THE WEEK THAT WAS Thailand slides down the happiness index - but personal relationships and mutual respect remains strong

[webfact]

 

OPINION by Rooster

 

"The Week That Was" started six years ago this week on March 20th 2016 when the site was known as Thaivisa. 

 

Some 313 consecutive editions later Rooster hasn’t flown the coop. 

 

I’m proud of it, hoping that my writing has brought some smiles and even happiness. Goodness knows Thailand needs that these days….

 

The very first subject matter was the fact that Thailand had just been rated 33rd in the World Happiness Report 2016. Admittedly it was up from 36th when Prayut and his cronies decided what was best for us in 2014. 

 

But that proved to be the briefest of honeymoons. 

 

Lung Too - our father who art in khaki, hollow be thy name - banged on about returning happiness to the people. He penned a song and entertained us - I use the term loosely - with a Friday address that was even translated into English.

 

Now he could do damage in an international context. Whoopee!

 

However, in the latest World Happiness rankings Thailand is now languishing in 61st place and can’t even beat the Philippines and is miles behind the police state that is Singapore (27th).

 

As ASEAN NOW observed this week, the Land of Smiles is now more akin to the Land of Scowls.

 

(Well at least according to some. I still find bags of silver lining from living in Thailand despite the chaos of life here sometimes - explained later). 

 

Finland - famous for its wondrous education system and equality - topped the list again, followed by Denmark and Iceland. New Zealand made 10th with the Aussies, Canada, US and the UK in reasonably close pursuit.

 

Afghanistan was last in 146th. 

 

So why is Thailand fast dropping off the precipice of happiness?

 

Dropping faster than Singha beer singlet-ed pale skinned foreigners toppling sideways off low guarded Pattaya condo balconies, even. 

 

We can’t blame the pandemic or can we? I mean hasn’t every country suffered. 

 

Maybe the kingdom has suffered more than most because of the shutdowns of the tourism and nightlife industries. Millions have been thrown out of work and despite so much positivity on the international horizon Thailand continues to drag its feet post pandemic with a series of half hearted returns to a post pandemic normal.

 

Leaders with some oomph are sorely lacking. Unless you think dinosaurs have oomph.

 

So often in the past you would hear Thais talking about the freedom in their country - the freedom to go anywhere, eat anything, do anything. Whether true or not they believed it and were happy to share that fact with the tens of millions of visitors who brought 25% of GDP.

 

Now that golden goose has been strangled and the Thais are not smiling much, still less behind their masks. The country has taken some knocks since 1997 - but the pandemic has been a doozy. 

 

More people seem to be walking round with the weight of the world on their shoulders. Noses in phones like most anywhere. I’m afraid to say that were Thailand not my home I’m not sure I’d be rushing to visit anymore. 

 

Frankly, it is a shadow of its former self - at least temporarily. A shadow of the country that I fell in love with in the 1980s. A shadow, even of the country, that kept my love in buckets even after the turn of the century.

 

Can it recover? Yes, I think it can because the inherent nature of the Thais is that of a positive, bright, happy-go-lucky live-for-today don’t worry about ‘manana’ kind of people. If they are supported the smiles could return perhaps along with the tourists. I’m staying put.

 

Government change is needed and the people need to make their voices heard. Easier said than done, yes, especially with how the ruling elite has changed the make-up of the senate and shifted the goal posts to their own advantage. 

 

This week it was interesting to see Paetongtarn Shinawatra - now the flavor of the month in the Pheu Thai party - not rule out a run for PM if and when the dinos dissolve the House. 

 

She’ll have no problem getting elected and the people in the north and the countryside will vote Pheu Thai in droves. But will the urban elites speak with enough force to turn a tide into a torrent? 

 

I do hope so because my homeland is suffering. I’m not a citizen, just a resident but what it doesn’t say in my little white book is how much I love this country. Like many of my friends, that has never wavered. I’m not going anywhere but I want to see change.

 

I want to see more happiness and less angst. I want to see the glorious smiles on the faces of my five and nine year old daughters not ground down as they develop.

 

I want to see them thrive and be encouraged to contribute meaningfully to their nation. And not feel that the only future for them is to get a UK passport and head to Western climes as my older children inevitably decided. 

 

Back in 1998 when Ms Shinawatra was a young teen she came to spend a day at Harrow International School where I worked. That’s how long she lasted, a day. About the same time as her job in McDonalds. Just time to get a selfie. I do hope she has matured and if she can get elected, establish a new order for the benefit of Thais and the country as a whole and not just her dad’s and aunty’s freedom to walk the land of their birth. 

