A Singaporean's guide to living in Thailand

[Froggy]

This morning had Thai curry rice for breakfast, one of the Thai's most popular breakfasts.

Nice place for breakfast

My $6.70 breakfast (rather expensive for Thai standard but then there is that big fish)

Onion Omlette on one side Bean Sprouts and Tofu

Mackerel cooked in coconut curry

Soup

 

[Froggy]

Woke up in the middle of the night felt hungry so made myself some eggs -

 

[Froggy]

Just discovered a nice Thai restaurant near home (5km away) pretty nice,



Somtam crab

Grilled river prawns

Cat fish floss

Grilled chicken

Dinner spread

Lime seabass

Location - https://goo.gl/maps/jU6MRWigmvmeW4mr5

 

[Froggy]

Went to hospital for a check up this morning. After drawing blood and before the doctor's appointment went to McDonald's for breakfast

This is the lobby of the hospital



McDonald's at Bumrungrad Hospital

Macdonald’s in Thailand had required customers to order from machine these days

You could pay at the machine or counter when receiving order

My Big Breakfast - Thailand’s Mcdonald's temporarily ran out of hash browns replaced with fries

 

[Froggy]

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/s...-billion-smart-city-to-support-industrial-hub

Thailand plans $52 billion smart city to support industrial hub

The smart city will be built in Huai Yai subdistrict of Chonburi province, some 160km southeast of Bangkok (pictured). ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

BANGKOK(BLOOMBERG) - Thailand is planning to build a US$37 billion (S$52 billion) smart city in an industrial hub near Bangkok that is already drawn billions of dollars of investment pledges from global automotive, robotics, healthcare and logistics companies.

A master-plan to build the city in Huai Yai subdistrict of Chonburi province, some 160km southeast of Bangkok, was approved by a panel chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday (July 11).

The yet-to-be-named city will be spread over 2,340 ha of land and will cost 1.34 trillion baht, or US$37 billion, over the next 10 years, officials said.

The project will comprise five business centres for companies to rent as commercial areas, Dr Kanit Sangsubhan, secretary-general of the Eastern Economic Corridor, told reporters.

These will include a hub to house regional headquarters of firms, a financial centre, and areas for precision medicine, international research and development, and future industries such as clean energy and 5G technology, he said.

The residential quarter of the new city will be designed to accommodate 350,000 people by 2032, and generate 200,000 direct jobs, Dr Kanit said.

Residents will be mostly those employed in the industrial area, which is set to draw investments of about 2.2 trillion baht over the next 5 years, he said.

"The new city will be livable for the new generation of people as well as operate as business centres" Dr Kanit said. "We created this new project to compensate for the income Thailand lost during the pandemic."

The new city with its business centres can add an estimated 2 trillion baht to Thailand's gross domestic product within 10 years, and the value of assets after a 50-year concession period will see a fivefold jump, the government said in a statement.

Mr Prayut's government has touted the Eastern Economic Corridor, a development project whose goals include urbanisation, spurring advanced industries and adding infrastructure, to bolster the nation's pace of economic growth that lags behind neighbours such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

The Eastern Economic Corridor comprises three provinces that historically have been the country's manufacturing hub and currently contributes as much as one-fifth of the Thai economy. Its output is growing 6-7 per cent each year, faster than the rest of the country, according to officials.

 

[Froggy]

On the way home late after drinks and this hot soup is a saviour:

 

[blur sotong]

On the way home late after drinks and this hot soup is a saviour:

Thanks Froggy for all your nice pictures and sharing
Now can't find those curled up in SG kway chup. Missed those days.

 

[Froggy]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/C...=1&pub_date=20220712190000&seq_num=8&si=44594

Thailand's misleading COVID numbers cast a shadow on reopening
Health experts warn of undercounted cases after restrictions lifted

Shoppers ride an escalator outside a Bangkok mall on July 5. Although the government has relaxed COVID-related mandates, many Thais continue to wear masks in crowded spaces. © Sipa via AP Images
FRANCESCA REGALADO, Nikkei staff writerJuly 12, 2022 13:22 JST

BANGKOK -- Thailand enters a five-day weekend on Wednesday with doctors warning that a COVID surge and undercounted cases are belying the government's ambitious reopening scheme.

