oslooskar Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 15 minutes ago, Berkshire said: I believe this has already happened....which is the whole point of this thread. [Democrats Abroad signed an unprecedented joint appeal with its arch-rival Republicans Overseas Thailand, plus the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12074, and the American Women’s Club of Thailand, addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on May 6.] https://asiatimes.com/2021/05/us-expats-plea-for-vaccine-help-in-viral-thailand/ You're right! I can see that now. Thanks for the link. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli42 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Why the panic/fear? The number of infections in Thailand is very low. In time you will get your vaccine ... whether you want it or not. Find something else to obsess about in the mean time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oslooskar Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 12 minutes ago, placnx said: Quite a while ago I suggested a GoFundMe page to raise money to buy a full page ad in Washington Post. I could of course be an open letter to Biden. He's quite sensitive to negative publicity. Such a public letter would let the whole world know that Biden has received this letter. What would that cost? Also, has anyone that you know of contacted 60 MINUTES? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placnx Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 22 hours ago, bkkcanuck8 said: You would never be vaccinated on embassy grounds... there are multiple issues with it. They would have to transport the vaccine here, and according to my sister (posted to an embassy in eastern Europe) it would be problematic transporting controlled substances (i.e. unapproved vaccine or vaccine outside of normal in country channels). If the embassy were to violate the countries sovereignty and smuggle in the vaccine through diplomatic pouch, she does not even know if there is any that would handle the required cryogenic storage temperatures required for such vaccines. So yes, the embassy is on sovergeign US territory, but it is still in a sovereign country. Then of course, although COVID vaccines are safer than COVID itself, it will never be 100% safe as there will always have a small percentage of people that may have adverse effects. I don't know of any Embassy that has their own medical hospital on grounds, and injecting someone with an unregistered or unapproved drug would have both potential diplomatic consequences as well as not having the medical facilities to handle such cases, so the local hospitals should have the information available ahead of time (be aware of it) to handle such cases. Because of that fact there will be a larger number of people at risk than normal. There is the AFRIMS facility, a joint US-Thai military medical research operation with 300 staff. Another commenter mentioned CDC having their largest facility outside the US in Bangkok?? I can check if anyone is interested. So at least in Bangkok there are physical facilities with doctors. Still, the US, State Dept or other agency, would have to negotiate some aspects with Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkkcanuck8 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 13 minutes ago, placnx said: Covid is a catastrophe No, It is not... The reasons for all the precautions have to do with PPE / hand washing etc... is to keep it from becoming one with regards to overwhelming the health care system to the point where the mortality rate of 1% or so becomes 3%. COVID is another risk factor for a future pandemic that is more deadly and virulent (but not in the short term - maybe 20 or 30 years). Even with this 'deadly' pandemic, the population of the world managed to go up again last year... Deadly pandemics (I mean real deadly) actually significantly reduce the world population during it's 'rein of terror'. It can be devastating to one person, one family etc... and of course impact the economy.... but it still does not rise to being catastrophic. In effect this is a normal health crisis. If you were riding a motorcycle and were hospitalized with injuries that are life threatening, it is not the responsibility of the US government to come to your rescue... You have moved to Thailand and accepted as part of that a health / administration that may not be on par with the one you left. You are expected to get your own insurance, hospitalization in the local hospital system... if you need a medical evacuation - the government expects you were responsible for your own insurance etc. That goes with pretty much all heath emergencies, you accepted the risks of moving to another jurisdiction and that jurisdictions health system is what you accepted by doing so. The rollout of the immunization for the public is what you are covered by (signups for non-thai id people starting June 7th). If you want the choice of the vaccine instead of having it chosen for you... you will likely have to wait til Sept./Oct. (I expect pressure to possible pull it back in time a little since there are many well connected Thais that would prefer vaccination by Moderna). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post oslooskar Posted June 1, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted June 1, 2021 4 minutes ago, chilli42 said: Why the panic/fear? The number of infections in Thailand is very low. In time you will get your vaccine ... whether you want it or not. Find something else to obsess about in the mean time. It seems to me that your obsession is trying to control other people. So, take my advice and stop concerning yourself with what other people do just as long as you remain unaffected by it. