madmitch

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.

The old "crackdowns" that went a bit quiet during covid appearing again. As usual brought about by one isolated incident. I've known many people using this route ( I did myself several years ago) but not known any that have had problems. It is illegal but as is often the case in Thailand, a two week hit then forgotten about....until another incident makes the headlines!

Isn't Thailand already a global tourism hub?

They need to improve public transport to the major concert venues. Muang Thong Thanii and Rajamangala both woefully served by public transport. It can take as long to get a taxi as the duration of the concert!

If the wholesale price of a box of beer goes down what effect will this have on prices in bars? I'd guess precisely zero. But when it goes back up to the original price again the bars will probably put their prices up! There's no chance of this boosting tourism. Even if duty on imported wine reduces this won't affect tourism numbers, it''s just that more of them might order a bottle or glass of wine with dinner.....but only if restaurants actually reduce prices.

I wonder if General Yodyut experienced the Phuket traffic between the aiport and town or was he escorted in a police convoy with other traffic stopped, hence worsening the traffic situation? I think I know the answer😉

I would like to think that these wildfires might at last cause the Government to take action against the slash and burn practices. But I doubt it it'll have any effect whatsoever.

I attended two of these, the one at the Ratri Jazz Restaurant in Kata, where partners were invited which made mingling more difficult. I met Donna and chiangmai and that's all I can remember. I was also at the one in Skippers, which was much more sociable, with such characters as the OP, Grumpy Old Man, Valentine, Oilinki, Steelpulse and a few others, most of whom are rare if non-existent posters these days. My posts are few and far between as I'm in England now, so will be unable to attend.

I think he means buy travel insurance from their own country, not local as in Thailand as that isn't generally available.

I don't think they have used actuaries in calculating and budgeting that amount. 1.5 baht per tourist? That 50m baht pot will last long. Policies often contain an "Other Insurance" clause, stating that the travel policy will only pay in excess of other insurance that might be in place. This includes Government pools and schemes. If the Government call this scheme "insurance" there could be some issues in claiming on travel insurance; you can't claim twice for the same incident.

Thanks for uploading. I did not read it from cover to cover but take a look at the language; there is no legalese at all, in fact, on my opinin, it is over-simplistic and that is why it is so long. And that's what you should now expect in insurance policies for consumers. The client must be able to understand it. NB Our American readers: your insurance policies are still years away from being consumer-friendly and I can't see any changes imminent. Your lawyers have to keep making money! o

I draft, read and review insurance policies for a living. So many out of date comments on here. We don't know the circumstances of the accident so I can't comment on the claim but it should only be denied if she rode the bike over the cliff. If she got off the bike then the riding of the bike is not a contributory factor. The UK has introduced consumer duty legislation, which means financial documents must now be drafted in a manner that is understandable by individuals buying them. If a claim is denied and the language is over-complicate, the client is permitted to make a formal complaint and this can end up with the insurance ombudsman. The onbudsman can force insurers to pay. I'd like to see the 117 page travel policy as this would not comply with current legislation, unless it's not a UK policy. The Scottish girl involved in the accident obviously would have a UK policy and I would be happy to take a look to see if she is eligible to complain. NB Insurance companies hate these complaints as it causes a lot of internal administration. Expecting a feww LOL emojis but, believe me, the above is true, and I have spent hours adapting wordings to comply.

Reading the verdict, it was mainly conjecture with no actual facts but that's good enough for a panel made up entirely of elderly men, no doubt all strongly monarchist, pro-military and supported by the elites. They knew this was coming and that's probably the only reason Pita got off the other charge.

These blips can happen anywhere. Totally agree Thai systems are often very poor but this type of incident isn't unique to Thailand.

So the Governor of Bangkok Remand Prison will decide, despite Thaksin not spending a single night there!

That was the deal before teaming up with the pro-military parties to form the Government. No chance of meaningful reform under the present coalition.

Large companies that supply business phones to their staff would be the main reason. And organised crime groups

I've cut my head twice on low signs, one right outside a hospital when I was going to visit someone. Quite a good spot if you are going to have an accident :)

This should read "In the UK they cannot show someone who appears to be under 25......."

I only ever learn about these subvariants from topics on this forum, The rest of the world has given up reporting on them!

I wonder what illness she'll come down with?

Thailand Pushes ‘Land Bridge’ to Speed Trade Increase many bank balances

I think they are counting the trip to the next village to see granny as domestic tourism.

I've heard the restaurants, massage shops, bars and other tourist-driven places in Phuket are all quieter than last year. Air fares are around 50% higher than they were pre-pandemic and hotel prices are up due to inflation and the increased electricity, water and staff costs, so it's no real surprise.