Spock

How can you possibly defend the red bull heir!? Even without trial, the evidence in the public arena leaves no doubt he was 100% culpable in the death of the policeman. It does you no credit to defend these people who have more than enough avenues of escaping prosecution and conviction without the likes of you whitewashing their actions.

Whatever the psychological ramifications, they are not relevant in this scenario. No one is going to suffer mental illness from a leaf or two placed atop a restaurant meal or a drop or bottle of CBD oil. I miss the old days in Thailand when the marijuana was so strong that the first few joints would leave me hanging over the edge of a toilet bowl. I am hardly going to excitedly book a flight to Thailand to sample the country's new 'secret weapon'. Thailand has lost the plot in terms of attracting foreign visitors.

Thailand is not going to legalise marijuana for recreational use. At best, there will be restaurants that are allowed to scatter a few leaves though a meal. Don't kid yourself that young or older tourists are ever going to be sitting around around smoking joints. It's not going to happen. As for the 'wellness' business, the word alone is enough to turn me off.

Although if you test positive in Cambodia, you are sent to the government quarantine centre which is a hell hole and need 2 negative tests to get out. If you are a resident of Cambodia, you can self isolate. I don't currently find either country an attractive place for a holiday.

So if there are so few positive cases picked up on the tests, why have them when they are deterring hundreds of thousands of tourists from coming to Thailand?

And after the positive test begins the private hospital scam which is certainly keeping many people, including me, from returning to Thailand.

How does a police lance corporal afford a 'Ducati monster'?

Most people I have met who own pit bulls look like they own pit bulls. I love dogs and work as a dog sitter and walker but do not understand why anyone wants a pit bull, other than as an extension of their own aggressive personality and inclinations. They give other dogs a bad name. All this talk about never leaving a child alone with dogs - I would not hesitate to leave a child alone with a golden retriever or similar natured dog. Again and again there are reports of pit bulls attacking and maiming people. It's all very well to say it's the owners fault and not the breed, but there is no doubt that pit bulls are inherently aggressive and built to cause considerable damage to a person or another animal. The majority of owners probably don't have a clue how to train their dog to not be aggressive around people. And the pit bulls I have seen in Thailand and Cambodia are among the strongest and most aggressive I have encountered. They should be banned.

You got value for money, including a colonoscopy, gastroscopy and endoscopy.

Can tourists go to the field hospitals? Who is eligible?

It could also be said that not allowing people who are asymptomatic or not particularly sick to self quarantine and force them into expensive quarantine care is totally over the top and a reason why some people might avoid providing health details if at all possible. Doesn't mean that people would not self quarantine - just means they do not want to waste their money on needless state quarantine procedures.

If for 14 days, that is about 8500B per day which is very expensive.

What did you get for that money?

The difference is that if I get Omricon in my own country I quarantine at home with all the usual luxuries and distractions available to me. If I contract it in Thailand, I am looking at enforced quarantine in a hotel or hospital? I can never quite keep up to date with the requirements. Cambodia has just introduced compulsory 14 day hospital care for anyone who tests positive for Omricon too.

Surely you are not suggesting that the consequences he has 'suffered' sufficiently pay for the crime?

I wouldn't want to come to Thailand for a holiday and spend 10 days in quarantine particularly if I was asymptomatic. Nor would I want to have to pay an ambulance to take me to the quarantine hotel. If you have ever been asymptomatic to the virus and had to endure an over the top response you would understand the frustration. The simple answer is to just not go anywhere overseas for a holiday.

How ridiculous that newsreaders have to wear a mask.

Lots of Americans are unvaccinated which makes a big difference to the consequences of people catching the virus. Australian case numbers are really high but over 90% in the states affected are vaccinated. High vaccine rates make a big difference to the severity of the infection.

Can't imagine a worse punishment than being 80 in a Thai jail.

Just another example of Thai wowserism in a different form, trying to pretend their lives are based on the best of safety concerns, the same mentality that has closed down tourism as soon as it was reopened through overreacting to a relatively mild if contagious virus variant. I would certainly not get the test. If the Thais on the board and in the condo are too stupid or blind to reality as to think another test on top of 2 already taken is necessary, just let them do their worst. Thailand is a country currently going nowhere fast.

You are 100% right. People have to be able to book a holiday with a fair degree of certainty that the tables are not going to be turned on them. Even Australia, the most cautious country in the world, is not panicking over Omicron. Sure there are lots of cases and it's highly infectious, but hospital admissions and deaths have not been greatly affected and there is no need to lose the confidence of prospective tourists by once again changing their mind. The Thai government should make a decision and stick with it. We have to learn to live with the virus because it is not going away. If the population is vaccinated, life should be able to proceed as normal.

I would like to believe I am not racist, and when it comes to judging people on an individual basis, I believe I am not. However, there are certain countries in which practices and behaviours exist that I consider unacceptable, and sometimes morally reprehensible. As a result, I dislike that country and by implication, perhaps many people in those countries who practice those behaviours or habits. As a dog lover, I abhor the capture and killing on a large scale of dogs in at least 3 countries, often in a very cruel manner. The more affluent and civilised the country purports to be, the more critical I am of this practice and the government approved proliferation of these killings. Similarly, there are several countries whose political stance against minorities and their neighbours I consider to be unacceptable. I don't wish to be anymore specific. I am prepared to judge people from these countries on these merits, but I guess the countries themselves are not on my itinerary as places I intend to visit. I also cannot recall a country I have visited in which its citizens didn't hold negative views of ethnic or minority groups or other countries. It would be really nice if we could all believe that people of all creeds and colours are equal and have the same right to automatic respect. On a country's basis, my respect has to be earned. On a personal basis, I judge people as they come.

These short term rooms were, I assume, to offer you temporary relief from the heat and exhaustion after devoting hours to the inspection of temples, ruins or other historical or cultural displays. Once refreshed, I imagine you moved on to the next town to avail yourself of its cultural offerings. Yes those indeed were days to be savoured by the discerning Thai tourist.

Is that you, Dr Sarayuth Bunchaiphanichwattana?

For me, 3040B is an expensive hotel. Maybe not so for the hiso foreigners who have money to burn on accommodation.