How are you feeling? Help from embassy?

[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

So sad. All the angry demands for care. Get over yourselves. The taxpayers of your country pay for the services provided  and they do not wish to support people who moved away for person pleasure or profit. If you want better quality service, get it in your country. Your governments have no moral or legal responsibility to provide medical care for you in Thailand. You made the decision to move to Thailand because you wanted to go, because you saw it as a better place to live. Fine. Accept the consequence of that decision.  If you want a vaccine, do what your fellow country people do and get it at a facility in your home country.

 

As much as I hate the ‘if you don’t like it go home’ type of response, this really is one of the very few situations where it is valid..... 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

4 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

So sad. All the angry demands for care. Get over yourselves. The taxpayers of your country pay for the services provided  and they do not wish to support people who moved away for person pleasure or profit. If you want better quality service, get it in your country. Your governments have no moral or legal responsibility to provide medical care for you in Thailand. You made the decision to move to Thailand because you wanted to go, because you saw it as a better place to live. Fine. Accept the consequence of that decision.  If you want a vaccine, do what your fellow country people do and get it at a facility in your home country.

Expand  

That's much less compelling argument to Americans who are required to "keep in touch" with the IRS and treasury or potentially face devastating penalties. 

 

A highly valid counter argument I’d never considered. 

 

US Citizens are forced to pay US tax - in theory they ‘should’ be better looked after by the Missions of foreign countries in which they reside. 

 

 

While I live in Thailand and avoid paying tax to the British Inland Revenue Department, I am also of the believe that the British Government owe me nothing, its my choice to be here and if I wish to be vaccinated quickly I should be in the UK where I would have already been vaccinated. 

 

US citizens are in a different situation, they still have to pay taxes to the Internal Revenue Service and can’t avoid that wherever they are. As such, they should be afforded the same rights they would be afforded back in the US. 

 

I still consider it an almost impossible logistical nightmare for the US Embassy to vaccinate 50,000 of is citizens in Thailand, twice, with any degree of efficiency.

 

 

 

[jayboy]

11 hours ago, Sheryl said:

I would take that a step further and say the primary Mission of Embassies is not to meet the needs of their citizens abroad, and Embassies are nto located and staffed with that end in mind. Most do offer basic consular services but this is tangential to their primary purpose which is to further the political interests of their governement.

 

A surprising number of expats seem to think Embassies exist primarily to service the expat community. Naturally that leads to immense disappointment and displeasure when it runs into the reality of how limited their support for their nationals abroad actually is.

 

It is not the primary purpose but supporting nationals is definitely a very important function. It is also often the area that least interests the most senior diplomats and the running is made by a small group of consular officers.On this forum the demand of many that Embassies should provide  vaccinations is unrealistic and in my view unnecessary.Nevertheless there is a real responsibility in times of crisis to make special efforts to assist nationals.It is therefore entirely natural for expatriates to assess the effectiveness of their embassies in the current difficulties of vaccine rollout.The danger is that intervention is limited to procuring bland assurances from the Thai authorities while what is needed is concerted (with other embassies) follow up.Ultimately in a country like Thailand with a decent health infrastructure, the responsibility lies with the individual.But it is not too much to expect that Embassies act with energy and urgency, and at the same time communicate clearly what they are doing to ensure equal access to vaccines for their nationals.The jury is still out on whether this is happening.

[jayboy]

12 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

 

 

I think it completely ridiculous to expect the British Embassy to import vaccines. But, I do fully expect the Mission officers and British Ambassador to strongly lobby the Thai government to ensure that all British Nationals (and all other foreigners) are treated equally and fairly when it comes to receiving Covid-19 vaccines and all ‘other issues’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's exactly the issue.No rational person thinks the Embassy should be administering vaccinations.

 

But it's also important to hold an Ambassadors to account for his/her performance in fulfilling the task you correctly outline.

