Slow vaccine roll-out forcing Swedes in Thailand to go home

[snoop1130]

Photo: Christian Emmer | Credit: emmer.com.ar

 

Many Swedish residents in Thailand are in the vulnerable group and still they face great difficulties getting the Corona vaccine. Sven Arne Hedell, 71, is trying to get the Swedish authorities to send vaccines to Swedish people abroad.

“We are paying full tax in Sweden, but we still don’t have any rights,” Sven says.

 

Full Story: https://scandasia.com/slow-vaccine-roll-out-forcing-swedes-in-thailand-to-go-home/

 

-- © Copyright ScandAsia 2021-08-06

 

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[AgentSmith]

Can someone hold these people's hands and show them the way to all the vaccination programs active in Thailand now for falang over 60? Thailandintervac.com mentions 7 hospitals where they can register and then there's Bang Sue station. I'm below 60 and even I was able to enroll in an official program at Vimut and got my first Astra jab last week. It's really not that difficult.

[Orinoco]

Swedes in Thailand to go home.

 

Edited August 6, 2021 by Orinoco

[Bluespunk]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

We are paying full tax in Sweden, but we still don’t have any rights,” Sven says.

If true, he does have a point. 

[daveAustin]

33 minutes ago, AgentSmith said:

Can someone hold these people's hands and show them the way to all the vaccination programs active in Thailand now for falang over 60?

What is this, ‘falang’?

[Scrotobike]

34 minutes ago, AgentSmith said:

Can someone hold these people's hands and show them the way to all the vaccination programs active in Thailand now for falang over 60? Thailandintervac.com mentions 7 hospitals where they can register and then there's Bang Sue station. I'm below 60 and even I was able to enroll in an official program at Vimut and got my first Astra jab last week. It's really not that difficult.

Wonderful for you - so tell me how to get a vax in Sisakate oh masterful all knowledgeable one. I have signed up for everything including buying Moderna....

 

Dumb and dumber....

[SpaceKadet]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“We are paying full tax in Sweden, but we still don’t have any rights,” Sven says.

Interesting.. to be tax resident in Sweden, he is either:

 

A. Staying less that 180 days per year in Thailand

or

B. Lying to the Swedish tax authorities, telling them that he is staying more than 180 days a year in Sweden

 

In case of B let him go back and get his jabs in Sweden.

[RotBenz8888]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

trying to get the Swedish authorities to send vaccines to Swedish people abroad.

To live in a "tropical paradise" is considered a luxery, no matter what budget you're on, complaining about taxes is only ridiculous. In fact, it would be a political suicide for the Swedish leftie government to send vaccine to those fat cats. To cut it short, forget it! 

[Mickeymaus]

"“We are paying full tax in Sweden, but we still don’t have any rights,” Sven says. "

 

Perhaps he didn't realise yet that he lives in Thailand and not in Sweden. 

[AgentSmith]

3 hours ago, Scrotobike said:

Wonderful for you - so tell me how to get a vax in Sisakate oh masterful all knowledgeable one. I have signed up for everything including buying Moderna....

 

Dumb and dumber....

Are you above or below 60? More importantly: do you really want to know or just emphasize your lack of knowledge on the topic?

[JoePai]

7 hours ago, AgentSmith said:

Are you above or below 60? More importantly: do you really want to know or just emphasize your lack of knowledge on the topic?

Ok, so please explain to him how to get his jabs in Sisakate

[Gottfrid]

23 minutes ago, JoePai said:

Ok, so please explain to him how to get his jabs in Sisakate

It´s a little bit hard to do. There is no city called Sisakate in Thailand. We do have a Sisaket, though, and if a person lives there one should know the name of ones home city.

 

Besides that, it is not as easy as @AgentSmithis posting. A person that lives in Bangkok will have no problem to get jabs. However, some cities out in the country not even got their vaccine stations set up yet.

