidence on the efficacy of chlorine dioxide for such purposes, but there is evidence on its harmful effects, so institutions such as the Pan American Health Organization do not recommend its use [15]." [emphasis added] https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-12191-9 AND Use of Ivermectin and Chlorine Dioxide for COVID-19 Treatment and Prophylaxis in Peru: A Narrative Review Published online 2022 Nov 23 "Chlorine dioxide was already being marketed in the United States and Europe as a disinfectant and “cure-all” before the coronavirus pandemic. One common product produces chlorine dioxide by combining sodium chlorite and citric acid immediately before use. Since these products were already on the market, they were quickly promoted as COVID-19 prophylactics and treatments [13]. However, the usefulness of this chemical has been rejected by several important organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization and the Peruvian National Institute of Health because there is no available published scientific evidence that has supported the use of chlorine dioxide for COVID-19 prevention or treatment, whether administered orally or by inhalation." [emphasis added] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9788901/ CD has been shown as an effective way of killing viruses on inanimate surfaces like masks and other surfaces.... but not internally in the human body. Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Warns Seller Marketing Dangerous Chlorine Dioxide Products that Claim to Treat or Prevent COVID-19 "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning letter to a seller that markets fraudulent and dangerous chlorine dioxide products known as “Miracle Mineral Solution” for prevention and treatment of “Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019” (COVID-19). The FDA has previously warned consumers not to purchase or drink chlorine dioxide products sold online as medical treatments, as the agency is not aware of any scientific evidence supporting their safety or effectiveness and they pose significant risks to patient health." ... Chlorine dioxide products have not been shown to be safe and effective for any use, including COVID-19, but these products continue to be sold as a remedy for treating autism, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and flu, among other conditions, despite their harmful effects." https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-warns-seller-marketing-dangerous-chlorine-dioxide-products-claim

He was musing about the ability to somehow apply a "disinfectant" -- commonly thought of as bleach -- to internal human tissue in a way that would kill the coronavirus. And no, he wasn't right in the sense of being able to do that in any practical, medically acceptable way. Trump's comments came after William Bryan, the undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security, presented a study that found sun exposure and cleaning agents like bleach can kill the virus when it lingers on surfaces. "Trump remarked on the effectiveness of those methods and wondered if they could help address infections in the human body. ... "And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that, so that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me." ... "Later, Trump clarified his comments after a reporter asked Bryan whether disinfectants could actually be injected into COVID-19 patients. "It wouldn’t be through injections, almost a cleaning and sterilization of an area. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t work, but it certainly has a big effect if it’s on a stationary object." https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/07/13/fact-check-did-trump-tell-people-to-drink-bleach-to-kill-coronavirus/113754708/

Apart from pricing, as a general rule, when it comes to data coverage, AIS probably has the widest / broadest reach compared to True or DTAC. The differences probably wouldn't be meaningful in the big/bigger cities, but might be if you're going to be spending time out in the hinterlands.

Impact of Trump's Promotion of Unproven COVID-19 Treatments and Subsequent Internet Trends: Observational Study Published online 2020 Nov 20 ... "From March 1 to April 30, 2020, Donald J Trump made 11 tweets about unproven therapies and mentioned these therapies 65 times in White House briefings, especially touting hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. ... Our results show that there was a substantial increase in purchases and searches for previously unpurchased and unsearched therapies by the general public following the backing of US president Donald J Trump. These increases correlated with his discussions in press conferences and personal social media posts advocating for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine cures. ... Previous studies have shown that individuals are susceptible to easy claims and conspiracies without appropriate evidence [32], and once these inauthentic claims are given momentum, they are hard to dissuade." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7685699/

Another media report on the same study, this from Politico EU: Hydroxychloroquine could have caused 17,000 deaths during Covid, study finds Former US President Donald Trump said: ‘What do you have to lose? Take it.’ https://www.politico.eu/article/hydroxychloroquine-could-have-caused-17000-deaths-during-covid-study-finds/

The above news report has Trump calling it a "miracle" that a woman recovered (was cured?) from COVID after taking hydroxychloroquine -- though as the cited news report points out, whether the drug had anything to do with her recovery was up for debate. But then, of course, Trump in 2020 also said the same drug -- which numerous credible studies have found to have no benefit against COVID -- could be among "the biggest game changers in the history of medicine" for its potential effects against COVID-19. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-drug/no-proof-drug-touted-by-trump-is-effective-against-coronavirus-eu-idUSKBN21I275/ Once again, he was spectacularly wrong in his claims. All The Times Trump Has Promoted Hydroxychloroquine May 22, 2020 ... "March 21 Citing a paper that was later ripped apart by experts, Trump tweeted “HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine,” and said that the drugs should be “put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE!” https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/05/22/all-the-times-trump-promoted-hydroxychloroquine/

