Highlandman

It's the same in either case. There is no expectation by Thais to pay back a loan given by a family member.

When did Thais ever take off their masks? 90% were wearing them the other day at the mall, the same percentage as 1 month ago and unchanged also from 2-3 months ago. 4-5 months ago it was 95% and at the time the mandate was scrapped it was 99.9%. I'm still seeing a lot of people keep their masks on while seated at a restaurant, only removing them once the meal arrives. Then putting them back on the instant the meal is finished. This bizarre ritual I've not seen anywhere else in the world. You're right though, it seems like the only thing that is taken seriously in Thailand these days is mask wearing. It's like these masks have some sort of religious significance to them.

Only one lunch? I'd say it's lunch sorted for the next month!

Of course. It can go both ways.

Also, must be between 20 and 29 Female A yellow shirt supporter Unmarried Double vaccinated Willing to wear a mask at all times while shooting footage Sing the praises of the TAT Be good at acting

OK. I don't want to get more into that, suffice to say that most people who aren't educated are more easily influenced by what they see on TV and on social media. On any given topic.

Hmm interesting, considering that's a very rare occurrence (though it has happened). Many of the active conflict zones do seem to focus on areas right up against the Thai border though.

So presumably she bought the Covid narrative and got several booster shots?

I've had some very enlightening conversations with acquaintances I've made who live in border areas of Thailand. They tend to be male, reasonably well educated, are older (generally at least 50 but usually 55+) and are married with grown up children who've long since left home. They have a particularly good knowledge of their direct neighbors, though usually a little less about countries further away. Most of these people live within 25km of the Burmese border so they know a lot about the local and national situation in that country and of course work with Burmese people in their businesses (the majority are business owners). They know less about Malaysia and Cambodia etc. because these countries are further away, but they aren't ignorant about these countries either. Interestingly, despite Thai women being more educated than their male counterparts on average and women making up the majority of university places in the country, I find that whenever there is a story of ignorance on the part of a Thai, where regional and/or world history is concerned, its women who perform the worst. I see evidence of this when I trawl through social media comments in Thai, almost all the good ones are written by men only. They're the ones who seem to know a bit about their neighbors, whereas the women don't know and don't care. Now having said that, I'm sure there are a lot of ignorant men out there too, especially the lesser educated menial laborers who hang out drinking in their free time.

Well, what is she good at or knowledgeable in?

I'd say it's abnormal for a Thai not to have heard of the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge. Not knowing the details, such as exact years of these historical events and key events on the other hand I'd say is normal. Thais can be ignorant, even to some extent of their neighbors, but not quite that ignorant. Every Thai who lives within 50km of a border with a neighboring country will however have a significantly better knowledge of their neighboring country than someone who comes from Bangkok or some random village in upcountry Thailand, say in central Isarn or lower northern Thailand. Are you sure your wife completed university? Even with the poor quality university education in Thailand (except for some STEM degrees from some more prestigious institutions) I doubt she would have emerged from her schooling without knowledge of these events. I suspect the issue could be that she forgot these topics, didn't pay attention in class and just doesn't care. I also assume she's never been to Cambodia and Vietnam until you took her to these countries. There are ignorant people everywhere though. Many Americans have little to no knowledge of the Vietnam War, though the vast majority will have heard of it. Many Americans and even some Australians may not be able to locate countries like Thailand on a map and some will confuse Thailand for Taiwan. My wife even had her degree from an American university addressed to Bangkok, Taiwan. Fortunately, it ended up in Bangkok, Thailand! LOL.

Obviously. A dual citizen who holds Thai nationality should of course be registered as Thai and won't need any special paperwork or face such issues.

Why does Thailand allows its nationals to enter the country on a foreign passport? Any decent country would not allow this and in the rare case something like an overstay situation were to come to light, proving citizenship would be enough to get out of any penalties.

Assuming she alone wrote that editorial without help and her husband is a farang, then her "lack of fluency" in the English language remark is rather odd. While it's possible her husband is fluent in Thai and they converse together in Thai, chances are he's not and they communicate in English and she even prefers it this way. I agree that she sounds like a real piece of work, definitely a narcissist.

Sponsored by mask manufacturers? Experiments prove they don't work, period. Gas masks work to protect you against PM2.5, but surgical and cloth masks providing protection against a flu virus, which is tinier than the pores in your mask not to mention how loosely most of them fit around your mouth and nose? I don't think so.

