new2here

6 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

For those with Work Permits, the new rules won't impact them much, they are already paying taxes.

 

The new rules impact Farangs who don't earn income within Thailand.

that’s true.. working foreigners are pretty straight forward .. I agree.. my larger point is that the same general idea could be used to address those who have “income” but derived form outside thailand and imported into the kingdom 

9 hours ago, 2long said:

While I fully understand that there are some a-holes who travel for tourism, but get drunk, expect too much, or just behave badly, we need to remember that some of these destinations rely totally on tourism. Therefore, things like anti-tourist rallies, and the like need to be taken into context. If these places had no tourism, the people would have no money. They cant have their cake and eat it.

It's not dissimilar from celebs and sports stars asking for privacy, while keeping the benefits of a luxury lifestyle.

I agree. I think before covid and just offer it, places that really were either wholly or substantially tourism driven were tripping over themselves to attract those dollars back into their local economies and government coffers..

but .. i also think that are some point not too after that, the deluge occurred.. and now we see places like Japan implanting “controls”, anti-tourism (which ever way you choose to see this) in hopes to better manage it..

but I do agree in principle that many of these tourism dependent places do have limits to how far they can control it… they may want to better control the “goose”.. but they still need it to lay that golden egg. 

Here’s my take.. and it’s not a compete “pass” nor a condemnation either… I think when you’re taking about changing an entity like “education” in Thailand - that’s absolutely massive.. consider all tens of thousands of people that it encompasses, the various major divisions (ie OBEC,OHEC,OVCE,etc) and the overall top-down vertical structure that it currently operates under.

Anything with that size, scope, breadth and diversity is going to be hard to change and any change that does come, will most likely be incremental and gradual.

The other thing that I myself don’t see enough of is direct parent involvement.. Yes, I recognize that in many cases the local teachers and school directors hold a great deal of explicit and implicit power - and that can make openingly questioning them a socially difficult thing to do.. but I really do think change will also require parents to have a “seat at the table” as for any change to really take hold will require their buy-in so to speak. 

I do think it can be done.. but as it is with making an aircraft carrier size vessel turn a 180 turn, that’s going to take time, may make some uncomfortable during said transition as new norms are formed and others must come to the table to give input and support.

18 hours ago, patman30 said:

what a joke.

I agree.. I DO however think that they should retain the right of innocent until proven guilty.. So to me, I’d be a fan of removed from active duty and placed on administrative leave with pay - yes, with pay… I’m just not a fan of this “reassigned” thing that seems to be the norm.

If he is subsequently convicted, then any pay starting from the point of the criminal act going forward is then forfeited. obviously if he happens to be cleared or found not guilty, then he retains all rights to pay etc and returned to service. 

On 5/14/2024 at 2:11 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

You think that a rented co-operative's vehicle could be seized and sold?   Really?

Yes, I don’t recall - from

arms length - there is anything that explicitly says that property used in the commission of a crime isn’t subject to judicial action (call me a seizure etc) even if the “owner” isn’t or wasn’t a direct participant.  Now, to be fair, I’m sure the judicial would look at to what extent did the actual owner have - ie did they know or have reasonable expectations to know .. or were they essentially “blind” to its use. 

This is the part that I myself don’t like.. I don’t think the ability of the accused to “settle” with the plaintiff then somehow ends the states obligation to bring the appropriate criminals charges.

In end the, yes the accused “settled” (at an assumed fair amount to the plaintiff) but that still doesn’t extinguish the reality that there was an alleged criminal act committed and IMHO, the state has the onus and obligation to file charges accordingly.. sure the judicial can take into account the fact that the accused settled- but settling should not end the process.

I would agree that it’s long over due… but… given that there are some consumer prices that are around the sub 15 baht level, that makes it somewhat hard if there’s a discount of say 10% … but in totality, I think the overall monetary and banking system would be better served without them.. or at minimum, take the 25 satang out and leave the 50.. at least then there’s some relief for small change purchases 

where I think the BoT got it right was moving to a polymer based B20 note as the lifespan far far exceeds traditional paper-based notes despite the initial higher print costs. I’d wonder if perhaps the B50 could be phased out and keep it as 20,100,500,1000 only 

I’ve used Sombat before and, on the whole, would agree that they are a reliable and reputable firm.. Nakorn Chai Air would also fall into that category for me as well.

