Misterwhisper

51 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

but that needs practical action by the public sector.

And herein lies the problem. What the public sector mostly offers is IMpractical action, manifested by convoluted visa and work permit rules that change more often than the seasons, unrealistic financial requirements, restrictive company ownership laws for  most foreigners (except Americans, who can take advantage of the Vietnam War-era "Amity Treaty"), etc. etc..

Take a glance at the digital nomads scheme that they recently formulated and realize the ridiculous preconditions they've set up, including income (from abroad!) requirements and fancy university degrees. Then compare these rules to those of other countries (Portugal, Malta, Cambodia, Vietnam, Jamaica, Ecuador, Lithuania, Estonia, and so on and so forth) that make it incredibly easy for digital nomads to live and work there.

I wonder how much Lynn Howard got paid for waxing on so enthusiastically. Well, perhaps she needed the additional income... 

8 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

To use the new online 90 day reporting system, foreigners must register here: https://tm47.immigration.go.th/tm47/#/register/add

Just clicked on the link and of course it said "Service Unavailable". Surprise, surprise ???? 

9 hours ago, webfact said:

A youth group called "New Kids Opposed to Gambling" made up of several national youth organisations have presented a letter to parliament expressing their opposition to the opening of a legal casino.

And rightfully so! There are more than illegal ones around to keep everybody happy -- proprietors, police, and punters.

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

It's a let down....

What a hanger!

What do you do when the actual national police force is as useless as a pustule on your bum?

That's right... you ask the general public to do the policing, promising them a cash reward PER reported offender that closely approaches the monthly salary of a police lance corporal. 

6 hours ago, toolpush said:

Purachai Piemsombun , Thaksin's Interior Minister brought in this mandate circa 2001-2002 to supposedly cut down on school kids purchasing alcohol during school hours.

Thank you for reminding me. Yes, that was him. Purachai, the puritan.  

52 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Well, apart form the fact that School children cannot legally buy alcohol anyway 

Schoolchildren also cannot legally ride motorcycles under the age of 15 and without proper license...

3 hours ago, webfact said:

This has been in place in Thailand for many years but nobody, including the minister, seems to understand why, notes ASEAN NOW. 

If I recall it correctly, those strange alcohol ban time periods (2pm-5pm and 7am to 11am) were introduced by an over-zealous interior minister serving during Thaksin Shinawatra's first tenure. Can't remember his name but he also was responsible for quite a few other, rather weird and baffling ordinances.

As I understand it, the alcohol ban periods, which only applied to retail shops (supermarkets, 7-Elevens, etc.), were introduced to protect "schoolchildren and students" -- many of whom were hard boozers according to the interior minister.

In any case, even back then the measure met with a lot of confused headshaking, because after all: Pupils/students took their lunch breaks from 11am-2pm, potentially buying alcohol during exactly that "free-for-sale" period, while following afternoon classes they once again were able to purchase alcohol from 5pm onwards when on their way back home. 

I'd rather wish you'd bar people from Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Benin and other illustrious WEST African nations from entering. For completely different reasons than them possibly being infected with the Omicron variant, of course.

Thank you, NNT, for letting us know that this magnificent fair ended YESTERDAY. 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

“The show opened my eyes to how much China has progressed in developing its electric cars,” he said.

Yep, it took them a little while to steal together all the designs and patents from around the world and use them in their own product.

10 minutes ago, webfact said:

This would be accomplished with belt tightening, personal discipline, planning, saving, and self-reliance. 

 

The above are traits not normally associated with the average Thai, notes ASEAN NOW. Those who know the country have often pointed to an attitude of "spend today and let tomorrow look after itself".

Hear, hear!!!

Why do I have the feeling that Thailand is soon going to hold its very own "Democracy Summit"... just to show them Yanks.

1 hour ago, Admiral Hornblower said:

Why the suprise? Myanmar wasn't invited either

Nor the DEMOCRATIC People's Republic of Korea, despite the name.

On 11/24/2021 at 11:00 AM, webfact said:

a top Royal Thai police spokesman has told his compatriots about the evils of gambling.

We should believe him. After all, it is the RTP that either runs many of the illegal dens in this country, or at least frequently collects lucrative "donations" from them in exchange for turning a blind eye. It is thus surely in the best interest of the RTP to prevent legal casinos.