TallGuyJohninBKK

From the actual IG's report... and Customs and Border Protection's response to it: The IG report includes the following: "The Department of State (DoS) issues nonimmigrant visas to individuals seeking entry into the United States on a temporary basis for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work, study, or other reasons. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to address staffing limitations and visa backlogs, Dos and the Department of Homeland Security agreed to expand DoS' authorities to waive requirements to conduct consular interviews and collect fingerprints for some individuals seeking nonimmigrant visas. ... "According to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 2023 (1NA), as amended, nonimmigrant visa applicants aged 14 through 79 generally must be interviewed by a consular officer.2 The Secretary of State may waive this requirement for travelers in certain visa categories.3 [emphasis added] ... "Dos, in concurrence with OHS, waived in-person interviews for approximately 7.1 million applicants for nonimmigrant visas from FY 2020 through FY 2023." The IG's report doesn't challenge the granting of interview waivers or argue they should be ceased/halted. Rather, the IG report only contends that there should be a better information flow to fully inform Customs and Border Protection officers at entry points of those cases where DOS in-person interviews did not / have not occurred. In response to the audit report, Customs and Border Protection agreed to the IG's two primary recommendations to improve the information flow issues, but disagreed about the impacts of granting visa interview waivers, as the IG summarized below: Nowhere in the report is there any mention made of either President Biden or Vice President Harris. The blacked out portions in the report excerpt above are as shown in the source document. https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2024-06/OIG-24-33-Jun24-mgmtalert-Redacted.pdf

Rick, indeed, good to use home country bank cards that do NOT have any foreign currency fees... About your counter withdrawals, does your U.S. credit card also have no flat fee transaction charge when used for cash advances? I know of a couple U.S. credit unions that have credit card products with no cash advance fees. But those are very uncommon in the U.S. credit card market....

The new website, predictably, looks to be entirely in TH language with no EN or other language options, other than using Google Translate. Good job!!! 😞

It really would depend on the specific hospital in question and their policies / practices toward tourists / expats. I always ask for, and am provided, a detailed billing statement in EN of just what I'm being charged for and at what prices... Though I usually have to make a specific request when paying the bill to get that. Oddly, the private hospitals almost never seem to voluntarily provide that, absent a specific request. Normally, in my experience, a hospital staff assisting with language translation issues with other TH-only speaking hospital staff wouldn't involve any extra charges. However, if someone requested or was assigned some kind of specialized nursing service for some reason, that most certainly would trigger added charges. Also, in general, there are well-established policies and practices at various private hospitals whereby tourists and/or expats are charged higher prices than Thai nationals would be for the same exact medical services....

Several of the international hospitals I've used in BKK thru the years have specific staff units inhouse aimed at serving international / expat patients, sometimes called International Relations or something similar. The ones I've encountered typically have multilingual translation capability available, either inhouse or on-call. I've never encountered those hospitals charging extra / separately when those hospital staff are called to assist an international / expat patient with language or other support needs. And I'm familiar with that in an outpatient setting. I believe that same kind of assistance would generally be available, assuming the hospital provided it, to inpatients as well..... But separate from that, I believe I have seen in the past where some private hospitals in BKK have offered higher level rooms with supposedly dedicated EN or other language nursing care at higher prices than would otherwise be the case.

U.S. folks, and expats in general, I think need to be cautious about using foreign country credit cards to make counter withdrawals here. One reason for that is that, AFAIK, most U.S.-based credit cards will treat that kind of transaction as a cash advance on the card. And cash advances on U.S. credit cards typically carry a flat percentage transaction fee (like a 5% of the advanced amount) plus usually a much higher interest rate if the balance is carried over. There also could be additional/normal foreign currency conversion fees, depending on the card. There are a few U.S. credit cards that don't charge cash advance fees and don't charge foreign currency conversion fees, but those are in the vast minority. And to the best of my knowledge, the credit cards typically issued by the various U.S. mega-banks don't typically carry those advantages. At least with a U.S. debit card, there's not going to be any cash advance surcharge, and no card interest accruing on the balance to worry about. Some Thai banks will do the same kind of counter withdrawal transaction using a foreign VISA or MC debit card, though others won't. Here's an example of the kinds of cash advance fees charged involving one Bank of America credit card: Source:

