US expats plead for vaccine help in viral Thailand

[atpeace]

7 minutes ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

If you feel you are not getting your money's worth, give up your citizenship.

 

The US has social programs just like any other western country, vaccine is effectively a 'social program'.  The government is only responsible for their own country, not third countries...  if you want to take advantage of it, go home where the government actually has responsibility for.

Not worth arguing. Might try to tak e a deep breath and logically think through what you are stating.  Hint social programs like sociaol securuty???  It is not about being right dude.  Really won't like you any less if you think a little before typing.

[Isaan sailor]

3 minutes ago, connda said:

What is more irritating is that the US government can provide foreign aid throughout the world, but turn a completely blind eye toward their citizens overseas. 
All the while China by comparison does the right thing and provides vaccines for it citizens overseas in a time where we are told by the US government that China's leadership are inhuman and heartless.  It seems to be the other way around.
You think the US would lead by example.  Instead, China leads by example and the US falls flat.

Billions of USD in tax-payer funds are earmarked for foreign aid including vaccines while the US government refuses to provide care for its own citizens during a global pandemic.

It's not like we're whining for assistance all the time.  The global Covid pandemic is a significant, one-off event.  It should be met with significant, one-off assistance - Like China just did for its citizens, but which the US government refuses to do for its citizens.

Wouldn't it be nice if the US government placed US tax-paying citizens interests before the rest of the globe just this once. The Congress can provide $2 billion to GAVI though USAID to provide vaccines for foreign countries¹ , but it can't provide the time of day for its US citizens abroad.
What an embarrassment.

^{1. USAID to Provide Initial $2 Billion to Propel Global Access to COVID-19 Vaccines, Statement by USAID Acting Administrator Gloria Steele, February 19, 2021}

Many don’t realize that American expats continue to pay taxes to the IRS—despite receiving Social Security.  Last year I paid more in taxes to the IRS, than in most years working in the USA.

[lucky2008]

Stop whining.

You're just going to have to wait like everyone else is doing.

If you don't like you're more than welcome to fly back home.  
 

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, RocketDog said:

Anybody receiving USA social security payments and Medicare pays taxes on it.

Minimum Medicare payment (taken from your SSA stipend) is around $105/month if income is minimal, more for higher incomes. From the beginning of the vaccinations they were free to Medicare recipients in America but not expats abroad. So we paid for it but don't get it, as with Medicare itself except when I'm home. Don't forget inheritance tax either. Americans are subject to taxes on income for life, regardless of where they live and earn money. Only two countries in the world are like this.

 

In that case I wouid guess most Americans here pay, or are subject to, taxes; I certainly do.

 

That said, I'm enough of a realist not to expect much from my government beyond increasing taxes/ inflation/ property taxes/ bureaucracy, and decreasing police protection and social services, all reasons that I'm here.

 

I fully expect to dodge the virus in semi-quarantine until I can get and pay for a REAL vaccine here, probably near year end.

That's my plan and I'm sticking to it.

You're talking about Medicare Part B. Expats are not required to pay for that. That's optional. 

[connda]

4 hours ago, skorp13 said:

LOL. The U.S. is supposed to send personalized vaccines to each citizen in every other country?. Wow, talk about entitlement syndrome.

And yet, China does just that.

The US government doesn't supply transportation services for US expats but they'll fly Americans out of a foreign country that is about to collapse.  That's a one-off event.
The US government doesn't supply health-care services for US expats, but they should provide vaccines during a global pandemic.  It's a one-off event.

China did step up and assist its citizens overseas during this one-off pandemic event.
The US should step up and assist its citizens oversea during this one-off pandemic event.

[Jingthing]

57 minutes ago, Jud Canada said:

I live on a small island in PhangNga province and the health authority just came to the house for vaccine registration. Wasn't even looking for vaccination at this point. Apparently the jab is in June. I assumed this would be consistent throughout the kingdom. 

 

It isn't.

[placeholder]

31 minutes ago, lucky2008 said:

Stop whining.

You're just going to have to wait like everyone else is doing.

If you don't like you're more than welcome to fly back home.  
 

Maybe in the unfortunate nation you hail from the right to petition the government is not guaranteed. But in the US Constitution, it's part and parcel of the First Amendment.

