Capella

Australia Post has been getting worse for years - even before Covid, domestic and international mail often took ages to arrive. Covid is used as a routine excuse here now, in all customer interactions and industries, to provide even worse service.

Do you really think those masks do anything? Omicron is spreading like wildfire in Australia, even with people following the futile face nappy ritual.

I've postponed my booster for that very reason. But I wonder how long it will be before the official definition fo 'unvaccinated' includes those who haven't had the booster?

Air quality in Bangkok is better than it was, now that they've phased out two stroke motorcycles and more trucks are using CNG. Still lots of room for improvement though. Farmers burning off stubble are the worst culprits but nothing seems to stop them.

Have you heard of a thing called taxation? It happens in lots of places. There are lots of different kinds: income tax, VAT, departure tax, tourist tax, etc. I'm in Australia at the moment, and I pay heaps more tax than I ever paid in Thailand.

It's only 300 Baht, for heaven's sake.

I'm saying that Omicron is endemic (from the Greek endēmos, which means 'in population'), regardless of any increasingly futile attempts by the government to prevent it from being so. Omicron is circulating freely among the population, is more benign than preceding strains, and we have no choice other than to live with it.

No, because most of what they say is rubbish. Tom kha isn't my personal soup either. Look at the menu of any Thai restaurant.

Unbelievable. What a shambolic service. I was thinking of going but having second thoughts if all they do is keep you dangling.

Tom kha gai should be at the top of the list, but then again most of what CNN says is rubbish.

What it says.

Omicron is already endemic, whatever the government says.

It's endemic, whether or not they categorise it as such.

For such a minute fraction of the population, transgenders get so much airtime.

Bank accounts in most countries have to remain active to remain open. It's all to do with Know Your Customer & Anti Money Laundering.

Agreed. There's nothing worse than cold and rubbery fried eggs. It's surprising how many places serve them.

In Bangkok and other city centres you might be right, elsewhere life goes on.

Not sure that closing down all the nightlife is a puritanical move that's specific to Thailand - other countries shut down all their pubs for months on end because of covid too.

Thailand seems to be trying to upgrade its image by screening out tourists who don't want to pay 300 Baht. It's a strategy that seems to be working looking at some of the comments here.

True - a friend of mind studied the Por 6, which is the standard elementary/primary school grade for Thai children (alluded to in the announcement). It's really hard, and I know of hardly any foreigners who could get anywhere near passing it. Let's hope the test they have in mind is easier, and that they're not using this change as a way of closing the door.

The reading requirement was very basic, a simple multiple choice, and all you have to write is your name.

I wonder how difficult the test will be? Will it be equivalent to a primary education, i.e. a por 6, I wonder? If so that's hard for most to pass.

I have a question on the Phuket Sandbox - will Thailand Pass be approved for an Agoda booking that is not yet paid, i.e. a reservation only, paid at the hotel with cancellation possible just one day before?

You won't see many people reading books in the West these days either. They're all glued to their phones.

Most of what we read says that this will be short and sharp, and may well be Covid's last hurrah as a dangerous disease - Omicron is extremely transmissible but has a much shorter incubation period than previous strains. It's also a shorter and milder ilness - I was over it in the average 4 days, with symptoms no worse than a heavy cold. The good thing is that its transmissibility is displacing nastier strains, while giving people a mild illnesss and antiboidies that may offer protection against other strains. The world seems to be coming to the conclusion that there really is no avoiding Omicron, and that the short term pain will need to be endured. Masks have been shown to have little effect against it as you say, and ongoing lockdowns haven't really worked either and have too many other costs. Empty supermarket shelves here in Oz too. After two years of zero covid, it's spreading like wildfire but numbers are now falling from recent highs. Isolation periods have been reduced to 7 days, with talk of zero days for asymptomatic cases in essential work. Most people are vaccinated - around 90% in my area.