SIamYank

Think this is another populist scheme that will drain government coffers and put more cars on the road. Of course people are taking advantage of it and having trusted family members buy their new cars for them so that they can get the rebate. It is a natural result of these sorts of programs.

That is exactly why my wife bought her first car in 2012. She has not driven it once of course. We have been to the office just two weeks ago. It was very easy to register and they say we will see deposits in to her account September 2013. 12% rebate on a car we needed any way. It is a no brainer!

For our sake I hope it doesnt come to a crashing halt just before wee get our loot... we'll see

My gf ordered her new Honda Jazz in January and got it in June. Whilst I'm there I drive a lot of the time but she has to drive it to work now I'm back in the UK for a while. Not sure about the chances of getting any money back. We haven't even got any licence plates for it yet. Maybe she should have given a bigger "donation / tip".

Tell you GF to go to the nearest office as soon as she gets her registration (ie. has to turn in her red plates) You dont actually need your black and white plates, only the blue book/registration. We dont have our black and white plates either... But be careful. You have to report the purchase within a deadline after recieving your blue book. I think it might even be 30 days deadline.

We asked our salesperson from the showroom to go with us and he walked us through the process. We were in and out in 30 minutes. We did tip him for his good service, but didnt have to pay any backhanders to anybody official.

Think this is another populist scheme that will drain government coffers and put more cars on the road. Of course people are taking advantage of it and having trusted family members buy their new cars for them so that they can get the rebate. It is a natural result of these sorts of programs.

That is exactly why my wife bought her first car in 2012. She has not driven it once of course. We have been to the office just two weeks ago. It was very easy to register and they say we will see deposits in to her account September 2013. 12% rebate on a car we needed any way. It is a no brainer!

For our sake I hope it doesnt come to a crashing halt just before wee get our loot... we'll see

Oh guys, please don't be so naive.

I am a Christian Catholic from Serbia.

Americans bombed my country because of so called "The freedom of speech".

I didn't have a clue what was happening but many innocent people had died there.

Anyway, after whole that long period of suffering I thought that an average American citizen cannot do anything about it because he is just an ordinary guy who has to pay taxes to the US Government because otherwise he would go to prison.

After that I left the country and met quite a number of Americans.

I was very disappointed because I saw by my eyes that their ego was too much high.

They thought that their opinion was always relevant. Every conversation finished with "I am right" (meaning "We are right"), what was just foolish.

I can't say, I met some Americans who were just normal people (minority) who really didn't care about the crap that the US Government did whit its propaganda spreading around the World and were really good people who I deeply respect.

All the others don't know "to clean their ass after pooping out" - with the other words they are not aware of the reality in the world.

This whole crap is not just about the movie but it is almost the last drop in a glass.

No one likes that American crap when they behave like they are always right.

PS. I am still aware that there are a lot of good and normal people in America who are aware about what their Government does around the world.

I feel the same way about Serbians. I once spent a few years living in Australia in a neighbourhood near Serbian immigrants. Every week they were fighting with Croatian immigrants.

Please tell me again how most American are aggressive and ignorant, and how Serbians are peaceloving and openminded.

Yes. Serbia would have been a peace loving Shangri La had it not been for those Arrogant Violent Americans!

Its very nice that they allowed one of the ministers kids kindergarten class to make the signage for the event.

Because Freedom of Speech shouldn't allow hatred of religion or ethnicity....wouldn't you agree that the world would be a happier place if there was less hate of others?

Sure, and one way to achieve that is to remove all religion.

How exactly would you go about "removing" religion from people?!?! What kind of thought police are best at removing peoples belief systems?

The Spanish were pretty effective at removing their Muslims and Jews... The Nazi's pretty effective at removing Jewish Europeans maybe one of those brilliant game plans would work?

Or maybe instead we should just let people believe whatever they want, and not stone them, kill them, jail them, ridicule torture or re-educate them.

Those are some very wealthy family names on that list. But let's not rush to judgement! I have heard that it was the butlers and the drivers who work for these families who illegally signed this paperwork.

This statement is total bull. Driving is very easy. 98% of people can do it safely and politely if they choose to. Aint no training necessary. Experience can teach you what you need to know. Lets be honest. It is not much more difficult than walking. To suggest that more cars or marketing to incapable people is the problem is total bullocks.

That being said... I dont have a problem with 90% of the Thai drivers on the road. There is definately a different driving style to "The West", and the regulations here are extremely lax (no lights being my biggest complaint). And the variety of vehicles on the road creates more hazardous conditions... but to say it is caused by too many people (or not the rgiht people) having cars is asinine.