Edited May 31, 2021 by placeholder

[Eric Loh]

5 minutes ago, oslooskar said:

Not only is the monetary cost of returning to the States prohibitive, the risk of becoming infected with Covid-19 while traveling there would be significant-----at least for me. Bottom-line, if the U.S. can send aid to India to combat Covid-19 then it has no excuse for not making vaccines available to its own citizens living abroad.

Fair point considering the State Department was able to despatch fully vaccines to all their eligible workforce abroad in 220 oversea locations in April. 

[KarenBravo]

1 hour ago, hioctane said:

 

The purpose of an embassy is help ALL it’s citizens living in that country. It has nothing to do with business.

 

Totally correct..........if you are an expert in wishful thinking. You seem to be a black-belt 10th dan at this practice.

[Jingthing]

56 minutes ago, Mansell said:

Just bring the top two vaccines to the US Embassy in Bangkok. Then all the American citizens here come there with their passports and pick up their vaccine, then it is upon them to go to a clinic or hospital to have it injected. Pretty simple and relatively inexpensive. That would be the American way to step forward. I’d even be happy to pay 3000 baht for the vaccine. 

Personally I think if the embassy gets involved which nobody expects but many hope for, that they should only offer Johnson and Johnson. Because it stores easily and requires one dose. Keep it simple!

[Rimmer]

An off topic post about British people and the Philippines has been removed .

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Eric Loh said:

Fair point considering the State Department was able to despatch fully vaccines to all their eligible workforce abroad in 220 oversea locations in April. 

Proof of concept. 

They can do it.

They just don't want to.

[atpeace]

1 minute ago, lucky2008 said:

Stop whining.

You're just going to have to wait like everyone else is doing.

If you don't like you're more than welcome to fly back home.  
 

Think you are a little petulant child.  Grownup, people don't have to go home if they don't agree with you.  As waiting like everybody else?  I'm cool with that but everybody isn't waiting.  People in Buriram are getting vaccinated, Chinese at their embassy, people returning to the USA...  Why not look at options?  The more that proactively look to get vaccinated the better? Why am I wasting my energy 555

 

[Dart12]

4 hours ago, Lickey said:

Dunno why people are in a hurry to take part in an experiment when they don't have symptoms? 

That's why they have to do marketing campaigns to get people to take them too.  

Get a free lotto ticket if you try this drug.  
Get a free donut.
No airlines for you (oops, that's illegal guess we can't do that but we tried).


Btw, did you know the inventing scientist of mrna was blocked from twitter and FB for saying that it's use does not do whhat the vax companies say it does?  Same with the guy that invented the PCR test saying that it doesn't reveal what the tester's use it for?

crazy world when you are the only true expert as the person that took years to create something, know it inside and out, and then blocked and censored by a bunch of people who've never attended science class as "fact checkers" lol

[bkkcanuck8]

8 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

Many don’t realize that American expats continue to pay taxes to the IRS—despite receiving Social Security.  Last year I paid more in taxes to the IRS, than in most years working in the USA.

That is because your retirement contributions were 'tax deferred' (with the expectation that after you retire you are in a lower tax bracket on average).  You earned the money while you were working, but did not pay taxes on it... the taxes were deferred until the money was 'withdrawn'....(deferred payment). 

 

[connda]

5 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

Logistically it would be a nightmare to pull off - all countries Americans are in...

 

easier to just book a flight home and get it within a few days...

 

 

4 hours ago, 10baht said:

No it would not.

The US government has already shipped vaccines to all of its embassies world-wide.
Obviously that was not a "logistical nightmare" as it's already occurred.
If they made one shipment they could make another shipment with additional crates of vaccines for expats in the region of those embassies. 

It would be far more cost effective to fly Mohamed to the mountain instead of expecting the mountain to fly to Mohamed.

[holy cow cm]

Well to a point since we have to file FBAR every year for foreign bank accounts over USD $10k and for the most part if have holdings in banks or over the minimum thresh hold for income have to file tax returns, then they should by all means do the right thing and vaccinate US citizens at the US Embassy or Consulate. Last time I checked these places are US property and funded by US citizens money.

[Thomas J]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

“These are vaccines, offered for free to all in the US, and most of them have been manufactured with taxpayer dollars.”

That is patently false.  Some companies accepted U.S. government monies for research. One notable exception is Pfizer who did not.  Vaccines in the USA that are distributed are "purchased" not manufactured using U.S. tax dollars. 

