A Singaporean's guide to living in Thailand

[yinyang]

 

[yinyang]

 

[Froggy]

COVID cases in Thailand today:

Total New Cases 8,859 ( -365 )

Deaths 47 ( -41 )

 

[Froggy]

 

[Froggy]

COVID cases in Thailand today:

Total New Cases 8,165 ( -694 )

Deaths 55 ( +8 )

 

[Froggy]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Ban...=7&pub_date=20211101083000&seq_num=4&si=44594

Bangkok to lift ban on alcohol consumption in restaurants on Nov. 1
Kingdom also to scrap night curfew, hurrying to revive economy with tourists

A mixologist creates gin based cocktails at a bar in Bangkok, Thailand in January 2017. © AP
MASAYUKI YUDA, Nikkei staff writerOctober 29, 2021 20:33 JST

BANGKOK -- The Thai government is trying to patch up the economy amid the COVID-19 crisis by easing restrictions such as a ban on public drinking in the capital, in order to attract more international tourists.

The government's special policymaking body, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, decided on Friday to allow four tourist destinations -- Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi and Pang-nga -- to start serving alcoholic beverages in public starting Nov. 1.

From next Monday, Thailand will welcome fully-vaccinated visitors from 45 countries and Hong Kong without requiring any quarantine period. The tourism reopening will be a crucial step for the economic recovery of Thailand, as tourism and related businesses used to account for 20% of country's gross domestic product.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will judge the level of easing in the capital as a response to the center's decision. As of Oct. 29, restaurants are allowed to serve customers for dining in, but they can't furnish alcohol for in-house consumption. Pubs, bars, Karaoke clubs and entertainment complexes are not allowed to operate. Before Monday, the local government is expected to announce which services or businesses will be allowed to resume operation.

The center also reviewed the categorization of the kingdom's 77 provinces by severity of the pandemic. From November, provinces at maximum pandemic risks were reduced to seven from the previous 23, excluding Bangkok. They are mostly border provinces with Malaysia, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The provinces at greatest risk must observe a nighttime curfew from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Bangkok will be able to regain its status as the "capital that never sleeps" starting November.

Empty bar tables line the sidewalks of Soi Cowboy in Bangkok in August 2020. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca)

Lifting the alcohol ban is a lesson the government learned from its earlier tourism experiment. Thailand began its partial reopening with Phuket in July. The quarantine-free sandbox program has accommodated 57,880 travelers so far.

The project was a good chance to collect data that led to the grand reopening, but it failed to create a large boom, partially because of the alcohol ban. Although Thai government intends to promote Southeast Asia's second largest economy as a premium destination for high rollers, there still are many visitors, who see Thailand as a tropical getaway where they can enjoy beer on the beach and party all night.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand said the grand reopening would bring in about 300,000 foreign travelers to the capital in both November and December. To ensure a solid inflow, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha even lobbied at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, held virtually this week. On Tuesday, the premier urged his ASEAN counterparts to allow for safe travel as part of an effective implementation of the bloc's COVID-19 response.

Thai economy shrank 6.1% in 2020 due to lack of tourists. According to the Bank of Thailand, the economy is expected to grow by 0.7% and 3.9% in 2021 and 2022 respectively, if the country successfully accommodates 200,000 travelers in 2021 and 6 million in 2022.

Fully-vaccinated travelers from 45 countries and Hong Kong will still have to stay in a hotel for a day after arriving Thailand to wait for a COVID-19 test. Once a negative test result is obtained, they are free to roam around the country.

Incoming tourists must bear in mind that the streets of Thailand are not even close to COVID-free. On Friday, it reported 8,968 newly confirmed cases.

"It is almost certain that we will see a temporary rise in serious cases as we relax these restrictions," Prayuth warned when he announced the November reopening in mid-October.

