TallGuyJohninBKK

And what was the U.S. Pentagon responding to from China?: China doubles down on baseless ‘US origins’ Covid conspiracy as Delta outbreak worsens August 6, 2021 "Hong Kong CNN — As Beijing grapples with a worsening outbreak of the Delta variant, an outlandish conspiracy theory linking the origin of the coronavirus to the United States military has gained renewed traction in China. The wholly unfounded theory, which claims the virus may have been leaked from a US Army lab, has been repeatedly promoted by Chinese officials and state media since March last year. ... The campaign comes after Beijing rejected WHO’s proposal for a second-phase probe into the origins of Covid-19 last month. The study would include audits of laboratories and markets in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic. That has drawn the ire of Beijing, with a top Chinese health official accusing WHO of “disregarding common sense and defying science.” https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/06/china/china-covid-origin-mic-intl-hnk/index.html

An interesting news report and peculiar kind of military disinformation campaign, rooted in part in prior Chinese propaganda baselessly blaming the U.S. for the origins of COVID. Here's some added info from the Reuters report for perspective clarifying that the campaign in the Philippines was aimed in particular at China's Sinovac vaccine, which in fact had been shown to be less effective than comparable mRNA vaccines: The subheadline of the article: "The U.S. military launched a clandestine program amid the COVID crisis to discredit China’s Sinovac inoculation – payback for Beijing’s efforts to blame Washington for the pandemic. One target: the Filipino public. Health experts say the gambit was indefensible and put innocent lives at risk." And from the article: "“COVID came from China and the VACCINE [referring to Sinovac] also came from China, don’t trust China!” one typical tweet from July 2020 read in Tagalog. The words were next to a photo of a syringe beside a Chinese flag and a soaring chart of infections. Another post read: “From China – PPE, Face Mask, Vaccine: FAKE. But the Coronavirus is real.” ... "The military program started under former President Donald Trump and continued months into Joe Biden’s presidency, Reuters found – even after alarmed social media executives warned the new administration that the Pentagon had been trafficking in COVID misinformation. The Biden White House issued an edict in spring 2021 banning the anti-vax effort, which also disparaged vaccines produced by other rivals, and the Pentagon initiated an internal review, Reuters found." ------------------- What was true -- the Pentagon disinformation campaign notwithstanding -- was that the Chinese COVID vaccines like Sinovac were shown in trials to be less effective against COVID, though not harmful or fake AFAIK, compared with their mRNA counterparts developed in the West. And, China during the pandemic did produce and sell to desperate customers in the West and elsewhere a lot of poorly-made or downright fake/counterfeit face masks and other PPE, just as the propaganda campaign claimed: Sinovac jabs not as effective in preventing severe disease: S’pore study December 16, 2021 "Researchers found that the Sinovac vaccine was 60 per cent effective against severe disease, compared with 90 per cent for the Pfizer vaccine and 97 per cent for Moderna’s vaccine. In other words, people who took the Sinovac vaccine were more likely to require supplemental oxygen and intensive care, and also more likely to die of COVID-19." https://www.ncid.sg/News-Events/News/Pages/Sinovac-jabs-not-as-effective-in-preventing-severe-disease-S’pore-study.aspx AND Faulty masks. Flawed tests. China’s quality control problem in leading global COVID-19 fight April 10, 2020 ... A growing list of foreign complaints about faulty medical gear and testing kits imported from China has upset Beijing’s designs. Within the last few weeks, scientists and health authorities in Spain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey and Britain have complained of faulty antigen or antibody coronavirus tests purchased from Chinese companies — in some cases, costing these governments millions of dollars. ... Last week, the Netherlands asked to return 600,000 face masks purchased from China that had inadequate filters and fit incorrectly. On Tuesday, Finland tested a shipment of personal protective equipment, or PPE, from China and found the items unsuitable for hospital use. Australian border officials have also reportedly seized 800,000 faulty or counterfeit masks from China. The problem is worse at home. On March 12, officials at a State Council news briefing announced that authorities had seized more than 80 million counterfeit or faulty masks and 370,000 defective or fake disinfectants and other anti-coronavirus products in the prior month alone." https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-04-10/china-beijing-supply-world-coronavirus-fight-quality-control So, at least in this instance, there was some truth behind all propaganda allegations being made against China.