 

Here’s hoping because something needs to give or the Afghans will one day be calling their once happy land happier than Prathet Thai!

 

Over in Europe Vlad the Impaler Mark 2 has been doing his best to make the Europeans miserable but there are some promising signs. His invasion is clearly stalling amid the bravery of the Ukrainians. Maybe a face saving deal can be ironed out. 

 

The US under Biden - not faultless but an improvement of the absurdities of the previous incumbent - are developing less MAGA and more humility especially in their international relations. Left leaning liberalism is alive and kicking despite the bashing it has taken in recent years. 

 

Now it’s time for the western allies to realise that it wasn’t all bad Mr Putin but mistakes of their own making that led to this almighty world-happiness-threatening mess. 

 

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson continued to behave like the meaning of his surname. Goodness knows why, but he has wanted to be like his hero Churchill. That’s not hard; for all his literary prowess and wartime statesmanship a brief perusal of the greatest cock-ups in political decision making as well as appalling gaffes were committed by Churchill. Many Brits have been indoctrinated otherwise; Rooster has been to places like India and listened and read up on history. 

 

Boris got a brilliant rebuke at the end of last week after HIS latest gaffe in comparing the heroic struggle in Ukraine to that of the pitiful disaster that was Brexit. 

 

Liberal Democrat leaded Sir Ed Davey said of BJ:

 

“He is no Churchill.

 

(so far so good)

 

“He is Basil Fawlty.”

 

(perfect!)

 

The archetypal, blundering, lying and rude Torquay hotel proprietor is a fair comparison. Though I suspect that Boris would find it hard to do the funny walk. Continuing the analogy, I think the UK would be better off if Manuel was in charge, or Sybil…certainly Polly!

 

In Ratchayothin my sympathies are with my wife who faced a daunting phone call from a nurse in Loei looking after her ailing mother. “Khun Yai” (mum, here) has been in and out of hospital for months with ever increasing complications from diabetes.

 

But this call was different, only veiled slightly in euphemism. It was plain that the nurse was telling the daughter to come quickly, be prepared and hope for the best.

 

As Mrs R packed up all the things necessary to take the kids on the long drive to Loei a close friend of ours tested positive for Covid. With my interaction with him making it highly likely I’d contracted the virus, I went into Covid isolation at home so as not to potentially infect my daughters and wife who will be in close proximity to the dying old lady in Loei.

 

The reason I can’t drive is that I require emergency dental care after a slightly botched tooth extraction earlier in the week. And all that’s if I don't have Covid.

 

When it rains in Ratchayothin, it pours…..as the story goes!

 

The plus side is that when you read this I will have started a 5 week period of being on my own. I’ll bike it to Loei if things take a further turn for the worse.

 

Ever since I first met my M-I-L twenty years ago she has been nothing but kind to me. She sometimes even batted my corner in mild disputes with Mrs R. I respect her enormously and have told her that. 

 

My wife and young children are facing a difficult and challenging April. 

 

Here are some of the other stories that caught Rooster’s beady eye this week:

 

A householder was left fuming after ordering a fiberglass swimming pool in Petchaburi to ease their pandemic hibernation woes.

 

But the cowboys who installed it clearly didn’t know their stirrups from their jodhpurs and she ended up with a pool with several kinks in it. 

 

As in all such cases the issue of naming and shaming and contravening Thailand’s draconian defamation laws raised its head.

 

Similar sensibilities were in the story about a mum whose daughter found a centipede in tinned fish. 

 

At least she won’t be legless, mum. 

 

Anutin went to Bung Kan on the Mekong Riviera to open a ganja symposium.

 

That was just days after a 600 kilo ganja bust in the same NE location. 

 

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And in the same week that overzealous cops locked up a 70 year old granny and her neighbor for each having one ganja plant. 

 

Rooster was quick to point out the incongruity of these matters all coming at the same time like London buses.. 

 

Along with Daily News calling ganja the “Hell Drug” - yaa narok, usually reserved for yaba (A Scrabble word no less).

 

It was truly “Reefer Madness” all over again as Anutin burbled about ganja riches for those who don’t break the THC 0.2% rule, while grannie languished in clink for needing something for her bad back. 