[SomchaiCNX]

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Thats because most people seem to think that because they are on foreign soil that the Embassy of country they moved away from should be some form of safety net, thats no the role of a foreign mission. So many people completely misunderstand the role of their Embassy which is to protect the interest of the Nation it represents 

 

If receiving a vaccine was so important to me, I’d be home already and would have taken the vaccine. 

 

Why should the UK government vaccinate me in Thailand ahead of all the Thai’s. Should the UK government also distribute vaccines around Thailand for all the British expats around the country? the ones who are now moaning, but would also moan because they’d have to travel to BKK or another location out of their way ?

Should the families of US British nationals living in Thailand also receive the vaccine from the British Embassy ? if not, why not ?

 

Should the British Government bring in 110,000 doses for the 55,000 British Expats in Thailand, then distribute them to British Expats around Thailand, Wifes ? or other people in the same household ?... perhaps 200,000 doses required ?>>

 

 

Or should it work on assisting the Thai government and also lobbying the Thai government to ensure the British Nationals are part of Thailands vaccination efforts?

 

 

I do expect things of my Embassy, but only those things considered responsibility of a mission on foreign soil. 

 

I think it completely ridiculous to expect the British Embassy to import vaccines. But, I do fully expect the Mission officers and British Ambassador to strongly lobby the Thai government to ensure that all British Nationals (and all other foreigners) are treated equally and fairly when it comes to receiving Covid-19 vaccines and all ‘other issues’.

 

 

 

 

 

Why all the writing, one word "useless" was enough. You forget to mention that many people paid contribution to the system of their home country before they moved to Foreign soil.

[Pilotman]

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

How do you know ?

 

 

 

How do you know ?

 

 

Vague, how do you know ?

 

 

All British Embassies have provide what I’ve needed when I’ve needed it. Of course they have, I’ve not expected more than I understand they can provide. 

 

I don’t expect them to vaccinate me. 

 

I don’t expect them to provide legal documents verifying my income when that’s impossible. 

 

 

 

 

 

I have covered this in other posts, but I can give two examples, one more detail than the other.   In my Military days we needed the active support of two Embassies, one in the Middle East the other in the Caribbean.  In both cases not only were they of no help whatsoever, despite being mandated by the FCO to give all assistance, they actually managed to compromise what we were doing on both occasions.   In the end we froze them out of the processes as we couldn't trust them.   Second example; while the  CEO of a high profile UK company, involved in logistics, aviation and marine, we set out to complete a joint venture here  in Thailand. Our Thai partner was enthusiastic but we were up against a military owned company that was an effective  closed shop.  We asked for a meeting with the Commercial Secretary, which was supported again by the Trade people in London, to try to get support, what we got was a short meeting with a Thai National Embassy clone, who was clearly not interested in us, or in helping us against a  Thai company, he all but admitted it to us.  Not once did we meet with a UK Diplomat and the Commercial Secretary couldn't be arsed to see us.  That did it for me.

The one and only positive experience I have had was with the Mission in Taiwan. They fell overt backwards to help us and we landed s long term contract with the Taiwanese Ports and Marine Authority.  They were and are the exception, although they were not a full Embassy and were only established to promote trade links.  Even then, we had to pay a lot for that support. . 

[Pilotman]

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

How do you know ?

 

 

 

How do you know ?

 

 

Vague, how do you know ?

 

 

All British Embassies have provide what I’ve needed when I’ve needed it. Of course they have, I’ve not expected more than I understand they can provide. 

 

I don’t expect them to vaccinate me. 

 

I don’t expect them to provide legal documents verifying my income when that’s impossible. 

 

 

 

 

 

I see that the Chinese are going to vaccinate all their own citizens based in Thailand?  Well, well. 

[WaveHunter]

It is simply SHAMEFUL that expats are treated as second-class citizens by their home countries!

 

It may not be the responsibility of our embassies to protect us, but sure is the responsibility of our home governments to protect us while we are overseas.

 

What's more, In such a dire situation as a global pandemic without precedent, and one that grows even more ominous with the latest variants, there is all the more reason for SWIFT action!

