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The most recent report of infections and cases in Thailand is not good but there may be an encouraging trend emerging: the number of new daily cases appears to have steadied in the vicinity of 2,000. Although the number of new deaths reported today was high (34), that was to be expected. New deaths typically lag the number of infections by a few weeks. If the number of new daily cases does not accelerate and slowly begins to edge lower, experience elsewhere suggests new deaths will also begin a gradual decline. The long-term solution is--of course--a rapid increase in vaccine inoculations and Thailand seems to be headed in that direction. ======================== From the Bangkok Post New daily high, 34 Covid deaths The government on Wednesday reported a record daily high of 34 Covid-19 related deaths, lifting the total to 486, along with 1,983 new infections, for a total caseload of 88,907 since the epidemic began early last year. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2114415/new-daily-high-34-covid-deaths ============================ From The Thaiger Health officials aim to vaccinate 5 million Bangkok residents in 2 months To combat the Covid-19 outbreak in Bangkok, infecting more than 20,000 people in the capital since April, health officials plan to vaccinate 5 million Bangkok residents within the next 2 months in an effort to reach herd immunity. So far, only 5% of Bangkok residents have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. The Public Health Ministry has set a goal to administer 100,000 doses each day in Bangkok with areas of the Bang Sue Railway Central Station to be used as a vaccination hub. Only those 18 and older in Bangkok are eligible for a vaccine. Migrants and other residents who aren’t registered are included in the capital’s vaccination campaign, according to deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department. https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/health-officials-aim-to-vaccinate-5-million-bangkok-residents-in-2-months ================================= From Thai Enquirer Thailand to offer walk-in Covid vaccinations from June Walk-in centres for vaccination against Covid-19 without appointment will be in place across the country by June, the Ministry of Public Health said Wednesday. “Many people wanted to be vaccinated but could not get an appointment via the online registration system,” said Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, the director-general of the Department of Disease Control. “The idea is for anyone willing to be vaccinated to be able to received the service, to reach as many people as possible,” he added. The National Vaccine Board approved the policy along with the new target of procuring 150 million doses of coronavirus vaccines by 2022, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said after the Board’s meeting Wednesday. https://www.thaienquirer.com/27437/thailand-to-offer-walk-in-covid-vaccinations-from-june/

Two people have to be willing to do that but z909's intention is to continually bring up his monorail tale. Actually it's z909 who has kept it on the "rail." It was z909 who took it off track with his snarky remark about Thais being ignorant of maps and geography, followed by his introduction of his monorail obsession. That was the series of events that brought us to this point. I'm amenable to the truce Gaybutton talks about but--like in politics--it takes two to sustain an agreement. I see no indication that my dear friend wishes to do so. Even after Gaybutton posted his appeal, z909 immediately followed with yet another train story.

From Channel News Asia BANGKOK: A rights activist hit with almost a decade of lawsuits after raising concerns about labour conditions at a Thai pineapple company received a court decision Tuesday (May 11) clearing him in the final case against him. Andy Hall faced a series of defamation charges after contributing to a 2012 report on alleged poor working conditions, low wages and child labour at Natural Fruit's factory. In 2016 the Briton was found guilty of criminal defamation and given a suspended three-year prison sentence before the conviction was overturned in June last year. The company later launched a 300-million-baht (US$9.6 million) civil defamation case but dropped the case before it went to trial last year. Hall was informed Tuesday of the Thai Supreme Court's verdict in the final case, over separate civil defamation charges relating to a 2013 interview he gave to the news organisation Al Jazeera. The court ruling was made in June 2020 but coronavirus disruptions meant Hall's lawyer only received it on Tuesday. The court found Hall not guilty and overturned a lower court's decision that he should pay 10 million baht compensation to the company. "The Supreme Court stands by the Appeal Court's (verdict) to dismiss the plaintiff's (case) as it is factually concluded that the defendant acted honestly and criticised with fairness," the court said. "The defendant's interview with the media about the plaintiff's employment practices does not warrant compensation." Hall, who left Thailand in 2016 after living there for 12 years, said the decision was a relief. "After years of ongoing judicial harassment that has taken a heavy toll on me, my family and my colleagues, this is not a victory," he said in a statement. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/thailand-pineapple-defamation-andy-hall-british-activist-cleared-14787716

You even misinterpret your own definition of monorail. As can be clearly seen in the photo in the OP, there is only a single rail (right down the center of the pathway) on the Gold Line. But what really pisses me off has nothing to do with rails or definitions. It's the way you disparage Thais in general. Here are your own words from a post above. You mock their intelligence. You are quick to find fault with those who ask for more baht than you want to part with and dismiss many of the bars and massage shops for similar reasons. Your idea of a banner day is when you find some hungry, out of work guy who'll agree to come to your room for 500 baht. You've made 13 posts in this thread and this is my 9th, including the OP. And you call me the troll? How blind you are to your own false claims and paranoia.

