blazes

Excellent analysis. Totally agree. Amazing how well the analysis also fits virtually any modern government, including of course the US of A. Your mention of the Covid response and the way governments used it to exercise Soviet-style power would apply to the UK, Canada and many many other so-called democratic countries. Perhaps Thailand is a latecomer to the feast of the power elite.

No more backbone than Trudeau when dealing with the Chinese over dodgy behaviour on their part. So little backbone that Trudeau had to suffer the public humiliation of being reprimanded in public by Comrade Xi.

Ah, I see now. Trudeau in whiteface.

Lionel Messi. But wtf would I do with $600,000 per week?

Who's this? Trudeau?

Most of the legitimate beefs mentioned on this thread can also be directed against other countries. One thing Thailand should consider is opening up the country in the same way as Mexico, Spain, Greece and other such countries do. (You've got 6 months in Mexico, no questions asked., no visas, no deadlines - perfect.) Let's face it, the main reason (these days) for those from cold-winter climates to visit LoS is the WEATHER. As tourists, as opposed to ex-pats, we will put up, short-term, with all the things that pi$$ us off as expats. Abandon most of your regulations. Period.

You mean Valparaiso has loads of homeless (sorry, "unhoused") on the streets defecating, urinating and shooting up, and daylight robbery is....er....daylight robbery?

Not just Chonburi, but the whole of bleeding Thailand.....

Apparently the new "government" have decided to re-name Phuket as Thailand Gulag.

When I was in my 20s I used to argue about anything and everything, especially politics. At my present (advanced) age, I would say that only about 10% of things in life are ever worth arguing about. Makes for a much more peaceful life. For example, does it really matter who wins the next American presidential election when we consider the fiction we all pretend to believe in, that one man (woman?) alone can actually govern 350 million people?

Precisely. Which is why all this "mattering" (wittering?) about "climate catastrophe" doesn't matter one whit.

Very Churchillian, if I may say so....

Clearly, your ignore button doesn't work very well if you are here telling us about ignoring poor old Bob.

The 99.9% of us on this thread who understand the joke about "good news at last" are nevertheless guilty of accepting as "truth" the basic position of the dubious journalism in the main story. My own suspicion is that there is no substance to this story whatsoever. How could a journalist know whether (or not) tourist numbers were affected by this B movie.? If the numbers were affected, it would make for a story about the ignorance of the average Chinese tourist and the sad state of education in the People's Republic.

I just hope that this banter about passport colours is part of a satirical wind-up, an oblique way to condemn this thin-end-of-the-wedge tripe about re-entering the Brussels bo££ocks.

Michael Connolly (the Hieronymous Bosch novels). Excellent policiers. Too bad he turned woke and pensioned off Bosch and replaced him with a woman. *metoo and all that.... The paintings (of the real Bosch) are utterly fascinating and scary.

An ex-gf of mine (from Roi Et) cared for her father (55) as he died of liver cancer from this deadly parasite. As a teacher of Biology at high school, maybe she is helping to reduce the incidence of this particular cancer.

Will he have to do a 90-day report?

Good-bye, Clarice: I'm having a friend for dinner.....

What have the Singaporeans ever done for us?....

Hope you survive your "abated" breath....

À la Jeffrey Epstein?

The red mist of a Liverpool F.C. supporter....that obscures the truth reflected from the mirror.

Sad to read this attempted self-justification of chronic stinginess.

If you receive good service and you expect to return to that restaurant soon, a good tip will ALWAYS guarantee even better service next time.