The week that was in Thailand news: Thailand never disappoints! Not to worry dear, there will be another crisis next week!

[rooster59]

The week that was in Thailand news: Thailand never disappoints! Not to worry dear, there will be another crisis next week!

 

 

One of the first words I learned in Thailand was "patiwat".

 

I remember at the time that I also had to check the exact meaning of its 'English' translation that I had read in a Bangkok newspaper - coup d'etat. It was 1985 and it wasn't a successful coup, it ended up being just an attempt that was crushed after some fighting on the streets.

 

Still it seemed significant enough at the time to warrant going to the newsagents in Soi Sri Bamphen where I was living to get a commemorative Thai newspaper to mark the occasion. My mother had collected editions of the broadsheet "Daily Express" in England when something extraordinary happened. She had the moon landing, Churchill's death, Aberfan, all packed away in an old suitcase gathering dust in the loft.

 

Determined to get my bit of Thai history - and practice my fledgling Thai with the owner of the shop - I greeted Khun Jinda and asked for a copy of Thai Rath as it always had the most gaudy pictures on its front page.

 

"Sorry, all sold out," she said. "After news of the coup were you? Not to worry dear, there will be another one next week".

 

I found out over the years that she was only slightly exaggerating! By the time the next one happened I was getting a newspaper delivered. I never again missed out on the big occasions in Thai history and framed some of the best ones for the walls of my Thai cultural classroom at an international school.

 

There were plenty of coups in my collection but it was not all bad news. I have one that related how a driver-less train smashed into the barriers at Hualampong, others about unrest and barricades at places like the airport and Central World, lots about devastating floods that left us marooned for weeks in our homes in 2011, many about the death of a monarch and some about Thai boxers and athletes who covered the nation in glory with gold at the Olympics.

 

All of the papers prompt special memories when I reread them or tell stories to my children and friends about the life and times of an Englishman in Krung Thep. For some reason it crossed my mind back round the turn of the year that there had been very little interesting news lately. No new papers for the collection.

 

Several have been added in the last few weeks.

 

The latest addition this week was the declaration by Uncle Too of the State of Emergency that came into force on Thursday. Everyone in the media and in the public was trying to interpret what it all meant - these things are never clear in Thailand. Suffice to say that one can be absolutely sure that whatever benefit dubiously elected men with khaki underpants can derive from the situation, they will.

 

To say that Thailand's response to the coronavirus/Covid-19 epidemic has lacked coordination would be an understatement. But to say that the task at hand has been a tremendously difficult one and many governments around the world have had to change tack, backtrack and reassess as new data and new pressures emerged would also be true. Thailand has probably been as good and as poor as many other countries battling unprecedented conditions.

 

Some provincial officials have reacted decisively. Some in central government have appeared not just weak but laughable, even utterly pathetic. One such buffoon is the wholly unqualified Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Following his appalling gaffes about mask wearing and smelly foreigners in which he alienated Thais as well as the foreign community he upped the ante this week.

 

As peoples and governments around the world praised and celebrated the extraordinary efforts of doctors and nurses here was Thailand's Idiot-in-Charge blaming health workers for getting themselves infected by being careless. Thais who had not turned on him already lashed out. Appropriate vocabulary as the minister - heir to the Sino Thai construction company fortune - had used the word "huat" suggesting that errant doctors deserved a jolly good thrashing. It was a Thai word that I needed to explain to Mrs R who like her compatriots went ballistic at A-NUT -IN.

 

Online petitions were arranged for his removal, foreign activists who invariably publish accurate "insider" information claimed that he would be quietly shunted aside if not sacked. Anutin's relationships with figures of significantly greater importance than PMs and DPMs were alleged. We are unlikely to see his immediate removal or even his transfer, but watch for new spokesmen in the weeks to come.

 

Thailand is famous for its "sideline girls" and like those that exist in the shadows this patent embarrassment is set to be quietly sidelined to the dimly lit peripheries where he belongs.

