Jump to content

richard10365

Advanced Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,895

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Posts posted by richard10365

    • Popular Post
    • Popular Post

    52% of Chiang Mai’s expats thinking of leaving - survey

    in Chiang Mai

    Posted

    Before I start, I do agree the air pollution is a problem. Everyone knows about it. No one has a solution that works. 

     

    According to the presentation, the purpose of the survey (yes,...another smog survey) was to gather feedback from the international community in order to improve the health environment in Chiang Mai. I hope they accomplished their goal. The research was based on foreigners responding to another social media survey.

     

    Some of the assumptions are a bit misleading. For example, Chiang Mai does not get 50% of it's revenue from tourism. It's only about 15%.  Also, domestic (Thai) tourism brings in double of what international tourism brings into Chiang Mai each and every year. 

     

    Below is a recent (2020-Q2) report from the Thailand Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council which supports my facts. Raw data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports website can also support my claim.

    image.png.b5206ed7b386ee0856b5325820a84d23.png

    Source

     

    Perhaps the economic footprint that foreign tourist leave behind is considered more important to places like Phuket or Bangkok rather than Chiang Mai because Thai tourists are the dominate travelers in Chiang Mai. This fact is often overlooked due to the tendency to follow tourism trends the rest of the country follows. 

     

    Another false assumption is international schools in Chiang Mai hire tourists. That's just wrong in so many ways and not even worth discussing. 

    I was also disappointed to hear that almost 65% of the  foreign residents aged 15-45 wants to leave the country because of pollution. I was unaware many of the 15 to 25 year old were major contributors to the local economy with most being business people and heads of families. Best of luck to them.

     

    Foreigners are replaceable. They always have been and always will be. The country doesn't come to a halt with foreigners leave. Other foreigners will come into the country and replace them. I'm sure I will be replaced some day too.

     

    I do agree that the air pollution is a problem. 

    • Like 3

    What are the Thai university degrees that will be accepted in other countries?

    in Higher Education in Thailand

    Posted

    On 7/29/2018 at 11:44 AM, GinBoy2 said:

    This may not be the answer you want, but in general, in the real world most Thai degrees aren't worth the paper they are written on outside of Thailand....

     

    I disagree. Two of my classmates took their Thai degrees to graduate schools in foreign universities. One was the London School of Economics and the other went to Harvard University. While the degree was required, it wasn't the only thing universities want.

     

    That's true with employment as well. Most of my western classmates went back to their countries and are happily employed thanks to their degree. Some even joined the US military. Many employers look at the whole individual and what they would bring to the organization and not just a piece of paper. 

    The paper, from whatever country it comes from, gets you looked at. The rest is up to you.

    • Like 2

    Flat growth in tourist arrivals to Chiang Mai

    in Chiang Mai News

    Posted

    According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) (Source) there were only 36,000 rooms in 2018. In one year, according to the  President of the Northern Thai Hotel Association, La-Iad Bungsrithong, that number nearly doubled. 

     

    Also, the number of guests in these hotels was 8,360,997 and was made up by the following figures for 2018.

     

    Jan-March

    Number of Guest Arrivals    2,379,304 
               Thai    1,540,671
               Foreigners    838,633

    Apr-Jun

      Number of Guest Arrivals    1,898,615 
               Thai    1,212,552
               Foreigners    686,063
    Jul-Sep

      Number of Guest Arrivals    1,787,871 
               Thai    1,070,168
               Foreigners    717,703
    Oct-Dec

      Number of Guest Arrivals    2,295,207 
               Thai    1,585,563
               Foreigners    709,644
    Foreign tourists have never outnumbered Thai tourists in Chiang Mai. Someone is not telling the truth.

    Brexit has created chaos in Britain – nobody voted for this

    in World News

    Posted

    I think the average citizen should not be able to vote on or do brain surgery. The average citizen doesn't know how to do brain surgery and the results are predictable. Just because the average citizen can see the head, does not mean they are in any way qualified to decide how to enter it. The hammer and chisel method might be fatal to the patient.

     

    For some strange reason, people in the UK were given the option to vote on Brexit. As if they have an inkling of understanding of how international trade agreements are negotiated. While it's not brain surgery, it's still extremely complicated in its own right and rash impulsive decisions based on political rhetoric has led the UK to Brexit. 

     

    Like the average citizen doing brain surgery, the citizens and government of the UK now have their hammer and chisel out trying bang out new international trade agreements with the EU who had warned them not to do Brexit. While it's not as predictable as hammer and chisel brain surgery, I suspect the outcome will not be positive for the Brexit voters.

     

    The next generation, on the other hand, may benefit in the long run thanks to this generation's selfless sacrifice. Thank you democracy.

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1

    Thailand not among world’s top universities

    in Thailand News

    Posted

    Most posters are making too much from this survey.

     

    The rankings are based on the views of  EXPERIENCED PUBLISHED SCHOLARS,  who are asked   To offer their views on the standards of teaching and research in their disciplines and in institutions that THEY are familiar with.  The responses were then used to determine which universities were considered the most prestigious. 

     

    In 2017, there are more than 25,000 universities spread out in 196 countries around the world. In this world, there are 591 million people who are between the ages of 18 and 22 that are old enough to attend a university (not considering all the older students). Not everyone can attend the best universities. 

     

    From the 25,000 universities, there were 10,566 responses from 137 of the world's countries. In other words, if the people who were asked to take this survey, do not know about a university, then they can't offer an opinion on it. If people are familiar with research from a particular university,  they might be able to have an opinion on that university.

     

    My first point is, most Thai academics don't speak English well. Most of their research is in Thai. This means it only get's read by other Thai researchers. Thai research and any particular reputation a university may have because of its ability to produce research would generally be unknown to the experienced published scholars who may have participated in this survey.  It does not mean that Thai universities don't know how to teach or do research; however, it may infer that Thailand low English ability among its academic community makes it higher education system appear weak compared to other universities around the world.

     

    Point number two is, if your university wasn't mentioned, it doesn't mean it's not a good university that doesn't have quality graduates or a good research program. It means from the 25,000 universities around the world, your university is not known well among famous and experienced published scholars who took this survey. 

    Should university education be free?

    in Higher Education in Thailand

    Posted

    If you are the person making the revenue, then yes, the benefit of revenue exceed the advantages of a more educated society.

    This is not Star Trek and we don't live in utopia. We are human and inherently selfish and greedy. Its our nature and its who we are as a species.

    If you want an education then someone has to pay for it. At the very least, the person getting the education pays with the time needed to study and learn. Time studying is time not working. Time not working is time not earning revenue.

    To wrap this rant up, most people are not disciplined enough to learn online. They need the lecturer in the flesh to guide and motivate them to study. They also need the environment to give them a sense of being part of something. They also need the companionship of fellow students to work and grow with.

    Maybe in a thousand years we would have evolved to make this possible but we are not there yet.



    Sent from my SM-P601 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

ASEANNOW

ASEANNOW (formerly Thai Visa) Thailand's oldest and most popular forum for expats and foreigners.

Sign up today and have your say

MORE INFO

POPULAR AREAS

CONTACT US

219/59 Asoke Towers, 15th Floor, Soi Sukhumvit 21, Watthana, Bangkok 10110
(+66) 99 196 1100
[email protected]

×
×
  • Create New...