TallGuyJohninBKK

The heads begin to roll in Russia "European media report that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the house arrest of two senior Federal Security Service (FSB) officers. Colonel-General Sergei Beseda, Chief of the FSB's "Fifth Service," reportedly was detained along with his deputy, Anatoly Bolyuk, charged with providing flawed intelligence about Ukraine and their improper use of operational funds. Separately, Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine's national security council chief, claimed that several Russian generals have been fired. ... Perhaps emulating Joseph Stalin, this could be the onset of a purge and Putin's desperate ploy to provide his domestic audience with a fall guy for self-inflicted wounds." https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-heads-begin-to-roll-in-russia/ar-AAVm1nK

USA Today has an interesting report recapping the [mostly failed] efforts of the various U.S. presidents up thru Biden to come to productive terms with Putin.... 'War criminal': As Biden gets personal with Putin, US, Russia relationship hits a dangerous crisis ... "The leaders had previously met when Biden was vice president, during a 2011 trip to Russia. Referencing Bush’s claim that he had gotten a sense of Putin’s soul, Biden later said he told Putin: “I don’t think you have a soul.” “And he looked back at me, and he smiled, and he said, ‘We understand one another,’” Biden told The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos in 2014. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/war-criminal-as-biden-gets-personal-with-putin-us-russia-relationship-hits-a-dangerous-crisis/ar-AAVm57V

It's the countries nearby to Russia, not surprisingly, that are advocating stronger NATO action for the very reason you mention. It's the far away countries like the U.S. that thus far have been opposing it, understandably, out of fear direct NATO involvement could lead to some version of WWIII and nukes being deployed. Hopefully, there's some way the west can DO MORE in a meaningful way that isn't likely to trigger the various nightmare scenarios.

Forum member @Eaglekott 's list of the top Thailand provinces for COVID cases based on Monday's new cases data, ranked by per capita rate of cases (per 100,000 population). Rayong, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Phuket are all in the top 10 for this tally. The full list of all the ranked provinces is listed in his running thread on the subject at: https://aseannow.com/topic/1221220-information-about-new-covid-19-cases-per-province/?do=findComment&comment=17260790

Sorry, you're misreading the meaning of the news report headline above... (which the news source wrote, not me). It doesn't mean NATO's resolve against Russia is faltering. It does mean, the prior collective NATO position AGAINST direct involvement is "faltering," with the several named NATO countries in the report now urging stronger, direct NATO action against Russia such as a no-fly zone. The NATO non-involvement stance is faltering (with some member countries now beginning to dissent)... which is correct... and not necessarily a bad thing.

Newly reported official COVID cases dipped for a fourth consecutive day to 21,382 on Tuesday, which is common for reports based on early week Monday data, while the numbers of serious cases in hospital (1,484) and intubated patients (532) both rose to set new record highs for the year. Newly reported COVID deaths of 83 declined by five from the record high 88 yearly tally reported on Monday. The total number of current COVID cases under care (hospitals and alternate arrangements) of 236,814 declined from Monday's yearly record high 240,339 total. Tuesday's update from the Ministry of Public Health continued a recent pattern of new COVID case numbers declining on the weekends and early in the week, only then to rise to new highs as the week progresses. Tuesday's tally of 21,382 official new COVID cases also was an 8.3% increase from the 19,742 reported last Tuesday. The combination of Tuesday's official new COVID cases plus the 13,220 new unofficial cases reported via positive ATK tests hit a total of 34,602, up 5.6% from the comparable 32,750 tally from last Tuesday. https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main For added context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and intubated patients peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period.

From your news source above:

Russia Threatens Poland in Lengthy Letter Days Before Joe Biden's Visit Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian security council, on Monday threatened Poland in a lengthy letter, just days before U.S. President Joe Biden is due to visit the country. ... Medvedev was referring to a decision made by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki last week to minimize dependence on Russia and sever economic ties with Moscow in response to the Ukraine invasion that began on February 24. "We will deal with the de-Russification of the Polish and European economy," Morawiecki told a news conference on March 18. "We call for the suspension of activities on the Russian market." https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-threatens-poland-in-lengthy-letter-days-before-joe-biden-s-visit/ar-AAVjWFW

Poland to propose Ukraine peacekeeping mission at NATO summit, says PM https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-propose-ukraine-peacekeeping-mission-nato-summit-says-pm-2022-03-18/ Look who's calling for a more forceful western response to Russia's war crimes in Ukraine -- Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, etc. They're all in the neighborhood and all NATO members. They know who and what Putin is... And they know they could be next on Russia's list somewhere down the line. ------- The clear and attrocious targeting of innocent, non-combatant Ukrainian civilians and civilian targets by the Russian military -- no accidents or targeting errors -- becomes increasingly untenable to common sense people in the West.

