PerfidiousAlbion

Yep people can't handle the truth. Even if they did work, then who cares anyway. If you get a little bit of flu once a year it's no big deal. Thais, other Asians and many expats here are just pathetic soft boys and girls. Utterly spineless people.

Yep and that is tragic. The less analytically minded folk are seemingly incapable of grasping the human cost of living in a faceless society - even when I cite studies that clear demonstrate the harmful psychological cost of masking, particularly for children - they just ignore it and try and gaslight me into thinking it has always been like this, even though I know full well it hasn't

Tonnes of videos online that show Thais didn't wear muzzles before 2020 - just accept they are a bunch of brainwashed clowns and you don't live in Land of Smiles

Rest of the world stopped behaving so irrationally ages ago now - everywhere snapped out of covid induced neuroses over 3 years ago, while many Thais continue to cling onto their masks like their life depends on it. They are like a 6 year-old child that still insists on being breastfed. It is so embarrassing and weird that many of them still behave like this.

Japan is the worst country I have ever been to - brainwashed lemmings with zero personality

Nail on the head. Articulated it far more coherently than myself. You're right on all points, in particular number 4. Many Thais are already beset by high levels of social anxiety - chronic mask-wearing only exacerbates this.

Regardless - they should move on. Spending your whole life worrying about catching something that will at worst make you sniffle for a few days is a terrible way to live.

I have always been very attuned to people's emotional state - I am an empath. Perhaps this is why I am more bothered by masks than others.

Again, dentists have always worn masks - that was normal pre-covid, so you are missing the point. And those paper masks many 7-11 staff wear do nothing to protect health. They simply wear them to because they are easier to breathe in. They are purely performative facial decorations that are used to feign a sense of moral superiority. Masks do very little to protect human health - being healthy is about sleeping well, exercising and getting the right nutrients. If 7-11 really cared about human health then perhaps they should offer food and drink that isn't saturated with salt, sugar and chemicals.

And oddly, I have no issue with masks in hospitals - the presence of masks in hospitals is congruous with the environment, so thus it doesn't bother me. If it's a restaurant, then I do not like being served by people in masks. It doesn't create a relaxing environment and hinders communication. It is a total waste of time. If there are two restaurants sitting side-by-side and one of them has masked staff and the other has maskless staff, then 100% of the time I choose the latter. Maskless faces are infinitely friendlier, more welcoming and more trustworthy. There are studies that prove this. Again, I don't think that is a controversial or uncommon opinion to have. Most business owners in tourist areas realize this, which is why you see way less masking there. Areas like Samut Prakan or Bang Na, however, well I can't envisage a moment in time where staff in supermarkets or shopping malls will ever take their masks of. This is them for life now.

Even without masks, I don't like 7-11. Tops is better as you can by card there. Way less Tops and Big-C employees wear masks compared to 7-11, which makes me think that usage is heavily influenced by company directives to their staff.

I wouldn't say it makes me go insane. I just preferred Thailand when I could walk into 7-11 and see human faces. I don't think it is unreasonable to think that. I know not everyone agrees, but many do.

I am in Samut Prakan. God knows why my dad decided to leave here. Mask or no masks. The place is a mess.

Thais wear masks because they still have an irrational fear of covid, nowt to to do with pm25. If you actually engaged with the more thoughtful responses I have crafted, it is very clear why I think they bother me. The country has lost some of its charm, identity and vibrancy because of their mask obsession. Interacting with faceless robots who 6 years on still remain terrified of covid is not relaxing and makes a mockery of their 'Land of Smiles' tagline.

As I said in my original post, I don't live here, my father does. I have come to visit him for three weeks. It is patently more than 10%, and there is a lingering covid vibe here that simply doesn't exist in most other countries. It is weird and very noticeable to people whom spend the majority of their time in post-covid societies. Typically, the sexpats who defend Thailand at all costs due to fear of having their visa revoked resort to the usual tactic of telling anyone they disagree with to 'go home' as none of their arguments stand up to even basic scrutiny.

How good someone looks is not the issue for me. The issue is that masks create a miserable atmosphere; the symbolism attached to them is a reminder of the risible medical authoritarianism we had to endure. They perpetuate levels of fear and anxiety - either subconsciously or consciously. A restaurant filled with maskless smiley people is ostensibly far more welcoming and pleasant than one filled with faceless robots in oversized surgical masks. Anybody who says otherwise is ignoring basic human psychology and is lying to themselves. Not only that, but they massively hinder communication and can be really stressful for people with hearing difficulties. No sane society thinks it's a good idea to wear masks forever. They are also terrible for the environment and are just awful on so many levels. Those soppy Thai men and women who walk around shopping malls in their filthy muzzles are pitiful on so many levels. I just cannot take them seriously in any way - they look like single cell organisms. They are just bodies with no face leaving an unnecessary stench of covid paranoia. Move on ffs you big wimps.

No it's them. They are weird. There are good looking women in other countries and they don't wear masks. I was in Georgia a few months ago. Many beautiful women there, yet none of them were hiding behind a face mask like someone in a mental asylum.

The sun one is a feeble excuse - I have seen pictures of Thais walking in the pouring rain with soggy surgical masks on. I think people underestimate just how brainwashed, paranoid and cowardly many of them are. It sounds harsh I know, but it's true. There is an unbearable softness that goes right to the heart of the Thai psyche. A large percentage of Thais are scared of covid still and that is why they wear masks - nothing to do with pm25, sun or any of the other reasons mentioned. The fact they think walking alone an empty street with a surgical mask on is the key to good health and never getting sick just shows how utterly broken their education system is. Again, harsh but true. Some expats don't like hearing these uncomfortable truth and thus display a tremendous amount of mental gymnastics to try and justify even the most insane behaviour.

I am friendly to those who show their faces and basic human emotion. Absolutely I am. No way I am going to be kind and friendly to some robot in a face mask though - they have decided to not participate in society like a normal human, so why should I be friendly with them. Anyone in customer service should not be wearing mask in late 2025 - it's awful on so many levels. The fact I even need to explain why I don't like communicating with who cover half their faces is simply staggering. It should be so obvious as to why. There are myriad reasons.

No, I am English - and while I think England is decline, I am far from a hater of my own country. The name is just a reference to a character in a book.

You're obsessed with little boats coming to the UK - that is more pathetic. The lack of critical thinking you have shown thus far is typical of Farage bum boys like you. Yea Thais wear masks inside supermarket and shopping malls because of air pollution and the sun. Sure thing. If you believe that, then please message me privately, I have some snake-oil I would like to sell you.

There are no red buses inside shopping malls

If you read my post properly, you would see I don't live here. I am visiting for the first time in two years, so notice it more as I spend most of my time outside of SE Asia. And no, they don't just wear them when they are sick - that is patently false. The country calls itself Land of Smiles - yet clearly it isn't. That why it continues to be a noteworthy topic. If Thais didn't have so many ostensible psychological ailments and moved on like the rest of the world, I wouldn't even mention it as there would be no need. Clearly though - for much of the population, this is not true and most likely never will be. To spend your whole life behind a mask is utter insanity - most rational people would agree with this statement.

They wear them indoors and in the evening - so your points don't stack up. Most people in the world don't like masks, which is why you don't see them in Europe, Africa, South America, Australia - only in countries like Thailand where people never seem to question anything is this nonsense still going on. It is madness and deserves to be scrutinized and ridiculed.