Frankly, whether the new Thai tax rules come into effect or they don't, I'd prefer to NOT be taking any discretionary / non-mandatory financial decisions like an optional LARGE amount IRA to Roth conversion that could result in EITHER the U.S. or the Thai governments taking a 30-35% tax cut of my earnings/distributions. But, if I needed to do a large IRA distribution for some reason, it might very well be financially worthwhile to AVOID being a Thai tax resident for the year in question, avoid the Thai 35% maximum tax rate, and settle for a 24% tax rate in the U.S., and avoid amounts that would push me into any higher tax bracket ($192K and above).

If I'm reading the Thai and U.S. tax tables correctly for 2024, Thailand has overall higher tax rates for the same amounts of income than does the U.S. for a single filer right now -- just going off the tax tables, not factoring in exemptions or deductions. For example, if I did a $100,000 IRA to Roth conversion as my only taxable income for the year, all of it would be taxed by the U.S. at 22% or less (the first $47K or so would be taxed at 10% and 12%, while everything from $47K to $100K would be taxed at 22%) If I did that same transaction and it was fully taxable in Thailand, everything from roughly $27K (1M THB) to $54K would be taxed at 25%, and everything from $54K (2M THB) to $100K would be taxed at 30%. Obviously, if a person already had OTHER regular taxable income and the abovementioned IRA conversion was being added on top of the regular taxable income, then the add-on income from the conversion would be being taxed in the higher tax brackets to start with. In Thailand, you get to the 35% tax rate for all taxable income of roughly $136,650 (5 million THB) and above. In the U.S., roughly $100K to $192K of taxable income is only getting taxed at an incremental 24% rate for that bracket, AFAICT. Depending on the total taxable income amounts involved, the differences in tax rates between the U.S. and Thailand seem like those could result in many thousands of extra dollars of taxation occurring here if driven by large amount IRA to Roth conversions under the proposed new Thai taxation rules on foreign income.

Expression of concern coming for paper some used to link COVID-19 vaccines to deaths June 14, 2024 "The journal BMJ Public Health is placing an expression of concern on a paper it said “gave rise to widespread misreporting and misunderstanding,” namely, “claims that it implies a direct causal link between COVID-19 vaccination and mortality.” The article, “Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates of January 2020 to December 2022,” appeared online June 3, and quickly attracted attention and criticism. The expression of concern is not yet live. ... On June 13, BMJ sent a press release to reporters saying it is “investigating the quality of the research and the messaging” of the paper, and would place an expression of concern on the article." (more) https://retractionwatch.com/2024/06/14/expression-of-concern-coming-for-paper-some-used-to-link-covid-19-vaccines-to-deaths/ As of this writing, the journal's "expression of concern" has yet to be posted/added to the subject study. As noted in prior posts above, the Dutch hospital where three of the study's authors work has subsequently distanced itself from the study and disavowed its findings relating to COVID vaccines. The listed funder of the study also has issued a public statement denying that it was the funder. https://www.prinsesmaximacentrum.nl/en/news-events/news/the-princess-maxima-center-distances-itself-from-publication-excess-mortality-during-covid-19-pandemic https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/study-does-not-say-covid-vaccines-may-have-fuelled-excess-deaths-2024-06-13/ The journal/publisher itself, BMJ, also issued a public statement rejecting various news reports that it said had falsely linked excess deaths during the pandemic to COVID vaccines, stating that the subject study never made that explicit finding.