The string of holidays will be the first long break since Songkran, in mid-April, which saw COVID-19 infections peak at over 28,000 new daily cases.

Thai officials have reported an average of 2,176 cases per day since July 1, when the government lifted virtually all entry restrictions and further relaxed domestic measures.

But the number of cases being officially reported is a fraction of actual infections. COVID authorities said there were about 29,000 new cases in the kingdom per day.

"It is estimated that there will be 30,000 infected people per day," Dr. Satit Pitutecha, the deputy health minister, said on Friday while taking parliamentary questions.

Daily cases reported by Thailand's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration are based on new hospital admissions, not positive tests. Cases found via home antigen test kits are tallied separately, sometimes double the official case count, and rely on self-reporting by patients recuperating at home. Last Saturday, for example, the CCSA announced there were 2,084 new hospital admissions and 3,323 positive antigen tests.

Despite COVID-related deaths per day remaining under the CCSA's benchmark of 40, total hospitalizations have not fallen below 24,000 since the start of the month.

"The focus of our data collection has shifted to following severe cases and those requiring hospitalization," the CCSA said after a regular meeting on Friday. "As long as we have the capacity to care for those with severe symptoms, the country is on track to reach the endemic stage."

A disease is considered endemic once it persists with a relatively constant rate of occurrence in a population or region.

Doctors have urged the government to announce total infections rather than hospitalizations in the interest of maintaining public vigilance.

The government this month dropped masking requirements in open-air spaces and at gatherings with fewer than 2,000 people, and extended opening hours for bars and restaurants.

Most residents continue to wear medical masks in public, especially in crowded malls and transit stations, while restaurants and bars in Bangkok are operating to capacity.

Health ministry officials, including Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Permanent Secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit, attributed the higher daily tallies to a short-term spike kicked up by the discarding of COVID restrictions.

Hospitalizations are expected to peak in September, according to Dr. Chakrarat Pittayawonganon, director of epidemiology at the health ministry's Department of Disease Control. Chakrarat also projects that infections will begin tapering in November, around the time of this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok.

But self-reported infections are on the rise in tourist destinations like Bangkok, Phuket, Ayutthaya and 20 other provinces, said CCSA spokesperson Taweesilp Visanuyothin.

Since January, Thailand has welcomed 2.2 million tourists, led by arrivals from India, Malaysia, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S. The tourism ministry projects 2.7 million arrivals for the next three months and 4.5 million in the last quarter. Together, they are expected to inject 1.27 trillion baht into an economy that before COVID largely depended on tourism.

Although the CCSA on Friday decided to extend the COVID state of emergency once again, Thailand further opened its borders by removing seven countries from a danger zone list, easing travel from Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, as well as Iran and Italy. Southeast Asia was Thailand's second largest source of foreign tourists in 2019, behind China.

The kingdom's reopening has proceeded at full steam since the government ended the COVID-related entry requirement known as Thailand Pass. The reopening elevated Thailand by 36 places to 53rd on Nikkei's COVID-19 Recovery Index, which ranks 121 countries and regions based on infection management, vaccine rollout and mobility. Nearly half of the Thai population has received a booster shot, while 76.6% are vaccinated with two doses.

 

[Froggy]

Cooking my breakfast - Mee Sua with minced pork and liver and egg



Wholesome breakfast

 

[Froggy]

Went to a big Thai pub/restaurant for the first time - Sab Indy is the name



The front

Inside

The drink

Salad

Steamed egg

Fried pork

Deep fried fish

Sour pork

Octopus

Dinner

location - https://goo.gl/maps/869ZApDWQPts2mzB9

 

[Froggy]

I received a traditional Thai gift from a Thai friend, Luk-Chup, a Thai dessert or you can also call it sweets or snacks. Its so beautiful that I don't feel like eating them.

