ChC1

The article seems to forget many European people would go for a beach holiday: 1, Spain 2, Portugal 3, Gran Canarias 4, Balearic Islands 5, France 6, Greece 7, Cyprus 8, Croatia 9, Turkey 10, Romania (Constanta) 11, Bulgaria (Varna) 12, Israel 13, Jordan 14, Egypt 15, Morocco 16, The Bahamas 17, Cuba 18, Grand Cayman 19, USA 20, Punta Cana 21, Mexico 22, Barbados 23, Netherlands' ABC islands 24, St Lucia 25, St Maarten 26, Antigua 27, French Caribbean Islands 28, the Maldives 29, Surprisingly, Saudi Arabia is building a lot of Red Sea resorts which due to be opened in the coming 2-3 years 30, Goa in India 31, Qatar 32, Salalah in Oman 33, and others like Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, South Africa, Zanzibar... Has Thailand now smelt the coffee yet? I doubt it.

Thank you! That makes more sense. Still the Handing Over in subtitle is still worrying from my point of view. I hope it is just a mistake or from someone who does not understand language that well. If it is the official Thai attitude, that would be really worrying. But again thank you for finding the source and truth. I sincerely hope whoever wrote the Handing Over line is just someone who is lacking understanding of English language.

You mean after stealing technology from Japan, UK, US, Germany and all other countries? Do you know China forced Japan to give its technology in exchange for a high speed rail contract? Then now they are using the stolen technology to sell to third world countries? Globalists must be so proud.

Shouldn't the title be PM Thanks US for donating or gifting PPE? Handing over seems like that Thai is the original owner and US is handing back. The title makes a mock of US generosity and reflects Thai superiority. I would be very worried as it seems Thailand is learning from China's Warrior Wolf Diplomacy. This is not a good sign.

Not with the current Test and Go Quarantine till Five-O Positive 14 Days in Hospital set up. And certainly not with the TAT lots keep on dreaming millions Chinese would come for a visit. If there is a betting shop on every prediction like this, you just need to bet against it every single time and you could become a millionaire.

That is correct. One of my family members in China is still waiting for approval for a passport renewal since April, 2020. The local chief said it is not possible to issue a new passport for 'long time to come'. We are giving up hope for our family member to get her passport renewed now. It had expired for over a year already.

Here are several articles this Thai minister should read before welcome debt trapped Chinese coming to his country, because it may means one way tickets for many.: China economy: Charts show how much debt has grown (cnbc.com) How big is China's debt and who owns it? | South China Morning Post (scmp.com) *This newspaper is owned by China now and is China's mouthpiece. It should alarm you if it is telling this to you. from academic point of view: An Overview of Chinese Debt (cadtm.org) And this already happened in Vietnam and I am sure if Thailand is to open to China this would happen too: Ho Chi Minh City again detects illegal Chinese immigrants (vietnamnet.vn) Vietnam arrests 10 Chinese illegal immigrants - VnExpress International Security official discusses illegal immigration from China - Politics & Laws - Vietnam News | Politics, Business, Economy, Society, Life, Sports - VietNam News The reality is that factories are moving out from China to cheaper countries like Vietnam and Cambodia. Workers are loosing work, families have mountains of debts due to unrealistic real estate prices. If Chinese are flocking to Vietnam (a country China is looked down at) as illegal immigrate workers, can you imagine what would happen to Thailand (where the pay is better). I wish Thailand all the good luck. This minister is stupid to pursue Chinese tourists. It almost seems that he does not read important economic cables that is available to diplomas to assess current affairs. Even Chinese Premier Li Keqiang admitted that 600 millions Chinese with monthly income less than $140. See: Is China rich or poor? Nation’s wealth debate muddied by conflicting government data | South China Morning Post (scmp.com) * The SCMP's report on urban people has assets over 3.2 million yuan is due to inflated real estate price, and most are debts on real estate, of which the newspaper is not be 100% straight. Chinese tourists boom is finished. Last decade was fuelled by real estate boom. Now the bubble is bursting, already. Reuter said so: Chancellor: China’s economic miracle is ending | Reuters Are Thai government official that shallow? Do they read any economic indicators? Do they not understand the current situations? Do you bury their head in the sands and assume everything is as before? Please educate me on this one. I can't get my head around this.

