Entry requirements for Thai cult of the North: Drink pee, eat poop.
Good Tuesday morning to all, and we're the daily calendar is yet again at two digits - Tuesday, May 10.
THAILAND ECONOMY INFLATION
For the rest of this week, including while Prayut is enjoying Washington, the price of diesel fuel will be capped at 32 baht.
After that...kitty bar the door again.
PHOTO: A diesel pickup gulps a tankful at a Bangkok service station.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2307098/
End of the road
After 65 years of providing interprovincial bus services, Suchinda "Jeh Kiew" Cherdchai has put her large fleet of Cherdchai Tour and national bus service up for sale.
 She said the diesel price hike is the last straw in her decision to offload her troubled interprovincial bus business.
PHOTO: Cherdchai kept a low profile among business leaders, but on a whim, had her picture painted on many of her vehicles, and became known as The Lady of the Buses.
 The decision to shut down the company makes several thousand employees unemployed.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2307086/
Bitcoin hits two-year low
And also, the stock markets aren't doing well
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2307122/
CORONAVIRUS THAILAND
The numbers of new Covid cases and deaths are declining, but so slow that it's difficult to notice.
In one day, Monday, the initial figues showed:
Confirmed new cases: 6,488
Deaths: 55
The figures did not include 4,945 positive results from antigen tests over the 24 hours. This would raise the total to 11,433.
Fatalities were aged 19 to 94.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2306990
Beijing goes quiet; CCP, police and army continue crazy Zero-Covid campaigns
Medical workers in protective suits walk near a shopping street in Chaoyang district, amid Covid-19 outbreak in Beijing.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/downtown-beijing-goes-quiet-as-zero-covid-policy-smothers-capital/article65397500.ece
Closely related
 China's April exports slump to lowest in two years as virus bites
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2307062/
And this story in, overnight
Thailand aiming to remove Thailand pass, end all restrictions by end of July
This 'plan' is from Thailand's 'ministry' of public health, so keep bowls of salt handy.
Details
According to a senior source within the Ministry of Public Health, the "government" is planning on removing all remaining restrictions including mandatory quarantine and the Thailand pass by the end of July at the latest.
... unless there is a new mutation and outbreak of Covid-19, then all predictions and plans are off.
PHOTO: Every arrival at every airport has a thermal scan, without even knowing about it.
https://www.thaienquirer.com/39962/thailand-aiming-to-remove-thailand-pass-end-all-restrictions-by-end-of-july/
https://tinyurl.com/53ht852r
By total coincidence...
A PLAN!
The man in the photo with his pet plants is the unbelievably wealthy Anutin Charnvirakul, a coup/junta loyalist.
His reward for 8 years has been given titles as deputy prime minister and minister of public health.
And he also wants to be Thailand's prime minister.
He is the leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, whose only election platform was to legalise marijurana faster... faster.
He plans that as of June 9, Thais and residents will be able to grow and consume as much weed as will fit into their residences.
CORONAVIRUS CHINA POLITICS
(The first Chinese mass-media analysis of how the current Covid crisis threatens the President4Life and the Chinese Communist Party and elite establishment.)
BEIJING (Reuters) ... A close ally of President Xi Jinping for decades, Shanghai Communist Party chief Li Qiang has long been seen as destined for the powerful Politburo Standing Committee this year.
 That would track a well-worn path from Shanghai's top spot that many analysts say appears safe despite the city's COVID crisis.
 Xi may be China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, he needs a core of staunch loyalists on the seven-member Standing Committee.
PHOTO: Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang speaks at the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai in mid-2020.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/shanghai-covid-crisis-puts-political-spotlight-key-xi-ally-2022-05-08/
THAILAND CULT DISGUST
NOTE This is a real headline and a real story.
Leader of faeces-eating cult arrested after 11 dead bodies discovered during raid
Thai police raided the compound of a suspected cult leader in Chaiyaphum province on Sunday, discovering at least 11 bodies during the search.
 Local authorities got search and arrest warrants because the group allegedly violated land encroachment laws and broke Covid-19 restriction laws.
 Law enforcement had already been made aware of the group after allegations were shared that the community had been consuming the bodily fluids of its leader.
 After police made their way onto the camp grounds, police then discovered the remains of 11 bodies in coffins.
 The strange group was known in the area to conduct themselves in a religious-like manner, where devotees of the seemingly deranged "father,' 75-year-old Thawee Nanra, would do almost anything for the man.
 Supposedly, he forced his followers to drink his urine, eat his faeces, and consume dirt in order to heal physical illnesses.
 The Thai-language hashtag #พระบิดา (#Father) is trending.
PHOTO: That is the cult leader, taken away by elite police units.
Much Much more than you need to know at the link.
https://tinyurl.com/53ht852r
Live and video coverage of this story went on for hours, into Monday night.
 One early take: The group, with many women, had no obvious political or religious aims.
 You know there will be movies, soap operas and books.
THAILAND POLITICS
Newest Thailand political polls favours Thaksin by 20 times more than the military dictatorship
{My former and longtime journalist colleague has just posted on Twitter:}
Umesh Pandey @Umeshbkk
Interesting polls that have come out: 80% of the people are longing for 'Thaksin style' of management of the country against 4% of incumbent PM Prayut.
(NOTE: It is three separate polls. They haven't yet fully reported their methodology, but the results tally with a lot of general talk and yakkety-yak.)
A lot of this piece, also out of Reuters, is also analysis - and says not-nice things about Xi, the CCP and and their fantastical 'Zero-Covid' nonsense.
