Thailand isn't complying. It's all for show

I can't speak for the entire country but I can speak for the area that I live in and the ones that friend of mine live in that are scattered around popular expat areas in Thailand. There are mandates in place but the public is not complying, at least aside from the obligatory masks which no one is wearing properly anyway.

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The prevailing opinion among all Thai people that i know, and all Thai people of the people that I know, know is one of wearing masks just because they are afraid of getting a whistled blown at them by some mall cop that wishes they actually had a badge and actual authority. There is no fear of the virus anymore. In my observations, every person and business just wants to get on with life and if there is a genuine threat to their life, they are more than ready to face that rather than continue to live in a bubble where the repeated lockdowns and restrictions take away their ability to make money.

Thailand is not a rich country. This Kingdom has a lot of money sure; but it is all in the hands of a group of people that are wealthy beyond the reach of what the average person can even fathom.

For most people in this country, including most of the expat community that I talk to on a regular basis, they make just enough money to live their lives and perhaps put 10% away for a rainy day. That "rainy day fund" has long since been extinguished.

The food stalls and local pubs and eateries are open as they were before and the police who are charged with shutting them down for not doing so are not enforcing this: They have families as well and even if they reached a higher level of power in their lives they know what it is like to live week-to-week.

Therefore I can say with boots on the ground that the Covid-restriction compliance is purely for show and photographs for international media. The "real" Thailand is no longer complying and I really don't think they will again. It's been nearly 2 years at this point and I say this as someone who was at a restaurant when the "official paper" was delivered by a police officer who told the business owner that he "has to give him the paper but to not worry, they will not come and shut him down."

The noodle stands, the tiny restaurants, the fried chicken ladies who work so hard to make far less than minimum wage by USA standards are not going to stay at home anymore. The people have been pushed too far and the middle levels of government such as the local police force know this.... The people cannot wait any longer and they will work because the alternative is to starve to death.

My area is WIDE OPEN. The only places that are cooperating with national or provincial decrees at this point are corporations and well, I think this is possibly a good thing. The little bit of money that remains will be in the hands of the people that need it the most: The working class.