khunjeff

The name of the person making the announcement is Phantana, not Thanana (his name is even shown in the photo), and he's a Major General, not a Colonel. Itthipol is a Lieutenant General, not a Major General. And Big Joke Surachet is a full General, not a Lieutenant Colonel. This isn't hard.

The head of AOT keeps giving the same speech again and again in response to every crisis: we're bringing on 200, 400, 800 extra staff to guide people through the procedures!! Guess what? Passengers know where to go, that's why they're in the queues - the problem is the number and speed of security and immigration stations, not people getting lost on the way there. And the bizarre repetition of how great the electronic check-in kiosks are...which the airlines didn't ask for, which WE are paying for through an increase in the airport fee, and which will NOT ...since every airline still needs to examine travel documents, weigh bags, etc. This is really getting tiresome.

Does the airport currently have any scheduled flights at all?

And yet these crackdowns never seem to target overcharging and law breaking by registered taxis, which affect the well-being of tourists far more than these illegal private cars that are so vexatious to the authorities.

What is complex about a prison brawl? 🤔

Oh my god, the brilliant detective work involved here! I guess African men standing along the street asking, "want drugs?" might have been the first clue? Luckily it only took 25 years to pierce the veil of this well-hidden enterprise.

He made the statements in 2015, more than eight years ago - what "additional evidence" can possibly be uncovered at this point by "further investigation"?

As usual, this is either poor reporting or just nonsense. How can AOT - an airport management company - bring on immigration officers, who belong to the police? Are we talking about actual officers at the counters, or just more officious teenage queue managers in red vests? Immigration has told us repeatedly, every time there's a negative news story about long queues, that all 119 counters are staffed, and that the problem is those pesky flights that just keep landing. So where is the "30% shortage"? Or is AOT finally admitting that the previous claims were nonsense? Or are they only talking about "queue managers"? So are these the same 200 new staff mentioned above (in which case they won't be manning the counters, just waving their arms and shouting), or 200 support staff in addition to 200 more officers? Pro tip: if there aren't enough actual officers to process everyone in a timely fashion, no extra number of facilitators will speed up the process.

Yes, the problem isn't massive overcharging, refusal to abide by regulations, grossly inflated fares, or mafia thuggery, it's...private cars. Glad they have their priorities straight.

Nothing clandestine about it - they're sold openly everywhere...

We do indeed have the same friend. It's definitely possible that they've relaxed the rule on VND export, or they just don't care. It's pretty clear that their main interest is in folks taking out lots of foreign currency.

The bill was drafted years ago. Exactly what "process" is still incomplete? Submit the bill, debate it, hold hearings or whatever they do, and vote on it. Don't keep talking about how much you want to pass it without actually doing anything.

Wait, won't he have to be picked up by an ambulance and taken directly to a private hospital? We've been told that the poor fellow is practically at death's door...

Vietnam requires a declaration when taking over 5k USD or 15 million VND (about $600) either in or out of the country. And the person who questioned the OP wasn't a security guard, it was a customs officer. In Vietnam, customs officers sit next to the security screeners (you can see the different uniform) and look for cash and contraband. As you say, the screeners themselves are only looking for items that pose a danger to aviation. (Anyone who ever flew to VN years ago may recall that customs used to have its own x-ray machines just before immigration - they have since streamlined the system by having customs share a checkpoint with security.) I wonder whether we have the same friend, because the exact same thing (with the same amount of money) happened to a friend of mine. To this day I have no idea why they happened to talk to him when he came through the green lane, something that virtually never happens.

"Thongchai said the number of accidents did not significantly increase after allowing entertainment venues in assigned areas to stay open until 4am. Nevertheless, accidents related to drunk driving increased by 25% following the extension of opening hours." The number of accidents didn't increase, but it did increase? Am I missing something? I also have no idea how drunk driving in the wee hours after a night of boozing has any connection to what might happen for three hours in the middle of the afternoon.

The Fast Track area you're looking for is at "Immigration 2", but it's not clearly labeled as such - as mentioned, just follow the "Visa on Arrival" signs, and you'll find Fast Track just to the right. The sign below is next to the entrance, but you can't see it until you're right there. I've never had any issues getting in, because the entrance is screened by an immigration officer, not a guard. For departures, though, LTR is not listed on the sign (only the cryptic "BOI" and "Long Stay"), and the entrances (on the far left and get right of the check-in hall) are guarded by young contractors who know nothing about the rules. They've never tried to deny me entry, but I have had to press the issue once or twice.

I'm sure that's true, but the question was about whether Thailand produces fabric, not whether it grows cotton!

"Regarding the Wing 41 plan, motorists could be required to register with the RTAF and possibly undergo background checks if they are allowed to enter the base. Vehicles entering this security zone could also be inspected." Yes, that certainly sounds like a sensible and efficient way to operate a public highway intended to improve traffic flow 🙄

"In the first 11 months of 2021, Thailand exported 64.8 billion baht of garments and 188.6 billion baht of textiles, Thai Garment Manufacturers Association president Yuttana Silpsarnvitch revealed." https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/business/40010776

Every time a photo of an endless airport queue appears on social media, they make a statement that all immigration counters were staffed and so it wasn't their fault. If all the counters are already manned, how can they increase staffing above 100%? 🤔

Thai authorities keep saying that they have registered copyright for elephant pants, but with no explanation of exactly who claims the rights and over exactly which intellectual property - the concept of "loose trousers with fabric designs involving elephants" is not one that could be registered in any country that I'm aware of, and a government can't claim rights for something that it didn't create by itself or through its employees. They also state that this supposed registration was just done within the last week or so, which certainly calls into question how imports prior to that registration could have been "illegal".

Gosh, ya think? It's not a bug, it's a feature...

In what sense are these "illegal" imports, when I believe Thailand and China have a free trade agreement? And in what sense are they "knock-offs", when there is no original, "legal" design to copy? And just how was a claim to copyright filed, when there is almost certainly no known "author" of the original print, and there are hundreds of variant fabric designs?

There are dozens or hundreds of different "patterns" used for elephant pants, did they "copyright" all of them? And who was the original "author" who is claiming this alleged copyright? The word copyright has a specific legal meaning, and a country can't just wave it around as a way of blocking legal imports that they don't like.

I don't think the concept of "pants" can be patented - I'm fairly certain that the revolutionary idea of "clothes covering the legs" existed prior to the advent of elephant pants. Copyright? No, there's nothing written that can be given protection. Trademark? "Pictures of elephants on rayon fabric" doesn't represent any identifiable business or enterprise that I know of. If someone is stealing an exact fabric pattern, then sure, maybe you can send them a cease and desist letter (though good luck with that). But protecting the notion of loose trousers with designs involving pachyderms? Nah.