 

Anutin's antics were a side-dish distraction from the main courses on offer this week, a veritable banquet of headline news both in Thailand and around the world. Here with links to the stories on Thaivisa are twenty main sections - yes, a bumper crop - of the best in no particular order. Get yourself a coffee and "enjoy".

 

They are related mostly to Thailand but include stories from around the world as the virus does not seem to be too picky about where it lands....

 

1. Netizens were shocked when pictures of the mass exodus from Bangkok to the countryside and borders began. Some people had naively believed that cancelling Songkran meant people would stay in the capital. But what are folk to do that have no jobs and no money? Like anyone they go home where living is cheap and family and friends abound. Despite checkpoints they will take the virus with them.

 

2. Thailand effectively sealed off its borders to foreigners. This meant that arrivals were deported. Even Thais, subjected to the ridiculously onerous idea of getting documentation to come back to their own country, were stranded abroad. Nearly 300 were virtually left on the tarmac in Auckland.

 

3. Thousands of tourists found themselves similarly stranded in Thailand with their own country's borders shut or no flights available. The Government Complex in Chaeng Wattana looked more like a cattle market forcing Big Oud and his cronies to open up an alternative office in Muang Thong Thani. Crammed together at the complex it looked like an ideal breeding ground for the virus. Had no one thought of following Indonesia's lead and just extending tourists' right to stay without the need to endanger themselves? The cost to Thailand in the long run could be far greater than a few thousand baht gained in fees. Yet more grist to the mill for people who claim that Thais put profit above welfare.

 

4. A big five star hotel in Pattaya had the 'bright' idea of putting on selected lights to make a heart to encourage the work of the healthcare system. With a slight adjustment it could be inverted to resemble a butt.....ideal to send a message to Anutin and some other senior figures in Thailand.

 

5. Police set up checkpoints all over Thailand to "advise" people against travel and give helpful tips on how to stay safe. In Thailand this usually involves keeping as far away from the police as possible. A spokesman said there was no truth to the rumor they were fining non-mask wearers 200 baht. But some folk were reportedly fined for being on overstay. How unutterably mean spirited and how inevitable such tourists will never "deign to darken Thailand's doors again" as my mother might have said.

 

6. Posters on many online platforms were warned about fake news and the content they were sharing. Thaivisa wisely warned its clientele on the forum and on Facebook to be especially careful at this time. A "graffiti artist" who dared to suggest that he was not checked after coming back from Spain found himself in court quicker than it takes to deface a wall. The minister for the digital economy warned people on Twitter with some handcuffs next to a keyboard what might happen if they shared illegal content. The prisons might get a little overcrowded if he follows through - it was claimed more than a million were naughty in 24 hours.

 

7. Rumors that the State of Emergency meant a partial or perhaps a 24 hour curfew wafted through cyberspace. Officials warned the public to stay home to limit the spread of the virus. Mask wearing, debunked by many, especially abroad, became a social requirement as much as the now ubiquitous "social distancing".

 

8. The number of cases sailed past 1,000 by Friday though deaths remained extremely low. Onliners rejected all this as incompetence or a lack of testing or a cover up. Many claimed that deaths were not being reported or being listed as something else. The optimistic were continuing to cling to heat destroying the virus while the doom and gloom merchants opted for Armageddon. Reports ranged from 3,000 infected by mid April to 25,000. Officials said it was up to the public following the rules as to how bad it might get.
 
9. Several cases were linked to Soi Bangla in Phuket with a bar girl and a "freelancer" among those infected. The bashers of Thaivisa claimed it was all xenophobic and came up with Casuistry of the first water to blame the Thais and their country. They should pipe down and realize that the whole world is in this together and spats between nations like the USA and China should not give individuals carte blanche for petty unsubstantiated squabbles.

 

10. Deaths in Spain and Italy rocketed and cases throughout the world spiraled to the hundreds of thousands. The epicenter was now Europe, then the United States. New York became one of the worst hit places on Earth.