But the

10% tax rebate on new cars = many more cars

awaiting those that claim this never happens is Western countries... so his girlfriend must have done it!

A silly post really. The posts that I have read where people speculate that this is a possibility have had valid reasons for making that speculation. Of course next you'll be claiming that foreigners being offed in Thailand for their money or for other reasons never happens, it only happens in the west.

No not silly. It seems to me that on TV every man who reportedly falls, jumps, or otherwise dies of suspicious circumstances is assumed to be offed by his Thai GF for his money. I have seen posts where it is suggested that people rarely jump to their death in Western countries. This is not true. I lived near the George Washington Bridge in NYC and I can tell you people offing themselves from that bridge was almost daily. Frequent suicide in Thailand, makes even more sense considering the number of down on their luck, emotionally distraught,end of their rope, older gentlemen who come here.

I am not trying to make light of this poor fellows situation. But more poking fun at the TV posters who immediately jump to the conclusion that anything nefarious that happens in Thailand must be the work of a greedy bar girl.

When people drag up the USA as an example of dual pricing, please offer full disclosure that dual pricing is based on area of residency and the only requirement to get the local price is to show an id card (typically a driver's license). I would be extremely surprised if anyone in the USA was asked for a tax report in order to get the local price - The only time I can imagine a tax report being required would be for the university requirement. Excluding universities, I have never seen a price for USA citizens and a different for others. There could be the odd place, but I have never heard nor seen it or I have forgotten it. But I do depend on one of the data miners here on thaivisa to find it.

Area of residency

SF Zoo - show an id card with an SF address and you are in with the local price.

Universities - If you are a resident from outside of that state, you will pay more. I am not sure how it works once you establish residency. Will the fees go down in the second or third year or is there a way to establish residency while enrolled... I do not know.

Here is my first hand knowledge of dual pricing in the USA:

1) State funded Universities (as you point out) Every state is different but generally speaking "in-state residents" will pay half the tuition of "out-state residents" Foreign residents will also pay double that of US residents. The system makes perfect sense considering that both state and federal taxes pay in to the operating expenses of the University. Most state universities will require that you are a tax paying resident of that state for a certain term (maybe 1 year) prior to applying to the university. So no. you can not change your status after a year or two.

2) New York state parks charge a different rate for residents and non-residents for camping fees. I am personally sure of this. I have heard people say this happens in Hawaii and Oregon too. And I also assume many other states.

3) Beaches in New Jersey very often are free for local residents but will charge non residents for access. I am 100% sure of this since I grew up in various New Jersey beach towns.

4) My town (Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ) pool has dual pricing. residents pay approx 40% of non residents.

5) County golf course - Almost all counties in New Jersey have county funded golf courses. Greens fees are generally 50% less for county residents.

6) Parking - Hoboken New Jersey has free parking for residents (show your lease and utility bills to the Hoboken Parking Authority) and you get a free windshield sticker. All others are limited to parking only on one side of the street for a maximum of four hours or they are towed away.

7) my ex girlfriend - She will screw almost anybody with an Italian accent, but if not your going to have to buy dinner first;)

Admittedly I do not know of any federal cases of dual pricing in the USA but it happens on the state, county, and local level very frequently in my experience.

There will be other ways for the park employees to extort money. Foreigners even those who pay taxes in Thailand will be told they need ten tickets instead of one to enter the park en additional costs will be levied on cars. The worst National park is Khao Yai, you easily pay there thousands of baht to enter as a foreigner. Dual pricing is a dumb thing but in Thailand it is infringing on the personal life of people and nobody who will do anything about it. The ultra nationalist yellow shirt movement must love it.

I paid 40 baht to enter Khao Yai just six weeks ago with my Thai DL.

Be very careful commenting on the US as a whole as there are few generalizations that hold up to scrutiny... federal and, in my experience, state attractions do not charge different rates based on residency and I am very curious to know where you live that you have to pay for a walk on the beach? Are you entering a national park? state park? I am from Virginia and while tuition rates do reflect your post nothing else does. In DC the Smithsonian system and National Zoo are free for all. When I lived in New Orleans, a major tourist town, PRIVATE businesses offered discount cards to locals but their was no two tier pricing scheme similar to what is found here.

