new2here

On 5/5/2022 at 6:59 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

It isn't just Kerry. All the companies are the same. My particular gripe is the 'Recipient couldn't accept package' or similar nonsense, when the truth is they didn't have time/couldn't organise themselves to deliver when they were supposed to. It has to be you fault, not theirs, because this is Thailand so it's always someone else's fault. You just have to live with Thai-level service standards. It's irritating, but there are worse problems to have.

I agree.. for the most part anything that has a large element of accountability AND also provides for easy and objective documentation makes some businesses here …. nervous..

it’s effectively hard to “hide” service failures when the proof/data is readily “out there” AND can be captured and documented.

Hence the fallback and largely unchecked use of customer-initiated or uncontrollable delivery exceptions… be that “can’t contact”, “customer rescheduled delivery”, “address unknown” or the like… which provide the perfect “cover” for what would otherwise be properly labeled as service failures. 

On 5/5/2022 at 10:21 AM, MJCM said:

What do you think of this excuse when they can't deliver

 

We get these message in Lazada from a delivery company (Not Kerry which in our Area is great)

 

Already complained many times to Lazada about that Company!!

that’s the same as can’t contact.. it probably gives them a “pass” for what would otherwise be a missed delivery and I’d suspect also carries some kind of penalty based on their larger Lazada contract. 

so.. there’s an definite economic incentive for the delivery firm to misuse/falsify this and related exception statuses….

note that the SELLER doesn’t actually get paid (on COD shipments) until the actual delivery takes place— so they too are kind of getting shafted as well when delivery firms misuse/falsify these two delivery exceptions.

So.. it’s pretty much down to who has the economic incentive.. the delivery firm has minimum downside (aside from nominal costs incurred with re-handling a package a 2nd/3rd time) and helps to protect them from financial minimum performance metrics when they enter these kind of codes ..

so if they are short of delivery staff — perhaps they claim “can’t contact” a few customers …. and magically their delivery volume now matches the staff they do have…. maybe some drivers call in sick and it just so happens the same day customers call-in to reschedule their delivery — magically their delivery volume again matches their staff..

Apologies of this has been posted earlier (i didn’t scan the previous 6 pages) but .. the Post had a short article in Wednesdays edition (front page of Business section) that “Foreigners with a work permit or border pass” are/will be exempt.. 

This makes sense because having a WP in many (not all, but many) cases also means you’re covered for health care under the Thai SSO system.. and because one of the stated goals of the new fee is some kind of an “insurance” component, it would make sense that WP holders be exempted as their SSO would apply (again, recognizing that not all WP holder have Thai SSO, but a large percentage do)

As i know it, entering the exception code of “can’t contact” consignee effectively gets Kerry ‘off-the-hook’ ** for a late/missed delivery which i recall can carry financial penalties to Kerry… . so… there’s a built-in motivation for them/driver to misuse/abuse/falsify this issue.

What I’ve done is take screen shots of the time/date and divers name.. then i GO TO the Kerry shop where this action takes place… i file a written complaint and provide the documentation … 

In 99% of the cases i’ll never see that driver assigned to me again (good for me and good for him) and most importantly, I’ve not had them misuse/abuse/falsify since. 

**Similar to how “weather delay” for airlines and “covid” for hotels and many other service-based businesses can be misused.

just on the surface it sounds like that “insurance” is really more of an indemnity versus traditional contact/policy-based insurance.

My guess here - again, my guess only- is that the underlying goal is to make sure that if/when a foreigner is hurt while here - and (for whatever reason) they don’t have either an applicable insurance policy or access to funds to pay for their care, this “insurance” will act as a kind of last resort backstop so that hospitals aren’t really left with unpaid care. 

again, my guess … 

5 hours ago, Tarteso said:

A real tragedy for poor and consumers of the first and irreplaceable food in this country.

I agree.. it’s a sizable jump when expressed as a percentage, but relatively squeaking small in absolute terms… 

To me, it’s more to do with being a ‘signal’ that consumer inflation is now hitting even the most common items and one that’s bought by a very large percentage of the people.

From what i’ve seen, it looks like TPs are approved much faster than the “7 days” window.. that said, I wouldn’t be surprised if things slowed a bit right at the beginning as I’d expect a bit of “surge” … 

So, if you’re ready, I’d apply as soon as the window opens. 

20 hours ago, happy me said:

How can there be taxes due on an illegal activity?

That’s actually, IMHO, a slick way to go about it.. if they can’t make a case for the illegal activity, then they have another angle to which they can prosecute- and still seek imprisonment and/or fines/seizures. 

16 hours ago, internationalism said:

nobody knows yet, they will make decision sometimes after songkran.

Just buy airfare and fly, if you really care about your family.

 The pcr might be scrapped, but there would be atk - if positive, you also need to be quarantined for 10 days.

The only way avoiding that is recovery certificate, if you can get one

the last part “… The only way avoiding that is recovery certificate, if you can get one.” isn’t exactly accurate.