 

11. President Trump threw trillions at the economy as his beloved stock markets went up and down faster than a Nana lass's drawers. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the US rocketed. People sought a safe haven in the dollar. In Britain the chancellor peered again into his war chest as the population came to terms with doing the right thing despite their love of personal liberty.

 

Inevitably the Olympics in Japan became the latest sporting casualty leaving us sports fans to watch reruns of past matches. Rooster, whose religion is Tottenham Hotspur, turned on a match from nearly two decades ago. I tuned in at half time as Spurs trooped off 3-0 to the good against Manchester United. It was a match that we famously lost 3-5 in the second half! I quickly turned back to Sky News and the latest dire warnings from Bergamo, a tad less depressing.

12. Back in Thailand the British ambassador Brian Davidson sent out several messages. They didn't seem unreasonable to me and Rooster is as big a critic of the role of embassies in Thailand as anyone. He was criticized for not wearing a tie.....

 

13. Great swathes of public and tourist life in Thailand were simply shut down from Bangkok to Hua Hin, Phuket to Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai to Pattaya. Coordination was lacking but the message to stay home, engage in social distancing and wash, wash, wash those hands was at least on everyone's lips. Beaches were shut and draconian fines and even jail terms were bandied about.

 

14. In QUOTES - or Pattaya the former Queen Of The Eastern Seaboard - Mayor Sontaya's deputy "blew a fuse" and turned on civil servants for mishandling everything. Six foreigners had been diagnosed in the resort and one "spa" girl had taken it back to the north east on a tour bus. Pattaya's sands were deserted and 7-Elevens became 5-Tens.

 

15. Shopping centers, restaurants, golf, theaters, bars - virtually any "avenue of pleasure" as Basil Fawlty might have said - was turned off. Takeaway was the best you could hope for as the Thai government put a brave face on time frames. I am afraid that rightly or wrongly - and there are still many who believe that the pandemic has been the mother of all overreactions - governments have made their bed and we shall all be cooped up and tucked up early for a considerable time to come. What no one can deny is that the reaction to the pandemic has caused untold economic hardship and difficulty to countless millions if not billions.

 

(I'm Alright Jack with my living doll who is bearing up under the strain but, like many parents, the pressures of living at home with young children who don't understand why they can't go out or why Daddy can't visit the shops to buy that mermaid's tail he promised, are increasing. Mrs R called back to diabetic/aged mum in Loei to advise strict social distancing. Hang on, she said, there are a bunch of people round playing cards.....)

16........Sanook was told by worried residents in Pathum Thani that the boxing fraternity were among a hundred gamblers frequenting a seedy den of illegal iniquity down a soi. The police, surprise surprise, provided security and a "sia" who owns a pig abattoir was running it.

 

17. The army chief called for a full and thorough investigation into who allowed the now infamous Lumpinee Stadium boxing event to take place on March 6th despite pleas from the government to cancel. It shouldn't be too hard to get to the bottom of that one seeing as the army effectively own Lumpinee and are in charge of everything that happens there. On Saturday came news a senior army man had been "transferred".

 

18. Two people were filmed by a Thai Airways stewardess after the captain invited them up from coach to Business Class. They were the only passengers who had managed to get on the flight in Oslo.  Thai Airways effectively wound down their operations until October. Whether they survive or not might depend on how the Thai people react to meager handouts to the recently unemployed and disadvantaged. Social disgruntlement might make lavishing billions more baht on keeping the bloated national carrier afloat problematical. Public handouts to others are also being questioned.

I award myself Understatement of the Week!

 

19. Tragically, a 26 year old British man who was reportedly "cash strapped by the virus" jumped to his death. The Thai authorities geared up and tooled up for a possible increase in crime. Cops in "Hazmat" suits conducted a "take-down" drill in Bangkok's Bang Rak (Borough of Love) district while in Pattaya police with what looked like war weapons advised 7-Eleven and gas station staff what to do when the robbers descend on them.

