sandyf

Why do people insist on talking like there has never been a digital wallet scheme before. Wait a minute, most of the foreigners had done a runner when they were in progress.

Some countries are so paranoid they won't have a national ID card, then complain about identity manipulation and illegal workers.

Been quite involved in all the finacial initiatives since they started in Aug 2020, so more than most, particularly interfering foreigners that have never participated.

I take it you mean in the same way they supported BRICS. Naivity is thinking there is only one way to skin a cat. "According to the Government Spokesperson, BRICS has a policy to expand beyond its current members, and has invited non-member countries to attend the 16th BRICS Summit, to be held in Kazan, the Russian Federation on October 22-24, 2024. This will be an opportunity for Thailand to accelerate its accession to BRICS in a bid to enhance Thailand's role as a leader among developing countries, and increase the country’s opportunity to take part in international economic policy making." https://www.thaigov.go.th/news/contents/details/83640 "The main constraint on Thailand’s competitiveness, according to the OECD website, is not having enough skilled workers to meet the demands of advanced industries. The government has been actively working with Thai private sector and international partners to advance human resource development especially in advanced industries. Thailand is currently collaborating with the OECD under the second phase of the OECD-Thailand Country Programme, which focuses on the areas of doing business, investment, sustainability, transparency, good governance, competition policies, and human resource development through education, science, technology, and innovation policies." https://washingtondc.thaiembassy.org/en/content/thailand-aiming-for-oecd-membership

The government is looking for investment to increase GDP and reduce tourist dependency, and hopefully whinging expats. Coming from a country where the handouts come from the DWP budget rather than pass through parliamentary process I can understand you may find it confusing. Personal debt in Thailand is around 91% of GDP, it is about 120% of GDP in the UK and about 150% in US. The real truth is that the UK is deeper in the brown stuff than Thailand but nobody is interested, after all what would people do if they didn't have the whinging forum.

The Thai national dept to GDP is 64.5%, the UK is 104.3%, yet you think Thailand is "broke". The UK spends more on national debt interest than it does on defence.

A bit historical. Around 25 years ago it was said the Brits had South Pattaya and the Germans the North, nearly all German bars from Dolphin roundabout up Naklua road. Some years ago the Russians started arriving en masse and took over some areas such as Wongamat, spread on to Naklua road. A couple of months ago a friend of mine came down from north Thailand and stayed at Pattaya Park. We had a night nearby and I couldn't believe the Russian presence, hardly a menu with English, just Thai and Russian.

Obviously you subscribe to the belief that Rome was built in a day. A few days ago saw a major global farce in financial management, people had problems accessing bank accounts and paying bills, even the London Stock Exchange shut down. Nobody gets where they want to go unless the first step is taken. The real problem here is the foreigners come to Thailand and want things to be the same as where they left. If there is a financial farce in the world, look to the biggest economy.

Indeed, but it is not really the "tourist spend" that is the issue, it is the GDP. The government wouldn't be too concerned if there was reduced revenue from foreign tourists if that income could be generated from alternative sources. During covid many countries learned a hard lesson in respect of tourism dependency and will now be desperately looking to generate alternative GDP revenue, Thailand being no exception. If Thailand does manage to raise the GDP by other means then we should expect concessions on tourism to be curtailed. Many are very quick to poo poo the proposals that are being regularly tabled but they are all part of a fishing expedition to see what may be viable as GDP revenue and what wouldn't.

Guy has no idea what he is talking about, apart from the fact that the WEF has a vested interest is suppressing anything that goes against their way of thinking. Anyone who says "correct me if I am wrong" hasn't done the homework. The UK has been giving out "handouts" in the form of WFA for years, apart from the more recent cost of living handouts. Why didn't they take the UK to task, or is cost of living problems only recognised in the major economies..

In the last financial initiative, the bank and modern technology illiterates were given a card to show the vendor.

A lot more than you seem to think, % of population registered as employed in Thailand is greater than that in the UK, 40 million out of 72 million as opposed to 33 million out of 67 million. For individuals PIN and TIN will probably be the same.

Thank you, I don't want to hear any more rubbish.

I went in 2019 and yes they prefer payment by QR code. It is difficult for a foreigner, unless things have changed, you need a local bank account. I got bye with cash but there can be a problem with change, if it wasn't much I just ignored it.

I noticed that and I suspect the update affected the different Microsoft systems in use to a different degree. In the UK it was not only airlines but rail travel, hospitals and the like of the stock exchange were all affected. I read that in hospitals some operations were being done manually rather than electronically.

You mean another incorrect fact. The real fact is that only tax residents MAY have to pay tax. A "retirement visa", whatever you mean by that, or any other type of visa does not equate to tax residency. What on earth makes you think that those on DTV would be excluded from becoming tax residents?

Road signs generally are an alien concept for Thai drivers. They have huge directional signs across the motorway and my wife says "Which way?"

In Oct last year I came back on a new visa and a new passport. I moved my TM30 that I have had since 2015 to the new passport and when I did the extension in Dec nothing was said. Yet to do a 90 day report since that entry, see what happens then.

Rubbish. Business only back up their own data, they cannot back operating systems held on external servers, they are maintained and backed up by a third party, such as Cyberstrike. Business can only work within the paameters available. Cyberstrike were doing an update which went wrong, the timing of that could be questioned but difficult in an international situation. They would have resolved the issue initially from a backup until the update issue gets fixed. Updates are carried out regularly without users ever being aware but I suspect there will be a lot of head scratching over updates following this incident.

Windows was one of the more minor casualties, the real problem was higher up the ladder with Microsoft's more sophisticated products for large scale enterprises.

Indeed, it would appear that online check in systems were affected. I think it was Ryanair that said that under the circumstances they would allow people to check in at the airport for free!!

Thanks for the update. The last border bounce I needed to do in 2020 I had to go on my own so took the train from Chonburi to Padang Besar, arrived on the morning Hat Yai shuttle and came back on the afternoon one. All very easy. If it ever comes up again, think I'll give Cambodia a miss.

Depends on the office. I came back last Oct on a new visa with a new passport. I had moved my TM30 from 2015 to the new passport and when I did the extension in Dec nothing was said. I have yet to do a 90 day report since that arrival, see what happens then.

A few years back I was out with a friend and he ordered chicken wings, what he got was the cartilage from the wing joint deep fried in batter, quite disgusting. Another time, a mate got a bowl of stewed chicken feet. Like you my wife will scoop up any fat I discard.

Each to their own.