The fact that a person has a Recovery Certificate (plus proof of their earlier C19+ test) does NOT automatically entitle them to a waiver of quarantine… It will (or should) be used  by the doctors/hospital when deciding what the treatment plan is, but doesn’t entitle the patient to bypass quarantine.. 

1 hour ago, sanmyintmaung said:

I understand SSO card is written in Thai language only.

It must be hard to convince the check-in staff at the foreign country airport to let you board the plane to Thailand by showing the SSO card which they cannot read in lieu of mandatory Covid insurance.

I agree … but it IS an approved option. .. but i agree with you that it’s probably not the easiest for airline staff to check.. 

so what I did was had my card translated and i also have the QR code that links to the website - which does say “Social Security” 

I agree .. ask the hotel directly.. the hotels that I’ve contacted and the one i will use, either do testing immediately upon arrival in the way to the hotel or the hospital has a few testing “windows” like a morning, midday and evening .. and most all of them said that the hospital was obligated to return the results within 10 to 12 hours max..

So… I can’t really see a *need* that you’d have to remain and pay for a second “day” as you’d be gone at some point the next day — I think for T&G the hotels aren’t really following the traditional check-in (commonly late AM to early midday) and out (commonly late AM) times that would normally apply to a traditional hotel stay. 

Even the food.. My hotel said that I’m entitled to 3 meals off their T&G menu… IF i am cleared to leave and i haven’t received all 3 meals, then i can either tell them what i’d want off the menu and they’ll box it for take-away or give me a hotel F&B credit.   So T&G bookings seem to operate with some fairly unique circumstances that you don’t see with traditional stays. 

I agree with Blackcab.. You CAN get them.. i got a new one in November and my colleague got a new one in early March..  I didn’t have to pay a fee however (that might be because i needed a new card for an expiring one and that might be free as opposed to a replacement for a lost card might have the fee - I’m not sure)

One thing to be aware of, antidotally it seems that not many entities outside of the DCA/MFA are aware that Thai SSO *is* a valid substitute for $20k insurance.. so it might be helpful if you have a copy of the DCAs latest updated rules .pdf to show - just in case one of the entities isn’t aware…

6 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Had to read this twice.

So your stating that if you were mildly ill and did a self test that showed a positive result you would report this to the health authorities? 

Ludicrous. 

I think perhaps you’ve misread it or are reading something into my post.

I never said what *I* would do, nor did i explicitly say what my position is on the matter.

i DID say that i can understand why someone might choose not to report … but again, that’s quite different from stating what *I* would do. 

To the larger point, I think that so long as one of the possible outcomes of notifying the government of a C19+ test, is a negative (like forced quarantine etc)

I could see/understand how someone might choose not do so as the negative possible outcome could be certainly be viewed as a disincentive to report.   Again, not a statement of my own personal views or what I would or wouldn’t do of it were such, but a generalization of what i *think* others may be thinking and the thought/decision making process might be 

1 minute ago, Will B Good said:

Agree....it is a no brainer.

 

If these halfwits thought they would lose their bikes things would change overnight.........(or the RTP would get even wealthier?)

Yup, it’s kind of like a lesson many of us learned from mom/dad at a very early age… If you abuse something or don’t use it correctly, then it will be taken away from you.  

I think it’s that simple. 

The main issue for me isn’t so much the fact that the offender looses the asset, but that i think the state has the overriding obligation to safeguard the public.. and once found guilty, then I can make a clear case for the seizure under the logic that the convicted as now demonstrated their a) unwillingness or b) inability to safety use said asset - and in doing so, presents a safety risk to the public… and the seizure serves as a mitigation of that repeated risk.

4 minutes ago, cardinalblue said:

There is proper treatment for a disease and then there is opportunity to scam money (fraudulent by the way) under the disguise of covid

 

Test and Go comes to mind…

I wouldn’t say T&G itself is a money scam …  because i can make a case for wanting to know who enters the country and their health status…

to that end, I can agree with the concept 

Where I think T&G kind of grows wrong is the lack of objectivity and clear definitions and process flow.

I would have preferred the government fix/set the price for the Day 1 PCR .. each hotel can set their own prices for the room, food, transport parts - but the C19 test may only be charged at the government set price of X.. That way nicer hotels can charge more and perhaps more basic ones less- but the PCR cost is fixed. 

concurrent with that, I’d prefer the ministry of health also explicitly define under what conditions will a person be:

- mandated hospital stay

- offered optional home isolation 

- be released or forced to remain 

and lastly, that the OIC or Ministry of Commerce set rules about how insurance, billing and pre-payments are handled.

In all, I just want more clarity so everyone knows what the rules ate, what they are not and what’s explicitly defined or not.

I don’t think the government should be involved in the day-to-day care aspect,  but I DO think they need to set up a process that people can follow, understand and reduces chances for willful abuse, fraud or even misunderstandings. 

4 hours ago, Denim said:

Having seen greedy people in these places , piling their plates with ridiculous amounts of food then walking away with a lot of it uneaten , I actually sympathize  with the restaurant. 

