madmitch

Great initiative from TAT. I wonder why it hasn't been thought of before😁. They need to look at the products offered elsewhere: beaches with pedestrianised promenades toilets and showers, no noisy jetskis, parasailers etc, no dogs roaming, no pot smokers. It makes for a far better beach experience.

They only ever state how the THB is faring against the USD, a currency that is less relevant now than it's been in years. What's the forecast against the Euro, CNY and other major world currencies?

They've recently introduced an ETA. Isn't this process supposed to screen for undesirables?

There are thousands of rich retirees in Thailand. It's not all about living cheaply. Have you seen some of the villas and yachts owned by some of the expats?

If you're happy with this lifestyle then fine; you can live comfortably. But many expats require much more than this, such as all their old home comforts, and that's become much more difficult on that amount. I gave up my retirement visa nearly four years ago and am now working back in the UK paying the odd visit to Thailand. I think it suits me better. But we are all different with different needs and different levels of wealth. So difficult to generalise on this subject.

Why repeat the story published a few days ago and attracting exactly the same comments?

At the moment it's a draft regulation (no pun intended). Who knows what it will look like when it finally gets through parliament. Good news but not a done deal yet,

15 minutes of fame? During COVID Dr Yong was in the press every day! He was more recognisable than a Thai soap opera star!

Probably a personal accident policy at that price with minimal cover. The usual criticism of insurance policies here, most of it completely unfounded in the era of consumer duty. Today's policies use quite simple language and are set out in an understandable manner in many countries, including UK. And insurers do not deny legitimate claims. But you get what you pay for. A cheap policy will give less cover than a more expensive one.

There's no link to the original article this refers to, which Richard Barrow posted on Facebook this week. Many of the comments on the post mirrored those here. The article was a mix of truth, personal comment and exaggeration, the latter including the complaint about air fares from the USA rising from $300 to $1200 and a meal for two costing 7000 baht. Thailand is more expensive now but still much better value than many countries in Europe and North America.

It really is about time they changed the law on this. Allow work permits for foreign guides who speak certain languages with the condition they work with a Thai guide, for example. Thai gets paid for not doing much, your group gets a guide that they understand, and that understands them!

Havn't they noticed that tourist numbers drop from the end of March onwards, and this has been the case since I first got involved in the touist business over 20 years ago! Yet every year they blurt out the same old mantra.

Amazing. This was announced a while ago on this site and all the same comments are appearing as they were back then. It brings Thailand into line with other countries in the region and it ts hardly an imposition and I doubt it will stop a single tourist coming to Thailand.

That is about a 1% loss of value against the USD, hardly a plummet. However, the USD has lost ground against the Euro and other currencies so the baht has weakened more against the Euro and GBP.

The end of March always sees a drop in tourist numbers.

SIngapore have a similar system now. Works fine...but that is Singapore, not Thailand 😉

Just bought an annual travel insurance policy for my daughter. Cost £29. Up to £10m medical expenses. OK, she's young with no pre-existing conditions but that is an extremely good deal with a top name company. I looked at the wording (as that's what I do!) and it's in clear language. Motorcycle provisos: Uk licence required and all local safety laws complied with. I am not going to speculate on this particular incident, but despite having insurance, so many people will be breaching the terms and conditions and they won't be covered in the event of an accident. It's easy to blame the insurance companies for not paying out but those terms and conditions are there for a reason.

Can anyone translate the OP please, as it doesn't actually say anything?

There are a number of "freebie" "travel insurance" policies out there that are nothing more than basic personal accident coverages. Airlines, credit card companies offer them among others. People are sometimes mistaken into thinking that these policies would cover the full deal. Many of them don't. Know what you're buying (or being given)!

All UK and EU consumer insurance products, which includes travel insurance, by law must include an Insurance Product Information Document (IPID), which should contain, in simplistic terms, all the major risks covered and all the major exclusions. If you don't find what you're looking for on this, there is the insurance policy. If it's stated as covered on the policy, it's included. If it's not covered on the policy, or appears in the exclusions, it is not included. Consumer policies are now written in relatively simple language in order to make them understandable by members of the public with no knowledge of specialist insurance terminology or legalese. I'd like to know what you mean by stating that coverage info is not forthcoming. It's right there in front of you, written in the policy.

I don't know where you are from but in the UK under the 2015 Insurance Act this practice is no longer permitted and insurance companies that attempt to decline a claim due to a breach of a clause or warranty that has no bearing on the claim will have problems from the regulators. If you haven't declared high blood pressure and have a totally unrelated accident for which you are hospitalised, your insurance will pay out (subject to no other breaches occurring of course).

They may have a case but the amount is a joke. King Power have continued to trade since the death of the founder and any loss of earnings during that period is most likely down to COVID and the fact that airport use was minimal UK courts don't offer these sort of amounts; that sum, not would Italian courts; that amount would even be excessive in the USA! And I doubt they would purchase insurance to that level. I'm no aviation liability expert but I doubt there's market capacity to write £2.5bn.

First of the year but how many more will there be? RIP to those unfortunate souls.

Love it!

Anything remarkable about this? Sound like the expected crowd!