12 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Cash only....but not Roubles?

No Rubles, Thai baht, USD, or Euros.

20 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Even accepting every printed word in this article, do you feel these Nazis are such a threat to the Russian nation (with 2 million soldiers and a nuclear arsenal) .........that Russia is justified in invading Ukraine????

No it's not justified, bunnydrops already said that.

The point is that many on this forum subscribe to the convenient narrative that all Ucrainians are innocent, peaceful, democratic people who were invaded for no reason, while all the Russians are a bad lot that must be punished in mass. In fact, most Ucrainians are innocent peaceful and would like to be democratic, and so are most Russians. There are violent, nationalist, corrupt, oligarchic people on both sides of the border. A truth that is conveniently ignored by most of the western press and that does not suit NATO very well.

And I repeat for those who cannot read: the invasion is not justified.

Posts using trolling memes have been removed.

Just on sky news  , in Italy several big Yachts  confiscated and expensive villas , leasing company's giving Russian company's up to end of month to make decision what they go do with the grounded planes ..., also cargo ships stranded as no one like to give oil to sail ..... it really starts to freezing them inside  their big country ...

9 minutes ago, david555 said:

Just on sky news  , in Italy several big Yachts  confiscated and expensive villas , leasing company's giving Russian company's up to end of month to make decision what they go do with the grounded planes ..., also cargo ships stranded as no one like to give oil to sail ..... it really starts to freezing them inside  their big country ...

Meanwhile the Tories gives the oligarchs 18 months to get their affairs in order.

5 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Meanwhile the Tories gives the oligarchs 18 months to get their affairs in order.

" Londongrad is not fallen yet " 

I am waiting the movie ????

Spoke to my partner this week who is still running our guesthouse in Phuket while I'm freezing in England! She's ben speaking to owner of the nearby Russian restaurant who has convinced her that Thailand can expect an influx of Russian tourists as the Russians won't be able to travel in Europe

 

I tried to explain to her that it ain't gonna happen due to the collapse of the currency and the blocking of credit cards. No, the neighbour knows best as he's Russian!

 

Today, with the news of airlines stopping flights, perhaps I'll win the argument....maybe not though!

2 hours ago, arithai12 said:

In fact, most Ucrainians are innocent peaceful and would like to be democratic, and so are most Russians. There are violent, nationalist, corrupt, oligarchic people on both sides of the border.

Of what nation can't that be said? It's utterly irrelevant whether or not there are such people. It's only relevant when they are in control. What's more, while being corrupt and oligarchic are immoral, being violent elevates the immorality to a whole other level. Stop with the yes it's wrong but....

Russian banks are switching over to China's UnionPay and will issue credit cards through them.  So it looks like average Russians in Thailand will be able to move money around internationally soon.  China's UnionPay will no doubt enjoy the increase in their customer base that was given up by Visa and MC. 

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

Spoke to my partner this week who is still running our guesthouse in Phuket while I'm freezing in England! She's ben speaking to owner of the nearby Russian restaurant who has convinced her that Thailand can expect an influx of Russian tourists as the Russians won't be able to travel in Europe

 

I tried to explain to her that it ain't gonna happen due to the collapse of the currency and the blocking of credit cards. No, the neighbour knows best as he's Russian!

 

Today, with the news of airlines stopping flights, perhaps I'll win the argument....maybe not though!

If she is only your partner and not your wife I guess you might win the argument.

4 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Even accepting every printed word in this article, do you feel these Nazis are such a threat to the Russian nation (with 2 million soldiers and a nuclear arsenal) .........that Russia is justified in invading Ukraine????

Ukrainians are not Nazis. That is a lie promoted by Putin to justify his actions.

Truth is, during the Second World War, Ukrainians greeted the Germans as liberators. They very quickly learned the Germans were no better than the Russians.

Zelensky is Jewish, the proposition he would lead a Nazi government is the ultimate absurdity.

34 minutes ago, connda said:

Russian banks are switching over to China's UnionPay and will issue credit cards through them.  So it looks like average Russians in Thailand will be able to move money around internationally soon.  China's UnionPay will no doubt enjoy the increase in their customer base that was given up by Visa and MC. 

That might work for payments within China but it certainly won't work in Europe or the US who will sanction the bank or block payments from Russians. It's possible that Thailand may be forced to follow suit if that happens.

