sandyf
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Posts posted by sandyf
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When I go to the Trendy building I usually call into the Red Lion while wife in VFS, pleasant atmosphere with newspapers available. Beer reasonably priced during the day with half litre draught Tiger at 89 baht, a bit pricy at night.
Never tried the breakfast, but looked reasonable with good full English at 195 baht, or you can create your own. Not come across many places offering black/white pudding or sauteed potatoes.
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4 hours ago, KannikaP said:
If mine were like yours, I would not have asked the question.
In asking the question you implied that the format of your photos was standard, it isn't.
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14 hours ago, KannikaP said:
Why do the photos on these ID cards and Driving Licences show most of the shirt you are wearing as opposed to just head and shoulders.
The photos are not the same. My DL photo is very much like a passport photo with the head taking up most of the photo.
The ID card however is quite different with height markers from the shoulders up.
My wife's has very little shoulders showing with white space and marker above the head, on mine the top of the head is close to top of the photo.
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14 hours ago, Will B Good said:
Think I"ll stick with the yellow book....if I end up doing anything.
The number from the tabian baan is used on the ID card. By default pink cards are for foreigners so you need a foreigner tabian baan number, the first digit would be a 6.
The Thai ID card is done according to a law related to the Thai ID Card adopted in Buddhist year 2526.
The first digit of the Thai ID Card has the following meaning:
Number 1- means a Thai national born from January 1, 1984 onwards whose parents registered their birth within 15 days
Number 2- means a Thai national, born from January 1, 1984 onwards whose parents registered their birth late
Number 3- means a Thai national and aliens with identification cards whose names appeared in the census before May 31, 1984
Number 4- means the same group of people (as #3) who previously didn’t have an ID number
Number 5- means a Thai nationals whose names was added to the census later due to error
Number 6- is used for those who entered the country unlawfully or those who entered lawfully with intent to stay in the country on temporary basis. So if you have a yellow ta bian ban, you probably have a Thai ID number starting with 6.
Number 7- is for children of number 6
Number 8- is for formers aliens whose original nationality was converted to Thai after May 1, 1984 (And permanent residents to what I know).
https://isaanlawyers.com/pink-id-card-for-foreigners-in-thailand/
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2 hours ago, smedly said:
how about getting tough on everyone who breaks the law
this idiot can't seem to grasp that foreigners are what this country needs - now more so that ever
sack this belligerent # before he does more damage
I honestly can't figure out how they don't realise that like it or not, we (filthy foreigners) make up 30% of GDP, might be a bit less recently, what is wrong with this idiot, is he so rich he doesn't give a #, well that is probaby 100% correct
That age old perception of self importance, probably a left over from the colonial days.
Covid brought home to many countries the risks associated with a dependence on tourism. Thailand like many other countries is now trying to increase GDP revenue in other areas to reduce that reliance on foreigners.
After all they don't need the problems they cause, certainly not "now more so that ever".
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12 hours ago, khunjeff said:
AOT is a for-profit public company, and posted a net profit of 8.8 billion baht in fiscal year 2023.
Like every other country, the airport operator manages the rates on behalf of the appropriate Government Ministry. The PSC is a ring fenced tax while others can end up in general taxation.
* The above rates are the actual rates charged by each airport under the 2017 announcement of the Ministry of Transport on Departure Passenger Service Charges at Licensed Airports that provide services to the public.
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10 hours ago, suspectdevice said:
APD is paid by the customer at ALL uk airports. It's another sneaky uk tax. The further the airport is from Heathrow the higher the APD cost.
APD is a fixed rate dependent on destination, distance and class of travel, the more seat spacing you have the more you pay. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-allowances-for-air-passenger-duty
Heathrow is/was the most expensive airport in UK and one of the most expensive in the world. The regulator had to step in and force a cut in taxes.
"Luis Gallego, chief executive of British Airways' parent company IAG, said: “Heathrow already charges three times more per passenger than other major airports in Europe including Gatwick and Madrid, and five times more than Dublin."
A few years back I switched from BA to Emirates to go into Gatwick, significantly cheaper.
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2 hours ago, ikke1959 said:
It is all about money in Thailand and dowry is a part of it....It gives the people a feeling how important they are
Only a certain mentality would generalise like that.
Circumstances vary but in a traditional Thai wedding the sinsod is part of the ceremony. In this area it would highly unusual for the parents not to return the sinsod to the bride and groom.
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2 hours ago, hotchilli said:
Doesn't seem much of an increase per head, but it soon adds up to a tidy profit for the airports.