Edited August 7, 2021 by Gottfrid

[Gottfrid]

Dear Sven, it´s not harder for Swedish people than it is for any other nationality to get jabbed in Thailand. That´s why they all call us farangs.

[Scrotobike]

19 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

It´s a little bit hard to do. There is no city called Sisakate in Thailand. We do have a Sisaket, though, and if a person lives there one should know the name of ones home city.

 

Besides that, it is not as easy as @AgentSmithis posting. A person that lives in Bangkok will have no problem to get jabs. However, some cities out in the country not even got their vaccine stations set up yet.

Oops sorry about the spelling - but it is a Thai word etc - I normally get it right (wright, rite) - good job the spelling police is here. 

[zoltannyc]

Every country prioritized the vaccination  of their own citizens, I'm glad that the Thai government opened up vaccination for foreign citizens very early. (at least in Bangkok)

Foreigners in Sweden had hard time too  "Sweden’s foreign residents report confusion over booking Covid-19 vaccine without a personnummer" in many other European countries one could get vaccinated only with National Health Insurance Card or ID card.  These restriction were lifted only after sufficient amount of people were vaccinated and only then non-insured of foreign citizens got vaccinated.

The Thai government doesn't treat farangs (Caucasian looking foreigners) in any  other way then other foreigners all communications is for ชาวต่างชาติ (chao dtang chat) foreigners and not for a specific group of foreigners. 

[SmartyMarty]

They are free to go wherever they want (or can) to try and get a shot. But moaning about it is another matter. Too many foreign whiners in LOS.

[Myran]

"We are paying full tax in Sweden, but we still don’t have any rights,"

 

Of course you do. You have the same rights as any other Swedish person paying full tax in Sweden: to get your vaccination in Sweden. What you're asking for is special treatment due to your personal choices.

[AgentSmith]

5 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

It´s a little bit hard to do. There is no city called Sisakate in Thailand. We do have a Sisaket, though, and if a person lives there one should know the name of ones home city.

 

Besides that, it is not as easy as @AgentSmithis posting. A person that lives in Bangkok will have no problem to get jabs. However, some cities out in the country not even got their vaccine stations set up yet.

Correct but that is all besides the point. If one deems a jab or two necessary then one should look further than their own provincial faraway corner of the country. We are talking about people here who are flying back to their country of origin just to get vaccinated. That is an overreaction of galactic scale. If you can find your way to the airport you can also find your way to a hospital that provides vaccination.

 

I already gave the link in my previous post. If you open it it says "click" behind several hospital names. You fill in your details, wait for the appointment and find your way over there. If you're stuck in Isaan or whatever remote corner I get that this seems like an insurmountable task. In reality it's not and it's way cheaper than flying 'home'.

 

I don't live in Bangkok but helped a bunch of people over 60 to get their jabs. Some got registered in a local program, others I registered at Phiyathai 2 hospital and more recently Medpark. They're on the list for Pfizer. And as mentioned before I got my own first jab at Vimut. Chamber of commerce organizations of several countries organize this for a whole list of nationalities. All ages are eligible. And no need to be a member (I'm not a member and got the jab). All it took was to register. And let me tell you it was very busy in that hospital that day!

 

You'd think that if the need is high people would find their way to a solution but apparently that's not the case. That is fine but it just makes me wonder why people are so reluctant to find out their options. I just don't understand the psychology behind it.

[PETERTHEEATER]

18 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

If true, he does have a point. 

Does he want 'rights' or does he want vaccine?

[Bluespunk]

1 minute ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Does he want 'rights' or does he want vaccine?

If I meet him or stumble into his contact details I’ll ask him and get back to you…

[khunPer]

I don't buy that kind of rant...????

 

Only about 41,000 foreigners had signed up for the Pfizer-vaccine donated by USA, where 150,000 dozes are set aside for 75,000 foreigners, two jabs each. The news yesterday called for more foreigners to book a vaccination, beginning from August 11th. However also the Swedish AstraZeneca-vaccine is widely available to persons over 60, and to vulnerable people - Swedish "home country" vaccine...????

