blokker

Drove back and forth from Bangkok to Hua Hin this week on the main road (35 / Rama III, and then 4 south).

There was one check-point just after the airport in Hua Hin, but no cars were stopped.

Hua Hin looks a like a ghost town.

 

You can check the latest provincial measures here:

https://www.tatnews.org/2021/01/tat-update-summary-of-provincial-covid-19-control-measures-as-of-6-january-2021/

 

I found this for Krabi:

+ Arrivals from the highly controlled areas are required to register their entry online or report to the local administration and enter a 14-day local quarantine.

 

Not sure though whether the policy is really implemented, and what it looks like on the ground .

Some of my Thai family members take these announcements really serious. But I wonder what the enforcement/implementation looks like at the airport or on the inter-provincial roads.

I have my doubts, but I really don't know.  

 

See this related post about flying to Phuket:

 

I have AIS Fiber in Northern Bangkok, and currently experiencing problems for 5 days in a row with the Fiber connection.

The fiber connection on the router is going on and off all the time, making it impossible to watch internet TV.

 

My experience with AIS so far (about 3 years) has been that I have a connection problem once every 3 months, and then the AIS repair team will come to our house to fix it within 1 or 2 days. Usually it is a problem with the wire from the house not being connected properly to the the electric pole on the street (e.g., unplugged by another fiber team).  AIS service used to be good, although having this issue a few times a year is also not ideal.

 

However, this week I have connection problems for 5 days in a row and no AIS team has showed up to fix it yet.

Perhaps they just don't have the bandwidth and/or too many customers?

I noticed that when calling AIS on 1175, there is no option to talk to an actual person anymore.

There are menus and tapes where they ask you to ""turn on and off" the router, etc. Quite useless.

Fiber problems can only be reported to AIS through a website (!!!) or app.  I now report problems on their Line app.

 

So, given recent experience, I am not recommending AIS anymore. Does anyone have experience with TRUE fiber internet in Bangkok?

I registered our house for TM30 online about 2 weeks ago and then got the login/password after 1 week.

The house is on my wife's name. These documents (scans) were needed for the registration:

1. Id card (of the wife)

2. House registration book, 1st page

 

Note: this was for a house in Bangkok, probably issued by the main immigration office in Chaengwattana.

Later on, I also filed the TM30 form online with some help of Thai HR staff at my work.

 

HR at my work yesterday registered several colleagues' condos and houses for TM 30 online,

and got the passwords within 2 hours. (!) Maybe some guys got their asses kicked and were told to speed it up.

 

That being said, of course I agree with all posters that this is harassment, and completely insane.

Just sharing my experience.

 

Thailand Elite Rice Card: All you can eat rice. Lifetime membership.

That should get the stockpiles down quickly.

Ps: perhaps throw in a free lifetime fitness club membership as well, for those who over-eat

In Thai news media and discussions about politics in LoS, the term "third hand" often shows up. Also sometimes "men in black shirts", who shoot/bomb/launch grenades on behalf of the "third hand". The whole idea seems to be that there may be a third party trying exploit or manipulate some conflict between two rival groups.

I personally find that "third hand" explanation as believable as Santa Claus, or the tooth fairy did it. I can see two parties fighting for power/money, and the "third hand" usually looks like the violent branch of either red or yellow; but because these guys in black use heavy weapons, the main protest movement needs to conveniently distance itself from the shooters, and this is where the "third hand" story nicely fits in. Also, no men in black ever seem to get arrested and convicted, so the local media need a way to cover them while not accusing any side.

Solution: probably Santa Claus (the third hand) may have launched that grenade.

Anyhow, what's the link to the article: the great thing about it is that it uses logic in analyzing the violence in 2010 and 2014, and never brings up the magical third hand explanation.

Marketing plan ... lets try to help out.

Offer a free bag of rice and giant fire cracker for every tourist willing to visit LoS during the protests?

And money back guarantee in case of a military coup. That will do it!

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Why doesn't Chalerm send his youngest son? A police officer, and apparently a sharp shooter.

Then in the meanwhile Chalerm can focus on more serious things,

like trying to deport the indian guy who got on the PDRC stage.

To make thing worse, apparently the majority of rice farmers in Thailand are not poor,

but middle income or even rich (large land owners)!!

