The Thai media is full of foreign residents in a state of panic regarding the difficulty they experience booking a date to obtain a  covid vaccination .Most of the high risk expats including myself should know from past experience that Thai government websites are less than user friendly if they work at all and Thai bureaucracy is not foreigner or alien friendly.

Long term expats have survived three waves of the virus to date and witnessed total mismanagement from the government .

Continue to take sensible precautions chill out and don't stress out if you have not managed to obtain a vaccination just yet .

History may show the people who rushed to take any vaccine offered by the Thai government may not win the race for longevity.

Personally i am in no rush, not even opened any of the registration Apps supposedly available.

Going by some of the comments on various threads some posters will get Hernias before any problems with Covid.

I think the utter chaos is a bigger issue than the delay itself. You're told to register somewhere, you do that, then you hear nothing and they close registrations (Vimut, CRA). A Mor Prom app that can only be used with Pink ID card. Then a government registration site that is first unusable, then found to be leaking data and shut down.

My only impetus for getting vaccinated quickly is for easier future travel. Otherwise I can take it or leave it.

yes, it is a matter to get vaccinated.

i am 73 years old and  will not go traveling in bangkok as the number of infections keeps growing. i will not ride the bts,mrt or buses which i used to do all the time out of fear.

at least if i was able to get vaccinated i would feel i have a fighting chance of not getting infected.

no matter what the vaccinated rate is, it is better then not being vaccinated.

6 hours ago, tonray said:

My only impetus for getting vaccinated quickly is for easier future travel. Otherwise I can take it or leave it.

 

Ditto.

4 hours ago, rodknock said:

... and  will not go traveling in bangkok as the number of infections keeps growing. i will not ride the bts,mrt or buses which i used to do all the time out of fear.

 

 

 

These last 3 months, my wife and I were travelling to Bangkok two times , stayed all in all 6 days, back now  and we are still safe !

don't worry, if you respect mask, social distancing etc, you will not get the virus; everybody has a mask in BKK ; I admit that we travelled in Bangkok only in taxi 

but if it was not by obligation, I would not go to Bangkok, just because I prefer to live upcountry 

Panic? Me?

 

Not in the least, I've had my first Az jab on Saturday, but even before that I wasn't overly worried.

 

I don't do crowds so the busy places are off limits even in normal times, pubs and restaurants shut, working from home mostly, venture out to makro every couple of weeks (Madam goes to one of the food delivery trucks most days). My chances of catching the bug are minimal.

 

 

19 minutes ago, Aforek said:

These last 3 months, my wife and I were travelling to Bangkok two times , stayed all in all 6 days, back now  and we are still safe !

don't worry, if you respect mask, social distancing etc, you will not get the virus; everybody has a mask in BKK ; I admit that we travelled in Bangkok only in taxi 

but if it was not by obligation, I would not go to Bangkok, just because I prefer to live upcountry 

I ride the trains all the time...wear a mask...find an open seat, don't talk to others, if you see someone coughing...stay away. The mask is key...it prevents you from touching your mouth, nose and face which is the #1 way infections in general spread. You allso need to rememeber to wash your hands thoroughly and also not touch your eyes when out and about...the new normal.

Some troll posts have been removed

I,m more likely to die driving my car/motorbike on the roads here than anything covid can throw at me.

Not interested in the slightest. I have been just fine for 18 months, dont see ANY need for me to go in search of anything. The more that do, the even more less likely I will.

 

If it becomes mandatory for some reason (like travel) then and only then would I get a jab. BUT that would be  a vaccine of my choosing and at my cost, again highly unlikely in the next year !

15 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Really they need to find a way to identify those likely to die from COVID, then just vaccinate them.

 

And if they do that, the virus continues to circulate in society, and continues to mutate, eventually mutating into versions which are much more dangerous to young, healthy people and for which vaccines provide little or no protection.  The consequences of that are dire.

 

 

9 minutes ago, Oxx said:

And if they do that, the virus continues to circulate in society, and continues to mutate, eventually mutating into versions which are much more dangerous to young, healthy people and for which vaccines provide little or no protection.  The consequences of that are dire.

Vaccination doesn't stop circulation or mutation.

10 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Vaccination doesn't stop circulation or mutation.

Exactly!  and using turn signals doesn't stop collisions.

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Vaccination doesn't stop circulation or mutation.