NATO Unity Faltering as Calls Grow for a No-Fly Zone Over Ukraine Agreement among NATO allies appears to be faltering as more nations call for a no-fly zone over Ukraine. NATO's secretary-general said Wednesday the alliance's members were united in the decision not to deploy forces on the ground or in the airspace of Ukraine as Russia's invasion of the eastern European nation intensifies. ... But on Thursday, the Associated Press reported that Lithuania's parliament unanimously approved a resolution calling for a no-fly zone over Ukraine—joining other NATO members Estonia and Slovenia in the appeal. (more) https://www.newsweek.com/nato-unity-faltering-calls-grow-no-fly-zone-over-ukraine-1689048

Russia Suffers Blow as Germany Strikes Natural Gas Deal With Qatar "Germany said Sunday that it had reached a deal on an energy partnership with Qatar, as the European powerhouse seeks to reduce its dependence on Russia amid the invasion of Ukraine. Robert Habeck, Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, met with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Sunday. State-owned QatarEnergy said in a statement that the two countries "would re-engage and progress discussions on long term LNG supplies," Reuters reported. While Qatar didn't say that an agreement had been reached, a German spokesperson told the news outlet that a deal between the nations had been finalized. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-suffers-blow-as-germany-strikes-natural-gas-deal-with-qatar/ar-AAVitpC

"Russia continues to attack civilian targets across Ukraine. At least 902 civilians have been killed and 1,459 injured since the start of the invasion, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Sunday." AND Zelensky repeats call for NATO admission in CNN interview ... Zelensky told Zakaria that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if the country had been admitted into the NATO alliance. "If we were a NATO member, a war wouldn't have started. I'd like to receive security guarantees for my country, for my people," said Zelensky. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/key-developments-in-ukraine-this-weekend/ar-AAVjWpf

Scuzballs: French retail giant looks to expand its Russia business and increase products in stores after other brands pull out A French retail giant said it wants to expand the products on offer at its Russian stores to fill the gap left by other brands after they halted operations in Russia, The Telegraph reported. ... Leroy Merlin is owned by French retail moguls, Association Familiale Mulliez, who also own the sports retailer, Decathlon. The Mulliez family behind the company is worth around $45.9 billion, according to Bloomberg. Leroy Merlin operates 112 stores in Russia, while Decathlon has around 60 Russian stores. Neither retailer has suspended their operations in Russia, The Telegraph reported. (more) https://www.businessinsider.com/retailer-looks-expand-russia-business-as-more-firms-pull-out-2022-3

The top Russian naval commander died near Mariupol, Russia said, the latest senior officer killed in Ukraine The deputy commander of Russia's Black Sea fleet was killed in combat near the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Russian officials said. Captain 1st rank Andrei Paly is the latest senior Russian officer to be killed in the war with Ukraine. His death was announced Sunday by Mikhail Razvozhayev, the pro-Russian governor of the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol, on Telegram." (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-top-russian-naval-commander-died-near-mariupol-russia-said-the-latest-senior-officer-killed-in-ukraine/ar-AAVjW8e?li AND ‘Snipers have been picking them off left and right’: Retired U.S. general explains why so many Russian generals are getting killed in Ukraine "Russia keeps losing generals in its war against Ukraine. The latest death, reported Saturday by Ukrainian officials, was that of Andrei Mordvichev, who as a lieutenant-general was the highest-ranking of the Russian generals to have been killed so far. He reportedly perished in a Ukrainian attack on an airfield near the Black Sea port of Kherson." (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/snipers-have-been-picking-them-off-left-and-right-retired-u-s-general-explains-why-so-many-russian-generals-are-getting-killed-in-ukraine/ar-AAVjZbY

An interesting and pretty compelling report that makes its case for today's Russia as a fascist state. Seems like, the parallels between today's Putin and Russia and pre-WWII Hitler and Germany keep getting stronger and stronger. Though Putin has nuclear weapons and Hitler fortunately did not. That detail tends to make dealing with Putin a whole lot more problematic.