 

PM Prayuth was praised for going into work on his 68th birthday. When he was told that it was expected of workers to engage in employment on birthdays he shrugged, sulked and went back to the barracks to look up the word “worker” in the dictionary. 

 

Parents were told not to allow their children to spend too long on phones. A survey suggested an hour was too long.

 

Believe me, I’d be doing cartwheels if I could get my kids down to just an hour a day. The kids themselves would call only one hour child abuse and threaten dad with exposure on TikTok.

 

Top video of the week was just 15 seconds long and featured a house invasion by three Pitbulls from a temple.

 

Fortunately they lost interest in the fleeing kid but unfortunately they turned their attention to the family cat.

 

Rooster said this was “torn to shreds”. 

 

Last week a poster in the comments admonished me for banging on about loathing dogs and I have promised to tone down the rhetoric. 

 

Let’s hope that a wonderful, caring and suitably qualified animal lover can look after the adorable Pitties. 

 

Finally, in crime news the forestry official who shot and killed his ex lover’s son, was found hanged in the woods by colleagues. A hunt had been going on for about two weeks.

 

The story was spiced up for ASEAN NOW consumption because of the fact that 37 year old Kanya - the mother of the slain youth - has a new foreign love interest who was staying at the house when the murder occurred.

 

She said she would “graap sop” (show respect to the corpse) but not attend the funeral of her former lover.

 

Fair enough. 

 

Rooster

 

 

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[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

I love this country. Like many of my friends, that has never wavered. I’m not going anywhere but I want to see change.

My sentiments exactly.

Well said.

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

My sentiments exactly.

Well said.

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

is how much I love this country. Like many of my friends, that has never wavered. I’m not going anywhere but I want to see change.

Add me to the above sentiment

[sawadee1947]

Rooster, 

I would have expected to hear your own opinion about the diminishing feeling of happiness in Thailand. I admit you started to do so, but lost the thread.

However you repeated what we read already during the week.....in a very humorous way. I liked it and enjoyed it.

 

[George Aylesham]

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

My sentiments exactly.

Well said.

Rooster, I loved your list of rebukes qualifying the British PM. One of the best came from the ex-PM of Finland "only in brexit la la land Boris Johnson is seen as Putin's leading opposition"

[Tropposurfer]

28 minutes ago, George Aylesham said:

Rooster, I loved your list of rebukes qualifying the British PM. One of the best came from the ex-PM of Finland "only in brexit la la land Boris Johnson is seen as Putin's leading opposition"

what great comment by Finnish PM hahaha????

[Old Croc]

Does Rooster consider all "Forestry Officials" should be dispatched based on the actions of one, or does that condemnation only apply to dogs?

[Noah K]

I first can to Thailand on holiday in 2014. It seems impossible it was 8 years ago. I was 56 years old and had decided to work until I could collect Social Security at age 62. Then, I would shed all my possessions and head for parts unknown. As that time drew closer, I had already made several memorable trips to different parts of Thailand. In February of 2019 I returned to the states after spending 30 fabulous days in Bangkok. I didn't want to leave Thailand, and I certainly was not looking forward to returning to a job I quite frankly didn't care for, or ask for. A position I was forced to take six months earlier. A job I knew would be fazed out in July. It turns out I was premature on my thinking. As I opened my email inbox on my first morning back at my desk, there was my termination letter. The email stated that I had been surplused after years of blemish free service to the company, and countless positions over those years. 

 

There was a severance package attached to the surplus that made the electronic boot slightly palatable. Strangely enough, my last day at work would be the exact date I hired on some 38 years earlier. Along with my severance package, a last paycheck, and a healthy bonus, I embarked on a plan to alleviate myself of all of my anchors, e.g. house, car, and stuff. Which might sound easy, but after decades of filling every nook and cranny, it wasn't until July when I sold, donated, or gave my all my stuff away, and the sale of the house was final. I also applied for Social Security as I turned 62 the previous month, and I received my first Social Security check in August. All I owned fit nicely into two large suitcases and a backpack. I was off to Thailand!

 

I wasn't there long when I realized I was having difficulties walking up the flight of stairs to cross the highway at the On Nut station to get to the beer garten on the other side from Lotus. I found a furnished apartment on Sukhumvit 50 that provided a van ride back and forth every 30 minutes from the condo. So, after a trip to the hospital to see a cardiologist I was informed  of a defective Mitral valve. It was congenital, but still needed replacing. Luckily, I still had health insurance coverage, part of my retirement package, only the insurance company would only cover me if I returned back to the states. Now I know insurance is some kind of racket as the cost was more than four times in the states as it was in BKK and this doctor was trained in the states at the Cleveland Clinic. Reluctantly I headed back to the states.