On 3/5/2022 at 8:19 AM, Saanim said:

Treaty broken? Hasn't it be withdrawn? When and by who? (Google is your friend):

 

Anti-ballistic missile treaty - 2002
Treaty on short and medium range missile - 2019
Treaty on open sky  - 2020
Paris agreement - 2017
JCPOA  Iran - 2018

 

 

More nonsense.  These have virtually nothing to do with the situation in Ukraine.  Try this:

 

https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-trilateral-process-the-united-states-ukraine-russia-and-nuclear-weapons/

 

On 3/2/2022 at 2:34 AM, OmegaRacer said:

Not that I condone any of his actions, but it would be wise to consider all points of views before pointing fingers.

sound like one of those people says "there ae 2 sides to every story" - they have no idea - there is only ever one story - there may be a whole story and bits left untold - there is only one story and in this case it's pretty clear - we don't need people trying to hide there ignorance by claiming there are other arguments and not even having the intelligence to say what they are.

Russia needs to be an international pariah. I don't think people realise how close we are to all out war in Europe.

7 hours ago, connda said:

Russian banks are switching over to China's UnionPay and will issue credit cards through them.  So it looks like average Russians in Thailand will be able to move money around internationally soon.  China's UnionPay will no doubt enjoy the increase in their customer base that was given up by Visa and MC. 

Really so all the Russians in Thailand will just reach into their wallet and pick out a Chinese credit/debit card that is acknowledged around the world?

 

At best they'll have to go home to get it.

21 hours ago, steven100 said:

I would like to join the Jomtien's and fight for their land ......   where do i sign up    !!

Dongtan Police Box, with a 1000 baht note!

Today American Express joined others with CC ban.

On 3/6/2022 at 7:04 AM, KhunBENQ said:

As far as I know there is no other carriers to/from Russia left. And the remaining tourists will have a difficult time to return home.

Just learned that there would be return routes via Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar (Emirates/Fly Dubai/Etihad/Qatar).

Both still seem to fly to Moscow and St Petersburg from their hubs.

38 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Just learned that there would be return routes via Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar (Emirates/Fly Dubai/Etihad/Qatar).

Both still seem to fly to Moscow and St Petersburg from their hubs.

But i doubt those airlines would risk to  accept rubles .....or unusable cc.  ......

Once again, civilians are caught between groups of oligarchs slugging it out to see which of them will control the world.
Who suffers?  Citizens on both sides of the conflict and civilians not even associated with the conflict. 

War. Huh. Yeah!
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing...
-Edward Star
 

 

As a non Russian expat depending on the global financial system working, I can well imagine the pain, panic and indeed devastation of that being shut off. 

 

Indeed some credible figures such as Fiona Hill are saying WW3 has already started.

 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Hill_(presidential_advisor)

 

Whether that is true or not and whether Putin uses nukes or not, Putin sees these severe sanctions as an act of war. He probably has a point.

 

So Russia etc. will retaliate probably with cyber warfare perhaps messing up OUR access to the global financial system.

 

So back to the Russians abroad it seems to me that those that didn't bring in a pile of dollars or Euros are really up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

 

Who if anyone will help them?

 

Will the Russian government organize evacuation flights?

 

 

The equanimity being expressed towards Russian tourists and individuals abroad could change in a flash. Just a few days ago, Mexico sided with Russia against the US and Nato and not only refused to sanction Russia and Russian aircraft flying into Mexican territory but emphasized "We are not going to take any sort of economic reprisal," he [Mexican President Obrador] added, "because we want to have good relations with all the governments in the world." (Sound familiar?)   https://www.newsweek.com/mexico-brazil-leaders-ignore-their-un-delegates-refuse-sanction-russia-1685001  As a result, Russians are getting easy to acquire visa from Mexico and being shuttled to the US southern border, where they enter illegally or claim asylum.  So are they all legit?  "Granted that some of the Russians crossing the southern border are legitimate asylum seekers, others could be KGB operatives or terrorists seeking to destabilize an already divided country. MS-13 are not the only bad guys crossing illegally."

  https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/02/05/lucas-add-russians-to-list-of-illegal-migrants-in-us-under-bidens-watch/  Watch some saboteur blow up an oil refinery or take out some gas pipelines and all the live and let live attitude will go poof.

