THE WEEK THAT WAS When should you spend less time in front of the computer?

[rooster59]

 

Well, well….June already. The Derby was yesterday and soon it’ll be time for the groundsmen to pull over the covers as the rain will be falling on day one of Wimbledon. 

 

I was reminiscing about the land of my birth this week, anything to try and forget the ghastly heat in Bangkok, Thailand, the land of my choice. 

 

I’d been reading multiple comments of the moaners on Thaivisa when I recalled a TV show from my youth. 

 

Why Don’t You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go and Do Something Less Boring Instead?

 

It ran mostly in the holidays for 22 years and was designed to get kids into art and crafts, games and magic tricks. Kind of a twentieth century YouTube.

 

Rooster has been criticized for being boring and waffling. I’m used to that, I have a wife.

 

After reading the forum this week, it struck me that cabin fever has set in for some. Bad news was greeted with moaning. Good news was greeted with complaining. Amusing news was greeted with cynicism and brickbats. Some people are never happy.

 

I know the pandemic has taken its toll on all of us but for some, it really might be time to not spend quite as long sitting in front of the computer. 

 

For those who did pull the plug, here's a rundown of some stories that caught my beady eye this week - there were some belters!

 

There was a strong reaction from the authorities in Thailand to the scandalous notion that a virus strain might be called the “Thai Variant”.

 

Fortunately the WHO (why do I always think of Abbott and Costello’s Who’s on First?) had already decided that political correctness was the order of the day and that the Indian variant was to be called “Delta” and the UK one was now Alpha.

 

It all seemed like Greek to me.

 

Apparently Kent, the county of my birth, was no longer good enough. Sheesh! It’s the Garden of England I’ll have you know!

 

Putting aside that Thailand missed a trick at being named the Hub of Variants, maybe the WHO also missed an opportunity. 

 

Thailand is brilliant at categorizing nations with terms like Phoo Dee Angrit (English gentlemen), the Land of Beer (Germany), the Nationality of Raw Fish (Japanese) to name but three. 

 

At Rooster Central we were on tenterhooks praying that they don’t put the start of term back again. The school had the temerity to send me a bill. I thought of responding with one of my own listing what we’ve been doing - namely teaching, using our air-con, providing meals. While they send out banal cartoons trying to teach my kids to add and subtract.

 

Look here school, I love my kids but I want them to meet their friends again at your place. Please, pretty please, take them off my hands on June 14th.

 

Meanwhile, the biggest D-Day since June 1944 is upon us tomorrow, June 7th not the 6th! That’s when we will find out - or begin to discover - if the Thai vaccine rollout is hot air or the hottest thing since hot cakes. 

 

Posters have been whining about conflicting news stories. What do you expect Thaivisa to do? We get our stories from the Thai media. It’s not their fault. They get theirs from the Thai authorities. If you wanna break the vicious circle and one which is replicated across every major new cycle on every major event! Why did you expect information regarding the vaccine rollout would be any different?

 

I’m waiting till August when I see my doc for a check-up. I expect they’ll have some form of vaccine for me by then; I couldn’t really give a monkeys. I’ve got better things to think about, such as Euro 2020 and Harry Kane’s Golden Boot. 

 

Apropos the vaccine, the xenophobes (who hate China even more than Thailand) were out in force, especially on TV Facebook. Despite WHO approval, putting Sinovac in your veins is tantamount to injecting cyanide apparently.  

 

Look people, China needs to be watched like a hawk, there are some mischief makers there, but you need to choose your battles. Sinovac isn’t one of them. It’s a sideshow. 

 

Another D-Day looming is July 1st and the Phuket Sandbox. TAT’s Yutthasak revealed that 20 Americans were coming! Whoopidoo - here comes the cavalry!

 

Somehow, this will add up to four million by the end of the year according to tourism minister Pipat’s abacus. Thaivisa did the math and lo and behold, more than 20 a day were needed!

 

Reading behind the headlines and the absurd rhetoric, it was clear that the Phuket governor (and everyone else in a modicum of authority) knows that the sandbox is destined to be more like a litter tray. 