That said, what I worry more about is less to do with Sombat or NCA, it’s busses or staff, but the proverbial “other guy” as thailand has a fairly poor (IMHO) road safety and driving load compliance history..

So while Sombat or NCA may be fine, it’s the other guys who are out there that to me is where your larger risk is..

But I agree that for bus travel goes I’d gladly take Sombat or NCA over the US’ Greyhound (or any other mid size regional carrier) any time. 

I agree that nobody will argue that taking a delay for a potential maintenance (MX) issue is the right move — safety trumps all..

That said, where I think it’s all went “bad” was the handling once it was decided that there was going to be a MX delay .. but .. to be fair, at the onset it’s not uncommon for the main teams to be unsure of exactly how long or how complex the “fix” will be.. and considering deboarding and reboarding a flight can take time and does come with some logistical challenges… at the onset, IMHO, i think it’s wise and prudent to keep everyone onboard..

the trick is.. the tricky part is knowing at what point does the risk of a longer MX fix offset the logistics of taking everyone off and putting them back on.. at what point does that trade off tip?  hard to say because each event is unique..

I do agree that immediately upon returning to the blocks (gate) ground power should be started or a GSE air con unit used.. something to help mitigate the heat as aircraft have generally lousy thermodynamics as far as heat goes when on the grounds 

A few “strikes” against Noke here — IMHO - this was apparently at a station where they maintain active operations.. so there’s a reasonable expecting that they have their staff and resources to handle this kind of event.. Had it occurred at an outstation where DD had no ops or staff, then that’s somewhat different .. Also, it was domestic .. domestic means there is (usually) no immigration or customs processes to address .. international fights may require that immigration “sign off” on any deboarding actions.

On 5/6/2024 at 7:14 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

I doubt they care about negative PR, as they have Biden's word he'll cover for them no matter what.

Oh I bet they do.. Regardless of who may be in their “camp” so to speak, outside of a few counties with the — clout - to be largely insulted from outside opinion (IMHO, that might be people like the PRC or even Russia) I’ll bet that they do in fact care how their chosen narrative is seen overseas…  

they may not choose to act on that, but I’ll bet they do watch and care how their narrative is seen outside its borders.

IMHO, if this is a economy booking , to me the differences between CI and BR are somewhat small.. Neither is, again, in my experience, far better nor far worse than the other.. Of course, individual flights can vary as does the fleet you happen to be on.. but in totality, I think for a economy class booking, they are remarkably similar — and that being very very solid 

Taipei airport - it’s not the most modern nor does it have all the “amenities” that a Singapore or even Incheon has.. but.. what I DO think it does “right” is because a very large percentage of people fly into TPE on either China (CI) or EVA (BR) are making same-day onward international connections- the process to do so is pretty well managed and executed… 

One added perk of flying either airlines is that SOME of their US departures leave the US very very late night or early early morning -US time.. that means your arrival in TPE is early morning (+1 or even +2) .. the upside here is that IF for any reason you miss your onward connection (say you leave the US law or your connection flight has cancelled) — you’ve essentially now got all day to find a rebooking… 

Compared to most other US-Asia flights - they tend to leave the US either late morning to midday- and that makes for a late afternoon or every evening arrival in Asia.. the problem here is, again, IF you miss that onward connection, there is a lower probability to finding a same-day rebooking alternative given the late hour. 

to me, while I would agree that on the whole (Singapore) SQ, (Cathay) CX or even (All Nippon) NH might be better carriers, I would be perfectly happy to book and fly either China or EVA, and I’d be happy to send an inexperienced unaccompanied adult with either as well.

For me, i’d probably say:

a) the window seat next to a main exit door (ie not an over wing door).  Reason: These doors usually have the required slide packed into a compartment that protrudes from the door thus limiting your legroom

b) the FIRST set of seat sets (usually 2x) in the rear after the planes fuselage tapers inward.  Reason: because the seat set in front if you often has its floor anchors at an odd place compared to your seat set- which can make it hard to use the underseat storage or stretch out your legs.

There are a few more, but they tend to be very fleet type specific 

At the end of the day the reality is this.. for issues that may occur BEFORE actual travel, it is not UNCommon for the passenger to have to “go through” their agent to make various changes.. after all, the agent is the one who facilitated the booking on behalf of said passenger.. but.. when it comes to day-of-departure issues - like enroute delays etc - the carrier will usually deal with you, the passenger - directly (unless it requires a future date booking, which may require the agents involvement)

All that said, are agents good? bad? use them or not?  I think what others have said is true.. for *most* bookings where there are no pre-travel” issues like carrier initiated cancellations or passenger-initiated changes, things good pretty smoothly and largely indistinguishable from those bookings made directly with the carrier itself. 

However, where i think things *can* go bad is when this isn’t true.. where there are pre-departure cancellations or you need to make a booking change .. THIS is where SOME agents really shine and others not so much so. 

The industry and carriers have largely moved away from preferring agent-based booking platforms to preferring their own in-house (clearly for cost and commssion control) but they do remain a viable option and to me, one that can’t be wholly dismissed .. it’s just that you have to remember that when you book through an agent - you can’t always “side step” them and then deal with the carrier directly IF some kind of pre-travel issue comes up. .. the carrier may rightly tell you that you’ve got to first contact the agent whose booking it is. 

as I recall Suvarnabhumi Ring Road 1 (which is the inbound and outbound roads that are “off” and “on” ramps to the expressway are not equipped for walking - that is a proper footpath.

You can however walk as far as Ring 2 road , which is just outside of that .. This is the road where TG’s 24/7 Ops center is located.  From this point you’d need to catch one of the AoTs shuttles that make various loops around the airport property. 

There are walkways, foot paths etc INSIDE the airports “circle” area which is where the faculties like the Control Tower, the Novotel hotel and the parking complex are located.  but I do not recall that there is a way to access this point - on foot - from OUTside of the circle itself. 

16 hours ago, RandolphGB said:

This is not difficult to implement.

 

Shopee, Lazada, AliExpress etc etc just need to collect the 7% at checkout and pass it onto the Thai government. The amount will be hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

 

Somebody has to pay for the Shinawatra family's private jets and property empire. And it sure as hell isn't going to be them. 

I agree .. this is just like how airport and other related taxes are applied to airline tickets.. the implementation and onus of collection would fall to the merchant .. and they would then have to remit said collected taxes to the authority. 

As far as shippers who may try to maliciously under-declare or materially misrepresent the items value or description goes.. that you can help to control by doing spot checks on incoming packages with fines of 5x the understated value or XXX fine for misrepresenting the commodity … and they could even go one step further.. they could try to hold the importer -call me Lazada, Shopee Express etc - liable for the misrepresentation.. much like some countries do to airlines that transports someone into a country, but then turns out to be inadmissible.. 

So.. this idea of assessing all packages with VAT or other related taxes goes.. as far as a way to implement it goes.. that to me wouldn’t be all that hard to do and the general plan to do so has been done in other situations before.. 

On 4/27/2024 at 6:16 PM, sambum said:

 

In a "caring society", which the UK seems to be judging on the number of immigrants it opens its doors to, one would expect it to treat all of its own citizens and  pensioners fairly, and in the same way.

 

Obviously they are NOT, and we can be forgiven for not wanting to live in a country that puts the lives and wellbeing of immigrants above that of its own citizens.

 

And quite possibly (and I know the facts should have been checked beforehand) a lot of the expats hit by this anomaly didn't know about it. After all, one would expect if you'd paid youur dues all your working life, it would be reasonable to expect that any benefits due to you in old age would be paid to you wherever you choose to live - would you not?

 

I get a company pension in addition to my State pension, and that is increased every year  in line with inflation, (minimum) and they don't specify where I have to live in order to get the increases, so why should the Government? And to the people who say "Ah, but you're not paying Income Tax in the UK (which was one of the reasons for the "knockback" a few years ago when the case was taken to the European Court of Human Rights ((I believe), I DO pay tax in the UK as my gross income from the 2 pensions is more than the Personal Allowances threshold, so my company pension is taxed!!!

