robsamui

I've just left (south) Vietnam after being there for 2 years. Nothing's changed. There are sooooo many m'bikes that the govt has given up wanting anything to do with them - so no need of ownership papers, registration, tax or insurance. I was told that 4,000 m'bikes a month are stolen in V'nam. Thus the nice new shiny ones are the first ones to disappear . . . as I know from experience.

"Nobody takes Thailand seriously these days. They have opted out of being relevant." Well the Covid farce has sealed their fate with a vengeance - the slapdash perception that Covid is just 'flu; the 6 month wait for it all to go away before eventually being forced to vaccinate their people; the flounder to make a fast buck with the initial Sinovac stocks; the reluctance to spend money on test ATK kits; no mass testing; ridiculously- expensive private Covid tests; blatantly unrealistic infection statistics; price-gouged tourist trapping with extortionate Thai-Govt-forced insurance-and-ASQ-packages; the blatant kick-backs with private hospitals charging extortionate fees; the continual arrogant statements that "everything's under control"; the officious and self-important complexity of the immigration regulations; the ongoing dithering and mind-changing and backtracking with entry rules and quarantine regulations that are changed weekly with no regard for the disruption and money this is causing to incoming 'tourists, and the obvious lack of understanding that incoming westerners can't just pack and travel at the drop of a hat . . . . . . not to mention the farcical nature of a corrupt police force with virtually no training that doesn't actually police anything and doesn't understand what 'policing' means . . . Thailand has always managed to do all these sorts of things quietly, in the past, without attracting too much attention, and has subsequently developed a distorted sense of its own importance and worth. But standing up and broadcasting its dithering incompetence on the world stage via social media and the international Press has now guaranteed that nobody, absolutely nobody, takes Thailand seriously any more.

I think only Americans have junior/senior in their names - no other nation that I'm aware of does this. Other countries tend to give their new-born an individual name . . . only the USA keeps repeating the same names, over and over, from father to son, for some bizarre reason.

No matter what age they get to, Thai people never seem to psychologically and emotionally get past what Westerners think of as teenagers. They are emotional and petulant, with all their feelings close to the surface and ready to break out. They are overly sensitive to rejection or perceived insults, and being made to feel foolish or appear in the wrong is mortifying for them. Fits of the sulks, or uncontrollable anger, are common. The other side of the coin is that they are also warm, loving and deeply affectionate and usually kind, generous, open-hearted, sympathetic and hospitable . . . delightfully so. To interact with Thais in their society and culture needs a different kind of understanding and perception - it is easy to unwittingly upset a Thai. It is equally easy to gain their affection, respect, and even love. But you won't do that by blindly or insensitively responding to them as if they're the usual 'Western' adults you're accustomed to. They're not. And you need to constantly keep that in your mind, whether you're visiting or living in Thailand, or writing comments about Thainess from abroad.

He's American. They seem to have a unique approach when it comes to multiple Christian names and middle initials.

It is.

What is a "pub-like" restaurant? The only restaurant I know of, that's like a pub, is a pub. Is someone struggling to express the idea of an 'enclosed' restaurant, or an 'indoors' restaurant? If so, why don't they just say so? Why bring pubs into it?

a bit mute?

However The Thai Gov just love Squid Games - and have wonderfully created their own version of these games . . . as every foreigner is now finding out when they try to enter Thailand.

Well Thailand right now is in a mess and desperate, just like a bunch of kids finding out the candy shop is closed. They'll say and do anything and make all kinds of promises - no matter how nonsensical or irrational - just to get their hands on the sweeties.

Well I'm voting for someone much more intelligent!

The more I see this double-act in action, the more I keep seeing them as 'The Two Ronnies" - the little wimpy one with the specs and the big, lumpy brash one who knows it all. (Check The Two Ronnies on You Tube if you don't know them)

He's the long-time chum of a Very Important Person indeed.

There's a similar saying . . . "sometimes people are sooooo stupid that they don't know just how stupid they are and think they're normal." Take your pick of which one applies to this bombastic self-aggrandizing braggart.

hmmm . . . did you ever wonder what happens to those millions of little white cards (TM6) that people have to fill in when they enter Thailand? Are they neatly filed away in some vast and special Thai card index somewhere, fiercely guarded my immigration stormtroopers? Are they carefully entered into a national computer database for reference, or logged into a custom-made special government app (which never works)? Next time you fly take a look in the bin under the airport immigration counter.

(CLICK TO EXPAND) I hope these are not Chinese tourist pigeons - there's currently an outbreak of Avian flu happening in China.

Not to worry - the man with the duck has already vowed that there's no Omicron. He's cunning . . . knows damn well that it's air-borne and not in the soil.

Old Chinese proverb - "When the boat is on fire, worms of despair crawl out from the wood". Judging from the record number of evasions, contradictions, inconsistencies and just plain idiotic statements that have been uttered by Thai government representatives this year, the boat of Thailand must be already well-ablaze.

Ah! So the Scrabble Championship this year will be the last one? It's not often that the end of the world comes around.

AH! See? They've realised it's working and quickly fixed it so it's not!

It makes Immigration feel Grand and Self-important. More importantly, it empowers them in their continual search for better and more complicated mazes for the foreign hamsters to run around in. Looks like they might have slipped up this time, though - their APP (eek shriek shudder) appears to be working (mmmm?). Better make the most of it - they'll no doubt realise soon enough and fix it back to normal so it doesn't work.

"one student said in disbelief "What? they don't understand Thai?" - it had never crossed his mind before. I got the impression that he had watched loads of American movies - and didn't realise they had been dubbed - he just thought the actors spoke Thai as a second language." Thais are quite literally brainwashed from birth to believe they are the best and most important nation on earth - via their schooling and parental and social attitudes. They're taught nothing about the geography or history of the world and other countries - only Thai history and legends. The vast majority of young people believe all this. It's what happens when you stifle creativity and intelligence and allow technology to replace them. Not so long ago the Thai PM seriously announced that Thai would soon be a universal world language. All of Thailand is now plugged into a smartphone, and if needed can translate the odd word or two of English. Therefore they can see no reason to learn the English language. It's tragic - a real pity. But, then, if you never leave the farm, perhaps it's enough for the 66% of Thais who are farmers.

Stanford university? Stanford? In America? A team?! A couple of students over for the weekend from Singapore or Hong Kong would sort these buffoons out in no time at all.

I think it was back in the 19th century that Rudyard Kipling commented on small nations and their love of paperwork. He said something like . . . "it is only immature and developing countries which think that excessive red tape and bureaucracy is a sign of an effective government. Mature nations don't have the same need to impress, and have learned that it is more effective to simplify such matters." Kipling was talking about emerging nations back in Victorian times. But looking at the self-important flapping and strutting of the Thai government today, it's evident that Kipling was right. What a bunch of utter idiots.

For decades the low standards of Thai education have remained hidden away inside Thailand. But now (with not only the appearance of social media but also the Covid pandemic) the Thai spokespeople are broadcasting their ignorance to the world. It must be an unbearable loss of face for such a proud people.