Xircal

2 minutes ago, johnsnapo said:

There is no free trade agreement berween EU and Thailand  but I totally agree with the 2nd part of your comment

OK, it's on hold at the moment due to the military takeover.

http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/thailand/

The EU already has a free trade agreement with Thailand and since the UK is still part of the EU they can take full advantage of that.

This 'new agreement' is likely to be just a one way street with Thailand doing the exporting and the UK the importing (if it can find the money to pay for it all).

11 hours ago, webfact said:

The new team’s office is expected to be set up in one of the three southern border provinces, which will make it more convenient for them to work and achieve peace as called for by government policies

Those offices will be the first target for the insurgency once they're established.

14 hours ago, ukrules said:

This kind of deal is exactly what will leave whats left of the EU (if anything) languishing way behind in the next 5 to 10 years.

 

Given that most governments appear to only be thinking about the next election it's a trap I expect a lot of them to fall into.

I doubt very much if any trade deal between the UK and Thailand will compensate for the loss of maintaining trade with the single market.

Emasculation comes to mind as a punishment for perverts likes these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emasculation

He must have read my post yesterday.

2 hours ago, carstenp said:

It's not fun to be a expat right now in Thailand 

I can imagine. You guys must really be feeling the pinch now.

9 hours ago, stander said:

EU farming subsidies could be diverted to NHS after Brexit, says Theresa May adviser'

 

Some of the billions of pounds handed to farmers every year could be diverted to cash-strapped hospitals after Britain leaves the European Union, Theresa May’s top policy adviser has said.

George Freeman MP, who chairs the Prime Minister’s policy board, said once people realised how much cash was spent on farming subsidies they would want it to be diverted to hospitals, unless ministers made a strong case for how the money was spent.

Mr Freeman was speaking hours before Andrea Leadsom, the Environment secretary, confirmed at the party's annual conference in Birmingham that the Government was committed to keeping farming subsidies at their current level until 2020.

 

Don't be fooled by that. After all, back in 2013 Britain fought hard to keep farm subsidies: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/01/farm-subsidies-blatant-transfer-of-cash-to-rich

10 hours ago, Docno said:

Strange... I only viewed it on my iPad. Legit PDF came up. The main site looks legit also.... for the Centre for Architecture and Human Rights. Not the sort of click bait site that would host malware. Not sure what to make of it. 

Probably just a false positive then. I thought I would mention it though just in case the site had been compromised.

12 hours ago, ace said:

Why  would an increase in the price of imports affect taxes? In fact UK has a very big balance of payments deficit,  therefore import inflation is a good thing. It will act to rebalance the economy. 

UK always paid more in than received from the eu,  especially after labour gave away our exemption. We aren't going to negotiate some kind of Norway type deal our economy is far larger & negotiating position stronger.

It will likely be academic anyway when Netherlands,  or Austria or maybe even France get their own referendum.

 

Perhaps I should have said that prices rises will indirectly cause tax rises. Price rises mean that people have less money to spend and therefore the Chancellor receives less revenue from VAT. Increasing taxation is a means of compensating for the loss.

Britain did pay more into the EU than it received but richer countries are expected to contrtibute more to balance the contributions from poorer nations. That's only fair after all.

The Netherlands is one of the six countries which created the concept of a single market in 1957 so it's highly unlikely that it withdraw from something it created. The Dutch government has in any event dimissed any move towards a referendum. Likewise, the other five countries which are Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg are all part of the top tier group of rich countries which form part of the EU. Unless you're talking about minority parties like the French National Front none of these have expressed any desire to leave the EU.

Britain can try and negotiate a deal so that it can remain in the single market but it's important to understand that any one of the other 27 member nations can veto the agreement if it feel that it will be unfavourable towards them. The Visegrad Four comprising of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia has already made it crystal clear that free movement of workers is set in stone and that they will veto any deal which doesn't include it.

7 hours ago, stander said:

QUOTE OF THE DAY

‘We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again...We are going to be a fully independent, sovereign country—a country that is no longer part of a political union with supranational institutions that can override national parliaments and courts.’

—British Prime Minister Theresa May signaled that the U.K. would pursue a clear break from the European Union, saying that the U.K. would trigger the process of disentangling from the bloc by the end of March.

