law ling

Good luck to Thailand, but have they ever heard that "a bird in hand is worth two in the bush"?

1. Pre-pandemic: they spent years pushing people out by cutting down on visa runs and repeat visas.

2. Now I hear (from a few vloggers) that "covid visa extensions" will no longer be offered, and people are leaving.

Good luck to the Thais and their famous soup, and to CNN with their worthy search, but for me that soup is inedible - tried once out of curosity ... never again.

So, if there's a million tickets printed per draw (yes, not all are sold), and if average mark up is B20 (yes, can be more), that's B20 million - every two weeks - into the hands of vendors (over and above their approved commission).

1. You've got to feel for the locals (well, those lucky to be employed) on fixed incomes, who already live on the knife's edge as per their costs for rent, food, etc. Another say 20 baht per day in costs is 600 baht a month.

2. A result perhaps of the government apparently ignoring the swine flu problem ... until it was too late.

1. His thinking is  bit jumbled, as long-term "retirees" are not really "visitors" -  which implies short term come and go.

2. OK, but he ought to state who the alternative groups are.

3. Easy: win an election with a majority (and have all the Senate on side!), form a government, and legislate to your heart's content.

1 hour ago, Guderian said:

Did they tell you anything about the procedure when you return? I should have thought there would be two lines, one for people who've registered like yourself and myself and are returning for the booster, and one for people who are registering and will be told to come back. When I was there, though, I didn't see another line, did you? Maybe I was focusing on the registration place on the north side of the mall, while the vaccinations seemed to be given across it on the south side? When we return, perhaps we should just go straight to the place on the south side and we can then avoid the masses queuing to register? Well, I live in hope.

Yes, the north side was for registration, and the south side was another queue for those to be vaxed (who seemed to be clutching a queue number, or some small bit of paper).

I was told no more than the date to return and the time (11 to 14:30).

31 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Can anyone say whether the RGP vaccine thingie is open THIS week or not?

Yes, it was open today.

1. First, it's a long queue for about an hour, then

2. At the reception desk, non-Thais like me join another (and this time, a disorganised) queue ... wait time: another 45 minutes. Many in this second queue were agents or fixers who had a dozen passports, etc, which made processing very slow.

3. Then you got processed - which involved the guy entering all your information on computer - even though I had Mor Prom, a vaccine certificate, etc ... seemed like they were starting everything from scratch (i.e. they are not linked to previously gathered and recorded information).

4. Then I was told to return on 20 January for the jab.

Just short of two hours in a crowded, enclosed space ... (you have been warned!) just to get an appointment over a week away ... in all, a shambles, I thought.

The up-side: Dairy Queen is open on the ground floor.

I think the porous land borders have been a greater "loophole" ... but the guy is a Dr. so I won't argue with him.

Why didn't he speak up earlier? 

Test & Go is a child of the government ... so he's just made himself unpopular ... next time Senate seats need to be allocated.

A guy has a business in a tiny shop space on South Pattaya Road, just three or four doors up from the intersection with Second Road (opposite the school, same side as the temple). 

(Was there a few weeks ago to get some extra holes punched into a leather belt. He charged B20 - so I asked why was it so expensive? - and he explained that it took a lot of effort to get through the leather.)

(Another shoe guy near my place was there for years operating from the sidewalk - always seen up to his elbows in shoes and bags - but gone now ... another covid business casualty.)

Yes, a "good news" story to deflect from all the bad news of late, and to come ...

Government by press release ... money is then allocated for committees to mull ... brothers-in-law, nephews and cousins all usefully employed for a year or two ... then off to lunch.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

... had previous convictions for drug use and theft ...

Charming!

Though, in fairness we're not sure yet if he was knowingly in on the proposed romance scam ... although I have little doubt ... we'll have to let the judge decide that one.

1. This one made me laugh:

"He also said they must attend legislative sessions to pass laws..."

... surely there's an option to reject proposed laws? ... or is it true that everything must be passed?

2. Nothing to do with the speaker as such: there should be laws in place governing how the business of parliment is to be conducted - if opposition (or lazy) members exploit existing loopholes without sanction, then good luck to them.

41 minutes ago, Henryford said:

How many of those were just transits, people going on to less restricted countries.

... or flight crew.

Hmm ... hard to define what is "fake news".

Really two types: 

1. Sharing news you know to be fake, and

2. Sharing news you believe is true, even though it's ultimately found to be fake.

If only the Center could get inside the mind of the ones sharing ...

Many countries simillarly effected to the same or different degrees.

A sluggish vax roll-out, plus porus land borders haven't helped here.

Yes, it would have helped if they'd advised what are the alternative, and safer, ways to chase away bad karma