20. Britain's heir to the throne Prince Charles tested positive to the virus. Officials were just a little too quick to try and snuff out rumors that he might have jumped the testing queue. As legendary Bangkok columnist Bernard Trink was wont to say...any comment would be superfluous. Then UK PM Boris Johnson and his health minister came down with the lurgy. Whatever next!

 

As an addendum to the virus news please spare a thought for the long suffering residents of Chiang Mai. They - like many in Thailand - principally need their masks for the appalling air quality caused by dozens of fires in the province. Their governor was ordered to the area by the PM as hundreds of firefighters tried to put out raging blazes in the area of the Doi Suthep - Pui national park and elsewhere.

 

Here in Bangkok, the air was relatively clear and it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Like Songkran on steroids. For a homeboy like Rooster, who translates and writes this column from the sanctuary of a skyline condo, there seemed much to be thankful for.

 

Thaivisa, I was told by my editor, was heading for its busiest month in terms of visitors since it was founded.

 

Finally, I had some new experiences this week, never a bad thing even in a crisis. I put on a face mask for the very first time (more out of a sense of looking good in public than trusting in its efficacy) and ventured out to a place I have never set foot in before - Makro (where later mask wearing was made the rule).

 

My shopping expedition didn't all go according to plan. My glasses started steaming up and if I hadn't pulled the strap under my nose I'd have collided with my fellow shoppers in the rush to get the last eggs.

 

Such are these virus affected times.

 

Rooster

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-03-28

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[Samui Bodoh]

An interesting read as always... 

 

I found it all a bit too much this week, and decided to stop watching the news for a while; might I suggest to my fellow TVF members a MHD/MHW (Mental Health Day/Mental Health Week) if and when needed?

 

Everyday this week I went for a long, pre-dawn cycle and saw the regulars out each day so I knew it was still permitted. Next, I got into the habit of going to my (currently) private, 2-3 kilometer long, gorgeous, pristine, white sandy beach and had a long ocean swim before the forced 'social-distancing kicked in. Finally, I made the effort on-line to track down old friends that I hadn't seen for a while and say 'Hello'. Yes, they were also under a lock-down of one kind or another and welcomed the missive; it was nice.

 

A news-junkie like me will always want to know what is occurring in the world, but one small piece of wisdom that I have picked up over the years is this; sometimes you have to stop, take a deep breath, put it all out of your mind for a time and smell the proverbial roses. These are momentous, difficult times and now more than ever we all need to find some serenity and goodness to dilute the horrors.

 

Have a good week, everyone

 

 

[hotelbri]

Overreaction I think is an understatement when 4 times the number of people have recovered from than succumbed to the virus .

 

[bluesofa]

5 hours ago, hotelbri said:

Overreaction I think is an understatement when 4 times the number of people have recovered from than succumbed to the virus .

Nah, they just all had three relapses each.

[exparte]

Somebody needs to document this tragedy. Thanks

[Tropicalevo]

'As legendary Bangkok columnist Bernard Trink was wont to say'.

Now there is a blast from the past.

[marko kok prong]

Yesterday i went to get my tablets from the Doctor ,what did i see a procession for a monk making driving up the street,okay,there were a lot less people than usual,but still,is this totally not doing what they have been told to do ,as for the Temple,they should be showing an example ,but of course money and gifts for the monks are involved,they should be ashamed of themselves.

[herwin1234]

stopped reading well before halfway. collecting newspapers of coups and other calamities in ones guest country. tourist at work. wew, boring. how about advice how we as guests here could be of some help in this crisis? or something with a more positive attitude.

maybe its the age, old ppl sometimes are like  that, grumpy...

[herwin1234]

9 minutes ago, marko kok prong said:

Yesterday i went to get my tablets from the Doctor ,what did i see a procession for a monk making driving up the street,okay,there were a lot less people than usual,but still,is this totally not doing what they have been told to do ,as for the Temple,they should be showing an example ,but of course money and gifts for the monks are involved,they should be ashamed of themselves.

o stuff it. go spout  yr negativity and misunderstanding somewhere else. you, a temporary guest,  are actually insulting and insinuating about a native monk and locals who want to make merit. you cant make this stuff up.

