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The Bangkok Post is today reporting that the Bangkok governor is considering ending the indoor mask rule on Oct. 1 when the government officially dissolves the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.

It was a popular Mexican restaurant in Silom. Very observant of you, GB. 😉

Metaphorically you might say.

Had that happen with one guy on last trip. Ordered multiple dishes and didn't finish any. Good otherwise but the was last supper with him.

From Channel News Asia HONG KONG: Hong Kong has announced that it will end mandatory hotel quarantine from Monday (Sep 26), ending some of the world's toughest travel curbs that have battered the economy and kept the finance hub globally isolated for the past two-and-a-half years. All international arrivals will be able to return home or to the accommodation of their choice but will have to self-monitor for three days after entering the city. They will be allowed to go to work or school but will not be allowed to enter bars or restaurants for the period, under a system authorities have dubbed "0+3". "Under this arrangement, the quarantine hotel system will be cancelled," Chief Executive John Lee told reporters on Friday. International arrivals currently spend three days in a self-paid hotel followed by four days of self-monitoring where they are allowed to move around the city. Hotel quarantine was as much as three weeks before being gradually eased earlier this year. From Sep 26, travellers will be subject to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on arrival. A pre-flight PCR test which was required for travellers to Hong Kong 48 hours before flying will be replaced by a Rapid Antigen Test. For the past two-and-a-half years, Hong Kong has adhered to a version of China's strict zero-COVID rules, deepening a brain drain as rival business hubs reopen. The announcement leaves mainland China the only major economy still hewing to lengthy quarantine for international arrivals. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/covid-19-hong-kong-lifts-hotel-quarantine-7-day-home-medical-surveillance-2950531

From Pattaya Mail By Barry Kenyon “Once the pandemic subsided, we were keen to move from Pattaya’s Soi Pothole,” says Dave Collier who set up Canterbury Tales with his energetic wife Yao in 2004. Over the years, the second-hand and exchange bookshop has become the city’s principal literary depository as well as a favorite daytime “table of knowledge” – a mainly British expat corner for drinking tea, socializing and keeping abreast of the local news. But Soi Pothole, officially Soi Chaiyapoon, is an increasingly noisy street with new bars playing loud music reopening as tourism rebounds. Dave and Yao are now open for business in Soi Bongkot (near Soi 6/3) in much larger premises which resemble a library to accommodate tens of thousands of volumes. “It’s about 60 percent non-fiction, but we have a large selection of true crime, biographies, sports, classics and even erotica,” promises Dave as a customer asks if there is a copy of Suetonius’ twelve lives of the Caesars. “Yes, second shelf on the left,” he says. “It’s randy stuff you know.” Many have pondered why Dave has made a success of a used book business in Pattaya where so many other foreigners have failed. “Hard work really.” he says, “From day one I advertised widely, used the internet and made personal contacts.” He adds that, although Pattaya has changed a lot in the last 10 years, the business has grown and grown. “We ship and receive books all over Thailand, using Kerry Express, thus proving there’s a ready market if you know how to satisfy it.” https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/canterbury-tales-a-british-institution-in-pattaya-has-moved-411175