I am so happy for your country. But Spain now requires booster to be qualified for being vaccinated. I hope your country won't take that route.

I can second that. I went to USA last November when they opened. On the way home I needed a PCR test and I went to a Walgreen's. Booked online, showed up in drive through. No cost at all. If you want to take the travel clinic route it can be very expensive though. Also I can tell people that in UK, you can get free Covid vaccine as well as long as you claim that you have no ID (aimed for illegal immigrants.) and non-Brits. One of the Brits I know who had other passports but no longer with a GP in UK had to go through this route to get his vaccine. It was kind of funny that you can't get a vaccine as Brits without registering GP, yet you can get it instantly as soon as you claim you are from another country.

Then please kindly point out to the readers that in your opinion which sentence in my post is non-sense. Readers deserve to know which sentence and which remark I made was false. You can not just shout at opinion that do not fit your narrative as 'nonsense' then walk away to pretend you have the moral authority. Since you are so adamant about your fictional claim without any evidence, then accuse my citation from scientific researches as 'nonsense', I am sure you might be intelligent enough to come up a rebuttal to tell the readers why mine is 'nonsense' and yours is not. I thank you back for be decent to response to my request.

DNA research suggests otherwise. First, it is very difficult to define Chinese. Chinese has several different distinguished gene lines. For instance, Mongolian, Korean, North-western Chinese which has Tibetan heritage, Southeast Chinese (more East Asian) that are vastly different from Northern Chinese (more Korean and Mongolian). Then we have Miao people, whose DNA are different from Han people. Southeast Asian DNA components are not the same of Chinese. As the first thing is that you need to define Chinese. Even Han Chinese has different traits. Some DNA researches have done also suggest Southeast Asian DNA components invaded Southern China, rather than from China. I remember one article on the Economists three years ago had an excellent introduction on this. I can't find it at my hand, and if I do you will need subscription. However, there is one site I can reference you to so that you have an understanding on this topic. Southeast Asia Regional DNA Project - Eupedia Another thing you need to consider is in Ancestry DNA testing, that Thai/Cambodia DNA are separate from Chinese. Finally, some researchers following the migration of ancient people. There is a school of thoughts believes that ancient human migrated from Africa, via India/Myanmar. One branch from there went to Yunnan and then Southwest China. And another branch went through Thailand down south towards Malaysia and Indonesia. If their theory is true, Thai people are hardly Chinese. They may shared a same ancestor group thousands or millions years ago. But that does not make them related. What you believed is not supported by modern DNA research. In fact, majority Thai has no to little connection to China whatsoever.

Judging from the history in 20th Century, I somehow feel that a certain country will be the wrong side of the history again. It is an obvious choice for many. But for the certain country, it is almost like it feels the answer is too obvious and then it will think outside the common sense and make the wrong choice. I sincerely hope this certain country can see through the tricks (submarine) and bribes (High speed rail) and comes to its senses.

Still not coming. Once bite twice shy. Malta is absolutely amazing without any of those testing <deleted>. Spain is expected to be totally free this spring. Even Saudi Arabia has easier entry than Thailand's Test and Go. Go figure.