I would suggest Mr. Risely read the constitution.  It guarantees Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  It does not say the USA will move heaven and earth to get free vaccines for U.S. citizens "who chose" to live overseas. 
 

“Biden has publicly announced that all Americans now have access to vaccines, but the government and State seem to have forgotten about us Americans living abroad,” said the chair of Democrats Abroad in Thailand, Paul Risley

Has Mr. Risely, checked Travelocity.  All Americans do have access to vaccines at no cost.  Mr. Biden however did not say he would deliver them to your door.  There are flights leaving every day to the USA mainland or Guam where Mr. Risely and anyone else who wishes can travel to and obtain the vaccine.  The fact that is "inconvenient" is caused not by the USA government but by the person who chose to live someplace else than the USA mainland. 

 

[RocketDog]

8 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

You're talking about Medicare Part B. Expats are not required to pay for that. That's optional. 

True, and good point.

If you expect that you might need Medicare, dropping it means major increased cost for life if you ever need to reinstate it. So paying for it is a form of cheap insurance. That's the way I look at it.

[phills2k1]

4 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

And American's wonder where the stereotype of the me american I am special comes from.

I'm sorry, but do you really think that US citizens are the ONLY expats throughout the world that would prefer that their local embassy provide them with a vaccine if their host country offers no help?

 

I'm an American who can't STAND almost every aspect of my country, but this is such a ridiculous and simple-minded comment

 

Especially considering the fact that in my experiences, most Americans traveling this far abroad are doing so to learn about and appreciate and support the cultures of others, and are extra vigilant in trying to destroy the traditional stereotype that we all face

[connda]

4 hours ago, 10baht said:

Then you do not know the IRS. And if they are in such a low income bracket that the law says they do not pay now, well that's the law. But I'll bet they paid lots when they working.

We also paid for Medicare all of our working lives which we are unable to receive outside of the US.
Virtually all here in the lower income brackets provided the US with funding during their working lives.

[Toby1947]

Pity John Wayne has passed on he would sort this problem out, after all he did win 2 world wars, the Vietnam war, and cleaned up the Wild West single handily 

[khunPer]

Why not just relax a few days and register, there seems to be enough for everyone, including foreigners...

 

[oslooskar]

4 hours ago, AnnieSeek said:

There would be uproar in Thailand, if foreigners were getting vaccinated ahead of the old and frail Thai nationals - no matter the source. I am aware there are some Chinese getting vaccinated, but they don't count. lol 

There would be an uproar in the United States if our government discriminated against foreigners and told them to get in the back of the line.

[yogavnture]

i dont know why the expats whining.  all they have to do is fly home and get it and then fly back.   expats dont want nothing to do with home country until then need something then they whine.  do expats pay us taxes ? now u know why embassy says no help for you. no money no shot

[Rimmer]

A troll post dragging Israel into the topic and ending with a flame has been removed

[phills2k1]

34 minutes ago, Dart12 said:

Btw, did you know the inventing scientist of mrna was blocked from twitter and FB for saying that it's use does not do whhat the vax companies say it does?  Same with the guy that invented the PCR test saying that it doesn't reveal what the tester's use it for?

crazy world when you are the only true expert as the person that took years to create something, know it inside and out, and then blocked and censored by a bunch of people who've never attended science class as "fact checkers" lol

Just curious, what exactly was the substance of what he said that was blocked for?

[placeholder]

33 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

I would suggest Mr. Risely read the constitution.  It guarantees Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.  It does not say the USA will move heaven and earth to get free vaccines for U.S. citizens "who chose" to live overseas.

No the Constitution does not guarantee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That phrase comes from the Declaration of Independence. Have you read the Constitution?

Edited May 31, 2021 by placeholder

[oslooskar]

3 hours ago, kamahele said:

While I would love for the US government to offer free vaccines to citizens living abroad, I know it is not their job nor their mission. We made the decision to live abroad and were not forced to do so by our government. 

I could accept that if it was a two way Street. You know, taxes and that sort of thing. ????

[phills2k1]

3 minutes ago, yogavnture said:

i dont know why the expats whining.  all they have to do is fly home and get it and then fly back.   expats dont want nothing to do with home country until then need something then they whine.  do expats pay us taxes ? now u know why embassy says no help for you. no money no shot

For arguments sake, let’s say that people who left their country earn less income than is required to pay taxes back home

 

How about all of the taxes paid prior to leaving? Is that all meaningless?