hobz

58 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

You only need to use a little, the main reason is it helps the Neem adhere to the plant,i use it

with tobacco (nicotine) 

The only pest I have in my garden is a beetle,looks like a ladybird,and only

attacks my Lady Sansai trees,its only appeared in last couple of years.

regards worgeordie

Ok thanks. I bought a spray bottle that contains tobacco among other things. Seems to work so far. Haven't seen any aphids since I started using it. I will take a photo and send later. It was around 100 baht in the local plant shop.

2 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Any dish washing liquid will do

regards worgeordie

Ok, I hope so. I read online that some dish washing liquids contain degreasing agents that can be harmful for the plants and to try to find "natural soap" but I can't find anything in Thailand so I guess I will have to take my chances ????

Hi, people often recommend to mix dish washing liquid with water and neem oil to remove aphids, mites etc from plants. 

Is it ok to use any dish washing liquid or does it have to be "natural"? Where can I find a natural dish washing liquid in Thailand?

2 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Many seem to forget that during the height of virus in China from Jan to March, Thailand still allowed tourists from China. 

 

Yet, at that time, economy was still much better than now, and virus cases were still low. 

 

It's due to Chinese government locking down Wuhan and Thai people doing sensible thing like wearing masks which most other western countries won't do.

 

Religious places where people sit next to each other in large number is also a virus spreader as shown in Malaysia.

 

This doesn't happen in Thailand.

I really wonder why Thailand wasn't hit harder from Jan-Mar. It could be like you said, the masks. 

Another thing could be that Thailand did actually start screening passengers from China early on.

That being said, alot of people I know in Chiang Mai (including myself and my gf had nasty flu in late December).

4 minutes ago, EricTh said:

With such low new virus cases, it's simply unwise to stifle the economy and declare emergency. Millions of people are suffering from unemployment in Thailand.

 

More people die of car accidents in Thailand than Covid-19.

 

The real purpose of restricting movements is to stifle protests against government.

the reason the numbers are so low could be because of the restrictions. If they started allowing tourists back in, the virus could start spreading out of control, and then what? Would that then lead to even more restrictions? Even more unemployment? At least now everything is open except tourism?

Thai media says it's "hundreds of youth". The guardian says it's thousands of people. Go figure.

What they could do for national parks to give locals a better deal is to make a tax deduction.

Basically everyone pays the same Price. But people paying tax in Thailand can send the receipt to the tax department and get part of the entry price withdrawn from their taxes the next year.

It's not worth the hassle thou. But it would be fair.

17 hours ago, Sujo said:

Why. What did they do wrong.

They didn't self-quarantine like they were instructed to do. 

4 minutes ago, Trillian said:

Not quite! Of course QE can help devalue a currency but Thailand has no appetite to take on debt or the inflation that would follow, if they get the scale of it wrong - the government had to be coerced by the IMF to operate a larger budget deficit for goodness sake because they are so risk averse.

 

BOT has no remit to initiate QE and successive governments have shied away from issuing debt which is why their borrowings are so low at 42% of GDP (53% post bail out). And unless productivity gains can be released in the Thai economy, QE would only lead to higher inflation, Thailand has had great difficulty increasing productivity which is why the whole money printing concept is a non-starter. 

 

When I refer to the Baht not being fully convertible I do so in the context of making it weaker. One way the country could weaken the Baht is to make it fully convertible but even today the country is reluctant to do that for fear that speculators will take a position against it, another throwback to the '97 crash.

 

Almost 96% of government debt is in THB, only 4% is in foreign currency loans. If Thailand were to borrow in USD this would mean selling THB for USD which would result in a weakening of the currency and this is exactly what is intended with the high speed rail link contract with China which is to be paid in USD. Thailand is in the process of fixing a forward rate on that loan at a time when the Baht is strong and USD is weak, that is sensible borrowing which may help weaken THB and be the precursor to further loans along the same lines.

 

 

Wow, you really know your <deleted>. Would love to have a beer with you and just talk economy.

So to sum up what you said (this is btw my problem, I like to sum up complex things into simple terms): even if they did want to devalue the THB (we both kind of agree that they don't want to) it's not as simple as printing money, because it could spiral out of control and / or massively damage the economy by some shock effects. And an easier way would be to make it fully convertible but it's dangerous for similar reasons, it could spiral out of control due to speculators and the shock to the system?

35 minutes ago, Trillian said:

You can't apply the US model of USD to Thailand and the Baht, the two are totally different economies and currencies. USD is a reserve currency, the Baht is a minor boutique currency that is restricted, not fully convertible and cannot be freely exported, the US economy is worth USD 21 trillion vs Thailand at USD 530 bill. 

 

Increasing the money supply in Thailand via bank lending does what exactly to a restricted currency that cannot  be exported, even if it's effectively a cash giveaway? It would increase BOT debt because they would be the ones who have to shoulder the cost of the giveaway but it wouldn't increase government debt. 