So you're claiming that the Thai media got it all wrong and Thai officials got it all wrong in their description of the Gold Line monorail. And You Tube is conspiring against you, also. Only you, z909, got it right? Brace yourself, Z, for an education. Think, if you will, about planes. There are all types, but they're still all planes. Take the sub category of commercial transport aircraft and there are many sub types even within that grouping. Some of wings attached to the top of the fuselage and some have wings attached below. Some have engines mounted on the wings and some have them in the rear. But they're all commercial transport aircraft. Now think about trains. There are all types. Some are electric powered while others use diesel. Then there's the subcategory of passenger trains. Within that category, there are monorails. Within the monorail category, there are different configurations. Some look like the type used, for example, in Kuala Lumpur, some are suspend while yet others are like the system the Gold Line uses. But they're all monorails and all monorails are trains. We could go on and discuss ships in the same manner but I think you get the idea.

Oh dear, Z, your obsession with trains is far more advanced than I thought. But fear not, my dear friend, I will help cure what ails you by the simple application of evidence and logic. We’ll begin your therapy with a look back at the original post that was : https://www.gayguides.com/forums/topic/13079-gold-line-monorail/?tab=comments#comment-145579 Here are the first two paragraphs of the article: “Now that all three driverless trains for the BTS Gold Light Rail Line have been delivered, trials on the 1.8-kilometre route will begin immediately before the service is officially launched on October 29. The monorail will stop at three stations – Krung Thonburi, Charoen Nakhon and Klong San – before linking up with the BTS Green Line.” You’ll note that the monorail’s path has just one rail running along the center. On ether side of the elevated rail are reinforced concrete platforms on which the wheels travel. It is the single steel rail, however, that guides the trains. Hence, we have a monorail. Here's an article from the Bangkok Post: Monorail ushers in hope If anyone has visited Charoen Nakhon area in Thon Buri area recently, they might be surprised by the bumper-to-bumper traffic -- a situation rarely seen elsewhere during the Covid-19 pandemic. The congestion has been caused by the construction of the country's first monorail known as the Gold Line. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1930496/monorail-ushers-in-hope You repeatedly claim that it travels only marginally faster than walking. Take a ride on the Gold Line in this You Tube video and you’ll see that wrong again. And not to worry. I know this will have you feeling better in no time.

This is paranoia on steroids. You've convinced yourself, yet again, that this is example of a grudge I supposedly hold against you because I posted an article--two years ago--about the then new Gold Line that you didn't agree with. Flash: not everything is about trains. My posts above are strictly about you trying to subvert a clearly written news story into an opportunity to post yet another know-it-all response. Worse, you made the Thai spokesman the butt of your joke. Very sad indeed. But that doesn't mean I don't still love you, my dear friend.

And the Thai minister--like the rest of us--is aware that Thailand doesn't border Vietnam. And anyone who has been to Thailand knows it would require two border crossings to travel between those countries. Was your point simply to attempt to make the Thai minister look like a jackass?

No, you misinterpreted the sentence. It states that Laos and Vietnam share a border. Vietnamese not flying into Thailand normally enter via Lao border checkpoints. "The minister added it would be easier for Thailand to create travel bubbles with Laos and Vietnam as they share a border." Vietnamese place a higher value of products available in Thailand because they are of better quality and available at lower prices than in Vietnam. Vietnamese shoppers are represented in large numbers at the Big C opposite Central World, particularly on weekends.

From Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) Jeremy Atherton Lin's book takes a personal look into the history of an increasingly uncertain institution Before the pandemic, the last time I went this long without going to a gay bar was before I was legal drinking age. And I know I'm not alone. For many of us living in places where we've been privileged enough to have gay bars be an integral — if complicated — part of our culture since we were brave enough or old enough to get in, the past year and counting has been a big departure from a routine in our social lives. But for a lot of us, I suspect it's also left us wondering: what role did gay bars really play in our lives all that time anyway? That's a core question in Jeremy Atherton Lin's vibrant debut book Gay Bar: Why We Went Out, a mix of memoir and historical document that explores the complex relationship both Atherton Lin and gay culture has had with the increasingly endangered habitat that is the gay bar. Released in February 2021, I initially purchased the book thinking it might fill a void left by its subject's non-existence in my life since March 2020. But instead I became reminded of what a complicated, varied, often disappointing but equally necessary experience gay bars have always been for me. It also made me wonder what their future past the pandemic really looks like. xceptionally well-crafted, Gay Bar is both a book about Atherton Lin's life and the gay bars each chapter focuses on (it jumps from London to Los Angeles to San Francisco). Its central question — as posed in its title — is given many, many answers over the course of its pages: "We go out to be gay." "We go out to be on the inside." "We go out to be nobodies." "We go out to be real, which in gay argot can mean fake it." "We did not go out to be safe. I didn't, anyway. I went out to take risks." But ultimately, Atherton Lin realizes it may not really matter why we went out — what matters is that we did, and for so many of us, that has made us who we are, for better or worse. Based in London, U.K., Atherton Lin conceived of the idea for the book in 2017. At that time, over half the gay bars in London had closed down in the previous decade, as they similarly had in major cities across the world thanks largely to a double-edged sword of gentrification skyrocketing rent and the rise of gay social apps like Grindr putting virtual gay bars in people's pockets. At that time, the pandemic hadn't even begun to make these establishments' livelihoods all the more dire. "That was just such a weird thing to experience — where there's this sort of manifestation of your identity, supposedly, in a city that is lingering out," Atherton Lin tells me over a video call. "So it made me kind of question what my relationship to those bars was." The structure of the book came as Atherton Lin started trying to remember his experiences in gay bars. "It was always going to be a very personal thing," he says. "I wound up writing it in a pretty condensed period of time because I wanted it to feel a little bit like there's some lack of resolution, like you kind of feel when you're at a bar or just kind of having passing thoughts." Atherton Lin says that one of the things that stands out to him from the process of writing the book is how it put things in perspective in terms of "putting everything into into the context of a longer history." "It's asinine that it would not have been at the forefront of people's minds, but really the effect of the AIDS crisis on gay culture seemed to me to be very buried," he says of his introduction to that culture in the 1990s. "I just thought about how disappointed I was in various facets of gay culture.... how icy it was in a lot of ways. The fact that that was a response to an epidemic." Atherton Lin says that, for him, doing that kind of revisiting led him to find "more of a sense of a longer history" with respect to his own relationship to gay culture. "[It] shows you that it's not all about your perspective and that something came before and something's going to come after," he explains. "That was the greatest revelation for me: a sense of acceptance about how you're not going to be exactly the same as other homosexuals, despite the 'homo.' But you maybe are a piece of a kind of a legacy or cosmology. So I think that was a real kind of epiphany for me — of not feeling like I needed to think about identity in terms of an individualistic way, but to think about it in terms of the kind of amorphous historical way." The pandemic began as Atherton Lin was doing final edits of the book, and he wondered about whether to make changes to reflect this new and crippling chapter in the challenges facing gay bars' survival. "It was just too soon," he says. "There was no way to know what the ramifications would be or how long it was going to last. And nobody foresaw this, you know?" Even now, nobody really knows what's going to happen to gay bars after "all of this" is over. Will there even be any gay bars left to reopen? My home bar — Toronto's west end staple The Beaver — shut down permanently due to COVID last July, as have many, many others around the world. But Atherton Lin is pretty certain young queers will find a way, as they always do. "I imagine it's going to be kind of multifarious, you know, because I think that the kids are going to want to party and the kids are always going to find a way to party. Think about the aftermath of AIDS. In my book, I talk a lot about these kind of like, very anodyne and sterile bars, but at the same time, there was rave and underground culture and everything like that. So the kids are going to party." What does concern Atherton Lin is our elders. "I mean, I'm getting older myself," he says. "So I thought a lot about that as the book came out and I was kind of forced into early retirement and we all just kind of sat back. I think of that old boozer in the centre of town at a bar where regulars have been going to for years. That means something in terms of the fact that it's a part of the infrastructure of the city, of a given place, rather than always a kind of alternative to the infrastructure of that city." "So that is going to be interesting to see if that can be maintained for old gays and lesbians. I want to see them be able to go back onto their barstool — I mean, if that's what makes them happy." Hear, hear. Continues with photos https://www.cbc.ca/arts/why-our-histories-with-gay-bars-matter-and-what-their-future-might-look-like-after-the-pandemic-1.5998304