Of course you can be fully independent: that's your prerogative.

But just remember that the economy will suffer with multinationals packing up and moving lock,  stock and barrel to the continent. That will send the Pound into freefall. We've already seen what happened to Sterling this morning when May made her announcement: 1% knocked off its value already even though Britain is still part of the EU at this moment in time. What d'you think is going to happen to it when the UK does leave?

A fall in the value of the Pound makes exports cheaper but imports more expensive. Since Britain imports more than it exports the economy will suffer from rising inflation and taxes will increase significantly.

You can trade with other countries but it won't encourage companies like Nissan to remain in the UK if the country loses access to the single market. Similarly, Britain will lose its passporting rights as well which will result in a loss of prestige in the City as well as massive job losses as finance houses move to Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris.

I predict that May will consider the consequences of rejecting free movement of workers as untenable if it means that the country will suffer too much and they'll be a quiet little U-turn with life returning to normal once more. The only real difference will be that Britain will no longer be a member of the EU and will have lost the all important negotiating position it once held. This means it will have to accept EU directives without being able to object to their content if it wishes to have continued access to the single market.

Also it will no longer qualify for EU subsidies but will still have to contribute to EU budget albeit at a lower figure than it pays at the moment.

Will you still be singing "Happy days are here again" when that turn of events take place? I think not.

If there is a rebellion it will only come from within the ranks of the army. It's happened before though not in Thailand as far as I know, but take countries like Turkey where a revolt took place by senior officers and their followers to return the country to a secular government recently. It didn't succeed for whatever reason and a roundup of every dissident followed no matter what profession they held. Since then Erdogan has taken steps to eliminate practically all forms of opposition.

But if senior officers within the Thai army felt that the current administration was causing more discontent than they felt was appropriate another coup could be on the cards. Maybe that's why prime contracts are being handed out to family and friends in order to dissuade them from taking action which might result in another upset.

14 hours ago, Penicillin said:

What did this Chinese tourist do to deserve such scorn?  He came toThailand to enjoy a vacation , he spends money here that helps the Thai economy, he wrongly trusted the area to be safe for tourists . 

Yes, he was certainly  naïve to be wearing a gold chain, but victims never " deserve " to be victims because of naivety or stupidity.  

Before you go anywhere these days it's worthwhile checking around to see whether an area is considered safe or not. I'm sure even the Chinese media will have background information on Pattaya.

Red light districts in any part of the world are renowned for petty crime and walking around openly displaying your wealth is just asking for trouble.

15 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

 

I don't think the national carrier is flying to USA anymore after FAA raised a few issues with keeping up with documentation of maintenance. 

They can fly to the US but have been downgraded to a Category 2 rating. This means they can continue existing services but cannot start new ones: https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=19814

5 hours ago, Alive said:

This trip story really seems to hit a nerve with a lot of Thai people I've talked to but it's amazing how things fade away in the media so quickly here though. The story of Prayuth's brother's wife is disappearing from the media without resolution or answers. The people are starting to tally this up and it's turning folks fast. Seems that way. And this is only the beginning of their planned long term control over the nation. It's sickening.

Things fade quickly in the media because it's under government control. Dissent is quickly pounced upon and both journalists and politicians have been arrested for daring to oppose the NCPO. I don't know what goes on when dissidents are carted off for a little 'attitude adjustment' but I doubt if it's a pleasent experience.

"Bt10.7 million was for fuel"? Are they flying via the Moon?

They'll probably use one of Thai's 747s for the round trip. One of those burns approximately 4 litres of aviation fuel a second.

A flight between London Heathrow to New York JFK airport would cost £18,500 one way. The distance between the two is 2,999 nautical miles while the distance between BKK and Honolulu (HNL) is 5,728 nm.

£37,000 is approximately 1,665.000 Baht. So even if you doubled that figure to represent around trip of 12,000 nm it would still only represent less than a third of the cost of 10.7 million baht in fuel costs which has been calculated for the PM's round trip.

So where's the other two thirds amounting to 7,390,000 baht going to be spent I wonder? Aviation fuel cocktails for supper perhaps?

8 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

'What does this button do? Should I press it? I know all the other buttons, but this one is shiny! I'm just going to touch it a little bit, real quick...hmm, nothing... try again. Soo shiny...'

