anddy

supposedly and according to media reports at the time, it was banned. It may even have actually been blocked for a little while. But no so long after the announcement of the ban, I tried it from my home in BKK and in worked just fine. I believe it still works right now

in the same way prostitution is banned in Thailand lol

really, they have Pfizer already?

sometimes there are flickers of hope even in Thailand

because it would be useful and handy for Thai immigration staff in order to check the identity. "It's useful, so we require it", they say, of course as often being clueless about what other countries nay or may not issue. So the ultimate answer to your question about "why" is: TiT

nope, my national ID has absolutely nothing to do with my passport and vice versa. The ID number does not appear in the passport in any shape or form whatsoever. But the vaccination certificate will be checked by the local Thai embassy/consulate, which will be aware of that and one can present them the national ID for verification purposes if need be. Having said that, my vaccination certificate doesn't even include the ID number, just name and date of birth.

Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot

In the beginning, I duly checked in into most places I entered. But I have long discontinued that for precisely the reason you state. Yes though it was only for Bangkok as far as I know, and I'm also no sure if it has actually been implemented. Announcements per se have nothing to do with reality here as we know.

That is a very good point, hardly ever acknowledged or admitted. I loved NYC back in the 90s precisely because of that factor. Which in turn did lead to that feeling of anticipation and euphoria prior to arrival: Not anymore in NYC, but in the 90s for sure (see above)!!

really? Unbelievable, and proves PetrRS's point that actually, it was never out of disarray at all

why would hospital imply serious? I'm sure you must be aware of the absurd Thai policy of the Covid Jail (my term)? Everyone, as in 100%, who tests positive here get's put in a hospital. Where hospital can range from field hospital to hospitel (a repurposed hotel similar to quarantine) or a real hospital. There is no escaping, even if 100% symptom free. No home quarantine allowed. Hence the term "covid jail" is the only appropriate one IMO. Totally absurd. And a reason why I no longer check in at malls or shops using the Thai Chana Line-app and would avoid getting a test at all cost. I rather do a home test (apparently they are finally being sold here since Thursday I was told, but I previdoulsly had a source) when in doubt and self-isolate and go to a hospital only if I were to develop symptoms.

Wow, that's a staggering number, finally an embassy that REALLY helps it's citizens!!! WTF, that's actually an insult, not a help! What are they thinking? Ridiculous....

The difference is, that in Europe testing was and is EVERYWHERE. Here, testing is (almost) NOWHERE. It only happens at select places that the authorities pick and chose, and from the few that go to get themselves tested voluntarily IF they can find a place that will do it. Don't look at the raw numbers, which indeed look not TOO bad. But the real numbers are guaranteed to be vastly higher than that, not just somewhat higher like in Europe. Things will not improve here in any meaningful way anytime soon. One reason is vaccination is progressing at a snails pace and is in complete shambles with no procurement strategy that would deserve the label "strategy". Another reason is protests flaring up again, driving the urge to impose more restrictions.

it's not a health insurance at all, it's more like a covid lottery: if you test positive, you get a lump sum, that's it. Symptoms or not, necessity of treatment, treatment expenses, all irrelevant. Many indeed see it as a way to potentially make some money to cover for lost income due to crisis. I know one boy, who recently told me he bought no less than three such policies! I don't know the details of those and didn't ask, but it sounded like they were all less than 500 Baht in premium, and payouts something like 50k or 100k, maybe 200k.

I wonder what the rationale is for this apparently indefinite extension. All those reasons for getting stuck in Thailand no longer exist for most I'd say. For insane Australia, which is shutting out it's own citizens for no good reason, it clearly still exists, but most others?

erections: they have the big cock shows That's as erect a show as it gets. Other show numbers also include erections butthole: never really seen it, guess they just don't think that's something suitable to be shown on stage? There is certainly no rule that would prevent it more than erections fondle: happens in many erotic numbers (and of course the sex shows) legal: that's moot. Presumably it is not (public indecency or something like that). There are only two scenarios: - it is legal, so it will happen - it is illegal, then it will still happen (for $$$ to certain, uhm, places) To the best of my knowledge, there is no such thing as a "limit" on the shows. Except such depending on the mood of the current local police chief, and the alignment of the stars.

