JonnyF

Hey plebs. Keep acting like good little comrades. I'm off for a party at my mansion with all the money I stole from you. Ciao.

Interesting. High enough to justify restrictions and instill a little bit of (but not too much) fear. Well played Prayut. I am guessing 11,xxx tomorrow to keep it linear unlike everywhere else in the world where it is exponential. It’s a shame gambling is banned here (except the government lottery of course) or we could have done some spread betting on the number they make up tomorrow to justify next weeks policies.

Just announced. In BKK they can still serve until 9pm as long as it's a 'restaurant' and SHA approved.

Tedros is worrying that he's about to slip back into obscurity. Gotta keep stoking that fire...

Given the backdrop, and the fact that others in the picture are wearing coats/jackets, holding bags, purses etc. it doesn't really look like your typical living room scene. However, even if that is what his home looks like (an interesting choice of wallpaper), I think it's justified that he's getting so much ill will from the public given his behaviour over the last couple of years. I hope it continues so he realizes just how hated he is by his fellow Thais.

Not quite on the level of fame/talent as Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison though...

No surprise here. Extreme hypocrisy. But ultimately, his gang has the tanks and the guns and the grunts so they can do what they like. They are literally laughing at the population while insulting them at the same time. Hopefully those that supported the coup in 2014 may think differently next time.

It's a weak attempt at saving face. He's pretending that it's not the state of Thailand's constantly changing policies that is causing nobody to want to risk coming here, it's because Thailand is being more selective in who they allow to come. The tourism equivalent of "She didn't dump me, I dumped her".

No rush making a decision guys. Take your time. It's not like people need to plan ahead or anything.

I'm not really into bars. I find the inane conversations with uneducated farm girls nauseating. The nonsense spouted by the majority of punters is almost as bad. However, I do enjoy a nice meal in the pub with the gf and a few cold pints watching the sport. You see that's the beauty of free will. Nobody is forcing anyone to go to bars. If it's too risky for them, or like me you find the people in them intensely irritating then you don't have to go. There's no reason to lock things down every time a new variant appears, especially when it's as mild as Omicron. There's also no reason to dictate the level of risk for anyone other than yourself, especially when it means intense hardship for other people such as owners and employees. I'm triple jabbed (Pfizer booster 2 days ago) and I consider the level of risk of going to a quiet pub and drinking a few beers acceptable. That should be my decision.

Not at all. I'm just highlighting the fact that lockdowns have negative effects as well as (arguably) some positive effects. You ... need to see both sides of the coin.

But are the additional deaths all due to Covid infections? Could be many factors such as other illnesses like Cancer going undiagnosed or untreated, suicide, people turning to drugs/alcohol, leading unhealthy lifestyles while stuck at home depressed etc.

A predictable increase which should support the Junta's favourite restrictions which will be announced later today. Almost like clockwork... ????

1. Not enough are vaccinated. 2. Even if they were, the vaccine doesn't prevent infection. Try again, blockhead.

Hopefully this just means shutting down the girlie bars that bought a microwave and re-employed the girls as waitresses. It would be a real shame for the genuine eateries like the Irish pubs in Bangkok to suffer because of this. Of course being Thailand under this "barrel of a gun" regime I suspect it will be a lazy ruling that affects everyone. Because why would the filthy rich power grabbers care about the proles?

As I predicted yesterday. Start releasing the real figures today, start restricting the things they pretend to hate (but secretly partake in themselves) tomorrow. It's beyond boring.

No surprise. The next wave is here. Expect deaths to stay low with this variant. Also expect the government's least favourite activities to be 'restricted' again shortly. Of course this will make no difference to the spread as Covid doesn't care about fake puritanism and pompous posturing. Anecdotally, the company I work for tested around 300 employees on Tuesday before allowing us back into the offices/factory and not a single one tested positive. I was amazed, but the general gossip amongst my Thai colleagues was that the test kits that were being used are one of the brands unable to detect Omicron and will be changed for the next round of tests. I didn't bother looking into this to verify it but it makes me wonder if this is the case at many testing venues.

Expect some more realistic case numbers to be released tomorrow to justify these restrictions. A decent increase for sure. Not entirely accurate of course. They'll hold some back in case a spike is needed at a later date for even stricter controls.

I agree. If's it's a choice between Thaksin and Prayut/Anutin I'd take Thaksin every time.

Reminds me of the old "Waiter Waiter there's a fly in my soup" joke. But on a serious note, this type of story is exactly why the "Quality tourists" won't be flocking here any time soon. They need to address this type of thing first, and then they can move onto the type of first world service that quality tourists expect, such as waiters being able to explain a bit about what type of wine is on the menu. Wine being served at the correct temperature, meals being served to diners at the same time instead of 20 minutes apart etc. On the bright side, at least the customers weren't assaulted for complaining.

Deliberate IMO. A lot of these less desirable bar areas (e.g. Soi 6 Pattaya) are not only an ebarrassment to the fake puritans in power, they are also on prime real estate. So if they can drive them out they get to pretend they have cleaned up the image of Thailand (they won't have) and their cronies/relatives can pick up some cheap real estate for another mall, theme park, condo etc. Two birds, one stone. It's a bad idea, because 'quality' tourists won't suddenly want to come just because the bars are gone. There will still be the broken pavements, hanging wires, soi dogs, taxi thugs, poor air quality, corrupt cops, flooding, sewage etc. so they will drive out the sex tourists and not much will replace them. Fortunately for them, they have such phenomenal wealth that the fate of the average Thai doesn't really matter to them as long as they get even richer.

He wants people to test. He just wants them to pay for it themselves. The various slush funds are all full and all accounted for. They are far more important to him than the wellbeing of the Thai people. Let the peasants pay for their own tests.

3 tests a day? I can definitely see the benefit of taking a test before going to visit friends and family over New Year. I always take a test before I drive from Bangkok to stay at our farm in Korat, but 3 a day? I suggest the PM releases some money from the trough and supplies these tests to the Thai people free of charge if he is serious about slowing the spread. But he won't, because he has other priorities for that cash.

I suspect they are keeping the numbers low until after New Year, either through low testing numbers or deliberate manipulation. They want the numbers to support keeping the New Year period open for travel (I assume to throw a lifeline to domestic tourism) and then after that, they will have no choice but to let the true numbers be known. This will result in them re-introducing their favourite restrictions in early January, which of course will do little to stop the spread. Basically a replay of Songkran, shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted.

Blunt? Maybe... I'd have said Crass.