sambum

 "Alternative State Quarantine"? 

"High end Sukhumvit Hotel" and "Initial investigation showed that the hotel is owned by Thai and foreign businessmen, who were not available when police arrived."

Probably in the Penthouse suite gathering "donations" (Having a whip round!)  

From today's News:-

"According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the country is looking to welcome more than 10 million international arrivals next year, generating 500 billion baht for the economy."

And from the same article and same Government Department:-

"There is little hope of attracting international arrivals during the first quarter of next year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in Thailand, Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says."

I  just have this mental image of TAT being a sort of Monty Pythonish "Ministry of Silly Talks" because what comes out from there is nothing short of a hotchpotch of contradictory statements that even a child in kindergarten would be hard pressed to make sense of!      

"Samut Sakhon’s border is till open"

Does that mean that "under the counter" payments are still being made because the till isn't full yet??

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

All about saving face. Face is rife with self doubt, and by subscribing to this weakness, a man or woman, or an official, is made a far lesser person. I consider the practice of face to be the polar opposite of the practice of Buddhism, which teaches the need for introspection, contemplation, owning up to a problem, and taking responsibility for issues, problems and tragedies that you create in life.

 

So my message to the administration is this. Man up. Admit you messed this one up badly. Admit the border could have been controlled if you had devoted the tens of thousands of soldiers required then, instead of now. You dropped the ball. 

To put it bluntly it was an accident waiting to happen, and you are quite correct in what you say.

Also, for Thai officialdom there is the additional bonus that Covid was brought into the country by illegal immigrants, so the buck is passed - just a pity that they can't blame "dirty unwashed farangs" for it! Hang on, they want us back now - I forgot!  

10 hours ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

We're there's a brown envelopes there's a way, the temptation is to much for many Thai officials... ????

Especially when you see how much they are paid!

14 hours ago, JoePai said:

like Chiang Mai where they are frequent and cheap flights. 

 

This along with being so expensive to stay (hotels'etc) is why Samui is suffering - tough, maybe they will learn

And the fact that under normal circumstances, flights to Samui on Bangkok Air are extortionate - more than 5000 baht one way.

On 12/16/2020 at 5:28 AM, misterjames said:

Same old same old. Lure them in when the economy is down, then make life difficult for them when the economy improves.

 

Do they think that "smart" people are stupid? Nobody want's to build a life at the whim of people that change the rules every 5 minutes, the rules change like the wind no "smart" people want to build a life on such rocky foundations.

 

Maybe some young guys do? before they wise up,  the "smart" ones realise the attitude towards foreigners changes pretty fast depending on how much they need our money/ skills at any given time, there is no use in investing time, effort and expertise in a country with zero long term stability or rights, that is a fools game!

 

 

"Lure them in when the economy is down, then make life difficult for them when the economy improves"

Yes, the recent post about ex pats "saving the day" is in stark contrast to the posts pre Covid when the Govt/Immigration seemed hell bent on getting rid of them with their new rules regarding financial requirements.

Simply a case of wanting to keep up with the Jones', and wanting to be a member of the Big Boys' Club.

Just lurve that  pic! Is that not a perfect example of "grinning through clenched teeth"?

Has anyone told Immigration yet? How the expats have "saved the day" and deserve to be treated a bit more like responsible adults than naughty schoolchildren?

8 hours ago, abrahamzvi said:

It is absolutely possible with a lot of efforts to make dreams become reality. Pattaya has the basic elements to become the Neo Pattaya, being dreamt of, and all it needs is serious efforts to change many things in Pattya and then its image will change.

I don't know if you are being serious or not, but most people I know would say:- 

"Never in a month of Sundays"! Or "A leopard can't change its spots"

17 hours ago, lkv said:

 

And you think I would like to have 2 weeks stuck in a hotel room in solitary confinement, if they gave it to me for free?

 

The first thing that everyone searches on Google if they want to travel internationally (many still don't), in lieu of going through a travel agent, is: what countries are open for tourism, no quarantine.

I agree with you 100%!

The point I was making that in their (TAT/Gov't) blinkered state, they still think that Thailand is the "be all and end all" of tourist destinations. They can not understand why any tourists would want to go anywhere else except Thailand for a holiday, and that they should be queueing up in droves to "jump through their hoops" in order to holiday here. It is indeed inconceivable to them that tourists would WANT to go anywhere else but Thailand, and actually think that said tourists ARE not concerned about the strength of the baht, or the fact that they are being forced to stay in a hotel not of their choosing for two weeks. After all, they still have a week left to travel, and see the "proper" Thailand! ????

"And a 14 day quarantine with all the hoops and expenses that entails remains in place with no change on the horizon despite repeated calls from many business groups in the sector."

This never ending list of predicted tourist figures goes on and on and on.

It's been said many times before on here that to get tourists back here in substantial numbers there will need to be no quarantine, whixch personally I think would be a recipe for disaster for the health of the country.

The stark reality is that most people only come here on holiday for 3 weeks at a time, due to their gross holiday entitlement being 5 weeks (In the UK that is the maximum time off work at one time that most employers will allow in one period, and I believe that the USA  have an even lower holiday entitlement.)

