greenwoodsolar

Total BS

Laughable game here in Pattaya though. In an effort to show the NCPO what an orderly house they (the local police) really run the street by us on Pattaya Klang was cleared of the motorbikes and hire cars that make it impossible to park on any other day. Curfew lifted, bikes flood back on to the street and we can all carry on as if nothing really happened.

Thanks for a good laugh. The sad thing is that City Hall are quite capable of coming up with a scheme as hare-brained as this. Be careful what you wish for.

EGAT has been running a scheme this year aimed at installing 100mW of solar panels on residential buildings. This will provide a feed-in tariff (FIT) of 6.96 THB/kW, as compared to an average cost to bigger consumers of 3.8-4.3 THB/kW. All power generated by the panels earns the FIT. The contract is for 25 years and is transferable if the house changes hands. This gives a payback of 6-7 years and a return on capital of more than 12% p.a. guaranteed for 25 years. This would be considered a healthy return on most investments. The problems are not the numbers or the business case. The first issue is a cultural one where Thais are averse to long-term investment and the second, and larger, issue is the amount of red-tape and conditions that have to be met to make a successful application. My company has managed to navigate a couple of householders through the process resulting in signed contracts with EGAT but it hasn't been easy.

Isn't that wonderful! EGAT will pay around 3 times what it is worth for energy from those rich enough to afford solar panels, and of course the rate paid by the poor and everybody else will increase (around 20% quoted??) to pay for it.

BTW if the plan was for 100 milliwatts, I wouldn't mind, 100MW is a different matter.

Pretty dim response. Not sure how 6.96 becomes 3 times 3.8, to use the lower figure. The householder pays for the panels and their installation, so there is no investment by the government in new infrastructure, no new power plant, no emissions in the 25 years (over and above those from the initial manufacturing process). The price rise is coming and has nothing to do with any solar scheme. Thailand's reserves of natural gas, that the current generating capacity is built around, are running out. Over the next two years they will have to switch to purchasing gas on the open market. At current prices their costs will at least double, hence EGAT stating in 2013 that prices will rise by about 35% over the next two years. The price rise will almost certainly be less dramatic than that, but this will be by way of subsidy, not based on the true cost.

BTW The implication that the poor are somehow subsidizing the rich in their use of power is very wide of the mark. In the residential market larger users of power pay a progressively higher price based on usage. This higher rate subsidises the ability of EGAT to charge very low rates to low usage consumers.

EGAT has been running a scheme this year aimed at installing 100mW of solar panels on residential buildings. This will provide a feed-in tariff (FIT) of 6.96 THB/kW, as compared to an average cost to bigger consumers of 3.8-4.3 THB/kW. All power generated by the panels earns the FIT. The contract is for 25 years and is transferable if the house changes hands. This gives a payback of 6-7 years and a return on capital of more than 12% p.a. guaranteed for 25 years. This would be considered a healthy return on most investments. The problems are not the numbers or the business case. The first issue is a cultural one where Thais are averse to long-term investment and the second, and larger, issue is the amount of red-tape and conditions that have to be met to make a successful application. My company has managed to navigate a couple of householders through the process resulting in signed contracts with EGAT but it hasn't been easy.

Whilst I would agree that this could appear dodgy I have experience of just such an event in my guesthouse. An Australian gentleman, much the worse for wear, fell into the mirrored door of his wardrobe and cut himself very badly. He was fortunate that he was able to call his friend before loss of blood rendered him incapable. After the accident his room looked like the St Valentine's Day massacre had been re-enacted in there.

Let us also not forget the millions of tons of rice missing from the stores. They will be a hard sell at any price.

There is no intention to abolish democracy in its narrowest sense, e.g. majority rule. However, there is a clear intention to abolish all checks and balances, such as the independence of the Senate which in turn selects the independent bodies such as the NACC. There also seems to be a plan to abolish the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court for Political Office Holders. That would take us back to the system where all cases had to go through the normal criminal justice system with corrupt prosecutors deciding on prosecutions based on evidence collected by corrupt police and cases heard in dubious courts if they ever got there at all.

Basically he wants a system where whoever wins the election is not constrained at all by rule of law and corruption and criminal activities by office holders would be even more rampant than they are today. That is a democracy in name only because in practice it functions as a dictatorship where those in power can do whatever they want. As a system of government, it is simply not sustainable because the economy, now growing at only 3-4% and with a ridiculously low tax base, cannot support any more corruption and inefficiency than has to today.