I agree with the notion of a “fine” for leaving excessive uneaten food— that part i agree with .. SO LONG AS.. It’s clearly disclosed upfront, there is a fixed and objective definition of excessive and the mechanism to determine this is transparent (like a scale or other accepted device)

It *sounds* like this it what happened here… 

but…. WHAT i don’t agree with is the use again of the so-called defamation mechanism >at this point in time<    As a whole i think it does both “sides” - the business and the customer - a disservice to use these types of legal criminal mechanisms to otherwise address what really are routine commerce matters. 

now, I will say that IF it is proven that the customer KNEW the claim was false but proceeded anyway, THEN I can see a legit issue raised by the shop… but short of that- no.

I agree that the lack of clarity as to how long this car was overdue is quite relevant 

i mean i would reasonably think that if it was say within 0-24 or even 48hrs that the rental firm would keep the matter (of an overdue car) an “in-house” matter… trying to call the renter, email, sms etc…  If there’s no contact after day 48hrs or the signs of potential criminal intent, such as phone discounted, email bounced back, etc, THEN i could see the rental firm going to the police..

So… if this lady kept if for days and days and wasn’t contactable or upon contact refused to return it, then sure- i can see police involvement … but for a short overdue? maybe not… time here matters IMHO. 

pivoting back to more of the initial question...

It really depends on the university and the program.

Unlike some other countries that attract hundreds of thousands of “international” students to their universities and colleges, the market here isn’t nearly as big.  Outside of the major universities, it’s not uncommon for there to be little if any mention about applications by non-citizens..

that said, a few common issues I’ve seen is that you’ll (understandably so) have to prove you hold the relevant preparatory degree(s), for example, that you hold a recognized Bachelors degree of the right type as a prerequisite of enrollment into a Masters level program etc… some will also insist you take and show a minimum English proficiency score as some programs are essentially english taught ..: there can also be a Thai language proficiency IF the program you’ll enter is essentially Thai taught..  A few places I know do ask for an in-person interview by department faculty or admissions faculty and that can also involve a writing example as well.

As noted earlier, the costs for a foreign-applicants can be amazingly high when compared to the fee structure for citizen-applicants… but that’s an issue that i suspect is common, but not absolute, worldwide to varying degrees. 

Overall, from what I’ve seen, the process seems pretty straight forward but it also seems that outside of the major universities, it’s just not that common to get a foreigner seeking to enroll… this isn’t to say you can’t, but that you might have to go and “dig” around in person or the like to find out. 

I have one colleague, a western person, who is an active Masters degree student here, at the end of his first year, and kind of watched his application and enrollment process and what it entailed, the logistics and such forth. 

9 hours ago, welshguy said:

"

S&P downgraded ratings of Siam Commercial Bank and Kasikorn Bank, from BBB+ to BBB, and Krungthai Bank and TMB Thanachart Bank, from BBB to BBB-."

 

I copied and pasted this from another thread on here....Dont know if its what youre looking for?

If i recall the BBB still keeps SCB at investment grade… barely… but BBB- is recall is not— one “notch” below minimum for IG classification.

For me, I don’t see this as having a huge impact on the banks “smaller” retail depositors (those whose net holdings are below the national bank insurance fund levels) or it’s day-to-day operations. 

but i do think it sends a larger signal that there are systemic economic problems and that those problems have put increased pressure on the banks longer term outlook.  

What would be interesting to see is if any of the newly downgraded banks were to float new long term bonds, how many more BPs (basis points) would they have to offer up in order for the offering to be successful 

5 hours ago, blackcab said:

It depends what you want out of the card. If you want airmiles then SCB My Travel is good assuming you will spend enough to waive the annual membership fee 

I agree! IMHO, the range of card offerings here in TH is quite small.. and as such you really need to decide what “perks” do you want out of a card.  You also have to be mindful about the minimum qualifications and any annual fees that the card may carry. 

All of the majors offer some kind of entry-level card that usually has minimum perks, may have a small annual fee (that commonly can be waived if your annual charge volume exceeds some threshold) Also entry level cards usually have the lowest minimum salary mandate (50k is common but can be lower or waived in some circumstances)

All of the banks have a few mid and upper their cards too.  Naturally the income and other approval qualifications will be higher as will the annual fee (and any spend mandates for fee waiver). I, myself, haven’t found that the upper tier cards issued here offer perks which are substantially better than i can find from a US bank.. 

IMHO, the cards all fall into one of a few categories: travel (ie linked to an airline or airline group where spend earns points or miles) shopping (tied into a store or mall retailer and your spend equals points for rebates) healthcare (tied to a hospital chain) or retailer-specific (like car company, fuel company etc)

For me, despite having elite-level banking with 2 banks, I carry only entry level cards as I only use them for the dining discounts and none of the travel, shopping or retailer-specific cards appeal to me or match my own spend patterns. 

One thing that I’ve been able to do- and i’m not sure if it’s a bank policy or privilege, is i’ve been able to “change” cards so long as they were comparable  … I had to formally “apply” again, but that was only me signing a new paper app but didn’t have to bring in new documents…

Once approved, the bank closed the card I didn’t use and transferred any balance to the new card that I wanted.