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From The Thaiger / CNN Russians were the most visible travellers heading to Thailand post February 1, 2022, when the Thailand Pass Test & Go option was rebooted. Even with its 2 days of pre-booked SHA+ quarantine and PCR tests, along with US$50,000 Covid insurance (which has since been reduced to $20,000), the Russian travellers were delighted to jump on a plane and take the long trip to the much warmer Land of Smiles. That situation has now radically changed and the world is reverberating to the full impact of Russia’s aggression and the invasion of Ukraine. Now there’s a mere trickle of daily flights between Russia and either Suvarnabhumi or Phuket in Thailand. Whilst much of the rest of the world have said ’nyet’ to the arrival of any planes from Russia, Thailand is still allowing them to arrive. But even if the planes are still coming (albeit in vastly reduced numbers), the pressure of world sanctions, bans and the plunge of the Russian Ruble has already made the decision for any potential Russian travellers. Now, the latest data from ForwardKeys, shows that the Russian invasion of Ukraine, now into its 9th day, has prompted an instant spike in flight cancellations to and from Russia, worldwide. On the day after the first tanks rolled into Ukraine, every booking that was made for travel to Russia was outweighed by six cancellations of existing bookings. Russians escaping their bleak winter and heading to sunnier destinations were suddenly cancelling their trips. The cancellation rates between February 24 – 26 were Cyprus (300%), Egypt (234%), Turkey (153%), the UK (153%), Armenia (200%), and Maldives (165%). Bookings for March, April and May were already reaching 32% of the pre-Covid levels of travel for outbound Russians. They were heading to Mexico, Seychelles, Eygpt and Maldives. And Thailand. The outlook for Q3 this year was looking even stronger. All that Russian travel enthusiasm has now collapsed and, given the harsh economic weapons thrown at Vladimir Putin, his banks, his ‘friends’ and his citizens, any recovery will be a long, long way down the track. Even if there was a swift and unexpected reversal of the Ukraine situation, Russia has already been dealt a fatal economic blow – in just one week the country been turned into a pariah state and much of the rest of the world seems happy to punish the entire country for Putin’s violence. For countries like the Seychelles, Maldives and Cyprus, Russian arrivals represented a high percentage of their international arrivals. In Thailand that was about 8% of the total tourist mix. And, whilst the Chinese are still in China for at least the rest of this year, the loss of the Russian travel market probably represented an even higher percentage of tourists that won’t be coming to Thailand in 2022. The world travel industry will be further hit by rising airfares (due to the sharp surge in oil prices), cancellations of routes (across Eastern Europe), a higher resistance to international travel (for perceived safety reasons) and a lingering instability in world politics. While the Thailand Pass is still seen by many potential travellers as a significant barrier to their choice of Thailand as their next travel destination, and the Russian and Chinese traveller-tap turned off, Thailand’s immediate travel future looks bleak. And this follows nearly 2 years of border closures, false restarts, over-hyped TAT arrival projections and the former Thai tourism workforce heading home to find other work. The loss of the Russian travellers underscores a critical need for the Thai government to quickly modify the Thailand Pass, or scrap it completely. With so many other factors now making international travel difficult, Thailand will have to rethink their short to medium term tourism strategies to retain its share of the international travel market. Of course there is no comparison of the humanitarian tragedy underway inside the borders of Ukraine at this time, but Russia’s aggression will likely have much more long-term, and far-reaching, effects than the clear and present danger it poses on the Ukranian nation right now.

https://ilikepinga.com/2022/03/05/medellin-escorts/

You can find similar photos of crazies in any major city across the globe. It's not just the Ukraine that's for sure. Moses, your Siam Guides business has a fine reputation with members here. I personally think it's a mistake to get into the propaganda business, especially at this moment in time. You've contributed timely information on many topics from time to time. Please don't allow this to become a mirror of "Brink of War."