 

[shittypore]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Ban...=7&pub_date=20211101083000&seq_num=4&si=44594

Bangkok to lift ban on alcohol consumption in restaurants on Nov. 1
Kingdom also to scrap night curfew, hurrying to revive economy with tourists

A mixologist creates gin based cocktails at a bar in Bangkok, Thailand in January 2017. © AP
MASAYUKI YUDA, Nikkei staff writerOctober 29, 2021 20:33 JST

BANGKOK -- The Thai government is trying to patch up the economy amid the COVID-19 crisis by easing restrictions such as a ban on public drinking in the capital, in order to attract more international tourists.

The government's special policymaking body, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, decided on Friday to allow four tourist destinations -- Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi and Pang-nga -- to start serving alcoholic beverages in public starting Nov. 1.

From next Monday, Thailand will welcome fully-vaccinated visitors from 45 countries and Hong Kong without requiring any quarantine period. The tourism reopening will be a crucial step for the economic recovery of Thailand, as tourism and related businesses used to account for 20% of country's gross domestic product.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will judge the level of easing in the capital as a response to the center's decision. As of Oct. 29, restaurants are allowed to serve customers for dining in, but they can't furnish alcohol for in-house consumption. Pubs, bars, Karaoke clubs and entertainment complexes are not allowed to operate. Before Monday, the local government is expected to announce which services or businesses will be allowed to resume operation.

The center also reviewed the categorization of the kingdom's 77 provinces by severity of the pandemic. From November, provinces at maximum pandemic risks were reduced to seven from the previous 23, excluding Bangkok. They are mostly border provinces with Malaysia, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The provinces at greatest risk must observe a nighttime curfew from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Bangkok will be able to regain its status as the "capital that never sleeps" starting November.

Empty bar tables line the sidewalks of Soi Cowboy in Bangkok in August 2020. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca)

Lifting the alcohol ban is a lesson the government learned from its earlier tourism experiment. Thailand began its partial reopening with Phuket in July. The quarantine-free sandbox program has accommodated 57,880 travelers so far.

The project was a good chance to collect data that led to the grand reopening, but it failed to create a large boom, partially because of the alcohol ban. Although Thai government intends to promote Southeast Asia's second largest economy as a premium destination for high rollers, there still are many visitors, who see Thailand as a tropical getaway where they can enjoy beer on the beach and party all night.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand said the grand reopening would bring in about 300,000 foreign travelers to the capital in both November and December. To ensure a solid inflow, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha even lobbied at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, held virtually this week. On Tuesday, the premier urged his ASEAN counterparts to allow for safe travel as part of an effective implementation of the bloc's COVID-19 response.

Thai economy shrank 6.1% in 2020 due to lack of tourists. According to the Bank of Thailand, the economy is expected to grow by 0.7% and 3.9% in 2021 and 2022 respectively, if the country successfully accommodates 200,000 travelers in 2021 and 6 million in 2022.

Fully-vaccinated travelers from 45 countries and Hong Kong will still have to stay in a hotel for a day after arriving Thailand to wait for a COVID-19 test. Once a negative test result is obtained, they are free to roam around the country.

Incoming tourists must bear in mind that the streets of Thailand are not even close to COVID-free. On Friday, it reported 8,968 newly confirmed cases.

"It is almost certain that we will see a temporary rise in serious cases as we relax these restrictions," Prayuth warned when he announced the November reopening in mid-October.

You find the Ah Nehs be rushing to BKK once ban lifted.

 

[yinyang]

SHATTERING THE NOTION OF A BEAUTY QUEEN AND BEYOND​

By
Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer
-
October 31, 2021 12:48 am
https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php...ring-the-notion-of-a-beauty-queen-and-beyond/

Anchilee “Ann” Scott-Kemmis is crowned Miss Universe Thailand 2021 at the pageant finals on Oct. 24, 2021 in Pattaya.

The selection of Anchilee Scott-Kemmis as Miss Universe Thailand 2021 on Sunday propelled the issue of what constitutes ideal beauty into the forefront of debate.

While some netizens labeled the new beauty queen as “plus size”, “big” or “plump,” Anchilee’s who’s a model would accept none of that.

