
Kaoboi Bebobp
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Posts posted by Kaoboi Bebobp
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1 hour ago, ThomasThBKK said:
So what does this have to do with illegal foreign cigarettes?!
7 11 and co don't sell anything illegal, all marlboro and co are taxed there.
Of course people don't buy thai junk that is nearly as expensive as real cigarettes. Why would they?
You can't tell Me that illegal cigarettes account for any big turnover here. There are simply not many countries where u could even buy cheaper...
The guy interviewed also doesn't sell illegal stuff,
Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk
QuoteYou can't tell Me that illegal cigarettes account for any big turnover here. There are simply not many countries where u could even buy cheaper...
China, Cambodia and Vietnam produce and sell copy/real cigs for far less than is charged in Thailand. My premium Japanese brand costs 150 baht a pack of 20. I can buy an entire carton of the same brand in Vietnam at the retail price for a bit over the cost of just two packs in Thailand. 240,000 VND/330 baht.
I have never bought a carton off the mobile vendors in Pattaya so don't know the quality but lots of people buy them.
As for Thai junk, quite a few in fact do buy these cheapo brands.
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2 hours ago, monkeycu said:Must be very dangerous women, 6 cops required for the photo opp.
Nah, that's the minimum complement of cops required under the RTP regs for photo ops. Indoors, 6-10 cops, outdoors 8 to 15. After midnight raids and mass arrests, 12-20. Officers, 4-8, at least two carrying two-way radios and wearing parachute badges. They must wear caps. No smiling.
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1 hour ago, oldhippy said:If tourism would account for 7 or 10 or 30 % of GDP, that would mean - ceteris paribus - that 7 or 10 or 30 % of the Thai labour force is employed in the tourist industry.
That would not leave much for agriculture, manufacturing, services and government.
That's a pretty thin statement, professor. Everyone knows the Thai workforce is, of necessity, longtime practitioners of multi-tasking. Planting and harvesting rice or fruits, then in the non-farming season, driving a tourist minibus, selling coffee in the market, cleaning hotel rooms, driving taxi in Bangkok. Etc. There are few neat job boundaries when food has to be put on the floor mat.
Moving along:
Reuters, January 2018:
QuoteTourist receipts account for about 12 percent of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy [Thailand], making it one of the most important drivers of growth as Thailand has lagged regional peers since the army took power in 2014.
Royal Thai Embassy to US, May 2017:
QuoteThe direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP in 2016 was THB1,292.5bn (9.2% of GDP) according to World Travel and Tourism Council recent estimation.
In any case, GDP and other numbers are largely not even close to reflecting the "real" economy, never mind the dark economy.
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I arrived yesterday from VN and didn't see a single sign for the corridor smoking rooms. In fact, the rooms just vanished. Covered over, I imagine. So smoking inside is banned everywhere.
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5 minutes ago, Sheryl said:This is the thing that changed. the money now not only needs to be seasoned in advance (seemingly 2 rather than 3 months) but also cannot be touched for 3 months after, and even then only half of it can ever be spent.
it is basically a 400K bond that has top be posted and maintained. But badly worded/designed.
Another way of looking at it, I think, is you cannot touch the (topped up) 800,000 baht for months 11 and 12 of the previous extension, and months 01, 02 and 03 of the next extension. This means importing even more offshore funds to the tune of, at base, 5 x 65,000 = 325,000 baht while your 800,000 sits frozen. That's 1.125 million baht until your 800k is unfrozen. And then you're free to use only 400,000. I think the banks wrote the new regs.
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4 hours ago, KittenKong said:
I learnt many years ago that in Thailand (and many other countries) you should always check everything carefully. If you dont then you can guarantee that someone will steal from you.
I've experienced short-changing or overpricing in large supermarkets, small convenience stores, condo offices, markets, food stalls, restaurants and once bank staff even "forgot" a bundle of 100,000B at the rear of their counter where it was invisible to me but fully visible to them. Luckily in every case I always checked and always got what was mine in the end.
Trust no one.
Yes, a good reminder. I do consistently check my change and items on the cashier list in the big supermarkets. There's big opportunity to hide change there as there are many more baht notes/coins in the transaction.
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I do get sloppy sometimes and pick up the change without counting it. This topic kind of wakes me up. I will endeavour to get out the phone calculator and figure out the change due. Or have the change amount fixed in my head on the clerk's return.
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I would guess that the Eastern Economic Corridor developments over the next 10 years will add to the pollution volume and its deteriorating effects on the environment. Which could mean Pattaya will have few if any of the advantages of a seaside resort and all of the downsides of industrial activities. A new Chinese outpost? Remember Sihanoukville. RIP.
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Remember the female executive of Korean Air who went into a rage over a serving of nuts? And made the aircraft turn around!!!! There are more examples of recent Korean violent behaviour, according to reports.
Koreans becoming more prone to rage
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Anyone deep in Naklua? Say around the fish market. Has it been smoggy there too?
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49 minutes ago, ChipButty said:
Who will be screwing who here?
Yeah, the Thai businesses are very keen on burgeoning Vietnam as a way to expand. But I don't expect tight-a$$ed Thailand to give much in return. Although there is now a Thai distributor of the northerners' Hanoi beer (such as it is).
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I get the same CL error response for Canadian Craigslist. I know from earlier experience Kijiji posts/replies are also blocked from foreign IPs.
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The Chinese embassy folks are calling for a comprehensive improvement of the most basic safety standards, something they believe are sadly lacking in Thailand. Bit of a loss of face for the Thais, I'd say. Foreigners coming in and telling them what to do. Well, deservedly so. TVers have all been ranting about the same need for improvements for years, if not decades. Will the Thais do anything about the issues? If it costs money, nope.
