Cory1848

Thank you. (1) Backpackers do spend some money, and it tends to help smaller, local businesses, as you point out. (2) Backpackers who have a good experience in Thailand might come back later in their life, when they have more money to spend. Catering to backpackers is a good investment.

It’s not a lie. My girlfriend runs a small travel agency in the center of Chiang Mai; she reopened her office four months ago and has seen increasing business, mostly backpackers, though of course not what she had before the pandemic. Just walking around downtown, you see lots more budget travelers than last year.

Exactly -- at least to some, the name “Myanmar” is affiliated with a repulsive regime. When Mobutu took charge of the DRC, he changed that country’s name to Zaire; when he was gone after 25 years of repressive rule, the incoming administration immediately tossed out the name “Zaire” like it was part of some bad dream.

Well, I call it Burma; and not only Americans but many Europeans as well (Birmania and variants). In the Burman language, the name of the country was always pronounced something like “Myanma,” a word that designates the Burman ethnic majority just the same. And it’s my understanding that the country’s non-Burman minority groups reject “Myanmar” as the official English name because the change was effected by a military government whose legitimacy they often don’t accept, and they continue to use “Burma” when they’re speaking English or their own language. Even Aung San Suu Kyi, when speaking English, has continued to use “Burma.”

Exactly: This is just silly. Why would they ever make such a move, and especially now, coming out of a pandemic and trying to reestablish tourism? Your mention of branding is spot-on. One could maybe make an argument if the “new” word was two syllables, rolled off the tongue in English, and could be remembered easily and pronounced correctly by those not intimate with Thailand, but that’s just not the case here … In any event, non-Thais will continue to use Bangkok regardless.

Likewise -- My girlfriend just reopened her travel office in Chiang Mai and has been getting business -- tourists (European; Israeli) who are younger (backpackers) and not interested in drinking but purchasing tours to elephant camps, cooking schools, trekking excursions, and the like, much of which is open at least up here in the north. I’m not disputing anything being said here, and this may be driven by Loy Krathong, which is always popular here, and otherwise Chiang Mai is still far from lively, but I’m encouraged.

My girlfriend got her first Sinopharm shot in Chiang Mai this morning (at Chiang Mai Hospital, and not free, as you mention); she did not want Sinovac, and did not want to wait for a US vaccine. Very well organized here as well, second shot in about a month. She had registered earlier, but her number came up quickly. Other than some mild fatigue, no side effects. Good luck!

Got a first shot of Pfizer last week (at Promenada Chiang Mai) and was assured that my second shot, scheduled in a couple of weeks, would also be Pfizer. (Of course, I have to show up on the scheduled day.) They are keeping careful track of shots they administer, and I'm led to believe that they're keeping everyone's second shot in reserve -- i.e., not administering so many first shots of Pfizer that they don't have enough for people's second shots.

Well done! I have nothing to add here --

And this two-minute video, well worth watching, gives a pretty good idea of what it’s like, as a woman, to simply walk down the sidewalk. What she encounters are microaggressions, and while the men for the most part mean no harm, they create an environment of genuine unease for the woman, which comes through clearly in the video (you have to scroll down a little to get to it). Trying seeing the world from her vantage point. https://www.npr.org/2014/11/01/360494480/woman-in-street-harassment-video-i-do-not-feel-safe-right-now

I think that most women, especially those who are traditionally attractive, have developed sufficient survival skills, when some stranger is glaring at their rack, to distinguish between a genuine threat and a person who is merely boorish. So, yeah, go wild.

A “simp”? “Proper people”? What on earth are you talking about? You may not care if someone else stares at your crotch, but another person might if someone stares at theirs. Try looking beyond your own nose.

I myself would be happy to be called "darling" by a casual acquaintance, or a complete stranger for that matter. (Better than "lung farang," which is what I usually get!) But I wouldn't presume it for someone else.

Hope your daughters stay safe! Good for them for not taking any flack, and sounds like they have enough common sense to not get in over their heads ...

Well, yes, exactly. The original poster seems to long for the day when he could casually call women “darling”; but what does the woman think, who’s being called that by someone who’s not her “darling”? Whenever I (and, presumably, most people on this forum), go out in public, I’m read as a man, with all the social and cultural implications of that. I have NO IDEA what it’s like to be read as a woman, so the best I can do is listen to what women have to say about it. This article is a good start. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-thing-all-women-do-you-dont-know-about_b_8630416