24 minutes ago, John Drake said:

The equanimity being expressed towards Russian tourists and individuals abroad could change in a flash. Just a few days ago, Mexico sided with Russia against the US and Nato and not only refused to sanction Russia and Russian aircraft flying into Mexican territory but emphasized "We are not going to take any sort of economic reprisal," he [Mexican President Obrador] added, "because we want to have good relations with all the governments in the world." (Sound familiar?)   https://www.newsweek.com/mexico-brazil-leaders-ignore-their-un-delegates-refuse-sanction-russia-1685001  As a result, Russians are getting easy to acquire visa from Mexico and being shuttled to the US southern border, where they enter illegally or claim asylum.  So are they all legit?  "Granted that some of the Russians crossing the southern border are legitimate asylum seekers, others could be KGB operatives or terrorists seeking to destabilize an already divided country. MS-13 are not the only bad guys crossing illegally."

  https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/02/05/lucas-add-russians-to-list-of-illegal-migrants-in-us-under-bidens-watch/  Watch some saboteur blow up an oil refinery or take out some gas pipelines and all the live and let live attitude will go poof.

Mexico's response is no surprise at all to anyone who was aware of their president's politics. He's friendly to Maduro for Christs sake!

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

.Mexico's response is no surprise at all to anyone who was aware of their president's politics. He's friendly to Maduro for Christs sake!

Apparently, the post "confused" you. Yet you say nobody should be surprised by Mexico's actions. Frankly, I'm "confused."

On 3/5/2022 at 1:18 AM, futsukayoi said:

The Russians I know in Samui almost certainly have an even worse view of their leader than you do.  One reason so maany are here.

Not the Russian peoples fault … It’s One Man who controls all media … Russian people can’t even escape their own country

A post with content copy and pasted from PBS has been removed:

 

14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

On 3/2/2022 at 9:06 AM, wwest5829 said:

Too far ... as you are claiming Ukrainians are not freely chosing but rather the "west" insisted on "militarizing". That then could be applied to Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Albania ... etc.?

Probably, but most of the countries you mentioned have never belonged to the USSR. The Ukraine has and it got it's freedom. But slowly the Americans liked to put missiles in the countries around Russia. There seem to have been agreements that the Ukraine (which borders the major southern part of Russia) was not supposed to get those missiles. But the States likes to put their weapons and dominance all over the world. This time they went to far. That doesn't mean I agree with a war. Far from that, but maybe if those agreements would have taken seriously it would never have come to this.

 

21 minutes ago, Thaijack2014 said:

Probably, but most of the countries you mentioned have never belonged to the USSR. The Ukraine has and it got it's freedom. But slowly the Americans liked to put missiles in the countries around Russia. There seem to have been agreements that the Ukraine (which borders the major southern part of Russia) was not supposed to get those missiles. But the States likes to put their weapons and dominance all over the world. This time they went to far. That doesn't mean I agree with a war. Far from that, but maybe if those agreements would have taken seriously it would never have come to this.

 

Which missiles in Ukraine? Only Putin stated the US wanted to put missiles in Ukraine. Do you believe the Russian propaganda?

 

BTW, there are currently only two ballistic missile defence centres in Eastern Europe, in Poland and Romania,  and they are not particularly near their Eastern borders.

On 3/6/2022 at 7:34 PM, connda said:

Russian banks are switching over to China's UnionPay and will issue credit cards through them.  So it looks like average Russians in Thailand will be able to move money around internationally soon.  China's UnionPay will no doubt enjoy the increase in their customer base that was given up by Visa and MC. 

And how will the Russians abroad get these Union Pay cards?

33 minutes ago, Thaijack2014 said:

Probably, but most of the countries you mentioned have never belonged to the USSR. The Ukraine has and it got it's freedom. But slowly the Americans liked to put missiles in the countries around Russia. There seem to have been agreements that the Ukraine (which borders the major southern part of Russia) was not supposed to get those missiles. But the States likes to put their weapons and dominance all over the world. This time they went to far. That doesn't mean I agree with a war. Far from that, but maybe if those agreements would have taken seriously it would never have come to this.

 

Do you have any link for this?