Regarding Thais paying for these attractions in taxes, the vast majority of foreigners in Thailand (including those not paying income tax) pay far MORE in taxes than the typical Thai as there is no income tax below 20,000 baht per month but rather a VAT of 7% (and the foreigners spend more thus outpacing the natives in tax contributions). I really don't see how discriminatory pricing can be justified with regard to nationality in a country where the vast majority only pay VAT and not income tax and the attractions themselves are hardly maintained to an high standard.

I do realize that state and local laws vary widely in the US. So I am not trying to generalize about all of the USA but only stating my experience. The beach towns I am referring to are in New Jersey. These are town controlled beaches not community, state or national parks. The first town where residents received while non-residents have to pay was Ocean Beach III, a section of Lavalette NJ. The town where I now own a home and all have to pay to access the beach is Avon-by-the-Sea NJ. You can look it up. I am sure the beach fees are outlined on the town websites. In fact I think you will find that most towns in New Jersey charge for beach access.

I have also lived in Hoboken, NJ, where residents park for free on the streets but non-residents have a 4 hour limit, have pay a parking deck, or feed a meter. I am sure this is detailed also on Hoboken's website

Most counties in New Jersey have county golf courses. All of which have different fees for residents and non-residents.

Our town pool has one price for residents and another price for non-residents.... also to be found on the Avon-by-the-Sea NJ website if you are interested.

And as for your comments on Thai and US taxes... I'd rather fight you to the death with plastic soup spoons than dissect the intricacies of Thai and US tax law. But both of these tax systems are based on a mix of income, VAT, and corporate taxes. In both systems higher income people pay much higher percentages of their income than lower income people, Of course, higher income people also pay much more VAT... because they buy more. same in both countries. And you forgot to mention corporate taxes which are high in both countries. It is also import to remember that there are many non US citizens who contribute to the US tax base also. But the basic fact is still that the taxes collected by the Thai government pay for institutions like the National parks and museums.

Do agree completely with your comments on the Smithsonian Museums in Washington DC. If any readers of this forum have the opportunity to visit Washington DC you should make a point of taking advantage of this US taxpayer provided gift to the culture of the world. They are great institutions and research facilities.

I would think that combined, Patpong, Patong, Nana, Cowboy, Beach Rd, and those big Japanese places up on Ratchada would win this competition every night of the week.

When was the last time you used your DL to get the lower price in a park? They changed that about a year ago so now you need a thai id to get a lower price. They won't accept your DL.

I went to Khao Yai National Park about 6 weeks ago and probably three other Natl parks in the past year. Never any questions asked when just using my Thai DL

National Parks should be just that National Parks, a place where all should be able to enjoy the natural enviroment of the country. I think the costs are already too high. 40 THB is already prohibitive for a large segment of the Thai population. That means a family of 6 is paying 240 THB +50 THB vehicle = 290 THB just to get in to the park. That is a full days wage for most Thais.

The foreigner price is also a bit steep. Last year I had three family members visiting, we were cruising through Kanchanaburi and thought it would be nice to have a picnic lunch by the waterfall. 1200 THB for them + 80 THB for the wife and I + 50 THB for the car = 1330 THB. Thats a bit steep for a picnic.

As for all the two tiered pricing haters... I have to say I really disagree. These are facilities paid for by Thai taxes so Thais should receive a discount. We all know that if the rate for Thais was 400 THB very few Thais could afford to go.

I am from the USA so I can't speak for any other country.... but two tiered pricing happens all the time in the USA.

I grew up in a beach town. Every household in town got two free season passes, all outsiders could only buy week long passes at 20USD per week or day passes at 5USD per day. Now my US home is in a different beach town where we dont have that same policy. It infuriates me that we dont have a similar system. If I want to take a walk on the beach when I come home from work just 200 meters from my house it costs me the same as any tourist, 8USD even though I pay the high taxes associated with operating a tourist town; lifeguards, beach cleaning, large police force etc. they do not.

State Universities are probably the best example. Out of state residents usually pay about 100% more than in-state residents, foreign students pay about 100% more than that (so 4X what a local would pay). Again, in my opinion this is totally reasonable since state and federal taxes pay for those schools.

Some of the many other examples are; county parks, county golf courses, swimming pools, town parking permits etc etc etc. not to mention two tiered pricing for seniors, disabled people, military, students... the list goes on and on and on... so I don't feel any need to beat up on Thais about this.

And if it bother you so much... go get a Thai DL. Its cheap and simple and I've never been asked to pay the foreign price after showing my Thai DL. Never need to show my Tambien Ban, work permit or anything. Just Thai DL.