 

Thailand has increased the money supply, it has doubled in the past the years yet it continues to suffer from ultra low inflation, a major reason being the current account has always shown a surplus which has fuelled the rise in foreign currency reserves:

 

https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/current-account

 

https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/money-supply-m1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why doesn't Thailand simply print 1000000000000 trillion THB and buy all the world's gold reserves and usd reserves. What's the downside since the THB cannot be devalued by printing it?

31 minutes ago, Trillian said:

You can't apply the US model of USD to Thailand and the Baht, the two are totally different economies and currencies. USD is a reserve currency, the Baht is a minor boutique currency that is restricted, not fully convertible and cannot be freely exported, the US economy is worth USD 21 trillion vs Thailand at USD 530 bill. 

 

Increasing the money supply in Thailand via bank lending does what exactly to a restricted currency that cannot  be exported, even if it's effectively a cash giveaway? It would increase BOT debt because they would be the ones who have to shoulder the cost of the giveaway but it wouldn't increase government debt. 

 

Thailand has increased the money supply, it has doubled in the past the years yet it continues to suffer from ultra low inflation, a major reason being the current account has always shown a surplus which has fuelled the rise in foreign currency reserves:

 

https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/current-account

 

https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/money-supply-m1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your reply. The key to what you're saying is that because there is export limits on THB, the Thai central bank could inflate the THB infinitely without the THB being devalued?

So if Zimbabwe just had export restrictions they could keep printing Zimbabwe dollars without crashing the currency? 

15 hours ago, Trillian said:

So how do they make it weaker?

 

Forget printing money, that's a red herring in this discussion.

Inflating money supply doesn't make a currency weaker? Even better reason to print money and bail everyone out.

When I say print money and bail everyone out I mean the central bank will add huge amounts of credit to banks and the banks will be forced to lend this money to any business or person that needs a bailout. The loans will be "forgivable" , meaning they won't have to be paid back. 

This is called inflation (inflating the money supply) and would weaken the THB purchasing power and exchange rate.

It's what the US is doing.. the reason the dollar is not collapsing as a result is that it's the world's reserve currency. If Thailand did the same they THB would weaken. Ofcourse depends on the amounts inflated I assume. And other factors as well as you pointed out. Is that correct or too simplified the way I see it?

1 hour ago, Trillian said:

But why would they do that, there is no need,

Because they claim that they want a weaker baht. 

And the tourist sector needs a bailout. Aren't those good enough reasons?

Like how the US "printed" tons of money and lent it to businesses to protect jobs recently? 

This proves that the powers that be in Thailand wants a strong baht. 

Here's my reasoning: 

Before corona the government said that the reason they can't just print money to devalue the baht is because the U.S. would label them a currency manipulator. But with Covid-19 and one third of tourism going under etc, they have the perfect excuse to go on a massive money printing scheme that would 1. bail out everyone. 2. Devalue the way too strong baht (and thus encourage future tourism). 

why would they not do this unless they secretly want a strong baht? 

What am I missing? 

5 hours ago, Wiggy said:

One minute they’re saying how well they’ve done and with no new local infections blah, blah, blah, the next they’re saying it could spread. How can something spread from nothing? Either it’s here or it isn’t. I wish the dithering would stop. It’s getting ridiculous now. 

Obviously no confirmed infections doesn't mean there's not a few people out there with mild or no symptoms.

7 hours ago, John1012 said:

I use online services quite frequently, and find that Kerry is highly efficient and not costly. This industry is driven by service levels and cost to consumer. If costs spiral or service level drops, they lose business. There are many alternatives, albeit not as good as Kerry, but acceptable.. why does the government need to become involved in a purely commercial enterprise? 

Because that's what governments do. Try to destroy and control everything

This is Thailand and the rules will not be enforced.

9 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

None of this will be enforced. It's just classic Thailand. 

 

1. Pretend like you're serious about something for 5 minutes, act tough, big power, big face.

2. Create a plethora of rules that can't possibly be abided by so the person enforcing the rules has the power of deciding whether to apply the rules or look the other way for a fee.

 

If the bars open (it looks like they will), there may be some token enforcement for a day or two before the cops have shaken down enough cash to go to a karaoke bar for Whiskey Sodas.

 

 

Yeah, lots of bars already open in Chiang Mai...

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

No service personnel or public relations representatives are allowed to sit with customers.

Nail in the coffin for girlie bars.

16 minutes ago, GaryAdriaenssens said:

I'm shocked! ONLY 22 rules...... ????????

Yeah this type of nonsense will backfire. The pubs will complain that there's too many rules and that it's impossible to follow and the police will be sympathetic and thus no rules will be enforced. 

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Patrons are not allowed to be loud or walk around the venue if not necessary

Lol