As posted above in my prior answer to your challenge: "It does, indirectly and then directly via footnote: ""it is critical that representatives of public authorities should not, on the basis of their personal conviction, promote the prescription of medicines that have not been formally evaluated, thereby falsely raising hopes as to the existence of a solution to a complex health crisis [88]" ... [88] Karni A., Thomas K. Trump Says He’s Taking Hydroxychloroquine, Prompting Warning From Health Experts [Internet]. The New York Times. 2020 [cited 2023 Nov 29];Available from: 〈https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-covid-coronavirus.html〉"

It does, indirectly and then directly via footnote: ""it is critical that representatives of public authorities should not, on the basis of their personal conviction, promote the prescription of medicines that have not been formally evaluated, thereby falsely raising hopes as to the existence of a solution to a complex health crisis [88]" ... [88] Karni A., Thomas K. Trump Says He’s Taking Hydroxychloroquine, Prompting Warning From Health Experts [Internet]. The New York Times. 2020 [cited 2023 Nov 29];Available from: 〈https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-covid-coronavirus.html〉"

Trump Tells The Story Of A 'Miracle' Cure For COVID-19. But Was It? April 7, 2020 ... "At Tuesday's White House coronavirus task force briefing, Trump told the story of a woman from Michigan who was sick with COVID-19 — a story he had seen on television the night before. "She was just in horrible shape for 12 days, 14 days," Trump said. "She thought she was dead." The president said she implored her husband to obtain hydroxychloroquine, and the husband did so. "Four hours later, she awoke and she said, I feel better," Trump recalled. "And then, shortly thereafter, she felt great." "The way she spoke," Trump said, "it was like a miracle. And this was not a fan of mine, but she's a fan of my now." https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/07/829302545/trump-tells-the-story-of-a-miracle-cure-for-covid-19-but-was-it At another point, Trump also said hydroxychloroquine could be among "the biggest game changers in the history of medicine" for its potential effects against COVID-19. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-drug/no-proof-drug-touted-by-trump-is-effective-against-coronavirus-eu-idUSKBN21I275/

The authors of this study didn't perform their own study of the results of what happened with individual patients. If I'm reading their report correctly, their study is a synthesis of the findings of some 44 different studies on HCQ use in hospitalized COVID patients among six countries during the first COVID wave in 2020.

The study's authors did a good job of explaining the limitations of their finding and conclusions, for anyone who actually reads the entire study.... But here's their upshot: "Given that reliable data on hospitalizations, HCQ use and in-hospital mortality for most countries, these numbers likely represent the tip of the iceberg only thus largely underestimating the number of HCQ-related deaths worldwide. ... "The number of deaths related to HCQ worldwide was obviously underestimated because of the lack of studies in regions, such as East Europe, United Kingdom, Germany, Scandinavia, Africa, and South America. Since the number of inhabitants living in the countries included in the present study was ≈ 600 million, we might speculate that the real number of HCQ-induced deaths might be significantly higher given the wide use of HCQ during the first and subsequent waves in numerous countries." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S075333222301853X

The referenced study here wasn't counting just deaths. It was attempting to tally the "excess mortality" (higher rate of deaths) among COVID hospitalized patients during 2020 who were treated with the drug vs. COVID deaths among comparable hospitalized patients who did not receive the drug.

A lot of the early studies done on hydroxychloroquine and COVID were found to be flawed or otherwise suspect. The subsequent, more competent research done has typically shown no meaningful benefit. Some of the history on that from a 2020 USAToday report: Fact check: Hydroxychloroquine has not worked in treating COVID-19, studies show ... "COVID-19 was popularized by a French study on March 20, which found the antimalarial drug, in combination with antibiotic azithromycin, was "significantly associated with viral load reduction/disappearance in COVID-19 patients." ... "Medical experts and policymakers, desperate to turn the pandemic's tide and propelled by hype, jumped on the bandwagon. The FDA approved emergency use of the drug in late March, and many states and countries kickstarted their own clinical trials." ... "In April, the organization behind the journal that published the French study announced it did not meet the group's "expected standard." An analysis in May found the French study to be "quick and dirty ... as methodologists would legitimately say, with poor quality reporting and several biases." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/21/fact-check-hydroxychloroquine-hasnt-helped-covid-19-studies-show/5407547002/ Some of the early reports of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment also came from doctors and others who had businesses selling that and other unproven treatments. Network of Right-Wing Health Care Providers Is Making Millions Off Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin, Hacked Data Reveals The data also reveals that 72,000 people paid at least $6.7 million for Covid-19 consultations promoted by America’s Frontline Doctors and vaccine conspiracist Simone Gold. "America’s Frontline Doctors, a right-wing group founded last year to promote pro-Trump doctors during the coronavirus pandemic, is working in tandem with a small network of health care companies to sow distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, dupe tens of thousands of people into seeking ineffective treatments for the disease, and then sell consultations and millions of dollars’ worth of those medications." https://theintercept.com/2021/09/28/covid-telehealth-hydroxychloroquine-ivermectin-hacked/