 

As luck would have it, my parents live in Boynton Beach Florida, just one hour away from Weston Florida, where the Cleveland Clinic has a heart hospital. I made several calls before I left Thailand but as they say, "the best laid plans of..." well it was all for nothing. I finally made it into surgery mid November 2019 thinking my retirement had a good start but I felt a bit like Bugs Bunny, I believe I made a wrong turn at Albuquerque. The heart doctor of 30 years chose to repair the valve versus replacing it. And 5 days later I was on my feet and walking out the front door of the hospital. The physical Therapist came to my parents place, but when she saw me walk up the stairs, she said, "you don't seem to need me." With a clean bill of health from the Therapist I started to make plans to hit the road again. I love my parents, but a man can only stand so much, so I planned my getaway. 

 

It was day 10 and I was sore, but feeling fine, had just returned from my follow up visit with the surgeon when it happened. I started urinating blood, and to make a very long story short, I wound up back at the Cleveland Clinic emergency room a few days later. They had no idea what was wrong with me. After numerous tests the blood turned out to be hemoglobin. Apparently there is a difference. The repair job to the valve (some sort of gasket seal) broke and was acting like a whip, smashing red blood cells into hemoglobin, which the kidneys didn't recognize, so out they came. By this time, it looked more like I was peeing Cola then blood, my red blood count was at 9, which by the looks on everyone's faces was not a good number. Diagnosis? I had to go back under the knife and this time they would replace the defective valve. Needless to say, I was no happy camper.

 

With the second surgery a success and in my rear view mirror I left the states in mid January, 2020, and headed to Mexico. Yes, Mexico as a precaution, just in case of another medical emergency, I would be fairly close to fly back home. I traveled up the west coast of Mexico until I landed in Cabo. Everyone should go there at least once. I found myself behind the helm of a 42 foot yacht after the skipper found out I was an accomplished sailer, and with drink in one hand, and the salt air making my hair curl, I rounded the famous Arch, A rock formation at the tip of the Baja Peninsula, where the Pacific Ocean meets the sea of Cortez. Retirement, never looked so good.

 

I was only in Cabo a few more days before heading back to Thailand. By now it was impossible to ignore reports on the coronavirus. My flight went through China, but the airline had no problem issuing me the changes to reroute my trip and get me safely back to Bangkok. My final destination was actually Chiang Mai and I arrived there on the 23rd of February, 2020, just in time for lockdowns, curfews, and a cloud of smoke that would eventually cover the entire city. Why Chiang Mai and what have I been doing for the past two years? Well, I should leave that for another time as it is quite lengthy. But, like Rooster, Thailand is my home, and while I also hope for changes to raise the spirits of Thais, or anyone residing in the Land of Smiles, this is now my home, I'm a resident, and I'm not going anywhere.

 

Noah Paul

[Tropposurfer]

I love it here. Live like a king. Beautiful woman who loves n takes great care of me. Gorgeous beaches to swim at just down the road. Can fly to anywhere in the world so easily. Incredible golf courses just nearby to play at as much as I want. Delicious food. Tropical fruit the entire year round. Fantastic gardening weather. smiling giggling playful Thais all about. Some times surf. A shoppers paradise.

[Longwood50]

Thailand slides down the happiness index

Does this mean Thailand will now be known as the Land of "a hint of a smile"

[overt2016]

Once again with sarcasm!

[DJ54]

Good read Rooster... ...  now your advancing in age I’m sure you know what they do with elderly roosters.... they get the electric frying pan... 

[Lacessit]

IMO it's a sign of the times when my GF, who lives in the present, was concerned enough to ask me if we were OK financially. Jai yenn yenn, teerak.

It's a sick joke when the Thai government, perhaps one of the most parsimonious of welfare support providers, has the gall to tout loans of 10,000 baht to COVID-affected Thais.