“Here I am, representing each and everyone of you who ever felt excluded, judged or hurt because you don’t fit into the standard. I’m here today to be your voice and our young girls celebrating individuality, uniqueness and you. I see you. I hear you and I’m here for you,” the 22-year-old Thai-Australian Anchilee said during the preliminary round of the competition a week ago last Friday.
There were more elaborations afterward. Local media including Thai PBS quoted her as saying: “No one really wants to be called plus-sized. I think we should just be called models; you don’t need to add the curve, plus, or the sample size. It causes too much segregation and divides when it doesn’t have to.”

Suddenly, with the selection of this year’s Miss Universe Thailand, the standard of beauty (queen) has been shaken to the core. The hour-glass body shape is no longer a must and many were charmed by the 22-year-old ‘real-size beauty’ and intelligence.
The time is long overdue for the narrow notion of beauty to be challenged and this writer hopes Anchilee will continue to fight for a changing mindset on the notion of female’s beauty and beyond. (Please note that during the Renaissance, plump women were considered ideally beautiful.)
Some supporters even pin their hope on Anchilee’s unconventional look and advocacy for real-size beauty as an asset and a boost for her candidacy for the Miss Universe 2021 Competition in Israel this December. This hope was further buoyed by a message on social media posted by the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok on Wednesday that Israel is the first nation to ban the employment of underweight models for advertising, “in order to avoid an appropriate standard of beauty for women and children.”

Weight and size aside, Thai society is known for its unfair preference for women with fair skins – beauty creams promising fairer and pinky faces and skins for users are very popular. Thai women with tan complexion are still generally regarded as less attractive than women with light skin complexion. Chinese and half-Western girls also trump more indigenous faces.

In Thailand, it’s not just the realm of female beauty that’s still under hegemonic discourses.
LGBT community is still struggling to break the yoke of binary gender classification with legal marriage registration and rights are still elusive. This despite gradual progress being made including the two main opposition political parties now visibly and publicly discussing the issue of LGBTI rights. The opposition Pheu Thai Party may be late in joining but on Thursday it gave space to a LGBT right activist to join the party and take to the stage during its general assembly in Khon Kaen province to speak.

More elusive are the notion of patriotism and Thainess still tied to the Victorian-era notion of unquestioning loyalty to the nation, religion (primarily and unfairly read as Buddhism) and the monarchy. The monarchy in particular has come under scrutiny and attack by the mostly young monarchy-reform and anti-government protesters. This begs the question as to whether one can still be a patriotic Thai and a republican.
On many fronts, the theatres of struggles to shatter the hegemonic discourses of beauty, gender, politics and Thai identity are occurring in parallel and will likely be protracted. Where there exists restrictive controls there exists resistance and the case of Anchilee is just one of the many occurring in Thailand at present.

 

[Froggy]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Th...1&pub_date=20211101123000&seq_num=17&si=44594

Thaksin eyes Thai youth vote in pre-election rebranding
Ex-PM harnesses social media, but hesitance to tackle monarchy debate could cost votes

Thaksin Shinawatra earlier this year began using a virtual room in the voice chat app Clubhouse in an attempt to attract young voters. © Reuters
MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Asia regional correspondentOctober 30, 2021 18:00 JST

BANGKOK -- From his perch in self-imposed exile, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is reaching out to the country's young voters through social media, setting the stage to test his political brand as talk swirls in the halls of power of an early general election for Thailand in 2022.

Last Friday, he targeted voters in the northeast of the country through another round of informal chatter using a virtual room on Clubhouse, the audio-based social media application. The 72-year-old billionaire engaged with young participants from the rural region, where he has enjoyed deep electoral support, about options to boost their business ideas and incomes.

"Robotics is the future for everything in the economy," advised the former telecommunications tycoon to a clutch of young entrepreneurs who sought his advice on the direction of their small and medium-sized enterprises. Thaksin also touched on his policy staples from the past: ways to solve the low prices of rice, rubber and cassava, crops that are the mainstay of the agrarian economy in Isaan, as the northeast region of Thailand is also known.

