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From Bangkok Post Travel subsidy promotion paused, widespread false claims exposed The second phase of the government's Rao Tiew Duay Kan (We Travel Together) tourism promotion campaign has been postponed after widespread corruption was found in the first stage. More than 500 participating hotels and shops were found to have profited from abusing the scheme. Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the TAT had acted after receiving complaints. The investigation found that 312 hotels and 202 shops participating in the state-backed promotion were involved in alleged irregularities. The TAT decided to postpone traveller-registration for the second phase of the We Travel Together campaign, which was due to start on Wednesday, he said. It was planned that up to one million travellers would benefit. Travellers who registered for the first phase can still claim unused benefits. According to media reports, the alleged abuse included - Hotel rooms were booked at cheaper prices via phone apps. There were check-ins without people staying there, but benefits claimed from cash coupons. - Hotels increased room rates and colluded with restaurants in claiming benefits. No travel occurred. Those who sold their benefits would send the last four numbers on their ID cards and their mobile phone numbers for use in hotel check-ins. They did not not stay. - Hotels existed and registered to participate in the tourism campaign, but did not open for business. The operators had sought state subsidies for fake room bookings. - Groups of registrants checked in and stayed at hotels, but the hotels set the room rates higher than normal rates. - Participating hotels gave false information about the number of rooms they had. For example, a hotel had 100 rooms but claimed it had 300 rooms.

It's one of the more encouraging signs of our time. I'm confident that Lucky Boys will reopen this spring after the effects of the vaccines begin to be felt and foreign tourists find their way back. Given its size and staff requirements, it can't sustain itself without a good volume coming through the doors. And to match the the usual 35-50 guys on stage on a typical night, it badly needs the Cambodian, Myanmar and Vietnamese to round out the selection.

I'm reminded by Peter's post of the wondrous role that works of fiction can play in our lives, and no more so as this particular years comes to a close. Many, I think, have one or two favorite novels we continually return to for escape or simply comfort. They transport into the lives of characters who become as real to us as those we know in our everyday lives. It's a good time to celebrate those books--and their authors--at a moment when little in the new seems worthy of celebrating.

From Channel News Asia Thai protesters to pause for now and return next year BANGKOK: Thai protesters will take a break and return stronger next year, one protest leader said on Monday (Dec 14) after months of demonstrations to remove the government and to demand reforms to curb the monarchy's powers. "This year has been just an overture," said Arnon Nampa, a rights lawyer who has become one of the most prominent faces of a movement that has posed the biggest challenge to the Thai establishment in years. "We'll take a break during New Year's holidays and will come back next year with more intensity and bigger turnout," Arnon told reporters at a police station, where he reported to face charges related to his involvement in the protests. Thailand's youth-led protest movement initially sought the removal of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, accusing him of engineering last year's election to keep hold of power he had seized in a 2014 coup. He says the vote was fair.

From Vietnam News HÀ NỘI — The long-delayed Cát Linh-Hà Đông urban rail project, the first metro in Hà Nội, entered a 20-day whole-system trial run on Saturday. At 5am on Saturday morning, the first train left Cát Linh station. Another train also left Yên Nghĩa station in the outlying district of Hà Đông at about the same time. Nine trains of the project’s total of 13 are to be used in the trial, with the wait for a train at any station set at about 6-7 minutes, which might be shortened to 2-3 minutes during rush hours, according to the Hà Nội Metro One Member Company Limited (HMC). There will be about 287 train trips per day, the company said. Each train has four carriages and a capacity of 900 people, with a designed speed of 80km/h and a speed during commercial runs of about 35km/h. The company said it has mobilised all of its 700 officials and workers and employees to work on the line during the trial, with safety, technical maintenance and security sectors staffed around the clock.. The trains will run non-stop from 5am to 11pm on the 13km urban rail line, with each stop lasting for 30 seconds to pick up and drop off passengers just like it would during commercial runs.