 

Yes, they have to start somewhere with reopening the country. Yes, Phuket is as good a place as any. Yes, the tourism industry is desperate. Yes, the people are starving…...But NO. Foreign tourists will NOT be coming. Quarantine or no quarantine. 

 

People all around the world, conditioned by the last 18 months as much as anything, are staying put in their countries. Governments have too many restrictions on their populations.

 

The Thais need to focus on the bare bones of domestic tourism and put any thought of foreign travel off until 2022 at the very earliest. 

 

Don’t raise the hopes of the little people in the tourism industry. Encourage them to get into manufacturing. Provide some incentives to retrain. Diversify for goodness sake. Face it - the international tourism industry is dead and buried for years. 

 

Johnny tourist doesn’t give a hoot about your herd immunity. Yes, he’s got plenty to spend but he’s going to part with it near to home, in a place he can easily return from. 

 

For goodness sake, Brits are even being put off going to Portugal and why should Americans even consider leaving their continent?

 

The only “tourists” coming to Phuket will be those looking for a convenient and cheap way to finally rejoin their families in Phijit….

 

Enough of the pandemic. Time for crime….

 

It was a juicy week for crime-watchers with the arrest of “Uncle Phol” the man who became a celebrity on the back of the murder of his niece Nong Chompoo.

 

Pitiful, three year old Rose Apple was left to die a year ago in a Mukdahan field. Now the police and their forensic experts have determined that the only feasible suspect is her uncle. 

 

The case divides public opinion with celebrity muddying the waters as it so often does in Thailand. But while much of the evidence is circumstantial, its accumulation is close to damning. 

 

Whether close is enough to convict a slick operator like Uncle Phol remains to be seen. The case has shades of Azaria Chamberlain about it. 

 

My, how so many Australians were convinced of the guilt of Lindy and Michael as murderess and accessory in the death of their nine-week old baby. And my, how they had to eat humble pie six years later when Azaria’s clothing was found by a dingo lair.

 

Lindy was innocent and the dingo was guilty! Who would have thunk it!

 

The Thai case is a cause-celebre that is more like a cause-he’s-a-celebrity. The case may yet have more twists and turns and cause more dining on humble pie. 

 

Humble pie is not something anyone is likely to ingest in the case of Red Bull Boss. The new chairman of a committee that oversees public prosecutors has promised a new investigation.

 

This news will not be quickening anyone’s pulse, least of all the fugitive’s. 

 

And so to a few Rooster Awards.

 

The Darwin Award for absolutely no service to the gene pool, goes to the motorcyclist caught on video trying to nip under a barrier at a level crossing on his motorcycle.

 

Unfortunately the load on the back got caught and reared him up like a praying mantis as the Iron Horse approached. 

 

Please don’t even think of having kids. 

 

The “Life” award sponsored by Volvo goes to Laan in Buriram who returned home after going to help his mates in the field for a few days to see that his relatives had put his picture next to his coffin and were mourning his passing. 

 

“Nee goo tai laew ler!” (WTF I’m dead am I) was the best he could muster as it emerged that the person who was really creamed by the 12-wheel truck was someone else in the village. 

 

Finally, the “Stick to your Guns” award is jointly presented to the authorities in Surin who insisted that a wiggly road conformed to their plans and to nationwide Plod.

 

The constabulary have had their revenue stream from traffic offences caught on CCTV cut off by the finance Mandarins. They will no longer be able to syphon off a proportion of the fines sent through the mail.

 

In future all extortion must be done face to face.

 

How comforting. 

 

Rooster 

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2021-06-06

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

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[kingofthemountain]

To sum it up:

 

first part: Rooster maoning agaist the moaners on TV

 

second part: Rooster moaning about almost everything else

from his child's school to the Thai news

 

enjoy

[Kwasaki]

17 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Why Don’t You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go and Do Something Less Boring Instead?

I will when it gets cooler. 

[RafPinto]

When having sex.

[rumak]

20 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

 

I’d been reading multiple comments of the moaners on Thaivisa

 

This click bait line is getting old ..............  surely a Scrabble champion can come up with another one .    It's just like the roosters here in Thailand.   I don't mind an occasional crowing once in a while,  but its the repetition that drives me crazy.