"Clubhouse is an ideal way to promote his brand and his vision of the country to go forward," a confidant of Thaksin told Nikkei Asia. "It has been a freewheeling exchange, even with critics asking hostile questions, and it has an audience from the 20 to 35 age group."

Thaksin's Clubhouse foray, which began in earnest in February this year, has seen him take on a non-Thai moniker, "Tony Woodsome", and even make an effort to sound younger following his birthday in July, when he launched his "Thaksin 72, Tony 27" campaign. It was a playful switch of his age to suggest his avatar is young at heart.

Protesters in July 2020 defy anti-COVID restrictions and gather en masse to demand the government's resignation. © Reuters

This bid for the youth vote was amplified on Thursday, after his youngest daughter, 35-year-old Paetongtarn, was chosen to head the Inclusion and Innovative Advisory Committee of Pheu Thai, the country's largest opposition party, at its general assembly in the northeastern city of Khon Kaen. Her appointment affirmed the continuing hold that the Shinawatra family -- one of Thailand's most influential political clans -- have on pro-Thaksin parties.

The spread of Thaksin's shadow over Thailand's political landscape has begun to unnerve sections of the country's ultra-royalist and ultra-conservative establishment who currently hold power, according to political insiders. The tension has brought into stark relief the country's deeply polarized politics, which was triggered after Thaksin's twice-elected government was ousted in a 2006 military coup.

At the time, Thaksin headed the newly formed Thai Rak Thai Party, which had won successive landmark elections on policies that delivered on social welfare and boosted the grassroots economy. His subsequent flight into self-imposed exile as a fugitive from the law made him a contentious figure for the anti-Thaksin camp, propelling Thailand into bouts of bloody street clashes between his pro-democracy camp and the anti-democracy camp of his adversaries.

A member of the "red shirt" movement holds a picture of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra during a rally in Nakhon Pathom Province, on the outskirts of Bangkok, in May of 2014. © Reuters

But his political base, drawn from the rural heartlands and urban pockets, remained loyal to the Thaksin brand during subsequent elections, even after controversial rulings by the supposedly independent judiciary had dissolved pro-Thaksin parties. These pro-Thaksin parties managed to form governments in 2008 and 2011 after winning general elections, with the latter enabling his younger sister, Yingluck, to become prime minister until 2014. Her Pheu Thai-led government was overthrown in another military coup in May of that year, cheered on by the ultra-conservatives and ultra-royalists.

But the last general elections in 2019, which saw the country transition from five years under junta rule to the current military-backed government, exposed a new, generational fault line. The impressive showing by the newly formed, pro-youth Future Forward Party signaled the arrival of a sizable constituency of young voters. The 81 parliamentary seats that the FFP won placed it third after Pheu Thai, which won 136 seats, and the pro-military Palang Pracharath, which won 116 seats. Pheu Thai was unable to form a government and notch up a fourth successive win for a pro-Thaksin party, because of election laws skewed to ensure a pro-military party rules.

The electoral math mirrored the power that young voters had in 2019, when 75% of the country's 51.2 million registered voters cast their ballots. Those aged between 18 to 25 years accounted for 7.3 million of all registered voters, while senior citizens aged 61 years and above accounted for 10 million of the voters. At the next general elections, officially scheduled for 2023, an estimated 3 million first-time voters will be added, further swelling the size of the youth vote bank.

Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit speaks at the party's headquarters in Bangkok on February 21, 2020. © Reuters

Yet seasoned observers believe that Thaksin might not find it easy to woo these young voters, many of whom have been attracted to an ideology-driven politics that the FFP championed at the last elections and that its successor, Move Forward -- formed after another controversial court ruling to dissolve the upstart FFP -- is carrying on. In their crosshairs is reform of the country's entrenched, ultra-royalist power structure, including the politically sensitive position of the monarchy.

