paul1804

Yes he could but he needs to stand by his election promise to stamp out corruption, I see nothing in this area except more corruption and little being done to show that this is no longer acceptable. This is step 1 for Thailand, if they cannot control this they will always be a developing nation struggling to maintain political stability. Step 2 would be to make ministers at all levels accountable for their actions and comments, the lies and cover ups are constant and gives the people no confidence in their leaders. The poll interviewed just over 1,000 people and most likely from one area so that would hardly be a fair representation for a nation of 70 plus million people. Thailand is my choice of country to live in, the majority of people are really great and the nation has great potential but please elect your leaders wisely and hold them to their election promises for a better country for you and your children.

IT is beggars belief what goes on in LOS with their elected ( supposed to be ) leaders, 1 million Pfizer doses waiting to be sent but cannot because paperwork not completed by Thailand! If this is true it is treasonous given the current situation, why is this tolerated by the General and people of Thailand!

Thankfully someone on here has spoken some sense, vacinatted tourists are not the reason there are 200 plus new covid cases daily in Phuket and if 30,000 plus foriegn tourists visited the island in the last 2 months that's better than the previous 6 months so whilst nothing like the figures touted by TAT which we all laughed at you cannot say its a failure. It has proven that vaccinated tourists are low risk covid spreaders and the very reason why Thailand should slowly reopen the country, people need money, busineses need money, the government needs money and life has to go on with or without Covid! <deleted>

The problem is there are actually a lot of quite poor Thais so for public hospitals I think there should be a base fee to cover those that are needy! Not sure how this would be applied but definitley not all Thais are flush with cash.

I have said this before the Chinese group tourists are predominately on budget tours of which much is prepaid so the bulk of the money stays with the Chinese and doesnt get circulated in the community like with most other asian & western tourists. It is my observation that these budget groups eat a lot of street food, frequent 7/11 and Thai roadside kitchens rather than dine in restaurants which of course they have every right to dine where and how they choose to but point is the money actually spent here is very small in comparison to other tourists so I do not understand why the Thai authorities are so focused on accommodating this kind of tourist! They are rather outspoken about discouraging back packers but I have to say the same back packers support a certain market here and do support restaurants and bars!

very true, unbelievable what people say sometimes! those it applies to should be very happy its that easy. Those of us that own a business and employ people are thankful that these people are here as they are helping to support the community.

Well maybe the light is on at home!!! If Thailand is actually serious about attracting well off tourists and residents this is one scenario that really annoys people and that is the ridiculous taxes on imported alcohol. Thai people probably don't realise that in most wine producing countries wine with dinner is common place and almost the same price as bottled water etc. By reducing the duty and excise on wine & spirits to a level in line with other tourists destinations like Hong Kong for example I would reckon Thailand customs will increase revenue by the surge in sales! That is as long as the reduction is sensible and without being negative remember which country we are in lol, LOS!

In five years it will be Chailand!!!

Sadly the Thai authorities have this ridiculous idea that alcohol is the demon of Covid, Samui is supposed to be in a promoting tourism mode and yet we have this ban on alcohol in restaurants. You can purchase any amount you wish at any supermarket, meet with friends and get stupidly drunk and yet you cannot have a couple of beers in a controlled situation with your meal. It is just hypocrisy & stupidity meanwhile the majority of restaurants that have managed to stay open are operating at a loss hindered by the stupidity of the officials!!! Now they arrest people playing pool, what next!!

It is a start in the right direction but needs to be 10 times that to have any real positive effect on those businesses that have been able to stay in business & the local economy. Those of us that have been able to keep our doors open at a substantial financial loss and severe unemployment have some catching up to do. But the provincial administration has contributed to our demise in a number of ways through thoughtless policies, greed, rules and bans. I have asked this question many times, what does an alcohol ban in legitimate restaurants have to do with covid? I see no obvious or sensible connection between the 2. It is ok for all the retail outlets to sell alcohol in quantities as large as they wish yet a restaurant cannot serve a beer or glass of wine to a guest who is dining in. Samui plus was supposed to be operating under a different set of rules to Surat Thani mainland yet we get lumped into the same thoughtless process because the authorities are either to lazy or lack the foresight to see that this is further contributing to the demise of the local economy and the business houses!!! Many Thai owned businesses that serve food and alcohol are not happy with this yet they remain silent like sheep and listen to the sheep like intelligence of those in places of law enforcement, the same very people they voted for!!!!

As westerners it is often so difficult to understand the Thai way where the process is mostly so blatantly floored. So this guy attempted murder 8 years ago so obviously he is a low life, hopefully the court process will address his sentence to fit the crime, ie a life for a life given his track record. If the guy had been selling meths or heroine he would be in for 20 years, very difficult to understand the Thai judicery and the sentencing system. Joe Ferrai, a policemen that killed a suspect while in his custody will probably get three years in some cosy section of the prison with full priorities etc yet he was a senior law enforcement officer apparently trying to extract money from a drug dealer! Hard to get your head around the Thai way!!!!!

Probably another flip flop after this doctors 2 cents worth based on what!! He gets paid regardless of wether the country is in lock down or whatever so has no thought of some balance between getting the economy going and getting lots of unemloyed people back to work so they can feed their family and pay for medical etc etc or staying locked down. Yes there will be more covid cases emerging when they open but so has the rest of the world despite lock downs and all the other restrictions. The planet has to go on and cannot sustain these continual lock downs & draconian control measures indefinitely. There will be anarchy, more poverty, more lawlessness, strikes, protests, disruptions, more suicides and so on. So we have these supposed professionals making life changing descisions based on what, monitary driven agendas for the elite and Big Pharma!!!