From South China Morning Post Thailand’s famous jasmine rice claimed yet another top prize on the world stage this month, marking the sixth such honour the World Rice Conference has bestowed on the fluffy, fragrant and full-bodied grain since 2009. The “Khao Dawk Mali 105” – a code name for the most renowned Thai jasmine rice variety – defeated rivals from Cambodia, China, the United States and Vietnam with “its combination of aroma, texture, and flavour”, said the judging panel at the annual forum for rice suppliers and policymakers. Thai growers attributed the win to an early onset of cool winds that swept’s northeast earlier this year, making the grains “particularly shiny, strong and fragrant”, said Charoen Laothamatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association. But the recognition caps a difficult year for Thailand, which is set to see the lowest rice exports in two decades due to falling global demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the baht’s strength and export competition from the likes of India, Vietnam and China. In 2015, India dethroned Thailand as the world’s top rice exporter, a position it had held for 35 years. India is set to export about 14 million tonnes of rice this year, up from 9.9 million tonnes last year. This year, Thailand fell to No. 3, with Vietnam snatching the second spot. From January to October, Thailand exported 4.4 million tonnes of rice, down 31 per cent from a year before. In comparison, Vietnam shipped 5.3 million tonnes of rice in the same period, down 8 per cent from last year. Thailand’s rice exports to China, one of its biggest markets, also fell by 39 per cent this year. Thai white rice this year also lost out to cheaper grades offered by Vietnam in key Asian markets like the Philippines. China was also beating Thailand in key African markets with cheaper prices. However, sales of Thai premium-grade jasmine rice rose by 63 per cent this year, benefiting from panic buying in wealthier markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, the US and Canada, Reuters reported in July. Thailand has been mulling ways to avert its rice export crisis, this year releasing a five-year plan to regain world dominance in the rice trade. The strategy includes accelerated support for the development of 12 new rice varieties, such as hard- and soft-textured varieties of white rice, several more hom mali varieties, and two varieties of high-nutrition rice. In a November report, Bloomberg said the RD79, a variety of soft-grain rice, could be Thailand’s new hope down the line, with its supple texture and long grain similar to jasmine rice, minus the fragrant scent. It could be marketed at a cheaper price than the hom mali, while being more resistant against disease and drought.

From Pattaya Mail Three Thai men marry in unusual group wedding Thanawat Pumthong, Sanchai Subchan, and Tinnapob Butwat tied the knot in a religious ceremony in Khlong Narai of Muang District Dec. 8. Three men turned what could have been a love triangle into a marriage at an unusual group wedding in Chanthaburi. Thanawat Pumthong, 30, Sanchai Subchan, 22, and Tinnapob Butwat, 24, tied the knot in the religious ceremony in Khlong Narai of Muang District Dec. 8. While not legally recognized by Thailand, the marriage ceremony was attended by friends and family members who said they fully supported the three-way domestic partnership. Thanawat, a nutritionist at a private hospital in Chanthaburi, said he started dating Sanchai seven years ago after seeing the dancer on Facebook. Later on, Sanchai introduced Thanawat to Tinnapob, a dancer he worked with, and the three of them began a group relationship. Sanchai’s mother, Thanayarat Phontem, 48, said she was happy for the trio and proud that he had a traditional wedding ceremony. She wishes all three happiness. In addition to getting married, the three have formed a dance band and will work together.

From Channel News Asia THIMPHU: Bhutan’s Parliament has voted to decriminalise same-sex relations, amending an existing law that penalised what it deemed “unnatural sex". The amendment was approved Thursday (Dec 10) by 63 out of 69 lawmakers, with six abstaining from voting. The amendment now needs to be approved by Bhutan's king to become law. The amendment changes two articles of the criminal code to clarify that “homosexuality between adults shall not be considered unnatural sex". The penalty for engaging in prohibited sexual conduct is up to a year in prison. "I haven’t stopped smiling since yesterday. I am eagerly awaiting His Majesty’s assent,” said Tashi Tsheten, a Bhutanese activist who has worked to change the law. He said the amendment means LGBTIQ people in Bhutan will be able to lead a better and more dignified life after facing stigma and discrimination for so long. Bhutan is a tiny landlocked country with a population of 770,000 people located in the southern foothills of the Himalayan mountains, sandwiched between China to the north and India to the south.