To spend 2 weeks in quarantine  leaving one week for "holidaying proper" is not something that your average tourist wants to do, and to have to PAY for it is totally unacceptable - at the very least, if they want tourists to return, the cost of quarantine should at least be free.  There are many other options open for travellers with far less expense and hassle, but TAT keep hoping in vain for some kind of miracle to change the world's opinion. After all it is the month that the famous "star appeared in the East" - perhaps they could use that as another one of their  "gimmicks"? 

56 minutes ago, Natai Beach said:

Nice of you to defend your wonderful leader.

 

The only reason you test so much is because there are so many positive tests which leads to more people being tested who were in contact with those infected.

 

The last 200,000+ tests in Thailand were all negative before this CM stuff up. 
The UK can’t get through 100 tests without coming up with more tests.

 

Thailand did a lot more tests than the UK in Jan-Feb. when it counted. By the time Boris got his act together it had already spread to thousands. They didn’t even bother testing the sick elderly and sent them to die and spread it throughout the nursing homes.

 

UK              61,434

Thailand           60

 

 

First of all, I am not "defending "our" wonderful leader by any stretch of the imagination! In actual fact I agree with your apt description of the man, and I also think that he and his counterpart "across the pond" should both have handled the situation better than they did.

But I also do not have a lot of time for "your" (?)  Deputy PM, with his racist rhetoric,  U Turns, and  nonsensical comments.

It may well be that the climate has something to do with the spread of this disease, but it certainly didn't "blow it away" as a couple of prominent politicians suggested it would do, and it is obviously a fact that the more testing you do, the more cases are going to be discovered.

As I said earlier, I do not intend to get into an argument about "false news/facts", but bearing in mind that the population of Thailand is approximately the same as Thailand (i.e UK 68 million and they have done 46 million tests, compared to Thailand's slightly higher population (nearly 70 million) who have done nearly 1 million tests, I would suggest that if both countries had done approximately the same number of tests, the figures would look substantially different! 

On 12/7/2020 at 6:53 AM, Natai Beach said:

well, he has handled Covid 1000 times better than bumbling buffoon Boris. 

Similar population 60 deaths verses 60,000.

 

He didn’t manage to get himself infected with covid either by running around hospitals unmasked and shaking hands with all the infected patients.

 

He did give the farangs a spray for stupidly refusing to wear free masks he was giving them back in March to help stop them spreading everywhere like in the UK, when Boris was telling people not to wear masks. 
 

More people die everyday from covid in the UK and 30 other countries than the entire total this year in Thailand. 
 

The Thai economy apart from tourism is mostly open, while in other countries they are locking down again, some with some bizarre 4 stages that accomplish little.

 

Some people it seems will never get over him calling some farangs “dirty”. Frail egos. 
Not me, I am happy he said it to wake up the selfish idiots.
Better than having tens of thousands dead.

 

If he had of locked down the same people criticizing him would be criticizing him for over reacting. They will criticize him regardless of what he does because he hurt their feelings. 
 

I am hoping he has got this call right again. Locking down CM and CR would be the final nail in the coffin for a lot of businesses who have up until now managed to stay afloat. 
 

Dealing with covid is a difficult balancing act, he has done better than most.

 

 

''He did give the farangs a spray for stupidly refusing to wear free masks he was giving them back in March to help stop them spreading everywhere like in the UK, when Boris was telling people not to wear masks."

And YOU are conveniently forgetting that he did a U Turn on the masks situation when the WHO said there was  no need for healthy individuals to wear them That is open to debate, but funny how he got some plaudits (a new position?) from the WHO later for that!)  

I am afraid that I usually go along with the opposite of what this guy says, and this is no exception.

(P.S. Without getting into a debate about "false news/facts" it is interesting to note the number of Covid 19 tests a carried out in "Bumbling Boris' country, and A Nut in Thailand's?)

On 12/7/2020 at 11:01 AM, Surelynot said:

What's the panic?......I read the US news....isn't it all just a hoax?

Yes, Trump (like Anutin) said the hot summer weather was just going to blow it all away. He also said it was a "blessing from God"! They both speak with "forked tongues"!

1 hour ago, Oldie said:

"Everyone who had been in contact with a Covid-19 positive woman in Chiang Mai has been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days."

 

People normally have to do other things than to sit at home 14 days. I could imagine their motivation and possibility for self-quarantine might be limited. Also many live together with other people. Where should they go? 

READ THE  ARTICLE! :=

" If they are unable to be confined at home, the Chiang Mai Provincial Communicable Disease Committee has established a quarantine facility for high-risk close contacts."

On 11/27/2020 at 2:49 PM, RotBenz8888 said:

Is this guy a part time comedian? 

 "eradicating corruption"?

One of the highest order!

"They couldn't charge as much for Thais as they could do for foreigners, they lamented."

What a shame - my heart bleeds for these double pricers.

Suggestion for them -  as you have very few customers now, why not put your prices up AGAIN to make up the shortfall? That'sa bound to work!   

5 hours ago, Flying Saucage said:

 

So, they want to create big spendings of billions of Baht by well heeled foreign tourists by giving them free mandatory jailtime to let them safe their money by this, and hope to get 2000 tourists per months with that, while keeping the borders closed for all others? ????

 

Their idiocy is really infinitely!

 

Okay, but this explains everything: 

  9 hours ago, rooster59 said:

[The] meeting was presided over by Thai PM Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Nope, the fact that it came from TAT explains everything!!!

5 hours ago, Flying Saucage said: