hardy1943

Fok 'em the greedy bastards! It was just a matter of time before this bank scam came to Thailand. US banks started doing this to their customers years ago, charging anywhere from US$2-5 for 'out of network' ATM withdrawals that cost the banks pennies.

US banks already charge their customers international service fees for cash withdrawals from foreign ATM's so it would seem that now the Thai banks are double dipping...

I'm doing everything by international wire transfer until this bs is sorted out. Sure there's a wire fee, but it's a flat fee so if you send over large amounts it does save you money and you can avoid paying this ridiculous fee to the greedy Thai banks.

Just had my daughter wire me $US10,000 .They can shove that 150 baht where the sun never shines too.

May as well allow the Banks to throw EXTRA SERVICE CHARGES on Foreign Cash Withdrawals..

Never do I cease to be surprised by the behavior here .

AMAZING THAILAND

They are certainly number 1 to know how to screw things up

As always, articles quoted from the Thai press are notorious unreliable and Thai journalists have no trouble twisting facts or reporting according the wishes of the political masters of the moment.

We have a government who is constantly using a crystal ball, looking there is easier than making policy. If there is already a cause that there are less travellers it is because of the airport occupation and the fact that bookings made by tourists were simply paid for till the end of the high season which has no ended.

Fresh bookings have not replaced the old stock fully. Secondly, air travel worldwide is down this year so far with 15% because of the recession. Almost all countries are hit by dwindling visitors. The political upheaval and the mismanagement of it by the government who loved the sound of guns instead of bringing in riot police will absolutely have an effect, but this cannot be measured yet.

The hotelbranche however is good in extorting taxpayers money from the government. After the airport occupation the Abhisit government decided to pay their interest on loans (how silly) and since government help always taste good, hoteliers see another great opportunity to ask for a bailout.

Just let the market do the job, the big hotels are underpaying their staff for a very long time, so it is much better for the government to help these poor people instead of the fat cat Indian and Chinese who own most properties anyhow.

Excellent and true. Thank you

Start charging for plastic bags. Problem solved.

And enforce a stiff fine for littering

Forgot to mention the RUSSIAN MAFIA in the article

The group in power, Abhisit & co, allowed their friends to occupy the airport and government house without using the army.

On a point of fact, that was a different government, a PPP-led coalition, led by Thaksin's brother-in-law Somchai. PM-Abhisit & the Democratic-Party were then the opposition.

Ah, the proud red tradition, never let the facts get in the way of a good argument.

I say the group in power because I look at the results - Somchai was never really in charge as he did not have support of the unelected power brokers.

Just watched a fascinating programme about West Point - the US Army teaches its soldiers that their political masters are indeed their masters, it is something some military forces forget, that they should be subservient to the will of the properly elected government.

Being in the military one is government property and that applies to every country.

All they need to do is honor an election , but I guess that is to much to asked.

Let blow some money and hide behind a smoke screen and never mind about the majority of the people.

Given the latest crisis, do you have confidence in Abhisit's abilities to lead this country out of the current crisis?

hel_l no. He is scared to call on election. We would not had all of this if he did.

This is getting so out of hand, it almost feels like a war. These people have to be stopped before someone is seriously injured or killed.

Democracy Now. Give them a fair election with out having a kangaroo court reverse it. Just like one Thai said on the interview on Cnn:I am not a great supporter of Thaksin but I would like to see my son live under a real democracy. Is this to much to asked for and all the BS be over.

Not that I care but just as a point of intrets as this is a tourist city does that mean nightlife closed?

It is the biggest prostitution city in South East Asia and controlled by the Russian Mafia

a more accurate and informative report in the Australian newspaper this morning

Protesters shut down ministers' meeting

From correspondents in Pattaya | April 11, 2009

Article from: Agence France-Presse

THE foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea cancelled a meeting at an Asian summit in Pattaya after Thai anti-government protesters blockaded their hotel, officials said.

Hundreds of demonstrators calling for the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva prevented the Japanese minister's car from entering the venue in the beach resort, reports from the scene said.

The meeting, which was set to discuss North Korea's recent rocket launch and economic issues, was called off after the ministers had waited for an hour, officials from the Chinese and Japanese delegations said.

It was the first time that the red-shirted supporters of fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had managed to disrupt the summit program since they descended on Pattaya a day earlier.

About 2000 demonstrators laid siege yesterday to the main venue of the meeting of 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders plus their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

They had dispersed overnight but returned early this morning to block the road outside the meeting of the three east Asian nations with taxis and at least two large trucks, witnesses said.

AMAZING THAILAND.....having a Summit in a in a Russian Mafia controlled city. No to bright.

Now this might get me banned or arrested, but where can we go from here?

There's two sides who have no sign of reconciling their differences, a military unwilling to govern, the owners of big business who will support whoever ends up winning, and a divide between Bangkok and the provinces that gets clearer and clearer every day.

There's a government that has shown no real effort to quell civil unrest, a party that's been banned time and time again, a global economic downturn, and no true clarity of the situation in the international media.

All I can see is civil war or the return of absolute monarchy.

I disagree.

Yellow + Red = a tiny minority.

Thai population wants peace and sanook.

Being Thai myself, I can say that they want peace and sanook but only their particular brand of it. Close-minded politicians are elected to appeal to specific social strata who in reality only act in favor of their own interests.

The filthy rich will always support the government that will bend towards their needs, the middle class will be unclear but mostly side with the Dems. despite all of their corruption and self-serving nature, and the working class will continue to follow TRT incarnations despite of all of their corruption and self-serving nature.

Foreign media will continue to lambast whoever happens to be in power.

Even though the Yellow and Red are small minorities, they still aren't insignificant and have huge swaying power.

I'm French and when we demonstrate it's far more impressive. It's millions persons in the streets. Our police is very efficient and trained but look at the burned hotel in Strasbourg last week.

Indeed, Thai people are far more peaceful than French and red and yellow are not numerous. Of course, French police would never have allowed yellow to act like that last year but this is not my point today.

You know perfectly the reds do exist because the yellows exist and you know perfectly that the yellows exist due to a strange unfortunate chain of events that we cannot explain here.

Maybe the real problem is not with yellow or red but with the factors bringing this unfortunate chain of events.

Well said, thank you

Agree with Robert44, if you do nothing wrong, you won't have to pay anything. And then, if you broke some traffic rules and you have issues with paying directly the police officer who stopped you, you've always the option to pay the regular fine.

The real tittle of this tread should be "75% of motorists are fine with traffic rules, have no problems whatsoever with traffic police and are just happy drivers" But that wouldn't make a successful thread...

Just remember, they police don’t really care about trafic law you break, they find any excuse to stop you and then get money from you

Sorry, never had that problem. Have wife drive, have been stopped at a few roadblocks,

they are always very polite I even do not carry any ID or passport. Wife tells them I am her husband

and she has my last name on her drivers license. I live up North in Chiang Rai maybe some where else different.

Economic crisis begins to bite into business sector

BANGKOK: -- The economic crisis has begun to clearly bite into Thailand’s business sector as is witnessed by the swift decline in listed companies’ profitability and debt repayment prospects due to the weakening of local and overseas demand, according to the Bank of Thailand (BoT).

Amara Sripayak, senior director of the central bank’s Local Economy Division, said that wholesale and retail trade in January dropped by 8.5 per cent and 7 per cent respectively from the same month last year because of the weakening of production and construction activities.

In addition, confidence among entrepreneurs and consumers remained low due to increased unemployment and global economic uncertainties.

The overall wholesale trade in almost all categories, especially the sale of building materials, metals and agricultural supplies had also fallen from the same month the year before.

The overall retail trade had dropped, reflecting a reduction of consumer spending although product prices had declined, she said.

A group of products with increased sales include the retail trade in supermarkets with constant sales promotions.

Total production in the business sector had dropped swiftly due to a weakening of local and overseas demands, she said.

It reflected a fall in profitability of the business sector and performance of most listed companies on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).

An increase in the economic risk factor as a result of economic weakness led to a continued rise in loan defaults from the previous quarter.

It resulted in higher borrowing costs of the business sector in the banking system or in the financial market.

