[Over a million in tourism industry could lose jobs if Covid-19 crisis continues]

16 minutes ago, dukeandduke said:

Funny how yesterday, I read an article about a doctor who said that word-for-word. 

Yes--golden rule: always cite your sources.

[Over a million in tourism industry could lose jobs if Covid-19 crisis continues]

6 minutes ago, CGW said:

Given the limited research you obviously did before making Thailand "home" I wouldn't employ you as a "Counsellor" Just sayin 

Lots of assumptions. I've visited Thailand many times over many years but never lived there. And I stand by my comment: diversify your economy. Yes, I know they assemble a lot of cars---although the selection for the consumer is pathetically small.

[Over a million in tourism industry could lose jobs if Covid-19 crisis continues]

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

Here we see the big difference between developing countries like Thaiand and developed countries.

 

Many Western countries are breaking their budgets to compensate people who are laid off work, whether permanent or temporary, as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. Here most of those who will be sent home will receive not a single baht from the Government, whose generosity so far has extended to give a 3% discount on electricity and water bills. It's surely time to dig into the reserves and help Thai citizens.

 

And the situation has now been exacerbated with the closure of shopping malls and markets in Bangkok. How are market traders going to make any sort of living and will stores continue to pay their stay-at-home staff? Come on Prayut, you need to help them....and that doesn't mean giving them a 1,000 baht shopping voucher!

No aid to prostitutes, pimps or bar girls. To hell with them.

[Pattaya: Dozens of foreigners flouting virus regulations getting drunk in a bar - owners arrested]

31 minutes ago, tonray said:

A couple of those old codgers look like they could have been involved in the D-Day landings

The classic bar-girl seekers.

[Pattaya: Dozens of foreigners flouting virus regulations getting drunk in a bar - owners arrested]

9 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Maybe it was just the angle of the photo, but I couldn't see remotely close to 30 people, let alone foreigners in the bar.

I just declined my weekly table tennis and backgammon after at the pub/restaurant, which was still open, on the health and safety of me and them, so to be going out on the lash, surrounded by people you don't know is pretty irresponsible.

When these people get infected they will probably put it down to bad luck, rather than complete stupidity.

 

A stock photo, no doubt

[Vanessa Hudgens APOLOGISES for 'insensitive' Instagram video]

A lot of undergraduates in the U.S. are now in the middle of Spring Break as usual (thousands of students at various beach resorts, drinking, cavorting, etc.). Some have even booked cruises. They say they'll be fine; they're using sanitizers. And these are the people who tell us what not to think or say, who act as self-appointed speech police back at their campuses. "Oh, don't you dare talk to me about my oppression," etc. etc. Poor dears, studying at elite universities, they're so oppressed. At Evergreen State College, an institution that's well known in the U.S., minority students demanded a day free of all white people--students, faculty and staff alike. That didn't go over too well. When I was a graduate student way back in the early '80s I already thought we were well into a post-racial world, but people keep bringing it back. These are the intellectually negligible youth now cavorting with thousands of others in the bars and wet t-shirt contests of Spring Break in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.

[Anutin’s Twitter account deleted just hours after astonishing rant against ‘dirty’ foreigners]

31 minutes ago, smedly said:

I know you want to defend your country Thailand and 99% of posters on here want to do the same, yes we do point out some negative things (hard to find aren't they)

 

The general reason people point out negative things is because we want to see improvement for "all" the Thai people including you Yinn - yes you, we want you to have a better life and a safer life - you keep defending your government - your government are not the people, you are defending Analtun - how on earth can you justify that ?

 

Thailand has had huge money for decades from tourism - where has it gone ? 

 

Why does Thailand (the hub of everything) not have their own car brand or mobile phone brand ?  answer that very simple question Yinn - why ?

 

Why has Thailand not developed over the last 30 years - why ?

 

You have been short changed for years yet you defend it - why ?

 

Here is a clue - follow the money.............your money or it should have been

 

nothing more to say except waken up - we on here support Thailand and want to see it improve - if that means being critical then it is what it is 

Thailand still has done a lot better than Malaysia, and the people are much better.

[Anutin’s Twitter account deleted just hours after astonishing rant against ‘dirty’ foreigners]

The ******* masks don't prevent you from getting the virus, but every Asian on the planet wears them anyway. The US Surgeon General told the American public to stop buying masks. Of course, if you assume that farangs with the virus are heading to Thailand to ravage the country, that's different. Remember where the virus originated--with "dirty" exotic game markets in China.

[Chiang Mai presently ‘most polluted city in world’]

18 hours ago, watgate said:

Money and greed over people. Congrats to all the wealthy individuals and conglomerates who are raking in the big bucks while millions are being gassed. Truly pathetic

Are the farms in NW Thailand conglomerates? Who else but SE Asian farmers slash and burn every year?

[How can you browse the internet on a Smart TV?]

31 minutes ago, Grusa said:

Trying to browse the internet on a smart tv is an exercise in frustration, unless you have a wireless keyboard and mouse. If the tv has bluetooth and wifi, this is not difficult to set up, and the tv usually has a native browser on board - possibly Chrome, but maybe some other unknown chinese rubbish.

 

Not knowing TCL, I can't offer any more advice.

TCL is a Chinese make. At least one smart, 65", 4K HDR model is decent, having been tested favorably in the U.S. by Consumer Reports as an $800 alternative to the major brands' $2000 ones.

[I am quitting with Qatar air.]

22 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

The frequent flyer cards now are getting to the stage where they are so poorly rewarded, you might as well just look for the best flying deal as and when it comes with any respectable airline and ditch any loyalty.

