Of course I'm serious, and quit calling me Shirley.

CORONAVIRUS THAILAND
The death toll from Covid-19 in Thailand passed 30,000 on Tuesday - 30,022 since the first recorded death of a Thai tourist driver in late February of 2020.
 "It was a case of local transmission, and the victim was at risk because he had exposure to Chinese tourists," said the then-director-general of the Department of Disease Control.
 Thailand ordered the cancellation of all tourist flights into the country on March 19, 2020.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1869104/

ProTip
You will never be wrong if you assume the China-owned WHO is lying and incompetent, and go the other way.
WHO says it's ‘not concerned' about monkeypox outbreak turning into pandemic.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2022/05/30/Switzerland-WHO-monkeypox-pandemic/8591653927162/

The regime is changing its methodology for reporting new cases and deaths by Covid-19, for the sole purpose of making them seem smaller.
In any case, here the preliminary numbers for the entire 24-hour period of Tuesday.
Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022: 2,227,022.
Some 4,428 people were given their first Covid-19 shot on Tuesday.
Thailand is the 24th most-infected in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 85.73 million, followed by India with 43.16 million, Brazil with 30.98 million, France with 29.48 million and Germany with 26.31 million.

Drinking is (partly) legal again
 You can go out for a beer, or several, today, or a scotch-nam, and drink until midnight. Not everywhere, but in selected parts of 31 (out of 77) provinces of Thailand. And parts of Bangkok.
Now... In Bangkok:
The new guidelines (effective today) stipulate that only venues certified with the Thai Stop Covid  2  Plus  certification  by  the Public Health Ministry and granted permission from local district offices will be permitted to resume operation under a Covid free-setting.
Bring your vaxxport, or just turn around and to back home.
Drinkers and friends must have received a booster shot and strictly comply with universal prevention measures.

Related

The folks who run the Pepsi sales, Suntory Pepsico Beverages (Thailand), were dreaming that on June 1, which is today, they were going to raise the price of Pepsi and make a lot more money.
But Thailand's Department of Internal Trade, aka DIT, said "Nah".
So if you go out to buy some Pepsi today, it should be the same price as yesterday.
True Story: The director of DIT said that if Pepsi sellers raised the price by even 10 satang, they would have to go to prison for 7 years and pay a fine of 140,000 baht.
https://www.dailynews.co.th/news/1099704/

Thailand drops in global security/safety index
It's all about safety and security
NOTE: The author of this article is Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, currently president of the Thai Hotels Association.
Marisa is the former up-and-coming power hitter-infielder of the pennant-winning Transpo Bears of the Bangkok T-Ball League, managed by Alan Dawson.
She writes:
 Persistent problems with safety and security have plagued the country's reputation for years. The 'government' should take this issue more seriously to avoid repeating unpleasant outcomes, as seen in this report of the Travel and Tourism Development Index.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2318802/thailand-drops-down-global-tourism-index

PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
As expected, Day Two of Thailand's budget debate heated up.
The official opposition said the Prayut 'government' is holding the country to ransom, while Prayut defended his demand for a record three trillion-with-a-"T" baht, claiming that Thailand still enjoys financial and foreign reserve strengths.
The junta's planned deficit is 5 billion baht, or 0.71% lower than in fiscal 2022.

Prayut:
The 3.18-trillion-baht budget is intended to steer the economy and achieve tangible results, in line with a prediction that the economy will grow 3.2-to-4.2% this year
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/2318322/

THAILAND TOURISM
The official junta story is that Thailand now is "fully reopened" for tourists, as of today.
Here is the "new" drill for those who fly to Thailand:
 Thai travellers do not have to register for Thailand Pass, but foreigners will still be required to register. However, the process will require fewer documents.
 All arrivals will be screened strictly by measuring temperatures, screening symptoms, checking documents and ATK tests for passengers who are not fully vaccinated, do not provide test results or fail the screening.
 Failure to pass the screening means Off To Isolation aka quarantine.
 The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has issued a special Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) on the country's latest entry policy, reflecting the cancellation of the Thailand Pass system for returning Thai nationals.

'Body in a Suitcase' murder - solved and done
 The Limey who killed and cut up a Thai woman, put her in a bag and threw it in the river will spend the next eight years in prison.
 The grisly crime began in November of 2014. On his second day as a tourist in Thailand, Shane Kenneth Looker, 52, met sex-worker Pook - full name Laxami Manochat, of Kalasin province, and they repaired to his Kanchanaburi province hotel room.
 For reasons unstated, Looker killed her, cut her body into pieces, put the body pieces and rocks into a red suitcase, and tossed it all into the Kwae River.
 Judges gave him 16 years but halved the sentence because of his 'helpful confession.'
 Exact sentencing statement:
The defendant is found guilty of charges and sentenced to 16 years in jail but due to his confession, the court reduced his sentence by half to eight years without suspended jail term.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2318810/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10870803/British-man-52-confesses-killing-Thai-sex-worker-31-stuffing-body-suitcase.html

But Wait! There's more
Thai police believe they have evidence linking Looker to other murders (plural). They have another eight years to investigate.

Sort of Related
A Taiwan court sentenced a sick pervert to death for strangling and killing a 24-year-old Malaysian student because ... true story ... because she wouldn't let the sicko rape her.
 He even took a rope to the crime scene - just in case she said 'No', which she did.
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4477429

Hanoi revives never-ending proposal for nuclear power development
 Vietnam has considered establishing nuclear power generation since 1995, and firm proposals surfaced in 2006.
 Both Russia and Japan have pledged help, including construction loans.
 "Developing nuclear power is an ongoing inevitable trend in the world," Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien told the National Assembly on Monday, according to a statement posted on the government's website.
https://bityl.co/CSBQ

CHINA TAIWAN
Producers put the Taiwan flag back on the flight jacket of Top Gun:Maverick Hollywood fighter pilot Tom Cruise.
When moviegoers in Taipei saw it, they went nuts. (The pretend-storyline of 'Top Gun' is that Maverick/Tom Cruise's daddy served in Taiwan, twice, in the 1960s, a historically correct claim.)
[Insert mandatory 'China is Angry' tidbit here.]

Meanwhile, in the real world:
Scramble Scramble Scramble!
[AFP] China made the second largest incursion into Taiwan's air defence zone (ADIZ) this year with Taipei reporting 30 jets entering the area, including more than 20 fighters.
PHOTO: A Chinese 'People's Liberation' bomber (above) and Taiwan air force fighter-interceptors meet over the Taiwan Strait. (Photo courtesy Taiwan air force)
https://tinyurl.com/467zr4wm

Snide of the Week
After Porsche driver and Malignan's bedmate Paul smashed his car and got arrested for DUI:
Given that Nancy Pelosi, a reported non-drinker, is being barred from taking communion in Catholic churches in San Francisco, her husband was scouting out parishes in peripheral locations where Nancy can go through the communion line several times to get her drink on.
CNN report includes several facts:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/29/politics/paul-pelosi-arrested-dui/index.html

Bengali security analysis Parvej Siddique:
World mustn't forget Rohingya refugees
Bangladesh, which relies significantly on external debt to finance its budget deficit, will be unable to afford such massive spending.
PHOTO: Not to be punny, Parvej, but that boat has already sailed. 'The Lady' who caused it all is locked up in Yangon, probably for the rest of her life.


WEEKEND READ
When U.S. SEALs raided and double-tapped Osama bin Laden, they also seized hundreds of thousands of pages and documents of the al-Qaeda founder and HTICC. Attempts to gather and examine and read about this treasure trove are paltry - and constantly stonewalled and interfered by the C.I.A. and other enemies of free speech.
Author Nelly Ahoud has done the first attempt. This review calls her book imperfect, but this review of her The Bin Laden Papers: How the Abbottabad Rad Revealed the Truth about Al-Qaeda, Its Leader and His Family is a pretty decent effort.
https://tinyurl.com/2b7a5wbr