"Thaksin doesn't want to touch this sensitive issue, nor does Pheu Thai," said Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political scientist at Ubon Ratchathani University, based in northeast Thailand. "Thaksin may have a problem here, because Move Forward's message has penetrated into youth populations in urban and rural areas."

Such reluctance will limit Thaksin's reach into the market share of the youth vote, added Titipol. "So in terms of strategy, Thaksin hasn't brought in any new thinking to his political brand; the focus is only on economics."

 

[Froggy]

Last week I was applying the Certificate of Entry for the wife who is supposed to get in on 1st Nov. I was using this website to apply https://coethailand.mfa.go.th knowing very well it will be changed to the new platform Thailand Pass on 1st Nov with website here https://tp.consular.go.th/

Anyway I was unsuccessful with the COE so told wife to come back on 6th Nov while I try the new platform on 1st Nov

So yesterday I tried but always after spending 10 minutes inputting all information at the very last minute it kept showing this error message.

I tried more than 10 times and also with my mobile phone, a complete waste of time. Check with my travel agent she told me there're lots of comments and complains in the social network about this too so I was at least relieved its not my fault.

This mornming at 6am I decided to try again and bingo this time it was good

Now is just the waiting

 

[yinyang]

 

[Froggy]

COVID cases in Thailand today:

Total New Cases 7,574 ( -591 )

Deaths 78 ( +23 )

 

[yinyang]

Super duper toddler, make som tam

 

[Froggy]

COVID cases in Thailand today:

Total New Cases 7,679 ( +105 )

Deaths 56 ( -22 )

 

[Froggy]

Last week I was applying the Certificate of Entry for the wife who is supposed to get in on 1st Nov. I was using this website to apply https://coethailand.mfa.go.th knowing very well it will be changed to the new platform Thailand Pass on 1st Nov with website here https://tp.consular.go.th/

Anyway I was unsuccessful with the COE so told wife to come back on 6th Nov while I try the new platform on 1st Nov

So yesterday I tried but always after spending 10 minutes inputting all information at the very last minute it kept showing this error message.

I tried more than 10 times and also with my mobile phone, a complete waste of time. Check with my travel agent she told me there're lots of comments and complains in the social network about this too so I was at least relieved its not my fault.

This mornming at 6am I decided to try again and bingo this time it was good

Now is just the waiting

Just an update after yesterday's application of the ThaiPass got a reply in the evening as follows

So for those who are applying please take note of the timing, also after 7 days you not sure you are going to get it or not.

 

[Froggy]

COVID cases in Thailand today:

Total New Cases 7,982 ( +303 )

Deaths 68 ( +12 )

 

[Froggy]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/C...land-faces-tourism-hurdle-China-s-COVID-rules

Quarantine-free Thailand faces tourism hurdle: China's COVID rules
Long isolation upon return and other policies seen dampening prospects

Chinese tourists arrive in Bangkok on Nov. 1. While some may come, China's own strict rules look likely to put a damper on Thailand's tourism recovery for the time being. © Reuters
JASON TAN, Contributing writer
November 4, 2021 16:21 JST

BANGKOK -- Fully vaccinated visitors from dozens of countries can now enter Thailand quarantine-free, but the Southeast Asian nation's hopes for reviving its crucial tourism industry also hinge on policies at departure points -- especially China.

China accounted for 11 million, or more than a quarter, of the arrivals Thailand welcomed in 2019. But even though China is among the 60-plus countries and territories to which Thailand has thrown open its doors as of this month, travelers may not rush back anytime soon. Chinese are strongly discouraged from going overseas and face strict rules when they head home. Other Asian countries banking on tourism revivals, too, may have to temper their expectations.

Depending on the city, "mainland China imposes at least 14 days of quarantine in designated hotels, with another seven days of 'self-monitoring' at their home," said Li Ming, founder of Ming Thai Inter, a realtor in Bangkok.