From VN Express Thailand eyes travel bubble discussion with Vietnam Thai authorities said they are considering travel bubbles with some Asian countries and territories, including Vietnam, so that international tourism could resume possibly in October. Once Covid-19 community transmission is under control, the Thai government would resume travel bubble discussions with Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, and Malaysia, Bangkok Post newspaper quoted Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn as saying. "We have to speed up inoculations, particularly in Bangkok, to achieve herd immunity by the fourth quarter. The number of daily infections should be below 200 by the end of this month to restore international tourism confidence." No country wants to have a travel bubble discussion with Thailand when it still has a high rate of infection, he noted. The minister added it would be easier for Thailand to create travel bubbles with Laos and Vietnam as they share a border. Thailand was Vietnam's fastest growing tourist market before the pandemic, with the number of visitors from that country rising by 46 percent in 2019 year-on-year to 509,000. Vietnam received 18 million foreign arrivals in 2019. Many Thai investors have also been eyeing the Vietnamese market in recent years. Travel bubbles are an exclusive partnership between two or more countries/territories that allows travel between them amid the Covid-19 pandemic. https://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel/places/thailand-eyes-travel-bubble-discussion-with-vietnam-4275511.html

From Channel News Asia TAIPEI: Taiwan will quarantine all pilots for its largest carrier China Airlines for 14 days as it tries to stop an outbreak of COVID-19 among its crew, effectively grounding the airline, the health minister said on Monday (May 10). While Taiwan has generally kept the pandemic well under control due to early prevention with only sporadic domestic cases, since last month it has been dealing with an outbreak linked to China Airlines pilots and an airport hotel where many of them stayed. There have been 35 confirmed infections so far in the outbreak. Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters the only way to break what they believe is a chain of transmission at the carrier is to quarantine all China Airlines pilots currently in Taiwan, and send into quarantine those who return to Taiwan. "This will have a big impact on China Airlines, on its passenger and freighter flights, and for the crew too. But for the safety of the whole community we cannot but make this decision," he said. The move effectively amounted to a 14-day grounding for the airline, Chen added, and the pilots will only be allowed out of quarantine once they have tested negative. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/taiwan-quarantine-all-pilots-china-airlines-grounded-covid-19-14780524

From The Thaiger Elastic waistband and fitted baseball caps – the new height of Thai constabulary haute couture to grace the streets of Thailand. Some law-enforcing super models are currently strutting the streets parading some of the ‘nouveau’ look police uniforms. The boys in brown are morphing into the boys in 2-tone khaki with black accessories and utility accents. 10 officers from 3 police stations – Chakkrawat, Bang Yi Khan and Bukhalo district stations – have been modelling the new look for the past week to see if the changes make their law enforcement more comfortable and agile. And, more importantly, if the elastic waistband will stop their pants from falling down. In the past the BIB (Boys In Brown) were famous for wearing uniforms, in a fetching shade of pooh-beige, at least 2 sizes smaller than actually required. Whilst it was a ‘good look’ for the few who had maintained a body worth showing off, the vast majority looked like a walnut that had exploded in all the wrong places. The new shirts have an upper cotton ‘traditional’ brown with a lower section of ‘more breathable’ fabric. Just as well because the new uniform still accessorises with the bulky bullet-proof vest or traffic-cop bib (which look more ‘useful’ than breathable). The fitted baseball cap and sleeve pockets give them a ’90s rapper video clip on a budget’ look. And, just in case you weren’t sure, there is a huge sign POLICE on the back of the shirt. It’s hard to look past the ‘very useful’ utility belt that turns an ordinary Bruce Wayne BIB into a veritable Batman. It’s got everything from the matching black truncheon and gun holster, plus a clip for the handcuffs and other slots for future Covid zappers and ‘farang’ detectors. The metal badges, the only police ID in the world large enough to be seen from the Moon, are being replaced with a fabric equivalent. A number of injuries in the past have been inflicted on police, not by ne’er-do-wells but from the jagged edges of the metal badges. For shoes the heavy army-style thick leather is being replaced by slightly less heavy “easier to run with” boots. https://thethaiger.com/news/national/from-bib-to-boys-in-2-tone-khaki-thailands-new-police-uniform-on-trial