 

The Swedes came here of their own free will, knowing very well, just like us neighboring Danes - and probably a number of other nationalities - that when moving out from your home country, and outside the European Union, you loose a lot of rights, but you still pay tax of money earned in your home country. These earnings can including pension, which can both be government support, and private savings, the latter had tax-relief during the saving-period, i.e. you are going to pay the income tax later, so fair enough that Swedes, and Danes, and others, still pays tax at home, even we might not have same right as residents in the country, because we are not residents there anymore...????

[Nsp64]

6 hours ago, SmartyMarty said:

They are free to go wherever they want (or can) to try and get a shot. But moaning about it is another matter. Too many foreign whiners in LOS.

Do you not see the irony in your post ?

Whining about the whiners.

[Bosse137]

23 hours ago, SpaceKadet said:

Interesting.. to be tax resident in Sweden, he is either:

 

A. Staying less that 180 days per year in Thailand

or

B. Lying to the Swedish tax authorities, telling them that he is staying more than 180 days a year in Sweden

 

In case of B let him go back and get his jabs in Sweden.

I don´t know where you got your information,but I can tell you,that you are totally wrong!  I gave the swedish authorities my adress in Thailand,where I stay all the time,decades ago,and I have to declare my little pension every year,AND pay full tax on it. My opinion on that,if I have one,I keep to myself. Another thing; Is it possible to travell to (and back from) Sweden,just like that ??? Just curious....

[SmartyMarty]

3 hours ago, Nsp64 said:

Do you not see the irony in your post ?

Whining about the whiners.

Commenting, not whining. Do you even know the difference? Thought not.

[Dogmatix]

On 8/6/2021 at 8:23 PM, SpaceKadet said:

Interesting.. to be tax resident in Sweden, he is either:

 

A. Staying less that 180 days per year in Thailand

or

B. Lying to the Swedish tax authorities, telling them that he is staying more than 180 days a year in Sweden

 

In case of B let him go back and get his jabs in Sweden.

Yes, but, even if he spends the full year in Thailand, he still has to pay full Swedish tax on his income arising in Sweden.  So, if he has a Swedish pension, rent from property, dividends or interest from brokerage or bank accounts in Sweden, he pays full Swedish tax on them. Same in the UK and other European countries.  The only income exempt from Swedish tax would be any income he may have from investments outside Sweden and he may not have any at all.

[SpaceKadet]

15 hours ago, Bosse137 said:

I don´t know where you got your information,but I can tell you,that you are totally wrong!  I gave the swedish authorities my adress in Thailand,where I stay all the time,decades ago,and I have to declare my little pension every year,AND pay full tax on it. My opinion on that,if I have one,I keep to myself. Another thing; Is it possible to travell to (and back from) Sweden,just like that ??? Just curious....

All I can say is that you should read on the tax authorities website what it actually says about tax residency. 

Also, Sweden and Thailand has a tax agreement, so if you're tax resident in Thailand (i.e. spend more that 180 days a year) you can tell Swedish tax authorities that you want to be taxed in Thailand, and Thailand doesn't seem to bother to tax foreign pensions. If you prefer to pay full tax in Sweden for nothing in return, instead of maybe max 10% in Thailand, it's your prerogative. There is plenty of information on taxes on Pension authorities and tax authorities website. I assume you can still read Swedish.

[SpaceKadet]

14 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

Yes, but, even if he spends the full year in Thailand, he still has to pay full Swedish tax on his income arising in Sweden.  So, if he has a Swedish pension, rent from property, dividends or interest from brokerage or bank accounts in Sweden, he pays full Swedish tax on them. Same in the UK and other European countries.  The only income exempt from Swedish tax would be any income he may have from investments outside Sweden and he may not have any at all.

I think you should educate yourself.

References here: https://www.pensionsmyndigheten.se/

And here: https://www.skatteverket.se/

 

Also see my reply to Bosse137 above.

