Sir Dude

Buri Ram province adminstration and mayor is pretty fascist on a whole bunch of stuff in general, so no surprise here.

At some point, maybe sooner than you think, they will make visa renewal/approval conditional on having had a vaccine. Question will be when they make that a rule, not if.

Well, what you can do Thailand is to create a fairer society where people have hope and can work hard to better themselves if you want to encourage people to have children. As it is now, just to bring one kid up through to the end of university with a bachelor's degree of mediocre worth that will just get them a run-of-the-mill job for 20-25k a month costs a fortune ... and that's assuming they don't screw everything up before then. Things are simply too expensive and you can't just say to everyone "Go forth and multiply" and then expect all the single mothers to pick up the bill and all is well. Hardly a ringing endorsement for bigger families with things as is now. Maybe a Child Support Agency would be a good idea too to reel in errant fathers along with other things addressed.

Very deep attitude changes in society and government will need to happen to fix this problem and it's a problem in many places other than those that really shouldn't be having population explosions.

... and then I woke up.

Well, low emotional intelligence and hissy-fits are fairly cmmon these days and it doesn't take much to trigger people regarding their entitlement. Renting a place is pretty black and white really ... pay the rent or leave.

Well, still behind the snowflakes in the West that think punctuation is harrassment.

E-fuels that can be used in combustion engines that are being currently being developed will be more useful and have a lower carbon footprint than EVs.... problem is, that vested interests/big business have decided on EVs and investments have been made. To make EVs ubiquitous, then it's not just about infrastructure and associated practicality challenges but also about where all the electricity comes from as the scale-up will need to be huge, and that's before we even get started on the issues regarding lithium batteries and their sourcing/disposal etc. It's going to take longer than the rose-tinted glasses brigade think and the logical step would be to go e-fuels first and slowly phase out oil/coal reliance. Also, countries like Thailand will have to figure out how to meet the changeover and up-take goals but still be about to scam it somehow. 

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The new speed limit will assist with traffic flow while boosting convenience and safety for road users, the minister said.

What have you been smoking?

We are not immigrants and our visas say so whether you are married, retired or working. We are "Aliens" ... whatever that equates to in their unique minds.

Haha ... "Let's Embezzle Together" pretty much sums it up here very well.

A little more clarity on interprovincial travel via road in private car or bike would be nice.

Even on the TAT site it merely says for all zones...

"√ Screening in place for Thai travellers, especially those from the maximum and high controlled areas."

What that exactly entails and what you need to do/have when crossing provincial borders would be helpful to know, but it seems to be something a bit ambiguous at the moment ... unless,of course, we are just supposed to experience the whim of the local fuedal lord governor and his wishes on the subject, which isn't helpful.

If I have to pay for a vaccine, then fine ... not a big drama really. This gives me choice and control over which vaccine, when and the environment it will be administered in. All I know is I'm not taking the Chinese one. Personally, I'm thinking the Johnson & Johnson one might be the way to go if it gets final approval at the end of stage 3 trials as it's only one jab and it's effectiveness is rumoured to be very good/promising. By the time they get round to making everyone have a vaccine, then there will be a fair few to choose from and much more known about the pros/cons of each. Until then, I'll be keeping fit, wearing a mask and taking zinc+vit c+echinacea+vitamin D every day.

This is just the next step in the slow authoritarian "creep" that is happening. Thailand is heading toward all things China, especially on things like this. They just have to phase it in really slowly.

All the cops need to do is go round Bird's (silly name for a guy) mommy's house and he'll be there.

Got Arab dudes stamped all over it ... from the 10 year-old Miami Vice white Benz with the extra big non-stock badge on the front to showing off at a ridiculous time of day whilst not being able to handle their booze and trying to be hard plus some animal cruelty thrown in for good measure.

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... Comptroller-General's Department

Haha ... quality really.

Nice!

OK, looks like a Biden win and the Dems will take the House, which I'm sure they will be happy about of course.

However, the celebrations are somewhat mooted as it has hardly turned out as expected with Trump getting over 80 million votes and states being decided on razor-thin margins either way ... not a "blue wave" at all, more like a ripple. Also, the Dems have lost 10 seats in Congress, not going to get control of the Senate and the Supreme Court is 6-3 against them. So, all-in-all, the Republicans will be exhaling a huge sigh of relief and be thinking that this is not that bad considering what we were led to believe. Once again, the mainstream media, social media, big business, polling companies and others showed their bias and arrogance by getting the figures completely wrong (same as last time). There seems to be plenty of closet conservatives that won't say so due to the venom of society and backlash if you don't say you're a raving lefty (cancel culture/social media trolling or getting fired from your job etc.).

Biden might have to pull out the "rule by executive order" book too as getting anything meaningful through the Senate will be hard. The figures again show the gaping divide between the metropolitan/coastal areas and everywhere else and almost looks like it is pretty much a 50-50 split in American society ... even though we were led to believe otherwise. If either of the two sides is happiest with the result, then I'd be tempted to say it's the Republicans even if they lose the WH.

One thing Trump has managed though is that his four-year presidency with be talked about, diagnosed and debated for decades.

Just a quick update on my application. Got the notification back that passport is ready for collection the other day, so that's 3 weeks from application day. The application only took about 4 days to get to the UK and the payment to go through if nothing wrong ... so, pretty quick at the moment.

Other thing worth mentioning is that they are now closing at 2 pm because of the protests and say that if you are collecting your passport, then you should come from 11 am - 1 pm and applications are taken from 08:30 -13:00.

I went and did my application for a new passport on Wednesday so will give an up-to-date brief report for any interested. VFS office has temporarily moved to the 28th floor from their usual place on the 8th and there is a notice up explaining everything and where to go (maybe it's been there for a while though). Went in with all the required documents and was in there for about 20 minutes, pretty quick if you are organised with all the right paperwork done.

Spoke to the woman dealing with me and the following was what I was told:

1 - No need to countersign photos 

2 - No need to make an appointment to collect it but was told come on a Mon/Wed/Fri between 13:00-15:00 after being notified it was there 

3 - Would take 4 weeks

4 - Got an application number texted to me same day in the afternoon that they forward to the HMPO (for tracking or contact I guess)

As proof of address I used a confirmation letter of employment from my employer which also said where I lived plus I gave them a copy of my Thai driver license as your address should be on the back in English (apparently that is fine for address proof).

Filling in the passport application form was a breeze really as if you are just renewing for yourself as an adult, then it's only sections 1, 2, 3 and 9.

As for countersigning photos (just to be clear the staff member didn't obviously say the following), then I guess you might have to get it done if you have gone the whole 9 yards and changed gender or something radical like so and you turn up dressed as a female and your old passport has some stubbly gruff looking guy pictured and your name was Derek ... but now has been officially changed to Michelle (or vice versa woman to man). Could be an interview there too but other than that sort of level, then I think you're good-to-go on this one.

Overall though, very professional and no messing around by VFS if you have what they need. Done without any drama, nice. Good time to go get it done as very few people there.