tomacht8

Looks like Thailand arrivals are falling again. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything current. I think if tourist arrivals had gone up we would have read hooray news from the TAT. The current "simplifications": 5 day self-test and insurance 20K don't bring much life into the arrival numbers. Best 1% was removed from 100% complicated paperwork hurdles. The generals just don't have what it takes to run the country.

100% true. There were still enough after-hour clubs back then. Nevertheless, Thaksin made the first hard cut into the club scene back then (2am closing time). The freedom to party and have fun as long as you wanted was gone under him. But no comparison to the current government, who managed - not only since Covit - to completely kill the nightlife, club scene and fun. Thailand/ Bangkok used to have one of the world's best nightlife. Now there is the last glass of whiskey coke at 9pm with the noodle soup. Really not a stimulus for potential tourists who don't just want to see the Temples.

Thailand: Public spending on education, percent of GDP, 1971 - 2019: ... The latest value from 2019 is 2.97 percent. For comparison, the world average in 2019 based on 101 countries is 4.18 percent. https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Thailand/Education_spending/#:~:text=Thailand%3A Public spending on education,of GDP%2C 1971 - 2019%3A&text=The latest value from 2019,101 countries is 4.18 percent. In general, too little budget share and in addition, the money for education seeps into many dark channels. In the PISA study 2015 Thailand ranks 57th, just behind Albania out of 71 nations. In the study 2018 Thailand ranks even more worth.

Preferably another 15 years earlier. Social Order Kicks Off: As part of his Social Order campaign, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra orders the creation of three “entertainment zones.” In these zones, drinking and dancing is only allowed until 2 am: roughly Silom, Sukhumvit, and Ratchada. Outside of these zones, dancing is illegal and closing times are 1 am. The implementation of his rules would take a couple more years, with things getting really strict by the mid-2000s. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://bk.asia-city.com/nightlife/article/history-clubbing-bangkok&ved=2ahUKEwi-7qmS5pX2AhUMzTgGHYF3D2cQFnoECCIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3HUXdufZ-Kr6iqo8bKmj_D

Anyone who thinks up something complicated like that, shouldn't be surprised if, apart from all the visa bureaucracy, only a few tourists come. I also don't know why the Thai bureaucracy loves to make simple processes complicated and each process is connected to a plethora of paper copies. Not every tourist wants to deal with their complicated paper procurement wars for days. Starting from the simplest model: Buy a flight ticket, valid passport, off to the plane, arrival in Thailand, each additional paper is a hurdle. - apply for a visa, - Proof of return ticket - Passport photos - Book hotel accommodation and pay in advance - Book and pay for PCT tests in advance - Get the right insurance and pay in advance. - Obtain vaccination certificates - Book and pay for a taxi transfer in advance - Download Morchana - Complete TM 6 - Complete TM 8 - format all documents correctly. - use correct email - Print out all documents and Thaipass - Get a Thai SIM card - Make a TM 30 report I wonder if it couldn't be more complicated.

He also insisted that the collection process would be transparent and accountable to the public and not go into anyone’s “pocket”. There is a big discrepancy in the understanding of what the word "transparency" means when it comes to the use of taxpayers' money in this country. As long as independent control institutions are disabled and not functioning, there will be no transparency.

The TP system is a bereavement. Everything went wrong that could go wrong. Wrong browser = process crash Wrong email provider = process abort Send PDF files = rejection Incomplete input masks = rejection. No process feedback = Tourists don't know if they're allowed to fly or not. Now the highlight: hacked database, stolen data and Trojan spam mails for the applicants. If something like that happened in the free economy, those responsible would have been stoned and quartered long ago. Why the tourism minister wants to keep this piece of junk software makes no sense to normal-thinking people.

I agree. One part is digitized, the other part is filed in old fashion paper form, archived in card index boxes. A single chaos and messed-up system. And instead of getting rid of something nonsensical or duplicates, more and more is added. A big problem is that amateurs build all kinds of databases, apps, websites, Excel spreadsheets, etc., but some of them don't work and are also incompatible. However, the biggest problem is data security. All the diligent data collectors have in terms of data security: Stone Age level. Almost every institution (immigration, banks, hotels, transport companies, telephone companies, online shops, hospitals, etc.) make copies of passports, save credit cards/bank information, e-mail addresses. It is inevitable that one or the other employee will sell this data to criminals. The right to his personal data is trampled on here. I recently asked my bank office to print out my stored data. He looked at me like a deer in headlights. Dangerous kindergarten here.

I miss the numbers. How much does a car like this officially cost the taxpayer overall?

