leesgems

I think it would be quite simple for those to that want to stay long term to just do a police background check and/or get a qualified reference or sponsor locally to vouche for one's character, issue a "green card" and let people work where ever they can get a job and pay taxes. I don't understand why that would be so damn difficult. I just find it so offensive that if you're one of a certain race to can work here. Democracy starts with equality and all people should be recognized as people and not things such as "farang".

Really? So why you're not allow Thai to go to EU/US without hell of paperwork? Typical western double standards. Democracy is not kind of thing which will work only in one direction.

The US is not at all difficult, you only need enough paperwork to get into Mexico then you just walk the rest of the way.

Just kidding of course. The real reason the US cannot allow easy legal entry is because of the welfare system, poor people could collect government checks. It is the kind of populist policy that Thailand is trying to avoid now. Here in Thailand there is no system to milk so the rules can be different.

I think it would be quite simple for those to that want to stay long term to just do a police background check and/or get a qualified reference or sponsor locally to vouche for one's character, issue a "green card" and let people work where ever they can get a job and pay taxes. I don't understand why that would be so damn difficult. I just find it so offensive that if you're one of a certain race to can work here. Democracy starts with equality and all people should be recognized as people and not things such as "farang".

I completely agree. What is with the preferences on racial workers? Cambodians=good, Burma-sorta good. Farangs=only when we have no other choice

My wife is a Thai national; I am a USA national. We live in each country roughly six months per year. But the difference in the way we are treated by each other's native country is night and day. My wife travels in and out of the USA on her Thai passport never needing a Visa. She can work, own property, own businesses, go to school, whatever. She is protected against overt discrimination and welcomed as a tax-paying, contributing part of society. But no matter how long we are married, nor how long we are in Thailand, I can never do any of those things. We are both college educated experienced professionals; but she is welcomed and wanted in my country, and I never will be in hers. Xenophobic or not, it's just plain dumb.

Ditto, same here. Not reciprocal, not fair.

Nor fair? Since when did all countries have to have the same rules and regulations. Caught for drugs in some countries, death penalty, in others slap on wrist or possibly legal. Not fair.

Or your government could negotiate a treaty with Thailand like the American government did. Americans can own 100% of a business here.

We were already talking about America. That treaty is not easy to benefit from, huge investment required etc.

Be a foreigner and marry a Thai then do the paperwork in your foreign country and the Thai will be free to work any job with no work permit and can become a citizen quite easily and own as much land as they want, however, the foreigner married to the Thai, living and supporting the family in Thailand, cannot work without extraordinary paperwork and financial investment, has a very slim chance of becoming a citizen and cannot own land.

What is the point, unless one is a rock we all know the rules about living in Thailand

Sorry, I do not get your meaning.

My wife is a Thai national; I am a USA national. We live in each country roughly six months per year. But the difference in the way we are treated by each other's native country is night and day. My wife travels in and out of the USA on her Thai passport never needing a Visa. She can work, own property, own businesses, go to school, whatever. She is protected against overt discrimination and welcomed as a tax-paying, contributing part of society. But no matter how long we are married, nor how long we are in Thailand, I can never do any of those things. We are both college educated experienced professionals; but she is welcomed and wanted in my country, and I never will be in hers. Xenophobic or not, it's just plain dumb.

Cannot believe this, Travels in and out of the USA on Thai Passport never needing a visa, very special lady here. Please explain how this happens, if you have an explanation

She probably holds a permanent resident card.

My wife is a Thai national; I am a USA national. We live in each country roughly six months per year. But the difference in the way we are treated by each other's native country is night and day. My wife travels in and out of the USA on her Thai passport never needing a Visa. She can work, own property, own businesses, go to school, whatever. She is protected against overt discrimination and welcomed as a tax-paying, contributing part of society. But no matter how long we are married, nor how long we are in Thailand, I can never do any of those things. We are both college educated experienced professionals; but she is welcomed and wanted in my country, and I never will be in hers. Xenophobic or not, it's just plain dumb.

Ditto, same here. Not reciprocal, not fair.