-- TNA 2009-04-02

Keep the Baht at the ridicules high price and baby you have n't seen nothing yet

Perhaps they could wear reversible color shirts. Approach to occupy in yellow, and then turn it over to red after the occupation. Yeah, that's the ticket!

I second that motion

Time for the current government to resign and call elections.

i agree ... the red shirt and the yellow shirts have had their say.

Now let the people have their say. time to call elections.

True, but we all know the merry go round, red shirts will win, kangaroo court will call it illegal,

let face the truce, the Thai Rak Thai party years ago made for the first time the poor fell like real human people,

and they will never forget it.

PVC pipes will last a very long time if not exposed to UV.

Its the glue that fails.

If its in a wall and you have a leak no choice but to just break down the wall.

The reason the glue fails because they dip there finger in the glue and then apply it.

First time I was told that, I thought they where joking, there are not it is very easy to go along

and twist each joint and break it loose. In the US one uses pipe cleaner first and then apply it with a brush.

Here a dirty clay finger is good enough. It is also very toxic and will be absorb thru the skin.

I having a house build right now and I insisted that they will clean everything with sand paper and then

apply it with a brush.

Good! a step in the right direction, if they are guilty they should go down.

Next will be the murder of them there boat refugees not so long ago.

Thank God for justice!

Maybe Somchai was not in charge then.. if you want to to say something pls do your homework!!

Didn't mean Somchai, but who ever was responsible should be brought to justice.

The people responsible are the the ones in charge now.. you think they bring themselfs to jusitice?

Exactly, the witch hunt is still on they still can not get over it that the Thai Rak Thai, or what ever they had to call themselves made the poor people feel like human beings. How dare of them do that. Hey PAD put them back in their place and make them feel like animals again.

When the tourist industry goes bad blame the foreigner. When a foreigner is killed, blame the foreigner. Do whatever it takes to shift anything that could place the blame at a local's feet away.....

Exactly, Bloomberg has named Thailand as most corrupt country in Asia for the last several years.

Enough said.

If Thaksin hadn't done the extra-judicial drug killings, and cut down on the greedy corrupt margins, he might be worth saving, but corruption breeds corruption and I don't think anyone, including the red shirts are denying that he was corrupt.

Neither side is worthy of power. Both are narrow and lack empathy. Both yellow and red behave as if they lack education, and are pushing for what by text books would describe as right wing.

I don't really like the way the country is going right now and I don't just mean politics. There's also a general feeling of lack of law and order. Take for example the arrest of the Swiss journalist who was hand cuffed at the airport here in Bangkok but taken away to a prison in Pattaya for making commentary on a Swiss/Thai charity aired only in Switzerland seven years ago!!!

One better whisper behind closed doors. Democracy, the PAD is a far cry from it.

Full listing for info : http://www.weforum.org/pdf/TTCR09/TTCR09_Rankings.pdf

All I can say the ladies rank # 1 and sure are friendly

So if I understand you right you are in the bubblebath business and got exportation cause the government

wanted 5 percent discount ?

the governement thought few month ago to devaluate the thb, the thb isn't fluctuating like other currencies, the governement keep it artificially high.

recently the prime minister ordered a study regarding the advantages and inconvenient of evaluating the bath, study wich conclude it wasn't necessary.

so finally things are moving naturally and thb seems to fluctuate again, wich is normal.

and no i'm not in the bubble bath business, i'm mostly spending THB

Thai exports only dropes 37% in January and you have not seen nothing yet. China are are the only smart ones th

they keep their currencies artificially low.

ASEAN SUMMIT

Thailand, I'nesia, M'sia in tourism pact

CHA-AM: -- Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand will launch a joint tourism package to bring quick money into crisis-hit economies, a Thai minister said yesterday.

The Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) yesterday declared an "IMT-GT Celebration Year" for the package.

It was inspired by the success of 2008's "Visit IMT-GT Year". The three countries will jointly promote tourism, said PM's Office Minister Virachai Virameteekul.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva discussed the plan with Indonesian President Susilo Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi at an IMT-GT summit.

One idea is a joint promotion of medical tourism, Virachai told reporters, without detailing the plan.