Re an earlier comment in the thread, AIS and 3BB had some kind of corporate merger lately that, as I understand it, results in AIS taking over ownership control of 3BB's home internet services (though they continue to be billed and serviced by 3BB at least for the time being). The link below has a Q&A for customers toward the bottom of the webpage: https://www.ais.th/en/consumers/fibre/fibre3/ AND NBTC clears AIS-3BB merger with 5-year cap on broadband pricing 13 November 2023 "Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) board greenlighted the merger of Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Triple T Broadband (3BB) on Friday, so long as it doesn’t raise broadband prices for the next five years. AIS broadband subsidiary Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) struck a deal in July 2022 to acquire 100% of 3BB, along with a 19% stake in Jasmine Broadband Internet Infrastructure Fund (JASIF). The merger makes AIS the biggest fixed broadband player in Thailand with 4.69 million subscribers, displacing True Corp, which has 3.8 million fixed broadband subscribers." https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/telecom-regulation/15779-nbtc-clears-ais-3bb-merger-with-5-year-cap-on-broadband-pricing.html

That hasn't been my experience with multiple domestic travel trips/hotel stays in recent months with BKK-CW as my home Immigration office. And I've never ever been rejected for online 90-day reporting because of any failure to update my TM30. In fact, my one and only TM30 via BKK CW is from circa 2019, and I've never filed a new one ever since through multiple trips abroad and even more domestic trips/hotel stays... always returning to the same Thailand address I've had through all those years. All of the above being while on annual retirement extensions with annual re-entry permits. That said, I entirely believe that OTHER Immigration offices in misc. other provinces are and have been enforcing their own rules about travel (either domestic or international) triggering the need for new TM30s to be filed. Because I've seen the numerous complaints of such by posters here over time.

Jim, I'm glad you posted this topic, because it brings added focus to the issue of how Americans with IRAs and Roth IRAs might be impacted by the latest PROPOSED changes to Thai tax rules for expats. Specifically, that in the future, U.S. IRA distributions (including Roth conversions) might become subject to Thai taxation and are not shielded by the current US-Thai tax treaty. However, I think the notion above of the PROPOSED Thai tax changes being something that ought to trigger folks now to suddenly do LARGE dollar value Roth conversions is a problematic one... First, because we really don't know yet what if anything the future Thai tax rules will be and/or when they might take effect. But also second, making one or two-time high-value IRA to Roth conversions would be a taxable event in the U.S., and potentially push that person into a much higher (and very costly) U.S. tax bracket for the year/s in which the conversion or conversions occurred. Here's the U.S. tax brackets chart for 2024: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/taxes/federal-income-tax-brackets#2024-tax-brackets-and-income-tax-rates As folks can see, for this year, anything over $100K of taxable income (including IRA to Roth conversions) for a single filer would start out at a 24% U.S. income tax rate, and total taxable income for the year in excess of about $192,000 would get taxed by the feds at varying rates between 32% and 37% for the current year. Now, totally absent the Thai taxation issues, I know the financial advice I've always been given about IRA to Roth conversions is that, ideally, you want to spread them and the converted amounts out over time, so that when you do conversions, they don't kick you into a higher (or much higher) tax bracket that you'd otherwise be in. Now, IF the Thai authorities do go thru with their latest plan (unlike the prior one they seem to have suddenly abandoned after months of discussion and debate about implementation), will the latest plan make it sensible for an American to do a single or maybe two very large amount Roth conversions, and how would doing so wash out between the U.S. and proposed Thai taxation schemes. That part seems very unclear to me at present..

I've gotten the impression over time that there's (not surprisingly) some variability from IO to IO as to whether new TM30s are or are not required post-travel. At least at BKK-CW in recent months for domestic and for international as of last year, they're weren't enforcing any such rule.

I've made several domestic overnight-stay hotel trips in recent months, each time registering at major established hotels with my passport. My 90-day reporting is to BKK CW. Each time after my return from those trips, I was able to do my 90-day reports online without any problem and without having to file any new/updated TM30. I'm just talking about BKK-CW... Can't speak to the policies at any of the other IOs... Also, last I heard (though I haven't personally confirmed it lately), BKK CW also doesn't require new TM30s when people travel internationally, so long as when they return, it's to their same Thai address that's already in the system. When I did my last international travel in mid 2023, I was able to continue doing my online 90-day reports and wasn't required to file a new TM30 upon my return. Also was able to do a new retirement extension last fall with the same many years old (circa 2019) TM30.