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1 hour ago, wilcopops said:
Pattaya is East or Northeast of the biggest industries in Thailand - in Rayong it is petro-chemicals/plastics and aromatics - at present the Northeasterly winds prevail so any pollution - and there is a lot! - gets wafted over to places like Pattaya and all points in between.
And mix in the substantial pollution from the extremely heavy traffic running day and night. I stand in befuddled amazement on Central Road sometimes and wonder where all the vehicles are going. Where did they come from? What are they doing? Why is there bumper to bumper traffic all day long for such a small city?
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Maybe it is working. I've been asked quite a few times whether I want a bag at the 7s in Pattaya and Bangkok. The message is getting through.
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A 900 million baht /$28US million budget will put a lot of military generals and junta friends in first class flight seats and first class hotels over a six-month show. Or should I say shopping expedition. Which is the only reason they're going ahead with the expo project. That should leave enough money for the automatic pineapple peeler and an electric tuktuk.
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43 minutes ago, Stargrazer9889 said:
I arrived in Pattaya with a bus loaded mostly with India people, guess no bad image
of Thailand over there. Beaches seem to have a good mix of Russian and some other
Europeans and others as well.
Geezer
Yup, a LOT of Indians at the North Bus Terminal Thursday morning, coming and going.
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Oh my! Did they set up a fire just 3 metres from a gas tank?
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Looks like a meeting of the sanitation committee.
Imagine if ten thousand Chinese arrive in Pattaya in April, probably the biggest event of the year. Do you need any more reason to stay away from Songkran this year?
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14 minutes ago, webfact said:Pattaya, which scored 47.66 overall, was found to have 56 spas, 9 gyms, 6 parks or green spaces, and 145 vegan option restaurants. The study found the average cost of a one night stay in Pattaya to be £31, approx 1264 THB.
145 restaurants with vegan options? ???? ???? I would not even trust their vegetarian offerings. I once saw a Thai company's frozen "vegetarian" pasta topped with two small slices of cooked ham.
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I haven't been to Pattaya for several months. Just arrived last Thursday. Staying behind Big C Extra as usual. Soi Yume was marginally busy in the evenings.
Big C on Sunday, a big shopping day normally, was nothing like the high seasons of years past. Walked straight up the escalator without ducking and diving the standees. Shopped there twice and both times walked straight up to a cashier in the empty express lanes. Lots of moto parking available.
If this was supposed to be prime time Pattaya, there was no evidence in Friendship and Tukcom today. Only light crowd of shoppers in Friendship this afternoon. All three cash counters were empty when I checked out. To my shock, Tukcom aisles were empty of buyers on the 2nd floor. I walked straight to a corner to my favourite kiosk without diverting around clusters of customers because there were none.
I had no trouble finding rooms at two locations on short notice.
Guess I was in a different Pattaya from the tourism boss.
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The Chinese have a lot of experience building "beaches" in the South Chine Sea. Pattaya should be no problem.
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10 minutes ago, leggo said:
I have lived for the last four years in Vietnam albeit Hanoi which is totally different from Saigon - no one calls it Ho chi minh in the south. But i know it well. Visas are easy but long term quite expensive. Food in the south is good, not so much in the north. Weather pretty much like Thailand but much more susceptible to cyclones. People are pretty much the same everywhere but as a farang you will definitely be more hassled in Vietnamese cities than in Thailand. Infrastructure is not nearly so advanced as Thailand nor is healthcare. Rents and food on a par. Plastic and rubbish pollution even worse although Thai's seem more cleanliness conscious . construction absolutely everywhere which brings dirt and noise and a complete disregard for the environment. I know Thailand from 30 years ago and if I had a choice would prefer to live there but horses for courses. Vietnamese is far more difficult to learn than Thai even though they write in Arabic script. Vietnamese coffee is to die for, scooters in Vietnam are a pain in the ass! Who knows, they have both added so much to my experience of Asia it's not an easy choice. On the whole I find Thai people more to my taste and the government in Vietnam might not be to everyone's taste although it doesn't bother me.
I've been living in Vung Tau for most of two years, plus some Mekong Delta time in 2011-2012. I pretty much agree with all of your statements. And I particularly like your balanced summation: "they have both added so much to my experience of Asia it's not an easy choice."
I'm not going to rate Thailand over Vietnam or Vietnam over Thailand. They're rich in cultures and well, they each do stuff different. I've benefited from exposure to both.
However, I am considering moving back to Thailand, as a base, with occasional one-month stays in VN. Lots of things I don't like in Thailand but I do like the access to a greater variety of food, local, foreigner-made and imported. I prefer the accommodations in Thailand. And, if I must, declare that Thai girls are overall prettier and more down to earth. Just about everyone I know here who has been to Thailand agrees with this. Yet, the Viet girls are better educated, friendly, outgoing and often have better English. But . . . fill in your own preferences.
It must be the many years spent in Thailand but every time I arrive at Bangkok airport, I feel at home.
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Pattaya launches random checks to enforce new anti-smoking rules
in Pattaya News
Posted
Went to one of the Finnish restaurants behind Big C Extra over a week ago. Found the interior festooned with No Smoking signs in a place with a completely open frontage. Everyone was sitting outside at the handful of big tables. Inside had two customers. I can see the Finns co-operating on this new clamp-down. Not!
One of the staff said the threatened fine is 20,000 to the Finnish owner and 5000 to the customer. Betcha Thai owners aren't worried. The proof was in a nearby Thai owned place with similar setup serving westerners. No signs, no worries.