bamnutsak

And yet, when a Chinese Tik-Toker expressed her opinion about feeling unsafe she was strongly condemned. Go figure.

Cabinet to consider liquor cost cuts, reduce airport duty-free shops The Finance Ministry will on Tuesday propose to Cabinet new measures to suspend duty-free shops in the Arrivals section of all airports, as well as to reduce taxes on alcoholic beverages. These measures are aimed at stimulating tourism and domestic spending, the ministry’s permanent secretary, Lavaron Sangsnit said on Monday. “When we suspend arrivals duty-free shops, it will enable Thai and foreign tourists to spend domestically instead of spending at duty-free shops,” he said, adding that domestic shops will benefit from this measure. https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/policies/40033904

https://www.tatnews.org/2023/11/thailand-suspends-tm6-form-at-sadao-immigration-checkpoint Otherwise still in use at other land borders.

For the next seven days, you can search for and find your record. Click on the magnifying glass, then click Export. That creates a PDF that you can download/print.

Use of automatic gates when leaving Thailand, for eligible foreigners (chipped passports, from 70 countries), only began on Friday. 15 Dec. There may be new gates, for both departing and arriving ~ 31 July 2024 - that's based on reports/articles posted here. But that may be aspirational.

I'm amazed that it took two Immigration officers forty-five minutes to decide on whether to grant you entry, or not. That seems like a waste of the one limiting resource - staff. You'd think they'd have a process/guidelines/metrics with which they could make a decision within minutes. Did you have proof of an onward flight?

So no more "Sufficiency Economy"?

+1 I'd renew the passport well before the next visa extension date. I'd do it today. Recent reports are five - six weeks door-to-door. https://aseannow.com/topic/1310564-us-passport-renewal-question/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-lSG3kS1BM

560 BILLION maybe 500 BILLION if wealthier folks are not eligible. But Srettha is not going to drop this scheme, at least until he realizes it will fail. His initial tenure has been less than spectacular. The linked story highlights maybe one accomplishment: drug seizures.

The first three episodes of Reacher Season 2 dropped this morning here at 07:00 on Prime. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC-rRhQcnlI Reacher Season 3 has already been greenlit.

At least they get good lunches at school... What, oh, never mind. https://www.thaipbsworld.com/pictures-of-school-lunches-spark-social-media-outrage/

For a while, it looked like this scuzz-bucket would skate. He was indicted back in March, and an arrest warrant was issued and quietly withdrawn. Upakit Pachariyangkun: Thai senator under scrutiny for Myanmar connections https://www.thaipbsworld.com/upakit-pachariyangkun-thai-senator-under-scrutiny-for-myanmar-connections/ In related news... THAI POLICE SEIZE A RECORD HAUL OF 50 MILLION METHAMPHETAMINE TABLETS NEAR BORDER WITH MYANMAR BANGKOK (AP) — Thai police have seized what is being called a record haul of methamphetamine tablets in the western province of Kanchanaburi, close to the Myanmar border. Officers found an estimated 50 million tablets hidden in sacks in a six-wheeler truck they stopped at a joint police-military checkpoint on Tuesday. The occupants of the truck – a man and a woman – were arrested. The quantity of methamphetamine tablets seized is a record for Thailand, Jeremy Douglas, the Southeast Asia regional representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said Wednesday. The region’s biggest known seizure took place in neighboring Laos in October 2021, when a consignment of 55 million pills was discovered. https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2023/12/13/thai-police-seize-a-record-haul-of-50-million-methamphetamine-tablets-near-border-with-myanmar/

GF flight ops, in Bahrain and the Captain were messaging options. The Captain chose the BKK diversion. Cloud deck was at or below the carrier's minimums (500 feet?). BKK was probably the closest, best option given GF has a presence, and could handle passengers.

AIS customers can easily turn on and off the internet from the SIM card by themselves. Just press *129*1# and call to turn it off. internet work Select to enable internet use, press *129*2# and call. Can also be done via the MyAIS app

Rumor is he'll be released to home confinement on 22 Dec. And be free and clear in February (22?), having by then completed one-half of his one-year "Sentence".

https://aviationsourcenews.com/emergency/gulf-air-787-bahrain-dhaka-emergency-diverts-to-bangkok/

New sheriff in town. https://thai.news/news/thailand/shrouded-beginnings-the-enigmatic-rise-of-phukets-new-immigration-chief Surprised you weren't shown the tip jar.

Forecast PM 2.5 for tomorrow is supposed to be really bad, 200+ Purple.

Looking forward to some real-time reports on/after 15 Dec. I guess the minimum requirement is that your passport be an ePassport (biometric with chip). For the U.S. I think this is designated on the front cover, middle bottom with a symbol that looks kind of like a SIM card.

Mistrust of the RTP, which is assumed to be providing protection for these sorts of establishments (entertainment, gambling). So the MoI is using their own - and doesn't every ministry have it's own police/para-military force - internal law-enforcement agency within DOPA. DOPA has been making many raids over the past ~ 6 - 8 weeks. The availability of all these drugs (ecstasy, ketamine, meth, crystal, taxi, happy water) at reasonable prices, is a bit shocking. All come from Myanmar. I'm surprised someone hasn't died from Happy Water as it is a mix of Ketamine, Ecstasy and sleeping pills. Some samples have contained MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine, diazepam, caffeine, tramadol (Taxi), and ketamine.

Noticeably smokey in Bangkok this morning.

Seems like it's just a matter of when a busload of tourists gets Nom-toked. https://aseannow.com/topic/1313194-39-french-tourists-escape-bus-blaze/

Soft Power.

So that's why they call it "predatory lending". And it may be why the lords prefer to keep Somchai un-educated and down on the farm, waiting for his "digital" wallet.