madmitch

This has been stated before but never enforced. The only way shops will check licences is if they are routinely fined every time a tourist without a licence is found. And why would the police do this? Their income would reduce substantially if only tourists with licences rented bikes. Much easier option to maintain the current system and turn a blind eye to those renting out bikes.

I'm in Thailand now for a short time, having been back in Britain for over two years, and I have realised how much I miss the place. However much I miss it though, I won't be returning full time, even if my pension, when I finally retire, will go a lot further in Thailand. Bureaucracy, the way farangs are treated differently and, yes discriminated against, the stifling heat I'm currently experiencing, language difficulties (my fault for not learning anything other than basic Thai), the changing demographic in Phuket, where I was based, pollution, the cost of health insurance. I could go on but other aspects have been covered in the initial post. Despite this, I still anticipate being a regualar visitor on a tourist visa with travel insurance. My partner is still in Thailand but our daughter is with me in England, where career prospects are so much better than in Thailand. She already earns more in a day as a part time waitress than many Thais earn in a week. And, apart from property, there's not that much differential in the cost of living.

A few revamps I hope they implement: go back to one like button rather than the four similar ones that have now, show the identity of posters reacting to posts, less strict moderation, though of course certain issues need an amount of moderation and get a server with speeds that don't remind me of dial-up days. I also hope they continue stories from all news sources as The Thaiger don't exactly employ the greatest wordsmiths!

A provincial Governor should be someone who knows the province, not someone brought in from outside, and the best way to ensure this if for a proper election. Also, if an appinted governor upsets the status quo, it's easy to get him(or in very rare cases her) moved to another province, something that couldn't happen with an elected governor. Unlikely to happen under the current regime as this will give too much power to the progressive parties in many provinces.

Be careful with dowries. My GF "lent" her nephew 100,000 baht and 10 baht of gold for what was supposed to be for show only. The in-laws returned the 100,000 baht but took a shine to the gold and it's not been seen since. This was four years ago and still causes friction in the family. My partner still wants it back, for obvious reason, but none of the other family members will take any responsibility. The price of face in this country!

Note to self: wait until next month to start hacking into Thai company's bank accounts.

Whilst appreciating the attempt at alliteration, the word rabid is hardly appropriate.

The only story here is that an MP has come out and said this publicy in a country where lawsuits are bandied around for defaming someone, whether it's true or not.

Can't argue with your first point but when the legal selling time is 11am, not quite so sure about the second, especially in tourist areas, where many Scandinavians are fond of a beer with breakfast!

No mention of visa agents, who might get even more business if it becomes harder to get an extension of stay.

Wow, global hub of festivals! Woodstock, Glastonbury, Isle of Wight all off to Thailand. Enough to make me return! The problem is they'll probably have a rule that 51% of the acts have to be Thai.

????????

Do they really think that a crackdown on foreign criminals would have an effect on tourism? Are they naive enough to think that the recent incidents make news anywhere outside Thailand?

No chance, and miss the photo opportunity with a wall of banknotes? Real or fake?

The insurance issue is just an excuse. The only way a travel insurance might not pay is if someone is sick or hospitalized as a direct result of the poor air quality, and that's generally a longer term issue apart from asthmatics or similar. It doesn't automatically become invalid once you set foot ia "disaster zone. But with the government's lack of effort on solving this issue, they don't deserve the tourism proceeds anyway.