Good. And stop this 11pm "all bars and parties have to close nonsense". In my area, a lot of parties start on afternoons. From 7pm to 11pm the parties are packed with people. The 11 pm cut then reduces nothing at all in terms of C19 spread.

She looks cute and has success. Jealousy is everywhere.

Makes no sense overall. I'm still waiting for the 10 year elite membership card for the luxury soapy massage parlors and the all in Barfine flatrate card for the Gogo bars. ????

The new Elite Card is not for me. Have worked hard all my life to have enough money to quit work. Now it's time to enjoy life and I wouldn't pay anyone 32 million baht to get back to work. 555 That would be schizophrenia.

Strange. Article 158 of the Thai Constitution limits the PM's term to 8 years. Is there an exception for putschists?

Terrible photos. Poor exposure, sometimes much too bright. Just the last photo alone. The model looks like she has water in her legs and stains on her legs. The whole figurine looks disproportionate. The whole swimsuit doesn't fit well. For models with "short legs, you can choose a high-cut swimsuit to make the legs appear longer. But if there isn't enough bottom flesh, then it looks terrible. If you also subtract the high hells from the photo, it looks like the model has midget legs. With every model agency, such a photo would immediately end up in the trash can.

Thailand The Hub of confusing announcements.

You don't need proof it, when it's official practice that there are extra price lists for foreigners in the hospitals, with sometimes 200%-300% higher prices for one and the same activity or operation. Morally, the medical oath here is subject to greed for money.

This is similar to the entrance fees at the national parks. Thais without money are usually sent home with home quarantine or put in a hospital camp free of charge. Foreigners with little money rarely have a choice.

When every tourist has $50,000 insurance, it's clear that the hospitals are trying to suck the maximum out of it. Whether the insurance actually pays afterwards is uncertain. The question of medical necessity is then often asked when it comes to cases without symptoms. The hospitals know that, which is why they insist on payment in advance. In addition, there are also the cases with wrong PCR test results, or cases where on the 7th day in the hospital there is a negative PCR test, but one is forced to stay in the hospital for 3 more days. The big differences in the cost calculations of the hospitals is also a nuisance. Legally, the insurance companies have many options to refuse payment or to reduce it accordingly. Unfortunately, there is a risk that you have paid for insurance, but the insurance does not pay. You have paid for your hotel room in advance, but you cannot use it and you do not receive a refund. You have paid for a PCR test, but the test gives an incorrect result. And you have to spend parts of your vacation in the hospital and you end up with an extremely high hospital bill, even though you feel physically well. Conclusion: The regulations for tourists are extremely customer-unfriendly and bear the traits of a scam.

With US$6,000 a day before Covit, the owners should actually have sufficient financial reserves and should be able to change their business model accordingly and adapt it to the new circumstances. In fact, the Thais who don't have a villa on the beach and live hand to mouth suffer much more.

No interest. Definitely going to be another super complicated and time consuming paper war monster with too many institutions and officials involved. Then again and again various paper collection excesses from immigration, foreign ministry, tax authorities, health insurance, land office, local ampore, own embassy, BOI, banks, building authority, telephone company, electricity company, garbage disposal company, etc. No thank you.

In Thailand, the US has no chance against China's expansionist policy. China specifically seeks out countries with corrupt governments. Then very, very long-term contracts are made, which, viewed objectively, are disadvantageous for the countries. The thrust of economic expansion policies that lead to dependency are always the 3 elements: mineral resources, agricultural land and market access. There are then investment credits for submarines, high-speed railways, etc., which are then sold propagandistic to the naïve population as progress. Whether these projects are really worthwhile for a country, i.e. make sense in the long term, is no longer checked by the corrupt sovereigns, the main thing is that the kickback sum is right. China, as the world's extended workbench, has money and buys resource rights, buys and develops land for the food production for its own people and floods the markets with their unbeatably cheap consumer products. The disadvantages are serious. In the long term, the country loses the opportunity to build up its own, competitive, domestic productions against the cheap products from China. The ability to provide food for one's native population decreases when much of the acreage is in Chinese hands and has been sold. Although the country receives royalitis in the exploitation of natural resources, the possibility of price adjustments when raw material prices are rising worldwide, is lost. Not to mention the harmful consequences for the environment. China also has its upgraded military as leverage. And also the ability to turn off the water for Southeast Asian countries with his dams.

Nice words. However, this does not fit with Thailand's efforts to ban Amnesty International from Thailand.

The problem are the dubious agents here in Thailand. Very few workers have the know-how to obtain the necessary papers (visa, work permit) and to finance their trip in advance. This then leads to slave-like conditions. This is not only the case with the berry pickers, but also with the "masseuses" who work in Korea and with many workers in Arab countries.

I miss the points: bureaucracy, legal certainty and price equality.