Nobody's going around telling strangers to take off their masks. I'm certainly not. Besides, it would probably take years given millions are still wearing them. I do have friends, such as one teacher at an international school, who's been telling his students to remove their masks. Some take his advice, others don't. However, I can't believe that Thais are still willing to wear masks in this heat and humidity and especially after all this time. I wonder how they breathe. Don't they get massive headaches at the end of the day? I would get a headache just from wearing an N95 mask for 10 minutes, which I would put on to protect myself from dust if I'm cutting some strips of wood or something. Imagine wearing something that restricts your breathing all day for well over 3 years?? It's all so strange. To me it's absolutely demoralizing. Even more sad is seeing innocent children, many under 2, wearing masks, which is an asphyxiation hazard and strongly discouraged, by the WHO and other health bodies. In every other Asian country (some of which had stricter penalties for not wearing a mask, such as Singapore) the population has now largely moved on. I do remember one radio broadcast in December 2022. As I was driving to Malaysia, the female presenter (this was somewhere around Nakorn Sri Thammarat) was telling Thais not to leave home unless necessary. Wear a mask at all times. Don't invite guests over. She was ranting on and on about Covid for about 15 minutes! This, in December 2022? No wonder Thais are so fearful, when this kind of extreme propaganda is still being disseminated months after the end of the state of emergency and during endemic status. It should be illegal to scare people to death like that. Meanwhile in Malaysia, there was just ONE reference to mask made on the radio the entire time I was there (I listened to the radio for hours at a time, while driving). It was basically "if you're sick with the flu or flu like symptoms, stay home or wear a mask". The rest of the time they were focusing more on washing food properly and washing your hands, as there was a flooding crisis unfolding. It proves just how differently the mentality is. One country is scaring its citizens to death, the other takes a measured, common sense approach.

Many studies have shown masks don't work, period.

No, he's making a curious observation. For every day that goes by with most Thais still masking, it gets more pointless and more foreigners (not just westerners but Asian foreigners) start scratching their heads wondering: "Why?" Hong Kongers coming to Thailand for the first time in the post-Covid period are probably wondering if there's still a mandate in place. Apparently in less than one month, half the Hong Kong population has managed to ditch their mask, while in Bangkok it's taken 9 months for maybe 10-15% of local residents to do the same.

You're still in full on panic mode. You've had your shots but still don't feel protected. Whoever told you that mask wearing should be permanent? I've seen neighbors wear their masks inside their own homes - not because I'm curious but because I couldn't not see it. They get out of their cars and continue wearing the mask while in their driveway. I've also seen the odd neighbor come out of their house wearing a mask. None of Thailand's neighbors think this way - mask wearing in Cambodia is below 10% right now and in Laos it's at maybe 20%. In Myanmar next to no one wears a mask. Why can they move on but not Thais? I'm sure they're not dying of Covid either. They're simply embracing life as they should be.

Can't really do that anymore as Singaporean and Hong Kong nationals get to use the e-gates, so no stamps will appear in their passports. Eventually, this will be the case for other nationals too. Front page should be enough, immigration should be able to pull up the information just from that.

I've always had a trouble free visit to Savannakhet too. My only concern is your mention of "hundreds" of Russians. Why are they all getting their tourist visas there? Normally, whenever I've been to Savannakhet, I've never had to wait in line long. When I go there again later this year, I hope I won't have to wait in line for 2 hours.

Since about a month or two, Prayuth and many other politicians are no longer wearing masks. I think this is a subtle indication to get Thais to stop masking. Another one is the relative lack of Covid news since probably around February. Once the initial hysteria over the Chinese coming was over, Thais actually started removing their masks quite quickly, up to a point anyway. Most are still wearing them of course (especially in the cities) but I'm seeing a noticeable decrease in downtown Bangkok malls, where it's down to perhaps 75% among Thais. Central pattaya is down to perhaps 30-40% mask wearing among customers; 2 months ago it was still 50-60%. I'm including everyone in this statistic, Thais and foreigners alike. Among Thais only, 75% were wearing masks at Central Pattaya a couple of months back, whereas now it's maybe 50-60%.

Thais will still be wearing their masks once the rain arrives. In fact, people have told me - a Thai friend asked a gardener why he's still wearing a mask and the reply was "because I don't want to get fined" (believing there was still a mandate in place). This was maybe 2 months ago. A bus conductor who kicked off a Thai for refusing to wear a mask in Pathum Thani (part of greater Bangkok) back in December claimed he didn't know that there was no more mask mandate.

Huh? I think it's the exact opposite. When I was in Hua Hin recently, you could spot who was from Bangkok - it was the family who all masked up (including toddlers under 2) while seated at a seafood restaurant and continued wearing their masks until the food arrived. Then, as soon as dinner was finished, they'd all put their masks back on and walk back to their cars. They'd also wear masks on the beach. Locals generally wouldn't be wearing masks at all, except in the malls and supermarkets and of course school children. In rural Isarn, I saw relatively few masks on a recent trip, but you're right, go to Terminal 21 Nakorn Ratchasima and it's 95% mask wearing inside. At Central Udon Thani, most of the maskless shoppers are Laotians visiting from Vientiane. The Thais are all masked up. It's so strange seeing how differently Thais behave compared with Laotians. In Thailand so many masks, cross the Mekong and it's so few.

I agree. At this point it's envy, not fear or giving a stink eye because you don't conform.