Agree that there's a segment of older Thai elites that would love to see the visible evidence (i.e., strip clubs, go-go's) in tourist areas disappear. They are, however, prepared to look the other way if some of their elite associates benefit from the business that those venues bring to silent partners and the non-sex business in their vicinity. I tend to think these venues will continue to exist if they are profitable. Elites may like to talk about their mores but nothing exerts a greater influence than that which perpetuates their position in society: money. It's the overriding common denominator in all elite social circles because the prevailing dogma is that those who die with the most gain ultimate face--even if it's frozen in time. To apply a more internationally understood principle: nothing succeeds like success.

From the AP, the Thaiger and The Nation Protesters gather at Bangkok’s United Nations Pro-democracy demonstrators in Bangkok marked United Nations Human Rights Day on Thursday with rallies calling for the abolition of Thailand's strict royal defamation law, which was recently revived to prosecute more than 20 of the protest movement's leaders. Bangkok police have advised motorists to avoid routes around the United Nations building located on Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue in Phra Nakhon district on Thursday due to a planned political protest on Constitution Day. Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, one of the leaders, submitted a letter to the United Nations on Thursday urging it to pressure the Thai government to stop using Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, which forbids defamation of key members of the monarchy. Thursday's protests also coincided with Thailand's Constitution Day, a national holiday marking the country's adoption of its first constitution in 1932, which meant that many offices in the city were closed. The demonstrations drew significantly smaller crowds than other recent rallies, which have attracted tens of thousands of participants. Ahead of Thursday's protests, government security officials erected barricades using shipping containers and barbed wire, and police were deployed to prevent any possible move toward Chitralada Palace, the residence of King Maha Vajiralongkorn. By early afternoon the group that gathered outside the UN building had moved to join another one rallying beside a memorial to protesters killed by security forces in 1973. The royal defamation law had not been enforced for three years after King Maha Vajiralongkorn informed the government that he did not wish to see its use. But according to the group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, 23 people have been charged under the law since Prayuth said last month that it would be among those used against demonstrators going forward. Many activists are now using the hashtag on social media #abolish112 to call for the end to the lèse majesté law which is Section 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code. Those who break the law face 3 to 15 years in prison.

From Channel News Asia MANILA: Daniel Auminto lost his job and then his home when the coronavirus pandemic sent the Philippines into lockdown. Now he and his family live on the street, relying on food handouts to survive. Charities are struggling to meet the ever-growing demand for food as millions of families go hungry across the country. COVID-19 restrictions have crippled the economy and thrown many out of work. "I've never seen hunger at this level before," said Jomar Fleras, executive director of Rise Against Hunger in the Philippines, which works with more than 40 partners to feed the poor. "If you go out there everybody will tell you that they're more afraid of dying from hunger than dying from COVID. They don't care about COVID anymore." The number of people going hungry has reached a record high during the pandemic, according to pollster Social Weather Stations. Nearly one-third of families - or 7.6 million households - did not have enough food to eat at least once in the previous three months, its September survey showed. Among them were 2.2 million families experiencing "severe hunger" - the highest ever. The numbers have been going up since May, two months after the country went into a severe lockdown - reversing a downward trend since 2012. Virus restrictions have been eased in recent months to allow more businesses to operate as the government seeks to revive the devastated economy, which is expected to shrink up to 9.5 percent this year. For the country's legions of poor, the pandemic is just another challenge in their lives - and not even the most serious.