I had a similar thing happen once before after getting a new passport. Apparently, when you do your next 90-day report in person after getting the new passport, the IO handling your report has to do something in their system that results in your online reporting capability being restored. In my case, they apparently failed to do that the first time round. So I had to go back to Immigration a second time around, explain I was still being blocked from online reporting, and at that point they fixed it, and been OK ever since.

A bit of an update here from the U.S. FDA on the COVID variant that will be used, apparently, for the upcoming fall 2024 version of COVID vaccines in the U.S.: FDA Updates Advice to Manufacturers of COVID-19 Vaccines (2024-2025 Formula): If Feasible Use KP.2 Strain of JN.1-Lineage ... "FDA has continued to monitor the circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2. Based on the most current available data, along with the recent rise in cases of COVID-19 in areas of the country, the agency has further determined that the preferred JN.1-lineage for the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 Formula) is the KP.2 strain, if feasible. This change is intended to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 Formula) more closely match circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains. FDA has communicated this change to the manufacturers of the licensed and authorized COVID-19 vaccines. The agency does not anticipate that a change to KP.2 will delay the availability of the vaccines for the United States." https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/updated-covid-19-vaccines-use-united-states-beginning-fall-2024

An update from the website Dutch News: "The article [study] was widely criticised in the scientific community after international newspapers including the New York Post and the Daily Telegraph reported on its findings, with the Telegraph running the headline “Covid vaccines may have helped fuel rise in excess deaths“. Some compared the publication to the 1998 paper in The Lancet by former doctor Andrew Wakefield that claimed vaccines were a possible cause of autism in children. The paper was withdrawn 12 years later after a BMJ investigation found Wakefield guilty of dishonesty and fraud. Stuart McDonald, an expert in demographics and longevity at consultancy firm Lane, Clark & Peacock, said the Dutch study into vaccines should “not have been published in its current form”. (more) https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/06/cancer-hospital-regrets-paper-linking-vaccines-to-covid-deaths/ And the above cited news report also has separate researchers -- whose data on excess deaths during the pandemic was used by this disputed study -- essentially accusing the study authors of plagiarism. From the above news report:

Reuters Fact Check also chimes in on the fake, study-publisher rejected news reports here blaming vaccines in connection with the COVID excess deaths study: Fact Check: Study does not say COVID vaccines may have fuelled excess deaths By Reuters Fact Check June 13, 2024 "A newly released study does not say COVID-19 vaccines may have fuelled excess deaths across the world, contrary to claims on social media. The journal which published the analysis has issued a statement, calling news from “various outlets” about the paper “misreporting” and emphasising that “the research does not support the claim that vaccines are a major contributory factor to excess deaths since the start of the pandemic”. Health data experts interviewed by Reuters also said that while the paper, published by BMJ Public Health, discusses excess mortality during the 2020-2022 pandemic, it does not say COVID vaccines were driving the deaths." (more) https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/study-does-not-say-covid-vaccines-may-have-fuelled-excess-deaths-2024-06-13/ Meanwhile, the above Reuters report also noted that the Dutch nonprofit World Child Cancer Foundation -- which was listed by the BMJ as the funding entity for the disputed study -- has issued a statement denying that it was the funder. Screen capture of the original BMJ journal study-funding reference: https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/high-excess-death-rates-in-the-west-for-3-years-running-since-start-of-pandemic/

I'm trying to understand what the main goal is here, and what's to be gained by trying to port the phone's mobile internet connection to a wifi router? As opposed to, simply setting up a mobile hotspot on your phone that will make its mobile internet connection available as a separate wifi node that any nearby device can connect to? No hardware involved, and can easily be turned on or off via the phone's settings.

