News Forum - Russian flights keep arriving in Thailand, for now

[KomanderChicknNugget]

I remember 20 years ago, the first time I came to Thailand.  It was so wonderful.  There were no Russians anywhere.  You never heard the sound of a loogie being hacked.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by KomanderChicknNugget

[Manu]

8 hours ago, WR2 said:

Iraq invaded another country, and threatened further invasions.  You don't think there's a difference between invading a country and liberating a country that was invaded?

Now you are mixing up things... You are there talking about the Gulf War in 1993 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Iraq was kicked out of Kuweit very quickly.

I am of course talking about the Iraq War (starting) in 2003 when the justification for it was weapons of mass destruction that S. Hussein were supposed to have, which obviously never existed. But we know now where it led, not only in Iraq but in the whole region: complete chaos. But if you wish to call this a non brutal and justified war (cause it was my point in my response of a comment in the first place), it is up to you.

[Tim_Melb]

10 hours ago, Lyp14 [ctxa] said:

What a great loss for Thailand, I guess the government and the rest of Thais won't sleep tonight lamenting what a great loss it is that you will find another tropical second home.

Also, I don't understand why we need to blame the average Russian tourist for what their government is doing. 

If this is about government's actions... let this sink in: 

What rubbish, we all know that the US has been involved in attempts to change regimes but your list is pure anti US propaganda. For instance in what way were the Americans involved in the Philippines attempted Military coup in 1989? The last thing America wanted was the return of Marcos at that point. 

[Martyp]

I expect Thailand to stay neutral on the conflict and the various players. I (as an American) am OK with that. It isn't as if Thailand can have any significant influence on the situation. Banning flights would be nothing more than symbolic. Yes symbolism can matter but I don't think the world expects or cares whetherThailand get's out in front on this.

[Benroon]

16 hours ago, Noble_Design said:

There you said it, it's the West that has a problem with Russia not Thailand. So Thailand should do what is best for their country and their people. If banning Russian people coming here would do more harm economically to Thais then there's no reason to do that at all.

The West may sanction or even go to war with Russia but I don't see why Thailand needs to do the same at the moment. Do it for a good or noble cause? Sure but that won't be filling hungry stomachs of those depending on Russian tourists money.

And if Thailand didn't ban and repatriate Americans back in 2003 for invading Iraq without a UN mandate and despite international condemnation, why should they do that to the Russians now?

Because the bigger picture is what you should be focusing on. The world needs to unite here in a nuclear ridden age against war mongering nut jobs! Tourist cash isn’t going to be so important when everyone’s dead. 

Putin is now sending out warnings to Finland and Sweden they’re next if they consider joining NATO which ironically, having never previously wanting to, has got them talking to NATO. 
 

 

[Benroon]

20 hours ago, AndyCousins said:

It is unfair to punish your average Russian citizen by cancelling all flights from Russia but how else to we get the message to the Russian leadership.

Cancel all flights and business ties with Russia. This may mobilize the population against Putin and his dictatorship. 

Exactly - Putin will only be deposed from within. It’s hard luck on the population but they know what they have to go and some brave souls are already doing it. 

His billionaire supporters will scatter like flies once they know he’s lost the public vote and he’ll be left stranded. However given he’ll take his billions with him on his yacht the size of a town overrun by bikini clad stunners, I’d say he’s in a win win situation!  

[Grumpish]

3 hours ago, Manu said:

Now you are mixing up things... You are there talking about the Gulf War in 1993 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Iraq was kicked out of Kuweit very quickly.

I am of course talking about the Iraq War (starting) in 2003 when the justification for it was weapons of mass destruction that S. Hussein were supposed to have, which obviously never existed. But we know now where it led, not only in Iraq but in the whole region: complete chaos. But if you wish to call this a non brutal and justified war (cause it was my point in my response of a comment in the first place), it is up to you.

I think the Kurds might disagree with you when you say that Iraq had never possessed weapons of mass destruction, as might the Iranians. That they no longer existed by the time Iraq was invaded is probably true, they were too dangerous a smoking gun even for Saddam Hussein to be caught holding. 

[Insurgent]

22 hours ago, Poolie said:

Leaving aside the unbridled Russian hatred in your missive, what the merciful heavens has North Korea got to do with anything?

