DogNo1

Thanks, Joe.  Next year I'll get a one-year statement as a precaution.

The IO told me that I would need a statement from the main office of Bangkok Bank certifying my year's worth of over 65,000 baht FTT transfer before she relented. This seemed to be triggered by the out-of-order posting of my October FTT transfer at the bottom of the page after my April 2019 FTT transfer.  This gave me the impression that, if that posting had not been out of order, the bank book alone would have constituted sufficient proof of my monthly transfers.  I already had the 100 baht deposit on the day of my application and the bank letter certifying my ownership of the account on the day of my application.  I assume that if my deposits are posted in order from April 2020 to April 2021, the bank book alone, in addition to the day-of-application bank letter certifying my ownership of the account, will be acceptable proof and I won't need a main Bangkok Bank office statement of the year's FTT deposits. Is that correct?

When extending a year long non-O stay for Retirement, is a central bank office  certificate of the year's worth of more than 65,000 K baht of FTT designated transfers required or are the transfers coded FTT in the original bank book sufficient proof along with the bank letter of current good standing on the day of the application sufficient? 
thanks.

Puleeze put the A-380 flight to Narita back on!

In 1917-1920, the first strain of the Spanish Flu wasn't too deadly.  But as the sicker soldiers during the war were sent to the rear while those in moderate shape fought on, the virus strain carried by the badly ill mutated and became more virulent.  The second and third waves of the flu killed many more people because it had mutated into a more deadly strain.  We could see COVID-19 mutate in a similar way.  Pray for a good vaccine!

My extension was based on a Non-O 90-day Visa obtained in 2012. Both last year and this year I needed to have a bank letter dated the day of my application certifying the existence of my account.  Last year and this year my bank book was accepted as proof of my monthly FTT transfers of 65,000 or more.  I'm not sure that a document from the bank central office certifying all of the transfers is actually required.  Perhaps Ubonjoe could speak to this.

The amnesty doesn't apply to one-year extensions so these must still be done.

 For several years arriving just at the end of lunch hour in time to get my bank letter before the doors open has worked well for me.  The only glitch has been when there is an exceptionally long queue for re-entry permits.  It has been hard to get a taxi after 4:00.  

I would appreciate knowing whether a central bank office certification of all of your FTT transactions is actually necessary.  Perhaps I have just been lucky to have my bank book accepted as proof.  The local Chaeng Wattana branch can only certify your previous three transactions.  As I said, the IO did accept my personally-made copies of my bank book pages and I assume that the superior officer did check the copies against my bank book because I received the bank book back with my passport.

Thanks Joe for clarifying the status of us one-year extension holders.  I am disappointed since my extension expires on May 13th so I will have to go in to Chaeng Wattana before then to renew my extension, get my re-entry permit and sort out not receiving a reply to my mailed-in 90 day report which was due on March 17th.  That will involve many personal contacts and a lot of paper shuffling.  Due to my age and pre-existing conditions, I had hoped to avoid that.  I imagine that I will have to pay the 90-day report fine since I didn't go in to resolve it before March 17th.  It's too bad that all immigration requirements weren't suspended until the coronavirus crisis is resolved.

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Are Non-O based one-year permissions of stay not included under the amnesty?  My impression was that all types of permissions of stay were included.

Incidentally, my hotel tells me that they expect virus restrictions to continue until September.  The main issue seems to be that Thailand cannot afford to give everyone a virus test and most people can't afford to get one.  A fair number of people infected with the virus don't get a fever so temperature testing is no substitute for a virus test.  Also a large number of Thai medical personnel have contracted the virus and there is no way to predict whether a person will be severely affected with the virus even though they have no known pre-existing condition.

It seems that this amnesty only runs until April 30th for those of us who are already in the country.  Today I have seen Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Dr. Anthony Fauci emphasize the we can not assume that virus is beaten simply when the number of infections goes down.   When physical distancing is abandoned, the virus is ready to come roaring back.  It takes longer than a month or two to suppress it.  The amnesty should have been for three months and should be extensible beyond that.   Wuhan is now experiencing a second wave.  That's how pandemics usually work.  They come through in waves. 

What testing is being done in Thailand?  How do we know who is sick and who is not?  A temperature check is not sufficient!  Everyone should be tested with the rapid swab test before being allowed into a crowded public gathering

I can imagine myself out at immigration in early May with a large group of people in which a few may be sick.  They could spread the disease to many of us there.  I think that we should petition for our visa amnesty to last until July.  Which is more dear to us: living in Thailand for another year or our very life?

Can somebody please PM the contact information for an agent in Bangkok to me?  I live on Ratchadamri.  I have the paperwork and money in the bank but may want to avoid queuing at Chaeng Wattana around the beginning of May.  My extension expires on May 13th.  I presume that there will still be lots of contagious people around at that time.  I've always done my own extensions but don't want to risk catching COVID-19 at my age with my pre-existing conditions.  Your recommendation will be appreciated.  Kindly include the fee if you know what it is.

My daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter and grandson all got what they assumed was COVID-19 in Seattle but they couldn't qualify to take a COVID Test.  All of them improved after taking hydroxychloro quine except for my daughter who is now improving after five days on Azithromycin.  Apparently the viral pneumonia triggers bacterial pneumonia which is then cured by the Azithromycin.  Apparently that is why both drugs are given together.  The whole family is now improving but one of my daughter's patients died in a Seattle nursing home.

Thanks, all.  I have the EMS receipt showing that the report was received eight days before the due date.  I am still hopeful of receiving the receipt before I must extend at the beginning of May.

Speaking of extending, my medical profile at age 77 with two pre-existing conditions makes it perilous to be in a crowd of the people most likely to be infected.  It is said that 75% of those infected are foreigners.  I am thinking of getting a letter from my doctor saying that I can't extend in person because of my medical profile and retaining an agent to do the extension for me.

Does anybody think that the automatic extension will come through?

Thank you.  I did all that but sent it 11 days before the renewal date, not 15.  Is that grounds for rejection?  I have all of the copies and the EMS receipt.  What should I do now?  I'm not eager to go to immigration in person.

Is a 90-day report posted less than two weeks before its due date considered late?   I posted my report due on March   17th on March 6th and EMS tracking shows that it was received on March 9th.  I haven't received a new 90-day report slip as yet.  I didn't want to go to Chaeng Wattana in person because I want to maintain physical distancing.  My extension is due by May 13th, so unless there is an order giving us automatic extensions until June 30th, I will have go to immigration in early May anyway.  At that time, I could check with the 90-day desk. I'm planning to return to Japan at the end of May anyway, so unless I am asked, perhaps I could just skip it.

I have been hoping that that the 90-day would turn up in the mail but it hasn't so far.

I sent my 90-day report due on March 17 by registered mail on March 3.  Thai Post tracking shows that it was delivered to Chaeng Wattana on the same day.  I have not received a reply.  I assume that they might be busy and short-staffed and have not wanted to go out there due to my age and pre-existing conditions.  The coronavirus could be fatal for me since I am already 15% COPD.  It seems that I will need to go at the beginning of May to renew my extension of stay which expires on May 13.  I wonder what will happen if I don't receive my new 90-day report slip by then.  I will take copies of my TM 47, my old 90-report slip and the EMS tracking slip showing delivery at immigration. I wonder whether I will need to pay a fine.  Does anybody have a similar experience and know what happens under these circumstances?

Herd Immunity only occurs when the majority of animals (humans) have been vaccinated for or have recovered from whatever the contagious illness is. Without a blood-based antibody test, we have no way of knowing how many of the population are immune to the disease.  Herd immunity works when there are few vectors (people or animals) who can contract the disease and pass it on to someone who is not immune.  So long as there a significant number of people in the population who can contract the disease, herd immunity doesn't operate.  The blood test for COVID-19 antibodies is still under development.  When it is ready, testing for the number of people who are immune to the disease would require ramping up labs and drawing a blood sample from a huge number of people.  Even then, If some pockets of non-immune people were to be overlooked, a chain of transmission could be started from them.  What stopped the transmission of smallpox throughout the world was inoculating so many people from smallpox that the occasional person who contracted smallpox had a very small chance of coming into contact with another person who was susceptible.  The recent dangerous outbreak of Mumps and Measles in the US was due to the large number of people who refused to be vaccinated with the MMR vaccine. That left a large enough pool of people that were susceptible for a chain of transmission to start. 

It's probably too late to go to cash.  It appears that Trump and the US Congress are determined to keep companies functioning, supply lines operating and workers paid for a while.  The idea is that the money given out will allow businesses big and small to get back into operation when the pandemic dissipates.  The big danger is that it will last longer than 6-8 weeks, the period of time during which the government is prepared to support everyone.  The major flaw in the plan that I see is that the CDC, Dr. Redfield and VP Pence are not willing to commit to testing everyone.  We already see that many younger people are not voluntarily practicing social distancing.  Without testing everyone, people who are not aware that they are virus carriers will probably engage in reckless behavior and the infections will go on.  Someone needs to point out to Pence and Dr. Fauci why 100% testing is important, even if 90% test negative.  It is the 10% who don't know that they are sick who will continue to spread the virus.  

Regarding the stock market, there will certainly be a lot of residual damage, even if the pandemic ends in six weeks.  I agree that the recovery will be stair-like I just don't know how large the steps will be.  My portfolio was up 5% in the morning yesterday but had fallen back to its Thursday level by the end of the day.  One step up and one step back down.

I received an email from Fidelity saying that they would remain open for business by telephone or Internet during the crisis.  I transferred my monthly amount just a few days ago.  Now I dread having to brave the crowds at Chaeng Wattana to extend my stay.  I sure wish that Thai Immigration would just grant everyone a gratis 60 day extension so that we could go to extend once the pandemic has dissipated.