From NY Times The engine of an Airbus 350, one of the planes in Virgin Atlantic’s fleet that pilots are being trained again to fly. One returning pilot lost control of an aircraft during landing and skidded off the runway into a ditch. Another just returning from furlough forgot to activate a critical anti-icing system designed to prevent hazards in cold weather. Several others flew at the wrong altitudes, which they attributed to distractions and lapses in communication. In all of these incidents, which were recorded on NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System, a database of commercial aviation mistakes that are anonymously reported by pilots and other airline crew, the pilots involved blamed their mistakes on the same thing: a lack of practice flying during the pandemic. “It’s not quite like riding a bike,” said Joe Townshend, a former pilot for Titan Airways, a British charter airline, who was laid off when the pandemic hit in March last year. “You can probably go 10 years without flying a plane and still get it off the ground, but what fades is the operational side of things,” he said. “There is a multitude of information being thrown at you in a real working environment, and the only way to stay sharp and constant is to keep doing it.” In 2020, global air passenger traffic saw the largest year-on-year decline in aviation history, falling by 65.9 percent compared to 2019, according to the International Air Transport Association. Flights were grounded, schedules reduced and thousands of pilots were either laid off or put on furlough for extended periods of up to 12 months. Now, as vaccination programs pick up speed across some parts of the world and travel starts to rebound, airlines are beginning to reactivate their fleets and are summoning pilots back as they prepare to boost their schedules for the summer. But returning pilots can’t just pick up where they left off. They must undergo rigorous training programs that involve classes, exams and simulator sessions, which are determined by proficiency levels and the length of time since they have flown. The process of retraining a large volume of pilots, who have been idle for different periods of time over the past year is complex and challenging. There is no “one size fits all” training model aviation experts say. Typically, pilots receive variations of training based on how long they have been idle. In simulator sessions they will be required to perform different types of landings and takeoffs, including those in adverse weather conditions, and practice for emergency events. Airlines are also adding additional layers to their traditional training programs and requiring some pilots to go back to ground school to help them get back into the aviation mind-set. “There’s certainly an aspect of rustiness that comes with not flying regularly,” said Hassan Shahidi, the president of the Flight Safety Foundation, an independent organization specializing in aviation safety. “As travel recovers and demand increases, we must make sure that our pilots feel fully comfortable and confident when they get back into the cockpit.” The same considerations apply to pilots who have continued to fly throughout the pandemic on reduced schedules, Mr. Shahidi added. “Before the pandemic these pilots were practicing the same procedures day in and day out flying over and over again. When you’re not flying as often your cognitive motor skills are degraded,” he said. At Virgin Atlantic, the airline founded by the British billionaire Richard Branson, 400 pilots were laid off last year, but as international travel resumes the airline anticipates gradually bringing them back, starting with 50 currently waiting in a “holding pool.” The returning pilots are sent a digital study pack to help them get back up to speed with technical and operational procedures and are required to pass exams based on that syllabus before starting the training program. “We have added a lot of enhancements to our usual recurrent training and are covering a lot more ground to make sure we get them back up to where their knowledge sat before and to a level that we are happy with,” said Ken Gillespie, the head of training and standards at Virgin Atlantic. One area where some of the pilots have struggled is keeping up to speed with communications, particularly with air traffic control in busy environments. “On a real aircraft you may have 30 to 40 planes on the same frequency with one controller, so you have to keep your ears really tuned for your call sign and instructions to come out,” Mr. Gillespie explained. A pilot who anonymously reported an “altitude deviation” — meaning they flew at the wrong height — on NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System last year, said they’d misheard instructions for the initial climb after takeoff and blamed the error on being “rusty.” “Due to Covid-19 slowdown I had not flown in four weeks and my last flight was five weeks before that,” they wrote. “Clearly flight discipline suffered from lack of recent experience and teamwork.” Continues at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/travel/pilots-retraining.html