Is there a COVID outbreak at the Olympics? At least 10 athletes test positive in one week At least ten athletes, including British swimmer Adam Peaty and Australian swimmer Lani Pallister, have tested positive for COVID-19. What safety protocols are at the Olympics? Aug. 3, 2024 At least 10 athletes competing at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics — including swimmers from multiple countries and five Australian water polo players — have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week. The uptick in cases has raised questions around the measures in place to stop the spread of COVID at the Olympics. This year's Games are considered the first post-pandemic Olympics. Unlike the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, there are no strict protocols or restrictions around COVID-19 in Paris. However, COVID-19 is still spreading around the world. The United States is facing a summer wave, and the virus is also spreading in Europe, including in the Olympic Village. ... Have any Team USA Olympians gotten COVID? Asked if any Team USA swimmers had tested positive for COVID, a USA Swimming spokesperson tells TODAY.com via email: "We don’t share athlete health information publicly." (more) https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/covid-olympics-2024-rcna164070 Why Olympians Who Have COVID-19 Can Still Compete in Paris August 1, 2024 ... the rules surrounding COVID-19—including vaccination recommendations, who gets tested, isolation procedures, and masking guidance—are very different at the Paris Games than they were during the Tokyo Olympics. In Tokyo, in the summer of 2021, athletes—and the media who had contact with them in interview zones—were tested regularly. Anyone testing positive was immediately isolated and remained separated from others until they tested negative. While vaccination wasn’t mandated, most national Olympic sports organizations, including the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), strongly recommended that athletes be up-to-date with their COVID-19 shot. Officials also conducted temperature checks for anyone entering any competition to monitor for fevers, one symptom of an infection. To further limit the possibility of an outbreak, no spectators were allowed at those Games. In Paris, the fans are back, virtually none of them wearing masks, and there is no regular testing of athletes. A spokesperson for the USOPC said in emailed responses to questions from TIME that American athletes are generally tested only if they have symptoms such as a persistent cough, fever, or sore throat, or if they are just generally feel unwell, and COVID-19 is being treated like any other respiratory illness such as the cold or flu. That means there is no rule preventing athletes from training or competing, just as there isn’t anything from stopping someone with the sniffles or a stuffy nose. To protect other Olympians, however, since athletes share rooms and countries occupy the same living space in the Olympic Village, if athletes test positive, they are generally moved to a single room to limit the chance of getting others sick. The USOPC is also arranging for separate transportation for them to and from practices and events and delivering their meals so they won’t need to be in the public dining hall. Medical clinics at the Olympics also have isolation rooms to accommodate people who test positive. (more) https://time.com/7006533/covid-19-athletes-paris-olympics/

Thanks for that update and news! In the old days, Krungsri and TMB used to be the two Thai banking companies I relied on for 30K baht ATM machines.... But once TMB merged into becoming TTB, I had no idea whether the new entity still kept that same policy for their legacy TMB ATM machines. Do you know / does that mean that ATMs that formerly belonged to the other party in that merger, Thanachart, now still have a lower per withdrawal limit? I don't think Thanachart was in the 30K club before... "TMBThanachart Bank Public Company Limited (“TTB”) is a business merger between TMB Bank Public Company Limited (“TMB”) and Thanachart Bank Public Company Limited (“Thanachart”) to bring about the unique strengths of TMB and Thanachart to raise financial well-being for Thai people. In this regard, the Company is one of the major shareholders of TTB with the equity stake of more than 20 percent and at the level which allows the Company to participate in the conduct of business of TTB." https://www.thanachart.co.th/en/thanachart-group/associated-companies/tmbthanachart-bank

As I mentioned above, some U.S. financial entities will allow their accountholders, upon request, a temporary (one-day?) increase / waiver of the normal card daily withdrawal limit. I wouldn't be surprised if Schwab might allow that kind of request. But as a general proposition, I try to keep my Thailand ATM transaction activity entirely separate from / away from my U.S. brokerage accounts and related cash accounts.

Most Thai banks I'm familiar with allow the accountholder to set varying maximum amounts of ATM cash that can be withdrawn PER DAY. In my experience, those options can range from very low amounts up to quite huge amounts into the hundreds of thousands of baht PER DAY. Those PER DAY withdrawal limits are separate from the physical limits that banks set for their ATM machines, which typically allow a maximum of anywhere from 25 to 30 bills PER TRANSACTION. Those machine-based per transaction limits are NOT adjustable in any way by the card holder.