 

[Mike k]

Biden makes Carter look he can't do anything unless someone tells him. He's just a brain dead moron 

[DoctorB]

Having stated your undying love for Thailand it seems gratuitous that you choose then to make snide remarks regarding British politics. Firstly Brexit was not a pitiful disaster, it was the result of the biggest democratic exercise in UK history, with a significant majority voting in favour in a free referendum; certainly preferable to the Prayut approach. Secondly Ed Davey is a politician of zero relevance who will never be tasked by power so is ideally placed to make absurd smart Alec comments referencing a 50 year old TV show. Thirdly were it not for Johnson, that Putin fanboy J Corbyn would probably be in charge of Britain's response to world events. And finally, for all of his perceived failings Boris has at least freed us from the Covid authoritarians and restored much of social life back to what it was. Why do you choose to make disparaging remarks regarding politics that don't affect you in any way?

Edited March 26, 2022 by DoctorB
Minor corrections.

[Sticky Rice Balls]

1 hour ago, Mike k said:

Biden makes Carter look he can't do anything unless someone tells him. He's just a brain dead moron 

Tissues are available at 7-11.....speaking of brain dead....whos paying for the Wall??

[Stargeezr]

Thanks Rooster for another update of the weeks news, and some chuckles as well.

   I still like to visit Thailand for vacations, and when it is safe to do so I will return, when the present restrictions, and COVID rules

are all gone. Maybe by November or December.  With Omicron variant being so contagious, and the new one as well, I may

delay for a further year. Better safe than sorry I say. Thankfully I am young enough that I can wait a bit longer.

   My Thai family also hopes that there will be a change of government, they sort of miss the generals all getting some leadership

time, then changed around in the old days.  I just hope that Putin will see the light and quit his special operations.

   Ukraine is certainly showing us all that it did not like being invaded. It is too bad that the Russian population only sees

their government operated news source.  With the pandemic affecting us all over the world, there is no country that

has much to smile about. Good Luck to all, in avoiding COVID in any of its variant forms. We all need a better future.

[itsari]

You speak of dinasoures , you are one.

 

[Dumbfounded]

On 3/26/2022 at 5:34 PM, Longwood50 said:

Thailand slides down the happiness index

Does this mean Thailand will now be known as the Land of "a hint of a smile"

I think the only smile left is the vertical one

[DoctorB]

Your comment "Now it’s time for the western allies to realise that it wasn’t all bad Mr Putin but mistakes of their own making that led to this almighty world-happiness-threatening mess" is most interesting. Please do elaborate and let your readers know what mistakes by the western allies led to the invasion of Ukraine; we really do deserve to know.

Edited March 27, 2022 by DoctorB
Spelling correction.

[hughrection]

LOL ????  "mutual respect remains strong"

 

A set of keys and blacked out windows soon sees that disappear pronto. 

[Mark mark]

"As Mrs R packed up all the things necessary to take the kids on the long drive to Loei a close friend of ours tested positive for Covid. With my interaction with him making it highly likely I’d contracted the virus, I went into Covid isolation at home so as not to potentially infect my daughters and wife who will be in close proximity to the dying old lady in Loei."

 

( …  And in reference to the fall of the Thais in the happiness stakes also ! ?  … And the International Dictators that you also speak of here.)

 

 ... Well, Good Brother Rooster, .... It is the same ? … Well Similar in our Family, and well, all around here also now.  As your and Mrs. Roosters possible impending Dramas. ? …

 

… A physically Knocked up Grand Daughter here (Badly Broken leg) d/t a bad Road accident, orchestrated, by her wanting to go out, !!!  and her Brother, being Drunk !!! …. Like Bad decision Ms. Noon !!!  .... So She now being the Potential preexisting condition, Victim, with her badly Broken leg. .... …. with people being Infected very VERY close to us all now.

 

Like 2 of the ones I was drinking with, 1 meter away from, and sharing a glass with last Sunday Night !!! ??? ... Ho Hum ??? So this will test my Tipple Jabs Astra Zeneca and Pfizer life line right ??? ???

 

.... Nothing seems to be able to ? or even want to stand in the way of these new Variants of the Good Old China Virus. .... !!!

 

Nearly Every House hold has an Infection in it around here now ….. though only people that work, get tested I think ???? ….. And only here I, and my Wife are the Old ones who ??? have to be Looked out for ???? ... (Not that many people here now seem to have much time for that any more. ???) ....

 

…. Though well, we both are Triple Jabbed !!! one good thing about the Country, well around here anyway ... nearly every one old IS triple Jabbed !!!! ….  Like Anti Vackesers !!! …. There is NONE around here !!! I can tell you !!!