From USA Today By Lawrence Ferber, National LGBT Media Association As travel rebounds, and some international borders open to U.S. residents – especially, or exclusively, if you're fully vaccinated – you'll need to pack more than a suitcase to ensure safe trips during the pandemic's latter days, and far beyond. After all, it's not quite a COVID-free world yet, nor will it be for a while. (And yes, I'm staring at those who traveled to dance parties and other superspreader events during the height of the pandemic.) Since the world packs travel hazards besides COVID-19, from accidents to dangerous individuals and villainy targeting queer tourists, the National LGBT Media Association compiled some advice and resources for LGBTQ travelers to take into consideration. Bon (safe) voyage! Before booking that flight, cruise, hotel or car rental, secure a travel insurance policy. Make sure it covers COVID-19 related calamities, including hospitalization and cancellations on either your end or that of the airline, cruise line, hotel, tour company, etc. – as many learned since March 2020, most policies did not cover everything. For several years before the pandemic hit, I took out an annual individual policy with Allianz (they've added COVID-19 benefits to some policies), which I made one claim on during early 2019 for a doctor's visit in Singapore. The claims process was easy and paid out in a timely manner – a simple urgent-care illness situation that included medication. When my husband joined me in Bangkok for just a week, I purchased a single trip policy from Travel Guard for him (which does not appear to cover COVID-19, as of now). LGBTQ-friendly insurance company Seven Corners offers policies for both singles and same-sex couples, and can even ensure you stay together if a medical evacuation is required for one partner – check out the video about clients Daniel and Felipe on their LGBTQ landing page. Seven Corners also offers policies covering COVID-19. Be sure to activate your phone, iPad and laptop's geolocation features. Worst-case scenario, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your iPhone's been stolen if it's suddenly five miles away from where you last left it and can deactivate the device (also, though: Don't leave your phone unattended). I've learned it's an all-too-common practice for airlines to take bags off planes pre-departure if the vessel's too weight-heavy or may excessively tax its fuel supply. They won't always confess yours lost the lottery and where it's chilling, but Apple's new tracking device, AirTag, could spill the tea. Homosexuality is still illegal and even punishable by death in parts of the world. Some of these anti-LGBTQ laws entail toothless legislative holdovers, like Singapore's Penal Code Section 377A, which remains on the books despite ongoing legal challenges and an open, even thriving local gay scene (and entertainers like “Drag Race Thailand” queen Vanda Miss Joaquim). Continues at https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2021/05/07/gay-travel-safe-covid-travel-lgbt/4970195001/

Reuters seems to have broken this story before the Thai media. I scanned the the leading local news outlets and couldn't find any mention of it as of as of 6:50 p.m. BKK time.

From VN Express News Bamboo Airways has acquired slots to operate regular direct flights from HCMC to San Francisco and Los Angeles starting September 1. At the San Francisco International Airport, the daily flights are expected to land at 10 a.m. (U.S. time) and depart at 1 p.m.; and the landing and takeoff times at the Los Angeles International Airport flights are 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively, the carrier said in a press release Friday. The flights would be operated using the long-haul Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Bamboo Airways is rushing to complete the final steps in the process of building its personnel apparatus, including pilot and flight crew training, to get ready for operating the direct flights to the U.S., it said. There are currently no non-stop routes between the two countries, and passengers have to transit through Hong Kong, South Korea or Taiwan, taking 18-21 hours in all. A direct flight would shorten the travel time to 15-17 hours. Bamboo Airways had received a permit from the U.S. Department of Transportation to carry passengers and cargo to that country last year. Vietnam's Ministry of Transport is also finalizing procedures to designate Bamboo Airways to operate charter flights between Vietnam and the U.S. following a proposal made by the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam at the end of April. It will allow the private airline to carry passengers and goods from Vietnam to the U.S. and vice versa on charter flights upon approval by the prime minister and relevant agencies. Passengers on these flights could be experts, foreign investors and Vietnamese citizens in the U.S. wishing to return home. Bamboo Airways chairman Trinh Van Quyet said the airline expects to operate charter flights to the U.S. from July. Americans are among the top foreign visitors to Vietnam, with 687,226 arrivals in 2019, and an ethnic Vietnamese population of over 2.1 million in the U.S. is also expected to be a steady source of travel demand.

Thaksin Shinawatta agrees: From Chaing Rai Times Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has dismissed claims that a small supply of Pfizer vaccine was already in Thailand. The denial comes after former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra made the claim online. Thaksin claimed the Pfizer vaccine was already in Thailand for emergency and exclusive use among an elite group of people. Thaksin also said the wealthy elite in Thailand have extreme power over the present administration. On Wednesday Food and Drug Administration (FDA) secretary-general Paisarn Dankum, said via a Facebook Live press briefing that “the Pfizer vaccine is not yet in this country because Pfizer has yet to register its Covid-19 vaccine.