The above cited deaths truly are sad and unfortunate involving what was a very rare side effect of the AZ vaccine that hadn't surfaced as a problem in the original pre-approval clinical trials. But let's also keep some perspective on the topic: The 81 deaths the DM above attributes to blood clotting from the AZ vaccine occurred out of some 50 million doses that were given in the UK before use of the vaccine as phased out. That equates to one death per 600,000+ doses given. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/astrazeneca-rare-side-effects-covid-104327774.html Balance against that, COVID vaccines are estimated to have prevented some 400,000 COVID deaths in the UK, including up to 130,000 deaths early in the pandemic thru fall 2021 when the AZ vaccine was being used along with two others. "It has been estimated that up to 26 September 2021, the UK vaccination programme prevented between 23.9 and 24.3 million infections and between 123,600 and 131,300 deaths." https://inews.co.uk/news/science/covid-vaccines-saved-lives-england-scotland-who-2862550 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting COVID itself during the pandemic, even with the use of vaccines, claimed more than 232,000 lives in the UK. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/uk/ Worldwide, the AZ COVID vaccine has been estimated to have saved some 6 million lives. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2022-07-15-oxford-vaccine-saved-most-lives-its-first-year-rollout Lastly, the risk of blood clots was HIGHER from COVID itself than it was from the AZ vaccine. "The risk of a serious blood clot [from the vaccine] is about 1 in 250,000 people or 4 in 1 million. COVID-19 carries a much higher risk of blood clots: 7.8 percent of people who have had COVID-19 also had a pulmonary embolism, and 11.2 percent experience deep vein thrombosis." https://www.healthline.com/health/adult-vaccines/astrazeneca-vaccine#blood-clot-risk It's too bad that the Daily Mail also doesn't write an article doing personal profiles on all the hundreds of thousands of Britons who are alive and well today because COVID vaccines kept them from dying during the pandemic. But I guess they don't enough space in their paper to print them all.

New definition of long COVID aims to offer clarity, direction The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), in response to a request from the US federal government, has published a new consensus diagnosis for long COVID. ... "Inconsistencies in definitions have created challenges, and a consensus definition could promote consistency in diagnosis, aid awareness efforts, help patients access appropriate care, services, and benefits, and help harmonize Long COVID research and surveillance," the authors said. ... The definition, which can be applied to both children and adults, reads: "Long COVID (LC) is an infection-associated chronic condition (IACC) that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and is present for at least 3 months as a continuous, relapsing and remitting, or progressive disease state that affects one or more organ systems." (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/new-definition-long-covid-aims-offer-clarity-direction

More than 110,000 children in England and Scotland are still suffering. For Toby, it has meant pain, crushing fatigue and sadness – as well as months off school ... Toby’s having a good day. He even went to school. “I haven’t really been in for the last two or three months, but the last two weeks I’ve gone in during the lunchtime. Not to go into any lesson but for form time.” What was it like? Was it good to see people? “It was amazing,” he smiles, especially to see his best mate, Louis, even if he does see Louis most days online – they play Minecraft together. Toby got Covid in January 2022 and hasn’t been well since. His symptoms include pains, crushing fatigue, dysautonomia (racing heart on standing), often the inability to walk more than 50 metres or stand for long (they now have a wheelchair). And worst of all is post-exertional malaise (PEM), so that any activity he does manage – physical or mental – will come back and knock him out later, for days or longer. When Toby didn’t get better, he was referred to an NHS long Covid clinic. They said he would get better, although it might take a few months. “No one says that any more,” says Sarah. (more) https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/12/childhood-interrupted-12-year-old-tobys-life-with-long-covid

Quotes of the day from the above Dutch oncology hospital's statement: 1. "We are not experts in epidemiology, nor do we want to give that impression.... Duh!!! And yet three of your oncologist staff managed to publish a paper exactly on that in a British Medical Journal publication apparently without you knowing what they were espousing. 2. "If it turns out that carelessness was involved in the realization of this publication, it will of course be withdrawn." Maybe the hospital here will look into how what was supposed to start out as a look at the pandemic's impact on child cancer care and mortality in low-income countries, ended up mutating into a read-between-the-lines anti-vax screed on global excess mortality... And the hospital only now is becoming aware of this?