Newly reported official COVID cases dipped for a third consecutive day to 23,441 on Monday, which is common for reports based on Sunday weekend data, while the numbers of new deaths (88) and serious cases in hospital (1,464) both rose to set new record highs for the year. Newly reported COVID deaths rose by one from the prior record high of 87 on Saturday. The total number of current COVID cases under care (hospitals and alternate arrangements) rose slightly to 240,339 and also hit a new record high for the year. Monday's update from the Ministry of Public Health continued a recent pattern of new COVID case numbers declining on the weekends, only then to rise to new highs during the following week. Monday's tally of 23,441 new COVID cases also was a 5.9% increase from the 22,130 reported last Monday. The combination of Monday's official new COVID cases plus the 15,177 new unofficial cases reported via positive ATK tests hit a total of 38,618, up 2.2% from the comparable 37,780 tally from last Monday. https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main For added context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and intubated patients peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period.

Ukraine’s pro-Russian minority turning against Putin amid invasion Russia will be beaten, Ukrainians say This level of faith among Ukrainians is reportedly the highest amid the Russian invasion so far Almost all Ukrainians believe that Russia will be forced to abandon its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, a poll suggests. A massive 93 per cent of Ukrainians said they believe Ukraine will be victorious, according to a new poll by Ukrainian survey group ‘Rating’. This level of faith is the highest amid Vladimir Putin’s invasion so far, the group said. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war-latest-news-b2039985.html AND "Ukraine’s westward ambitions have only been strengthened by Russia’s assault. Before February, many residents of cities like Kharkiv were sympathetic to Russia. Now much of the city has been reduced to rubble, and pro-Russian voices have turned into fiercely pro-Kyiv ones. ... The other challenge, Riabchyn said, is that Zelensky has proved so powerful a wartime communicator that Ukrainians are united behind him, with high morale and a willingness to keep fighting. A deal that seems like a defeat might not be acceptable to Ukrainian society. “Ukrainians believe we are winning this war, so they might not accept painful compromises,” said Riabchyn, who now advises the government. “They might feel this is a betrayal. Zelensky raised the aspiration lines very high.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/18/russia-ukraine-peace-negotiations/

For a long-serving U.S. foreign diplomat, he seems to have a particularly blinkered sense of history: "Instead, Ukraine punted. It demanded that, in exchange for nuclear disarmament, it would need ironclad security guarantees. That was the heart of the agreement signed in Moscow early in 1994 by Russia, Ukraine and the United States. In late 1994, the pledges got fleshed out. The accord, known as the Budapest Memorandum, signed by Russia, Ukraine, Britain and the United States, promised that none of the nations would use force or threats against Ukraine and all would respect its sovereignty and existing borders. The agreement also vowed that, if aggression took place, the signatories would seek immediate action from the United Nations Security Council to aid Ukraine." https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/science/ukraine-nuclear-weapons.html Russia reneged on its past commitments with its takeover of Crimea, and now is doing the same again with its invasion of Ukraine.

This is a real and ongoing problem. But as long as Russia continues to have a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, I don't know how anything's going to meaningfully change. There's the separate, independent International Criminal Court... except: "Four signatory states—Israel,[47] Sudan,[48] the United States[49][50] and Russia[51]—have informed the UN Secretary General that they no longer intend to become states parties and, as such, have no legal obligations arising from their signature of the Statute.[42][43]" Russia withdraws from International Criminal Court treaty Published 16 November 2016 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38005282 Could the international criminal court bring Putin to justice over Ukraine? Even if Russian leader were charged, he would have to be arrested in a state that accepts the court’s jurisdiction "Russia withdrew from the ICC in 2016 after the court published a report classifying the Russian annexation of Crimea as an occupation. On the face of it, proving Russia has committed the crime of aggression would appear straightforward. The definition includes invasion of another state, bombardment and blockade of ports. However, if a state is not a party to the ICC, its individuals cannot be prosecuted by the court for this specific offence. The only exception is that the UN security council can refer a non-party to the ICC for the crime of aggression, but Russia, as a permanent member of the council, holds a veto, so this will not happen. But there is no similar bar that would prevent charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide being brought against a non-signatory such as Russia." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/02/could-international-criminal-court-bring-putin-to-justice-over-ukraine ------------------------------ The U.S. also is not a formal member of the ICC member nations. But at least, the Biden Administration rescinded a series of very hostile measures the Trump Administration had taken to threaten, freeze assets and deny visas to ICC staff over their efforts to investigate alleged abuses in Afghanistan. "On April 1, 2021, the Biden administration issued an executive order reversing the Trump administration's sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) personnel. The administration rescinded the sanctions placed upon the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and the head of the Office of the Prosecutor's Jurisdiction, Complementarity, and Cooperation Division, Phakiso Mochochoko, and removed the officials from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons. The ICC, European Union (EU), and human rights groups welcomed the reversal." https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/biden-administration-rescinds-sanctions-against-international-criminal-court-officials/8421DC4071EA5B4BC668D9D200497B97