Got this info from a TDRI (Thai Development Research Institute) researcher.

And, there's a lot of poor people in Thailand who are not rice farmers.

So, as a scheme to help "the poor" it is utterly stupid. More like a PR-stunt.

The most expensive PR-stunt in the country's history ...

Anyhow, the Democrats apparently have their own version of a rice price guarantee scheme,

so don't count on things to become much better after a coup. Incompetence and corruption run wide and deep in LoS.

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What law did he break? I mean not some announcement from the government but an actual law.

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Thai protestors shut down electricity of a hospital, close down roads for several weeks, police officer gets killed in riots with the mob, protestor storm ministries and government house, protestors prevent election in many places, pro-democracy protestor gets shot, mob beats up a taxi driver, bombs are thrown at the protestors, gunmen shoot at the mob, attempt by protestors to bomb themselves to trigger coup, etc, etc, etc ...

Government and police response to all of this anarchy: well, nothing, basically.

One Thai-Indian guy, a foreigner, gets on a stage and expresses his political opinions:

government takes it very serious and tries to throw him out of the country.

Enjoy your life in the banana republic,

where foreigners rank below monitor lizards in the hierarchy of connections and corruption.

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The government is using off balance sheet financing for the rice scheme, to hide the losses.

They are not even willing to tell tax payers what the losses are exactly.

Supporting poor people is fine; but I recommend just sending them a check in the mail, properly accounted for (as it is tax payers' money). Subsidizing farmers by rigging the whole rice market and trying to hide the losses is just plain stupid.

What are the losses exactly?

Who knows?!

They are the future selling price of the rice, minus the price paid, plus the interest on any bond financing used to bridge the time needed to sell it.

So what is the future selling price of the rice exactly? Not known, nobody has a crystal ball.

And how much will the bond finance cost? A lot more now that Suthep scuppered the bond issue, and drove down the value of the Thai baht, but basically nobody knows for sure, because the bonds haven't yet been issued and can't be till the election is over.

And how long will it take to sell the backlog? Don't know, depends on the weather/world rice supplies & demands.

So it's not possible to calculate an exact loss because the loss isn't known and on the books until the capital item (rice) sells.

So Suthep pulls some exaggerated number from is butt and tells his supporters it, then tells them they're hiding that number from them! Throwing in a few mindless catch phrases to sell it as fact.

Should Yingluk have done this program without knowing all these things before hand? Of course she should! Because nobody ever knows these things beforehand. Shes in power, she tries stuff, some works, great!, Some fails, bad!, Some works after fixes, rice pledge likely falls into this category.

Sending poor people a check in the mail is not a good idea, use the money instead to build a rice reserve, its the staple diet of Thailand and floods are making supplies less reliable, so its a better use of the money.

Checks don't get rotten or eaten by rats; the rice reserve does.

And why subsidize only rice farmers? What about poor people in general, and the farmers in the south of Thailand who grow other things? Direct transfers (checks) are much better, and more transparent.

Good business sense put it out to the competitive market...

I'm sure a lot will be whining but at least they are trying to get the farmers paid for what they have already sold on promise.

I see a lot of posters hating the idea of for some reason and have no idea why they would wish hardship on hard working farmers. They deserve to be paid in full asap imo.

The government is using off balance sheet financing for the rice scheme, to hide the losses.

They are not even willing to tell tax payers what the losses are exactly.

Supporting poor people is fine; but I recommend just sending them a check in the mail, properly accounted for (as it is tax payers' money). Subsidizing farmers by rigging the whole rice market and trying to hide the losses is just plain stupid.

After 2006 coup the entire constitution was rewritten by the military, and after Thaksin's party was disolved in 2008 by the courts, a Democrat puppet government was put in charge of the country. They could reform all they wanted back then, but the main result was a drastic inrease in the military budget (go check the facts), and human rights abuse went on like usual. Why do you trust them to do a better job of refirm now? And the cost of it all: lawlessness, anarchy, military coup, and 75% of the population robbed of their right to vote. All worth it?

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The 2007 constitution is 90% the same as the 1997 constitution, word for word.

