darksidedog

List seems a little short. Maybe the other couple hundred countries who are even lower aren't being included.

Bottom is only representational of how deep the list goes of course.

How about using the money instead to feed some of its people who are dying of starvation and malnutrition?

Or is that too low a priority compared with image?

You have to ask the question, why would anyone want to come, when it is going to involve additional insurance expense, aggravation and stress just getting in, when there isn't any entertainment open and you can't enjoy a beer as you try to unwind?

Lets not forget the proposed 500 Baht entry tax from the New Year adding to the list of negatives.

It is obviously better than it was, but places with less or no restrictions are going to look far more attractive.

It will be interesting to hear the latest tourist number projections from TAT and then see how that fares against reality down the track a little.

It is often the case here, that "new policy" is hot air, replaced by different hot air within days. Often spouted by headline seeking morons. Repeatedly, though often with different parameters and by different morons, who don't talk to each other.

When the Royal Thai Gazette publishes it is when you should consider it reality.

That to the best of my current knowledge is not yet the case.

I feel it is going to take considerably more than some smooth words and dystopian dribble, before anyone is going to have the slightest faith in their honesty and ability to perform what their duties are supposed to involve.

Actions speak louder than words, but don't expect to see any of this anytime soon.

Given there has been a visa amnesty for god knows how long, meaning his sin was minimal, detaining him rather than let him go on his way really wasn't smart, but then this is immigration we are talking about, so intelligence probably shouldn't be expected I guess.

It can simple be summed up by stating you are less likely to die if you have been vaccinated, but that is hardly great news for the large majority of the country who have still been unable to get even one or praise the Gods, two of the necessary jabs.

Behind the headlines is the unspoken admission that the vaccine rollout was very late to start, very slow to roll out and has resulted in  many unnecessary deaths.

Headline tends to suggest it was their own fault for being too stupid to get a vaccine, when in truth it is the government incompetence to blame.

Give the money to who? The Government?

Nice idea, but it would simply mean the bigger crooks at the top of the tree can siphon off even more than they do now.

Leaving the cops out of pocket forcing them to extort even more people than they do now.

Folks at the bottom will get fleeced for even more while receiving even less.

Thailand is a 3rd world/emerging country simply because so much of its potential is endemically being stolen by those who are in a position to do so.

Don't expect things to improve any time soon either.

I don't like to make that statement, but it is a true reflection of reality.

16 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Prison numbers keep growing however.

It had me puzzled for some time, as you would assume a prison could easily be segregated.

Having a chat with the mother of an English lad in Bang Kwang, there is apparently no effort whatsoever being taken to do so.

The guards have apparently withdrawn from the inner part of the jail, allowing a complete free for all with prisoners in complete control.

Essentially the prison numbers of infected jails are likely to equal the entire inmate population sooner or later.

The downward trend is encouraging, though we are far from being out of the woods yet. We have had a lot of rain the last couple of weeks, so it could be as simple as people are not socialising as much of late, because it is hard to suggest the vaccination programme is having any real impact yet.

Its nice that restaurants are open again, though not being able to have a beer or glass of wine with dinner is frustrating. I still can't wrap my head around how a beer with my meal makes me mega infectious.

You really would do have to do something almost unimaginable here to lose such a vote, when you have so many unelected MP's in your pocket.

Shameful, but absolutely expected result, yet they wonder why the masses are on the streets protesting.

39 minutes ago, RAZZELL said:

 

Do you guys go "all in" on one...or say hold 10 with the same amount in each?

I think most hold some of more than one, but not exclusively.

My biggest two investments are in Bitcoin and Ethereum, though I also hold a fair amount of ADA Cardano and Ripple XRP.

Behind that I hold smaller investments in around a dozen more.

I reiterate my earlier comment that with every single one, I have thoroughly researched what it is and its likelihood of going up first.

There are a lot of really rubbish coins out there, so you need to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Possibly the best educational channel on YouTube is Coinbase. Videos on crypto basics, trends and detailed looks at coins and the market.

https://www.youtube.com/c/CoinBureau

1 hour ago, gk10012001 said:

But it is a pure gamble. 

I am sorry but I have to call that an uneducated or ill-thought out comment.

I know it can appear that way though when you don't really understand what is going on.

I very thoroughly research everything I am considering investing in and continuously monitor the projects progress.

I am up a very significant margin as a result, and most of the time it does pretty much what the information available is telling me it is going to do.

That isn't gambling, its use of knowledge.

