PDP11

I used to have skin cancer screening done at a major university hospital in the USA. I’ve had both basal cell carcinoma and “pre” melanoma. I now need to get this done in Bangkok every six months. Can anyone recommend a good doctor / facility in the area that does this, along with removal and analysis of suspicious moles? I assume Bumrungrad is the default choice but perhaps there are specialists I’m not aware of?

whaleboneman is correct. I fly very frequently through Vancouver. Coming from the US, your baggage checks through. You follow US to Int’l connection signage and scan your passport to get into the International departures area. No additional security either. On return to the US, you follow transit signs and clear USA customs / immigration in Vancouver (and clear security again due to TSA rules). Again, bags check through. If you connect to a domestic Canadian flight, you go through a different transit hall with dedicated Canada immigration / customs separate from the main immigration / customs. MUCH faster. As for security, you bypass it depending on your origination point. Come from the US / UK / EU and you skip it. No idea on Thailand but I would guess Canada doesn’t consider Thailand “high security”. This is all determined by scanning the origination boarding pass. All this said, I live near Vancouver and won’t use this flight on my Thailand trips. I’ve had bad luck with AC on delays / cancellations, this flight (if you originate in Vancouver) carries a hefty price premium, and finally departure is near midnight with an early morning arrival in BKK. OK if you have a home to go to but a PITA if you’re going to a hotel as you can’t check in for many hours. Give me JAL through Narita: reliable, great service, cost effective, and good departure / arrival times. Of course, if you fly to Vancouver from a North American city that doesn’t itself have nonstops to other Asian cities, this makes the trip one connection vs. two.

The long time covers them if there are delays. That’s not unique to Thailand. Last time I did the COE in June, it was processed in under 24 hours at the Vancouver, Canada consulate. Returning on an approved extension of stay by reason of marriage.

BR and JL are both outstanding in business class. Among the best in the world. At a high level, you can’t go wrong. Take the cheapest. Like some others, I prefer to transit Japan vs. Taipei. I find Taipei transit a little more burdensome with longer transit queues. Hard to beat Japanese efficiency (although my last couple of transits through Narita on JL were horrible due to everyone being funneled to a single understaffed transit point). Also, keep in mind that Tokyo has two airports and JL’s lowest business class flight may involve having to connect between the airports which is a *major* pain. From a COVID perspective, you are currently (and I want to stress the “currently” part) allowed to transit Japan (as long as you’re not changing airports) and you’re not allowed to transit Taipei (unless one is Taiwanese). For the inflight experience, you won’t be disappointed with the service on either. BR will likely use the 777-300ER for SFO and JL the 777-300ER or the 787-8/9. The BR cabin is setup 1-2-1 seating which is best-in-class for business. On the JL flights (except some of the latest 787-9) the pods are 2-2-2. They are offset so it doesn’t seem that crowded but definitely not as good as BR. However, if you’re traveling with two people the JL config may be better. For earning miles, remember BR is Star Alliance and JL is One World if that matters to your earnings / status.

When I lived in Colorado, I was a member of the Colorado Mountain Club. You are constantly “educated” on the need for the 10 essentials (Google it) when out hiking / trekking. No exceptions. The essentials include a workable means of navigation and extra clothes / food / water. This guy is very lucky … I hope he invests in a small backpack (rucksack for the Brits) and some sturdy footwear for the next time. And he needs to learn how to use a simple compass (not the one in your phone). As others have mentioned here, GPS can be very unreliable in remote areas due to scattering from trees, rock walls, terrain, etc. And if the jungle is dense, you won’t get a GPS signal at all. Finally, active use of GPS will run your battery down quickly. I can’t tell you how many rescues I’ve been involved with where the hiker had just their phone and thought they would be fine. Then they discovered no cell signal, followed by misleading GPS, and finally a dead battery. All within a few hours.

Another example where TAT cannot do a sanity check on a number. 500K Russians arriving between now and end of 2021 is just over 4,100 arriving per day. Aeroflot’s largest aircraft (777-300ER) holds just over 400 passengers if booked full in every class. So … just over 10 packed full widebody flights from Russia per day? The entire sandbox operation is not even seeing close to that number (and those that do land are far from full). Even if TAT meant over the next year, they are still assuming more full widebody arrivals per day at HKT from Russia than it has ever seen.

Like where? We’ve visited several of the clinics and hospitals on the BMA list and they all tell us you need to be registered. I am aware of the Bang Sue walk-in but that ended end of July. (and that was supposed to be 60+ or 7 factors only but the queue photos show that was completely ignored.) You will be my family’s hero if you can give me an address. But I still think there’s a disconnect when BMA tells us ~6M people in BKK alone have received first jabs and yet none of the registration channels have opened (at least for under 60).

What I’m trying to figure out is how close to 1M per day are being vaccinated and yet there is no official channel for a Thai citizen to actually get on the vaccine list. In Bangkok, there are two official channels. The first is Mor Prom and the second (the official site designated by the BMA) is Thai Ruam Jai Project. Mor Prom has been shut down for several months and the BMA application hasn’t even been opened for people under 60 without the 7 conditions (and, is also now closed for those 60+ or with the 7 conditions). Yet, a day or two ago BMA proudly announced that almost 90% of Bangkok has had at least one jab. Can someone educate me on this disconnect?