 

Instead of the usual red-tape response, home country officials should be thinking "outside of the box" on how to protect us right now, not simply telling us to look to a foreign country for help!

 

In the case of US expats, when you consider the relatively low number of them living abroad, and the huge supply of vaccines that the US has at its' disposal, there should be a mechanism in place to get vaccines to its' citizens regardless of where they are living!

 

In other words, there is ample supply for all of us expats, and the embassies are the means to get them to us.  There is absolutely no reason this could not happen, and happen almost immediately!

 

Unfortunately it seems unlikely this will happen because most politicians are incapable of thinking "outside the box", and doing the right thing, as simple as it might actually be.

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by WaveHunter

[Emdog]

19 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

How? By illegally importing vaccines? AFAIK most embassies get their staff vaccinated in their home countries

 

You have no idea what you are talking about. Your lack of even minimum access to facts easily obtainable is noteworthy.

[WaveHunter]

19 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

How? By illegally importing vaccines? AFAIK most embassies get their staff vaccinated in their home countries

 

I am not a expert in international law but I think there are diplomatic provisions that would easily overcome Thai import regulations and allow our home countries to make vaccines available to expats through embassies. 

 

THe embassies are not responsible to us for doing this, but our home countries sure should be responsible for protecting its' citizens, no matter where they happen to be living, especially in such a dire situation as a global pandemic, with the latest variants making things even more ominous!

 

Even if it required some political "pressure" to overcome import regulations, most expats' home countries have the means to do that swiftly and effectively...unless they view their expats be be "second-class" citizens, which seems to be the case right now!

Edited May 21, 2021 by WaveHunter

[richard_smith237]

12 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

19 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

How? By illegally importing vaccines? AFAIK most embassies get their staff vaccinated in their home countries

 

I am not a expert in international law but I think "diplomatic immunity" would in some way probably allow our home countries to make vaccines available to expats through embassies.  Even if it required some political "pressure" to overcome import regulations, a country like the US or UK have the means to do that effectively.

 

‘Diplomatic immunity’ (used for people by the way)...   Bringing in Vaccines via the ‘Diplomatic pouch’ is possible, however, how would those vaccines get distributed across the country to 100,000’s of Foreign nationals and their family ?

 

 

Logistics could be a nightmare. It will be interesting to see how the Chinese are going to vaccinate 100,000’s of its citizens across Thailand. 

 

In such a case vaccines need to be distributed to vaccination centres across the country - is that feasible ? 

certainly not through importing the vaccines in through ‘diplomatic pouch’ channels. 

 

It's also not at all feasible to 1000’s of people turn up at Embassies to be vaccinated, that would take months and months (do the maths on that one).

 

--------

 

It could be possible for our Embassy to get involved and speed up the import of Vaccines to various hospitals around the country - i.e. 50 or so key provincial centres - but you can’t have 5,000 citizens turning up at once, so there needs to be a system whereby those people can have appointments - who manages that at each individual distribution centre? What about vaccine type? AZ ? Pfiezer? Moderna ???

 

 

Its a nightmare - I think our Embassies are probably best placed to lobby the Thai Government and ensure we are vaccinated with equal priority to those Thai’s around us.

 

 

 

 

[WaveHunter]

25 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

‘Diplomatic immunity’ (used for people by the way)...   Bringing in Vaccines via the ‘Diplomatic pouch’ is possible, however, how would those vaccines get distributed across the country to 100,000’s of Foreign nationals and their family ?

 

 

Logistics could be a nightmare. It will be interesting to see how the Chinese are going to vaccinate 100,000’s of its citizens across Thailand. 

 

In such a case vaccines need to be distributed to vaccination centres across the country - is that feasible ? 

certainly not through importing the vaccines in through ‘diplomatic pouch’ channels. 

 

It's also not at all feasible to 1000’s of people turn up at Embassies to be vaccinated, that would take months and months (do the maths on that one).