Be a foreigner and marry a Thai then do the paperwork in your foreign country and the Thai will be free to work any job with no work permit and can become a citizen quite easily and own as much land as they want, however, the foreigner married to the Thai, living and supporting the family in Thailand, cannot work without extraordinary paperwork and financial investment, has a very slim chance of becoming a citizen and cannot own land.

This seems counter productive since there is a strong need for this type of service and the people that can do it are very rare in Thailand. Falong could be able to help Thais in many occupations but the work permits are so difficult to get. I do not imagine that any Thai will step in to fill the void created by putting a Chiropractor out of business.

If he was qualified then he should have set up the business legally. There are foreign doctors in Thailand operating within the law. The only one being counter-productive, assuming he was qualified at all, was him. Can you just picture all the righteous indignation here at the hub of counter-productive pontificating if he "treated" someone and caused irreparable damage and it was found out that he wasn't licensed to practice?

Your argument that someone who is operating illegally should be allowed to continue makes absolutely no sense and Thais have a perfectly adequate system for training and licensing medical practitioners without the need for itinerant farang to hold them by the hand. Can you imagine what would happen if some fully qualified Thai doctor opened a clinic in Norway without bothering with any of the legal requirements? Presumably even if this guy was qualified in Norway he wouldn't just rent a storefront shop and start treating people without some licensing procedure.

Falong could be able to help Thais

Simply because they're farang, I suppose. The need for sunscreen must imply omniscience.

The qualifications to be legal are illogical in this example if you look into it.

Never said he should be allowed to continue working illegally.

"perfectly adequate system for training and licensing medical practitioners " OH, riiighttttt.......

If you have not witnessed the need many Thais have for western assistance and you are a falong then you must have no special skills to offer them. Nothing to do with skin color.

Was there not recently a post commenting on how good the clinic is? Or was for that matter.

He is/ was excellent and is accredited just not in Thailand .

From my understanding to get accredited in Thailand he would have to speak really good Thai and pass a few tests.

It's a real shame because he really was is/was excellent , much better than his competition in north Pattaya

Yes, I do remember that one stumbling block in the nearly impossible requirements was that the Chiropractor must speak very good Thai and read Thai, way more language qualifications than needed to provide the service, especially since almost all of the customers are Falong.

This seems counter productive since there is a strong need for this type of service and the people that can do it are very rare in Thailand. Falong could be able to help Thais in many occupations but the work permits are so difficult to get. I do not imagine that any Thai will step in to fill the void created by putting a Chiropractor out of business.

Was he a qualified Chiropractor?

Yes.

This seems counter productive since there is a strong need for this type of service and the people that can do it are very rare in Thailand. Falong could be able to help Thais in many occupations but the work permits are so difficult to get. I do not imagine that any Thai will step in to fill the void created by putting a Chiropractor out of business.

Do you suggest that laws should be broken?

Are you sure you are a suitable resident of Thailand?

My suggestion is that it is too difficult for some Falongs to work legally here and that it should not be, especially when there are very few Thais to fill such jobs, ie: laws should be lightened up.

Yes, I am sure, thank you for your concern.

I know a Chiropractor from Hawaii that looked into the possibility of opening a clinic here. He found out that it was far too difficult for him to do it legally, bordering on impossible. Too bad, I for one would appreciate getting an adjustment once in awhile. Have never found one worth anything legally working in Thailand.

I thought the Junta was cracking down on populist policies??

I believe the main problem was populist policies that cost the government money. The inheritance and real estate tax are likely to help spread land to the poor and provide the government with money. The framework of this tax is designed to insulate the poor from being taxed and subject large dormant parcels to ever increasing taxes thus the rich will be encouraged to sell the land.

I think it's naive to think that land taxes will assist with land distribution reform. The predominantly Thai-Chinese families would never be parted from their wealth by choice. Far more likely they'll increase the rent for the tenant farmers to cover the additional tax.

The tax policies they are proposing are designed to encourage dormant land owners to sell. Much land is not rented, only is held in speculation. Those rich will certainly not like being separated from their money by having to pay taxes on that land that increase each year while the land remains dormant. The rich that do rent the ground to farmers will certainly raise the rent but that can only go so high before the farmers will not be able to farm the rented ground so raising rent will not solve the rich land owner's problems.