 

It reduces circulation dramatically, and in the case of smallpox, vaccination reduced it to zero.  In countries which have good vaccination practices diseases such as tuberculosis, polio, chickenpox, measles, and mumps have been reduced virtually to zero amongst the native populations.

And less virus in circulation necessarily means there are fewer viruses available to mutate.

7 minutes ago, Oxx said:

It reduces circulation dramatically, and in the case of smallpox, vaccination reduced it to zero.  In countries which have good vaccination practices diseases such as tuberculosis, polio, chickenpox, measles, and mumps have been reduced virtually to zero amongst the native populations.

And less virus in circulation necessarily means there are fewer viruses available to mutate.

2 points

1) Plentiful food, and modern sanitation probably did more to halt most of those diseases you listed than vaccination.

2) Vaccination may actually encourage mutation, as does foreign travel.

 

Had chickenpox, mumps and measles as a child (before vaccinations were available), they didn't hurt me. Only vaccinations I had were polio and whooping cough.

 

Forcing people not to overeat and exercise daily may be more effective than vaccination.

But, of course, isn't as profitable for the corporations that own everything and everyone.

 

I can't change your opinions as you live a life driven by fear.

I don't fear death, I certainly don't fear COVID.

Long term expats aren't panicking. Experience has taught us what to expect, and the government didn't disappoint us.

If I was prone to panic, I wouldn't live here...

There's no sense at all in panicking. 

I have a so-called "confirmed" appointment for AZ for next week.  I'll call a couple of days before the appointment date, but I'm assuming it will have been cancelled/postponed.  It won't come as any sort of surprise. 

 

Regardless of registrations and appointments, given the outright mendacity and incompetence of those in charge, I suspect I won't get a first injection before August or so, despite high risk due to age.

Based on the number of postings related to the vaccine situation, the expat vaccine must have crowd are p.... their pants. 

 

I can wait until 2023 or later. 

 Most foreigners that are retirement visa‘s retirement extensions are over 60 you think this government would want to take care of us about getting the vaccine but I understand how Thailand takes care of retired foreigners here no surprise will be like The last to receive the vaccination understanding this there is no stress I think I have an appointment in October to receive my vaccination if I’m lucky and having to pay 3800 what a great deal TIT

Nope. 

OP makes some good points. I object to the use of "total mismanagement." Let's not forget that Thailand didn't have 100 deaths until a couple of months ago. They have done some things right, and deserve a lot of criticism, especially for the vaccine roll-out. 

On 6/15/2021 at 6:22 AM, Crossy said:

Panic? Me?

 

Not in the least, I've had my first Az jab on Saturday, but even before that I wasn't overly worried.

 

I don't do crowds so the busy places are off limits even in normal times, pubs and restaurants shut, working from home mostly, venture out to makro every couple of weeks (Madam goes to one of the food delivery trucks most days). My chances of catching the bug are minimal.

 

 

How and where did you get your jab? Certainly no appointments available in Phuket, neither government nor private.

Similar to others here, I'm in no hurry for the jab and certainly no panic. I applied to register (using my patient's card number) but the hospital said I couldn't. Okay, I'll wait but I am not one who reaches for medicines anyway (not even for a headache). I only go out for groceries and don't travel around. Workout every morning and eat 'reasonably' (applies to my metabolism and probably not to others). Have plenty to keep me occupied. Before the so called 'third wave' I did make regular trips to the next province but have decided not to continue that at this time. I haven't detected any panic from those I phone and there doesn't appear to any here either. Having said that, I think there are some 'headless chickens' out there but nothing to do with expats, more about the $ sign, I think.

No hurry.  Need the right vaccine for international travel—and unfortunately they haven’t arrived yet.  But the longer we wait—the more data comes forth.  These vaccines haven’t been out very long, and no one knows long term effects.

There are no vaccines for foreigners thats why there's people <deleted> off.

23 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Vaccination doesn't stop circulation or mutation.

 

Effective vaccines substantially reduces circulation. We see this very clearly in countries with high rates of vaccination with the more effective vaccines. Huge decrease in positivity.

 

A virus that is not circulating, can't mutate

No appointment needed ,no app to book on needed, just showed up at the Amphur office when announced on the loudspeaker and showed my passport, filled out the form and was given a vaccination, will receive my second dose in 4 weeks.