 

…. And God Bless the Really Good Thai people for, Yes, still actually being very smart people !!! Even under this terrible Yoke of the International Epidemic, …. …  as well as the now, rise of the Dictators !!! …. as they often do !!! ... When they get the Opportunity to do it !!! …. They just take that opportunity !!! right !!! While the opportunity is open to them and their corruption is looking a lot easier to get away with, than under Normal situations.  

 

... So well maybe we can have the last Laugh !!! Any way ? Being Triple Jabbed !!! …. Like I might even be able to drink with them !!! ??? Without actually getting it ???? Right ???? .... ??? …. as everything else and everything else just goes to <deleted> ??? ... I will let you know next week ! ??? 

 

7 Days unofficial Quarantine, the locals here just do it automatically with no government or other input !!! Like it is almost like they actually really DO know what is going on !!! and well, possibly have just seen it all before any way !!!   ??? ..... But with a 4 and a half year old Boy to look after as well !!! Just to make things a bit harder !!! #%^*(*&^% …. Right. (If it’s got wheels it’s good !!! Right ??? or is a mobile Phone these days !!! ??? )

 

…. Yes so this all matches what You wrote really R, … so not I just got to live with it !!! …  (Like we all do) …. and just hope that I come out the other end of it a bit better off …. ??? Well, Lets Hope !!!

 

.... I hope that Loe goes OK for you and “Her In Doors” ??? Right ??? … …. Well not in Thailand !!! Har Har right ??? “Her Out Doors” would be more honest by just Miles in most relationships around here I think !!! .....  The Third world Traditional gardeners !!! … ...   Just dodge the Virus Right ??? … ???

 

[itsari]

20 hours ago, DoctorB said:

Your comment "Now it’s time for the western allies to realise that it wasn’t all bad Mr Putin but mistakes of their own making that led to this almighty world-happiness-threatening mess" is most interesting. Please do elaborate and let your readers know what mistakes by the western allies led to the invasion of Ukraine; we really do deserve to know.

You raise a good question.

Best way to look at the situation is who has the right to enforce there rights over a bordering country.

I believe that Russia has not got that right .

[DoctorB]

3 hours ago, itsari said:

You raise a good question.

Best way to look at the situation is who has the right to enforce there rights over a bordering country.

I believe that Russia has not got that right .

You are quite right. I was amazed that an entertainment column about life in Thailand should contain such an inappropriate observation. Who is it intended to impress?

[fgmr]

On 3/26/2022 at 10:34 AM, Longwood50 said:

Thailand slides down the happiness index

Does this mean Thailand will now be known as the Land of "a hint of a smile"

I have just returned to the UK and frankly finding a smile here is like trying to find gold dust at the bottm of the garden. Comparatively Thailand is still LOS.

And long may it remain so despite the hardships that many people are facing.

My concerns are that the impoverished will find or found an organization that will lead to some severe disturbances in the country. 

What is the State providing a rural family,?

Meanwhile we see adverts by "International Schools" touting for pupil admissions. 

A child progressing from a rural primary school to an urban Secondary School of their choice requires parents with sufficient funds to pay the "ENTRANCE FEE" . No receipt given!

 

 

[itsari]

6 hours ago, DoctorB said:

You are quite right. I was amazed that an entertainment column about life in Thailand should contain such an inappropriate observation. Who is it intended to impress?

He is a name dropping boomer if that answers your question.

Have a good day Sir

[spidermike007]

Hold on a moment. How can this be? 

 

The great and benevolent comrade leader has already insured happiness.
 
He is lowering unemployment.
He is growing the economy.
He is doing everything in his power to open the country up again, and increase tourism revenue.
He is increasing exports.
He is abiding by all of the terms of the ASEAN charters he signed, and allowing the duty free importation of all beer throughout ASEAN. Bintang, Beer Lao, Bia Saigon, Bia Huda, Bia Ha Noi, Dagon, Saigon Special, 333, are on all of the supermarket shelves as we speak. We are not longer subject to the very low quality local beers, as promised in the recent ASEAN charter, that Thailand agreed to and signed. 

He is making visa policy easy, simple and streamlined, and all tourists and expats are very happy about that. He is working on the attitudes of government workers, and making sure they are open and friendly to both tourists, and ex-pats.

 

He is improving traffic and public safety.
He is working day and night to eliminate the air quality issues, that have become a catastrophe for the nation. 
Corruption is being eliminated, and innocent fall guys are no longer getting charged for murder, and being put to death.