I have trained the local roosters to crow in harmony...... usually an old Cream classic or Taj Mahal is my latest favorite:   

 

[rumak]

17 minutes ago, kingofthemountain said:

To sum it up:

 

first part: Rooster maoning agaist the moaners on TV

 

second part: Rooster moaning about almost everything else

from his child's school to the Thai news

 

enjoy

 

The boy lives in a condo.   In a big city.   Two days living like that and I'd be moaning too !

????????????????

[RichardColeman]

54 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Why Don’t You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go and Do Something Less Boring Instead?

That program was usually preceded by the black and white promotional tv series about Phuket after 1st July.  The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe !

[Chassa]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

the xenophobes (who hate China even more than Thailand)

Yes!

[rumak]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

the xenophobes (who hate China even more than Thailand)

 

I want to go on the record to say that I hate everyone equally  !!

[toofarnorth]

1 hour ago, RafPinto said:

When having sex.

The only sex I get is when looking at my PC.   Starting to wish I hadn't said that. Or did you mean with someone else ?

[HappyinNE]

The top humor award = It all seemed like Greek to me.  Great!

[toofarnorth]

I spent too long reading this topic. Must get out more...but far too hot.

[CFCjeff]

Will never spend less time on the computer, Pornhub is far to addictive and im only on page 16 of the amateur mature section.

Edited June 6, 2021 by CFCjeff

[PaDavid]

Just arrived in Bangkok. The first visit for nearly two years - I need to renew my passport, just in case. My first impression was how quiet Don Mueang was. No queuing for taxis. Secondly, I also noticed how (relatively) traffic free the roads are. 
 

Oi and I are staying in a small (cheap) hotel in Sukhumvit. What struck me in reception was that everyone else staying here is white. I mean white in the sense of not being tanned, and most are sporting mosquito bites - the sort you typically see on tourists during their first few days of visiting a hot country. 
 

So, it begs the questions, where have they come from and how did they manage to get in? Has Thailand opened up to tourists already?

[Irishrogue]

Well having read this column occasionally I learned today that you are from Kent. I spent many happy summers there with the BB from Belfast in Hearn Bay played cricket with the village team and have many happy memories of my time there.

[The Hammer2021]

22 minutes ago, PaDavid said:

Just arrived in Bangkok. The first visit for nearly two years - I need to renew my passport, just in case. My first impression was how quiet Don Mueang was. No queuing for taxis. Secondly, I also noticed how (relatively) traffic free the roads are. 
 

Oi and I are staying in a small (cheap) hotel in Sukhumvit. What struck me in reception was that everyone else staying here is white. I mean white in the sense of not being tanned, and most are sporting mosquito bites - the sort you typically see on tourists during their first few days of visiting a hot country. 
 

So, it begs the questions, where have they come from and how did they manage to get in? Has Thailand opened up to tourists already?

The did Quarantine..many from Europe  and Russia

[connda]

When should you spend less time in front of the computer?

When you go over 45,000 posts? 
Or perhaps when your Community Rep ticks over the 20,000 mark.  
Hummm.  ????  Maybe it's time to take up guitar.

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, rumak said:

 

I want to go on the record to say that I hate everyone equally  !!

Time to change the avatar to "Dirty Harry" Callahan.

[overt2016]

Don't bother!

[ismopismo]

Your Sunday rants and perspective are the highlight of my week. I lived in Lopburi, my wife of 19 years is from Lopburi. Your knowledge of the emotional and cultural structure of Thailand is spot on and your humor keeps me levelled out during this tumultuous period. You keep my anxiety concerning covid and my family in Thailand in check. Thank you for being here. 

[SportRider]

A pleasure to read, thankyou.

[bangon04]

" the Land of Beer (Germany),"

 

don't let the Czechs hear you say that....

[bangon04]

"Look people, China needs to be watched like a hawk, there are some mischief makers there, but you need to choose your battles. Sinovac isn’t one of them. It’s a sideshow. "

 

 

Sideshow - maybe - but it is one of the tools in the CCP kit called "Debt Trap Diplomacy"  If Thailand sleepwalks into the trap, all will suffer .......

