huangnon

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However, an exact date for easing of the mask mandate has NOT been announced and is NOT set in stone as July 1st, notes the CCSA, and will depend on the upcoming Royal Gazette order.

Ooh, they really are hanging on to this little nugget, aren't they?  ????

Anyway, baby steps..

12 minutes ago, Misterwhisper said:

None of these vaccines makes people "immune" against the virus. One would think that this fact also should have sunk in with Thai "experts" in the meantime...

Only people granted "immunity" are the vaccine manufacturers.

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illegal foreign workers had been arrested by special forces at a traditional Thai massage shop in Rayong

"Special forces?"

Nabbing a couple of illegal massage girls from Cambodia. No doubt justifying their set up and training at the taxpayer's expense. ????

I bet Walmart and the likes of Amazon are quietly assessing the logistics of using their own monkey labour.. ????

Did anyone think that a privacy law (Personal Data Protection Act) was enacted to protect the public.?

This is a rather large step backwards, even for Thailand.

Some of the disadvantages of a cashless society:

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Disadvantages of a Cash-Free World

Depending on your perspective, going cashless might be more problematic than beneficial. Here are some of the major downsides associated with a cashless financial system.

 

Digital Transactions Sacrifice Privacy

Electronic payments aren't as private as cash payments. You might trust the organizations that handle your data, and you might have nothing to hide. However, the more information you have floating around online, the more likely it is to wind up in malicious hands.6

 

Cash allows you to spend money and receive funds anonymously.

 

 

Cashless Transactions Are Exposed to Hacking Risks

Hackers are the bank robbers and muggers of the electronic world. In a cashless society, you're more exposed to hackers. If you are targeted and somebody drains your account, you may not have any alternative ways to spend money. Even if you're protected under federal law, it will still be inconvenient to restore your financial standing after a breach.7

 

Technology Problems Could Impact Your Access to Funds

Glitches, outages, and innocent mistakes can also cause problems, leaving you unable to buy things when you need to. Likewise, merchants have no way to accept payments when systems malfunction. Even something as simple as a dead phone battery could leave you "penniless," in a sense.

 

Economic Inequality Could Become Exacerbated

Unless special outreach efforts are made, the poor and unbanked will likely have an even harder time in a cashless society. If smartphone purchases become the standard way to transact, for example, those who can't afford smartphones will be left behind. The UK is experimenting with contactless ways to donate to charities and homeless individuals, but these efforts may not be developed enough yet to substitute cash donations.89

 

Payment Providers Could Charge Fees

If society is forced to choose from just a few payment methods, or if one app becomes the standard payment app, the companies who develop these services might not offer them for free. Payment processors may cash in on the high volumes by imposing fees, which would eliminate the savings that should come from less cash handling.10

 

The Temptation To Overspend May Increase

When you spend with cash, you recognize the financial impact by physically taking the cash out of your pocket and giving it to someone else. With electronic payments, on the other hand, it's easy to swipe, tap, or click without noticing how much you spend. Consumers may have to rethink the ways they manage their spending.

 

Negative Interest Rates Could Be Passed Onto Customers

When all money is electronic, negative interest rates could have a more direct effect on consumers. Countries like Denmark, Japan, and Switzerland have already experimented with negative interest rates.

 

Dropping the interest rate is typically a move to stimulate an economy, but the result is that money loses purchasing power.11

According to the International Monetary Fund, negative interest rates reduce bank profitability, and banks could be tempted to hike fees on customers to make up that deficit. Banks are limited in their ability to pass on those costs because customers can simply withdraw their cash from the bank if they don't like the fees.12 In the future, if customers can't withdraw cash from the bank, they may have to accept any additional fees.

I would also be wary of the power of megacorps (CP, example) in Thailand, that might exert control over payments to any competition they might yet have. All of a sudden your card doesn't work in Nong's Minimart..

Cashless is promoted as "convenient", but I doubt that is for consumers.

Would be nice to hear about the central Thai or local governments apportioning funds and projects like leisure centers, parks, sports fields, etc to the youth and general population, other than the same old shopping malls, mega-stores, etc.

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It’s unclear what led to this quick reversal, although many people speculated possible Central government influence from the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, or CCSA, which runs the response for Covid-19 for the Kingdom.

There's your answer. Another bureaucratic organization with it's nose in the trough of public funds, unwilling to hand over the power it's created from nothing.