 “ … And quite possibly (and I know the facts should have been checked beforehand) a lot of the expats hit by this anomaly didn't know about it. After all, one would expect if you'd paid youur dues all your working life, it would be reasonable to expect that any benefits due to you in old age would be paid to you wherever you choose to live - would you not?“

True.. but. I also think that for something as critical, and long lasting as a pension payment, that any possible recipient would do their “homework” and check out what the rules are or are not relative to the payment and any ways it can be altered up or down.

There’s always going to be a percentage who don’t read the fine print and/or ask questions before .. but in the end — and as my original comment stated - so long as the rule about who would and would not get the bump up, was properly disclosed “back then”, I can’t fault the government for any consequences “down the road”.

I also think it’s a fair point of discussion as to the “ethicalness” of it.. but that to me is a wholly separate discussion versus HOW any established rule is implemented. 

This is kind of an issue that airlines really don’t want to have to address head on.

In some airports, given how the gates are set up, they would have better ability to monitor and enforce this.

For example, in BKK for international departures, you usually walk down one floor to the gate area and they gate area is self-contained and with no way to add/subtract baggage and only one way to enter.  So, they could do an efforcenaent check right there as you enter the gate holding area.

But again, not all airports are logistically and structurally set up this way.. but i suspect the larger issue is that carriers don’t want to deploy more staffing to just baggage matters.. preferring to do a more cursory check at the check-in counter and taking a harder stance on checked bags.

I have empathy for those hit with this.. but.. (as a non-UK national) it SEEMS like this issues was known in advance .. and if so, then I have to acknowledge this fact (ie it was known to people in advance) and that’s something quite different as opposed to say the government instituting a brand NEW rule that adversely impacted retirees.. 

I remember standing on the outdoor observation deck at NRT and watching all the 747s.. many -200 at that time and some -400s.. it literally was a “heavy heaven” .. not only passenger but cargo.. from Flying Tigers to the oldest -100 from UPS, stand up there long enough and you’d see them all in NRT. 

This is, in part, why you hear reports of more occurrences of denied entry by Korean Immigration… rightly or wrongly, the price to be paid for the “sins” of these folks are being paid by the ones who attempt to enter for legitimate reason- but due to past immigration failures, they now come under heighten scrutiny. 

While I am emphatic to those who seek better economic circumstances, I have to acknowledge that - for the most part (and yes, this is a broad statement) - those who come from TH to KR and work illegally aren’t not doing so based on a complete destitute or total lack of any employment opportunity situation at home, but rather seek KR due to its higher pay levels.. Therefore I don’t hold out a lot of empathy in THIS kind of case.

On 4/21/2024 at 9:27 PM, GammaGlobulin said:

 

One other MAJOR problem here that I have noticed:

 

a.  A few shoppers seem unable to quickly calculate the "unit" cost of purchases in the supermarkets.

b.  For example: 

 

1.  Shopper goes into the store and sees two bottles of  Cuckoo Man Soy Sauce, each a different volume.

2. The first bottle of Cuckoo Man is 385 ml. in volume, and the price is Bt.42.00.

3. The second bottle of Cuckoo Man is 700 ml. in volume, and the price is Bt.69.00.

4. Shopper wonders: Which bottle is cheaper?  And, how much cheaper is the cheaper bottle? (based on price-per-milliliter...)

5.  How many shoppers have you seen making these calculations?  (Maybe you don't see them doing it, because the average shopper in Thailand is able to do lightning-fast calculations of this type....In Their Heads!)

 

6. So, what should be done? 

 

The answer is that ALL retail stores should be compelled to show clearly:

 

Price per gram

Price per milliliter

 

Why?

Because consumers deserve more transparency.

And, because manufacturers and retailers love to be transparent.

 

 

 

 

 

THIS is what I think is a better solution. I don’t think it’s the job or position of the “state” to label something shrinkflation or not.  Yes, it exists.. but.. there could also be other conditions that go into that - so I think a public entity labeling something with the clearly negative-bias “shrinkflation” label is a good public policy.

I think giving consumers the unbiased and factually driven data - to make informed objective buying decisions is the better way to go.