too small. And the concept is more targeted at locals

While reasonable price discrimination based on age like @z909 mentioned for Singapore (which I've also witnessed there, including the beneficial effect on the composition of the crowd) is very much acceptable, the egregious one that R3 and to a lesser extent Sauna Mania had were not. However, if I remember correctly the outrageous 1200 or 1500 mentioned in some posts here (which were real, I've seem those stated there at the cashier myself) were for the orgy nights. On regular nights it wasn't so extreme. And regarding foreigner pricing at Mania, it wasn't for farang, but for foreigners in general, including the MANY Chinese tourists that used to frequent the place. There was a sign saying in English "Entry fee 200 (or 230 or whatever the fee of the day was)" and another one entirely in Thai quoting something like 120. But all those are now a thing of the past. All saunas of the R3 group have completely abolished all tiered pricing. Presumably a result of slow business due to covid to attract more customers. KRUBB has some price differentiation, i.e. discounts for youngsters. It's a nice and attractive place, even with an onsen bath on the top floor (6th) along with the dry sauna and steam room. Almost never any foreigners.

this is wishful thinking for a time machine haha. Of course it's a typo, should read 2022 unfortunately On a serious note to OP's question: yes it is of course free for Thais and it is actually rather difficult if not almost impossible to buy it anywhere. Someone told me of a friend or acquaintance of his, American, who got it (Astra Zeneca) for cash at MedPark Hospital in Bangkok. Don't know the price though. The "alternative" vaccine, Moderna will be available for cash only, the government is not involved in that (other than in it's role in delaying it's purchase, those idiots), but it get's constantly delayed, and it is only with luck that any doses will even arrive in October, as Patanawet already alluded to in the post above. The offers I've seen all speak of "4th quarter" which is obviously very vague and could mean year end. So good luck with that. So the bottom line is, it is really not necessary or even useful to send money for the vaccine for a Thai person. If he is Lao or Cambodian or Burmese, that would be a different story, but for those guys it is probably even more difficult to get it for cash.

Sounds like Tinder, didn't even know it existed in fb or how to access it lol

As for the US: it is clearly not unable but unwilling to do so. I happened to see a press conference with the WH press secretary Psaki a month or two ago. When asked she said something like "the State Department has traditionally not provided health support to Americans living abroad. We would like to to stick to that policy." Traditionally that is all well and fine in the past, but then we didn't have a fucking pandemic! So there is no real reason why they don't do it. "Unable" because it has been a "traditional policy" is hardly a valid reason. The German Embassy sent out a letter to their citizens reporting that France is doing this, but "For legal reasons, the German embassy has no way of offering vaccines or vaccinations for all German citizens." That's similar bullshit to the US excuse. Legal reasons? Can't be legal reasons in Thailand, else China and France couldn't do it. Can't be EU legal reasons either, else France couldn't do it. So must be German legal reasons. Who can do something about those legal obstacles? Hmm I wonder who that could be..... Maybe Kim Jong-Un and he is unwilling to do it? What a super lame excuse. They have been changing the law like all the time in this pandemic to set a framework to manage it, most recently to implement Merkel's big "emergency brake" which entailed massive restrictions of fundamental rights and freedoms. And they can't change some minor fine print to allow the embassy to follow the example of France? Laughable! Ok sorry about that, */end of rant lol

That's so funny! Technically, you are probably right, they shouldn't be able to visit. Practically, however that probably hasn't even occurred to them because the whole sandbox regulation package is for foreign visitors, and Thailand is not a foreign country. Hence, those rules to not apply. but a separate set of rules that basically says "Thais can visit if fully vaccinated. Period." As for trying to make sense of the list and the placement of individual countries, the sensible posts in this thread make it clear that that is an entirely futile undertaking. TiT. Case in point: It would be crazy anywhere else, but it's par for the course in Thailand, we all know that.

Fascinating stuff, thanks for posting @PeterRS! the link provided to the article has some error in it, here is the correct one: http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue9/jackson.html Funny side observation: at the very bottom of that article it says "This page [...] is best viewed in either Netscape 2 or above, or Explorer 2 or above." A piece of web history there

shit to late now, I rarely ever ride the BTS, but today happened to and I came that way on the BTS just hours ago, before reading this post. But it's virtually certain the flag didn't last there long anyway.

it's worth noting in this context that gay rights activists and supporting folks piggybacked on the youth's democracy and reform movement last year and had contingent at the rallies and had lists of political demands of their own. I saw that as a good thing. I find @PeterRS suggestion to have a pink dot-like event in a park rather than a march rather appealing. It would still have visibility and also a more relaxed, festive vibe enabling way more interaction between participants and the public. A march is just a march, that can be watched as a spectacle but that's about it. I also wonder who that is.... A precise location of the statue would enable to find out without violation board rules (which I'm sure is the reason for not naming the person, being from a certain family)