The Beer Bar

Make no mistake: Thai authorities are laser-focused on reducing deaths from Covid. Although we may differ on their priorities and methods, we have to give hem their due for efforts like expanding vaccination availability. Now if they only had put the same resolve into road safety, maybe they would have seen the same kind of success. But it's never too late. A tragic road accident last week that saw an off-duty cop mow down and kill a well-known eye doctor in a pedestrian crossing zone with his motorbike has garnered the type of social media saturation that always draws a response from Thai officialdom. Cross walks across the country are being repainted and expanded. …

NOTE -- This insightful report uses graphics, photos and video to describe how the country's staple crop is under treat from a changing climate and others factors. From Channel News Asia In recent years, drought has weakened Thailand's agricultural belt, compromising the nation's most important crop - rice. In a country that ranks ninth on the Global Climate Risk Index, the rice industry is a critically important one that is highly vulnerable to climate change. Rice plantations can be severely damaged by the frequent occurrence of extreme weather, both wet and dry. This has been happening increasingly in Thailand. https://www.channelnew…

Richard Barrow has posted this video of interest to skytrain buffs.

From The Thaiger A Thai activist is facing one year behind bars for writing about his sexual experiences in prison on his Facebook account. Ekachai Hongkangwan was sentenced to one year in prison without parole yesterday. The activist’s relatives have applied to get him out on bail and are awaiting the Supreme Court’s final decision, which is expected to take two to three days. Ekachai is currently awaiting the verdict inside Bangkok Remand Prison, where he previously spent two years and eight months of his life. Ekachai was charged with violating the Computer Crime Act by “disseminating obscene material online.” But it wasn’t explicit photos or videos which got…

I just received a link to a Times subscription offer at £1 per month for 12 months. This is the overseas edition, so UK residents are not eligible & as I'm in the UK at present, it's difficult to sign up. The offer expires in 26 hours. Having subscribed before, I can say the overseas edition is nothing special, but for £12 per year, it doesn't have to be. To prevent forgetting about it and having auto renewal at the full rate, I suggest putting a reminder in Google Calendars about 48 weeks after subscribing. Then you can make a decision: 1 Cancel, 2 Ask to cancel and get another discounted offer or 3 Pay the full price. …

From The Thaiger Starting today, 20 locations around Bangkok will transform into cultural learning centres to celebrate the city’s 240th anniversary. Attendees are invited to learn more about Thailand’s unique history and culture through activities and performances held from April 20 – 24 around the city. The events are intended to demonstrate the kingdom’s “soft power,” promote cultural tourism and instil pride among both Thais and foreigners in the country. The Thai government said the celebrations will commemorate Bangkok’s founding on April 21 1782 as well as commemorate King Rama I, the founder of the Chakri dynasty, and all monarchs of the Rattanakosin Era…

Gym Tells Guests to Stop Having Sex in the Men's Locker Room Where's this gym located? Asking for a friend! By Donald Padgett January 04 2022 1:37 PM EST A gym in West Hollywood has politely reminded patrons their facilities are for pumping iron on the gym floor ONLY. …

(After you get an invite which takes a couple weeks) Of course---I just renewed mine in the fall and it took 3 months with expedite lol. https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/new-us-online-passport-renewal-system-incredible-already-new-passport-just-week-renewal/

This news is about three months old but may still be of interest. Venice is one of the world's great cities and accordingly one of the most visited. Over the last few decades, the number of day trippers has increased exponentially. Apart from the occasional snack and a tacky souvenir or two, they spend little money and mostly create massive crowds that make it more difficult for genuine tourists staying in the city's hotels to enjoy their experience. From this summer, day trippers will be limited and charged €5 for access to the city for one day. Such bookings must be made on line and in advance.

From The Thaiger photo via Wingtips Facebook A thunderstorm hit Bangkok yesterday, causing the Service Hall at Don Mueang International airport to collapse. The hall was built just one year ago but hasn’t yet been used due to low levels of international travel throughout the pandemic. No injuries or deaths were reported. Luckily there was no one in there at the time. The walls of the Service Hall reportedly collapsed last night during …

From The Thaiger The Russian PM, Mikhail Mishustin, has revealed that Russia would open its sky to 52 “friendly” countries from April 9 onwards after being closed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. And that other matter. On the list is Thailand who says they’re ready to welcome the Russian travellers back. There’s also a long list of aircraft lessors waiting for leased Russian planes to leave Russian airspace so they can be “repossessed” after the leasing of Boeing or Airbus aircraft to Russian airlines a violation of the current international sanctions on Russia. The Russian PM said, starting from April 9, Russian would cancel the Covid-19 prevent…

John Lennon’s first-born son Julian performed his dad’s famous song “Imagine” for the first time publicly to benefit war-torn Ukraine and its people. I thought this was truly beautiful and a perfect time for this song asking for peace. "Imagine" continues to be a strong powerful message for the human race and hopefully the invaders will cease this destruction.

