Thailand's junta may be giving up its Chinese submarine in order to get American F-35s
Another week, another pittance.
All right kids, keep it down to a dull roar, will ya? It's Monday morning June 13 and here we are back at the mine for yet another week.
Trivia du jour: Today is the start of Week 126 since the Lockdown stopped the Covid - Monday, June 13.
Shawn Crispin, Asia Times:
BEST ANALYSIS YET of the current state of China-Thai-U.S.A. relations
 China losing, U.S. gaining crucial ground in Thailand
 Beijing is watching closely the Thai government's next moves after Don's discussions in China. ("Don" is the junta's foreign minister an deputy prime minister, Don Pramudwinai.)
 Thai-China relations are in quiet but certain decline while US reaffirms its strategic and economic commitment to the kingdom.
 ...Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has pressed Don for faster progress on a long-slow-moving train project designed to link Thailand to China via Laos, where Beijing recently finished a high-speed line that without Thai connectivity represents a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) white elephant dead-end in Southeast Asia.
 ... Meanwhile Thailand is poised to cancel its purchase of a submarine from China, in order to use the money for purchase of F-35 stealth fighter aircraft from the U.S.
PHOTO: Prayut is shifting his diplomacy towards the U.S. from China.
https://asiatimes.com/2022/06/china-losing-us-gaining-crucial-ground-in-thailand/
Related
China called the US a "bully." Defense minister Wei Fenghe accused the U.S. of "hijacking" Asian countries over the issue of Taiwanese independence.
PHOTO: China's Defense Minister Wei Fenghe at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/12/asia/us-china-defense-shangri-la-dialogue-intl-hnk-ml/index.html
CORONAVIRUS THAILAND
Here is the result of Covid-19 for Sunday, June 12:
2,474 new cases
20 deaths
22,330 active cases
659 serious cases
4,236 recovered
CORONAVIRUS THAILAND
Thailand's alleged so-called 'health experts' and junta loyalist 'minister of public health' Anutin Charnvirakul, who predicted 8 days ago that serious cases of Covid-19 would reach 10,000 per day by now, went silent on the subject and asked everyone, "Hey, you, want some free marijuana plants?:
https://bityl.co/Cdu2
THAILAND POLITICS PROTEST
Police on Monday vowed to trace, track, arrest and prosecute pro-democracy demonstrators who set fires and blocked roads in northen Bangkok on Saturday.
The 10-hour demonstration focused mainly on demands that the junta's alleged 'prime minister' step down immediaely.
The crowd, on foot and in pickups, went to Prayut's residence in the 1st Infantry Regiment, but were blocked by police.
Prayut had no comment.
If you witnessed any of the demonstration, please phone 191 or 1599 to squeal on the protesters.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/2324608/
THAILAND POLITICS
A former editor of the Bangkok Post has a good Oped on Thailand's new 'minnow political parties'.
New parties riding high on innovations
By Veera Prateepchaikul
... Pheu Thai, for instance, may have strengthened its hold in Bangkok as shown by its achievement in the city councillor election on May 22, when it won 20 out of 50 seats.
But the party still does not have the progressive innovations that will attract the young voters, many of them too young to be familiar with exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whom the party has always tried to market.
Not to mention the (junta-formed) Palang Pracharath and Democrat parties, which appear to be obsolete
THAILAND GENDER BENDING
Male, female, and... you know
The National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll, reported Sunday that Thais are perfectly accepting of a "third gender".
Asked whether people of a third gender are acceptable to them as friends or colleagues in the workplace, 92.82% said "yes" and 7.18% said "no".
Asked whether they would accept a third-gender family member, 90.61% said "yes", 9.31% said "no" and 0.08% had no answer or were uncertain.
About 80% of those surveyed favoured same-sex marriage - which is still quite illegal in Thailand.
However
According to the survey, there is still major resistance towards allowing trans people or the third gender to chance their sex/gender on official ID documents.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2324613/
THAILAND CORONAVIRUS MASKS
In a separate, online survey by the ThaiGer website, abpit half of respondents voted in favour of dropping the national mask mandate.
The alleged 'government' has refused to move on the subject, and kicked it to the CCSA deniability agency.
https://thethaiger.com/news/national/dropping-mask-mandate-nightlife-curfew
THAILAND TOURISM SHAKEDOWN
The latest on the Thailand junta's plan to charge every foreigner a 300-baht entry fee before stepping aside to let them in:
The plan can wait until 2023.
No one has any idea who proposed this shakedown and who still thinks it's a great idea.
Full column at
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2324483/
RUSSIA UKRAINE WAR BIDEN
Contrarian view: Is it plausible?
Biden is "Scared" Ukraine May Win, Analyst Asserts. I mean,
 Writer Tisdall "makes a contrarian but not unconvincing case that a "timid" Biden is helping to consign Ukrainians to "an agonizing war without end" and calls his "too-modest war aims a manifesto for the muddled middle."
https://www.nysun.com/article/biden-is-scared-ukraine-may-win-analyst-asserts
No! Your striped pants are not the uniform of a worldwide Campaign To Halt Civilization. For one thing, you can't even place a U.S. ambassador in Thailand. Which doesn't need his Racial Equity lectures anyhows.
State Department to Announce Global 'Racial Equity' Chief, Leaked Email Shows.
https://amgreatness.com/2022/06/09/state-department-to-announce-global-racial-equity-chief-leaked-email-shows/
Monday Morning Joke (h/t Ace)
GLOBAL WARMING
Well, of course New Zealand. But should we remind New Zealand politicians they're made of meat?
New Zealand Introduces a Climate Change Meat Tax.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/06/09/new-zealand-introduces-a-climate-change-meat-tax/
GLOBAL WARMING
Are we headed for another ice age?
Australia Endures Record Breaking Cold.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/06/09/what-global-warming-australia-endures-record-breaking-cold/
SPACE WAR
NASA had a good run but realistically the run's over.
 NASA audit reveals massive overruns in SLS mobile launch platform.
 'Cost overruns' aren't a bug to NASA workers. They're a feature.
U.S.A. SPORTS (CANADIAN HOCKEY)
The runner-up to the Stanley Cup champions Quebec City Nordique will be Tampa Bay Lightning.
 Tampa Bay won four straight against New York after falling behind 2-0 in the Eastern Conference to win the "privilege" of playing in the Cup final before heading for the golf course.
Sporting News: https://bityl.co/CeYY
SOCCER ASIAN CUP
Thailand thrashed Sri Lanka 2-0 to move ahead in the qualifying round in Tashkent.
The young War Elephants who defeated Maldives 3-0 last Wednesday, next will meet Uzbekistan tomorrow evening.
CHINA GOLDEN TRIANGLE
Terrible headline, well-done and -reasoned analysis.
... Zhao Wei initiated the Golden Triangle economic zone in 2007, having won a 99-year lease covering a vast area of 3,000 hectares from the Lao government to develop casinos, hotels, shopping centres and an airport.
 According to research by Pinkaew Luangaramsri, a lecturer at Chiang Mai University, the Lao government holds Zhao Wei in high regard, while his empire is frequented by high-level Lao officials. Her work is featured in the book, Transforming sovereignty into commodity: Chinese special economic zone and development in Laos, edited by Prof Yot Santasombat.
PHOTO: Where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (Burma) meet.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/2324073/
