Business
Scrub away Pattaya’s restrictions with a Walking Street wash-a-thon

Without much other good news on the horizon, Pattaya officials have celebrated almost two weeks of no new Covid-19 infections with a celebratory ‘wash down’ of Walking Street. The ritual ‘wetting’, in the Songkran tradition, was seen as a new beginning, washing away the bad spirits and the bad times that had fallen on the once-busy red light district.
Sonthaya Khunplume, Pattaya’s Mayor, along with a platoon of city officials, local business owners and city workers, scrubbed the grotty pavements with plenty of suds for the camera as part of a wider make-over for the street that was proposed a year ago.
The ‘new beginning’ coincided with some good news for the battered tourist city.
Massage shops and spas as well as other ‘similar venues’ in Chon Buri were told yesterday that they will be allowed to reopen after being closed for nearly a month. The lifting of some of the provincial restrictions follows an intense few weeks of lobbying and letters to the Thai PM, begging for some relief of the not-quite-a-lockdown restrictions.
Tattoo studios and beauty clinics are now also allowed to reopen… “but must abide by Covid-19 prevention measures like checking customers’ temperatures, supplying hand sanitiser and enforcing social distancing”. Gyms, pools, fitness centres, saunas and massage shops offering “soapies” were not included in the order.
Yesterday’s Walking Street event symbolised a new beginning for the seaside party town’s businesses, well some of them anyway, and easing of restrictions since December 30 when any hopes of some ‘high season’ tourist traffic were dashed as the government designated Chon Buri, including Pattaya, as a high risk red zone, along with four other coastal provinces – Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trat and Samut Sakhon.
It’s also expected that a lack of new cases for nearly 2 weeks will provide enough impetus for the CCSA to lift remaining restrictions put in place on December 30, including the re-opening of bars and serving of alcohol.
Mayor Sonthaya says that the event symbolised a “fresh start as construction work to remove long standing eyesores of various electric and telecommunications cables on the street and move them underground is set to begin early next week”, according to The Pattaya News.
Whilst the celebratory mop up was held yesterday, it’s estimated that the infrastructure make-over will take up to 6 months and was delayed for almost a year at the request of business owners when proposed in better times before the Great Disruption set in when the Thai borders were closed in April 2020.
At a meeting of the CCSA today it is anticipated that Chon Buri’s red zone status may be reduced to an orange zone.
SOURCE: The Pattaya News
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Business
Governments & old media versus social media – who will win? | VIDEO

We look at the recent changes made by the Australian and Indian governments to except control over the world’s biggest social media platforms. India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social. There is now an open battle between the rise of social media platforms and the governments and ‘old’ media that have been able to maintain a certain level of control over the ‘message’ for the last century. Who will win?
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told. The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Business
The social media giants in battle with ‘old’ media and world governments | VIDEO

“The rules signal greater willingness by countries around the world to rein in big tech firms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter that the governments fear have become too powerful with little accountability.”
India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social.
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The companies are also being made to publish a compliance report each month with details about how many complaints they’ve received and the action they took.
They’ll also be required to remove ‘some’ types of content including “full or partial nudity,” any “sexual act” or “impersonations including morphed images”
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told.
The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Business
Turbulence ahead for Thailand’s aviation industry | VIDEO

When the airlines, in particular, were asking the government to put their hands in their pockets for some relief funding in August last year, it was genuinely thought that international tourists would be coming back for the high season in December and January. At the very least local tourists and expats would head back to the skies over the traditional holiday break. And surely the Chinese would be back for Chinese New Year?
As we know now, none of that happened. A resurge in cases started just south of Bangkok on December 20 last year, just before Christmas, kicking off another round of restrictions, pretty much killing off any possibility of a high season ‘bump’ for the tourist industry. Airlines slashed flights from their schedule, and hotels, which had dusted off their reception desks for the surge of tourists, shut their doors again.
Domestically, the hotel business saw 6 million room nights in the government’s latest stimulus campaign fully redeemed. But the air ticket quota of 2 million seats still has over 1.3 million seats unused. Local tourists mostly skipped flights and opted for destinations within driving distance of their homes.
As for international tourism… well that still seems months or years away, even now.
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Geoff
Friday, January 29, 2021 at 9:22 am
Pure coincidence it’s Chinese New Year coming up.
chan
Friday, January 29, 2021 at 1:35 pm
CNY is about next 2 week,and chinese will not stupid enough to pay ripoff price hotel room and paid to jail 14 days.
Geoff
Friday, January 29, 2021 at 1:58 pm
Many Thai families have Chinese roots, Chan, as you should know, and as for being stupid enough, every nationality has it’s fair share of stupid people, including China.
Jesus Monroe
Friday, January 29, 2021 at 11:30 am
Trying to scrub away the filth. Damn shame it’s what I liked about the place……..
Ynwaps
Friday, January 29, 2021 at 12:13 pm
Ah the new normal
Songkran 2.0
We don’t know what we’re doing but it feels good.
EdwardV
Friday, January 29, 2021 at 12:37 pm
The timing should work out well. The project is expected to finish in July and will probably run late. Even so it should be done in time for a 4th quarter drop of the quarantine in time for the high season. Maybe …
brian mc
Saturday, January 30, 2021 at 3:36 pm
no filth on the pavement i see, only on the road. half a job!
btw… you missed a bit!
Glenn
Saturday, January 30, 2021 at 8:54 pm
ah the irony of that picture. The pattaya mayor in all his glory mopping the road just prior to the construction machines coming in an digging it up. Govt work at it’s best!
A perfect job for the mayor, just as long as it is his ONLY job.