Edited March 29, 2020 by herwin1234

[Jane Dough]

10 minutes ago, herwin1234 said:

stopped reading well before halfway. collecting newspapers of coups and other calamities in ones guest country. tourist at work. wew, boring. how about advice how we as guests here could be of some help in this crisis? or something with a more positive attitude.

maybe its the age, old ppl sometimes are like  that, grumpy...

Thanks for reading, albeit well before halfway.

 

Might I suggest that you try Twitter. It is much shorter and, in part at least, named for you.

 

Rooster

[marko kok prong]

42 minutes ago, herwin1234 said:

o stuff it. go spout  yr negativity and misunderstanding somewhere else. you, a temporary guest,  are actually insulting and insinuating about a native monk and locals who want to make merit. you cant make this stuff up.

Did you get out of bed the wrong side this morning?

[marko kok prong]

46 minutes ago, herwin1234 said:

o stuff it. go spout  yr negativity and misunderstanding somewhere else. you, a temporary guest,  are actually insulting and insinuating about a native monk and locals who want to make merit. you cant make this stuff up.

Typical iam more Thai than the Thai's response,i agree better you use Twitter.

[473geo]

Ah but at least some sanity showing in Thailand, shortage of eggs I understand, you can't eat toilet rolls!!

[FarFlungFalang]

I got pinged for overstay being ten hours late getting my emergency extension and still waiting for the Beamer and my photo to appear in a  story on TV.Yes they took my photo and no I didn't give them an earful as I'll have to go back and grovel some more to get the rest of my extension.I also made it to the end of the article mainly because us older types learned to read and comprehend what has been written sometimes,though remembering it might be the challenge.

[bluesofa]

8 minutes ago, 473geo said:

Ah but at least some sanity showing in Thailand, shortage of eggs I understand, you can't eat toilet rolls!!

You could put cheese in them and make cheese rolls.

 

[473geo]

15 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

You could put cheese in them and make cheese rolls.

 

I'm wondering if your first thought was sausages but thought better of it!!

 

[TPI]

2 hours ago, herwin1234 said:

stopped reading well before halfway. collecting newspapers of coups and other calamities in ones guest country. tourist at work. wew, boring. how about advice how we as guests here could be of some help in this crisis? or something with a more positive attitude.

maybe its the age, old ppl sometimes are like  that, grumpy...

You poor dear, have a "Bex" and a good lie down, things will be better in the morning!

[Stevemercer]

I wondered about the Thai Government making it so difficult for their own citizens to return home (effectively abandoning responsibility for them). What will the government do if some of those citiens manage to avoid the paperwork or an airline undertakes a humanitarian gesture (despite the fines they will face). Deport them if they make it home to Thailand?

 

I hope the Thai national who is challenging the order is successful. What happened in Auckland is not good.

 

I don't think the Thai government is that insensitive, but just that they didn't think through the consequences of their 'cunning plan' (which, after all, was always just about public appearances).

[Elkski]

That was a royal  understatement!

No admission that this virus  insult to our lives might last longer than you thought  or was a bit more  chewy than you claimed prior.   

I wonder how poetic the prose if that skyline loft resembles a prison   in lockdown  after a few to many cases hit a few of skylines? Yes it's nice that the greed it shinning to all now even the R.  Let hope we get to save a paper soon topic our latest vocab lesson!

[Jane Dough]

56 minutes ago, Elkski said:

That was a royal  understatement!

No admission that this virus  insult to our lives might last longer than you thought  or was a bit more  chewy than you claimed prior.   

I wonder how poetic the prose if that skyline loft resembles a prison   in lockdown  after a few to many cases hit a few of skylines? Yes it's nice that the greed it shinning to all now even the R.  Let hope we get to save a paper soon topic our latest vocab lesson!

