John Drake

Xi is becoming Mao 2.0. The good times for Thai tourism from China are not coming back. Travel outside of China for Chinese is becoming much more difficult and will become even more difficult in the future.

Both PTP and the military are already de facto Chinese/Russian allies.

Obviously, true.

The man couldn't go a day without aircon.

The man is a two-timer.

At this stage, does he care?

A long time for someone that old. He won't wait.

I acknowledge Thaksin's political skills and tactics. He does hold an antipathy, however, for people from the West. The prospect of a Thaksin backed coalition should give expatriates some degree of concern. We might soon be missing the good ole days of Prayuth. The real challenge to Thailand's immigration laws currently comes from Chinese and Russian visa holders. Yet they're skating right past. Pita's background and ancestry, OTOH, seemingly had nothing to do with the position he or his political party took. In fact, it was the opposite. He appeared to promote egalitarian ideals that undercut the power and control of the Chinese power elite.

Going to take down Weibo too?

The man from Uncle.

Prayuth better than Prawit. But Prawit better than Anutin.

Thaksin and family always seem to be a step ahead of their adversaries. They could have a surprise in store for everyone.

The encyclopedias will arrive next Thursday.

That's how colonialism works. The mother country imports low priced raw material and commodities, while exporting back to the colony high cost manufactured goods. The imbalance is obvious, as is the mercantile nature of the arrangement.

And it's going to get worse. Thailand has applied to join BRICS. When that happens, the flood becomes a tsunami.

Become friends with the dog. It's your only hope.

Didn't that one hang himself? Or is that another German?

The woman living diagonally across the street from me recently asked my landlady if anyone was living in the house I rent? I've been there for 13 years.

I wasn't referring to their ancestry but their political orientation. This conspiracy/unity government was put together, apparently, in Hong Kong. Knowing what is at stake in Thailand, not to mention Myanmar, which will now find yet another Thai government condoning and supporting the Myanmar military's dictatorship, it's clear that the tilt to China and Russia has now become an all out hard turn.

This is a China Unity government. China now owns this country lock, stock, and barrel. Whatever was waiting to be picked over and decided on all has been gobbled up. From Thaksin to Anutin to Prawit, they're sons of China.

Russians aren't coming through the immigration turnstiles because they've rooted themselves and aren't going to leave. The Chinese on the other hand mostly will go home.

Will the Chinese embassy still require Thailand to funnel Thai visa applications through them and have the authority to approve or disapprove Thai visas?

The PTP campaign message was that the political parties it now wants to avoid offending and taking sides against were the same political parties causing the "crises confronted by the country."

Sorry about describing your situation incorrectly. I do know you were the one who opened my eyes to this potential change almost a year or so ago.

You're correct. The last time I need a 12 month bank statement, not for immigration, I was told by Bangkok Bank that it would take a week to process. They issued the receipt with a blue stamp the day of the request/payment. But the pdfs of the bank statement actually arrived a day later through email.