From the BBC What Myanmar's military does not want the world to see More than 750 people have been killed since the Myanmar military seized power three months ago. Thousands of people have been detained, including elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The borders are closed and the internet effectively blocked, but people are documenting their ongoing resistance to the coup. In Yangon, a musician and his sister have, for the last two months, been filming for the BBC. They take us inside their fight. Continues with video https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-57016528

From Pattaya Mail The Bank of Thailand expects the country’s third coronavirus wave to reduce the occupancy rate at the country’s hotels to only 9 percent this month. The BOT said May 2 that a survey of hotels found occupancy rates of 18 percent in April and only 9 percent in May. At that rate, 47 percent of hotels would go out of business within three months. Because more than 51 percent of reservations were canceled in April, Songkran proved much less successful than anticipated, the joint BOT-Thai Hotels Association survey concluded. Eighty percent of operators consider the current third wave more damaging than the second, which ran from Christmas until the end of January. Only 46 percent of the country’s hotels currently are open normally, with 13 percent shut temporarily and the others with curtailed hours or capacity. https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/half-of-thailands-hotels-may-close-within-3-months-bot-354414

From Pattaya Mail The Special Tourist Visa (STV) is being completely withdrawn and the final end-date for flyers is July 2. Extensions once here are possible up to September 30 but not afterwards. The STV was introduced last year to cater for “snowbirds” and other tourists wanting a Thai vacation lasting up to nine months. It was never popular numerically and was heavily bureaucratic, requiring for example general medical insurance on top of Covid-19 cover. It might have proved more popular if travel bubbles and charter flights had been introduced, but frequent coronavirus flare-ups in Thailand and other Pacific-rim countries prevented that. According to the Thai embassy in Bern, visas for medical tourists have now been suspended until further notice. Some other embassies, but not all, have quietly dropped medical tourism as a valid reason to request entry to Thailand. In normal times, about one million tourists a year have come under this category, the biggest single catchment being gender-reassignment and plastic surgery. No formal announcement has been made about this apparent visa cancellation, but is likely linked to the latest Covid-virus clusters plaguing Bangkok in particular. Another cancellation is the visa-on-arrival which has been suspended until September 30. This visa covers 18 countries, China and India being the main sources, who were entitled to a stay of 14 days (plus 7 days extension) in pre-Covid times on payment of 2,000 baht on arrival in Thailand. Instead they have been told to apply for visas in their own country. There were only four European countries included in the visa-on-arrival arrangement: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta and Romania. The visa exempt category – 58 countries including the UK, the US and most of Europe – traditionally entitled to 30 days on arrival has survived the axe in this time zone. But their stay has been extended to 45 days because of the recent re-introduction of a two weeks’ mandatory hotel quarantine on all arrivals (whether vaccinated or not) required by the Thai authorities. The visa-exempt category was formerly very popular with short-stay tourists, but is now expensive because costs include health checks prior to departure, compulsory Covid-19 insurance and an isolated two weeks’ sojourn in a Thai hotel. All other visa categories remain more or less the same in the period before the end of September. Tourists, students, retirees, foreigners with Thai families, permanent residents, business people, Elite visa holders and condominium owners are all eligible to apply for a certificate of entry from the Thai embassy in the country of departure. The documentation required varies according to the specific visa required. The termination of the STV (see above) means that general medical insurance – as opposed to specific coronavirus cover – will mostly have disappeared from embassy visa requirements. The one exception will be those applying for any kind of visa based on retirement, whether type “O” or “OA” or “X”. Unless the issue is addressed, they will continue to need general medical cover to the tune of 400,000 baht (inpatient) and 40,000 baht (outpatient) on top of Covid-19 cover. Whether this idiosyncratic logic is a deliberate attempt to squash retiree applications (but no others), or a simple oversight, remains to be seen. The unpopular three months’ address reporting for expats and long-term visa holders is likely to be cancelled. It might be replaced by a computer app. which will record the relevant details and require updating only if the foreigner moves house. Such a system seems to work well in Cambodia. https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/overseas-thai-embassies-update-visa-guidance-for-foreigners-354372

