OPINION

Where has 'Thailand' gone?

Re: "Tourism at crossroads", (Editorial, Feb 14).

I love Thailand so much that I have been saving and depositing my hard-earned money into wonderful moments here for over 12 years.

I love the people, the clean cities, the considerable choice of food and the King.

However, this year new shifts in tourism were noticeable. Prices have increased so much that it feels too Westernised and not cosy like before.

As Thailand becomes pricier, people are spending less. No more trips within Thailand, no more shopping sprees and no more putting money into towns up and down the coast.

For foreigners, shopping is increasingly for necessity only, trips are calculated rather than free and easy, and money is carefully spent; not just enjoy now, pay later.

I loved the lower cost of all things in Thailand because I could afford to give money to those in need or those I saw working so hard in the tourism sector so I can have a nice stay.

Now, in 2025, many workers hired by Thai bosses neither speak English nor Thai, and they're not very knowledgeable about this great country when you ask them it. That I miss too.

I miss the Thais who ran little shops and cafés who run small villa huts in the South; these people showed me Thai culture…now they are not around.

Train fares are the same as airfares from Bangkok to Chiang Mai? Food in Bangkok is now $15 Canadian for a Thai meal. Yes, I can eat in an alley café, but why is it so expensive?

Tourism in Thailand has always been conducted and planned with great care, that's why foreigners come here.

If they behave poorly, then change their visa requirements. Not all tourists are so rude.

Please, Thailand Tourism Council, keep Thailand Thai, offer more cultural opportunities to learn the language, correct cultural behaviour, and, of course, make it fun and open to all again.

Thailand has so much to show the world from all the proud Thai people who care for this country.

Keep your authentic roots strong, and if you must, turn away those who make problems.

Trump's new apprentice

Re: "Influence Seeker", (PostBag, Feb 13).

Michael Seeker's relentless and baseless attack on China's CPC rings the bell of the influence and shadow of USAID worldwide.

USAID, in the past decades, has used the media as a propaganda machine with the aim of advancing America's interests.

While Elon Musk is shutting down USAID, news that the organisation has been subsidising journalists around the world has come to light.

True or not, a list of over a hundred media personalities in China on USAID's payroll is circulating on TikTok.

Some famous international news outlets have now softened their stance on China because the subsidy is no longer there.

Mr Trump and Mr Musk are saying to all the journalists and media under the umbrella of USAID, you are fired!

Russia's great vanishing act

Re: "Trump, Putin set to meet in Saudi", (World, Feb 14).

*Feb 16 2025 is the one-year anniversary of the Russian murder of Alexsei Navalny, the imprisoned opposition politician who crusaded against official corruption and who led massive anti-Kremlin protests.

Navalny died on Feb 16 in the Arctic prison where he was serving a 19-year sentence. Russia's prison service said. Navalny, 47, felt ill after a walk earlier that day, and then lost consciousness.

*Aug 23, 2023: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, died in a plane crash with top associates.

*Feb 27, 2015: Boris Nemtsov, the reformist former regional governor and deputy prime minister who was a rising political star in the 1990s but became one of President Vladimir Putin's most vocal opponents, was shot dead on a bridge near the Kremlin.

*Nov 16, 2009: Sergei Magnitsky, the whistleblowing lawyer who had implicated Russian officials in an alleged $230 million tax fraud, died one year after being jailed.

*July 16, 2009: Natalya Estemirova of the renowned human rights group Memorial, with bullet wounds to her head and chest, was found dead in Ingushetia.

*Nov 23, 2006: Aleksandr Litvinenko, former Russian security agent, died in London after being poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 that was placed in his tea by two FSB agents in a hotel.

*Oct 7, 2006: Anna Politkovskaya, one of Russia's most prominent journalists and a persistent chronicler of rights abuses in Chechnya, was shot dead in an execution-style killing in her apartment. Her murder happened to be on the birthday of President Putin on Oct 7.

*April 17, 2003: Sergei Yushenkov, a veteran politician and leader of the anti-Kremlin party Liberal Russia, was shot in front of his Moscow home.

Their deaths created fear in Russia. The government needs reminding about these incidents before it extends another invitation to Putin for a visit.

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