JonnyF

I didn't abuse him. I simply showed him the same amount of respect that he had shown me. It's a simple rule I follow that serves me well.

Exactly. I remember a Phuket taxi driver yelling at me "Hey, Farang" pretty aggressively as I walked past him to get my attention. I shouted back "Hey, Asian" with a similar tone and he didn't like it at all. So much so that had he had his mates with him I reckon he'd have attacked me. When Thai friends use it nicely/jokingly I don't mind at all.

I have no problem with the word Farang. As long as I am also allowed to use similar words to classify other broad racial groups/ethnicities then I'm all good. Fair's fair.

They're obviously rushed off their feet down at the Embassy.

As has already been stated, being a farang relates to your ethnicity, your race. It doesn't matter what citizenship you hold, what passport is in your pocket - you are still a Farang. Heinecke is talking a lot of sense. Hence he will be ignored.

Oh dear. Big loss of face. One suspects that the coffee shop owner might be becoming acquainted with the inside of a plastic bag in the not too distant future.

This is Biden we are talking about. He can't remember what the nurses fed him for breakfast, let alone what happened in Thailand in 2014.

Actually "Ancient History" is generally classified as the period from 3000 BC to 500 AD. I'm not the least surprised you wouldn't know that though. It's deeply disrespectful to say you don't care about WW2, a period that saw some horrifying atrocities. I'm not old either (under 50) but that doesn't mean I have to be ignorant about such a significant and disturbing period in history. As for the cold caller, just hang up. Especially if he's one of those 'nasty' Brits that you hate so much.

No chance there will be any siginificant numbers. China isn't going to jeapardize it's precious zero Covid policy by letting it's citizens come to a Covid hotbed like Thailand without very serious quarantine on return. I'm guessing minimum 3 weeks. More likely 4.

I wonder if all those Sinovac jabs administered a year ago have lost their effectiveness? I seem to recall their effectiveness is much more short lived than other well known vaccines. It wouldn't surprise me. And now people have experienced queuing up in the temple for hours in the soaring heat (followed by being sick for a few days) and are reluctant to get boosted? Maybe they should have provided decent vaccines while everyone was desperate to receive them?

Nothing about being jaded, it is absolutely related to charging a foreigner more. Many of the restaurants have 2 menus. The English menu has the higher prices. I'm surprised you don't know this, I discovered it in my first 2 weeks living there (I lived there for around 2 years between 2006-2008 before moving to BKK). Some of the owners of the places I went to regularly joked with me about how they gave me the Thai price because I was so nice and polite (for a foreigner!). Likewise markets, mom and pop shops etc. nearly always charge foreigners more unless they know you. Which is why I ended up going to Tesco for everything or giving the money to my Thai gf and letting her buy it. Add in the taxis, TukTuk mafia, motorbike repair shops etc. and you'll see there are ripoffs everywhere in Phuket. Even the gas station in Patong would put in a weird amount like 93 Baht in the scooter and then claim the tank was full but they had no change from a 100 Baht note. It became really draining dealing with the pettiness of it all. I instantly noticed the positive difference when I came to BKK.

Whilst I wouldn't go out of my way to catch it, I'm certainly not going to make huge sacrafices to avoid it. I've have enough of my time wasted with this thing, it's time to move on. If I get it, I get it. A week off work catching up on Netflix and finishing a couple of Playstation games (plus the extra future protection of having caught it) is not the worst thing in the world.

My sister was thinking about a trip to Samui later this year with her husband and 2 other couples. Just forwarded her this article. Hopefully they drop this 'test on arrival' nonsense ASAP. You're more likely to catch it here than bring it with you.

Just been informed by HR that one of my staff tested positive yesterday. I'd imagine the numbers will start to spike this week as factories etc. test their workers on their return to work. Everyone in my office is being tested at 9am ????.

Not a fan? On the plus side the 6 Thai dogs on our farm stop trespassers, fruit stealers, snakes, burglars, rats. The best thing is the villagers never stop by for a chat any more which always involves them requesting "loans". I'm guessing they would keep away grumpy forum members like you as well, which is a nice bonus. My American Pitbull Terrier has a penchant for Jinjok and Tookay and has pretty much eradicated them from our property. He's learning to catch the pigeons now. Marvelous.

Laying the seed for blaming the post Songkran spike on tourists and foreigners. Predictable but unfortunately quite effective with the largely xenophobic Thai populace.

I wouldn't be surprised to see deaths rise. The peasants unfortunate enough to have had Sinovac will have the effectiveness worn off by now and I doubt people will be queuing up for 4 hours in the heat of an Issan temple to be injected with something that makes you sick for 3 days again. Anutin's chickens may be coming home to roost.

That will be sure to protect you after a day of maximum exposure amongst the crowds. Stay safe everyone. Look after your families and loved ones.

Great to see numbers dropping. Time to follow the UK’s lead (again!) and open up. It’s over. Endemic. Move on.

Exactly. Guys seeking out these attributes in their hookers need to take a good long look at themselves and wonder why. There have been a few busts lately where underage girls have been found in the bars. Soi 7 in Bangkok for example. I hope the online scene isn't circumventing these checks.

4ft tall, 38 kgs with a Hello Kitty backpack? Can you hear yourself? Celebrating the child-like qualities in your call girls. Wow.

That's possible. It's also possible these issues could occur for the elderly Thai people in the title of this thread. Fortunately I am under 50 with no major health issues and I have shook off 95% of the side effects. I don't believe it's fair to label elderly people with genuine concerns about taking a third dose of a largely untested vaccine "irresponsible". 3 months ago young people were being pressured to take the vaccine to "save Grannie". Now Grannie is being labelled irresponsible. That's disingenuous in my opinion.

Maybe it's Will Smith?

Well that's up to them isn't it. Their body, their choice. My Pfizer booster gave me a lot of issues for about 8 weeks and frankly if I could go back in time I would have stuck with the 2 x AZ I had. Omicron is probably the best booster available now.

You're in Thailand now buddy. If you want Woke or are easily butthurt, maybe not the best place ????.