Government accepts advice on 2024 autumn COVID-19 vaccine programme Minister Andrew Gwynne has accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). 2 August 2024 The government has accepted advice from the JCVI for an autumn COVID-19 vaccination programme this year. ... On the advice of the expert JCVI all those aged 65 or over, all those in care homes for older people, and those aged 6 months or over who are in a clinical risk group will be eligible for vaccination this autumn. Vaccination offers the best protection for those at risk of serious outcomes through older age or clinical condition. Protection against serious disease wanes over time so it is important to top it up by getting an autumn dose if you are eligible. ... The JCVI has not advised offering the vaccine to frontline health and social care workers, staff in care homes for older adults, unpaid carers and household contacts of people with immunosuppression as part of the national programme. (more) https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-accepts-advice-on-2024-autumn-covid-vaccine-programme

Where is COVID-19 spreading? These states have the highest COVID rates Updated Aug. 3, 2024 The United States is in the midst of a summer wave of COVID-19 fueled by highly contagious, new variants sweeping the country from coast to coast. As summer travel peaks, experts are warning people to take precautions to stop the spread, no matter the COVID rates in your state. Currently, levels of COVID found in wastewater are considered “high” nationally, for the first time since last winter. What's more, 44 states have "high" or "very high" levels individually, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The West and South are being hit especially hard. ... Cases may keep rising through the rest of the year, according to Michael Hoerger, Ph.D., assistant professor at Tulane University School of Medicine who leads the Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative’s data tracker. His models show the current wave is likely to peak on Sept. 11 at around 1.2 million new cases a day. (He uses wastewater data from Biobot Analytics, which used to provide the CDC its data.) (more) https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/states-with-highest-covid-rates-2024-rcna163403 https://pmc19.com/data/PMC_Report_Aug02_2024.pdf

COVID spreading quickly in San Diego County Health department recommends caution as summer wave crests August 1, 2024 According to the latest public health update, San Diego County’s seven-day test positivity rate hit 20.5 percent last week, technically the second-highest number recorded since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and a sure sign that coronavirus is hitting the community hard this summer. San Diego County, it seems, is running a little hotter than the state and nation in this leading indicator of viral activity. The region’s latest test positivity results are one week more recent than comparable numbers for the state and nation. But looking back to two weeks ago, San Diego County’s rate was 19.3 percent, compared to the state rate of 13.8 percent and the nationwide rate of 14.3 percent. (more) https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/08/01/covid-spreading-quickly-in-san-diego-county/ COVID summer surge: CDC data shows cases ‘very high' in California July 31, 2024 A COVID summer surge has the virus hitting record levels in some areas. The virus is booming nationwide and especially high in the west coast. CDC wastewater data map shows COVID is "very high" and 19 states, including California, are currently considered "very high" zones. "I'm also hearing that everyone is getting it right now in the community," UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said. (more) https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/covid-summer-surge/3609997/ Data shows severe COVID cases, deaths surging in Marin County August 3, 2024 MILL VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) -- COVID cases are back with a vengeance in Marin County this summer. Last month, the county saw its highest number of deaths from the disease in over a year. "What we're seeing right now, are higher rates than we're seeing last winter," said Marin County's Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis. (more) https://abc7news.com/post/severe-covid-cases-deaths-surging-marin-county/15135575/

CDC COVID update for August 2, 2024: COVID-19 "Most areas of the country are experiencing consistent increases in COVID-19 activity. COVID-19 test positivity, emergency department visits, and rates of COVID-19–associated hospitalizations remain elevated, particularly among adults 65+. 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 https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00 COVID-19 "As of July 30, 2024, we estimate that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 35 states and territories, declining or likely declining in 2 states and territories, and are stable or uncertain in 7 states and territories." https://www.cdc.gov/forecast-outbreak-analytics/about/rt-estimates.html 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 indicator of COVID activity and trends in the country, as follows: States with "very high" COVID wastewater levels: North Carolina Maryland Colorado Wyoming Delaware Dist. of Columbia Louisiana Arkansas Alaska California New Mexico Utah Washington Florida Texas Minnesota Hawaii Mississippi Missouri Kansas South Carolina Oregon Idaho "This map shows the median Wastewater Viral Activity Level of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) reported by wastewater treatment plants within each state or territory over the previous week. Wastewater monitoring can detect viruses spreading from one person to another within a community earlier than clinical testing and before people who are sick go to their doctor or hospital. It can also detect infections without symptoms. If you see increased Wastewater Viral Activity Levels of SARS-CoV-2, it might indicate that there is a higher risk of infection." https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-currentlevels.html https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-nationaltrend.html