The Dutch hospital where three authors of the disputed study work issuing a statement confirming that it supports COVID vaccinations: The Princess Máxima Center distances itself from publication Excess mortality during COVID-19 pandemic 11-06-2024 "The Princess Máxima Center distances itself from the publication “Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates of January 2020 to December 2022”. Serious questions have arisen regarding the publication “Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates of January 2020 to December 2022”. Therefore, we will further investigate the scientific quality of this study. The Princess Máxima Center deeply regrets that this publication may give the impression that the importance of vaccinations is being questioned. Originally, the idea was to look at the effect of COVID measures on, among other things, the mortality rate of children with cancer in low-income countries. During the course of the study, the focus shifted and diverted in a direction that we felt was too far from our expertise: pediatric oncology. We are not experts in epidemiology, nor do we want to give that impression.... If it turns out that carelessness was involved in the realization of this publication, it will of course be withdrawn." (more) https://www.prinsesmaximacentrum.nl/en/news-events/news/the-princess-maxima-center-distances-itself-from-publication-excess-mortality-during-covid-19-pandemic

And.... Dutch hospital distances itself from Covid excess death report June 12, 2024 A Dutch children’s cancer hospital has formally distanced itself from a publication on excess mortality since the coronavirus pandemic involving several members of its staff, after its quality has been questioned. The Princess Máxima Center says serious doubts have arisen about the publication in the British Medical Journal and that it “deeply regrets” it may give the impression that the importance of vaccinations is being questioned. The publication was picked up by the British press, some who misrepresented the content of the paper to the enthusiasm of anti-vax campaigners. The Telegraph, for example, headlined its article “Covid vaccines may have helped fuel rise in excess deaths”. ... “We want to emphasise that we strongly support vaccination, and that this publication should certainly not be read as an argument against vaccination,” the hospital said. (more) https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/06/dutch-hospital-distances-itself-from-covid-excess-death-report/

USA Today adds its fact-checking voice to the many that have rejected the false claims made about the Netherlands COVID excess deaths study in right-wing media, such as The Telegraph whose original report helped spread the deception. No, study didn't blame COVID-19 vaccines for excess pandemic deaths | Fact check The claim: A study identified COVID-19 vaccines as a cause of excess deaths Our rating: False The study cited in the post does not conclude COVID-19 vaccines were linked to the excess deaths. It encouraged further studies to identify the causes. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/06/11/covid-19-vaccines-excess-deaths-fact-check/74058898007/

A 15-day course of the antiviral nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) didn't improve symptoms of long COVID, according to a randomized controlled trial that was stopped early for lack of efficacy. The STOP-PASC trial showed no difference in improvement on a combined outcome of fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, body aches, and gastrointestinal and cardiovascular symptoms for nirmatrelvir-ritonavir compared with placebo-ritonavir over 10 weeks, Upinder Singh, MD, of Stanford University, and colleagues reported in JAMA Internal Medicine. ... "I don't think we've shown that Paxlovid doesn't work," Singh told MedPage Today. "We've shown that 15 days of Paxlovid given to this highly vaccinated patient population who has had symptoms for a long time, didn't show any statistically significant difference in the composite [outcome]." (more) MedPage Today https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/longcovid/110544

Clinical trials show two-in-one jab may bring about higher immune responses than separate inoculations A combined flu and coronavirus vaccine brings about a higher immune response to both diseases than when the vaccines are administered separately, a clinical trial has shown. Moderna, the biotech firm behind the Spikevax vaccine used in [U.K.] NHS booster programmes, is trialling a two-in-one jab that can also protect from the flu. Initial results have shown it may be better at protecting against them than what is now being used. The results showed that the antibody response in the participants brought about higher immune responses against flu and Covid-19 than when the vaccines were administered separately. The company said they hoped the vaccine would be made widely available as early as next year. (more) The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/10/moderna-combi-flu-and-covid-vaccine-gives-better-protection-study-finds