 

--------

 

It could be possible for our Embassy to get involved and speed up the import of Vaccines to various hospitals around the country - i.e. 50 or so key provincial centres - but you can’t have 5,000 citizens turning up at once, so there needs to be a system whereby those people can have appointments - who manages that at each individual distribution centre? What about vaccine type? AZ ? Pfiezer? Moderna ???

 

 

Its a nightmare - I think our Embassies are probably best placed to lobby the Thai Government and ensure we are vaccinated with equal priority to those Thai’s around us.

 

Yes, you are right about the term "diplomatic immunity" and I already corrected my wording, but good catch ????

 

As for logistics, I think you may be grossly overestimating the number of expats living in Thailand right now.

 

A study carried out by the Institute for Population and Social Research at Mahidol University using data from 2010, suggested that there were approximately 440,000 expats living in Thailand, which included 141,000 Chinese, 85,000 Brits, 80,000 Japanese, 46,000 Indians, 40,000 Americans, 24,000 Germans and 23,000 French nationals.

 

Thailand’s expat community has been in massive decline, with 2010 studies estimating the number of expats in Thailand to be closer to 500,000 while the more recent data estimates that figure to be between 150,000 and 263,000.

 

Of course I'm not saying it would be a simple logistical process but powerful Western countries like the US or UK for instance, are masters of complex international logistics and diplomatic interactions with host countries that would facilitate this.

 

I would not expect them to be required to visit the embassy ground for their shots, but rather for them to visit local private hospitals, with the vaccines supplied from the home governments via the embassies.

 

I think it could be done if there was a desire on the part of home country politicians to make it happen.

Edited May 21, 2021 by WaveHunter

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Yes, you are right about the term "diplomatic immunity" and I already corrected my wording, but good catch ????

 

As for logistics, I don't know why this would be a real issue.  For Americans, I believe there are perhaps 40,000 US expats living in Thailand right now.  I would not expect them to be required to visit the embassy ground for their shots, but rather for them to visit local private hospitals, with the vaccines supplied from the home governments via the embassies.

 

Of course I'm not saying it would be a simple logistical process but powerful Western countries like the US or UK for instance, are masters of complex international logistics and diplomatic interactions with host countries that would facilitate this.

 

I think it could be done if there was a desire on the part of home country politicians to make it happen.

 

I actually believe this is possible for US Citizens, also because US citizens continue to pay tax in the US they should be afforded greater rights than UK citizens (and others) overseas who are not paying tax.

 

It could be done, but, could it be done any quicker than Thailand is going to vaccinate us anyway ?

 

Do the UK or US Embassies have sufficient staff to handle this ? - it would first have to be outsourced to a company import and distribute the vaccine to hospitals (vaccine centres). 

 

How many vaccines go to which centre ? 

 

They’d need to identify how and where to distribute the vaccine first.

 

So... People would need to register - OK. A Website or an App can be set up to find that information. 

 

Agreements would need to be made to bring in the vaccine and distribute it across the country but only give it to Foreign nationals....  Imagine the Optics. 

 

Somehow the Chinese have got away with that - how ??  (back-channel money IMO - how much is Anutin and a few others making by allowing the Chinese to vaccinate their own citizens in Thailand while Thai’s wait ?). 

 

-------

 

 

I am registered to have my vaccine on 7th June (lets see if that actually happens or not). 

 

But, Could all foreigners in Thailand be vaccinated by September ? (both jabs)

Could the Embassies beat that ? possibly but it would be close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vinny41]

2 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Yes, you are right about the term "diplomatic immunity" and I already corrected my wording, but good catch ????

 

As for logistics, I don't know why this would be a real issue.  For Americans, I believe there are perhaps 40,000 US expats living in Thailand right now.  I would not expect them to be required to visit the embassy ground for their shots, but rather for them to visit local hospitals, with the vaccines supplied through the embassies.

 

Of course I'm not saying it would be a simple logistical process but powerful Western countries like the US or UK for instance, are masters of complex international logistics and diplomatic interactions with host countries that would facilitate this.