From NYTImes Vigilance against the coronavirus has been heightened in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, which sits directly across the Moei River from Myawaddy, Myanmar.Credit...Adam Dean for The New York Times By Hannah Beech MAE SOT, Thailand — The border between Thailand and Myanmar is more than 1,500 miles long, much of it thickly forested. Myanmar has suffered runaway transmission of the coronavirus. Thailand, so far, has not. But over the past couple of weeks, at least 19 Covid-19 cases in Thailand have been linked to migrant workers who slipped between the two countries undetected. The infections have spooked Thai officials, who have managed one of the world’s most successful coronavirus containment strategies. The health authorities in Thailand are now racing to trace the contacts of hundreds of people who may have been exposed to the virus. And the events have cast a spotlight on how regions like Southeast Asia that depend on porous borders are fighting to keep the virus out while allowing economic activity to continue. From Mexican farm workers in California to Ethiopian construction workers in the Persian Gulf and Zimbabwean domestic workers in South Africa, essential labor is often carried out by undocumented people who slip across borders for work. Yet several countries are now using the illicit flow of migrant labor to accuse their neighbors of virus outbreaks. In Southeast Asia alone, Myanmar has blamed people from Bangladesh, and Thailand has blamed Myanmar. Vietnam has pointed fingers at China. And China says its southwestern flank is suffering because of movement from Southeast Asia. The winding frontier between Myanmar and Thailand — separating one country that has managed the virus from one that has not — is putting the crisis in stark relief. “The border is very long,” said Col. Chatri Sanguantham, whose soldiers patrol the mountainous northern Thai region, near the town of Tachileik, Myanmar. “They will do anything, take any measure, to get what they want, including entering the country illegally,” he said of migrant workers from Myanmar. Compared with other countries, the total caseload in Thailand — a shade over 4,000 infections — seems absurdly low. But over the past few days, Thailand said it had fortified parts of its border, increased military patrols and uncoiled barbed wire at popular illegal crossing points to try and stop the recent spread of infections. The police have arrested those suspected of being people-smugglers, who are paid as little as $15 to help migrants cross the border illegally. Undocumented workers, who often labor in crowded conditions, are of particular concern to the authorities because their uncertain legal status also makes them less likely to admit when they are sick, increasing the odds that the virus could spread undetected. “Because these people came in illegally, they will lay low, work in hiding,” said Suthasinee Kaewleklai, a coordinator for the Migrant Workers Rights Network in Thailand. “If they get sick, they will never go to the doctor or hospital to get themselves checked.” The dangers of overlooking foreign laborers, even those who are registered with the government, was made clear in Singapore, where the virus spread fast in crowded dormitories for migrants. While meticulous contact tracing suppressed outbreaks in other communities, the laborers were not monitored as closely, making them more vulnerable, rights groups said. In Malaysia, thousands of foreign factory workers tested positive for the coronavirus at Top Glove, the world’s largest disposable glove maker, which went into overdrive to supply personal protective equipment. Malaysian authorities are now pursuing legal action against the company for keeping its workers in cramped conditions in which Covid proliferated. And in Saudi Arabia, the virus spread unchecked in filthy migrant detention centers filled with workers from Asia and Africa, who were often abused and deprived of wages. When migrants were eventually deported to their home countries, some took the coronavirus with them. Vigilance against the virus has been heightened in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, which sits directly across the Moei River from Myawaddy, Myanmar. Soldiers wearing camouflage and face masks patrol the riverbank. Before the pandemic, hundreds of thousands of people used to cross the river every year to work, study and play in Thailand, where roughly five million migrants normally find work, only about half of them legally. At the narrowest point of the river, children could toss a ball between the two countries. In the dry season, migrants wade across the Moei, and in the rainy season they hop on skiffs. Continues with photos https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/world/asia/covid-thailand-myanmar-migrants-border.htm