 

[Froggy]

I cooked crispy noodle last night for dinner

 

[Froggy]

Suvarnabhumi Airport this morning about 8am

 

[Froggy]

My breakfast at the airport - chicken porridge and egg

 

[mahjongking]

enjoy life ah.....thailand is perfect for sinkees who are sick of the overcrowdedness.
have a good day froggy

 

[Froggy]

Arrived

 

[Froggy]

Traditional Singapore breakfast

 

[Froggy]

Scenes of Singap[ore's Holland Village at about 5pm

Dinner at Baden

Scenes of Holland Village at about 10pm

 

[Froggy]

Visited the old estate Tanglin Halt

Hawker centre

This stall selling prawn noodle is really good

Delicious soup

 

[Froggy]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Tu...=1&pub_date=20220718190000&seq_num=2&si=44594

Thailand's Prayuth Chan-ocha fights economy, Thaksin's popularity
Ruling coalition frays ahead of no-confidence motion and eventual elections

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha walks past an honour guard in Bangkok in May. © Reuters
YOHEI MURAMATSU, Nikkei staff writerJuly 18, 2022 12:00 JST

BANGKOK -- Eager to keep his job once his term expires in March, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha this month has been trying to quash rumors that he will be replaced due to the country's suffering economy, taking to the internet and visiting his supporters.

But his campaign comes with his ruling coalition on the verge of suffering a defection and on the eve of a no-confidence showdown in the lower house.

"If I can continue [as the leader,]" the prime minister told supporters in a rural part of northern Thailand, "the projects will proceed faster."

It was the first time Prayuth made it clear in public that he intends to remain in office for a second term. Previously statements had expressed an intention to serve a full term.

The following day, Prayuth posted a video of himself on his government's website, pledging to rebuild the economy by building infrastructure and promoting the electric vehicle industry. He promised his measures would start showing results within two years, asking the public to keep supporting him so he can complete long-term programs.

With a lower house election to take place by next May at the latest, Prayuth's recent remarks seem to indicate a determination to continue heading the government beyond that period.

Prayuth has led Thailand since May 2014, when as army chief he pulled a military coup, then remained as junta chief until elections were staged for one house of parliament in March 2019. With the upper house hand-picked by the military and holding great power to put a prime minister in place, Prayuth was able to officially assume the prime ministership under a quasi-civilian government.

In a policy speech in July 2019, when the ruling coalition was formed, the pro-military leader vowed to pull Thailand out of its middle-income trap, one many developing countries fall into when they gain a certain amount of economic strength. Then the pandemic struck.

In 2021, Thailand's economy grew 1.5%, the worst performance among major Southeast Asian nations. It is expected to plug along at a relatively low 3% or so this year.

Prayuth can do little about the biggest drag on Thailand's economy, tourism, which in normal times accounts for more than 10% of the country's gross domestic product. Although Thailand is now allowing international arrivals, a big tourism rebound is unlikely due to the relentlessness of COVID-19 and repercussions, especially those pertaining to energy costs, from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But Thailand, whose economic recovery has been slower than those in neighboring countries, has other concerns.

"The population has peaked out, and foreign companies' investment appetite has diminished," said Seiya Sukegawa, a visiting professor at the Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology in Bangkok.

At the household level, Thais keep having to borrow to make ends meet. According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Thailand's household debt in 2021 reached 91% of GDP, up 10.8 percentage points from 2019, before the pandemic, and much worse than the emerging economy average of 51%.

Their harsh economic reality has many Thais yearning for a return of the Shinawatra family. Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister who led the country to high economic growth, is now living in self-imposed exile, having been convicted of abuse of power. His sister Yingluck, another former prime minister, is also a fugitive.

Thaksin has continued to influence Thai politics from abroad, which shows in an opinion poll conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration in June. In the survey, 25% of respondents favored Thaksin daughter Paetongtarn as the next prime minister. Prayuth came in No. 3 at 12%, outdone even by Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of Move Forward Party, at 13%.

Thailand's opposition parties have filed a no-confidence motion against Prayuth, with parliamentary debate beginning Tuesday. The motion comes with the 19-party ruling coalition beginning to fray. The Thai Economic Party, a medium-size coalition member, on Wednesday stated it will vote for the no-confidence motion.

Even without the Thai Economic Party, the ruling coalition enjoys about a 15-seat majority in the 484-member lower house. But if more defections follow, they could end the Prayuth era.