khunjeff

That was a separate law that was passed earlier this year, but has yet to take effect - the article below says that it "could come into effect by October". https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2940490/house-passes-bill-to-free-up-liquor-production

It's actually surprising that they released anything at all, and the reason has nothing to do with who he is or which family he comes from: "Visa records are confidential under INA 222(f) and are generally not releasable under FOIA or the Privacy Act unless the document was submitted by or sent to the requesting party." "It has been determined that visa records and information contained in a visa applicant's file are statutorily exempt from release under FOIA provisions." https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM060302.html

No, it doesn't - it "resonates" with a desire to continue a purely performative response to a tragic incident which the response would not actually have prevented. Not "past incidents", but one single incident. The "inebriated man" was not a passenger and did not buy alcohol on the train, so the prohibition could not possibly "prevent[] similar incidents". Problem: drugged-up railroad employee commits a terrible crime. Solution: prohibit passengers from drinking alcohol on trains. Wait, what? 🤔

You're not missing anything. It's completely nonsensical and illogical, as is the fact that it's the tourism industry that's pushing to make it more difficult for tourists to come... And here's more illogic: Let's see, it's legal to rent out condos for over 30 days, but illegal to rent them out for less than 30 days. So how do we solve the illegal rental problem? Why, limit people's stays so that only illegal rentals are possible! (Though of course the reality is that the THA would prefer that all condo rentals be banned, and that all visitors be required to stay in hotels.)

That commitment would be clearer if they had investigated these issues before issuing the licenses...

I wish media outlets would include a map with reports like this so we could better understand exactly where the bridge in question is located 🤷

Since I've never seen Highway Police "patrolling" any road, and have never seen any police show the least interest in "unusual" vehicle behavior - of which there is an enormous amount everywhere in Thailand - I have to assume that in reality the police had been tipped off about the smuggling operation and were acting on that tip.

This is the project that was "just one step away from a Cabinet decision" in February 2018... https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thailand-approves-high-speed-rail-link-connecting-three-international-airports ...and for which CP already signed a contract in October 2019... https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1779144/cp-led-consortium-signs-three-airports-train-contract ...so please forgive me if I don't rush out to buy my tickets just yet.

Maybe, but that seems unlikely. Since this is being promulgated by the NACC - not the Interior Ministry - and applies only to state officials, it appears to be addressing some specific way in which officials were carrying out corrupt activities. Perhaps some people were purposely avoiding marriage registration so they could put assets into their partner's name and claim it wasn't theirs?

"Trafficking" a substance that can be bought and sold legally - crime of the century for sure.

Considering that we know its name, number, designer, builder, launch date, and purpose, I would say that it isn't terribly mysterious.

Unless they know something that the rest of us don't (which is certainly possible), this has all the earmarks of a boondoggle. I was in Nan a couple of months ago, and the current terminal looks quite new. And given that there are very few domestic flights going there, it's hard to imagine why there would be any demand for direct international flights to a province that is very scenic, but has limited infrastructure for mass tourism.

That isn't the only claim from the police about this case that seems odd... Virtually no one tries to use completely counterfeit passports, which is what they're describing here. With all the fancy security features in modern passports, a total fake can be spotted with the naked eye. If they really bought homemade passports (as opposed to real documents with a substituted photo, or from a holder with a similar appearance), they weren't very bright. They spent two weeks in Thailand and have entry records, so this doesn't appear to be accurate...and they were trying to board a flight to Oman, not Spain. The police seem to have mixed things up a bit in the process of trying to make their interception appear more heroic.

I'm pretty sure their faces and fingerprints remain the same regardless of which passport they're using, which is kind of the point of biometrics - they should have been flagged and identified immediately as soon as their fingers were scanned.

The big stores like Bang Na and Bang Yai do have multiple shortcuts, with signs directing you to them. The smaller branch at EmSphere, though, really does force you to walk through the entire store - even the restaurant is in the middle of the store rather than on the edge like at Mega.

So they're patting themselves on the back for removing obsolete cables that they themselves left on the poles?

If the flights will be delayed, why are we getting there early? 🤔

I believe that loophole was eliminated years ago. As you say, it used to be the case that if you bought 10 liters or more, it was assumed to be a wholesale purchase and was allowed. Now, you can officially only make those purchases during restricted hours if you can show an alcohol sales license.

Andreas Mogensen, a European Space Agency astronaut who has flown to the ISS twice, slammed Musk's comments as he shared a clip of the interview to his X account. “What a lie. And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media,” Mogensen wrote. https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/elon-musk-spacex-astronaut-fight-34721922

The bigger "root" is that developers keep building huge towers with units the size of hotel rooms. That makes it easier to sell them out at relatively low prices to people who are desperate to be property owners, but realistically there are very few people who want to live long-term in units that tiny (and it's essentially impossible for families). So once you've bought a unit that no one actually wants to live in, what do you do with it? Not surprisingly, tourists who would otherwise stay in hotels are fine with apartments the size of hotel rooms...

I think that in theory it's supposed to be for the last two years, but I know people who only uploaded evidence for one year (because their income had only recently risen above the threshold) who were approved.

I've been in one Wine Connection branch that would not serve alcohol from 2-5pm, and another that would happily serve all day. It's quite unpredictable. If you live here full time, it's a minor annoyance, you know it's going to happen, and you can keep alcohol at home if you want to. If you're a tourist who's here for three days and you find that you can't have a beer with your lunch or a glass of wine with your dinner, and you don't understand why, it can put a damper on your holiday. The real absurdity of this "holy day" ban is that it makes little sense from any religious perspective. If you follow the Buddhist precepts, then you never drink alcohol, regardless of what day it is. If you don't follow them, then you do whatever you want, regardless of the day. This attempt to force people to pretend to be good Buddhists by prohibiting alcohol on certain days while permitting it the rest of the time is purely performative.

How so? The road looks well built and in good condition - this appears to be entirely driver error that would have had the same unfortunate result in any country.

I wasn't aware that provinces could make up their own visa regulations. This implies that the meetings with consular officers have some connection with the things that immigration is "ensuring", which they don't. "No warrants" and "no blacklist" simply means that arrivals are run through the immigration database, just as they are at every other checkpoint in the country. "Sufficient funds and a defined itinerary" is also a theoretical requirement at every checkpoint in Thailand, but is virtually never checked, in Phuket or anywhere else. And let's remember that these things are checked in Phuket only for foreigners arriving on the island directly from abroad. For those coming from Bangkok or elsewhere, Phuket immigration never sees them at all.

It's so novel that no one thought of it before, other than every market stall, every retailer, and even the Don Muang airport buses...