Yes agree with the above, the biggest single hurdle Thailand faces is Corruption, it is where progress in the right direction stops. Those in a position of power including uniformed enforcers & Hisos have the potential to become very wealthy very quickly because of the endemic corruption in Thai society. Most have their snouts in the trough and sadly there is no sign of any changes in the near future apart from the Bangkok protests which are mostly about current leadership and corruption. Thailand would like to lure wealthy foreigners and doesnt understand that to make Thailand attractive to foreign investors is to improve the visa system, overhaul the banking system in regards to remitting overseas. Stamp out corruption and make land ownership practical, stop having a love affair with China & the Chinese, treat them only as an equal to other countries wether they are western or Asian countries. The Chinese are not here for a sun tan, they want power, land and money and do not care how that is achieved, the consequences on society and the environment. Thailand is a jewel and most of the people are fantastic but going down the current road that they are on doesnt look good for the average Thai person.

Yes big Pharma or should I say its share holders have a lot to answer for and the Covid vaccine is no different, how many leading doctors and medical universities/institutes from the USA, Great Britain & Australia wrote papers on the positive use of Hydroxychloroquine, Zinc & antibiotics for the treatment of the covid virus which has been a known virus since 1999. Yet when this strand of Covid came along we needed to suddenly develop a vaccine and Hydroxychloroquine which is listed as an essential medicine and had been used since 1934 was advised by the FDC to be taken off the market. This is because WHO, Dr Fauci and cohorts needed to make more money and send the world into a tail spin. If you don't believe me research Dr Fauci, his net worth and the income he nets from "other" income! Also why he is currently under investigation for not being truthful about the virus and the Wuhan Institute!! Then research Hydroxychloroquine and it uses showing no known side effects. The entire debacle is a bloody disgrace for humanity and both the USA and China are aware of the truth and that includes WHO who are in this BS as much as anyone. I am not anti vaccine or saying the Covid vaccine is bad but if past experiences of vaccines is anything to go by there is a good chance it may not be in our best interests. I have recently had my first Pfizer shot so I am hoping that this one is less harmful than some in the past!

If & when you have had 2 Pfizer shots it is now recommended that your third booster shot also be Pfizer but Moderna is also an Why would it be wise to get a non mRNA vaccine after already having had 2, they trialed it in Israel with 3 Pfizer shots and it apparently is working very well !!!

I would dispute that the Chinese were the biggest spenders in 2017, which Thai brown paper bag minister or official told you that!!

Yes agree that lots of businesses are closed but you miss the real point that with most of the tourists from the countries mentioned are on pre paid and or budget packages so Thailand see a much lesser % of their holiday spending. I am not saying these tourists should not come but the Thai authorities keep harping on how these visitors will be our saving grace which is so far from reality. Target those who will come here and spend, the money will go round internally and benefit all including those businesses that you mention as well as 5 star hotels to street vendors & local markets!! So obvious yet the authorities like you don't see the real bigger picture!

Actually it does make sense if the figures are accurate??? its very much like the rest of the planet. People with pre existing health issues are vulnerable, average age of those who died is 67 with 12,239 of the 13,637 had pre existing health issues which is a little over 11%. Those unvaccinated 84%, 1 x vaccine shot 7.2% & 2 x vaccine shots 8.8%. We know they often publish completely inaccurate figures but they are not unlike the rest of the planet so maybe they are close to the mark. About 90% of covid related fatalities in the USA are unvacinnated people and like Thailand most have pre existing conditions and are elderly.

I would have thought Thailand would have learnt from past visits that most tourists from India & mainland China spend very little, budget flights, hotels, pre arranged tours & dining from street vendors and your 7 elevens etc. Probably stay in foreign owned hotels and frequent foreign owned establishments where most is prepaid in their own country prior so Thailand see very little.

Good points made here and if Thailand doesn't curb the corruption it will never get beyond a developing country stage. However do you think for 1 minute that these guys are going to stop what they have been doing for years and sadly which elected leaders are going to enforce anti corruption policies when most of them are benefiting? To them it would be liking "cutting off their nose to spite their face" as the saying goes. The General assured the people in his election promise that he will stamp it out, I wonder when he is going to start? Corruption is Thailands archillie's heel and if they ever manage to put it behind them this place will definitely be paradise despite the road driving habits which I can live with.

This is a joke Thailand, when are you going to rise above blatant corruption, come on General, live up to your election promise or have you forgotten what that was ?

In all fairness back when he gave the October opening date which was one of his many statements Thailand appeared to be off the Covid hook so he was probably feeling rather cocky, but he didn't have a crystal ball and got it wrong sadly for Thailand! What he should have stated was if we continue with the few infections we currently have we could open as soon as October 1st! You shouldn't knock the guy for being optimistic!

Do you know how much a new Porsche costs in Thailand?? Doctor whoever he is, is obviously well remunirated wether it be legitimate or otherwise. To kill the occupants of a car from a rear impact means the guy must have been travelling at high speed! I wonder if the booze test of 44 should be 104???

The biggest load of BS you have ever heard, it will most likely end up like the Red Bull case, all smoke and mirrors and no action. He is guilty of so many things yet he will with the help of his corrupt cronies get off most of the charges whatever they are. Even the top dogs will not want to loose face as this is so important so there will be cover up after cover up. Lets hope social media and the protesters can keep them partially honest!! oh so sad for this lovely country!!!

Yes that's a good idea but lets make sure that the cause of death is actually Covid and not the nail in the Coffin from a critically ill person and Covid pushed them over the edge!! Those in the upper age brackets with serious pre-existing conditions should be recorded separately.