Yeah, writing a constitution takes brainpower, good judgement and some degree of competence. All clearly in short supply among the elites here, who rather bend and break the laws to get things done. That's why I don't trust vague promises of reform before elections.

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Caught out, and all you can do come up with more crap.

My point: reform has been tried many times, and was not succesful.

Why should we trust that reform before election will make things better this time, and at what costs?

Your response: 2007 constitution 90% same as 1997, and my post is full of crap.

Very weak response. Any answer to the original question?

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After 2006 coup the entire constitution was rewritten by the military, and after Thaksin's party was disolved in 2008 by the courts, a Democrat puppet government was put in charge of the country. They could reform all they wanted back then, but the main result was a drastic inrease in the military budget (go check the facts), and human rights abuse went on like usual. Why do you trust them to do a better job of refirm now? And the cost of it all: lawlessness, anarchy, military coup, and 75% of the population robbed of their right to vote. All worth it?

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The 2007 constitution is 90% the same as the 1997 constitution, word for word.

Yeah, writing a constitution takes brainpower, good judgement and some degree of competence. All clearly in short supply among the elites here, who rather bend and break the laws to get things done. That's why I don't trust vague promises of reform before elections.

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Another typical move by the thugs to violate people rights and break laws.

Your propaganda war room really needs to come up with something new or different to say rather than repeating the same old mantras day in and day out. Or perhaps you could actually involve yourself in discussion here, it is a forum after all, and tell us why you (in a sensible, well thought out way) think the the Govt is so great and the anti-Govt movement is so bad.

ill give you the one thing the gov are great for.................they are allowing people the right to have a vote..........

ill give you one reason the anti gov are so bad ........ they are not allowing people the right to have a vote....

Nuff said... respect the vote, without that you cannot say you have respect for anything at all.

Except again you are twisting things around. The anti-Govt people are not saying no to voting at all, merely that reform MUST take place before any elections. Not quite the same thing as your over-simplification makes it out.

After 2006 coup the entire constitution was rewritten by the military, and after Thaksin's party was disolved in 2008 by the courts, a Democrat puppet government was put in charge of the country. They could reform all they wanted back then, but the main result was a drastic inrease in the military budget (go check the facts), and human rights abuse went on like usual. Why do you trust them to do a better job of reform now? And the cost of it all: lawlessness, anarchy, military coup, and 75% of the population robbed of their right to vote. All worth it?

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Latest update, 18 polling stations in BKK out of 50 have already been closed.

When they close them, does rent-a mob move to another polling station? Or do they hang around to make sure the polling station remains closed?

Heard that protestors and election committee officials more or less move together from one polling station to another to declare them closed .... There are not enough protestors to cover all polling stations, so they could be easily reopened, if the EC really wanted and the police did their job. But, I guess expecting government officials to do their job is asking too much in a country like this. Only the puuyai matter.

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I doesn't matter in the long run. Whether it's Yingluck or someone else, whenever the next election takes place, they will be voted in. The people want their vote to be respected and not to be bullied.

Agree. But with Thaksin family removed, hopefully less conflict and more stability.

Maybe a more typical Thai politician in charge, like the one who wanted to fight the flood with 100's of boat propellors. No threat for the powers that be, then the folks upcountry are allowed to vote.

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Thai people who would like to vote on Feb 2 can do so, former village head Suthep says, but they may just have to pass a gang of hackling and potentially violent yellow mobsters ...

Perhaps this is just the lastest plan to trigger violence and a military coup?

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http://sg.news.yahoo.com/us-suspends-34-nuclear-missile-officers-over-cheating-201742809.html

Yesterday I read that 34 US 'nuclear launch officials' were discovered to be cheating in exams, also some were being investigated for drugs offences. I would consider this far more dangerous than some violent street protests in Bangkok. I think their media pundits should probably shush about other nations' problems. So, along with all the other current problems in the US, which are encyclopedic; their 'humanitarian invasions' which cost millions of lives around the ME in the last decade or so, and the US is a virtual police state run by offshore banking cartels, and has huge socio-economic problems, including the standard of living which has dropped by 2/3 in the last 40 years. I love American people and culture a lot, but I feel that given the state their government and society is in today, I feel the journalists etc. like the guy in the OP should really stop pointing fingers around the world and try closer to home. I feel the same when the UK press starts criticising Thailand, they should look at their own doorstep more closely too. Its a far from rosy picture.