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinBoy2 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 This whole conversation bemuses me. Yeah we all know the argument that all Americans file a tax return on worldwide income, so what. We all accept that medicare, which you've paid into all your working life, doesn't cover you in Thailand. What about any kids, US citizens you have in Thailand, should they show up at the embassy for their MMR shot? The list goes on and on. Those examples i gave don't really seem to animate peoples emotions. Yet a simple covid vaccine for which you do have the option of hoping on a plane and getting for free at the first Safeway you find out of the airport, seems to drive folks insane 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placnx Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 26 minutes ago, oslooskar said: What would that cost? Also, has anyone that you know of contacted 60 MINUTES? SIXTY MINUTES - a good idea, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oslooskar Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 6 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said: We all accept that medicare, which you've paid into all your working life, doesn't cover you in Thailand. OH, GEE WHIZ, THANKS! Your acceptance of that fact means a great deal to me and my fellow Americans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placnx Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 33 minutes ago, oslooskar said: What would that cost? Also, has anyone that you know of contacted 60 MINUTES? Prices for a full page ad in Washington Post (weekdays): Pages A2, A3, A5: $26,208 Other pages: $12,978 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atpeace Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Hmm, COVID-19 Vaccine Dose Donations as of May 21, 2021 USA 80m France 30M 30M China 15M 15.2M India 10M 10.2M New Zealand 1.6M MTN Group/African Union 1.6M Sweden 1M Portugal 1M Norway 677K Turkey 250K United Arab Emirates 236.3K Romania 200K Russia 187K African Medical Supplies Platform/South Africa 75K Serbia 60K Israel 25K Chile 20K Australia 8K https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/putting-u-s-global-covid-19-vaccine-donations-in-context/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placnx Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 34 minutes ago, bkkcanuck8 said: No, It is not... The reasons for all the precautions have to do with PPE / hand washing etc... is to keep it from becoming one with regards to overwhelming the health care system to the point where the mortality rate of 1% or so becomes 3%. COVID is another risk factor for a future pandemic that is more deadly and virulent (but not in the short term - maybe 20 or 30 years). Even with this 'deadly' pandemic, the population of the world managed to go up again last year... Deadly pandemics (I mean real deadly) actually significantly reduce the world population during it's 'rein of terror'. It can be devastating to one person, one family etc... and of course impact the economy.... but it still does not rise to being catastrophic. In effect this is a normal health crisis. If you were riding a motorcycle and were hospitalized with injuries that are life threatening, it is not the responsibility of the US government to come to your rescue... You have moved to Thailand and accepted as part of that a health / administration that may not be on par with the one you left. You are expected to get your own insurance, hospitalization in the local hospital system... if you need a medical evacuation - the government expects you were responsible for your own insurance etc. That goes with pretty much all heath emergencies, you accepted the risks of moving to another jurisdiction and that jurisdictions health system is what you accepted by doing so. The rollout of the immunization for the public is what you are covered by (signups for non-thai id people starting June 7th). If you want the choice of the vaccine instead of having it chosen for you... you will likely have to wait til Sept./Oct. (I expect pressure to possible pull it back in time a little since there are many well connected Thais that would prefer vaccination by Moderna). Why isn't Covid a catastrophe? Is nothing a catastrophe? This is not over yet, and you are quite optimistic thinking that we can wait 20-30 years for the next one. We are no longer in the Middle Ages when 30% of populations died. So Covid is a catastrophe that can be mitigated, but if you would bother to look at the situation in India, that's what can still happen elsewhere as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Berkshire Posted June 1, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted June 1, 2021 17 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said: This whole conversation bemuses me. Yeah we all know the argument that all Americans file a tax return on worldwide income, so what. We all accept that medicare, which you've paid into all your working life, doesn't cover you in Thailand. What about any kids, US citizens you have in Thailand, should they show up at the embassy for their MMR shot? The list goes on and on. Those examples i gave don't really seem to animate peoples emotions. Yet a simple covid vaccine for which you do have the option of hoping on a plane and getting for free at the first Safeway you find out of the airport, seems to drive folks insane I don't think anyone's panicking or going insane over this. And we're not talking about medicare, or MMR shots, or anything else. We're talking about the COVID vaccine. It seems logical to me that if the US gov has already spent trillions on COVID relief, they'd take a tiny bit of that to help Americans overseas get vaccinated. Americans are still Americans regardless of where we happen to be. If they won't do it, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. But if they do, it would be appreciated by many of us. It doesn't hurt to ask. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atpeace Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 8 minutes ago, oslooskar said: OH, GEE WHIZ, THANKS! Your acceptance of that fact means a great deal to me and my fellow Americans. I far from like it nor think it fair. Don't lose sleep over it. Only 54 and not sure of all the details. Would an American, assuming he/she can get on plane, be able to return to America and be covered immediately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oslooskar Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 3 minutes ago, placnx said: Prices for a full page ad in Washington Post (weekdays): Pages A2, A3, A5: $26,208 Other pages: $12,978 That would be quite costly. So, I would suggest that as many of us as possible contact 60 Minutes independently and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinBoy2 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 7 minutes ago, Berkshire said: I don't think anyone's panicking or going insane over this. And we're not talking about medicare, or MMR shots, or anything else. We're talking about the COVID vaccine. It seems logical to me that if the US gov has already spent trillions on COVID relief, they'd take a tiny bit of that to help Americans overseas get vaccinated. Americans are still Americans regardless of where we happen to be. If they won't do it, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. But if they do, it would be appreciated by many of us. It doesn't hurt to ask. I get that. But there seems to be an assumption by many that it's their right to get a vaccine delivered to them in Thailand. Firstly, the Embassy isn't a hospital or Doctor's office. Would they even have the ability to store the darn stuff, let alone the medics to deliver it? And think of Mrs Backofbeyond, living somewhere in Podunk North Dakota. She's not expecting someone to deliver her a vaccine, she's driving a few hours to Fargo. So again, you chose to live overseas, and whereas Mrs Backofbeyond drives 2 hours, you spend 24 hours on a plane. The end result is the same, you get a shot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atpeace Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 5 minutes ago, placnx said: Why isn't Covid a catastrophe? Is nothing a catastrophe? This is not over yet, and you are quite optimistic thinking that we can wait 20-30 years for the next one. We are no longer in the Middle Ages when 30% of populations died. So Covid is a catastrophe that can be mitigated, but if you would bother to look at the situation in India, that's what can still happen elsewhere as well. Catastrophe, no but death sucks on any scale. On second thought, I think most would consider it a catastrophe. Not me but I don't scare easy- not bragging. Hit so many times in the head, I no longer see the bat. As for India, think 99% of rich countries in the world would trade places any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placnx Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 11 minutes ago, oslooskar said: That would be quite costly. So, I would suggest that as many of us as possible contact 60 Minutes independently and see what happens. So it's not cheap, but this might also help Americans in countries in more dire straits. Maybe 60 MINUTES would get interested as well. When you consider the cost of going back to the US, coming back for a week of quarantine, the cost of an ad would be the same as a few Americans braving the long flight back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oslooskar Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 4 minutes ago, atpeace said: I far from like it nor think it fair. Don't lose sleep over it. Only 54 and not sure of all the details. Would an American, assuming he/she can get on plane, be able to return to America and be covered immediately? Probably! But that is not the problem. The problem is the great risk involved in flying home while being unvaccinated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atpeace Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Bangkok Basha said: Yes, that's true. My mistake. Social Security income is taxable no matter where you live, but if that's all you're earning, you'd pay at a very low rate- 7.13% on $35,000/year. People earning less may not even have to file. If married and filing jointly, and both spouses are 65 or older, you will have to make a minimum of $27,000. If just one of you is 65 or older, split the difference; you need to make $25,700. True, but you do realize that even 5% is more than 50% of Americans pay. The rich pay the lion's share of federal taxes. Basically almost all of federal taxes are paid by the rich. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atpeace Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 10 minutes ago, oslooskar said: Probably! But that is not the problem. The problem is the great risk involved in flying home while being unvaccinated. It was an odd question, sorry if it upset you. I was asking a question unrelated to Covid. Just wondering if I make it to 65 and get cancer for example. Could I fly home and get treatment covered through Medicare? Just ignore my tangents ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oslooskar Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 13 minutes ago, placnx said: So it's not cheap, but this might also help Americans in countries in more dire straits. Maybe 60 MINUTES would get interested as well. When you consider the cost of going back to the US, coming back for a week of quarantine, the cost of an ad would be the same as a few Americans braving the long flight back. So, who would handle the donations for the ad in the Washington Post; would it be, Democrats Abroad, Republicans Overseas Thailand, Veterans of Foreign Wars, or the American Women’s Club of Thailand? Also, what would be the recommended donation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinBoy2 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 You all realize how tiny the US expat population is in Thailand compared to others? I couldn't find figures after 1999, but I doubt it's changed much. Thailand isn't even in the top 10. So the idea that any of you think some full page ad somewhere is gonna make a difference, you're deluded at best https://escholarship.org/content/qt07c2k96f/qt07c2k96f_noSplash_20bce9539e83297640eddc36a8cc214b.pdf But if you want, go knock yourself out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqwakvfr Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 Definition of catastrophe 1: a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruinDeforestation and erosion can lead to an ecological catastrophe. 