 

I think it could be done if there was a desire on the part of home country politicians to make it happen.

If the embassies were to provide vaccines, they would also be required to provide full infrastructure, doctors, nurses, field hospitals to implement a vaccine rollout including providing support facilities if someone develops compilations symptoms from receiving the vaccine.

They wouldn't be allowed to overload the Thai medical infrastructure with the own vaccine rollout program

And the embassies know that as a similar scenario wouldn't be permitted in their own countries by a foreign government

 

[LukKrueng]

1 hour ago, Emdog said:

You have no idea what you are talking about. Your lack of even minimum access to facts easily obtainable is noteworthy.

Is this available to ALL Americans residing in Thailand or only to embassy staff??

[WaveHunter]

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I actually believe this is possible for US Citizens, also because US citizens continue to pay tax in the US they should be afforded greater rights than UK citizens (and others) overseas who are not paying tax.

 

It could be done, but, could it be done any quicker than Thailand is going to vaccinate us anyway ?

 

Do the UK or US Embassies have sufficient staff to handle this ? - it would first have to be outsourced to a company import and distribute the vaccine to hospitals (vaccine centres). 

 

How many vaccines go to which centre ? 

 

They’d need to identify how and where to distribute the vaccine first.

 

So... People would need to register - OK. A Website or an App can be set up to find that information. 

 

Agreements would need to be made to bring in the vaccine and distribute it across the country but only give it to Foreign nationals....  Imagine the Optics. 

 

Somehow the Chinese have got away with that - how ??  (back-channel money IMO - how much is Anutin and a few others making by allowing the Chinese to vaccinate their own citizens in Thailand while Thai’s wait ?). 

 

-------

 

 

I am registered to have my vaccine on 7th June (lets see if that actually happens or not). 

 

But, Could all foreigners in Thailand be vaccinated by September ? (both jabs)

Could the Embassies beat that ? possibly but it would be close.

 

Sorry but I have a nasty habit of posting and then editing my posts after I post them.  I was way off on the estimated number of expats (actually much lower than I originally said).

 

The real point I was trying to convey is it is not the embassies responsibility to facilitate this at all.  It would be the home government's responsibility, which has ample means to deal with such complex logistics.  The embassies would merely be the conduit for distribution to private hospitals within Thailand.

 

I saw a documentary on US military logistics when it came to deploying during various international crisis' and frankly I was in awe of the capabilities and expertise with which it was done.  I have no doubt that getting vaccines overseas for expats would present no challenge at all.

 

Sure, the optics as far as Thai Nationals might not be positive, but the fact is that Thai policy with regard to vaccinations for non-Thai foreigners has been ambiguous and disrespectful to say the least, so I don't think the optics would be a roadblock to this happening.

 

As expats we have the right to expect our home governments to do everything possible to protect us during this pandemic, if the host governments are unwilling to do this in a timely way...especially in light of how dangerous these new variants are proving to be.

 

As for you being registered to receive your shot in June, I think you may be disappointed (though I hope you are lucky enough to get it). 

 

The CCSA has made it very clear in a number of statements that foreigners who managed to sign up through the MorProm app will actually not receive the jabs in June...but then again, who really knows?  Thai officials often say one thing one day, and something completely different the next, so I guess it's anyone's guess what will actually happen.

[WaveHunter]

27 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

If the embassies were to provide vaccines, they would also be required to provide full infrastructure, doctors, nurses, field hospitals to implement a vaccine rollout including providing support facilities if someone develops compilations symptoms from receiving the vaccine.

They wouldn't be allowed to overload the Thai medical infrastructure with the own vaccine rollout program

And the embassies know that as a similar scenario wouldn't be permitted in their own countries by a foreign government

 

If it occurred, it would be the home country's government that facilitated it, not the embassies.  The embassies would only be the conduit for getting the vaccines to private hospitals for distribution to that country's expat citizens, so there would really be no impact on public health facilities. 

 

Also, keep in mind that the total expat population relative to the entire population of Thailand is extremely low. 