From Khaosod / Thaiger A man who lost his job in the southern province of Songkhla decided to walk all the way back home to Buriram in northeast Thailand. After 12 days of walking, the 42 year old man stumbled across an army barracks in Phatthalung province, the next province along, on Sunday. The soldiers took care of him and paid for his train ticket back to Isaan. Buriram-born Choi moved to Songkhla about seven months ago to work at a rubber plantation in Na Thawi district. He planned on making money to send home to his family back home in Isaan. At first, he made around 300 baht per day cutting down rubber trees. As the months passed by, Choi said that work became scarce and he was hardly making any money at all. He wasn’t sending money back home as planned and he missed his 11 year old daughter and grandma, so he decided to return home on September 5. However, Choi had no money or phone, so he was forced to undertake the journey – which would take at least 18 hours to drive – on foot. Choi walked 300 kilometres in 12 days, sleeping at temples along the way, where Buddhist monks gave him food and water. In the almost two weeks he spent walking, he only crossed one provincial border. On Sunday, he stumbled across an army barracks in Phatthalung province and stopped to ask for some water. At first, the soldiers thought he was a criminal of some sort and brought him in for questioning. The army told Choi that they would pay for his plane ticket to fly back home to Buriram. However, Choi said he wasn’t sure how to take a plane. Instead, the army gave him 1000 baht cash and dropped him off at the train station. Choi took a 13 hour train all the way from Phatthalung to Hua Lamphong Railway Station in Bangkok. From there, he took an eight hour train from Bangkok to Buriram. Upon arrival in Buriram, Choi’s 81 year old grandma La tied string around his Choi’s wrist as a gesture of gratitude. La said she felt pity that her grandson had walked 300 kilometres across southern Thailand. La thanked the army for helping Choi and wondered how long it would have taken him to get home if he walked the whole journey. The distance between Songkhla and Buriram is 1,350 kilometres.

From Thai PBS World Thailand’s Land Transport Department (LTD) has given approval for app-based Robinhood and Grab to operate taxi and motorcycle taxi ride hailing services in the country. The two operators are required to submit bank guarantee letters to the department within 30 days, ensure that they comply with the conditions set by the department and cover damage caused to their passengers and their bikers in the course of providing their services, said LTD Deputy Director-General Seksom Akraphand today (Thursday). The two operators are also required to submit their ride-hailing operational plans to the department within 15 days, he said, adding that private cars used to provide the services will have to be re-registered as public transport vehicles and the drivers will have to apply for public transport driving licenses and have their criminal records checked by the police. Drivers will have fixed parking locations and services will only be provided via the booking applications. The service rates must not exceed those set by the department, said Seksom. The LTD had previously approved ride-hailing services provided by Hello Phuket Service, Bonku and Asia Cab only. Conventional taxi and motorcycle taxi drivers in Thailand have strongly opposed such app-based services, claiming that they offer cheaper fares because they have fewer expenses, particularly by not having to change the status of their private vehicles into public transport. Most passengers, however, appear more satisfied with the app-based ride-hailing services, because they are more reliable and their rates are fixed.

From Thai PBS World BANGKOK, Sept 22 (TNA) – Visitors will not have to undergo antigen tests or show their vaccination evidence when health authorities redefine COVID-19 as a communicable disease under surveillance on Oct 1. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the National Communicable Disease Committee resolved to consider COVID-19 as a communicable disease under surveillance instead of a dangerous communicable disease. Officials concerned in all provinces would adjust their action plans and measures related to COVID-19 accordingly, he said. When COVID-19 becomes a communicable disease under surveillance, visitors will not be required to show the documents of their antigen tests or COVID-19 vaccination at international communicable disease checkpoints. Random checks on COVID-19 vaccination records will stop. The people who had COVID-19 but were asymptomatic would only observe distancing, mask wearing, hand washing and testing (DMHT) measures for five days, Mr Anutin said. The new measures would be proposed to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration and the cabinet for approval. He expected the measures to take effect on Oct 1. People could remove their face masks when they exercised outdoors or did other activities that should not require face masks, Mr Anutin said.

There's a warm front moving in.

From the Thaiger Popular booking website Agoda says Thailand is one of the first Asian countries to see tourism rebound after the Covid-19 pandemic. Omri Morgenshtern, Agoda’s chief executive says even though the inbound search rate for Thailand on the website was 39% lower than in the same period in 2019, it has begun to rise since the beginning of 2022. “Thailand is leading Asia in terms of inbound tourists, but it has not yet reached 2019 levels.” Moregenshtern says it will take about three to six months for such search rates to return to pre-pandemic levels. But, he says it is contingent upon major inbound markets like mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japan’s reopening. Thailand’s stimulus schemes like “We Travel Together” have also contributed to an increase in domestic travel search rates on Agoda. The company says data for August saw an increase by 50 per cent from 2019 in its domestic travel search rates. It noted that Thais mostly booked travel to secondary cities while upgrading their bookings to more luxurious hotels.