From the Bangkok Post Fishermen relying on the Mekong River are seen in Muang district of Nakhon Phanom. (Photo by Pattanapong Sripiachai) writer: Wassayos Ngamkham CHIANG RAI: After almost two decades of campaigning against hydro-dams and water projects built on the Mekong River, local civic groups and conservationists finally launched the "Mekong People's Forum," with the hope of moving their campaign to a policy level. The forum was held on Dec 1–2 in Chiang Khong district, and attended by 200 people including local villagers, conservationists, journalists, and the US and Australian embassies in Bangkok. The Mekong People's forum is the name not just of the event held last week but also a movement of civic groups located in eight provinces. In the past, these groups had no name but they have now come together under the general name "Mekong People's Forum." The organiser also had extended an invitation to the China embassy in Bangkok, as the country also built 11 dams on the upper stretch of the Mekong River, and the Lancang River in Chinese territory. The Chinese embassy, however, did not send anyone to attend the event, according to Niwat Roikaew, the head of a local conservation group known as Rak Chiang Khong and one of the activists who spearheaded the founding of the forum. "Local communities in eight provinces have campaigned against development schemes in the Mekong River for almost two decades," Mr Niwat said. "Those campaigns somehow went in different directions. The Mekong People's Forum will hopefully make campaigns move in a united direction and also leverage bargaining power with the authorities." There are eight Thai provinces located by the Mekong River. They are Chiang Rai, Loei, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen, Nakhon Phanom and Ubon Ratchathani. The resistance against infrastructure projects in the river started almost two decades ago when the Chinese government began blasting rapids in the upper Mekong River from Yunnan to Myanmar and Laos to clear the way for large commercial vessels. A protest campaign was started by Mr Niwat and another Chiang Rai conservationist, Somkiat Kuenwongsa. As the blasting got under way, the campaign ignited questions on the impact of projects on the river, and the movement snowballed into a bigger local campaign as more dams were built. China has built 11 dams on the upper Mekong River in its territory to generate power and Laos has built two hydro-dams and plans to develop several more on the Mekong. Over the past decade, local civic groups in eight provinces have campaigned against dam projects. Protest campaigns came in many forms including organising street protests, submitting petition letters, and raising local awareness, to systematic campaigns including filing lawsuits to the Administrative Court against the Thai government for buying power from dam projects. Early this year, the civic groups sent a proposal to the Bank of Thailand, asking it to impose tough regulations on Thai commercial banks that are now major creditors for dam projects in Laos. Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, an anthropologist from Faculty of Social Sciences at Chiang Mai University, said the movement of Mekong People's Forum could add more positive changes to the local conservation movement for the Mekong River. "The Mekong People's Forum group create a new platform that can put local people on the negotiation table with international organisations or even super power countries that play a major role in the Mekong Region, like the US and China," Mr Chayan said. PNPCA is an environmental impact hearing process used by the Mekong River Commission (MRC). Under this process, riparian countries are asked to review trans-boundary impacts yet any decision is not binding. Laos reportedly continued building the Xayaburi dam and Don Sahong dam despite criticism. Foreign ambassadors from countries located an ocean away from the Mekong River region also voiced their concerns at the forum. Michael G Heath, deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Bangkok, said the US was worried about the environmental impact of projects on the river because, in terms of policy, the US has a partnership with Asean. "So the Mekong River matters for us in terms of protecting natural resources," he said, adding during the past 11 years the US has provided financial assistance to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam for fair water resource sharing. David Braun, first secretary for the political and economic section at the Australian embassy in Bangkok, agreed with the villagers that the ecology of the Mekong River had been affected. He said the Australian government is worried about the issue as the country has a bilateral and regional partnership with countries in the Mekong River region on food security, water management and energy.

I'm sure your taking the opportunity to resurrect yet another grudge will come as great comfort to the loved ones of those killed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on 9/11.

No, I'm telling it to you. You have a deep disdain for anything American. We elect a loser and you decide that's carte blanche to rub in our face at every opportunity. You predicted that we'd surely re-elect him. Now you're pissed off because we didn't and proved you wrong. Get over it.

That may be true but it's my home, my country. I'm not going to disparage it because of one jackass who grew up to be president. Some will never let us forget. More than a few pundits predicted that we'd re-elect him but I'm proud that we didn't.

I don't believe that Vietnam offers a retirement visa. But if you're a citizen of one of the 13 countries with unilateral visa status, you can come close to similar benefits.

Reading this thread, it’s easy to conclude that most posters find it difficult to accept that a nation of this wealth and history of achievement—over a relatively short span of time—could have possibly produced a megalomaniac like our out-bound president. He did it by persuading people that he and only he understood the reasons for whatever troubled them and he and only he could remedy them. Even Trump was surprised that it was so easy. For four long years the country was put through a grinder of his, and his Senate cohorts’, efforts to remake government to fit their image. The more outrageous he became, the more it seemed to work. He continues to this day to push the envelope even in the face of abject defeat. Trump isn’t the first person in the world to stumble on this formula for the acquisition of power. The Fuhrer pounced on it in Germany in the 1930’s and he, too, was a bit shocked how simple it was once you got the knack of it. Other leaders around the world today have followed a similar track to power. And although there are still many in Trump world who hang on his every word, slowly but perceptively there are definite signs that people have had enough. It is no where more evident than in the state of Georgia where Republican office holders and key GOP appointees feel increasingly free to speak out against him and his lies. For those who aren’t following what’s happening in Georgia, there’s a runoff election next month to determine the winners of two critical seats in the Senate. Should Democrats win both (a long shot for sure), control of the upper chamber would shift away from Republican hands. Many believe (and I’m one of them) that the Senate is a more valuable prize than the presidency. Yes, the presidency has broad executive powers but the Senate can out maneuver the White House with its budgetary authority and its power of “advise and consent” to cabinet positions and other key appointments. None are more critical in the grand scheme of things than who sits on the Supreme Court. Returning to the topic of freedom of expression, I look at it this way. When I ask myself what rights I personally hold dear as a US citizen I always come up back to two. First is the right to say what I think without fear from the government. Second, it’s freedom from illegal search and seizure: to be secure in my home. If someone has those than others freedoms flow from them. Trump did, and is still doing, as much as possible to whittle away at those two concepts. I want to believe that more and more Americans will come to recognize this as time passes. Perhaps I’m optimistic but I have to hold on to that aspiration. Many different posters have contributed to this thread and all have expressed their opinions in a respectful way. That also gives me hope.

If you think self-censorship is excessively complicated, consider the alternative. Who would be the arbiter of another person's speech? You and I may not like what others say, but do we have to right to stifle them? That is truly crazy. Once you start down that road, the Thought Police and 1984 aren't far behind. China dismissed elected officials in Hong Kong because they were deemed "disloyal" based on their speech. You don't have to look far to find other nations doing the same thing. How could you possibly come up with a list of banned speech topics? Would hearing be held, votes taken to see what makes the cut? Your wish to eliminate what you consider falsehoods and undesirable speech is surely well intentioned. Creating a process, however, to produce the desired results is wholly unworkable in any democracy, anywhere.

The problem is that it's not possible to pose severe restrictions on the media without also restricting the speech of everyone. Once the internet replaced the mail, the telephone and radio as the way people learned about what was happening and communicated with one another, it marked a sea change from which there's no turning back. The same internet that allows us to share information about our favorite bars,restaurants and massage shops is the same vehicle that makes it possible for disinformation to flourish. Some voluntarily policing by Facebook and Twitter has had some limited effect around the edges but technology will always allow for restrictions to be circumnavigated. In the end it's the end user who'll decide what he or she chooses to believe. They are the ultimate censors. Attempts to deny them access to the both the good and bad is destined to failure. There's no magic bullet but those governments that provide all citizens equal access to a liberal education will produce information consumers prepared to make informed decisions.