Let’s be clear it’s not the Russian people who want or started this war with Ukraine it is their psychopath leader Putin who started this and is spreading false information to the Russian people. 

[Pinetree]

13 minutes ago, Insurgent said:

Let’s be clear it’s not the Russian people who want or started this war with Ukraine it is their psychopath leader Putin who started this and is spreading false information to the Russian people. 

No mate, you can't get away with that one. The Russian people are collectively responsible for the actions of their leadership, or they must revolt. The Russian people have a history of revolution; time for another one, or they are collectively culpable. 

[Poolie]

35 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

No mate, you can't get away with that one. The Russian people are collectively responsible for the actions of their leadership, or they must revolt. The Russian people have a history of revolution; time for another one, or they are collectively culpable. 

Does that idea go across the world?

[Pinetree]

10 minutes ago, Poolie said:

Does that idea go across the world?

It is not an idea, it's a universal truth, proved through all of human history and It obviously goes for all Nations. Nations get the leadership they are prepared to collectively tolerate, until they are not. 

Edited February 27, 2022 by Pinetree

[Paulw]

I would be confident in saying an over whelming majority of Russian citizens disagree with Putins invasion of the Ukraine which won't stop with just the Ukraine! The fact that the SWIFT money transfer system to Russia is being cut will mean they won't be able pay for overseas hotels & facilities unless they use money already outside of the country.  Hopefully that loophole will get tightened by the international community as well & sooner rather than later but sadly this will affect Thai tourism!

[ibgort]

It's money coming into the country as opposed as money leaving.  So let them come and leave their money behind.  The economics in Russia will soon prevent tourist from coming so take the money now.

[Lyp14 [ctxa]]

7 hours ago, KomanderChicknNugget said:

The device you are typing on and the network you are communicating into  - where do you think the technology was invented?

I don’t see the point you’re trying to make. I’m using Apple, both iPhone and Mac, but they weren’t given to me by the Americans, I paid for them with my hard earned money. And needless to say they are manufactured in China. That’s also about as much US technology as I use. Cars, airplanes,… European always. 

So anyway my point still stands, the Americans have never given me and never will give me anything…

… Quite the opposite, in 1898 the Americans blew up their own warship and blamed it on us to start a war with us and steal Cuba and the Philippines from us. Luckily, Cuba seems to have been the biggest headache ever to the US

Edited February 27, 2022 by Lyp14 [ctxa]

[Fundok]

"Following this week’s alteration of Test & Go program requirements, removing the pre-paid PCR test and night of accommodation on Day 5 (and replacing it with a self-ATK test to be uploaded onto the Mor Phrom App), tourism operators expect an uptick of new bookings, but fresh applications for the Thailand Pass remain under original predictions."

A wee bit better than before, but still not good enough. No surprise for me that there is no run on the Thai Pass applications after the recent changes. Side note: yesterday I received an Email purporting to be sent from "Thailand Pass" stating

"Th system noticed some problems in the documents you submitted to the embassy

You should correct some information so that you are not held responsible by the government".

I was asked to provide personal data and the last four digits of my passport. Since I have returned from Thailand about a month ago and since I never contacted the embassy with regards to my application this is obviously a phishing mail, so my email was part of the loot when Thai Pass was hacked some time ago.

Reminder to everyone:

Just be aware that your data submitted to the Thai authorities to obtain the Thai Pass  is NOT SAFE.

[Fundok]

4 hours ago, Martyp said:

I expect Thailand to stay neutral on the conflict and the various players. I (as an American) am OK with that. It isn't as if Thailand can have any significant influence on the situation. Banning flights would be nothing more than symbolic. Yes symbolism can matter but I don't think the world expects or cares whetherThailand get's out in front on this.

I disagree. Banning flights from Russia would be much more than just "symbolic". Since public news media in Russia refrain to inform their viewers objectively (word is they are forbidden to use the term "war" and call it "military operation" or even "peacekeeping mission") a ban to fly into Thailand would make the population aware that something more sinister is going on. 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2022/02/26/russia-media-coverage-ukraine-invasion-vpx.cnn

[Fundok]

On 2/26/2022 at 5:39 AM, Searat said:

Allowing Russian flights to continue might be good for the economy but it is tacit approval for one of the most brutal and unwarranted events I have seen in my lifetime. 

