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Inspired by PeterRS, below pics of hunky protestors.

I got an email from Bumrungrad Hospital yesterday. It states this - "According to the announcement of approval COVID-19 vaccines from The Food and Drug Administration of Thailand and and they will soon be available to the public. We would like your thoughts regarding the COVID-19 vaccine." For some reason the survey only applies to those aged between 18 - 65. It asks three questions I'd like to get the vaccine as soon as possible I'd like to get the vaccine, but not immediately I do not plan to get vaccinated for COVID-19 It points out that this is not a request for reservation. But the fact that it is seeking information at this relatively early stage surely indicates that it will be offering vaccinations sooner rather than later.

A friend has told me there are two main changes. 1. If you already have the basic Elite visa valid for 5 years which had cost you 500,000 baht, you can now extend it to 20 years for the price of another 500,000 baht. This compares to the basic price for a new 20 years visa of around 2 million baht. 2. If you are thinking about a Thai Elite visa but do not have one, the price of the basic 5 year one has now been raised to 600,000 baht. Unlike other retirement visas obtained here, there are no other financial requirements - i.e. no need to keep cash unused in an account or to remit a monthly amount. This information is from someone who has just extended his visa to 20 years. I am assuming it is correct.

This one wins my heart!

long haul travel has been killed along with most other travel over the past year. Eventually it will bounce back, but it will be interesting to see which airlines have survived by then. TG has struggled with the A380s since they bought them. I am more surprised by ditching the A330s. Without the A380 or 747s though they won't have first class anymore. Where will all of those most important people sit? I was watching a video the other day suggesting that lots of long haul routes are going to be serviced by narrow body aircraft with the intro of the A321LR including lots of trans-Atlantic routes because they claimed people don't like connecting. Give me a widebody with a connection any day over a direct narrowbody, but I also live close to a major international hub. I suppose regional Asian routes will also be able to be served by smaller aircraft though. If there are more A350s in service that would be a good thing as far as I am concerned since that aircraft is the most comfortable generally.

Jupiter said on their fb that they will open 1st of March

In answer to the original question, here is a sort of copy of a message that I posted elsewhere, regarding a visit to Silom soi4 last Sunday. Sorry if these are not the sort of bars you were enquiring about. I visited soi4 on Sunday night. It was quiet with the following establishments open:- Balcony -- with a few terrace tables occupied and half a dozen customers inside. Telephone -- with few customers. Connections -- quite busy for a small bar Pride -- several customers. Bas Bar -- open. Banana terrace and Banana Room Club (upstairs) -- apparently open Fork and Cork -- open. 'G's German Thai Restaurant. Adam Massage -- open with staff sitting outside. Tattoo business above the now closed Welcome bar. (side shutter open) Closed -- Strangers Bar Jupiter Welcome Bar Sports on 4 Hugs Bar I went to Balcony and was shown a rough of a new Vegetarian page for their menu. 30% discount on all food. I was told that the entire soi was busy on Friday night. Quieter on Saturday and Sunday. Coming Friday, is the first day of the official three day Chinese New Year holiday. Let's hope for a busy and happy long weekend.

I love the photos of this guy featured in the Myanmar protests who has been in the media on two separate days. Wonder if he might be gay???

The A321 Neo and the Boeing 737 Max are more or less the same type of aircraft - narrow bodies that can fly the Atlantic. Like fedssocr I loathe the idea of a narrow body on a longish haul route. At least en route to London Qatar flies A350s and 777s. I'll take an A350 any day over other aircraft, but I will certainly miss the A380 when it finally bites the dust. That is my favourite aircraft, especially if you an afford the biz class upstairs.

On a more serious note on this topic Biden Imposes Sanctions on Generals Who Engineered Myanmar Coup WASHINGTON — President Biden announced on Wednesday that he was imposing sanctions that would prevent the generals who engineered a coup in Myanmar from gaining access to $1 billion in funds their government keeps in the United States, and said he would announce additional actions against the military leaders and their families. It was the first concrete step the U.S. government has taken since Mr. Biden demanded that the generals restore democracy and release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the nation’s civilian leader. Source

