Highlandman

The ultra rich might visit one of the exclusive private resorts on a private island down in the south of Thailand or use Thai territory to access similar places in the far south of Myanmar, Cambodia or nearby. However, they're obviously not coming for shopping, foodie tours or backpacking. Or even to visit the mediocre national parks.

Nope. If the tourist made it to the airport to depart the country, they'd be fined and let on their way. There was a case in Phuket where someone was arrested at 9pm at their home, 3 hours BEFORE they were technically on overstay.

Phuket actively checks their lists and finds overstayers who've spent even one day too long in the country. Elsewhere, it really depends. Never a good idea to overstay and they're getting stricter.

It isn't. You can enter visa free for 30 days then seek a 30 day extension for 1900 Baht at any immigration office.

Yawn. You going to be making such bizarro comments for the next week? I've seen you around on here, you spend like 15 hours of every day on here. This is my first post in 6 months because I actually have a life. Unlike you.

You're the biggest odd ball on here. Your comments are strange, your avatar (if that's what you actually look like) says a lot about what's inside that noggin of yours, which clearly isn't much. You must be one of those people who turn their brain off and just walk across the road without looking. After all, you don't want to be labeled as a "car spotter" oh no, that would be terrible.

While most masks used here don't offer any protection against fine dust particles, if you wear a mask outdoors when the air quality is bad and only then, and if Thais did only that, it might perhaps make some sense. However, they don't. Clearly, they're still afraid of Covid and each other, as evidenced by the increased amount of mask wearing in indoor settings with very clean air, such as supermarkets, malls, office buildings, on board aircraft (go on any flight with Thai passengers on board and they'll be the most likely to mask up; far more likely than Vietnamese, or Chinese or Singaporeans etc.), buses, trains etc. Thus, it's only a small minority like you who thinks this way - wearing a mask in the situations it might actually make sense to do so. Whereas most Thais clearly just turn off their brains and go with the flow...this means not wearing a mask outdoors when the air quality is bad BUT wearing them indoors where there's zero benefit.

No, I have evidence and eyes, while you wear blinkers and pretend what is there doesn't exist. You might want to travel a little, even to a neighboring country (if you can afford that) and see for yourself that almost no one is masked anymore outside of Thailand and especially, almost no children are. Virtually the only country where I see expats like you masking up in late 2023 to virtue signal is Thailand. I think I saw ONE foreigner in Vietnam wear a mask recently. Just one. Yet just last night in Thailand I counted 5 foreigners wearing masks at one hotel I went for dinner. Widespread mask wearing, outside of a government mandate is NOT normal. It makes no sense. The reason it continues, has already been established. It's a combination of brainwashing, not wanting to be the "black sheep", extreme conformity and collectivism (in this sense, Thailand is among the most collectivist countries in the world) and belief in government authority and mass media, including social media.

Gosh your comments get more ridiculous each time you make one. No, they wear masks because their parents scare them to death. No child in any other country voluntarily wears a mask.

What puzzles me is seeing children playing on their own, riding bicycles while wearing masks. You certainly don't see this in Laos. Just weeks ago, I went to a mall in Pakse. Full of children, not a single individual inside that mall was wearing a mask. Everywhere I went, City and countryside alike, no masks on children. In Cambodia, very rarely you saw a teenager wearing a mask riding a motorcycle or something but otherwise, there were none worn either.

I already have. Other than the odd mask on chin or sometimes mask dangling around their neck, 711 staff remain masked up, though this could change in the near future if THAI Airways is anything to go by.

Like the one staff member going outside for a smoke?

Yeah and time to get yourself some glasses. Be careful, you might fog them up while wearing your mask, that you so religiously wear.

No, I have eyes. Clearly you're blind or are becoming blind, because everyone and their dog notices what I do...except you. Anyway, yawn to your comments. I have better things to do than reply to your drivel.