Should add, with regard to your second paragraph, that we've been exactly here before, when a ruling party had such a majority that they could ride roughshod over any opposition and with a leader who was untouchable under the law. This led to breathtaking and blatant corruption and eventually sowed the seeds of the coup.

OP Why?

Can't understand what they're unhappy about.

Coffee is supposed to get you up in the morning.

Why no finger pointing

...because he'd look silly pointing at himself?

accidently fell? yea right!

Why is there always people who doubt fricking everything???

It's a condition common to those whose level of engagement in a given social reality is relatively low.

Rest in Peace, Korean traveller.

The problem is that we live in a town that is at times, to say the least, statistically abnormal where unfortunate, lonely deaths are concerned. Whether it be falling from a balcony in your condo block (a balcony on a floor other than the one with your apartment), slipping in the shower, or self-harming to completion with no previous indication of depression or other personal issues. This does tend to make one very cynical, and can lead, unfortunately, to a position where one assumes as a starting position that some form of cover-up is taking place, without examining, or waiting for, the facts. I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment regarding this unfortunate Korean gentleman, but disagree that the cynical view is indicative of a lack of engagement, in fact I would suggest it's often quite the opposite.

Usual garbage. PTY is exactly the same, except the worst scammers operate right in front of Soi 9 Police Station. Saves a lot of tedious back and forth.

greenwoodsolar...im going with your advice. If all goes well beers on me.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Good Luck with it. Best advice you can get is direct from the Embassy staff anyway (and here's hoping for a better performance after the break).

I am nearing the same problem and until I read your post also had my head in the sand. I will get mine done now. Thanks for the post. I think I would go to immigration and very politely ask for some help.

Is the Hong Kong application on the gov site?

Yes it is. It's actually just the standard application form, it hasn't changed. Because of the fraudulent issuing of UK passports in the region in the recent past all applications for the region are now collated and checked in HK then (assuming they're OK) couriered to the UK for the passport to be issued, couriered back to HK and distributed. These are the new chipped passports

There are several problems with a full passport, and sorry if these have already been expressed. If trying to fly out of the country to anywhere other than the UK then you will probably be refused boarding at the airport (and as fellow Leeds fan I understand how unattractive that can be). If crossing a land border you are totally at the mercy (or mood) of the immigration officials dealing with you. As is generally known the Thais are a very tolerant bunch when it comes to Visas and overstay etc, but this is less true for most of their nighbours.

Your best bet is to get yourself to the UK embassy in Bangkok on Monday and apply for an emergency passport. This can only be done in the morning (and the earlier the better). Usually the emergency passport would be available in the afternoon. You need to take the usual complement of recent pictures. You need to take your existing passport and your receipts for your application for your new passport. You must also have, and this is important, confirmed details of where you want to travel to next. The emergency passport can only be issued for travel to specific destinations and it will say in the passport exactly where you plan to travel and when. The staff at the Embassy are very helpful in these kind of circumstances.

The biggest risk with overstay is if you are caught up in a problem away from a border and have to produce your papers. Then the consequences can be dire or, at the very least, worse than at the border. The attitude of immigration in general is that if you are at a border attempting to leave then so long as you can clear your overstay fine that's OK. You are showing that you want to straighten things out and leave. If you are picked up on the street, stopped on a bike for example, and they decide to look at your papers and see the expired visa then the attitude is that you are in the country illegally and showing no intention to leave. Then you are much more at the mercy of the police that stopped you. They have the right to detain you, not good, and lock you up, worse, in one of their nice orange suits, not a good look. They can hold you until such time as you can agree a price with them to be allowed to get out, pack and leave, or get taken to the airport and deported. As a general rule you don't want to spend a hour in a Thai cell, let alone days negotiating your way out. The vast majority of overstayers don't have a problem and make it out of Thailand (and back) with little hassle, but the risk cannot be ignored.

But rather ironic isn't it that we see this guy as a hero when he's in a press conference called to complain about the high cost to the businesses of paying off officials so that they (the businesses) can continue to break the law. His complaint appears to be more about the price than the fact of the corruption. He would appear to be part of the problem rather than any solution.

Well; interesting but very different from my current Thai life and my former life in Britain....

Jogging in the morning........free...........England.....free.

Mug of Tea (1 bag )........1 Baht...........England.....1p.

Use of fitness Machines in local park.....free......England.....free.

Back Massage (Wife)..........free...........England.....free.

Car Wash (myself)..............free...........England.....free.

Avoiding Cheesecake.........free...........England.....free.

Total...................................1 Baht..........................1p.

I do this as many times a week as i please and i could afford to do it in either country, or any other for that matter.

Have a nice day everyone.