Although I like Thailand, but I appreciate following things in UK: 1, I appreciate that when I cross the road, there is almost 95% guarantee that cars will stop for me in crossing 2, I appreciate that when I dislike one party, I can vote another one in next election, although both are corrupted yet they have the right to oppose each other in key issues. And thank goodness they do so lots of corruption was exposed. 3, I appreciate every time I return to UK I can use the E-gate without the worry that the immigration officer might want a tip. 4, I appreciate in London airport as Brit I never queue hours for immigration 5, I appreciate that if I am ill I can always get free treatment although the waitlist can be frustrating 6, I appreciate that if I want a drink or a chat with mate there is always a pub in walking distance although the choice is now rather limited. 7, I appreciate that if I had a bad service in a hotel or restaurant I can write a review without worrying being put in prison. 8, I appreciate the fact that when I feel down or even have suicidal thought I always have a hot line of a charity to talk to. 9, I appreciate that the British ambulance service is top notch 10, I appreciate that I can drink any time any where without worrying about what happened to a certain family and now the bars had to stop serving for few days. 11, I appreciate that I can get a job in UK with the help of JobCentrePlus if I need (which i don't for obvious reasons) 12, I appreciate I can curse the queen any time or look down at Prince Harry and call Meghan MeAgain without any consequences. 13, I appreciate I don't have neighbour that would cut my head if I played my music too loud at 9pm. Normally a friendly reminder would do. 14, I appreciate when I watch TV I don't need to jump through hundred channels and 30 different languages before I find proper British shows. 15, I appreciate when I browse internet there is no 404 or censored contents. 16, ...... There is no perfect place to live. But there is always silver linings in different places. The key is to appreciate what you have got, and try to understand what may cause you harm and displeasure. Learn to live with the imperfections, while enjoy the most of the near perfections.

Like this.

I hate to say it, but China has got it right in this regards. In China, CCTV cameras are everywhere. So if a car did not follow the rules in a junction, its picture was taken, then in every big junction there is a giant screen. The screen will rotate showing every single car with their registration number in the scene where they broke the rule (especially in pedestrian crossing), then next to that picture is the picture, name and license number of the culprits, with the message that how many points were deducted. The public shaming is barbaric. I don't like the idea. However, after a while, I start to realise in a society that nobody take notice of the rules, and ignore it completely, you have to take actions that the culprits would feel familiar with. Whatever fine you impose or how many times you taking away driving licence, the bad driver will just get on with their bad habits, and even attempt to drive without licence. The solution is unfortunately barbaric and against all my liberal values. It works in China. It won't work in Europe or USA as there would be too much noise made and such a scheme will be abandoned quickly. However, it may work well in a state like Thailand, Iran and Russia.

Stash them together like cabinets in a warehouse. In IT terms still separate, in organisation terms now they are together in one as one.

HIV death is rare too, until AIDS comes in. I am just saying for the sake of science and statistics. The point is that we don't know about Omicron and its long term effects yet until a decade of 20 years later when we have enough evidence to confirm. After all there was an early report (have not been recalled yet!!) that the first few cases of Omicron were detected among HIV patients in South Africa or/and Zimbabwe and lead the scientist to believe Covid had merged with HIV. This piece of news was seen in some right wing media outlet when Omicron was first detected. I personally was very sceptical about that report and thought it could be misinformation. I am not say that we shouldn't get on with life. We absolutely needs to. But it is also important to be vigilant and try to keep an open mind. I am not scared by any of the Covid virus neither. But I firmly believe it takes time to understand the full effects of a virus, especially if there is a good chance that this virus was a synthetic or Gain-of-function product. Again I am not saying it is. I am just keeping an open mind about it.

Ok what is the catch? Does this only apply to tourists entering under tourist visa or visa exemption, and those stay less than 30 days? Otherwise you (like those retirees or family visas) paid B300 each trip for a void health insurance charge?

Once a tax is introduced, it will only go one way: UP. Historically there are taxes that may disappear for a while, like the Byzantine and totalitarian sugar tax and salt tax, yet somehow it find a new life when people are not noticing. Under the name of fighting obesity it makes a huge come back. Do any of you remember Thailand Departure tax used to be 500THB? And before 2007 was it cheaper even? I can't remember now as it was long time ago. But I seems to remember it was cheaper at the time when you had to go to a counter to pay for the departure tax rather than included in your ticket price.