 

The taxi mafia on Samui and Phuket have been eliminated, and tourists can now get a taxi at a fair price. They are also adding multiple options of cheap public transportation on the Southern islands. 
 
Life is better for all now that this great man is demonstrating his genius and vision on a daily basis. All he cares about is the welfare of his own people, and the happiness of both tourists and the ex-pat community. He contemplates this day and night.

 

[jerrymahoney]

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Hold on a moment. How can this be? 

 

The great and benevolent comrade leader has already insured happiness.
 
He is lowering unemployment.
He is growing the economy.
He is doing everything in his power to open the country up again, and increase tourism revenue.
He is increasing exports.
He is abiding by all of the terms of the ASEAN charters he signed, and allowing the duty free importation of all beer throughout ASEAN. Bintang, Beer Lao, Bia Saigon, Bia Huda, Bia Ha Noi, Dagon, Saigon Special, 333, are on all of the supermarket shelves as we speak. We are not longer subject to the very low quality local beers, as promised in the recent ASEAN charter, that Thailand agreed to and signed. 

He is making visa policy easy, simple and streamlined, and all tourists and expats are very happy about that. He is working on the attitudes of government workers, and making sure they are open and friendly to both tourists, and ex-pats.

 

He is improving traffic and public safety.
He is working day and night to eliminate the air quality issues, that have become a catastrophe for the nation. 
Corruption is being eliminated, and innocent fall guys are no longer getting charged for murder, and being put to death.

 

The taxi mafia on Samui and Phuket have been eliminated, and tourists can now get a taxi at a fair price. They are also adding multiple options of cheap public transportation on the Southern islands. 
 
Life is better for all now that this great man is demonstrating his genius and vision on a daily basis. All he cares about is the welfare of his own people, and the happiness of both tourists and the ex-pat community. He contemplates this day and night.

 

And Uncle Tu responds *

 

I love honest, open smiles, kisses from a child
Tomatoes on the vine and onions
I love winners when they cry, losers when they cry
Music when it's good and life
 

And I love you, too.

 

* Courtesy the late Tom T. Hall

[chalawaan]

On 3/26/2022 at 11:19 PM, Noah K said:

I first came to Thailand on holiday in 2014.

 

[SNIPPED]

 

My final destination was actually Chiang Mai and I arrived there on the 23rd of February, 2020, 

 

Noah Paul

I was in Medellin, Colombia on 23 February 2020, I remember that date as my 59th birthday was the day after. I too love Thailand and made a go of it in Chiang Mai for 8 years, but as online business ideas failed, and my nest-egg dwindled. Finally, I could see the only viable future was to return to Aotearoa, with my long-term Thai galpal, no spring chicken herself, and get a real job while we look at some side gigs such as a market food stall (her seasoned expertise) or maybe selling upmarket Thai silk scarves etc on ebay/TradeMe.

Also, the ridiculous visa extension tyranny -and it's needless cash grab- became intolerable to me year after year.

We at least have a central BKK condo to renovate and lease, and a plot of land in Korat (hers) that we may forever retire to if the next decade or two offshore are kind to us. 

For now we hope to avoid the coldest NZ months renting in Thailand near the sea but away from tourist zones. 

I loved Chiang Mai but the soot still settles on everything all year round, and I was hacking up black phlegm there at the end, that's cleared up since I left; just after new year 2022 and into New Zealand's strict quarantine, which I avoided paying for thanks to their own reasonable rules.

Anyway, I'm enjoying the honeymoon of being back in one of NZ most beautiful cities, but I miss the quirks and pleasures of Thailand greatly, I've always enjoyed a rather long leash, which ironically, is why my galpal is a keeper! And the cost of living here is atrocious! I'll never moan about grocery prices in Thailand again, even as artificially jacked as they are, and eating out is now a rare indulgence! Which is exactly why we're exploring the food business in this rather wealthy enclave I've chosen. 

Thanks for sharing your story, Noah, you encouraged me to share mine.

We hope for the best for Thailand, and know time is on the side of change! We just hope it's sooner rather than later. 

Officialdom in Thailand really need to start treating it's expats and visitors far better than they do. If a Thai was treated the way the Thai Government treat us, they could sue (and win) here for outright discrimination. Anyway I'm beginning to rant! Here's to a better future for a deserving people. 

[chalawaan]

On 3/28/2022 at 1:27 AM, itsari said:

You speak of dinasoures , you are one.

 

Your grammar and spelling are... not very ChurchilliIan. ????