new2here

Overall I’d agree.. but.. as far as improving the sidewalks/footpaths go- I have to give credit where it’s due and earned.. As others have noted, there HAS been a notable improvement in some areas … yea, that’s “some” and not “all”.. but given the size and scope of the city and the sheer amount of footpath that needs to be addressed - that’s going to take time, but as far what’s been done so far- they get a solid score from me. As far as the wiring goes, I suspect that’s more involved, not only from a technical and logistical basis, but i’ll bet that there’s other players that need to be synched (like the MEA) before work can be done.. by contrast the footpaths are largely BMA controlled and not a lot of outside players involved.

IMHO, I think it’s going to take time for TH to be a “ cash-less” retail economy.. and I also think it’s never going to be truly cash-less.. but ai do think a lot of everyday purchasing will move away from traditional coin/banknote based payments to some form of “digital” - be that debit/credit cards or QR/bank transfer. I just renewed my work permit at the MoLs Bangkok Employment Office - and they don’t take coin/banknote payments .. on card or QR.. So.. I wouldn’t be surprised to see other ministries move to this system as well - notably Immigration - for their fee payments. Looking longer term, i think the government will have to address issues like theft liability, infrastructure stability and reliability, and fees, before the notion of cash-only can really move to the principal payment platform.

I’ll say this.. I live in the Sathorn area and I brisk speed walk (as exercise) along Rajadamri Road from Rama 4 (ie Lumphini Park) up to Rama 1 (ie CTW) and the side walks there are perfect.. smooth, largely obstruction free, wide and level .. even on the major roads in my district - I’ve seen the city make pretty sizable improvements.. While I agree that it’s going to take time - lots of it .. and money - even more of it.. from my own perspective, it’s been a very good initial rollout

Hi, Ill say that it’s not IMpossible.. but its hard to do… banks really do want to see a valid work permit (and some want to see a WP that’s at least 6-12 months old and still has 3-6 months remaining) but.. each bank is free to see their own rules.. the “secured” card approach is one of the most common ways a non-citizen gets a card here .. but again, it’s not impossible to get a truly unsecured card … if you have a decent history with X branch of Y bank, I’d suggest you go and talk to the manager … S/he might be willing to assist you .. while credit card approvals aren’t done at the branch level, i’m sure that a “vote of confidence “ by the manager of the originating branch would be a positive for your applications approval odds.

Agreed. It’s clear that there is zero intentions to do otherwise … in part, by making any kind of public event, that would invite … questions… and that would in turn invite unwanted attention to people and a system that really would prefer to remain as it now.

I agree that they are quite active with promotional emails and pop up’s etc … and I also agree that - IMHO - their service is not what it used to be.. so to that end, I’d agree that perhaps less “selling” of themselves and more time fixing the issues that have dragged down their service, might be the better way. But.. I also acknowledge that for OUTGOING transfers there is far less competition and non-bank options than there is for INcoming transfers… so the cynical side of me says that there’s not much motivation or pressure to fix it.. they’ve kind of got a quasi captive market for discount OUTgoing money transfers.

Of course, the optics of this look bad… very bad… but.. I think to be fair, we’d need to know context.. Larger employers might have more “wiggle” room to temporarily shift work around to cover .. smaller firms might not… Is the work specialized that only a handful can/do do, or it is generalized? I also think it’s fair to look into her prior attendance record.. Again, I do think there’s room for compassion and understanding.. but.. I have to balance that against business realities .. both sides have needs and in a fair solution, both sides must have some of their needs met.

I think it’s very very situational and dependent on your total financial picture I bought 4 years ago - a former show unit - on Sathorn Road .. as Sathorn is essentially fully developed, there isn’t a lot of risk of a whole lot of new units coming on the market in my immediate area… I got a deal on the price - but also the seller kicked in nearly all of the showroom furnishings (otherwise they’d have to pay to have them removed and taken back to the original seller) - so my purchase kind of became a “turn key” situation. As for profits — the way I looked at it … so long the condo didn’t DEpreciate more than i would have paid someone else in rent, then I’m happy. After 4 years, I’m a little above where I paid - maybe 5% to 10% max if I pushed it - but I cede that had I taken the purchase price of the condo and wisely invested that back in the US and paid rent here, I would probably be ahead mathematically… but for me, that wasn’t the goal per se. I wanted to own so I would control where I live and the issues surrounding it.. but i also cede that with renting, you gain the benefit of having the ability to largely walk away and call a problem “not my problem” whereas owning comes with longer term financial liabilities… and some risks; call me condo boards, surprise assessments etc

I don’t disagree.. but.. they’d have to do worse damage than other competing countries.. and the way I see it - specifically to SE Asia - despite all the negatives that Thailand has or has proposed - they still enjoy a “teflon” like coating… will that remain forever? doubt it.. but i think a lot of other countries will have to make bigger strides forward AND gain more name recognition/credibility.. an advantage that Thailand has enjoyed for a LONG time over their neighbors and regional Asian competitors.

I agree that Thailands direction relative to what I’d call a “value proposition” for retirees is becoming less and less valuable … but… like it is with tourism.. rightly or wrongly.. thailand has had - for a long time - a near teflon coating .. and while they may implement X or Y rules that are clearly a net negative for a retirees, there’s STILL a large number who come.. so… i’d argue, so long as that trend doesn’t stop, there’s simply no incentive for Thailand to make it better…there will still be X thousands who come each year …. plus, another point, retirees don’t vote.. and from a political ends, hitting a non-vote eligible segment of the people is a safer way to extract revenue than a voting segment. Short sighted? perhaps.. but again, it’s one that seems to have worked for Thailand for quite some time .. therefore I’d argue there’s no impending incentive for them to loosen up or change the rules in favor of a non-citizen.