I would not be surprised if a similar ratio apples to many western nations. From Thai PBS World Up to 70% of the population of Thailand may have been infected with COVID-19, as most cases have not been officially recorded because they were asymptomatic or had only mild symptoms, according to Dr. Yong Poovorawan, head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University. He said that the estimated infection rate is based on the assessments of blood tests conducted so far, adding that the Omicron variant has spread widely in the past several months, but most of people did not report their infections to health authorities because they had no or only mild symptoms and only those admitted for treatment at hospitals have been recorded. He said, however, that the Disease Control Department, with funding from the Health Systems Research Institute (HSRI), will conduct an extensive survey to determine the extent of COVID-19 infection in the Thai population, using blood tests to find traces of infection or developed resistance through anti-nucleocapsid and anti-spike IgG tests. The first such survey will be held in Chon Buri province in October, in cooperation with the provincial health office, among 1,200 samples aged from six months, after which the survey will be expanded to other provinces within six-months. Results of the survey, said Dr. Yong, will be helpful in the planning of measures to deal with COVID-19 in the future, especially in determining whether further booster doses will be needed.

Hopefully it will lead to a good job offer. Young men who demonstrate those qualities invariably make outstanding employees.

Despite attempts to disguise your writing style, you're beginning to sound more and more familiar. What's giving you away is that laying on the Vietnam stuff too heavily. Bigot don't change their stripes.

Maybe it's just you that they found reason to hate. Can't imagine why. But on second thought, that's not possible because you've never been to Thailand.

From Pattaya News Central Festival Pattaya is bringing you a prehistoric exhibit of enormous dinosaurs, which will run from September 22nd to October 16th, 2022, at the Sunken plaza. The prehistoric exhibit will include numerous life-size terrifying dinosaurs such as the T-Rex, brachiosaurus, triceratops, and other cool exhibits and fossils that they say will shock and awe visitors of all ages, as well as make great photo props.

Government approves extended stays from Oct. 1 From the Thaiger Tourists arriving in Thailand will soon be permitted to stay in the kingdom for longer. Today, Government Spokesperson Traisulee Traisornkul announced that Thailand’s Cabinet had approved the temporary extension of both visa on arrival stays and visa exemption stays. Tourists arriving in Thailand will soon be permitted to stay in the kingdom for longer. Today, Government Spokesperson Traisulee Traisornkul announced that Thailand’s Cabinet had approved the temporary extension of both visa on arrival stays and visa exemption stays. The government hopes the extensions will stimulate tourism and the economy, which is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.Between October 1, 2022 – March 31, 2022, foreign tourists arriving in Thailand are eligible to stay in the kingdom as follows… Visa on Arrival stays will be extended from 15 days to 30 days. Passport holders from 19 countries are eligible for Visa on Arrival. Visa Exemption stays for passport holders from 64 countries which have bilateral agreements with Thailand will be extended from 30 days to 45 days. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects that the average tourist will stay in the kingdom for an extra five days thanks to the extensions. If each tourist spends 4000 – 5000 baht per day on average, they will pump an extra 20,000 baht into the economy than they normally would, says the TAT. Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration agreed to the extension of visa on arrival and visa exemptions at their meeting with the Thai government yesterday, said the spokesperson.

So this is where it's going. The real culprits--aside of course from the Vietnam, Arab and Indian boys--are the George Floyd demonstrators and CNN. Oh, yes, and the crazy Muslims.