So kind and thoughtful of you to apologize. Frankly, I loved the memes, especially the one with the dog's head up the other dog's ass. SO PERFECT! Your curation often makes me LAUGH, and if we didn't laugh in the horrible world in which we live, more people would be killing themselves, as evidenced by the rise in suicide rates. The memes you post certainly prevent me from stabbing someone, so I view them as good thing. Thank you. I continue not to see that from anything posted, but I haven't read every word on this forum. It seems to me much has been edited from the thread in question. I'm glad Oz brought the thread back. All kidding aside about "banning," I'm a fan of moderation, but not censorship. I enjoy knowing where posters stand. That way, I can judge them properly and fairly. I am not a fan of hiding the truth or sweeping it under the carpet. If someone is truly an asshole, I prefer everyone to see that. Denial is a waste of time and energy, IMO. Excuse me, but please let the controlling, stick-up-your-ass behavior that Daddy and deej were famous for stay at the other site. I can't tolerate controlling queens. The Beer Bar states it's a place for Current Events and Politics, so I always assumed that if something "political" was part of today's headlines, it's accepted in the Beer Bar as "current." I have always liked this leniency and open-mindedness of this site. These stupid categories in the UI, that are famous for feeding the control-freak forum operators, have always annoyed me. It's like walking into a bar or a club and being told by the owner that conversation in each corner is limited to a specific subject. I wouldn't be interested in sitting in that place, at all. So why do we have to tolerate it here? That said, hijacking can irritate people, and that's where a moderator can come in handy. I like the way Oz handled this situation.

Moses, I can appreciate that you have a personal view on the Ukraine. But you're surely aware of what your megalomaniac leader is doing to your own country. Attempting to legitimize his actions with a photo array is an exercise in futility. In my book, all Nazis are crazy by definition regardless of where in the world they emerge. Just as crazy as the man who started this war. I accept that you personally know, and speak with, many ethnic Russian refugees who work in an around Moscow. I ask you to accept that most of the world believes that what is happening is an unnecessary and unwarranted tragedy that will end in utter disaster for Russia and the Ukraine, and to some degree for the rest of the world. Readers have come to know you as a good man. But even good men sometimes get the story wrong for any number of reasons.

Sorry, I thought most were an amusing perspective but will try not to hijack existing threads in the future.

sure, the same way like Western European cities are full of Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, Croatian etc refugees doing the same jobs you listed, what they escaped are low salaries seeking higher standard of living , just the same like Russians of Eastern Ukraine. Poland must be suicidal country , suffered so much in hands of Nazis in 2nd World War and still now is letting the other Nazis in by the hundreds thousands. Are Russian mothers really letting their sons die in support of such propaganda nonsense ?

From Thai PBS World The Chao Phraya River is the main artery of Bangkok. In the old days, it was where everything happened, full of life and culture. So, the river’s banks were where everyone wanted to settle when they moved to Bangkok. Walk-A-Tif introduces you to the foreign traders and diplomats who settled along the banks of this mighty river and traces their histories. Starting at the Kudeejeen community, this is where Portuguese settled about 250 years ago, during the Thonburi period. One of the icons of this community is the Santa Cruz Church, which was built around 1770AD, when Christian Portuguese settlers migrated here after the dissolution of Ayutthaya kingdom. It was then the main Catholic Church in Bangkok and served as the seat of the Apostolic Vicariate of Siam until 1821, when Assumption Cathedral was completed. This is where we can find Thai-Portuguese food and desserts, such as Kanom Farung or Kudeejeen Portuguese cake, Portuguese chicken curry noodles and Portuguese custard tarts. Even though this community is known as the Portuguese community, according to an expert, the people who first settled here were actually Thai and Chinese. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Predee Phisphumvidhi, Faculty of Liberal Arts at Mahidol University, said that “This was not originally a European community. It was established by the Chinese as (you can see) there is a Chinese shrine here. Both Thai and Chinese have been here from the beginning, and Europeans moved here to live with them. They choose to live here because, in the past, the government official in charge of international trade lived in this neighbourhood. The name of this community is still Kudeejeen, as it was then.” The next stop on our trip is the Talad Noi neighbourhood, which was established more than 200 years ago. The market was also originally settled by the Portuguese following the fall of Ayutthaya. As Bangkok’s first port, this place was also where Chinese immigrants landed, including Hokkien and Hakka ethnic groups. The church which typifies legacy of the Portuguese community is Holy Rosary Church, a Gothic-style building which has been an iconic structure in the Talad Noi neighbourhood for more than 120 years. Its Thai name, Wat Kalawar, is said to have been taken from the Portuguese word “Calvario” or Calvary, the site where Jesus Christ was crucified. Dr. Predee said the Holy Rosary Church is quite unique and different from many other churches because it is strongly influenced by the Chinese community in Talad Noi as Holy Rosary Church is a Catholic church, but it is located in a Chinese community. So there is a lot of uniqueness here, such as the Mass held in Chinese, decoration with Chinese art and design and Chinese lettering in the church. The architecture is beautiful, with cultural traces, and they still maintain a lot of interesting traditions today. Assumption Cathedral is also a landmark, which reflects the influence of the Western settlement along the river. It is the principal Roman Catholic Church of Thailand and the centre of the Archdiocese of Bangkok. The original building was the result of a request from a French missionary, Father Pascal, in 1809 and the work of a French architect, which saw the cathedral completed in 1821. It was named Assumption in honour of the Assumption of Mary. The cathedral hosted both Papal visits to Thailand, by Pope John Paul II in 1984 and Pope Francis in 2019. Dr. Predee said “This is the headquarters and the centre of the Roman Catholic administration in Thailand. Even though the church was built in the postmodern era, it is very big, exquisite and decorated with elegant and holy installations. It is a truly huge Cathedral.” In the same neighbourhood, there is also a mosque and a temple. This is said to be a symbol of cultural wealth. Father Anucha Chaiyadej, Director of the Catholic Church’s media relations in Thailand, said that the diversity here does not bring conflict, but peace and happiness. Ultimately, it brings a wealth of culture. by Kitipat Chuensukjit

