ArcticFox

Judging by the 10 day outlook on internet weather for Thailand, it looks like we are transitioning into the cool, dry season. The floods will dry and the government can forget about flooding for another 9 or 10 months.

Pretty soon they'll be announcing "work days" to intersperse and breakup all the holidays. ????

Go to a doctor/clinic, obtain enough benzodiazapines (Valium/Diazapam) for two or three nights, pick a time to go to sleep, pick a time to get up and get up when the alarm rings. Your body's clock will reset. Don't use benzos any longer than three days. They are addictive but useful if conservatively used with care. An alternative is Hydroxyzine which is an antihistamine that can make you drowsy. Buy some melatonin (easy to purchase from iHerb.com) and take it when it gets dark. Melotonin is a hormone that will help keep your internal clock regulated. And - exercise during the day. A physically tired body is a body that will go to sleep. Best of luck.

Prayut should have sent his cardboard cut-out to COP26 for all his presence was worth.

Red, yellow, and green. A little color-blind 'eh?

I'm not a Greenie and I don't buy 'man-made' CO2 leading to 'global warming.' However! I'm pro anti-deforestation, pro anti-pollution, pro anti-single-use-plastic (restrictions need to be placed on manufacturers), pro-hybrid energy production (green energy adds to the supply but can never replace it), and pro anti-consumerism (people want more than they need - this includes the rich). The fact that Thailand "refused" to sign on to stop deforestation speaks volumes as it signals that the government will continue to turn a blind eye to the rape and destruction of the forests. They'll assuage their cognitive dissonance by planting a few sampling amid photo-ops and fanfare only to allow most of the planted trees to simply be choked off by weeds and die (I've see it first hand locally). This is a tribute to the power of Big Agriculture which pays minuscule sums of money to poor farmers to plant crops like corn on completely denuded mountains (as in Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Song provinces) and then ruin the air quality yearly when the corn stubble is burned off in the Hot Season creating some of the worst air quality in the world. And the government does? Nothing. So Prayut showing up a COP26 was nothing but a junket and opportunity to spew hot-air. Incredibly sad.

Can I buy some at Big C?

Yet. Then it's "Hello Dubai."

In other words they are continuing to drag their feet until the statue of limitations lapses on all charges.

I image that would be the last night-time entertainment venue to go up in smoke.

I get 52 miles per gallon. I don't care. Bring it on.

It's only achieved by crushing the life out of the average Thai and by implementing a Neo-Feudalistic dystopia.

U-turns are unmitigated Death-Traps. Period.

Come February and the heat and smoke, I wonder how many within TAT and the government will be able to overcome their 'face' and face the fact that highly restrictive and complicated entry requirements have decimated their already floundering foreign tourism and High-Season 2021 - 2022 was a complete wash? What happy-talk with greet us all in 2022? What will they need to recover? "You have two shot?" (stamp stamp). "30 days tourist visa on arrival for you. Welcome to Thailand!"

How many small and medium business have been shut out for two years and now not allowed a place at the gravy-train with the expectations that they'll languish and die-off - as who needs the competition for the shrunken tourism dollars that are drying up and heading to friendly nations without the gauntlet of restrictions?

I got enough corporal punishment in the school systems back in the day. You take your licks and laugh it off. It was a rite-of-passage. However - regarding authority figures. ???? From me authority only gets the respect they earn, and not many earn it in my esteemed opinion. I have no blind respect for any authority figures. Which could be why I got enough corporal punishment in the school systems back in the day. ???? "How can you have some pudding if you don't eat your meat!"

Happy Dayz are here again!!! ***POP*** Champagne corks fly. Then...... <blue and red lights flashing> "You Go Jail. Drink Alcohol. Bad Foreigner!!!"

That's overly optimistic. My guess is that it will never recover as the government's entire focus seems to be to entice wealthy, family tea-toddler to Thailand while discouraging the exact demographics that originally made Thailand a tourist destination in the first place. "Out with the old normal; In with the New Normal." From an economical perspective? It's doomed to failure.

Interesting that the Covid focus turns to the deep south. What better way to utilize 'emergency Covid powers' to keep the perceived (and actual) trouble-makers and dissidents in line. You couldn't lock these people down in normal times - but now? Bam! Somchai's your uncle. How convenient. Never let a good 'emergency' go to waste. Which is why "Covid" will be with us for the long-term as the power that is imparted to governments by emergency decree allows them to keep the public in check for the long-haul. The 'emergency' may never be revoked as it's the ultimate control lever.

Lord only knows that Thailand would never want to have a representative of oppressed minorities actually having a voice in policy making. That would be opening a can of worms. Just another example of how institutional racism rules the roost. Thais need to protect the purity of national bloodlines. To hell with all 'outsiders.'

Implementing Neo-Prohibition is essentially throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The new estimates are 4 years to full tourism recovery. That, imho, is optimistic. As far as I'm concerned New Normal tourism will never reach the heights of pre-2019 tourism. Their dreams of 'rich, well heeled' tourists and a family paradise of tea-toddlers is just that - a pipe dream.

Not true. You can buy anti-depressants over-the-counter in Thai pharmacies.

Mitral valve prolapse and thyroid issues can cause "panic" like symptoms. If it was me I'd get checked out by a doctor. Like others mentioned, perhaps Sheryl can assist with recommendations. As far a anti-depressants, I was prescribed meds for anxiety and 'depression' after a tragic personal loss. I used them for about a year. Do they 'work?' Well, they make things different, which doesn't necessarily mean better. Just different. Getting off of anti-depressants is like weening off of pain meds or other drugs that create a physical dependence. It's a slow process of tapering. The doctor was incensed - "You're clinically depressed!!! You need the meds." My answer was "No I'm not" and No I don't." I hit a bump in life. I got over it and moved on. Found a different doctor too. Doctors are not gods, they are a source of options. Only you can make the final informed decision on what treatment you feel you need.

Sounds like the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence.

Findings of these studies suggest that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection via the fomite transmission route is low, and generally less than 1 in 10,000, which means that each contact with a contaminated surface has less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of causing an infection. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/science-and-research/surface-transmission.html Mysophobia https://www.psycom.net/mysophobia-germophobia