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USD 15 doesn't seem like a big deal to me. If it helps Thais who've been hit hard by the pandemic I don't have any issues with it. I agree it will be interesting to see how it gets collected. I remember having to pay the departure tax in cash way back when. Including it in the ticket price was a much better idea.

My guess is that a case like this is extremely rare. But I agree there's been a good deal of research showing that the mRNA vaccines have reduced effectiveness over time. It also depends quite a bit on each individual. Some people have stronger immune response to the vaccines than others based a host factors.

I think it's Snapchat and TikTok for the youngsters these days. FB is all GenX, Boomers and some MIllenials now. IG is still fairly popular too. Although I think FB is popular generally in some countries. Countries that are new to the internet - Myanmar famously - for example. Twitter is just politics and porn. I'm going to try and take a break from FB to see if I can break the addiction.

sadly it is back. I was hoping it would be offline for a few days at least

another part of the 7 project. Looks very melodramatic

according to the Great Circle Mapper (gcmap.com) the distance from SGN to SFO is 7838 miles which is a little over 12500 km. So the article would appear to be correct

I guess the argument is that control of Taiwan was given to RoC, not the communists, after WW2. And in the intervening time Taiwan has become a defacto independent country. It seems pretty obvious to most people. They have their own government, military, currency, passports, etc. As we've learned in the last year, computer chips are something the world needs and they're something Taiwan makes a lot of. The world has a vested interest in making sure Taiwan keeps humming along without CCP intervention. We've seen statements from sevreal countries opposing CCP belligerence. Biden has been trying to put together new alliances and strengthen old ones to counter the PRC's continuing aggression. As the video I linked above notes, Taiwan isn't really prepared for an attack. I guess the question would be what consequences there would be for the PRC if they attack and wipe out Taiwan? There have been few consequences so far with respect to what they've done to Hong Kong. But I think world opinion is pretty strongly against the PRC and Xi at this point. There's very little trust in that regime. And even if they did manage to take over the country, at what continuing cost? The Taiwanese population isn't going to quietly acquiesce. Are they going to lock up millions of people? I follow the ADVChina guys on YouTube - two Western guys who used to live and work in the PRC and who both have Chinese wives and still have family there. They essentially had to flee the country. They have great insights into what's going on and still have lots of contacts over there. They seem pretty sure that the PRC will not be invading Taiwan any time soon. Given all of the problems China faces it's a little surprising that they put so much energy into this little island.

I think YouTube is eaves dropping on me

Wow. CKS must be rolling over in his mausoleum to see his party colluding with the commies to undermine Taiwan. Chu also ignores all of the non-Han people in Taiwan which is a sizable group. With people like this running the KMT, they have no hope of regaining power. Most of the younger generations consider themselves Taiwanese, not Chinese.

So, not Thai, but I just came across this Korean series on YT called A First Love Story. The guys are handsome and the story about two life-long friends is sweet (so far). Two short episodes - I'm not sure how many there will be. Turn on subtitles

I guess the cops are just mad that they can't extort these people like they can the gogo bars

It's sad that even a country doing things well is having some issues like this. I'll have to look up their vaccination rates. All of the videos I see have pretty good mask wearing adherence. And lots of venues have been shutdown for quite a while. But their number of deaths has been quite low so far.

I know a lot of gays who love Palm Springs and spend a lot of time there. I know a couple who have a home there. But yeah, the general population doesn't think about PS at all.

Not so much the protests as the draconian laws that make everything a crime against the state. There's no security for anyone who disagrees with the government or the CCP

I much prefer the A350, but Airbus has been having some issues with that aircraft too. Qatar Airways has been having issues with cracks in the fuselage (I believe)

I believe that's correct. Bangkok Post has a handy graphic

the "wealthy pensioner" category also requires $250k invested in Thai government bonds or real estate

I just read that Pitch from Love of Siam is the executive producer of Yearbook

I don't know if anyone is still reading this thread, but this new piece in the New Yorker is fascinating and explains a lot https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/09/13/the-other-afghan-women

I just binged episodes 6-16 of Light On Me (the pretty Korean HS boys drama). They put the first 5 eps on YouTube but then the rest was on Viki or WeTV. I signed up for the Viki free trial to watch the rest. It is really great. Quite well done. I loved the story's twists and turns. The production design is really good. Highly recommended if you get a chance to see it.

they already are. The ethnic armies are joining forces. There were several reports a few months ago shortly after the coup of people fleeing the cities and joining the ethnic armies

At this point with everything closed I'd guess that most airlines are still in wait-and-see mode with few flights scheduled. If things really open they will add flights which will decrease fares. I don't have much faith or trust in the Thai government. I'm way more inclined to wait until mid or late next year to see where we stand. As I said in the other thread, from my home to get to Thailand is about 24 hours of travel time. That much time with a mask requirement isn't something I'd want to put myself through. Especially when what's happening on the other end is rather unknown. I prefer to let things settle and get back up and running more "normally" rather than be a pioneer. Although I am vaccinated we are seeing a fair few "breakthrough" infections with the current variant, albeit mostly without requiring hospitalization or inflicting severe disease. Who knows that the next variant will be like. I'd also rather go when most of the locals have been fully vaccinated.

I'm not planning to travel for 24 plus hours on a plane for quite some time as long as the mask-wearing requirements are in place. I don't expect to travel back to Asia for at least another year.

obviously any "study" like this is going to be essentially anecdotal. I'm sure there's still some interesting tidbits though. The whole young-gay-man-leaves-the-sticks-for-the-big-city narrative is a very old story across many countries and cultures.

I wasn't a big fan of ITSAY either, but you're not allowed to say that. 🙂 I think I outlined all of my issues with it many pages back. I need to finish watching the Korean highschool thing but only the first 5 eps were on YT for free so I'm waiting for it to finish so I can binge it all in the Viki free trial.