nothing to be proud of if true, shame on Russian people who seem to forget meaning of Jun 21, 1941

I am sure all reasonable people agree. But the difference between the 1970s/80s and the 2020s is that Russia has the largest stock of nuclear weapons anywhere. We already know that NATO will not agree to Ukraine's request for a no-fly zone simply because of what might happen if a NATO aircraft brought down a Russian aircraft. Unlikely it would immediately result in a nuclear war, but it would dangerously escalate what is already a horrible situation. That the Russians are now fighting very close to Europe's largest nuclear power station is bad enough. What are these monsters thinking about? Sadly I believe there is nothing the west can do that will bring Putin down. Sanctions take time to work and there is little historical evidence that sanctions really work as intended. Only the Russian people can take Putin down. After nearly a quarter of a century in power, ex-KGB agent Putin will surely have his internal defences pretty secure by now, I'd think. But it was his surrounding coterie that got rid of Kruschev (as far as i know). Perhaps a group within Putin's inner circle may eventually find a way of getting rid of him.

I don't see these as destroying a thread. Some are very amusing. I seem to recall a saying that there is a very fine line between comedy and tragedy.

Loretta Swit was Houlihan in the show. Kellerman was in the Altman movie.

I would think a devalued Ruble would increase tourism. Certainly I ike to think of being able to buy twice as many of those St. Petersburg demi-Gods. Of course, except for the Hesinki day ferry no-visa pass, the Russian visa is not easy for an American in best of times. St Petersburg may see a lot more tourists this summer (if there's not nucleur war of course).

Something else he has in common with Trump, he's a scared little bunker bitch too!

Well, if that's true, the next competition is March 26-27 if the following link is correct. I'm there just before that, so I guess I can find out if the pickings are still as slim as they were the last time I went. https://www.ifbbpro.com/2022-thailand-pro-qualifier/

1984 was the one that i liked the most out of that top 5. It's a very powerful book and keeps you hooked til the end. I tried to read the Lord of the Rings but gave up halfway through the first book. Just not my thing.

The one advantage the gogo bars still have over the apps is that you can examine the goods before committing yourself and see the real thing, not an outdated photo of somebody else. Of course if they parade fully clothed it's less appealing. In the Good Old Days it wasn't so much the gogo dancing that appealed to me, nor even the shows, so much as the whole atmosphere of the bars, with the boys spontaneously interacting with each other as well as the punters.

This isn't filming scene, nor historical reconstruction. It is Ukraine after 2014:

Aren't "crazies" on photo - nationalists are base of current regime, and Nazi - are core of current nationalist movements in Ukraine. And please pay attention: I have relatives in Ukraine and Crimea, so I don't read "news" from both sides - I speak by phone with people who are trusted and are watching everything by own eyes. Moreover: Moscow is filled with etnic Russian refuges from Eastern Ukraine. They are very visible by their Southern pronunciation. Here are over one million refuges in Russia now half of them are surviving in Moscow and suburban and working as taxi drivers, construction workers, cashiers in supermarkets and so on... I meet them every day. Personally.