Here's the charts from the latest UKHSA weekly COVID update for England as of Aug. 1: My text summary - weekly COVID new cases (not an especially reliable indicator these days) and weekly COVID deaths both increased since the last weekly report, with new weekly COVID deaths breaching the 200 mark for the first time since late February. The COVID testing positivity rate (7-day rolling average) declined very slightly since the last weekly report but remained high at 15.8%. 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 most recent weekly low in May: Weekly data for deaths with COVID-19 on the death certificate in England Up to and including 19 July 2024 (some prior week figures also have been revised vs prior weekly reports): Date -- Amount 19 Jul 2024 -- 211 12 Jul 2024 -- 198 5 Jul 2024 -- 163 28 Jun 2024 -- 175 21 Jun 2024 -- 149 14 Jun 2024 -- 156 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

But remember, there's NO prostitution in Pattaya, so the authorities often remind us... So all of that 75% must be going on elsewhere!

I'd revise that slightly, as follows: 81% of Thailand's attraction are these "sexual services". 15% for the beaches, 3% for the [street] food and 1% the temples. 🙂

Well, it's been approved in India...but in doing some searching, I couldn't readily find much of any indication of to what extent it's actually been / being used there. The Washington University announcements seem pretty quiet on that point. Likewise, in doing some searching, I found Phase III trial data that mostly involved the India nasal vaccine impact in the blood work of humans against the original first COVID variant that arose in China... and nothing relating to the current crop of COVID virus variants. I also was unable to find any studies that compared the nasal vaccine's actual impact on preventing illness and blocking transmission in human populations vs other vaccines such as the mRNA ones in comparable human populations (as opposed to just measuring their respective bloodwork immunity indicators).

The broader ratings don't appear to be suffering at all... quite the contrary in fact: Olympics Bring Huge Audiences to NBCUniversal Over Opening Weekend Across all platforms, the first three days from Paris improve by almost 80 percent over the Tokyo Games three years ago. July 29, 2024 Through the first three full days of the games, NBCU is averaging 34.5 million viewers across all of its linear networks and digital platforms for its primary telecasts. The ratings figures include both what it calls “Paris Prime” — 2-5 p.m. ET in the United States, when a host of medal events air live — and the U.S. primetime telecasts. After drawing 28.6 million viewers for Friday’s opening ceremony, the weekend telecasts got even bigger: Saturday’s total audience was 32.4 million, and on Sunday — which featured the first day of competition for Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team — 41.5 million people tuned in, according to custom fast national ratings from Nielsen (for linear broadcasts) and Adobe Analytics (for streaming and digital). https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/2024-olympics-tv-ratings-opening-weekend-1235961393/

Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony Score 28.6 Million Viewers for NBC Jul 27, 2024 The watery spectacle of Friday’s Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Games delivered 28.6 million viewers for NBCUniversal platforms, making it the most-watched kick off for a summer Olympics since London in 2012. ... The theatrical, four-hour ceremony that aired live on Friday afternoon in the U.S. came in 10 million viewers higher than NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Tokyo opening ceremony in 2021 and more than 2 million higher than Rio in 2016, according to NBCUniversal. https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/paris-olympics-ratings-opening-ceremonies-most-watched-2012-1236087865/