From the Thaiger At least 100 LGBTQ+ couples plan to make history this Valentine’s Day when they converge on Bangkok to take part in Thailand’s biggest LGBTQ+ wedding ceremony. The event will be held at the Thai-Japan Bangkok Youth Centre and is hoped to raise awareness of the struggle for gay rights and marriage equality. As of now, same-sex marriages, civil unions, domestic partnerships, unregistered cohabitations, or any other form of same-sex unions are not legally recognised in Thailand, although the Civil Partnership Bill and the Marriage Equality Bill have been proposed to recognise a separate civil union or to allow same-sex marriage respectively. At least 100 LGBTQ+ couples plan to make history this Valentine’s Day when they converge on Bangkok to take part in Thailand’s biggest LGBTQ+ wedding ceremony. The event will be held at the Thai-Japan Bangkok Youth Centre and is hoped to raise awareness of the struggle for gay rights and marriage equality. As of now, same-sex marriages, civil unions, domestic partnerships, unregistered cohabitations, or any other form of same-sex unions are not legally recognised in Thailand, although the Civil Partnership Bill and the Marriage Equality Bill have been proposed to recognise a separate civil union or to allow same-sex marriage respectively. A number of groups not associated with the government have banded together to form the Bangkok Naruemit Pride organising committee and are planning the massive LGBTQ+ wedding ceremony, calling it “Naruemit Vivah 2023.” They have invited at least 100 couples, not only from Thailand but from around the world too. The group plans to decorate the field at the sports centre on Mit Maitri Road in Din Daeng by covering it in rainbow flags, a symbol of openness to the diversity of love according to an LGBTQ+ activist working with the committee. “We will create a new page in history to promote equal marriage as a right for people not only in Thailand but across the globe, especially those countries that do not yet accept LGBTQ+ people.” The event has garnered the support of Bangkok’s Deputy Governor Sanon Wangsrangboon who called for people to plan more events of this kind throughout Thailand. He also pledged to help make the event successful and provide facilities to help organise. The deputy governor views events like this as a win-win: it promotes equality for all people in Thailand while also attracting visitors from around the world. He reiterated his allyship with the LGBTQ+ community.

Got it. You met two guys from Vietnam in three years and you've been living in Pattaya for 22 years. And you just recently found that you needed directions to get to Sunee. Closest you've come to Thailand is ordering takeout from your neighborhood Thai restaurant. Your life must be incredibly boring to post this shit.

If there are thousands of news reports, why don't you cite them? In this post it's Arabs and Indians. in another it's Vietnamese. You seem to harbor a hell of a lot of prejudice. You claim to have lived in Pattaya for 22 years yet you still rely on posts to find your way around town? And you accuse other members for being less than honest? And in those 22 years you only joined the board last Saturday?

Rarely do those who base their pugilistic ability on lifting weights win bar fight or a street fight. It's determined by totally different skills and experience.Regarding Vietnam boys, you're either incredibly unlucky or making this stuff up as you go along. You claim that you're "...not against Vietnam.." but in the same sentence caution us to" ...say no & move on..." if we ever find ourselves thinking about going with a Vietnamese. The only drama queen appears to be you.

That's five more reasons than I'd need. 😊

Too upmarket for my taste and wallet. Would not be surprised if they promise more than they deliver.

From Channel News Asia HONG KONG: The world's top dragon boat competition will ditch Hong Kong in favour of Thailand next year due to the city's stringent coronavirus rules, organisers announced on Saturday (Sep 17). The 2023 World Dragon Boat Racing Championships became the latest international sports event to abandon the Chinese city, according to the Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association. "Hong Kong's current quarantine and isolation arrangements for visitors are still more stringent than that of other countries," the group wrote on Facebook. The event scheduled for next August will instead be held in Pattaya, Thailand, the International Dragon Boat Federation confirmed. The news comes a day after the Hong Kong Marathon and the Oxfam Trailwalker events separately announced their cancellation. Marathon organisers said they had not received government approval with just two months left before the race, which did not leave enough time for preparations.