PSC is a ring fenced tax for airport improvements and around the world local legislation is in place to prevent abuse.
Heathrow is about the only airport in the world that sets out to make a profit, they do that through a separate tax called APD, about 4000 THB, that goes into general taxation.
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2 hours ago, khunjeff said:
Adding in small but irritating fees is, in fact, exactly what "nickel and diming" is.
And this particular increase has nothing whatsoever to do with "adjusting" the passenger service charge for inflation. As the article explains, it's to pay for check-in equipment that in almost every other country would be installed and paid for by airlines as a means of saving on labor costs, not put in by airport management at the expense of passengers. So yes, we will now pay AOT for the privilege of doing the check-in ourselves instead of having professionals do it for us as part of our fare.
The PSC is intended to improve airport security, about 65%, and airport passenger facilities, about 35%.
You seem confused over who is responsible for passenger facilities.
"The use of CUPPS is aimed at enhancing service efficiency and facilitating passengers to use airport services with convenience, rapidity and safety. The aforesaid use of the system is in accordance with the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT)’s Resolution and CUPPS into use at public airports. That policy aimed to develop their operations in terms of modernity and potential in parallel to international standard."
"Common Use Passenger Processing System (CUPPS)"
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40 minutes ago, Travis179 said:
Dr. Anthony Fauci wrote in February 2020 that store-bought face masks would not be very effective at protecting against the COVID-19 pandemic and advised a traveler not to wear one.
Useless advice. If you cannot board the transport you are not a traveller.
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38 minutes ago, shackleton said:
Here we go again the Subject of wearing face masks in Thailand
I always wear mine when out in Bangkok PM2.5
It's a matter of choice so far
I can't get to worked about it it's my choice
No doubt others will think differently
Indeed, a significant pecentage of the locals wore masks long before anyone had heard of covid.
There is a certain mentality that will condemn Thailand for a lack of preventative measures and then criticise any attempt at introduction. For many it stems from a belief that they have a god given right to interfere in the affairs of other nations.
The article is however deliberately inflammatory, in one sentece they refer to "foreign visitors" and the next "expats" as though one and the same.
Like you I still wear a mask where I consider it appropriate.
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On 3/29/2024 at 4:26 PM, Mika78 said:
With a history of a long overstay and a 10 year ban still in place, it is possible for a person, with a new passport, to travel to Laos to settle himself there? No intention of attempting to enter Thailand again.
Inital entry to laos may notbe a problem but
"to travel to Laos to settle himself there?" could be a different ball game.
Different questions are likely to arise and very unlikely the answers will be found here.
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2 hours ago, NoshowJones said:
It sure does Crossy I am at my wits end. I just don't know what to do.
A few years ago I think it was BA that started selling tickets that were carry on only and everything else was paid for at a premium. Since then the options on many airlines have mushroomed and many get caught out. It is better to book direct with an airline where the options are usually more obvious. Agents may not offer all that is available.
Back in 2015 I had a flight booked with BA that I had done through an agent. Day before the flight I got email from BA saying the flight was cancelled, I immediately booked another flight and claimed a refund. BA told me I would have to claim from the agent, the agent said I wasn't entitled to a refund as it was a reschedule and not a cancellation.
I took the pair of them to court, agent said they were going to contest the case but BA stepped in and settled out of court. I have never dealt with a flight ticket agent since.
My wife has done flights with Agoda and when there was a problem they said she had to deal with the airline, really ought to have gone to them in the first place.
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10 minutes ago, mokwit said:
Some lawyers are tellimg clients that if they personally own/let 4 units or less in a condo they are in compliance with the law. That is not what the exemption for guesthouses with 4 rooms or less means and not how the authorities interpret the law (when they do).
They are wrong to do so, just like the media and many on here. Airbnb is not illegal, only the owners, a bit like saying the car rental company is at fault if you break the speed limit.
A 2018 court ruling in Hua Hin declared that renting out a unit for less than 30 days without having a Hotel License violated the Hotel Act and was therefore illegal. For several months after that, many people were arrested and fined for listing their condominium units on AirBnB.
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22 hours ago, impulse said:
And mechanically, how does an AirBNB property pay hotel taxes? Does AirBNB hold out and remit the hotel taxes, or is the property owner responsible for reporting the income and remitting the taxes? Not to mention any income taxes in addition to the hotel tax. Then I wonder if AirBNB is required to report (to the Revenue Department) any amount they pay to the property owner, and under what tax ID if any?