[BostonRob2]

7 hours ago, HappyinNE said:

The top humor award = It all seemed like Greek to me.  Great!

Roo860 was confused.

 

Did he have an iota of understanding of the humor?

[Mark mark]

“Fortunately the WHO (why do I always think of Abbott and Costello’s Who’s on First?) had already decided that political correctness was the order of the day and that the Indian variant was to be called “Delta” and the UK one was now Alpha”. …

 

... Bravo Rooster !!! Yes a Nice Read again as usual, … Well I liked this week’s one better, for some Reason ??? … 

 

Yes the "Thai Variant” !!!  … That one should be a good one !!! …  ... “Particularly Contagious after Sex” ??? Right ??? Har Har …

 

[kingofthemountain]

....

double post

Edited June 6, 2021 by kingofthemountain

[Mark mark]

“Humble pie is not something anyone is likely to ingest in the case of Red Bull Boss. The new chairman of a committee that oversees public prosecutors has promised a new investigation.”

 

Well, I think that underneath their pretty blatant “Money Talks and <Deleted> Walks” MO, … That the Thais are really pretty Moral and Ritchous People I think. !!! … So I DO think that they will eventually get the Red Bull Air !!! … (Well though I guess that it is getting all of the corrupt People that helped him I guess. ?)

 

Like very few Thais will forget the Dead Policeman I think ! ?

 

… And well it is NO fun being locked out of your own country, and away from your Family !!! (And I Can Now tell you all that !!!) Under any Circumstances, …  like rich, … or Semi Rick, … or not !!!...  Like The Red Bull Air, and also Kun Shin I think … both would be pretty sad men I think ???

 

… Like our Christopher Scase who ran from Australia was ? after just a large ? ??? Real-estate Fraud ?… And he was really probably not all that Guilty either ? (Unlike Bondie, who WAS I think.) … Like Scase was just another Corrupt ? Well fly by night ? Real-estate man !!! … And we have thousands of them in Australia !!! … It was just a problem ? of a pretty big size though I think Right. ?  … And he just skipped the country, and got Clean away !!! …

 

... But well he did not look at all happy when I saw him on TV. … As he was Dying of Cancer in Spain !!! ??? … Minorca I think, right down the East end of the island.

 

… And I suspect our Red Bull Air is not all that happy either !!! Like happy to be away from his Family Possibly ? I guess ???

[clivebaxter]

 

'Apropos the vaccine, the xenophobes (who hate China even more than Thailand) were out in force, especially on TV' 

 

I do wish posters would not describe comments critical of the Chinese vaccine as xenophobic or worse. People do not hate China as such, or the Chinese, what is hated, and some things deserve to be, is the lying, oppressive, Orwellian Chinese Communist Party.

Edited June 6, 2021 by clivebaxter

[Mark mark]

“My, how so many Australians were convinced of the guilt of Lindy and Michael as murderess and accessory in the death of their nine-week old baby. And my, how they had to eat humble pie six years later when Azaria’s clothing was found by a dingo lair.

 

Lindy was innocent and the dingo was guilty! Who would have thunk it!”

 

Well I do think that there WERE a large proportion of Australian people that always have thought that Lindy WAS Innocent right from the start. …

 

But it was just the Media … Turning the handle again … as usual … Like Controversy Sells news print, and TV time also !!!  So well they just let that one Rip !!!  … And the easily led Bogans that go for all of that <Deleted> <Deleted>  and conspiracy theory stuff, just loved it !!! … As the Editors, and programmers and their media masters, the Marketers, all knew that they would also. !!!