Nicole Johnston was watching COVID-19 cases climb toward a new high at home and wanted her son back in Thailand, where he had previously lived and attended university. Last month they began the process of booking what’s known as “Alternative State Quarantine” for his first two weeks of isolation upon arrival from South Africa. Her son, Thabo Thusi, completed a travel site’s online inquiry form and soon heard back via email from several hotels. He reached terms with one, but after paying THB35,000 (USD$1,170) to book the room, Thusi was surprised by an email from the hotel requesting another transfer of the same amount. “This caution fees came to stay as a result of some Guest can damage some of the hotel properties and they go, and some Joiner will visit friend on hotel might do some little damage, with this, our management have decided to implement caution fees,” the email said. Nicole Johnston was watching COVID-19 cases climb toward a new high at home and wanted her son back in Thailand, where he had previously lived and attended university. Last month they began the process of booking what’s known as “Alternative State Quarantine” for his first two weeks of isolation upon arrival from South Africa. Her son, Thabo Thusi, completed a travel site’s online inquiry form and soon heard back via email from several hotels. He reached terms with one, but after paying THB35,000 (USD$1,170) to book the room, Thusi was surprised by an email from the hotel requesting another transfer of the same amount. “This caution fees came to stay as a result of some Guest can damage some of the hotel properties and they go, and some Joiner will visit friend on hotel might do some little damage, with this, our management have decided to implement caution fees,” the email said. 30-day visa? Try 45 days, Thailand tempts eligible travelers Thusi and his mother rightly balked and refused to pay. As they scrambled to book another hotel in time for his Jan. 15 arrival date, came the horrifying realization that they – along with others, they would learn – had become victims of scammers preying on travelers during the pandemic. “I was devastated,” Johnston said yesterday. “When he phoned me and said they wanted another 35 grand, the hair on the back of my head stood up. I’m retired. I’m on a retirement visa. We spent a lot of money to do this. … The fact that this happened, I cried.” The hotel staff they were corresponding with in a vain attempt to obtain a refund were scammers. Hope Land, the real hotel chain whose Soi Sukhumvit 8 branch they were trying to book, told Coconuts that it was aware of the scam. Sithinun Phomthong from its IT department said Monday that they have been aware for a few weeks now and went to file a complaint at the Lumpini Police Station on Jan. 27. He said the scammers hadn’t hacked or intercepted their emails but rather had “imitated” the hotel. Sithinun said they had gone to the trouble of registering a similar domain name – a bogus hopelands8.com vs. the legitimate hopeland8.com – but there was nothing currently at the site this week, and none of the emails reviewed was sent from the domain. The scammers used a Gmail account – reservationhopelands@gmail.com to contact Thusi after he completed the online inquiry form at the Wander Thai site, one of many similar directories of quarantine hotels. The email came amid other responses from hotels indicating whether they were full or available, all of which included an in-line reply to his original message and probably headers and addressing information. Such a discrepancy appears now to have been a red flag in the clarity of hindsight. It still leaves open the question of how the scammers got Thusi’s email and responded as quickly as the other hotels. WanderThai.com, which appeared to forward his inquiry to multiple hotels in good faith, has since deactivated its Hope Land listing. And attempts to find similar scam versions of domain names for about 20 other listed ASQ hotels failed to locate any. After first speaking with Hope Land about the issue, we wanted to ask them if they suspected an inside job involving one of its current or former employees, but the hotel did not return further calls. Thusi found a Reddit thread posted Jan. 7 to the Thailand subreddit warning people of the scam and naming the same branch of Hope Land. The suspect hopelands8.com domain name was registered Dec. 13. Both Thusi and Johnston expressed frustration that the hotel had been aware of the issue for some time without any apparent effort to warn guests. “But it seems that they haven’t done anything to alert people about it, so more people could fall prey to this,” Thusi said in a message. They note that amid the complaints, the hotel scrubbed the email from its contact information. Later, on Jan. 28, Hope Land did post a warning about how to avoid scams on social media. A similar message has been added to its website’s contact page. Coconuts saw at least three other similar complaints and confirmed the details with a fourth. “To be honest I don’t understand how I fell into the trap. I thought I had contacted the hotel (hope land) through their email found on the website and brochures,” Sabina Perondini said in a message. “When I paid they asked me to pay a deposit and I knew something was wrong. I contacted the hotel via Facebook, they checked and realized it was a scam.” Perondini shared multiple emails nearly identical to those received by Thusi from the same Gmail account. Sithinun, from Hope Land’s IT office, said those who think they were scammed should file complaints at the Lumpini Police Station, though he noted hearing from a number of Thai guests who were scammed that were turned away by the police for some reason. A station representative who refused to give her name said the victims might have “misunderstood” what the officers told them. After several calls to the station over three days this week, officers as of Wednesday were unable to find a record of the hotel’s complaint. Pattharaphon Srisaard, a receptionist at Hope Land’s Soi Sukhumvit 8 branch, said payments should be made to the account of Nirun Nova Co., Ltd. only. She said once payment is received, guests will get a hotel confirmation and there will be no additional charges at all after that. The price, as advertised, already includes everything from airport pick-up to the room and health services. To avoid being scammed, travelers should either book directly with hotels or through officially authorized booking agencies such as Agoda, Locanation and Ascendtravel. Transactions conducted solely by email may not be secure. That’s too late for Jonhston, who has accepted that she’s unlikely to get her money back. Still, she wants to help other people from falling for the con. And she hopes the authorities will take action to protect others as well. “I cant believe Thailand would let this happen,” Johnston said. “Like Thabo, we love Thailand.” And she’s glad to have him around. Johnston just found out this week that four of her relatives died back home in Africa. Source

Interesting post. My understanding is that the Oxford vaccine is on its way to Thailand.. or here already.and I thought I read that the private sector can purchase a quantity. Also some Euro countries try to claim the Oxford Vaccine not effective for those over 65; the issue has been denied by both the UK and the WHO.( But is a clue to what Bumrungrad may soon be offering as survey aimed at under 65's). So my guess is Bumrungrad will soon be privately offering the Oxford vaccine....just my speculation!

This news item does not bode well for a return to anything like normal in the next year and more. THAI is laying off 395 pilots leaving the airline with only 905. Worse, it is grounding much of its wide body fleet - the Boeing 747s, A380s and A330-300s. This is in addition to the A340s which it has been trying unsuccessfully to sell for about 8 years and which are stored at U-Tapao. Other airlines have been reducing their fleets by getting rid of long haul aircraft. British Airways has already sent its 31 747-400s off to a graveyard in the States. Qantas has mothballed all its A380s until 2003. This surely presages a major reduction in long haul travel. https://thethaiger.com/news/national/thai-airways-lays-off-hundreds-of-pilots-under-debt-rehabilitation-plan