In sum: "the US is not my father"? Just paraphrazing another great Thai thinker. Forgot his name.

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Great now we get more of this.........

xBaXPyIYCEAEVle3_jpg_pagespeed_ic_ZrhbKLsWdf.jpg

Thanks. Clear to see for anyone who can count :

7 million protestors in that picture.

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I am sure this question has been asked hundreds of times, and perhaps even answered without the typical "TiT-answers", but why the hell is no one arresting these thugs and their insane leaders? How can the government allow these morons to hijack the city / country like this?

Please tell me.

Simple: no rule of law, except for a few lucky guys with big connections.

This is convenient for the elite on both sides (the leaders of red, and yellow), so they can engage in corruption, favoritism (and, bonus, have unlimited mia-nois), without having to worry about proscecution, enforcement of laws, or bad press.

However, if your enemies get into power and start to appoint "their guys" as judges and military leaders, then your screwed, as they can put you in jail. So, you have to fight to near death to avoid that, holding everyone else in the country hostage. Luckily, thanks to the abominal education system, hordes of people can be manipulated into fighting along for the happy few in the elites.

Want to see an even worse example of no rule of law: China. People just unfolding a banner asking for office holders to declare their assets are sent straight to prison, or a labor camp. Or try a zebra crossing when then light is green in China. If a military or party car hits you, its no crime, because traffic rules in China don't apply to them. So, there's even worse cases. But, I am just saying this to cheer my self up while living in this jungle called Thailand.

Who is William Pesak?

He knows nothing about Thailand. Shame on Bloomberg who carries his article.

This Pesak is writing from Tokyo. He should rather concentrate on Japan who is is still in dire straits.

Yeah, go write him a letter. He doesn't get Thainess and Asianess.

Or find a Thai doctor to write for you, like the one who wrote to Obama.

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C'mon the Farmers, turn and bite. This is more significant than any bombings in BKK. When the red tide up north turns, the game must be up for the Family Business. The timing of this is probably worrying ShinCo, it couldn't have worked out worse. It almost seems as if it is planned and executed by Govt opposition. It will be such a gloriously delicious case of 'som nom naaaa' if it is the Rice Scham which takes the Government down ..... given enough rope, they hung themselves!!!!

After all the shootings and deaths in 2010, and after seeing these Bangkok people and Southerners spouting absolute filth and horrid remarks about Isaan in 2010 and 2013 and now 2014, there is zero chance, in my opinion, of any change in red feelings.

As has been said, Thaksin must be very happy with Suthep and Abhisit as they have turned what could have been a sticky patch into a solid united red vote PTP hoard, in my opinion.

Have you ever considered why YL and PTP tried to push the amnesty bill just at this moment in time, ever considered the response from the Democrats and Elite is just what they wanted and expected, and they fell into the trap and have now created a massive anti-Democrat Party feeling over most of Thailand ?

Just my view.

We see 2 million people turning out in Bangkok this week - many of them from Isaan - the truth today is that it has shown the depth of feeling against your puppet master who sits trying to control things from his penthouse. Massive anti democrat feeling in Bangkok? Remeber the Pheu Thai were virtually wiped out in Bangkok last election - only the red shirt Isan and Chiang Mai saved them!!

Is that a "YON" 2 million, so you mean 2000 then ?

At the very peak there was only 160,000.

Now its down to a few thousand hardcore.

Have you ever seen a crown of 250,000 ? Its much bigger than any photo's you have seen of Bangkok Protests........... 160,000 maximum in most peoples views was the peak !

You see - if your Phua Thai Government would spend money on education instead of only promising broken cheap computers children in thyour village including your self would be able to read and to count - i said 2 million THIS WEEK - I also would comment that those are people who protested because they believe in what they are doing NOT because they were given haa loi baht by your square head!!

The rubber tappers from the south came here for free?

Or do the Hi-So people from BKK sleep on the streets and stand on Sutheep's frontline?

I don't see any difference between red and yellow; people being manipulated and bought to fight for the rights and benefits of some elite families. Lets not support any of those people.

Especially when they sow hatred and lawlessness.

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