From Channel News Asia MANILA: Travellers entering the Philippines will be required to undergo 14 days of quarantine, up from a week previously, as authorities try to contain more infectious coronavirus variants, the presidential spokesman said on Friday (May 7). The new controls will apply regardless of whether a visitor has been vaccinated and the first 10 days of quarantine will be in a government-accredited facility and the remainder at home, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a briefing. Visitors will get a COVID-19 test on the seventh day after arrival, but will still be required to complete a 10-day stay in a facility even if they test negative, Roque said. The Southeast Asian country is battling one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia with more than a million infections, including those caused by variants first detected in Britain and South Africa, and more than 18,000 deaths. In a bid to prevent the entry of a variant first identified in India, the Philippines has temporarily barred travellers coming from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh from entering the country. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/covid-19-philippines-tightens-controls-travellers-variants-14762834

From Channel News Asia KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said that he would issue a directive to prevent police officers and personnel from conducting random checks on foreigners without valid reason. He said that this was to prevent a handful of police officers and personnel from abusing their powers at will. Mr Acryl Sani was speaking at a special press conference at the Bukit Aman police headquarters on Thursday (May 6), his first since taking over as the new police chief on Tuesday. “I will issue a directive to stop the act immediately, which is to inspect them (foreigners) randomly without a reasonable or valid reason,” he said, as quoted by Bernama. “Besides that, the police cannot detain them at will, to be remanded for two weeks, on the grounds of confirming whether their Immigration Department-stamped passport or document is genuine or otherwise,” he added. The IGP said such practices and culture were one of the spaces that would lead to abuse of power by the police. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-police-stop-inspect-foreigners-random-igp-acryl-sani-14762108

From Thai Enquirer Vaccines to be extended to resident foreigners from June The Thai government will provide Covid-19 vaccines for foreigners living and working in Thailand by June, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday. “The policy is to provide the vaccines to every group, regardless of nationality, but since there are a limited number of vaccines at the beginning, there is a need to allocate them to the people who needed them the most first,” said Thanee Saengrat, the ministry’s spokesman. He said these first priority groups include medical workers, elderly people, those who have any of seven chronic diseases, people living in known clusters, people living in the border areas and foreign health volunteers. However, the “Mor Prom” (Doctors Ready) platform for people to register for a jab still cannot register foreigners. The government is working on other channels for non-citizens. Thanee said that once the locally made AstraZeneca’s vaccines started to roll out in June, the vaccination programme will start to cover foreigners that are working at embassies, international institutions and foreigners legally resident in Thailand, based on their health and willingness to be vaccinated. For Thai people looking to travel abroad to get a Covid vaccine in the United States, the ministry had warned that they should double check the vaccination programme in each location before travelling. “The vaccination policy in each state is different,” Thanee said. “Thai people travelling to be vaccinated in the Unites States should study the vaccination program of each state carefully,” he added. He said most US states only provide vaccines to foreigners studying or working there. Only some states are providing vaccines for visitors. https://www.thaienquirer.com/27237/vaccines-to-be-extended-to-resident-foreigners-from-june/

From Channel News Asia Myanmar's military taking away young men to crush uprising YANGON: Myanmar’s security forces moved in and the street lamps went black. In house after house, people shut off their lights. Darkness swallowed the block. Huddled inside her home  in this neighbourhood of Yangon, 19-year-old Shwe dared to peek out her window into the inky night. A flashlight shone back, and a man’s voice ordered her not to look. Two gunshots rang out. Then a man’s scream: “HELP!” When the military’s trucks finally rolled away, Shwe and her family emerged to look for her 15-year-old brother, worried about frequent abductions by security forces. “I could feel my blood thumping,” she says. “I had a feeling that he might be taken.” Across the country, Myanmar’s security forces are arresting and forcibly disappearing thousands of people, especially boys and young men, in a sweeping bid to break the back of a three-month uprising against a military takeover. In most cases, the families of those taken do not know where they are, according to an Associated Press analysis of more than 3,500 arrests since February. UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, is aware of around 1,000 cases of children or young people who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, many without access to lawyers or their families. Though it is difficult to get exact data, UNICEF says the majority are boys. It is a technique the military has long used to instil fear and to crush pro-democracy movements. The boys and young men are taken from homes, businesses and streets, under the cover of night and sometimes in the brightness of day. Some end up dead. Many are imprisoned and sometimes tortured. Many more are missing. “We’ve definitely moved into a situation of mass enforced disappearances,” says Matthew Smith, cofounder of the human rights group Fortify Rights, which has collected evidence of detainees being killed in custody. “We’re documenting and seeing widespread and systematic arbitrary arrests.” Continues at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/myanmar-s-military-taking-away-young-men-to-crush-uprising-14750416