I believe the junta has proved to be very effective in solving some very old and deeply rooted problems so I will be watching this land tax with a positive attitude.

I thought the Junta was cracking down on populist policies??

I believe the main problem was populist policies that cost the government money. The inheritance and real estate tax are likely to help spread land to the poor and provide the government with money. The framework of this tax is designed to insulate the poor from being taxed and subject large dormant parcels to ever increasing taxes thus the rich will be encouraged to sell the land.

... the world would be a better place without any of them...!

 

 

Reality check, the world has all these substances. Wishing that it didn't will not change the facts thus is a waste of words. 

This will make Yingluck feel better when they deliver her sentence.

30 passengers in the compartment, all were robbed, yet only 2,500THB was stolen.  That's only just over 80THB per person.

That's what I noticed, and less than half had a phone, must have been a 3rd class sleeper, 30 poor folk.

 

I have to wonder why in stories such as this, the whole story is not here but a link to the source is here and when you bother to open that link you find that only one sentence was left off the end???? Why not copy and paste the entire story rather than leave out ONLY the last sentence????

 

Obviously because the original publisher of the report gives ThaiVisa permission to re-publish it on the condition that the original is linked to by TV.
 

 

Ahh, thanks, never thought of that.

I hope that Thaksin doesn't come back, but the fact that the new leaders are mostly part of the Suthep camp and that mainly red-shirt leaders are the ones blamed for all the deaths and injuries, clearly shows that the army is not a neutral player (and never was).

 

They are clearly preparing a "democracy???" in which one side (the red shirt side) can never win again.

Which is exactly what is needed. The Reds have already proven beyond the shadow of doubt that they cannot be trusted with any power. Red is dead.

How many countries in the world do you know that allow criminal fugitives to stand for election to parliament / government?

A completely free vote - so that includes allowing anyone on the run from convictions or outstanding court cases to stand in your unique world view? If elected would you give them immunity so they can return and ignore their crimes or would they have to participate through Skype and social media?

Smart, more like Pure Genius!

If you'd quit your bare boxing long enough to stick your head out the window you might know that just before Yingluck dissolved her government she was trying to get through a "reconciliation" bill which would have set aside all politically-suspect judgments such as the one against Thaksin. That effort in fact is said to have been the catalyst that prompted the Yellow Shirt walkout. Many Yellow Shirts have charges pending against them too. Mind you I'm not saying Thaksin and his Red Shirt cohorts are not guilty of corruption. I leave that to the courts to decide; but I am saying that if they are, they are not alone. Just as history is written by the victors so are corruption charges pursued by changes in government - especially here in Thailand.

So no, I am not suggesting that the law be changed regarding the ineligibility of convicted felons to to participate in the government. I am suggesting that if a reconciliation bill, or something like that, is enacted politicians like Thaksin and Abhisit might one day regain their right to run for office. And if that happened I'm saying that - IMO - Thaksin and the Red Shirts is still the favorite of the majority of Thai voters.

I'll ask you again, why do you think otherwise? What have you seen, heard or read that makes you think if an election were held today that the Red Shirts would not win again?

No way they would ever win again since the poor have seen that they were tricked and nobody wants to be even associated with the color red again. They are ashamed and embarrassed and have moved on. People have wiped the red slate clean and are starting over with an open mind to others now, the Shins are the past only, never to be the present or future in this country again.

I hope this report is mistaken, or premature.

Ms Yingluck was willing to promise reform after the elections, which she expected to go her way, her party cannot simply pretend that the need for reform has disappeared, because "even if their members are appointed to join the reform council, they will only manage to constitute a minority".

Their ideas are still valid, and nobody should expect to be able to dictate the reforms proposed, through having a majority. They're not in-power now, but their arguments are still worth hearing, aren't they ?

PTP's refusal to participate in reform would be as wrong as the Dems' refusal to take part in an election, and as short-sighted.

No ideas of political party members are worth hearing nor are they allowed to participate in this group.

The Democrats refusal to participate in that corruption infested election appears to have had good vision since the PT were booted out partially because of that election fiasco. Had the Dems the shortsightedness to participate then the coup likely would not have happened and we would still have PT corrupt officials milking the country.

Could go the other way completely and come up with populist policies that make money for the government rather than costing it.