No more quarantine for tourists to Thailand
Thailand's junta insists numbers of Covid victims are falling.
HELLO WORLD and ships at sea, it's Saturday, May 21 in beautiful downtown Bang Bon, and we expect a tonne of rain as we prepare for tomorrow's election of the Bangkok governor.
Here are the official statistics for Friday, May 20.
One of the newly documented cases brought the infection into Thailand from abroad.
THAILAND ECONOMY TOURISM
The Department of We've Been Here Before reports...
Thailand seeking 'source markets'
Tourist operators, hotel owners and even the junta's bedraggled and beaten-down Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Intelligence Centre accept the hard fact.
Chinese tourists aren't coming back, not for a while.
The Russians are gone, with no end to their war.
So Thailand is looking to attract more tourists from the UK, India and Germany.
Here are the Top Five nationalities of arrivals in Thailand for tourism so far this year:
U.K. (84,600)
India (81,205)
Germany (70,304)
U.S.A (60,140)
Russia (59,210 but dried up)
PHOTO: Tourists (well, one foreign tourist) and locals shop at the Cicada market in Hua Hin a week ago.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2313038/
Hands up, everyone who claims that they knew that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has an intelligence centre.
Related
Thailand's ruling junta will soon "allow" the reopening of pubs, bars, karaoke shops and massage parlours will be allowed to reopen in 31 provinces on June 1 - a week and a couple of days from now.
But the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has managed to make it confusing.
Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, official CCSA spokesperson, said on Friday that all you need to know, for now, is:
If you show your vaxxport and manage to enter a pub or bar, you must wear that face mask and
All patrons of all massage parlours must be masked, always
Good, departing quote from the good doctor:
At massage parlours where people touch physically, they must wear face masks
But what about the showers?
PHOTO: Coming soon, to a province near you.
NOTE CAREFULLY
As always, for elections
There will be no sales of alcohol or alcoholic beverages from
6 p.m. today until 6 p.m. tomorrow
in Bangkok and in Pattaya.
The regime issued a paltry statement urging all Bangkok residents to vote.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2313322/
Tourists and Thais segregated
As of Wednesday, June 1 and
Regardless of vaccination status or non-status
Thai citizens who fly, sail or walk into Thailand will not require a Thailand Pass.
Foreigners, all of them, no exceptions, will require a Thailand Pass.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2313330/
Out of all that confusion, the major point for all foreigners who intend to visit Thailand:
No more overnight quarantine for new arrivals, no 'proof of vaccination' required.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2313330/
And as one online newspaper headlined:
Thai citizens no longer required to register for Thailand Pass beginning in June
https://www.thaienquirer.com/40309/thai-citizens-no-longer-required-to-register-for-thailand-pass-beginning-in-june/
All Canada Day celebrations declared safe, at least in Thailand.
Thailand's immensely wealthy coup loyalist and 'minister of public health' has walked back his fantabulous story of the evolution of coronaviru - all the way.
Anutin Charnvirakul, who has promoted the unlikely theory of turning the coronavirus pandemic into an epidemic on July 1, now says, "nah, won't happen". In fact Anutin denies he even mentioned the outlandish idea.
'Senior members of the government' (looking at you, Khun Anutin) have been telling the public over the past two months that the government is planning to declare Covid as an endemic disease in July without providing a timeline or specific criteria.
So all party organizers can go ahead safely with their Canada Day festivities.
Full details at
https://www.thaienquirer.com/40295/anutin-backtracks-on-july-1-endemic-goal/
More on the Anutin flip-flop at
Thai citizens no longer required to register for Thailand Pass beginning in June
PHOTO: Anutin Charnvirakul, loyal to the military regime, confused over health rules.
https://www.thaienquirer.com/40295/anutin-backtracks-on-july-1-endemic-goal/
Saturday Morning Joke
It comes courtesy of the King of Typos.
FIRST TEXT MESSAGE:
Hi, Morris . This is your next door neighbor, Saul.
I've been riddled with guilt for a few months and have been trying to get up the courage to tell you face-to-face.
When you're not around, I've been sharing your wife, day and night, probably much more than you.
I haven't been getting it at home recently.
I know that's no excuse. The temptation was just too great. I can't live with the guilt & hope you'll accept my sincere apology and forgive me.
Please suggest a fee for usage and I'll pay you.
- Saul.
Morris, feeling enraged and betrayed, grabbed his gun, went next door, and shot Saul dead.
He returned home, shot his wife, poured himself a stiff drink and sat down on the sofa.
Morris then looked at his phone and discovered a second text message from Saul.
SECOND TEXT MESSAGE:
Hi, Morris. Saul here again. Sorry about the typo on my last text. I assume you figured it out and noticed that the darned Spell-Check changed "wi-fi" to "wife”.
Technology, right? It'll be the death of us all.
U.S.A THAILAND ECONOMY
The United States put Thailand on its 'trade watch list' last year, because of its incessant copyright and trademark violaions and smuggling.
While junta delegations were at last week's "summit" with President Joe Biden, junta delegations spread out secretly to lobby American government departments - especially at the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
Jurin Laksanawisit, the junta's 'minister' of trade and commerce, told the Americans that Thailand intends to join the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), quite soon now.
Another trade list will be released/published by the USTR on April 30.
Last year's report urged Thailand to continue improving enforcement measures and ensure that amendments to its Copyright Act address concerns expressed by the US and other foreign governments and stakeholders.
The bankrupt airline that aimed to be a low-cost, long-distance flyer.
Thai AirAsia X, a Bangkok-based long-haul budget airline, has filed for bankruptcy with the Central Bankruptcy Court.
Hearings will commence on August 22, when creditors can submit their opposition.
Thai AirAsia X is a joint venture of Malaysia carrier AirAsia X and Thai AirAsia airline. It has been grounded for two and a half years, but hopes to resume flights to Seoul and Tokyo by next month.
https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40015728
THAILAND CRIME PROCEDURAL
Police in Pattaya arrested a 35-year-old local man and charged him with beating a Russian language teacher half to death.
The man told police he was really, Really stressed and beating up people helped him to beat the tension.
Police took only a day to track, trace and take the man into custody. Their major clues came from reviewing CCTV videos recorded around the spot where Russian Elena Y, 38, was attacked while jogging.
https://bityl.co/CIEj
Video mashup made by police shows the key parts of the crime solution, with an animation of the actual battery.
Taliban orders on-screen TV presenters to cover their faces
The move comes days after authorities ordered women to cover their faces in public, a return to a policy of the Taliban's past hardline rule and an escalation of restrictions that are causing anger at home and abroad. Read full story
"Yesterday we met with media officials... they accepted our advice very happily," Akif Mahajar, spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Vice and Virtue, told Reuters, adding this move would be received well by Afghans.
"The last date for face covering for TV presenters is May 21," aka today.
PHOTO: All Afdghani women, everywhere
https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40015740
IRAN SPORTS INFLATION
Iran's government TV network has been forced to cut its broadcast of soccer games at halftime, because crowds are chanting anti-regime slogans.
The noisy chants are all about inflation and rising prices, but the Islamic regime can't allow that.
U.S.A. ECONOMY
If you're planning on a holiday in the U.S.A., plan carefully.
And prepare to see a lot of political stickers on the pumps.
Gas (petrol) Prices Hit 'Record Highs Each Day This Week'. All 50 States Average $4 a Gallon - Thai equivalent 35 baht per litre.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/05/gas-prices-hit-record-highs-each-day-this-week-all-50-states-average-4-a-gallon/
TECHNOLOGY
Audit Reveals Half of Biden's Twitter Followers are Fake Accounts.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/05/audit-reveals-half-of-bidens-twitter-followers-are-fake-accounts/
And the other half are in it for the memes?
SUNDAY READS
Long-time analyst, author and forme U.S. Army Colonel Austin Bay addresses
America's next wars
Possible sub-title: Murphy's Law
Can the United States fight even one war with a chance of winning?
Scenario:
What would the impact be on the U.S. Navy's ability to meet its operational requirements in Europe if we had to withhold Navy forces from Europe in order to deter Chinese aggression in the Pacific?
Admiral Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations: The current fleet of about 298 ships "is not sized to handle (those) two simultaneous conflicts."
https://strategypage.com/on_point/2022051885536.aspx
And The Pulitzer Prize Goes To..
...this article. What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind
And well deserved, too. An excellent piece about the impact of 9/11 on the family and fiancée of a man who died in the attack. It's fascinating to see the different way that they reacted, and how they learned to cope with the loss. Lengthy, but worth the read.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/09/twenty-years-gone-911-bobby-mcilvaine/619490/
Why is Canada euthanising the poor?
This issue is just starting to get traction. This article is a good introduction. One possible conclusion is that Canada leads the way in killing the poor.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-is-canada-euthanising-the-poor-