It's the button for the ejector seat which will catapult you to kingdom come.

14 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

Actually, most people who try heroin will never become addicted at all. The ones that do become addicted will be mostly affected by the negative effects of the fact that it is illegal. If there was a cheap supply of pharmaceutical heroin - and the police would leave them alone - they could live decent lives.

If Thailand  legalizes methadrine, heroin will likely not be far behind. It is a far less dangerous drug.

You sound like a drugs dealer trying to convince gullible individuals of the merits of a dangerous drug in order to get them hooked. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/heroin/what-are-long-term-effects-heroin-use

13 hours ago, NongKhaiKid said:

Unfortunately the percentage of voters didn't reach the legal requirement in Hungary which will be seized on by Brussels no doubt but there's no denying the strong feelings.

I suspect people everywhere are just fed up with voting.

It didn't meet the 50% figure due to a low turnout according to the BBC, but those that did vote sided with PM Orban unanimously.

On the other hand Orban's right wing government has been restricting freedom of the Press and independence of the judiciary according to this site so I guess he isn't so popular in some circles.

I clarified a few points.

The Dutch embassy won't provide funds or buy a plane ticket if a Dutch national runs into financial problems: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/reizen-in-het-buitenland/vraag-en-antwoord/kunnen-nederlandse-ambassades-of-consulaten-mij-helpen-bij-problemen-in-het-buitenland

Secondly, you lose your rights to a so called Uitkering which is intended to provide funds to the unemployed if you leave the country. The only exception is a pension (AOW), but they'll dock you 2% per annum for every year that you don't reside in the Netherlands. See the attachment which came from a site called emigreren.nu 

Thirdly, citizens are required by law (came into effect in 2006) to sign up for health insurance. Before that can be arranged the citizen has to register with the municipality in which he proposes to reside. See this health insurance site (in Dutch) for details: http://www.welkezorgverzekering.nl/terugkeer-uit-buitenland.html

Somebody mentioned somewhere that EU immigrants are entitled to live anywhere within the EU. That's true, but in the Netherlands they're required to apply for a residence permit. That will usually be granted provided the tenant can show a copy of the rental agreement for the accommodation where he resides and can provide evidence of sufficient funds which meet the minimum income requirements.

14 hours ago, Jdietz said:

Nobody loses their Dutch citizenship, ever, unless you do it on purpose. Don't give completely uninformed opinions stated as facts please. As a Dutch citizen you have plenty of rights to receive social securities, no matter what you used to have.

Embassy still first stop.

 

Actually you can lose your Dutch nationality if you acquire another one (you would then have dual nationality) and live outside the Netherlands for 10 years. http://archief.wereldomroep.nl/nederlands/article/u-wilt-uw-nederlandse-nationaliteit-terug-u-hebt-nog-even

As expected an overwhelming vote NO: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37528325

Good for them too.

1 hour ago, brianinbangkok said:

 

No you are mistaken.

 

 

You're quoting me out of context. Read the post I was responding to and then you'll understand why I said what I did.

36 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

 

More baloney. ANY drug might be pleasurable enough to make the user want to keep doing it and that obviously includes alcohol. It takes weeks or months of frequent use to become physically addicted to heroin.

It seems that you did not even bother to read your link. It does not support your claim. It supports mine. It says that "there are very few long term biological complications caused by unadulterated heroin use". 

You are also wrong that alcoholics always outlive Junkies. Anecdotal evidence means little - including yours - however, William Burroughs lived into his 80s and he was a heroin addict most of his life.

You know as well as I do that there are always exceptions to every rule, but the vast majority will become addicted and lead miserable lives when their source of supply ceases if they manage to survive at all.

As for legalizing the drug forget it. It's just a pipedream and ain't gonna happen unless you happen to live in some tinpot dictatorship in somewhere like Niger,

3 minutes ago, Jdietz said:

Nobody loses their Dutch citizenship, ever, unless you do it on purpose. Don't give completely uninformed opinions stated as facts please. As a Dutch citizen you have plenty of rights to receive social securities, no matter what you used to have.

Embassy still first stop.

 

Have it your own way, but don't blame me when things don't turn out as expected.

You're probably right about the nationality issue though. I misread it.