This is true… and there is a reason for this.. PRIVATE carriers like the FedExs and UPS’ of the world MUST pre-notify inbound customs of what’s coming.. regardless of what it is.. they break up shipments into “doc”’or document and “non-doc” shipments … generally doc shipments (commonly letters etc ) can move with no paperwork and clear with minimal fuss and inspection and no fees/duties.. for NON-doc things it can really vary based on the import country, what it is, their tariff schedule etc … Back in the day UPS actually sent a scanned image of actual paper attached to all non-doc shipments electrically from the center where the package was picked up by UPS- so either Louisville, Ontario, Miami or whichever gateway was used could see the docs were in good order AND they were sent onward to the UPS brokerage office at the destination.. and the brokerage arm would work with customs to determine what will pass without inspection, what is dutiable.. that way when the packages actually arrives in country, most of what will happen to what packages is largely known… that’s where the fee comes from.. the brokerage …. With public post, for most non-commercial shipments of small value, there is no formal importation process - thus no need for a brokerage per se.. and if needed it’s included - up to a certain limit… now, if you send a high value shipment commercially, yes, the destination country could deem that a dutiable shipment and may also require a formal entry process - whereby a brokerage would become involved. So.. it’s not so much UPS’ or FedExs fault per se, but more a reflection of the process differences between public post mail and private express couriers..

I think that it’s perhaps a fair claim about SkyTrax given they are largely a ratings/review entity.. However, T&L I think is a bit different as they are first and foremost a legitimate travel magazine dating back to the 70s as I recall. So, while I might question yhr .. scope .. of someone like SkyTrax, I think T&Ls ratings are probably based on much more data actual traveler data and from a wider audience. But in the end, any “rating” for things that are not purely numerical and objects in nature, are always going to be both subjective and biased no matter to source

There is already a sworn FBI employee assigned to and physically present in Bangkok. they can of course bring in others from other regional offices who may have larger staff or specialists.

this is exactly how I carry mine. Passport data page, last entry stamp, extension .. color copied, scaled down to credit card size and nicely laminated. In the maybe handful of times that I’ve been asked by any kind of law enforcement entity, it’s been accepted without comment. Of course banks and when applying for any kind of government action (ie immigration matters, work permit matters) you’ll need the original- but for the random law enforcement contact, i’ve never had anyone ask for or demand the actual hard copy document.

I agree.. I think the pay-as-you-go method, while perhaps not the most user-friendly way to go about it, I agree that is limits the chances for any kind of misunderstanding, fraud, etc about accumulated bills. IF there is a problem, better it be found and addressed early on - when the value in question is probably still small compared to an end-of-the-night total … and when perhaps memories and evidence is still fresh.

Sure.. I use the word “contact” in the broadest context.. to include physical presence, verbal interaction etc.

To me, if we’re going to go down this road of direct or indirect state subsidies, then I think the state has the right to have some of their issues also addressed by the carriers. As example, I might say if we’re going to cut the Jet A/A1 tax by THBX per kilo, then I’d think it’s reasonable for the state to mandate a reduction in fares in A, B and C fare classes of equal or higher levels to that of the tax cut. If we’re going the route of direct support - then that’s something else and something bigger, and now I think the state should have a “seat at the table” so to speak in terms of planning and overview management as taxpayers money is now being used by a private enterprise and the state/public has rights to ensure that their assets are used for the larger public good.

I have heard the same.. as i understand it, it’s the formal/classic that evidentially is quite different than that’s modern version that is the hard part.. often my kids say thai class is by far harder than math, sci, bio and all the other usual “it’s hard” subjects

I agree.. I DO think online can SUPPLEMENT a physical presence teacher, but for lower education kids (call me middle school to even high school age) I think they really need that physical “contact” between teachers and students.

I think the hybrid model of education for high schools IS very workable … BUT… and it’s a big “but” …. it requires 1) a significant commitment by the parents to support it, 2) relies on the assumption there is adequate tech build out (ie access to reasonable speedy wifi and related tech) and 3) a student body that has the necessary self-motivation and discipline to study in a larger hands-off environment. I think there are schools where these elements are present and as such, I’d guess hybrid learning is workable.. but… i suspect the vast majority of schools (speaking for public lower level prathom and even upper matthyom level) schools) this just isn’t reality … and that to me outs hybrid learning into a risky scenario.

To me the key here would be to hold the “guards” employee also liable … financially so.. You charge the guard with a criminal act subject to arrest and imprisonment.. natural persons can be imprisoned … at the same time, you charge the employer with a civil offense subject to steep fines and/or seizure of any assets used in the commission of said employees crime .. as you cant really imprison a corporate entity, you go after what they do have - assets … that to me, is how best to tackle it.. go after each parties exposure. I’ve long said, once you start taking away people’s “stuff” from the wealthy, they take notice - because that’s the weak spot.. for those who don’t have large assets, you take the freedom, incarcerate them.

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

Here is my GUESS.. For many with Work Permits, one of the various requirements for renewal is that your show your PD 90/91 to Labour before they’ll authorize a renewal (assuming you worked in Thailand in the previous calendar year) So… what I could see is that Immigration adds the mandate that you show a PD 90/91 to them as a part of the overall renewal of stay process… by doing so, they would then be able to see if a foreigner has fulfilled their tax reporting/payment obligations. Again, this is just my guess how Immigration and Revenue might be able to handle the new requirement.. but this only works for those who have Thai-based incomes.. so.. for those who have “assets” that come into thailand from abroad .. I could see Revenue now requiring BANKS to report assets received from out-of-country sources, and paid into accounts held by non-Thais… at that point the non-thai would have to either claim it as taxable under thai law … or show that it’s not subject to taxation due to things like perhaps an applicable tax treaty, failing to meet the minimum number of days in country etc.

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.