I am not in loss on a single crypto I have bought into, but I don't buy memes or sh!tcoins, though some obviously do and then wonder what went wrong when it sinks.

Admittedly most altcoins will rise and fall to a degree in tandem with Bitcoins movements, though not exclusively. MANA, Decentraland being one example. Everything was going down, but it kept going up. Cardano this month, very predictably rose significantly and is highly likely to do the same again next month, especially if big brother Bitcoin is even slightly moving that direction.

All investment is a risk at the end of the day though. Buying stocks, buying crypto, opening a business just in time for a pandemic to beat it to death, it is all the risk vs reward.

It only comes down to pure gambling though, when you don't know what you are doing or getting yourself into.

If you do adequate research and due diligence, and understand what a crypto does and its "tokenomics" it is less of a gamble and more of a fairly sure thing. Same with investing in stocks. Buying a company stock because its price is going up, but not knowing the fundamentals is likely to see you getting burned when you bought at the peak. I wouldn't be putting any money in the US stock market right now, because that is asking to get smashed, sooner or later. Very overpriced right now.

ETH is a pretty sure one, especially long term, though I expect Cardano, even after this months 100%+ rise, to be the top performer next month if its smart contracts rollout goes smoothly.

The whole thing sums the Thai cops up very neatly actually. Thieves, bullies, murderers, extortionists and liars who only seek to "serve and protect" their own interests.

It has been this way as long as I can recall, and I have never seen any real effort to change the status quo. You can pretty much guarantee this scumbag will not be convicted of anything and such awful behaviour will continue.

29 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

According to investigative teams, this appeared to be highly unusual for someone on a police officer’s salary to have.

I recall living some years back in a village where the biggest house, worth about 8 million at the time with a brand new E series Mercedes on the drive had  a sign saying Police Lt. Col etc at the front. It just advertised that he was a crook as he could NEVER afford any of it on his salary.

It was around the same time I saw a story the UN had designated the Thai police as the most organised criminal gang on the planet.

Nothing has changed. You might find the occasional cop who is diligent in his duty, but the majority are the nastiest criminals in the country.

One of the funniest hypocrisies ever, was listening to a cop bawl at the monkey house inmates about being honest and being a good person, then nailing me for 500 baht, just seconds later to be able to visit an inmate, when it was supposed to be free.

Bigger problem than the government in terms of wrongness really.

I want to believe this is the start of a downward trend, but I am highly skeptical that we are seeing the real truth. Time will tell.

I would like to hope that the recent slowdown and slight downturn are a sign that we are indeed reaching the peak, where after things will improve.

With the games going on how things are being reported and true test numbers I am not at all convinced that this is the case though.

My suspicion is that it is in fact growing steadily, in step with a government desperately coming up with ways to artificially keep the true numbers low.

It is easy to see why. Kids go outside with a mask on, but as soon as they are with their friends, the masks come down. Kid mentality is that my friend is not dangerous.

Sadly Thai adults are alike. I can go to a motor bike service shop and see half a dozen staff and customers with the mask around the chin, which only gets raised when a foreigner turns up, each of us being much more likely to be a plague spreader than locals obviously. (Sarcasm alert there in case you missed it.)

I miss having a beer with my friends.

The Thai people in my village are not having the same experience, given groups of them are getting nailed in groups nightly with not a mask in sight. Yet they all experience wonder how the numbers aren't going down.

Store, bar, entertainment and such like shutdowns are a tiny part of it. My own son only pops in for 2 minutes once or twice a week, (normally when he needs money), as he gets that don't socialise with anyone is what stops it.

Kids and adults alike here don't seem to get that yet. You have to hope they do sooner or later or the crematoriums will be running 24/7.

1 hour ago, olfu said:

And I guess some still think crypto is a good idea.

Being well over a million Baht up this year on my crypto investment, I think it's a good idea.

However, it is the best idea to do your research very thoroughly before getting involved though, as there are safe environments and not safe ones. Same goes for the currencies. Some are good investments, some are pump and dump rip offs.

Digital currency is coming to everyone. The only question if it is a Country issued digital dollar, where everything you do can be monitored, or decentralised ones, such as we are seeing already. Cash will soon be a thing of the past.

1 minute ago, RotBenz8888 said:

The tourist sector alone is probably more than 1 million already. 

Took the words out of my mouth. "Could" reach a million?

I wonder what "official" statistics which ignore reality, they are using for that announcement?

Nationwide it is way more than that for sure already, probably by some multiple.