NOTE -- After posting this I realized that article was published last March. Since it contained some information I was unaware of, I'm leaving it up because others may appreciate the information when the country reopens to tourism. From Vietnam News HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s immigration laws will undergo a radical shake-up this summer in an effort to widen the doors for tourists while protecting the country from foreign criminals and illegal workers. Speaking exclusively to Việt Nam News, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Văn Minh from the Department of Immigration said major changes would include temporary permits for tourists, visa exemptions and changes to visa statuses. “Starting July 1, visitors entering Việt Nam will be granted a temporary residence stamp upon arrival with the duration of stay matching their visas,” said Minh. This will lessen the burden for foreigners who have visas valid for over 12 months because under current laws, they need to apply for a permit extension even though their visas are still valid. But visitors here on a tourist visa will need to do more paperwork if they want to stay longer than 30 days. “For tourist visas which are valid for more than 30 days, tourists are only given a 30-day temporary residence stamp,” Minh said. Foreign tourists can still get three-month visas, but they need their passports stamped every 30 days, which will cost US$10 (VNĐ230,000) each time. “Tourists can apply for an extension once or multiple times, but the maximum stay is 90 days. After this period, they must leave the country and if they want to return to Việt Nam, they will have to apply for a visa again,” Minh said. The new regulation is aimed at preventing crime and illegal workers. “There are foreigners who have taken advantage of the three-month tourist visa to engage in activities that violate Vietnamese laws, such as high-tech crime and working illegally,” Minh added. He also advised tourists to apply for electronic visas instead of the traditional paper ones as “it was a much easier and quicker". Currently, electronic visas are available for citizens of 80 countries. The new laws will also address concerns of many citizens from the 13 countries under Việt Nam’s unilateral visa waiver programme, especially South Koreans and Japanese, according to Minh. “A regulation requiring people from these countries entering Việt Nam without a visa to wait for at least 30 days to be able to come back will be removed. They will be able to come back anytime,” Minh said. Another major change is for the first time, eligible foreigners are now allowed to change their visa status without leaving the country. “They include foreign investors or representatives of foreign organisations that invest in Việt Nam and their families, and foreign workers who receive job offers in Việt Nam or enter the country on e-visas as long as they have a work permit or confirmation they are exempt from a work permit,” Minh said. To prevent the misuse of current rules, the new laws also regulate that foreign investors with capital of less than VNĐ3 billion (US$130,000) can only obtain a one-year visa while those investing from VNĐ100 billion can get a 10-year temporary permit. At the moment, all certified foreign investors can obtain a five-year visa regardless of their investment. All the changes are part of the amendments to the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners, approved by the National Assembly late November last year. The thirteen countries eligible for Việt Nam’s unilateral visa waiver programme are: Belarus, Denmark, Japan, Norway, Italy, Finland, France, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Germany, UK. — VNS View tourist visa video https://vietnamnews.vn/society/652929/visa-policies-for-foreigners-undergo-major-changes.html

From Bangkok Post / Opinion Is this the end for reckless populism? By Gwynne Dyer There is nothing wrong to participate in a sex party of any kind," said a source in the European Parliament. "However, such kinds of meetings with many people are illegal under the coronavirus laws." To be specific, 25 naked men attending a loud party above a gay bar in central Brussels is clearly against Belgium's coronavirus laws, which allow no more than four people to meet indoors, so somebody called the police. At least three of those arrested were Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). It was particularly unfortunate for Jozsef Szajer. He's a senior founding member of Hungary's ruling Fidesz party, an ultra-nationalist, populist, authoritarian grouping that defends "family values" and condemns homosexuality, but he was arrested while fleeing that orgy (with ecstasy pills in his backpack). Yet it's hard to feel much sympathy for him. Mr Szajer was a leading anti-gay agitator in Fidesz, and boasts that he personally drafted the changes to the Hungarian constitution that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. He has now resigned as the leader of the Hungarian delegation to the European Parliament, and will doubtless have to quit Fidesz too. There was another scandal in Hungary last week, in which Szilard Demeter, a senior cultural official linked to Fidesz, wrote an opinion piece for a pro-government outlet comparing Budapest-born American billionaire George Soros, a Jew who fled the Holocaust, to Adolf Hitler. Mr Demeter also called the European Union "George Soros's gas chamber", and claimed that Hungary and Poland, the two Eastern European EU members with extreme right populist governments, are "the new Jews" of Europe. It's utterly unhinged -- and yet it sounds vaguely familiar. The unbridled arrogance, the self-pity, the shameless, hysterical exaggeration are all hallmarks of the new breed of "illiberal" populists -- and when they think they are losing, they always up the ante. I'm thinking, of course, of Donald Trump's recent electoral defeat and his subsequent behaviour. Could that extraordinary recklessness be a communicable disease? Could it somehow be spreading to Mr Trump's acolytes overseas as well? Well, consider Poland. The Catholic, ultra-conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) has been in power in Poland since 2015, elected by the same older, less well educated, non-urban, deeply religious coalition that backs populist take-overs elsewhere. And as in other populist-ruled countries, there has been a steady erosion both in human rights and in respect for democratic norms. The PiS was re-elected just last year, and its leader, 71-year-old Jarosław Kaczynski, was widely supposed to have his finger on Poland's pulse. But it all fell apart when a PiS-appointed court declared in late October that abortions would not be permitted even in cases of severe foetal abnormality where the child would die immediately after birth. Poland already had tight restrictions on abortion rights, but this turned out to be the last straw. Millions of young people, and especially young women, filled the streets of Poland's cities in the biggest anti-government demonstrations since the fall of Communism in 1989. The demos continued every day until a new lockdown was declared, and the PiS has now backed down, postponing the publication of the court's decision indefinitely. But something has definitely changed in Poland: support for Mr Kaczynski has now plunged. Then there's President Jair Bolsonaro, or "Tropical Trump", whose favoured candidates were thrashed in all Brazil's big cities in local elections last month, and the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is now trailing the opposition leader in the polls for the first time. It's just straws in the wind at this stage, but the defeat of Mr Trump, the populist standard-bearer, is creating a sense in other populist-ruled countries that the juggernaut has stalled. The effect hasn't reached Asia yet -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India and President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines are still riding very high in the polls -- but the main thing the populists had going for them was momentum, and in Western countries it seems to be dropping off. Was there really a "coat-tail effect"? Hard to say. After all, both the PiS in Poland and Fidesz in Hungary came to power before Mr Trump was elected in late 2016. But populist leaders across the West seem to believe that somehow or other their fates are tied to Mr Trump's. It shows in the growing recklessness of their behaviour, and in the frequency of their failures. Does this mean they are all destined to vanish in his wake? Probably not, but that would be nice.