 

Though actual numbers are hard to pin down, it's reasonably estimated that there are currently 150,000 and 263,000 expats here in Thailand right now, compared to a total population for the country of 69 million people.

 

Serving the needs of such a relatively small group of people would really present no logistical problems for any Western countries that have easily handled logistics for other global situations that involved far more people. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by WaveHunter

[vinny41]

3 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

If it occurred, it would be the home country's government that facilitated it, not the embassies.  The embassies would only be the conduit for getting the vaccines to private hospitals for distribution to that country's expat citizens, so there would really be no impact on public health facilities. 

Of course any vaccine rollout from the  embassies could impact the current vaccine rollout from the Thai government

We seen last year when there was a shortage of hospital beds in Spain the country's government seized control of all private hospitals through a Covid 19  COVID-19 state of emergency 

https://publicservices.international/resources/news/spain-nationalises-all-private-hospitals-uk-rents-hospital-beds?id=10645&lang=en

As far as I am aware the US government and other western government have offered a solution to their citizens it involves getting on a plane and going back to their respective countries to be vaccinated

[WaveHunter]

24 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

Of course any vaccine rollout from the  embassies could impact the current vaccine rollout from the Thai government

We seen last year when there was a shortage of hospital beds in Spain the country's government seized control of all private hospitals through a Covid 19  COVID-19 state of emergency 

https://publicservices.international/resources/news/spain-nationalises-all-private-hospitals-uk-rents-hospital-beds?id=10645&lang=en

As far as I am aware the US government and other western government have offered a solution to their citizens it involves getting on a plane and going back to their respective countries to be vaccinated

I don't see how a vaccine rollout for expats facilitated by their home governments would impact Thailand's vaccine rollout.  

 

First of all, there are relatively few expats here in Thailand compared to the entire population of Thailand. 

 

I think the total expat population in Thailand is estimated to be between 150,000 and 263,000, compared to a total population of around 69 million for the country as a whole.

 

Secondly, The expat vaccine rollout would probably be solely through private hospitals, with no impact on public health infrastructure at all.

 

I suppose Thai authorities could seize private hospitals but I've seen no indication that is going to happen.

 

As far as the US response that citizens should return to their home countries for vaccination, I know it is a solution that many expats are considering but the expense is prohibitive for many, and the logistics for the individual expat are complex and involve periods of quarantine at both ends of the trip, not to mention the Covid dangers of travelling on planes and through airports.

 

IMO, as a tax paying citizen, it is unacceptable for my home government to tell me to rely on a foreign government for a Asian vaccine (which I happen to believe are inferior to Western versions) or tell me to come back home for it, though sadly, those may prove to be the only real options ????

Edited May 21, 2021 by WaveHunter

[SomchaiCNX]

6 hours ago, SomchaiCNX said:

Why all the writing, one word "useless" was enough. You forget to mention that many people paid contribution to the system of their home country before they moved to Foreign soil.

I even forgot to mention that those with a pension still pay taxes and for services to the home country that they will not receive in their country of residence. We have expectations, the embassies in our former colonies operate different and on many occasions our troops had to evacuate them and the civilians. 

[SomchaiCNX]

5 hours ago, Pilotman said:

I have covered this in other posts, but I can give two examples, one more detail than the other.   In my Military days we needed the active support of two Embassies, one in the Middle East the other in the Caribbean.  In both cases not only were they of no help whatsoever, despite being mandated by the FCO to give all assistance, they actually managed to compromise what we were doing on both occasions.   In the end we froze them out of the processes as we couldn't trust them.   Second example; while the  CEO of a high profile UK company, involved in logistics, aviation and marine, we set out to complete a joint venture here  in Thailand. Our Thai partner was enthusiastic but we were up against a military owned company that was an effective  closed shop.  We asked for a meeting with the Commercial Secretary, which was supported again by the Trade people in London, to try to get support, what we got was a short meeting with a Thai National Embassy clone, who was clearly not interested in us, or in helping us against a  Thai company, he all but admitted it to us.  Not once did we meet with a UK Diplomat and the Commercial Secretary couldn't be arsed to see us.  That did it for me.

