jmccarty

4 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

Don't really understand what you are trying to say? Are you talking about average yield per rai?

Cup?

Latex?

Sheet?

What area of Thailand?

How old are the trees?

Variables, variables.

How long is a piece of string?

The missus, as a registered plantation owner, is due in on the scheme/scam, it's something like 1500 Baht per calendar month for 6 months for 25 rai max, or 1500 Baht per rai as a one off, max 25 rai, but the tappers will get most of it, or something equally complicated and un-understandable,  i lost interest after 5 minutes. I never do with these govt funded subsidies.

We've had several over the years.

Still, better than a kick in the teeth.

The article from the AM does not have more detail, hence the question. Ok, 1,500bht per month per rai projected at 25bht/kilo of cup rubber?  I'll look at it again tomorrow, 

Is the AM production figure correct on average for Thailand. Says 20kg per .06 hectare per month? Rubber pledging scheme 

Far easier on everyone to just make foreigners wear a GPS anklet and charge them daily for it.  I'm certain everyone would prefer that!

A bit easier, report to your nearest 7-11 and they can upload. Works for power and water bills, phone bills...Easy to comply. 

11 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

120km speeds and cannabis production ? What could possible go wrong ? 

It's already 120kmh on many roads.

3 hours ago, les Dennis said:

Does anybody know of anyone that has had a legitimate speeding fine under the current law ?

I have from a speed camera on the toll road (highway 7).  Though I try to go with the flow, I have slowed down since and can't remain in the right lane too much or will block the speeders.

To Get in an Out of KL immigration can be just as long or longer.

Your US credit cards are welcome in most frequently visited retail businesses in Thailand. As someone mentioned, you are sometimes charged 1.5 to 4% additional to use your card, sometimes no added charge.  This is because the business is being charged this from their bank in most cases.  The more credit card traffic, the better deal a business gets with their bank.  In your favor, there are plenty of larger businesses that will give you a discount for certain cards.  You will need a cash withdrawal facility on your card to get cash from an ATM machine with it. Same as your ATM card.  You should also inform your bank you will be in Thailand for the date to date you will be in country.  Normally not an issue, but some have said their cards did not work when they arrived until they called their bank back home to inform that they were in Thailand.  That can make the first half day more painful then the jet lag already is.  Good luck and have a nice time in Thailand!

(I started on the above, then took a break for dinner, ilms covered all of it very well above)

12 hours ago, DLock said:

"However, we have also learned that the average income earned from foreign tourists is still higher than the number of overall travellers entering the country,” Weerasak said.

 

I must have read this 10 times.

 

I could be having a dyslexic day...but I don't understand what he trying to say.

It's easy.  If 20.9m travellers arrived, of those travellers, some part were tourists. The tourist part has an income level that is on average higher than the other travellers. It's on the TM6 card on arrival so it must be very accurate.  This also means the other non-tourist travellers have lower income on average. Not sure how this helps, but it's something!  Maybe the lower income travellers are looking for a higher paying job in Thailand?

I don't expect the local good wine producers have benefitted much from the tax increase, but it was not about helping these mom and pop shops either.  I will still visit and stay at these local vineyards when I can, and when it is the cool time of the year. It's a nice change and easy to get too compared to a flight to Perth or the Med or further out.  I'm am always assured a good bottle or 3 a day with these, never mind it's not Margaret River price.

On 7/14/2019 at 7:56 AM, mikebell said:

My wife had a friend who worked in the Audit office.  Every year I would sign 46 pages to do with tax paid on my company asset (house). One year I signed 47 pages. All pages were in Thai.  Only when my marriage was in difficulty did she smugly advise me not to sign anything I didn't understand.  I found she now had 50% of the shares; an unknown Thai held the other 1%; presumably a friend who would vote against the farang.  I never gave permission for any changes in Thai nominees or share holdings yet I had somehow signed papers to this effect.

If it has anything to do with an asset you care to possess after you pay for it, undoubtedly you know this now; ask for the documents, take them to an independent lawyer pay them to read and tell you what you are signing.  Try googling "provincial thai lawyers that work in English" and no need to advertise anyone.  I worry about this too in that I sign documents including property contracts type documents in English language in another regional country and not sure that is of any value legally, that its in English. 

Those Indian diaspora are a good bunch of people. Perhaps they can make a few baht off of the groups on the way!  Lovely to turn Walking Street into a Bollywood movie set!  That should attract people from India to see and experience.

That is a big deal and trying very much to face reality.  I know some people that still plan to come to Pattaya as tourists, even a family I know likes to visit for 2 to 3 days once a year.  Since Terminal 21 opened, they spend less time in Central Fesitval Mall.  Some people like to go shopping on holiday, others don't.  When I'm in UAE in the Northern winter months, I see rooftops of hotels packed with European tourists sun bathing.   They appear to be just there to get warm and a tan!  If that's the case, the allure of Old Siam that is now going or gone, may be reason to just go shopping or sun bathing somewhere else between home and Thailand.

First time I visited Thailand was in 1987, Phuket, needed to show and make a copy of my motorcycle driving license and the guy insisted on keeping my passport.  He had a lock box full of foreign passports and would not give me the contract to sign without agreeing to him keeping my passport.  So I did, and when I gave him back the noisy MTX125 (if I remember right), he gave me back my passport.   Since then, I have never rented a motorcycle, but many cars.  All needed to give license and passport copies only in the past few years.  Which country allows tourists to drive motorcycle or any motor vehicle with no license? Googled it, can't see any.

This is just big corporations repressing the truth via a university. Everyone knows, It's very easy to make a lot of power from a little effort.   

The curry shop and next morning results are a gamble most times for many!

Hero if there ever was one! Keep on keepin on!

3 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

In America my relatives think I live in Taiwan.  I wouldn't overestimate the geographical knowledge of the average Westerner.  

Me too, even when I lived in Singapore, everyone in the US said I live in Taiwan.  I get a bit testy when time after time, people I don't know such as bank customer service people reply, Taiwan when I very very clearly say THAILAND when they ask where I am calling from.  If I could speak in CAPS, I would its that annoying! 

I'm outraged that I can't google the video!

I paid a 2,000 baht fine for forgetting to report on time, I may have missed it by a day or 2 some time last year and did not know it was a fine until I looked at the receipt just now.  Wonder if it has any long term effect?

I would prefer to try these oils for a change over opiates as a pain reliever.  Not sure it can match the effectiveness, perhaps as an alternative, it could suffice. I don't believe if used in controlled doses, psychosis beyond what alcohol induces would be an issue. That's just from casually studying ~10,000 credible medical reports.  NPR summary on pot!

From mid-2010 to end of 2013 it was stronger!

I say Yes, unless you can prove you can self insure!  There is no NHS here and a flight away will not work if you have had a heart attack or a stroke, or you are diagnosed with a dreaded disease.

The state of the man's mind, health, and consciousness would not point to a happy person to decide to jump off of an overhead walkway. RIP fellow traveler of this world!