Krungsri (yellow color bank) ATM machines, as posted above, also allow for a maximum of 30K baht withdrawal per transaction -- assuming that the foreign bank card you're using also allows that size of withdrawal. A lot of U.S. debit cards have a default DAILY withdrawal limit of $500 USD or sometimes even less, which would be less than the maximum 30K baht per withdrawal amount allowed by the Krungsri and some other Thai bank ATMs. So the card holder needs to check with their home country bank on what limits it places on the amounts of ATM withdrawals. Sometimes the home country bank will allow the cardholder to increase their daily ATM withdrawal limit, but most won't as it's considered a security measure. Some will allow one-time requests to waive their daily limit that's typically valid for just 24 hours or so before reverting to the norm. Among U.S. card issuers, about the highest daily ATM withdrawal limits I've encountered have been around $1000 USD per day, which would more than cover a 30K baht Thai ATM withdrawal (which currently is running about $835+). But those kinds of cards are not common. On the fees issue, it's a two-sided proposition. On the Thai end, it's pretty much going to be the standard 220 baht ATM fee per withdrawal for foreign VISA and MC debit cards. Some home country banks or card issuers, like brokerages, will reimburse those foreign ATM fees, generally up to some $ limit per month. But most home country banks won't. Then on the home country card issuing entity end, most U.S. banks, CUs and other card issuers will pass along a VISA or MC foreign currency conversion fee, sometimes called a cross border transaction fee, and sometimes add their own added FCF amount in addition to the base card network fees. Those can range anywhere from 1% on all foreign ATM withdrawals or purchases, up to as much as 4%, depending on the card issuer. Obviously, if someone is going to use a home country (including U.S.) debit or credit card while traveling abroad to Thailand or elsewhere, it's in their interest to use debit or credit cards that have no FCF or as small a one as possible. BTW, regarding using foreign debit cards in Krungsri bank ATMs, you need to be careful to avoid their ATMs' on-screen offer of Dynamic Currency Conversion, which if accepted results in your transaction getting a 4-5% lower exchange rate than would otherwise be the case. The DCC offer that appears on their ATM screen when using foreign cards is couched in showing you your ATM withdrawal amount in the currency of your card issuing bank, instead of in Thai baht, which masquerades as some kind of convenience for foreign tourists/travelers. Unless you needlessly want to accept a 4-5% worse currency exchange rate set by the Thai bank on your ATM withdrawal than would otherwise be the case, always choose to DECLINE that on-screen DCC offer. And your ATM withdrawal will then be processed and converted at the normal USD-THB exchange rate as set by either the VISA or MC networks, depending on which brand of card is used.

There's a lot of work and research going on currently with the notion of nasal vaccines. But as the final paragraph of the above cited announcement seems to make clear, that new approach for vaccination remains some ways off from being ready as a proven solution for prime-time, real-world human use. “Mucosal vaccines are the future of vaccines for respiratory infections,” Boon said. “Historically, developing such vaccines has been challenging. There’s still so much we don’t know about the kind of immune response we need and how to elicit it. I think we’re going to see a lot of very exciting research in the next few years [emphasis added] that could lead to big improvements in vaccines for respiratory infections.” One of the questions that seems to often arise with the nasal vaccine approach is just what the duration of effectiveness might be for any any given human administration. And that doesn't seem to be a topic that's addressed at all in the above OP announcement. In other words, if there was a human version of a COVID or avian flu nasal vaccine, how often would it have to be re-administered in order to provide continuing / ongoing protection?

I've been here full-time since the mid-2000s....almost 20 years ago now... And I was really surprised, when at various points along the way, I heard stories from OLDER timers of the various U.S. places that had staked claims in Thailand in past years, only to later disappear... And then by the time I arrived, most folks of my era had never heard of those places ever having been in Thailand before a decade or two earlier.... The institutional memory, such as it is, often isn't very good. But also, you have to be careful... Sometimes, some Thai operator will copy the name of a business or brand (or close to it) in establishing a business here... even though it might have no official/formal relation to the namesake operation in the U.S. Do you know, if the Del Taco location you recall was in fact a legit extension of the U.S. chain?

No, they don't.... https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/newsguard/

NewsGuard is not the only credible source saying the same thing: Fans mistakenly claim performer’s testicle was shown during Olympics opening ceremony Jul 27, 2024 ... "However, while many were convinced that a testicle was on show for the millions watching around the world and pictures of the incident have gone viral on social media, the reality is that it was a simple wardrobe malfunction involving the performer’s tights. [emphasis added] A round hole in the black tights started out as testicle-shaped when Katerine began his song but as the performer unfroze and danced, it became clear that the split was becoming bigger. Later into the performance which then focused on a dance troupe who were floating along the River Seine, the camera cut back to Katerine’s background performers dancing to the music. By that time, the hole in the performer’s black tights had ripped across nearly the entire front part of their right thigh." https://metro.co.uk/2024/07/27/fans-mistakenly-claim-performers-testicle-seen-olympics-opening-ceremony-21310234/