The one and only positive experience I have had was with the Mission in Taiwan. They fell overt backwards to help us and we landed s long term contract with the Taiwanese Ports and Marine Authority.  They were and are the exception, although they were not a full Embassy and were only established to promote trade links.  Even then, we had to pay a lot for that support. . 

We used to have a military attache at  our embassies in this part of the world (and all over Africa) because we make good weapons. Most are gone now. The last couple coups I saw our machine guns who replaced the M 60 but probably they were delivered through the American licensed factory.

[Mario666]

21 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

A highly valid counter argument I’d never considered. 

 

US Citizens are forced to pay US tax - in theory they ‘should’ be better looked after by the Missions of foreign countries in which they reside. 

 

 

While I live in Thailand and avoid paying tax to the British Inland Revenue Department, I am also of the believe that the British Government owe me nothing, its my choice to be here and if I wish to be vaccinated quickly I should be in the UK where I would have already been vaccinated. 

 

US citizens are in a different situation, they still have to pay taxes to the Internal Revenue Service and can’t avoid that wherever they are. As such, they should be afforded the same rights they would be afforded back in the US. 

 

I still consider it an almost impossible logistical nightmare for the US Embassy to vaccinate 50,000 of is citizens in Thailand, twice, with any degree of efficiency.

 

 

 

 

Well if you earn income in the UK which I do from Rental properties I have to pay tax to HMRC.

 

Also whilst in practice most UK Expats would get treated free of charge if they returned to the UK, but not legally!

 

But, the fact is the NHS waiting lists are so long now because of Covid I would rather stay here and pay for any treatment that I may require in the future at a fraction of the cost it would be to go Private in the UK!

 

And for the record I am due to get my first dose of the AZ Vaccine on June 7th! Believe it when it happens!

 

I think the only reason I am due to get it ahead of many Thais is because I live on Samui and as usual The Thai Govt is trying to chase Tourist Dollars, Pounds, Euros, Yen, etc., by thinking they can create so called "Herd Immunity" on places such as Samui and Phuket!......As usual everything they do is money orientated!

 

But the fact is that many Thais are already refusing to get vaccinated through fear! Good for me if that helps me jump the queue, but I fear for their health and consequences for them!

 

I am over 60 but have none of the underlying conditions mentioned by the Govt.

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by Mario666

[WaveHunter]

20 minutes ago, Mario666 said:

 

Well if you earn income in the UK which I do from Rental properties I have to pay tax to HMRC.

 

Also whilst in practice most UK Expats would get treated free of charge if they returned to the UK, but not legally!

 

But, the fact is the NHS waiting lists are so long now because of Covid I would rather stay here and pay for any treatment that I may require in the future at a fraction of the cost it would be to go Private in the UK!

 

And for the record I am due to get my first dose of the AZ Vaccine on June 7th!

Not to rain on your parade, but the CCSA has made a number of public statements in the last week that any foreigners that were actually successful at signing up through the MorProm app will not actually receive jabs in June.

 

They further emphasized that the app was only intended for Thai Nationals (even if you happen to have a Pink Card). 

 

However, in today's CCSA Briefing, they officially announced that a new app is in the works that will allow foreigners to sign up using only their passport number.

 

Of course, nothing is etched in stone here in the Magic Kingdom and perhaps you will be lucky enough to slip through the cracks with your June appointment...but I wouldn't count on that. ????

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by WaveHunter

[Mario666]

16 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Not to rain on your parade, but the CCSA has made a number of public statements in the last week that any foreigners that were actually successful at signing up through the MorProm app will not actually receive jabs in June.

 

They further emphasized that the app was only intended for Thai Nationals (even if you happen to have a Pink Card). 

 

However, in today's CCSA Briefing, they officially announced that a new app is in the works that will allow foreigners to sign up using only their passport number.