Nah, that has nothing to do with it and won't change a thing even if Thailand's air quality were to approach that of Switzerland or Tasmania. Masks will always be worn here from now on, among probably 50% of the population at least and in some situations approaching 100% of the population in those circumstances. Dust or pollution isn't the main reason they're worn. It's fear of Covid (and each other) standing out from the crowd. It's following the herd. Thais love wearing masks; masks have become a sort of currency if you will. Mask wearing has become correlated with politeness in Thai culture (whereas everywhere else, they're regarded as being associated with illness and low self-esteem). In every other culture, wearing a mask during a meeting would be considered rude, but in Thailand it's considered "normal".

No, you're just continuing making useless off topic remarks because this topic makes you uncomfortable. You're probably one of the farang I still see wearing a mask at all times, so you can "fit in". I doubt you've gained any friends by doing this, but glad to know you feel virtuous doing so.

No, it's called using my eyes to notice things. You're simply a troll who's attempting to shut down debate because I'm presenting uncomfortable facts.

It's called noticing things. You might want to try it. Doesn't take much effort. Alternatively, stick your head in the sand and pretend this isn't happening. Then, once you emerge, if you can still think rationally, ask yourself WHY the rest of the world, not just western countries but also neighboring Asian countries, have all decided to go back to living normal, mask-free lives with only a small minority still donning masks on occasion. So I ask you, why is Thailand so obsessed with masking now, almost 1.5 years after the end of the mask mandate and over a year following the end of the state of emergency? Why Thailand but not Laos? Why Thailand but not China? Why Thailand but not India?

Precisely my experience. Maybe out of 100 7-11 staff, you might see 2 or 3 wearing their masks on their chin or around their neck, but never not at all. Like I mentioned earlier, it's CP policy to require masks be worn by their 7-11 staff, also at their branches in Cambodia, which are wholly CP owned. In Vietnam, whether masks are required by employees seems to be a case of the type of corporate owned business and its location. In downtown Saigon, where I spent most of my time, masks are definitely worn by staff at 7-11, Circle K and Family Mart as well as Annam Gourmet Supermarket. However, masks were not worn by staff at Circle K and some of the other aforementioned stores in locations further away from downtown urban areas. In particular, even in August 2022, staff already didn't wear masks at Circle K in Mui Ne, a beach town 200km east of Ho Chi Minh.

Yes but that "whataboutism" really isn't the point of this thread. We're not even examining whether we should consider Australians and Canadians brainwashed for following mandates during Covid (I would say they are brainwashed) the topic here is examining why Thais and seemingly only Thais, are still wearing masks, well over a year after the end of the government mandate and why citizens of other Asian countries simply aren't doing this. While there are certainly some mask wearers in other Asian countries (you'll still see the odd mask wearer even in western countries) its nowhere near as prevalent as here. From what I can tell, even in Japan, the rate of mask wearing seems to be lower than here. It remains high only in certain situations, but outdoors, in meetings, on TV etc. hardly anyone is masking anymore. On Thai TV, I still see some people masking in the TV studio! Yes, you still have guests wearing masks being interviewed by a presenter also wearing a mask. When I see this in 2023, I immediately change the channel (not that I watch much Thai TV, though I'm prone to flicking through TV channels when I'm about to go to bed while staying at a hotel when I'm on business either in upcountry Thailand or neighboring countries).

I've visited dozens all over the country and I can say that all of them have had masked staff. Occasionally, you'll see unmasked staff outdoors smoking a cigarette or some delivery person, unmasked, entering the store but among the employees, they're almost without exception, masked up. It could be that's about to change but remains to be seen. Another interesting thing is now THAI Airways (since October 1) are allowing their cabin crew to stop wearing masks, at least on international flights. Prior to this, not only did they require masks for all their cabin crew including pilots, but they blasted mask wearing "recommendations" at the beginning of each flight. No other airline I've flown with since August 2022 has done this. Yes Vietnam Airlines and Singapore Airlines cabin crew (though not their pilots) were wearing masks on flights I took with them last year and earlier this year, respectively, but there were no announcements requesting passengers wear one. Only Thai registered airlines and reportedly, Philippines Airlines has been doing this, since mask mandates were removed. I haven't flown THAI recently thus I wonder whether the mask announcements have ceased. I know that as of last month, they were still happening as a friend on a flight to Phuket attests to.