  Shanghai authorities were tightening the city-wide lockdown they imposed more than a month ago over fears of a Covid rebound.
{If they are afraid and they have fears that maybe possibly things will get worse, they should be kicked or forced out. You can't countenace that kind of fear.}
https://news.yahoo.com/beijing-covid-outbreak-proves-stubborn-030351111.html
ASEAN U.S.A. CAMBODIA HUMAN RIGHTS
Kavi Chongkittavorn writes:
'Sceptical' ASEAN vis-a-vis 'maverick' US
High anxiety currently prevails as to whether Mr Biden will come to mainland Southeast Asia at all.
SPOILER: The main anxiety today is whether Biden will show up for the U.S.-ASEAN "summit" on Thursday.
PHOTO: President Joko Widodo of Indonesia delivers a speech at the 2021 Asean summit. The U.S.A. has pressured Jakarta to limit or even suspend Russia from attending the G20 summit.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2307374/
Whoa, Nellie, slow down a bit Hoss. Here's the up-to-date background on the Thursday-Friday U.S.A.-ASEAN "summit" in Washington in two quick paras:
 On New Year's Eve of 2003, then U.S. president W Bush awarded Thailand the title of "major non-NATO ally of the United States," because of all the work and cooperation that Thailand performed during (up to then) the GWoT, or Global War on Terror.
 The heads of ASEAN governments currently (as in "right now") on their war to President Biden's "summit" in Washington fear that Biden will do approximately the same thing for all of them (minus Myanmar/Burma). If all and each and every member of ASEAN gets labeled 'a major ally of the United State', then no one is.
 It is actually that simple. No one wants to make Biden account for his sins of the 1970s and 2000s (arguably unfortunate) but ASEAN is looking for something meaningful from the United States, today and looking forward, GWoT be damned.
TAKE NOTE: The upcoming 'summit' is billed as face-to-face, not virtual as in the past.
Major non-NATO ally background, by ABC Australia:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2003-12-31/bush-designates-thailand-as-new-deputy/113092
PHILIPPINES POLITICS
Yep, as expected, it seems Bongbong will be the next president of the Philippines.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61344609
How Cambodia's Human Rights Crackdown Undermines Regional Security
JustSecurity.org at New York University
 Cambodia's recent increases in repression and human rights violations coincide with a strengthening of the country's ties with China.
 With Cambodia currently leading the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the organization's annual summit with the United States approaching on Thursday and Friday, at the White House, now is the time for the U.S. government to take stronger action on Cambodia's crackdown and its not-unrelated courtship of China.
https://bit.ly/387Z2z2
NORTH AMERICA CULTURE
Found at Vulture.com: 10 Great Yakuza Movies to Stream Right Now
1. Pigs & Battleships (1961)
A gritty satire set in American-occupied Tokyo.
The Department of Fool-Me-Once reports
How can Americans be convinced they were conned into believing that lockdowns and mask mandates were "the science?" It won't be easy, because they've been through a two-year-long version of Hell Week, with Anthony Fauci and Democratic governors playing the role of fraternity presidents humiliating the pledges - and once people endure a painful hazing ritual, they're loath to admit it was all pointless.
The rate of excess mortality among young adults...yadda yadda zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
https://www.city-journal.org/after-pandemic-americans-must-never-surrender-core-liberties-again
{Comment: Disproving that should be a walk in the park, not only for scientists but for anyone able to think.
[And already there are calls for a U.S.A. Covid Commission to investigate and set standards. John 35:11}
TECHNOLOGY
First, an extremely unusual submission from NASDAQ. Yes, that NASDAQ.
Recycling of plastic doesn't work, particularly when you don't do it. (Nasdaq)
Hmmmm If you put plastic out for recycling in the US, it most likely gets shipped overseas - because that's cheaper - and dumped in a river rather than processed - because that's cheaper. It's far better for the environment to dispose of it in a regular landfill.
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/u.s.-plastic-recycling-rate-drops-to-close-to-5-report
How to back up your Gmail account. (ZDNet)
1. Install a local email program.
2. Use it.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ultimate-guide-to-gmail-back-up/
VPN installations have spiked by 1500% in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. (Washington Post / MSN)
It's pretty simple, comrade. Russians (like most people) want to know WHAT IS GOING ON!
The Russian government is trying to stamp out use of VPNs but even China can't keep up with that task and Russia is having even less luck, so an increasing number of Russians are able to access accurate and unbiased reporting from sources like the BBC, CNN, and The New York Times.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-millions-of-russians-are-tearing-holes-in-the-digital-iron-curtain/ar-AAWYuIL
 Disclaimer: I said clearly, stop laughing!
PAYWALL PROBLEMS
A qualified, documented (and trusted) Geek who self-identifies as 'iamadamdev' can and will help you.
 He has posted software, entirely free, called Bypass-Paywalls-Chrome. And while the name includes "Chrome", it also works for internet browsers on Firefox and Edge.
 It's extremely easy to install and use, and it works a treat. Instructions, tips and more are at his site, where you can download the software of your choice. When I write 'totally free' I mean that. The author makes no requests for payment, none.
 There is an impressively long list of sites where paywalls can usually be avoided.
 Read the (brief) background and make up your mind:
https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome
ZOMG! Mike Myers has made a new television show series, eh?
Like, you know, completely weird, eh?
But there is a chickalette in the first half hour that's wearing the T-shirt I need, like, ya know?
NORTH AMERICA CULTURE
10 Great Yakuza Movies to Stream Right Now
https://www.vulture.com/article/best-yakuza-movies-streaming-tokyo-vice.html
PANDEMIC GOODWILL
