underthesky

Half the people in my local Nonthaburi park, next to the Esplanade, don't wear a mask. Great place for a breathable stroll or exercise.

Gold would seem a good bet now. Hex crypto too.

Yesterday I entered Building B CW and there was not a requirement for an ATK or PCR test. There was a form asking about symptoms, recent travel, the numbers of vax doses you've had and reason for entering the building. There was certainly a Covid testing area outside but as I passed it around lunchtime, it was empty of 'patients'.

They were happy with my other medical insurance, except that the Covid coverage was too low. While initially struggling to find a $100k policy to buy, I went back inside the counter and asked if 2 million baht coverage would suffice but got told no.

To answer my own question, Covid insurance of $100k+ was required to extend my STV at Building B, Changwattana, Bangkok. Cost me over 7000 baht for 90 days. The rental contract with my once Airbnb host met the requirements. My host had given me a copy of her ID and a copy of what appeared to be a housing ownership document (in Thai), to go along with the contract. They were very particular about seeing the receipt for my Sandbox booking. The receipt had to be got by logging in to my Agoda account and requesting it to be sent to my email. Then off to print it. Note that the booking confirmation email (incl. the attachment) sent at the time of the booking was not what immigration was looking for since that is 'not a receipt'. A tiring morning but at least the staff were polite and helpful.

I made no mention of my Special Tourist Visa when I applied for my Thailand Pass in January. No problem.

I need to get my first STV extension soon, in Bangkok. Is Covid-19 insurance a requirement for the extension? My insurance seems meet the standard inpatient and outpatient requirements but is weak on the Covid-19 front, with the virus covered up to 440,000THB ($13k). Also, while my accommodation was originally on Airbnb, it is now changing to a cash deal for the same apartment. Is this an issue? TM30 is done.

I recently used my an insurance receipt as my proof of address.

I used Binance card while in Europe. It was very good for purchases in EUR, but for THB there would be fees. In any case, it is not yet available if you're resident in Thailand, but keep an eye out. As for paying your rent, why not ask your landlady if she accepts crypto. To take a step in the direction of unbanking, check out Ledger or Trezor private wallets - no KYC, no selfies, no sending your passport photo, no random monthly fees. Atomic Wallet (free) is another option that's been around for years, albeit less secure.

You could try adjusting your diet to see whether certain foods/drinks are causing your symptoms. Could be milk, alcohol, coffee, carbs or something else. I've had stomach problems over the years, and giving up some kinds of food has helped me massively reduce the pain. Also in my case, almost any kind of medicine worsens my symptoms considerably, based on the few batches of meds I've got since this problem began.

Whereabouts in Bangkok is this place? Can't seem to find an address on that link. Thanks

Go Thai style. Come up with a new realisation that it was neither you, nor your drain cleaner, that caused the stains.

I wouldn't change any booking dates. I'd wait another 5 days and if no success, I'd pay an agent to push the application through.

It seems insurance won't pay for the accommodation portion of your hospitel bill. AXA Sawadee's FAQs clearly state they will only pay for the medical costs while staying there. I wonder about the other providers? Perhaps farang are not being milked enough, hence the need for this plan.

I think it's worth learning - I can think of several experiences where having a bit of Thai helped me out in day to day life. The alphabet was tough to get a grasp of but I'm really glad that I managed to learn it in the end, and it spearheaded my further learning. I've been using the Memrise app to learn. It doesn't have Thai on its default menu, but you can import various Thai courses by being logged in on your computer, and Google searching for 'Memrise thai'

This guy works for Emirates and claims the airline has received a written notification from Thai aviation about a near-immediate halt to all Test & Go. Can't verify this with any other source, but it could be very bad news for some travellers, me included, if true:

What is the likelihood that we see some hard domestic travel restrictions in the coming weeks? Having chosen to do Phuket Sandbox over Bangkok AQ at the end of this month, I worry I won't be able to leave Phuket for Bangkok, where I've already paid for a condo. Hoping that those of you on the ground might have a sense of what's to come.

Phuket in crisis, just as most tourists are going be funneled there, with the axing of test and go.

Test & Go positives are rapidly increasing. On 28/12, 1.2% of Test & Go arrivals tested positive. That's 15x November's average of 0.08%. Source: