Royal Thai Air Force to Biden: Forget we even asked for F-35s.
Hello Earth and all residents of all adjacent planets.
There are just nine (9) days until the beginning of Ramadan, throughout Thailand.
It is or soon will be the second day of March, Year 2024, and this is the Bulldog Fishwrap.
The prequel ended well, and
Seven countries took part in the opening of the 'real' Cobra Gold 2024 at the the Royal Thai Naval Airbase, Rayong province, about 130 kilometres south and east of Bangkok.
In addition to Royal Thai Armed Forces commander General Songwit Noonpakdee, the ambassadors to Thailand of the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and Malaysia attended.
Among other war games, there will be an amphibious landing next week, during the FTX Field Training Exercise (FTX) by Thai and U.S. special forces units.
Khao Sod (Fresh News) https://t.ly/du2fY
OPINION EDITORIAL
Thai Enquirer: https://shorturl.at/hovHR
Dear Khun Prime Minister Srettha, It's time to declare a national health emergency because of smog
Below: Chiang Mai city, lunch time yesterday.
This morning's headline, Bangkok.
Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) removes F-35s from Wish List.
U.S.-made F-16 Fighting Falcons are at the top of the new list.
RTAF White Paper also predicts purchases from Russia and China.
GOOD NEWS The kind that the government wishes were all that you read.
THAILAND TOURISM CHINA
NOTE that long-predicted and hoped-for 'return' of tens of millions of Chinese tourists celebrating the faux fini of the Chinese coronavirus hasn't happened, for reasons the former dictators and the current tourist industry could discover and try to fix -- but refuse to see.
 So the Thai media are currently 'encouraged' to print material like this (Note the influx of Chinese is still predicted and "expected").
 Thailand's tourism upturn should get a boost from China's launch of measures to boost its economy, with more Chinese travellers expected to arrive in Thailand to drive the Thai economy to growth of at least 3% this year.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2748931/
Reports of his death are somewhat exaggerated
Longtime Fido, BBS and Internet satirist David Burge reported (factually) from his Austin, Texas, home yesterday that online "reporting" of his death in 2021
is at least as accurate as Wikipedia and the artificial intelligence (AI) site Google Gemini.
THAILAND WEED MARIJUANA BAN
The Minister of Public Health claims that the country will have an enforceable law banning all recreational use of the drug, by New Year's Eve.
The Marijuana-As-A-Gateway-Drug Trope, Revived
 The misuse of cannabis has a negative impact on Thai children. In the long run, it could lead to other drugs.
Reuters: https://shorturl.at/dxAQ4
(Above) Believe It Or Else: Bangkok now has more marijuana shops than bars.
Report: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65345274
ASEAN CHINA PHILIPPINES SOUTH_CHINA_SEA AUSTRALIA
Marcos doubles down on hard-line policy towards China. https://t.ly/j8ni1
The Philippines leader, on an official visit to Australia, said his country 'will not yield even one square inch of South China Sea maritime territory to China.
 In a strongly worded address to the Australian Parliament, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed to resist any effort by 'a foreign power' (English translation: China) to infringe upon the Philippines’ sovereignty.
 The waterway is a "critical global artery that is crucial to the preservation of regional and global peace," said Marcos, in an assertive address to a special joint sitting of the two Australian chambers.
ASEAN THAILAND MYANMAR POLITICS ANALYSIS
Chulalongkorn University Prof. Thitinan Pongsudhirak focuses intently on Myanmar/Burma.
 The 'non-state' state awaiting its demise.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has become a de facto state that is dominated by non-state entities. Contrary to facile claims, Myanmar is not a failed state like some that beset parts of Africa and the Middle East...
Three years after the putsch and the ensuing civil war, it is clear that the junta under the State Administration Council is losing its grip on power.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2751048/
The Irrawaddy adds
 Myanmar-Thai border trade plummets again as fighting, restrictions take toll.
 Photo: Thai 10-wheel cargo trucks queue to cross the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge No. 2 in Mae Sot, Tak province.
https://shorturl.at/cpqsR
Related: Hard No! Are there other questions?
 Will Thailand's proposed "aid corridor" out of Myanmar make a difference?
https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/thai/will-thailand-myanmar-aid-corridor-make-difference-02282024210908.html
TECHNOLOGY GOOGLE NATE SILVER
 Google abandoned "don't be evil" -- and Gemini is the result.
 Don't believe Google's excuses. The political bias isn't a glitch. It was built in.
 It's increasingly apparent that Gemini is among the more disastrous product rollouts in the history of Silicon Valley and maybe even the recent history of corporate America,
Hey Gemini, Generate an image of a 1943 German Soldier.
TAIWAN CHINA TECHNOLOGY
It takes three (3) experts to analyse why and
How the United States' CHIPS Act hurts Taiwan
For a start,
Today's semiconductor industry is dominated by specialised companies located around the world. TSMC in Taiwan focuses only on contract manufacturing, primarily of high-end chips, whereas other equally mportant parts of the semiconductor ecosystem include U.S. companies such as AMD, Nvidia, and Qualcomm (which only design chips), the lithography specialist ASML in the Netherlands, Japan's Tokyo Electron (which makes chip-manufacturing equipment), and Britain's Arm (which produces software used to design chips).
 The cost of specialisation is that the industry is vulnerable to supply shocks -- including but not limited to Taiwan.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2751088/
THAILAND OPINION EDUCATION SKILLS
Thailand has so many challenges and problems concerning politics, corruption and the environment. Yet the toughest and the most challenging structural problem that can make or break the country.
 Worst is the workforce's severe skill crisis.
 To tackle this, changes across the spectrum must be made, especially at the leadership level of two key government ministries.
Bangkok Post Editorial: https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2748359/
TRUE (Real Clear Politics)
ARL CANNON: Cause of Journalism's Woes?
 Tech Changes, Yes, But Partisanship Too. Mainstream journalists have not only become shills for the progressive agenda, but they've also abandoned the First Amendment in their efforts to censor other journalists.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/02/29/cause_of_journalisms_woes_tech_changes_yes_but_partisanship_too_150569.html
Read Carefully but read the whole thing,
BIG MEDICINE: I Pretended To Be 'Nonbinary' To Expose a Medical Scandal at Kaiser Permanente.
I was prepared for failure. I wasn’t prepared for how easy success would be.
Also TRUE: TIME MAG
 Red China Isn't 'Back' Under Xi Jinping. It Never Went Away.
https://time.com/6758445/red-china-xi-jinping/
Bowdler is Alive! And, well...
The movie Mary Poppins (1964) is racist. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, the official motion pictures censors) says so.
They just noticed that an infirm old fellow in the movie uses the word 'hottentot' and thus the entire movie must be re-censored.
It's For The Children.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/02/27/its-official-even-mary-poppins-is-racist-now/