2: utter failure : FIASCOthe party was a catastrophe 3a: a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth b: a violent usually destructive natural event (such as a supernova) 4: the final event of the dramatic action especially of a tragedy The Utter Failure and Fiasco can describe certain aspects of the Vaccine rollout??? I do not think we have reach 4 yet> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Misty Posted June 1, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted June 1, 2021 8 hours ago, Taboo2 said: This is a prime example of spoiled, entitled Americans.....here is an idea...get of your ass, buy a plane ticket to American and get vaccinated! Mommie and Daddy are not going to help you because you are an American in Thailand. Whiners. And yet here you are, whining on a thread that has nothing to do with you.... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkok Basha Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 3 hours ago, placnx said: Quite a while ago I suggested a GoFundMe page to raise money to buy a full page ad in Washington Post. I could of course be an open letter to Biden. He's quite sensitive to negative publicity. Such a public letter would let the whole world know that Biden has received this letter. A much more effective action would be to write to your Members of Congress (Senators and Representatives) that you vote for in state elections. Whoops. I wonder how many people who live here are eligible for absentee ballots by having a bona fide home in the U.S. (I do, and vote). We not Blinken's constituents, and while we are Biden's, I wonder what the actual voting rate is for presidential elections from Democrats and Republicans Abroad. Anyway, I am wasting my time and your reading pleasure, because it's never going to happen. As soon as I renew my upcoming visa extension, I'm outta here to get vaccinated in the States- an option that is open to any of us. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinBoy2 Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 12 minutes ago, Bangkok Basha said: A much more effective action would be to write to your Members of Congress (Senators and Representatives) that you vote for in state elections. Whoops. I wonder how many people who live here are eligible for absentee ballots by having a bona fide home in the U.S. (I do, and vote). We not Blinken's constituents, and while we are Biden's, I wonder what the actual voting rate is for presidential elections from Democrats and Republicans Abroad. Anyway, I am wasting my time and your reading pleasure, because it's never going to happen. As soon as I renew my upcoming visa extension, I'm outta here to get vaccinated in the States- an option that is open to any of us. You are right, talk to your Representatives & Senators But given that the entire American expat population in Thailand is something less than 90,000, spread those across 50 States, hmmm, not sure how much voting clout that equates to! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
placnx Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 2 hours ago, oslooskar said: So, who would handle the donations for the ad in the Washington Post; would it be, Democrats Abroad, Republicans Overseas Thailand, Veterans of Foreign Wars, or the American Women’s Club of Thailand? Also, what would be the recommended donation? Why does there have to be a recommended donation amount? Maybe they could form a group specifically for the purpose of getting vaccine service from USG. AFAIK none of them are proposing free service BTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post JohnFlory Posted June 1, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted June 1, 2021 (edited) Every few hours it gets even more maddening. Those 1 million J&J vaccines supposedly sent by the US to vaccinate Korean military, well guess what now. According to Channel News Asia: Authorities designated the vaccine for military-related personnel, including reserve forces and the civil defence corps, as well as people planning overseas business trips or diplomatic missions. We Americans in Korea where given bupkis. No chance to sign up at all. I'd gladly have paid for the shot, but my government decided to give it to Koreans going on overseas business trips...most likely to China. Haha Edited June 1, 2021 by JohnFlory 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkok Basha Posted June 1, 2021 Share Posted June 1, 2021 9 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said: You are right, talk to your Representatives & Senators But given that the entire American expat population in Thailand is something less than 90,000, spread those across 50 States, hmmm, not sure how much voting clout that equates to! Almost none. And that's why no appeals from such a small community will carry any weight. But I've seen congressional representatives act on a single letter from a constituent. What they do is forward it to the State Department, who are required to respond with 24 hours with a reply. It gets someone's attention, and that's probably all it does. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is on her way here this week (not Blinken), and if anyone knows anyone attending (all in house embassy people usually), they could ask her a public question about this. She'll have a blank look and will turn to the embassy public information officer for a response, who will in turn give the official answer. "Wait for the Thai government's plans." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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