FWIW, according to the study, the U.S., in part because of its large population, accounted for the vast majority of the study's estimated COVID treatment hydroxychloroquine deaths -- nearly 13,000 of the almost 17,000 they estimated among the six studied countries during the first COVID wave in 2020. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S075333222301853X

The source study contains a brief allusion to Trump's role in promoting the drug as a COVID treatment: "it is critical that representatives of public authorities should not, on the basis of their personal conviction, promote the prescription of medicines that have not been formally evaluated, thereby falsely raising hopes as to the existence of a solution to a complex health crisis [88]" ... [88] Karni A., Thomas K. Trump Says He’s Taking Hydroxychloroquine, Prompting Warning From Health Experts [Internet]. The New York Times. 2020 [cited 2023 Nov 29];Available from: 〈https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-covid-coronavirus.html〉 Which links to the following: Trump Says He’s Taking Hydroxychloroquine, Prompting Warning From Health Experts His announcement drew immediate criticism from a range of medical experts, who warned not just of the dangers it posed for the president’s health but also of the example it set. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-covid-coronavirus.html

The source study: Deaths induced by compassionate use of hydroxychloroquine during the first COVID-19 wave: an estimate Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy Volume 171, February 2024 "... HCQ use was associated with an 11% increase in the mortality rate in a meta-analysis of randomized trials. • The number of hydroxychloroquine related deaths in hospitalised patients is estimated at 16,990 in six countries. • These findings illustrate the hazard of drug repurposing with low-level evidence for the management of future pandemics." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S075333222301853X

Yes, the LTR visa got its tax exempt status by royal decree long before the Revenue Department came along this past fall with their new "tax the expats" scheme.

I believe the correct interpretation of the issue being discussed above is that people with wealth can get a blanket Thai tax exemption by qualifying for and being on the Thai LTR visa. On the other hand, wealthy expats who are NOT on the LTR visa DO NOT qualify for the blanket Thai tax exemption even with those same levels of wealth.

As I see you now realize above, you need to read and understand the full set of rules... not just the front-page quick summary. The full version includes the following under section #5: "5. You will not use ASEAN NOW to post any material which is knowingly or can be reasonably construed as false, inaccurate, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law.... "In factual areas such as news forums and current affairs topics member content that is claimed or portrayed as a fact should be supported by a link to a relevant reputable source." https://aseannow.com/forum_rules/ @Mike Lister 's request above was in keeping with the forum's rules.

Ya, except for the months long period last year where the online 90-day reporting system at least for BKK folks was totally un-usable.And then more recently, the times when BKK CW was taking many weeks, past people's reporting deadlines, to acknowledge timely online report filings.

From a U.S. perspective, I've found Nord to be one of the better VPN providers in terms of successfully unlocking various geo-restricted streaming content. And even if one server for a given city/locale doesn't work, they typically have multiple other servers available with different IPs to try for the same city/locale, which typically means you can find something that works. One really nice feature they also have are browser extensions for both Firefox and Chrome that allow the user to easily turn on, turn off, or switch VPN connections just for browser content -- which comes in very handy. My favorite, most useful VPN providers for U.S. connections right now are Private VPN for speedy, non-streaming general use, and either Nord or Windscribe VPN for streaming uses. From Thailand, the various West Coast connections to the U.S. typically are the fastest and best.

NHS given warning about infection control as Covid cases rise Exclusive: Royal College of Nursing asks why WHO guidance on masks and respirators has not been introduced across UK 22 Dec 2023 "The Royal College of Nursing has warned of an increase risk of Covid among hospital staff and patients due to the NHS’s failure to follow World Health Organization advice about infection control during a current spike in cases. The most recent figures showed one in 24 people in England and Scotland had Covid on 13 December, up from one in 55 two weeks before. On Tuesday, the WHO expressed concern about a new subvariant of Omicron, labelled JN.1, after its rapid spread in the Americas, western Pacific and European regions. To tackle the increase, the WHO advised that all health facilities “implement universal masking” and give health workers “respirators and other PPE”. (more) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/22/nhs-given-warning-about-infection-control-as-covid-cases-rise

U.K. Nurses Ask For Masks And Respirators As Covid Cases Rise Dec 23, 2023 "U.K. nurses want to bring back masks in all healthcare settings as cases of a new Covid-19 variant increase. This week, the World Health Organisation advised health facilities to introduce universal mask-wearing and give respirators and other appropriate personal protective equipment to staff treating Covid-19 patients. Leaders from industry body the Royal College of Nursing wrote to chief nurses in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland this week to ask them to bring the U.K.’s advice in line with that of the WHO." (more) https://www.forbes.com/sites/katherinehignett/2023/12/23/uk-nurses-ask-for-masks-and-respirators-as-covid-cases-rise/