It might even backfire. Yes, Russia will remain happy. But the rest of the Western World may react disgusted by Thailand not taking a stand against this war and actually even make money of it where everywhere else toughest economic sanctions are put in place.

Are a couple of thousand Russian tourists really worth this sort of trouble in the medium to long term?

[Fundok]

3 hours ago, Insurgent said:

Let’s be clear it’s not the Russian people who want or started this war with Ukraine it is their psychopath leader Putin who started this and is spreading false information to the Russian people. 

A pretty simplistic view. It's presumably more than one hundred thousand Russian soldiers on Ukranian soil as we speak whilst Putin sits in Moskow, so there is not only misinformation going on.

At the end, Putin is the president of Russia, and his actions are fully attributable to the Russian people. 

[Fundok]

2 hours ago, Paulw said:

I would be confident in saying an over whelming majority of Russian citizens disagree with Putins invasion of the Ukraine which won't stop with just the Ukraine! The fact that the SWIFT money transfer system to Russia is being cut will mean they won't be able pay for overseas hotels & facilities unless they use money already outside of the country.  Hopefully that loophole will get tightened by the international community as well & sooner rather than later but sadly this will affect Thai tourism!

Any evidence for the 'overwhelming majority"-claim? Yes, there were protests (disbursed brutally by Russian police and security forces) but "overwhelming"? 

A peaceful country got needlessly attacked by its bigger neighbour with brutal military might, and all you are concerned about the Thai tourism? 

Shameful.

[Fundok]

On 2/26/2022 at 7:48 AM, ThaiEyes said:

I think you might be off a bit. The Visa/MasterCard network is separate from Swift. As long as someone has a functional card, they can buy whatever they want. Swift is only one of the players.

And how will those credit card companies retrieve the monies? By debiting banking accounts using SWIFT.

[King Cotton]

6 minutes ago, Fundok said:

A pretty simplistic view. It's presumably more than one hundred thousand Russian soldiers on Ukranian soil as we speak whilst Putin sits in Moskow, so there is not only misinformation going on.

At the end, Putin is the president of Russia, and his actions are fully attributable to the Russian people. 

Attributable = 'likely that it was caused by*' . . . you surprise me, there, @Fundok

(* Collins English Dictionary)

[Fundok]

On 2/26/2022 at 8:45 AM, Thomazz59 said:

Biden isn't going to commit US Forces to the defense of the Ukraine. Arms supply and economic sanctions are the game plan. SWIFT is not in play because a couple Europeon country's are not on-board.. The UN is become weak issuing nothing more than condemnation of the invasion.  The CVOID pandemic has exposed the agenda of world leaders and this scenario will only go further to expose their objectives.   

Wrong. SWIFT is at play.

[Fundok]

On 2/26/2022 at 8:48 AM, JustAnotherExpat said:

At the time I post this, Wise (formerly TransferWise) is not allowing rubels to baht. Any Russians living here are in for a tough time. Might be a good idea to scoop up some really cheap rubels if you can.

I commend WISE for doing this. Company was founded by two expat guys from the Baltics living in London. No surprise they don't want to support Russia.

[Fundok]

21 hours ago, Manu said:

And what about the war in Irak? Ah it was the US then, their wars are never brutal and always justified.

Also just in case you have not seen in the news, but thousands of BRAVE russians have been protesting in major russian cities AGAINST the war, 100s have been arrested, a brutal repression against anyone protesting by...the same guy that went to war (https://www.axios.com/photos-people-protest-russia-war-against-ukraine-c7fecd0e-6dfe-436f-8959-7016797ceeca.html). It is not the Russian people that went to war, it is Putin. By not allowing russians to come on holiday in Thailand, you punish russian people and thai people's businesses. I do not think Putin could not care less.

Putin does care if the Russian people start asking questions, like "if this action in Ukraine is just a peace keeping mission (Kremlin narrative), why can't I travel to Thailand, why isn't my bank/credit card working abroad anymore?". Actually, the internal pressure of so many young soldiers dying in Afghanistan ended the Russian intervention there some years ago.

[RobbieL]

At what point do citizens take responsibility for their leaders. Thailand wont ban the flights without a lot of international pressure. The Thai Generals are probably salivating as they watch the invasion, and count the graft and corruption money they rip off tourists.