From AFP Taiwan's military published a handbook on Tuesday advising civilians on how to prepare for a potential Chinese invasion, including where to find bomb shelters and how to stockpile emergency supplies. China's Communist Party has never controlled self-ruled Taiwan but it nonetheless views the island as part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary. Those threats have turned more bellicose under Xi Jinping, China's most authoritarian leader in a generation. Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine has also heightened fears that China might one day follow through on threats to annex its smaller neighbour. The 28-pa…

Hope this heralds the opening of land borers to the ASEAN guys. From The Thaiger Thailand is looking to bring in more labourers from neighbouring countries with the help of recruitment agencies, as the government seeks to employ an army of around 150,000 foreign workers to make up for the country’s low percentage of people willing to do manual labour jobs. But the general public is worried about the clutter and spread of Covid-19 from migrant workers, sparking a debate about immigration procedures. The labour ministry is attempting to solve the shortage in labour in two ways. The first is to use the labour memorandum of understanding procedure, or MoU, to b…

From Thai Enquirer / Bangkok Post Popular adult content creator and OnlyFans model known as Kainaoa (“rotten egg”) and her boyfriend were arrested in Samut Prakan Monday for allegedly violating decency laws by sharing sexual content on the subscription-based service. According to police, Kainaoa, 19, and her boyfriend, 20, have violated two criminal laws by sharing what they consider to be “obscene” images on the website, and for allegedly enticing others to engage in sexual activity for financial gain. Police said they would not take legal action against the owner of the website, which only allowed creators to share content. The arrests were the result of…

From CNN (CNN) — The closure of Russian airspace to some international carriers, including many in Europe, has forced airlines to seek alternate routes. For some flights, such as those linking Europe and Southeast Asia, that's especially problematic since Russia, the world's largest country, stands directly in between. The problem is best illustrated by Finnair's flight from Helsinki to Tokyo. Before the invasion of Ukraine, planes from Finland's national carrier would take off and quickly veer into the airspace of neighboring Russia, crossing it for over 3,000 miles. They would then enter China near its northern border with Mongolia, fly in its …

From Bangkok Post Money should go on Covid aid, say critics House subcommittee scrutinising the budget bill for the fiscal 2021 approved the navy's controversial procurement of two submarines worth 22.5 billion baht from China, though not unanimously. Critics of the defence spending are ramping up the pressure by demanding a review of the armed forces' weapons procurement plans including those on the submarine purchases so more money could be saved and injected into efforts to help solve the country's economic problems caused by Covid-19. Yutthapong Jarassathian, a Pheu Thai Party MP and deputy chairman of the subcommittee under the House committee on …

I recently saw Jerrod Carmichael on Saturday Night Live and thought he was hilarious. I then watched his recent HBO special and loved it. It was one of the most moving comedy specials I have seen. He is talented and funny and the HBO special brought a few tears to my eyes. I am now a big fan.

From Thai Enquirer Thai Enquirer would like to announce that our ownership group will be bought out by China Daily effective immediately on Friday. Beginning on Monday, Thai Enquirer will be folded into the China Daily family and will be rebranded as the Thailand Daily. We would like to thank our readers for their support for the last two years and hope you continue with us as we move forward into uncharted waters. With the backing of our new owners, Thai Enquirer will be able to cover Asian news for Asians more effectively. We would also like to apologize for our previous coverage of certain matters pertaining to Hong Kong and Xinjiang and state …

As I am redirecting my life towards retirement, I am slowly disengaging from American culture and discovering/rediscovering my roots. One of the territories I am exploring and enjoying the most is music. This is my last finding. YSY is one of my least favorite local trappers, but this song is a pearl. It is a perfect fusion of local old and new trends, and additionally the lyrics allude to the river instead of to Buenos Aires. Such a recognition of the Rio de la Plata as a geographic reference is not new, but it is unusual. Most times, Buenos Aires weight obscures the reality of a particular cultural region with strong identity in all the area around the big river. …

From The Nation The finance minister has revoked the business licences of Southeast Insurance and Thai Insurance after they failed to honour claims of more than THB18 billion from customers for Covid-19, the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) secretary-general, Suttipol Taweechaikarn, said on Friday. The revocation, made under the Non-Life Insurance Act with effect from Friday, was aimed at protecting the interest of both companies’ customers, he said. Suttipol explained that the two insurers had been given time to rectify financial issues stemming from their Covid insurance policies that promised lump-sum payments to those infected by the coronavirus. …

From The Thaiger Authorities in the north-eastern province of Surin say they will declare Covid endemic from April 1, adding that they will become the first province in Thailand to do so. With the central government seemingly taking its sweet time to lift restrictions and move to a “living with Covid” approach, Surin is going it alone. According to a Nation Thailand report, the Surin Information Office confirmed the move on its Facebook page over the weekend, encouraging all residents to get their booster vaccines if they haven’t already done so. The provincial administration says Surin has met all the criteria for declaring the virus endemic, which include…

From Pattaya Mail The advantage of polymer over paper is such that it does not absorb moisture and dirt while the polymer banknotes can last significant longer than paper banknotes. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has launched the new 20 Baht polymer banknote. The 20 Baht polymer banknotes keep the same theme of design and features as the current 20 Baht paper banknotes in circulation. Advanced anti-counterfeit technologies are used to ensure that the new polymer banknotes are difficult to counterfeit, similar to the current banknotes. The additional security feature is the “clear windows”, which can be seen through from both sides. The lower cl…

Judging by an artist's conceptions of what the futuristic changes will look like (one of which shows the since razed Dusit Thani Hotel in the background), I think this has been in the works for quite some time. From The Nation Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) on Monday unveiled computer-generated images of Lumpini Park as it will look after an upgrade is completed in 2024, in time for the park’s 100th anniversary in 2025. The images published on Facebook show the new and improved 360-rai (0.57 square kilometres) park, equipped with dedicated bicycle and jogging lanes that connect with nearby Benchakitti Park. All cables and powerlines have al…

From Coconuts Bangkok Located on the 74th floor of the King Power Mahanakhon at 314 meters up, the Mahanakhon Skywalk will be closed tomorrow until April 11. It will open again at 10am on April 12. The nature of the renovations were not specified. The skywalk has been popular among tourists and locals for its magnificent, panoramic 360-degree view of the capital. Coconuts was there when it opened, you can read our experience here. https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/mahanakhon-skywalk-closed-for-renovation/