[JJ Madcow]

On 8/6/2021 at 8:23 PM, SpaceKadet said:

Interesting.. to be tax resident in Sweden, he is either:

 

A. Staying less that 180 days per year in Thailand

or

B. Lying to the Swedish tax authorities, telling them that he is staying more than 180 days a year in Sweden

 

In case of B let him go back and get his jabs in Sweden.

Dont know about Sweden.

But i am from Denmark and Denmark know i live in Thailand, +10 years now. Everything by the book for me.
And i pay 37% Tax of my Danish pension, That dont change simple by moving from Denmark.
If i wanted to return to Denmark (holiday), I need to pay for any medical treatment as i not living in Denmark / EU any more.
Even so i still pay Tax in Denmark.

Kindly.

Edited August 8, 2021 by JJ Madcow

[SpaceKadet]

3 hours ago, JJ Madcow said:

Dont know about Sweden.

But i am from Denmark and Denmark know i live in Thailand, +10 years now. Everything by the book for me.
And i pay 37% Tax of my Danish pension, That dont change simple by moving from Denmark.
If i wanted to return to Denmark (holiday), I need to pay for any medical treatment as i not living in Denmark / EU any more.
Even so i still pay Tax in Denmark.

Kindly.

I think Denmark has a tax agreement with Thailand too. That means you could pay as little as 10% or probably 0 if you apply that. This is not something that happens automatically, and you'd have to fight with your tax authorities.

 

In Sweden you would pay 25% in tax on pension if living abroad, or try and fight to get the Thai taxation applied. This would mean sending all the pension to Thailand, and , of course tax authorities don't like it so one would have to fight them....

You would think that Swedish pensioners would know that, but if they prefer to pay full tax in Sweden for nothing, I would say, let them!

 

I have been an expat since 1983 and haven't paid any taxes since then.... now they make me pay <50SEK on my meager pension. But, 600SEK a year is not worth the battle with tax authorities.

 

The worst part is, like you say, that you lose the medical benefits, despite paying the full tax. That's what the tax money is supposed to go to. Great governments we have in Scandinavia. Stealing from those who have the least....

 

At this time I'm seriously considering getting an address in Sweden, lie to the Tax authorities, just to get the medical benefits, and being able to renew my Swedish driving license. Don't really care if they tax my pension to 30%.

[jazzdog32095]

I don't understand the problem. My first application made June 30th and I just received this email confirmation. Key is not waiting to long to apply. I also suspect that being a USA citizen may have helped, we donated Pfizer into the country. Not sure of that though, gut feeling it may have been a condition of the donation. I had several return emails from two US Senators implying as much.

 

'' 

Dear Mr. XXXXXXXXXXXX,

 

Greetings from MedPark Hospital!

 

Regarding your inquiry, you can come to have the vaccine injection on 13^th August 2021 during 13.30 – 14.00 hrs.

You are unable to make any changes of your appointment. If you do not show-up on your appointment, it will be automatically cancelled.

Please present the email along with your original passport upon arrival.

However, if you don’t have the original passport available, please bring the copy one and the documents you’ve mentioned along.

 

Due to the latest policy announcement by the ministry of foreign affairs to only provide Pfizer for those 60 years old and above, those with underlying disease(s), and those who are over 12 weeks pregnant.

As per your age, you will be one of the above criteria to get Pfizer, please inform the staff when you come and get the vaccine.

 

If you drive your own car, you can park your car at The ParQ (next to the hospital) for 3 hours with free of charge. You can then walk to the hospital by using the connection and you will see the Gate No. 4. Please contact Gate No. 4 for vaccination.

Here is the map of our hospital for your reference: https://goo.gl/maps/ut1EeDraKdSNVD4W6

 

Note: If you need the proof of vaccine, please inform the staff upon arrival and please ask for the appointment date/time of the 2^nd dose before leaving the hospital.

 

Best regards,

Patient Access Officer