From The Nation Thailand to launch nationwide Covid-19 vaccination in May Thailand’s Covid-19 vaccination programme will begin in May 2021, according to the Department of Disease Control (DDC)’s action plan revealed on Thursday. The country last week signed a Bt6-billion deal to buy 26 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine to immunise 13 million people. The vaccine will first have to pass safety and quality checks applied by the Thai Food and Drug Administration and Department of Medical Sciences under the Public Health Ministry, said DDC director-general Opas Karnkawinpong.Secondly, the DDC will prepare vaccination centres at more than 10,000 subdistrict health promotion hospitals nationwide to reach communities quickly and prevent crowding in large hospitals. A cold-chain transport system to maintain vaccine quality is now being prepared, and officials are being trained for the mass vaccination programme. The first to be called for registration will be medical staff, young children, the elderly, and vulnerable groups. Local health authorities will then summon registered participants for vaccination at health promotion hospitals or mobile health units.

There are three actions that would have to occur in order for votes to be tabulated with 24 hours of the close of polling places: 1. The deadline for mail-in ballots would have to be set at least 14 days prior to election day to allow sufficient time to process and count ballots. 2. A federal law is needed to require states to begin counting ballots as they are received. Currently, it is a state-by-state decision. Some states do not permit counting until election day. 3. Walk-in and drop-off voting needs to be permitted over an extended period beginning at least 21 days prior to election day. Currently decisions about this are made on a state-by-state basis. Elimination of the Electoral College system would be a great improvement but that's a bridge too far with the current make up of congress. As for the state of democracy in the US, the mighty effort to combat Trump--and his allies--attempts to subvert the will of the electorate demonstrated just how precious (and costly) freedom can be. Many republican election officials came forward to defend the validity of the vote that spelled defeat for their party's leader in several key states. The information age, and the potential for misinformation it can generate, is perhaps the greatest threat to democracy everywhere.

From Coconuts Bangkok What’s the most romantic way to celebrate life and surviving 2020? Certainly it’s cuddling in bed in a theater with dozens of strangers watching a movie? That’s exactly what Thailands’ No. 2 theater owner SF Cinema and a bedding company will debut tomorrow at SF World Cinema with the opening of “The Bed Cinema.” SF Cinema World’s former theater No. 13 has been renovated with 40 beds, a 4k digital projector and Dolby 7.1 surround sound. Tickets are available at three levels of reclined luxury: a twin bed (for single self-cuddlers at THB900-THB1,000), a queen (two people for THB1,800-THB2,000) and a king (four very familiar folks for THB3,600-THB4,000). Each bed is equipped with an electric, adjustable Omazz bed and bedding. The Bed Cinema by Omazz opens tomorrow at SF World Cinema located atop the CentralWorld shopping mall. Tickets can be purchased online or at the cinema kiosk.