NanaSomchai

Team 26 EU.

That leaves the 26 EU countries, we're back to early 2000's era. Most of us are vaxxed (I'm not) as such we are barely recovering (apart from the British idiots, but they are a different can of worms). The main issue is the Thais have their heads so far deep in the sand, they are not seeing the bigger picture; we, Europeans just went through a full year and half of mixed quarantine period, economic losses & turndowns and such, in which millions of jobs have been destroyed, we're low on cash and holidays (specially to Thailand) cost money. We, European citizens are barely starting to recover from this economic recession, lots of unpaid bills left to pay (besides the cost of electricity/power/gas just went through the roof) yet the Thais expect us to pull the funds to travel to the Kingdom for leisure reasons? Where are we supposed to get the money from? From our buttocks? Not happening for another year. At the very least. And then you eventually fly into the Kingdom, book an ASQ, SHA+, jump through all the hoops only to be met with a Kingdom being turned into a police ran totalitarian state where you must be tracked 24/7, with a ban on booze, with no bars, no girls, no nightlife and the looming risks of curfews being reinstated left and right at any whim? No thanks. I'll pass for now!

Coming to Thailand as it is now is like installing beta or pre-alpha software on your computer and then complaining that "it doesn't work". Better sit back home and watch quietly the story unfold before your very eyes, let the early adopters and "beta" testers do the testing for you, ironing out the bugs and then see how that goes for them first before eventually taking the plunge. I pity the fools trying to return to the Kingdom right now, I really do.

Trust the Czar!

Welcome to a Totalitarian State! Btw, where's your Mor Chana app sir? That'll be a 500 baht fine, sir! Cash only...!

No beer bar girls = no toursits. (Typo included).

'tis be the thread evey'one been lookin' fo'!

555

What about Tupac and Biggie?

Like a submarine with an unicorn painted on it's side?

Cute, soft and romantic. Perfect answer.

Me: How much? Her: Short time or long time?

Fair enough. spidermike007 Man of the Year 2022.

spidermike007 for President!

Is it called the EricZemmour drug? If so, I hope you're taking it in April 2022, myself I know I will.

It's always someone else's fault, ain't it? Thai logic 101. This country's done for until they change their mindset.

To part away with your hard earned money? What else...?

Just like they tried to replace Westerners with Russians first. Proof: If you are from the Pattaya area, turn right heading south onto Sukhumvit Road towards Sattahip, as you ride through the border towns south of Patts you will notice shops and stalls with boards and ads in full Ruski, this was their plan about 8 years ago. Then as they realized the Russkis were done with being fleeced they tried pulling the same stuff with the Chinese. Proof: Again from Pattaya's center, you will always see the main road in front of the Wat Chai Mongkol temple clogged with very large buses filled with the so called 0$ Chinese tourists, the same tourists you see in groups strolling through Walking Street. Then a few months ago, TAT announced that the Indians were the targeted tourist crowd as the Indians are allegedly fond of Thailand and bla bla bla, not too far from the Kingdom either and bla bla bla. Then oops, all of a sudden India got hit with a major outburst of their own very contagious delta variant strain of the COVID-19 virus so the India plan was scrapped from even happening. Then the COE stuff was instated and as the TAT saw a rapid decline of COVID-19 cases all across Europe they went all over the Phuket sandbox program then hinted there would be one for Chiang Mai, for Hua-Hin, for Pattaya, sandboxes everywhere across the Kingdom but... it was ultimately a failure. So guess what? Now they are targeting neighboring countries, trying to get their $$$. In fact to understand Thai logic one needs to look at history all the way back to the 70's when it was the Americans who first discovered and set a foot in Pattaya which is then what ultimately shaped and forged Thailand's reputation/image as a touristic destination "where your naughtiest dreams can become a reality" for the decades to follow (an image that the puritains asleep at the wheel are trying to destroy very hard mind you, but that's a debate for another topic, I digress). It's an endless cycle really. Americans (70s-90s) -> Europeans (90s to 2000s) -> Scandinavians (2000s to 2005'ish, Nordic condo and all that jazz in Pratamnak and Jomtien) -> Russians and Europeans (2005 to 2015) -> Chinese (2015 -> 2020) -> Indians (2020-2021) -> Europeans (Circa 2021) -> Their neighboring countries (2022'ish) -> ??? Watch this space, only a matter of time until the Aussies are their next target. TAT really are desperate and will target any demographics at this point. In fact, one could argue they don't event want TOURISTS at this point, which is why they are making it super complex to either travel for leisure or retire in Thailand at the moment, they want our MONEY. And rest assured they'll do anything and they'll say almost anything for MONEY.

Care to elaborate a bit more on that? Thanks in advance.

- Cambodia has resumed the issuance of tourists visas with a NEW visa called Type E since the 19th of this month, way easier to get than a Thai visa. - Laos nothing yet but my reports on the field seem to indicate this is happening soon'ish. Stay tuned. For Cambodia, check out, the official link https://www.evisa.gov.kh/ For Laos, be patient. In fact getting a visa for these destinations is no longer much of an issue for most of us, the real hurdle is finding an affordable seat reservation on a plane to that region of the globe specially considering the regional hub is still Suvarnabhumi Airport (TH) unless you can route a flight through Tan Son Nhat Airport (VN).

I doubt it. Currently in Portugal enjoying the natural PM2.5 free morning breeze 17°C, with a 25°C planned this sunny afternoon, although I'll give you that; it'll drop as low as 14°C to 19°C next week, but then again next week we'll be in November, so keeping that in consideration, I think I'm good for the time being. Also the 'rona has a +313 cases for today with a 7 days average of only 765 cases. We're doing better than most countries in the World. I think I'm good. What about you?

Working as intended.

Precisely.

Spot on. This is what we saw with the very first initial batch of so called "tourists" that weren't tourists at all returning to the Kingdom under the Phuket's sandbox program. Those were mostly expats who were unlucky enough to find themselves abroad when the country entered it's first curfew/lockdown/you-name-it thing and were desperate to return to the Kingdom over family/business matters at all costs, no matter what it implied for them. Hint: The keyword in the sentences above is the word desperate, in case you didn't get it the first time.

Precisely.