Jai Yen Yen Mo Fo's

Thai Banks charge for transactions. Both in and out unless you are doing the transaction in the region where you opened your account. For example, I have an account that I opened at Bangkok Bank in Bangkok, if I want to make a deposit to that account while I am in Isaan they charge me a fee. Recently I wanted to switch funds from one of my accounts and deposit in to another. They charged me a fee to do the withdrawal from one account and then another fee to deposit the same funds in to another account.... at the same bank! Crazy but true.

However, as to your general question "what's the point of Thai banks" I would suggest you look at the interest rates. I am currently getting 3.25 percent at Bangkok Bank. That is far better than anything I could get in my home country (USA) which would be less than 1%. This kind of interest rate makes up for any nominal fees I have to pay.

When moving money from the USA, I normally combat the large transfer fees and poor exchange rates by just bringing over a wad of cash when I travel from the US to Thailand. I get a much better rate from the local money changer than I do on any bank to bank transfers.

I live in very rural Thailand and this very night I was approached at our local weekly market to pay to feed a baby elephant some sugar cane. My personal policy is always to not do it. Why? because it supports similar behavior. But this is a very tough stance knowing that you might be contributing to the death of that particular animal in your refusal. It is no different than refusing a starving dog food, knowing it might die if you dont feed it, but also knowing more dogs will come if you do. And very sadly it is no different than refusing the begging child on the streets of Bangkok a handout, knowing that if you give it will only promote more begging children. It is a heart crushing decision to walk past a hungry child, but you have to process the decision to know that it will only push more hungry children to the street quite often and the hands of the mafia.

The real destruction of these animals has to do with loss of habitat. The same as any wild animal, especially those who need a large grazing area, like elephants. Don't blame the mahouts, the logging industry, the tourist industry... to be perfectly honest if these industries didn't use elephants in SE Asia there would be very few elephants left. Much of the problem here in Thailand is industrialization. Industries that once used elephants for work 25 years ago no longer do because it is cheaper and easier to use machines. That has essentially put elephants out of work. Elephants live a long time!

Many of these posters remind me of suburban North Americans who deplore the hunting of deer or bears as evil, yet do not see the correlation of their own suburban homes lying in the middle of deer and bear habitat. And the Europeans on this forum have to recognize that their communities have killed off most of their wild animals a very long ago.

I am not supporting the cruelty of animals or the murder of wild elephants to abduct the young. It is generally cruel people who feel the need to abuse animals. Unfortunately, it happens in most of the world (cock fighting, drugging race horses, exotic pet birds, dolphin shows, dancing bears etc.) I know it has all been going on for a very long time. But having this argument without the consideration of the destruction of habitat is missing the biggest point.

Plan ahead, figure out where the toilets are

If you are camping on a beach figuring out the direction of the toilet is pretty simple.

Now if they only made a law that listening to loud music is illegal as well. We'd finally get rid of those annoying boomboomboom-karaoke buses. Or why just not cut to the chase and make karaoke illegal. Hell, I'd chip in to buy the votes needed there.

EDIT: and the fresh Thai view of the law "blah blah blah", polled five of them

I think you'd need more money than Taksin to buy the votes needed to make Karaoke illegal.

you must be young and stupid right ?!?!

please stay home

as we are runing out of body bags here .

Why is he stupid!?!? Camping is one of the best ways to travel! There are great places to camp all over Thailand including many great remote beaches. I am pretty sure he's not planning on camping Pattaya or Patong Beach. Camping on a remote beach is a hell of a lot safer then taking a stroll down sukhumvit!

The beaches are public in Thailand. If it is very remote... there should be no problem and no cost. If there is a small village there I would talk to the locals, maybe buy the Phu Yai Ban a bottle of lao khao... and be sure to patronize the local shops or restarant... and smile a lot then it should be no problem...If it is a busy or touristy beach... probably not a good idea. I would also probably try not to camp alone unless it is a very remote area.

In general i would say you will actually have more problems in a National park because they have rules, and want to stick you in a campground. I prefer more private "primitive" camping. In the national Parks the designated camp grounds tend to turn in to makeshift Karoake parlors... especially on the weekends when the Bankkokians roll in.

BTW I am always looking for camping buddies. I have done lots of camping, hiking, kayaking and canoeing in the states, but infortunately not so much here in TLand for lack of like minded friends. msg me if you might be interested in the possibility of arranging trips.