 

.. Still they were Seventh Day Adventists !!! Right !!! … The Chamberlans, … like just bordering on a Cult Religion, right ?  … And Lindy was a “Had Woman” … Well she was being accused of killing her new born Baby !!! When she actually Saw the Dingo take it I think ? … So well no wonder she did not photograph to well for the media Scrum !!!  … And they both, just made a perfect target, for division, to sell news Papers right !!! ??? … And a married Couple also, so a good straight <Well Screw them> story, and the Loonie Right would have just loved that indignity also ! ? Right ??? …

 

And she always wore Big Back Sunglasses !!! … Like definitely Guilty Right !!! …

 

... But well the ordinary Australians … Like Me ! ? … Well we never have trusted the Police … Not through malaise, like in some other countries, ... But well The Money … From the media, making money from it ??? … And the Politicians who run the Public servants. ??? And need money to get Elected, ! …  And also some of the police, just in their Plain unfortunate Incompetence !!! ... Like we all KNOW that it would be a VERY Hard Job !!! … But we ALL distrust them on that one also.  … Like <Deleted> happens !!! But just Hope that it doesn’t happen to you !!!

 

Like they disproved the “Blood Splatter under the dashboard of their car” test result pretty fast I think !!! … Like even before they found the Jump suite in the Dingo’s Cave under the rock..

 

… And I think that the Local Aboriginals always knew that the Dingo did take the baby, …  but “They”, always said … “That they had asked them the wrong questions” in the enquiry … Like it probably would not be culturally like the older Aboriginals, and their Old Trackers, to make a specific statement like that !!! … And if no one asked them … Specifically … … Then there is probably a pretty good chance that they just would not bother telling them, … specific facts !!! ??? …  As well no one asked them if the Dingo actually took her ???  I think ? ... (Though I think remember there being some discussion, about if the dingo, ? or the tracks ? Indicated it was carrying anything ? ... But I forget their answer.)

 

 … I think they just asked them “If there were dingo tracks there” next to the camping ground …. And they just said “Yes” … As there were, (And it was also pretty probable that English was a second Language for these old trackers also) (I think ?) … … But no more or not enough ? specific questions were asked !!! ??? (Or they were just not reported ???) I heard.

 

… And well the White ? Park Rangers, Public servants, that were supposed to be Looking after the Dingo’s !!! … AS WELL as the Tourists in the camping ground, and their Children !!! … So well I think that they knew also, …  but well better Lindy took the wrap ??? Right ??? … Than to have a LOT of other people asking a lot of questions ??? Right ? (Like I would not mind betting that the local Aboriginals even knew where the Jump Suit was ! ? But that they just were Not saying ???) (I think ?) 

 

... Like one of those Dingo’s had been even regularly coming on to Tourist busses, and Running down the aisles, begging for Food God Dam it !!! ... The drivers were opening the doors to them !!! … Like what a Great Tourist Draw Card that would have been !!! …  Better than sitting with the Tigers out West right ???   … So no further tricky questions for the park and Tourist operators … as well the Chamber lands were just Too good scape Goats ? Weren’t they !  … Like WAY too good. … And the Media Loved it !!! And they made a LOT of money out of it, … for Months after that !!! …

 

… But well the chamberlains paid for it, 2 years in Goal for Lindy was it? and well the other prisoners also quite obviously knew that she was not guilty also I think !!! … Then their mirage broke down, and they have been divorced, ... and well I do not think that to many people have enquired about their mental Health to much just lately Either !!!

 

.. I think that they may have moved back to new Zeeland also … Like I think ??? But do not know for sure ??? But they were New Zealanders originally I think any way !!! ??? … Another good Reason to be Framed ? … so easily !!! And with Public support …  Right ???

 

Yes God Bless Lindy Chamberland !!! ... And her Husband Michael. … Australian Now Hero’s !!!  … And the Dingo's ??? Well they were all “Ventilated” as the locals, and Camp rangers put it ... not long after that incident I think. … But well, I wonder if the Tourist Coach Drivers are opening their doors, for their replacements to come on board, and cadge a bit of food off of the new Tourists there ??? Right ?

Edited June 6, 2021 by Mark mark
Changed a word

[Lacessit]

17 minutes ago, Mark mark said:

“My, how so many Australians were convinced of the guilt of Lindy and Michael as murderess and accessory in the death of their nine-week old baby. And my, how they had to eat humble pie six years later when Azaria’s clothing was found by a dingo lair.

 

 

Early on, I talked to a very senior Victorian public servant about the case. He said if the case had been tried in Victoria, there never would have been a conviction.