Set up in 1993, the IMT-GT aims to strengthen sub-regional cooperation and economic growth.

It has a five-year road map covering infrastructure, halal food, trade and tourism running till 2011.

Abhisit suggested exploring synergy among individual development plans to attract investors.

Thailand could connect its Southern Seaboard Development Plan with Malaysia's northern and eastern corridor economic regions, Virachai said.

The IMT-GT scheme covers 10 Indonesian provinces, eight Malaysian states and 14 southern Thai provinces.

Thailand hopes the scheme will also benefit the predominantly Muslim deep South, where ongoing violence has killed more than 3,200 people since 2004.

The Governors' and Chief Ministers' Forum will play a key role in promoting trade, investment and tourism, Virachai said.

The three leaders urged the forum to improve mechanisms to ensure growth of local private sectors, he said.

-- The Nation 2009-03-01

another half baked plan - what next - maybe a miracle drink to get tourists here!!!

Just another pipe dream lol

I see very few Thais who eat a 'western' diet and even fewer who eat western fast foods. I do see a lot of people, who now that they have more money, stuff themselves and their kids with large amounts of greasy food--still Thai food--but a lot more oil in it than years past--and some really sweet, surgary snacks and drinks.

One of the first things that happen when a society gets richer is that it gets fatter.

Here, in Thailand, when I first arrived, I towered over everyone and weighed quite a bit more. When I took a motorcycle taxi, I had to be careful not to shift my weight because it sent the thing flying in a different direction. I could also look over the driver's head easily. Now, I can hop around back there as much as I want because the driver is about the same size.

Since a lot of these people come from up country, it seems they have grown as well.

you are correct and why keep blaming KFC MCDonalds Pizza Hut for that?

I live in an area where we don't even have them and still every 3rd person seems to be over weight.

Before any fast foods the USA had studies with Japanese immigrants starting some 100 years ago.

Second generation Japanese born in the US where 4 inches taller then their parents and 3rd generation added

another 3 inches and the ones where their forefather came 100-120 years ago are just about as tall as the average

Whites. Its the protein and the diet. Any one with straight legs their diet is usually healthy. First thing I noticed in Thailand most ladies have beautiful straight legs.

I went the to Americam Embassy to renew my passport as it expires in June of this year. I was told I cannot travel to another country if I have less than 6 months remaining on my passport. So filled in the forms, made the long trip to the U.S. Embassy, paid the $75.00 for the new passport, submitted my papers and was told to have a seat. I noticed many people who came after me come and go. I was still sitting there. Finally after more than an hour my name was called. The clerk told me "sorry, sir, we have have to keep your passport for "administrative review." I replied, "why, is there a problem?" She responded, "I have no idea sir." I said, "how can I rent a hotel room without my passport?" - I was planning on staying in bangkok tonight." She replied, "sorry, sir, we have to keep your passport." I have lived here for 10 years, never been arrested, I just an English teacher. I had a similar experience 2 years ago when I went to the Embassy to have extra pages added to my passport. They held me for two hours. Eventually, the clerk came out and apolgized to me saying "we thought we had a 'hit' on your name but it turns out it wasn't you." I wonder if it's the same problem. Some computer glitch or something. In any event, it really bothersome. Anyone else ever had a similar problem?

Your name is on Bush created watch list. Had a story a couple years back on CNN where a US Congressman was

detained every time he try to get on a plane. Even with his credentials kept him each time long enough to miss the plane. Needless to say he was not a happy camper he could not get it off the list and finally went to CNN and

had made a documentary while trying to board a plane. That got him off the list or a special pass. Sorry can not remember his name.

I do not understand why everyone is griping about Thai airlines. I pretty much use them exclusively from LAX to BKK when I fly, several times a year. I think the service is excellent, and have never had a problem with them. The LAX to BKK route also uses the airbus planes, not the old 747's, so I can't complain about the condition of the planes either as they appear to be new to me. The only downside is the price, which yes, is more than other airlines. But if I am happy, a little more money is not that big of a drawback.

I agree, Thai airlines always has been good to me. I also fly EVA is less expensive but good. US airlines just suck and as an American I avoid them like the plaque. Find Asian based Airlines much better.