WinterGael

My friends and family are Thai, and my opinions come from them. And I've had very good talks with highly educated Thais who set me straight on just how few people truly benefit form tourism and also have made me understand that tourism has many downsides for the average Thai.

Well, right off the start I have to comment on where tourists go. From my experience, you want to be around Westerners, go to the bars and party roads. You want to be around non Westerners, go to wats and cultural venues. Even at high tourist times, when my wife and I go to a wat, oft times I am the only Westerner there, even at some of the most famous ways. That said, I am in 100% agreement with maintaining at a minimum the present rules governing the sale of alcohol. They are already more lenient than in my home country, so why should Thailand want tourists to act differently here than they would at home? I find the concept that Thailand must sell its soul for the pleasure of tourist dollars (which really do not affect the majority) to be deeply disturbing. And so do Thais. Over the past few years, due to COVID, my friends and family have been enjoying the beaches and recreational attractions around Thailand. For almost all of them, it is a first. This surprised me, but then they tell me that before there were too many tourists and they did not feel comfortable going with all the "farangs" there. I know many really dislike places like Pataya and Phuket where it seems being Thai is being second class.

So you are promoting the idea that Thailand become the prostitute of Southeast Asia? I think the Thai government is doing enough of that. I wouldn't want that in my home country, sure would not want it here. Need to promote honest business, not further corruption.

TAT walks a fineline on this one. On one side they want tourists because, simply put, they need those tourist baht (a strong sign the Thai economy and economic lead in SEA is on the decline), and on the other side, they have to deal with a population that numerous times have made it known that they do not approve of mass tourism from anywhere. I once talked to along yerm expat from Pattaya who told me Thai tourism works like this. The Thais involved in it want you to come for a couple of weeks, spend as much as you can, then get the hell out. And that's pretty much what Thai friends in the industry have told me, too (with the caveat, we not mean you). But that said, will extending visas really earn that much more? From family and friends who travel here, outside of hotels and restaurants, I'm not convinced. I've had friends come for 10 days and spend 40,000 baht after hotel and food. I've had others come for 60 days and spend 50,000 after hotel and food. How much one spends is a factor of how uch you can afford (seems like people come to Thailand for the cheapo holiday) and not so much how long you want to stay.

Not sure where your coming from on this one. After having read disks on a truck, give me drums everyday. And it's not like the rear breaks do the majority of the stopping. Drove around for a month with no rear breaks without ever a stopping issue. And as for engine power vs breaking ability, the one thing I hate about Thai trucks and cars is how underpowered they are compared to what I'm used to back home, same car, same model. Your argument should be thank god they aren't as powerful as North American trucks.

In Thailand it's not so mind boggling. Thailand has some of the worst roads I've ever driven on. As a former road builder, I honestly don't think they know how to build them or maintain their roads. I've driven perfectly straight roads, doing 10/15 kph under posted speed and almost lost it because of a pothole the size of a dog that you couldn't see because of the dip in the road. 6 months later, and the pothole was still there... along with chewed up grass to the side.

Yes... Reading this, I'm asking myself was the survey of farangs or Thais. Since the lifting of the mask mandate I've been from Tayong to Ubon and have yet to see any real sign if masks being g dropped outside of farangs. In my village park, neigh outs had relaxed their mask usage, but in the past week it's back to 99% usage. So I've put mine back on, too. It's how I get along with the neighbours and why I'm liked in the village.

I'm not on here to quote every journal and printed report. If I were, you couldn't make an uniformed, wishful thinking, mainstream approved comment like this. I have friends in healthcare as I used towirk in a hospital lab. You ain't hear nothing yet...

While I agree with a lot you say, numbers and stats show a different trend. I saw a 2018 stat on Thai tourism that pegged 60+% males from the west cine here for the girls, beer, and partying. If that trend continues, pot will just add to that demographic. And yes, Thai people can be friendly and welcoming in tourist orientated towns. Their livelihood depends on it. But in all my years listening to friends and family who traveled here, few talk about the Thai people as being a big draw. Some truthfully felt Thai were rude and discriminatory. But for the men, and from what I've seen, I agree with the stats, Thai women are the big draw.

Live in Thailand, but used to work in healthcare in home country, so still have lots of friends working in hospitals there. From the news, I see very few reported cases of adverse vaccine reactions. That does not reflect the cases seen in the healthcare system where they are almost regular. That said, it is known that the mRNA vaccines are causing cardiac issues. Also, there are reports out of Europe that said vaccines are causing issues with our immune systems such that while gaining some protection from COVID, our bodies won't be able to deal as they once did with other infections. This is interesting in that excess deaths are being reported that are not caused by COVID.

The news stated that the cancellations were due to employee absence due to the spike in employees having COVID; ie. too many sick at the same time. They do notbhave the staff to replace them. Not because of lack of training.

My village was doing great. Everyone very careful. No one caught COVID. Then the vaccines came, everybody vaccinated 2, 3, 4 times. Now the only people know who have caught COVID all were vaccinated. Half the people in the village have had it now at least once. All the vaccines did was cause people to let their guard down.

Think again. Reports are saying BA.5 and the new BA.2.75 (nomenclature) may be the worst yet, and they are evading previous immunity.

My wife and I are multivaxed. Both of us caught COVID at an outdoor concert. She was sick for 5 days, pretty much like a cold although still tired all the time five weeks later. For me, it was one of the worst periods of being sick ever. And five weeks later, still dealing with a cough and breathing issues. Just depends how it hits you. The more concerning thing is the fact that people who had COVID with no symptoms are showing up at their doctors with organ damage 6 months, a year later, caused by the virus.

Have read 2 editorials out of UK stating the government has failed the country by lifting mask mandates and other preventatice measures. Same in US, Canada, other countries. They're argument is simple: we need to learn to live with this to avoid the economic crash we had in 2020/2021, and dropping masks, allowing large groups is not going to do that. It risks putting our economies right back where we were 2 years ago because vaccines aren't keeping up and herd immunity a lost cause. And simply letting it spread could lead to a new strain we can't control. So the pressure is out there to reinstate preventative measures.