Coco Liang, who traveled back to the central Chinese city of Chengdu in mid-October, encountered those restrictions even before she left Thailand.

She said airline staff at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport had to tick off a long list before allowing her to board her flight to China. They needed to confirm, for example, that she had done a swab test seven days before flying, plus a second swab with the antibody result 48 hours before departure. The two tests had to be conducted at separate sites on the Chinese Embassy's approved list.

Travelers returning to China also have to fill in a declaration form saying they have mostly "self-quarantined" and minimized contact with others in Thailand for the preceding seven days.

Li, the realtor, did say that at least Thailand's reopening helps "those who are doing business or work trips to Thailand," though they too face a set of onerous rules upon return.

On social media, some Chinese people warn against traveling to Thailand, due to still-high COVID infection numbers, arguing that staying home is much safer. Thailand's daily cases surpassed the 23,000 mark in mid-August and now hover around 9,000 to 10,000 per day. China's cases, meanwhile, are in the tens or hundreds, partly due to a zero-tolerance approach that entails harsh restrictions wherever infections are found.

Thailand hopes to lure back tourists from Asia and elsewhere to holiday destinations like Phuket. © Reuters

Resuscitating tourism is vital for Thailand, which saw a record 39.8 million visitors in 2019 -- more than half its own population. The travelers brought in revenue of 1.9 trillion baht ($57 billion).

On Oct. 21, the Thai government announced it would open its borders wider. "If we wait until everything is fully ready, we'll be too late," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha wrote on Facebook. "Besides, tourists may choose to go elsewhere."

As of Monday, fully inoculated visitors from 63 locations are allowed in quarantine-free -- up from 10 before. In addition to China, the list includes South Korea, Japan, the U.S. and Australia.

Thailand's Kasikorn Research Center says much will depend on the policies of travelers' countries of origin. It now expects 180,000 tourist arrivals in Thailand this year, up from a previous forecast of 150,000.

As it waits for Chinese to return in larger numbers, Thailand will be looking to attract travelers from elsewhere, including some of its Asian neighbors. Malaysia, its No. 2 source of visitors in 2019, is also on the quarantine-free list, as are Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and others.

A key source of visitors who could take up some of the slack is India, Thailand's third-largest supplier of tourists in 2019. India was a late addition to Thailand's reopening list, and officials have high hopes for income from Indian destination weddings in particular.

Somsong Sachaphimukh, vice president of the Thai Tourism Council, told local media that each Indian traveler spends between 27,000 and 76,000 baht per trip to Thailand, while one destination wedding could generate from 10 million to 120 million baht in revenue for the hotel and services industry.

India was one of Asia's hardest hit countries in the pandemic, with daily cases exceeding 400,000 earlier this year. But the situation has improved dramatically, with infections hovering below 15,000 recently.

Meanwhile, for some, Thailand's quarantine-free reopening just offers a chance to go home.

Jane Li, a 42-year-old Shanghai native who resided in Hong Kong for 10 years before relocating to Bangkok, was booked on a flight back to Thailand on Monday.

She had moved to the Thai capital last year and enrolled her children in an international school. But in July of this year, her family of four made a dash back to Hong Kong "for safety," just before Thailand saw its worst outbreaks yet and imposed strict curfews.

After a few months living lockdown-free in Hong Kong, she said it was time to return. And she was relieved that the family would not have to stay in isolation.

"We were cooped up in a quarantine hotel in Hong Kong for 21 days," she recalled. "I don't want to experience it again."

 

[Froggy]

COVID cases in Thailand today:

Total New Cases 8,148 ( +166 )

Deaths 80 ( +12 )

 

[yinyang]

 

[Peace Maker]

Just an update after yesterday's application of the ThaiPass got a reply in the evening as follows

So for those who are applying please take note of the timing, also after 7 days you not sure you are going to get it or not.

Bro Froggy, it is really a pain in the butt to apply for the COE & also the Thai visa now. Non 'O' visa now only valid 3 months single trip instead of 1 year multiple trip issued before