AFAIK, the Thai media aren't doing EN translations of the MoPH's top COVID provinces case reports issued daily. But even when they did, Bangkok was always at the top of the list because of the enormous size of its population compared to all the other provinces. But that kind of look tends to be misleading, whereas a per capita ranking (cases per 100,000 population) is a more accurate way to judge just how much COVID activity is occurring from place to place. Here below is forum member Eaglekott's latest provinces ranking based on per capita new COVID cases, and Bangkok is nowhere near the top of the list, and not even in the top 30 excerpt of the complete list posted below. But Phuket and Chonburi are in the top 10, at least for that day: https://aseannow.com/topic/1221220-information-about-new-covid-19-cases-per-province/?do=findComment&comment=17254042

That's a good catch. Actually, it appears what has happened is, they simply stopped updating that testing positivity data as of the first week of March, and simply have been recycling the same percentage number in their daily update reports ever since. Note the March 7 reference in that section of today's update report:

"The first batch of Molnupiravir antiviral capsules for treating COVID-19 has arrived in Thailand and will be distributed by the Department of Medical Services (DMS) to hospitals starting this week. The DMS received 2 million Molnupiravir pills manufactured by Merck & Co, purchased under an agreement between the DMS and Merck's subsidiary, MSD Thailand. The 2 million capsules are sufficient for treating 50,000 patients, with each course consisting of 8 capsules taken daily for 5 consecutive days. DMS Director-General Dr Somsak Akksilp said the drug will be prescribed for elderly patients and those with underlying health conditions who are not yet in need of respiratory support." https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld/posts/10158555650532050 This medication has a relatively low effectiveness rate, about 30% if I recall correctly, whereas the similar medication Paxlovid has a much higher rate of effectiveness. The article said a government purchase contract for Pfizer's Paxlovid pills will be signed next week, no estimate on their arrival time.

Newly reported official COVID cases dipped for a second consecutive day to 24,996 on Sunday, which is common for weekend reports, while the numbers of serious cases in hospital (1,432) and hospitalized patients requiring intubation to breathe (521) both set new record highs for the year. Newly reported COVID deaths declined slightly to 84, down from the yearly record high tally of 87 on Saturday. But the total number of current COVID cases under care (hospitals and alternate arrangements) rose to 240,139 and also hit a new record high for the year. Sunday's update from the Ministry of Public Health continued a recent pattern of new COVID case numbers declining on the weekends, only then to rise to new highs during the following week. Sunday's tally of 24,996 new COVID case also was a 6% increase from the 23,584 reported last Sunday. The combination of Sunday's official new COVID cases plus the 25,859 new unofficial cases reported via positive ATK tests hit a total of 50,855, up 15.3% from the comparable 44,096 tally from last Sunday. https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main For added context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and intubated patients peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period.

Update for Sunday (since there apparently won't be a separate Sunday news thread on this): https://www.facebook.com/prbangkok/posts/281150867526403 24,996 new COVID cases reported Sunday, classified as: --24,965 domestic patients --31 patients from abroad Down from the 25,804 reported Saturday Total of 1,130,534 cases (since 1 January 2565) ------------------------- 84 new COVID deaths, down from the yearly record high 87 reported Saturday 1,432 serious condition COVID pneumonia cases being treated in hospitals A new record high for the year, up from the 1,414 reported Saturday On average, 18 serious condition COVID cases per province (77 provinces) National average hospital bed occupancy rate of 25.9%, up from the 25.6% rate reported Saturday 240,139 current COVID patients being treated, up from the 237,519 reported Saturday --------------------- 22,292 recovered COVID patients Total 921,090 recovered patients (since 1 January 2565)