For one things, what I noticed here in this forum, that some (or to be precise, a very few) of the active posters (male, retired obviously) have very questionable attitude towards Thai women (whether she is bar girls or normal women in normal life). Their attitude and the way of describing his/their personal preference (like dating hundred different women and only for a while then getting bored) is very disturbing and disgusting. There are odd posters here (I shall not name) and odd posts that I can remember is the example of disgusting human being. They should not be allowed to be in Thailand based on their predatory behaviour and bigotry attitude toward Thai women. They are the bad images that Thai public feel revolt against. Majority of retirees coming to Thailand have a normal family life, help Thai local community and do not take anything granted. Some of the retirees coming to Thailand takes too much ownership and elitism attitude, often forget they are the guest in another culture. But it is some of the bad characters here really did not help the case. And often it is the very tiny few cause the revolt from the locals. Some of their posts like go to South America for Latin women (because Thailand requires so much for him to come here to get Thai women), or one particular posters bragging on easy sex with Thais and then bragging on how he could throw them away because she developed emotion needs towards him. Well, in any culture it is disgusting behaviour. Yet these people take pride in posting their attitude here in this forum openly and few raised eyebrows. If I am Thai, I would also suggest get rid of retirees if I don't have an ordinary gentle well behaved western retirees married into my family or village to show me how a good example they can make. Based on some of the disgusting posts here alone I would support the opposition leader. I know my post won't be popular in this forum. Because many of you either only see themselves as good character and are blind to see some of the disturbing attitudes posted here. And some of the you may fit in what I described and might feel offended. However, it goes back to the old saying , if you want to be welcomes, and feel respected, you have to welcome and respect others first.

What Dialemco said was actually valid. Historians have made a lot connection between Spanish Flu and then the subsequent societal and economical changes, which eventually lead to Great Depression and World War 2. Of course Spanish Flu was not to blame directly. But what happens with the deep rooted fear and collective reaction, then subsequent impact on society as a whole, caused a ripple effect that, as some history nerd would say, changed the course of history. Sometimes when an event happened in history, its long deep impact would not be felt one decade later. For example, WW2's root cause was with us even before WW1. BLM movement had its start well before Floyd and you could thank Ferguson (Missouri) for it. A big historical event has its unique way comes back to haunt the world. For instance, the current xenophobia in Thailand is largely due to the aftershock of 1997 financial meltdown (you are welcome to disagree). What made events like Spanish Flu, or Covid pandemic potentially dangerous, is that these event can be a key part that stimulate a Perfect Storm, something can be described in Chaos Theory. It may not be the direct cause of a certain historical event, but if it did not happen, some of the subsequent event would not have happened.

When airlines prepare diversion airports list for pre-flight check list, it is always several airports nearby included. For example, when a flight flies into BKK, the nearby airports that suitable for that aircraft size is considered would normally include HKT, REP, CNX, KUL, SIN etc. (depends on ATC direction and how much fuel the aircraft carry by anticipated distance). Hence it is better to have some provincial airports nearby even UTP or DMP are more convenient. Airports do not have unlimited aircraft parking spaces, and there are ATC control to limit traffic inflow. Both would restrict whether the diversion airport would be willing for flight acceptance. Also when an aircraft inflight suffer emergency, the captain may not have the luxury to choose which airport to land, plus the provincial airport with limited traffic is ideal first contact so it does not impact trunk traffic air route. For example, the Air Canada flight 143 known as Gimli Glider. You can look up if you have not already knew of this. After all, the preparation of flight diversion is a complex issue for airline dispatchers, ATC controllers, airport administrators, fire fighters...etc. Provincial airports help in the way that it is quiet, and it is off the trunk air traffic elation and corridors, and you never know when it is needed.

Incidentally is it in any shape that would remind us of a Richard, or John, or Dong?

That being said, provincial airports can be served as a diversion airport. For example, if Bangkok suffered devastating accidents that both runways had to cease operation for a day or longer, inbound aircrafts can divert to nearby provincial airports instead of returning to origin countries (which can be 6 hours flying away in case of UAE). It rarely happens, but when emergency occurs, it helps. One of the best example I can think of is during 9-11, when USA shut its door for inbound traffic, all those aircrafts were due to land in USA was forced to land in some remote airports in Canada. Some of the Canadian airports have little commercial traffic but it kindly opened to all those aircrafts from Europe and USA. Before that day, how many passengers would fly to Gander Airport? I mean, how many of you posters here even heard of this airport?