JonnyF

They need to give details, not just scare people. Just saying someone died "with" Omicron sounds suspiciously like an 85 year old with terminal cancer got hit by a truck and later tested positive at the morgue. If that's not the case, let's hear the details. Were they a fit 20 something sportsman that was genuinely killed by the virus? Without the details, I have my doubts. People just want transparency so they can make informed decisions about the risk themselves and act accordingly. Not be spun a half baked story that is used to lock them in their homes.

Covid has quickly become a tool to control the population through fear, and/or a means of diverting attention away from other failures of government. Thailand is a great example of the former and the UK a great example of the latter. Unfortunately most people have rolled over to have their tummy tickled. I won't be betting on this new ultra authoritarian style of governance leaving when Covid subsides, the politicians have come to love the power too much. Expect exaggerated new strains and convenient spikes in numbers whenever new legislation or restrictions are deemed desirable.

With all the consumer debt that's been accumulated in the last 2 years, I doubt consumer spending will return to normal for quite a few years. People are maxed out. I also don't believe tourism will reach 2019 levels for at least 5 years. If ever. There won't be as much Chinese money coming into the country either, since many of them don't have it and those that do will find it harder to get it out of China. So Q1 of 2023 seems a bit of a stretch.

Is that you, Borat? ????

That was my first impression of Thai roads on my first visit here. It's like the dodgems (bumper cars) at the fairground. No rules, just drive around smiling inanely and try to avoid hitting other cars, often unsuccessfully.

Grandpa Google has been busy again. Reading reports from advanced countries and wowing the uneducated and insular masses in Thailand with his incredible knowledge.

I've been driving to and from work in Bangkok 5 days per week for 11 years and the problem with indicating is that the car in the lane you are moving into simply speeds up to block you as soon as they see that you intend to change lanes. That's why it sometimes pays to indicate when you are already half way across. See a gap, start moving into the lane and then indicate as some sort of half hearted attempt to show you are driving considerately. That way, they don't have a chance to speed up to block you but you also don't get attitude for not indicating at all. The hazards when going straight on at a cross roads kind of makes sense when you consider that nobody indicates. Normally (in normal countries where people can drive) not indicating would show you are not going left or right (therefore you are going straight on) but because nobody indicates anyway, not indicating is meaningless because it could mean you are going left, right or straight on. Hence the hazards for going straight on. Thai drivers are clueless. Their lack of ability and their unwillingness to follow road laws is only matched by their arrogance and over-confidence. Hence the incredibly high death rate on the roads here.

Just another way of controlling everyone and everything, creating a myriad of rules and regulations and then bribing cops to ignore them or fining people for breaking them.

No lockdown? Just like No Coup? That's great, I feel so much happier now I have Prayut's word.

He has a point. Nobody was coming anyway.

Very sad to hear. The return to a "papers please" society. In Germany of all places. Sad times.

Great place to live. Nightlife, restaurants, rooftop bars, parks, open air markets, decent public transport, malls, availability of pretty much anything. Plus the beaches of Rayong, Pattaya, Hua Hin only a couple of hours away if you fancy a weekend break. I think if I lived right in the heart of it I might get burnt out on it, but being a few stops away from Asoke on the MRT I can avoid the chaos when I need to but easily get in when I fancy it.

Wrong again, "mate". Actually it was Blumpie who first said he liked it. Bojo agreed saying "Nothing better than a challenge, a nod and a wink with the locals, and sense of beating the system..........................I hear you................Fun fun fun..........................". Then Mick confirmed he also liked Thailand because he could break the rules. I then used the term 'cheap thrill' to make fun of those posts. You misunderstood that I was the one claiming to find it thrilling, when in fact I was poking fun at people who said they enjoyed 'beating the system'. I know it must be all very complicated for you. So why don't you go back again and try reading it out loud this time. I've heard that can help with comprehension in the elderly.