 

On many occasions and even as I write this post, Emirates are offering deals to the UK , 200 GBP cheaper returns than Qatar air.  When this occurs on three or four return flights a year, it's well worth switching and saving.

 

I will be better scouring the websites, cutting my trips to twice a year, and flying economy premium or business on a promotion and still save money.

 

US Travellers seem to get cracking air miles deals on some credit cards, I may be wrong, but I have not seen these type of deals quoted to travellers to Europe, or especially, the UK.

Yes, at least I used to get good miles with a JP Morgan Chase premium United Airlines VISA card, although the annual fee was $395. Still, after six years of those  8-hour then 14-hour flights to and from the U.S. from Saudi Arabia via BKK (split vacations), I racked up lots of miles and snoozed in lots of nice Star Alliance biz-class cocoons. The lounges were OK too; a bit overcrowded sometimes in some places.

[Thailand announces compulsory quarantine for arrivals from six places]

14 hours ago, Yinn said:

No. You have a link? Or imagine it?

Why? 

Impossible. How people go to work? 

 

Is the line on a map. No effect. 

 

USA 11 dead, only 160 sick. Hmmmm

 

Maybe will ban USA soon? 

Because most of the dead were in a nursing home for old people.

[Thailand's foreign retirees see their good life slip away]

21 hours ago, zydeco said:

Well, that was a shallow read on the situation. Another article where retired expats = British = Pattaya. Really dislike the fact that I used up my single Nikkei Asian Review free article for the month on this piece of superficial reading.

Yes. And in the States it's common to come across those articles about the best countries to retire in--"researched" with only dimension: cost of living. So Malaysia, for example, is near the top. What a joke. I know Malaysia extremely well. It's a Muslim country with 30-35% minorities, and they're mostly awful people. Much as Thailand has deteriorated, it's leagues above Malaysia.

[If you’re healthy, a cotton mask will do]

The U.S. Surgeon General told the public to stop buying masks. 

[Thai is the best nationality there is!" Former American pays through the nose to renounce US citizenship]

22 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

As I understand it, once one has squared-up any tax etc with Uncle Sam, one is free to renounce.

Foreigners can also owe the IRS money if they've worked for an American-owned entity. Or laundered money through the US financial system. Or sold da <deleted> weed in the U.S. You get the picture.

[Customers who bought Chevrolets at full price peeved, demand compensation]

13 hours ago, AussieBob18 said:

massively overpriced old tech american cars - amazes me that people buy these types of cars - and they do in Aust too.

 

 

American? Only the Chevy name. There's not even any "Captive" or similar one in the States.

[Customers who bought Chevrolets at full price peeved, demand compensation]

2 hours ago, JimmyTheMook said:

Douche move by Chevy but it's a trash brand anyway sold to the ultimately gullible.

 

Not all models. Some are very good; just consult Consumer Reports, JD Power or Edmunds. It's just that they're mostly unavailable in Asia. For a sedan I'd love to have an Impala.

[British expat seriously injured after knife fight with Thai wife]

17 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

Why go to Thailand to live with a 60-something year old lady? Couldn't he do that in the UK?

Not for $100/mo rent.

[Teaching time in ESL: is analog dead]

11 hours ago, phuketsub said:

I've only noticed that Brits tend to say '"a' half past" whereas North Americans drop the article.

Brits also say "half-nine" which is not used in the U.S. to mean 9:30. We say either half-past nine or nine-thirty. The "half-nine" thing confused me at first, but only because I went to public school in the Netherlands as a child aged 10 through 13, and spoke Dutch, of course. In Dutch, half-nine means 8:30. 

[Teaching time in ESL: is analog dead]

Never mind whether the clocks are analog or digital. The type of clocks are irrelevant. Also, did you not notice that clocks in airports and train terminals are often analog? And those big Rolex clocks at sports events? It would be silly to dismiss them--they're in the real world. As an EFL teacher you are required to teach all the permutations of what native English speakers SAY. People in the UK and US, anyway, say 11:40 (eleven-forty) or twenty minutes to 12. 11:45 can be a quarter to twelve or eleven forty-five. And so forth. ALL permutations if you're teaching students of at least high school age. I don't know how to teach small children so that may affect how you teach time. Nevertheless it's silly to change the language on your own just because more clocks are digital in the classrooms.

[Iran says it will strike U.S. and Israel if they make the 'slightest error']

I look forward to ordering bacon sandwiches and kissing my skimpily clad gf in public in Tehran.

[As Thai rice falls in global pecking order, ministry mulls ways for turnaround]

On 2/8/2020 at 10:21 PM, Creasy said:

I haven't seen that colour jacket before on a crooked minister. It really goes well with his toupee 

Teal is my favorite color. I use it for my comforter and throw blanket, though, not a tunic.

[Chiang Mai reels under impact of new coronavirus as tourists stay away]

19 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Tourism was going down before the sh#t hit the fan

I know one thing, at least from the ChinaCupid dating website--not one among hundreds of Chinese women want to LIVE in Chiang Mai or anywhere in Thailand--and that was a year ago. They would like to live in the West, though, because they know the quality of life is better. Fancy skyscrapers and fast trains don't make a unicorn utopia.

[As Thai rice falls in global pecking order, ministry mulls ways for turnaround]

Personally, I like good old Louisiana long-grain rice. Goes great with "Pontchartraine" sauce and lots and lots of seared scallops together with crayfish, with a side of creamed spinach. (And you thought we just eat burgers.) And I'm from Connecticut! Screw Thai rice if the health minister calls me racist names and screw Thailand. I used to like Chiang Mai but soon nobody will speak anything but Mandarin, and choke on Beijing-like air. 

[Farangs who don’t wear face masks should be kicked out of Thailand says health minister]

They call us "white trash" in Malaysia. Something like that?