 

Of course, nothing is etched in stone here in the Magic Kingdom and perhaps you will be lucky enough to slip through the cracks with your June appointment...but I wouldn't count on that. ????

 

 

Thank you for your response and please see my edited response above!

 

I have now registered in person which I did last week and also registered online today just using my passport details.

 

Unfortunately, I agree with you 100% that the likelihood of me actually getting the vaccine on the 7th of June is about the same as my chance of winning the "Euromillions Lottery" which is ZERO, because I don't do it! 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by Mario666

[WaveHunter]

7 minutes ago, Mario666 said:

 

Thank you for your response and please see my edited response!

 

I have now registered in person which I did last week and also registered online today just using my passport details.

 

Unfortunately, I agree with you 100% that the likelihood of me actually getting the vaccine on the 7th of June is about the same as my chance of winning the "Euromillions Lottery" which is ZERO, because I don't do it! 

This is Thailand; "hope for the best but expect the worst" LOL! 

 

I rely heavily on the official daily CCSA Briefings that are posted on their Facebook page daily (completely in English and the speaker is very fluent and well spoken).  These briefings can be pretty ambiguous but at least they are "official" and not generated through the rumor mills of forums.

 

The most promising thing I've heard is that beginning on June 7, foreigners will be allowed to register for vaccinations at their local hospitals.  I think what that means is that if you had done this before that date it may not actually be an official registration.

 

As I said, I'm not trying to "rain on your parade", but you should probably plan on registering again on June 7, just to be sure you are indeed registered.

Edited May 21, 2021 by WaveHunter

[catturd]

If the embassy can't provide assistance obtaining C-19 injections, perhaps Biden can. Divert some to LoS to assist expats to get inoculated.

 

• https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/17/us-sends-more-vaccines-overseas-489066
• https://www.fox4now.com/news/national/coronavirus/biden-to-deliver-remarks-as-companies-begin-rolling-back-mask-mandates

Edited May 21, 2021 by catturd

[vinny41]

9 hours ago, catturd said:

If the embassy can't provide assistance obtaining C-19 injections, perhaps Biden can. Divert some to LoS to assist expats to get inoculated.

 

• https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/17/us-sends-more-vaccines-overseas-489066
• https://www.fox4now.com/news/national/coronavirus/biden-to-deliver-remarks-as-companies-begin-rolling-back-mask-mandates

If Biden diverts any vaccine it will be at a government to government level they wouldn't be aimed at a single set of nationals otherwise Biden will suffer the God comparisons such as Book of Exodus and Passover 

[richard_smith237]

21 hours ago, Mario666 said:

And for the record I am due to get my first dose of the AZ Vaccine on June 7th! Believe it when it happens!

 

I too am ‘registered’ and booked to receive the vaccine on June 7th.....  I too will only believe that when it happens !!

 

( I had a PE some years back, so classified that as a respiratory illness in the registration and was able to make the booking on the Mor Promt app - using ID number on the ’non-Thai' Pink ID card)

[Mario666]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I too am ‘registered’ and booked to receive the vaccine on June 7th.....  I too will only believe that when it happens !!

 

( I had a PE some years back, so classified that as a respiratory illness in the registration and was able to make the booking on the Mor Promt app - using ID number on the ’non-Thai' Pink ID card)

 

Good LucK Pal! ????

[Emdog]

On 5/21/2021 at 2:42 PM, LukKrueng said:

Is this available to ALL Americans residing in Thailand or only to embassy staff??

Sorry if I seem a bit abrupt. I've called US embassy ("IS this an emergency?".... I dunno, global pandemic... what the hell do you think it is!). I've looked at state dept info "No plans to vaccinate private US citizens.... depend on local resources" and done a bunch of other things, contacts, etc

Bottom line is US embassy doesn't give a flying fig for us or what happens to us, full stop. The embassy staff have all been given shots, and I am sure that would include local Thai staff. We are lower than fleas on soi dogs in eyes of US and Thai governments