Huh? The WHO are even mentioned in the opening post. In fact, a WHO convention is suggested as a possible solution to the situation. So me giving my opinion on them is not off topic in the slightest. As for medical fascism, yeah OK it's a fair cop you got me. I'd just read an article on Von Der Leyen calling for mandatory vaccination and couldn't contain my glee that we were no longer a member of the EU ????.

But this isn't about the US, it is about Thailand signing up to a treaty on Covid. The WHO have shown themselves to be totally inept. The way they 'investigated' China was laughable.

Off topic. This thread is about Thailand supporting an international treaty on Covid19. Not about US politics, Fox News, the far right, Trump etc.

Frankly, I'm not interested in those who try to link everything they disagree with to their obsession with the far right. It's a diversionary tactic. Even when someone is quite literally opposing medical fascism and ultra authoritarian government policies somehow they are 'far right'. You probably think they are all racist as well, and transphobic, and support Trump. Thailand supporting an international treaty on Covid has nothing to do with the 'far right' so I'd rather stick to the subject in hand than be sidetracked by your political obsessions and clumsy generalizations. Tedros is a muppet. And corrupt. And China's puppet. I make no apologies for not pretending to respect him. I certainly wouldn't want to empower any organisation that he has any influence over.

I think this is at the heart of it. Prayut and his cronies hate the sleaze and the associated image of places like Soi 6. It is also prime real estate. So if they can force these places to shut down they've killed 2 birds with 1 stone. Drive out the sleaze and pick up some prime real estate on the cheap for another mall, hotel, theme park or whatever it is they think people want. They'll never get rid of it completely, but it will move further and further away from the prime beach areas. It will be less 'in your face' and tucked well away from the eyes and cameras of the Chinese tour groups, business conferences and families they so want.

I'm not sure what the far right has to do with this? Although, I suppose the sort of medical fascism and ultra authoritarian stance being pushed by supporters of this kind of treaty/mandatory vaccines could well be regarded as having far right leanings. However my point stands. The WHO can give advice all they like, but it's a scary thought that a muppet like Tedros Adhanom could have the power to decide which chemical MUST be injected into my body under the legally binding power of an international treaty.

You do realize that the vaccinated can catch it and pass it on? Last month my double vaxxed brother in law caught it and passed it onto my double vaxxed sister. I still got the vaccine because it's very likely I will get Covid at some point and I want minimal symptoms. I'm not kidding myself into thinking that the vaccine makes me immune, but I will still get my booster shot (already booked in with Vibhavadi hospital) in January because that is MY choice. Your rights don't stretch as far as demanding what chemicals others inject into their bodies to make your life more convenient. You can encourage, cajole, educate. But you cannot demand. It should never be mandatory.

Advice and recommendations are fine. This thread is about a treaty. A legally binding international instrument. Totally different.

100% disagree. Anyone with a shred of respect for bodily autonomy would respect the individuals choice about which chemicals go into their body. As Franklin said, those that give up liberty for safety deserve neither. Medical fascism is absolutely NOT the way to go, it's an extremely slippery path. I'm double vaxxed by the way so you can forget about labeling me an anti vaxxer or Covid denier. But it was my choice. If someone else chooses not to have it that's their choice. Not mine, not yours and certainly not the unelected leader of a corrupt organization like the EU.

Absolute nonsense. Nation states should decide how they wish to respond, not the "global community" led by corrupt organizations like the WHO and their clueless leaders. I saw the unelected leader of the EU, Von Der Leyen is now calling for medical fascism in the form of mandatory vaccination for EU citizens. Another bullet dodged.

You might want to read the whole thread before misrepresenting what I said. Assuming your reading and comprehension skills are at least equivalent to that of a 14 year old, you would see that I was responding to another poster who said they are OK with these stupid laws because they get a thrill out of breaking them. Now, go read it again - slowly. Good lad.

4 DUI's before you get suspended? Does this apply to all drivers, or just the ones that we entrust to drive the public around all day?