Great to see. I've noticed the same thing among staff working for Australian coffee chain the Coffee Club. As of last month, no masks worn by staff at their Pattaya branch, but inexplicably, at their Suvarnabhumi airport branch and all their Bangkok branches, all masked up still. I also noticed only a fraction of staff at Global House Chanthaburi wearing masks recently, which was very nice to see. However, go to a similar store in Bangkok and you'd be lucky to see more than 10% of staff unmasked. At least among customers, even in Bangkok, it's finally down to like 50-60% mask wearing. For some reason, certain places attract more mask wearers while adjacent ones have fewer. Tops at Central Bang Na (and the mall in general) has a consistent 75% rate of mask wearing among shoppers, while at nearby Mega Bang Na it's barely 50%. Many of the shoppers at Central Bang Na are older though, which might explain things. Among staff at Mega Bang Na, a lot of employees, at least at the smaller stores, have stopped masking. Strangely, at Paragon most staff are still masked despite being in a tourist heavy precinct, where mask wearing among shoppers is well under half, probably only 1/3 nowadays.

Except it does have a huge impact. Thais avoided foreigners during Covid and some still do now, because we're not obsessed with muzzling our faces at all times, even though the government removed the mandate long ago and has no intention of telling Thais to stop masking. Anutin said so himself in a July 2022 speech and of course, he's right. Do what you want, but don't impose your lunacy on others. If you do business in Thailand like I do, you'll notice that a majority of companies still have mask signs up. This is intimidating and spreads a negative message. A message of fear. Even if no longer enforced, which begs the question, why are these signs still up? Forgotten or waiting to be employed again in the future?

Not only do Thais wear masks at home, but they take this habit with them when traveling abroad. Case in point: late June, 2023. I'm at the Lao-China land border. Having driven there, I'm about to catch a train up to Kunming from nearby Mohan station. There are around 100 people inside the arrivals hall, consisting of roughly 70% Chinese nationals, 20% Lao and what I later determined to be Thai nationals (there were 10 of them). None of the Chinese nationals were masked. 3 of the Laotians were, one a monk, but he quickly removed his mask as it was stifling inside. The power then went off for 45 minutes. Yet out of the 10 Thais, 9 were masked, some of whom had 2 masks on. None of them ever attempted to catch their breath or remove their masks during this ordeal, where the temperature inside the hall, despite windows being open, must have exceeded 42 degrees Celcius. They then boarded a Lao registered bus driven by a maskless Lao driver to Jinghong, Sipsongbanna, 160km away. About a month later I was again in Laos, and it was a long weekend in Thailand. I've never seen as many Thai tourists in Laos as then. Out of all the mask wearers I saw, almost without exception, they were Thai. You could easily hear them speaking Thai while walking past you, proudly wearing their masks, while none of the westerners, Chinese or Korean tourists did. Not a single Lao vendor at the Luang Prabang night market wore a mask. It was amusing seeing masked Thais haggle with unmasked Lao vendors. Now only maybe 20% of the Thais that I saw wore masks, but that was 20% more than the number of other foreigners. There's something in Thai culture that has caused Thais to wear masks in a way they never would before Covid. It definitely comes from peer pressure, TV and social media.

It matters because it's anti social, makes you feel strange and unwelcoming. I literally have to think about whether I want to visit people at a certain company we've dealt with because of their strange Covid obsession. I'm certainly not going to go through the whole testing and mask wearing ritual just to visit them. Instead, I'll insist on meeting them at a nearby coffee shop where I'm sure they'll be happy to take off their masks, something that they're not allowed to do in their workplace.