Google translate strikes again.

 

Rooster

[Stargeezr]

Thanks for another good read Rooster, sorry that you did not have information for

the forum readers that feel, you should also provide that service.  I do hope that Anutin

and others get the boot, but if they even royally srew up, the high powers make the

big decisions.  I am glad that the Thais are not impressed with him and other

government leaders.  Good luck to you all I say, safely residing in my basement for

9 more days of self isolation. 

Geezer

Edited March 29, 2020 by Stargrazer9889
errors

[smudger1951]

Just as well I did'nt make my flight on 23rd. Would be be stuck there as the world locks down. But seriously, when Spain, Italy, etc suffer huge numbers of deaths, what are the real numbers in Thailand ? 

[steven100]

16 hours ago, herwin1234 said:

stopped reading well before halfway. collecting newspapers of coups and other calamities in ones guest country. tourist at work. wew, boring. how about advice how we as guests here could be of some help in this crisis? or something with a more positive attitude.

maybe its the age, old ppl sometimes are like  that, grumpy...

that's TV farang for you ..... and most posters don't even live here, they whinge & moan but live elsewhere.

[bluesofa]

1 minute ago, steven100 said:

that's TV farang for you ..... and most posters don't even live here, they whinge & moan but live elsewhere.

I'm interested in why you say that most posters don't live in Thailand? How do you come to that conclusion?

[steven100]

3 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

I'm interested in why you say that most posters don't live in Thailand? How do you come to that conclusion?

possible not most, but some posters do, so how can one have criticism about a country when they don't even reside there. I've caught a couple out already.

[bluesofa]

10 minutes ago, steven100 said:

possible not most, but some posters do, so how can one have criticism about a country when they don't even reside there. I've caught a couple out already.

Surely it doesn't stop them having an opinion on something, even though they don't live there.

Do you mean you've caught them out because they initially said they lived in Thailand, then later turned out they didn't?

I see you've changed from 'most don't live here' to 'some', since I asked the question.

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by bluesofa
grammar

[steven100]

4 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Surely it doesn't stop them having an opinion on something, even though they don't live there.

Do you mean you've caught them out because they initially said they lived in Thailand, then later turned out they didn't?

I see you've changed from 'most don't live here' to 'some', since I asked the question.

 

They like others to believe they live here so they don't feel bad about slagging off Thailand and it's government continually. Sure, they can have an opinion,but don't make out you know everything about Thailand and don't even live here. just saying. imo. enough said on that. thx

[Leatherneck]

Thai governments seem to love bureaucracy...and the more disconcerting and difficult they can make it, the better. Currently stranded in Bali (much worse places to be stranded, believe me) and unable to return to LOS. As the poster noted, the Indonesian and Bali government used some common sense after about 2,000 people showed up at immigration offices trying to extend their visas last week. Instead of increasing the likelihood of spreading the virus at immigration offices, they just announced automatic visa extensions with no need to come to their offices (actually saying don't come to our offices)....and NO charge for the extensions. Appears the extensions are valid for at least 60 days and possibly longer. I can't imagine a Thai government, especially immigration, ever being this common sensical and flexible...it's just not in their DNA 

Edited March 30, 2020 by Leatherneck
Spelling mistakes

[Jane Dough]

4 hours ago, smudger1951 said:

Just as well I did'nt make my flight on 23rd. Would be be stuck there as the world locks down. But seriously, when Spain, Italy, etc suffer huge numbers of deaths, what are the real numbers in Thailand ? 

That is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string, or how much is a face mask?

 

Rooster

[FarFlungFalang]

4 hours ago, steven100 said:

possible not most, but some posters do, so how can one have criticism about a country when they don't even reside there. I've caught a couple out already.

Most people on this forum don't live with you steven but I see no shortage of criticism of yourself.

What if one visits for a length of time are they then entitled to criticise?I no longer reside in Oz but I still have my criticisms of it.Shirley that is fair?