I'm mostly wondering if AirBNB'ers are competing on a level playing field.
Airbnb is nothing more than a property listing. if you want to make a booking you pay Airbnb and they pay the property owner less their fees. It is up to the owner to comply with all local laws and regulations.
I have used Airbnb for many years including places like China, Thailand & Vietnam, the latter being the only problem I have ever had.
I also use Booking.com and many of their listings are on a similar basis to Airbnb, I had one in Belfast, so don't understand what you mean by level playing field. I think Agoda are also dipping the toe in the same pond.
People should bear in mind that self contained acommodation and hotel rooms are hardly the same.
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23 hours ago, AverageAussie said:
Just for a bit of clarity, under the current act there is nothing illegal about listing accommodation on Airbnb - provided:
- the building/ room has a hotel licence
- the term of the lease is at least 30 days if there is no licence.
A lot of guests houses etc also list on that platform.
That is not the whole story, a host with less rooms than the licence requirement can rent quite legally for less than 30 days.
The whole controversy lies with condos. The court ruled that someone with a single condo unit required a licence to rent on the STR basis as in their opinion the total number of rooms in the complex should be taken into account.
The outcome has been that owners of 1 or 2 units have been making false declarations to Airbnb claiming that are in compliance with all local laws and regulations.
This is the problem that requires addressing before any changes to the law.
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41 minutes ago, thailand49 said:
What is being posted is true!
I did a transfer request 20th, first thing cross my mind was revenue?
These question are new as noted basically how much you send a year?
I checked off minimum amounts pension amounts that is already taxed.
Following my last transfer to Thailand I received the following message from HSBC, I didn't bother so no idea what they asked.
First time that has happened in 17 years of transfers.
Tell us how we did
We’d love to hear your feedback on your recent experience of making your international payment with HSBC UK.
By answering just a few short questions – which should take less than 5 minutes – you will help us to improve our service for all our customers.
At no stage will you be required to provide any personal information. At the end of the survey you will be asked if you are happy to share your identified responses with HSBC UK. If you choose not to be identified, HSBC UK will receive anonymised responses only.
To take part, please click the link below, and this will take you directly to the survey which is being managed by InMoment who are an independent market research company commissioned by HSBC UK.
Click here to give us your feedback.
Thank you in advance for helping us to make your experience better in the future.
Your HSBC UK team-
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20 hours ago, smedly said:
because of the specific details it was specifically for Thailand, although I am a UK citizen my wise account is registered in Thailand, it looked very like a tax declaration including source of funds (pension - savings etc) and how much transfered per year with specific bands 0-250k 250k-450k etc, never had to do this before
It is irrelevant where the account is registered, requests can be made to any account.
I have a UK account and this is not the first year I have had to do it. I have had a Stocks Jar for a few years and I think the request for personal details initially related to accounts where profit was involved, but seems to have spread generally. I don't do Wise transfers to Thailand.
Last year I tried to open an HSBC savings account and had to show proof of tax jurisdiction before they would do it. Regulation just getting tighter.
Speculation on changes being due to Thai tax law doesn't help anyone.
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6 hours ago, mrmicbkktxl said:
You will have to show me where this statement appears in the article.
"toyota are not interested in the EV crap,EV is a dead horse"
Seems to me you have trouble differentiating between hybrid electric vehicle and total electric vehicle, even electric vessels appear to be outside your comprehension.
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23 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:
Sorry Chinese tourists are a menace. I've seen it too many times and so do the Thai's. They're largely not welcome from what I can tell.
"from what I can tell."
Exactly - bigoted opinion.
Chinese tourists have a language problem so they stick with the herd. Foreign tourists are exactly the same problem in China, but they are more grown up and nobody whinges about it.
It is Quing Ming time. There is a Chinese graveyard just down the road from us that stretches for as far as the eye can see. Over the next couple of weeks that will become a canvas city as Sino Thais and Chinese come from around the globe to pay their respects to their ancestors. Obviously something you disagree with.
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32 minutes ago, mrmicbkktxl said:
Japanese companies specialy toyota are not interested in the EV crap,EV is a dead horse
Garbage, Toyotal was one the first into the EV business, the initials can be distorted to suit any agenda.
Couple of years ago I went on one of the new EVs up the river in Bangkok, you will be telling us next that they are dead in the water.
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7 hours ago, Peterphuket said:
Totally agree that they are years behind in that but why does it always have to be the Chinese, for example the Japanese are the best in the world if you are talking about high-speed trains.
May be something to do with the fact that it is all part of a Chinese initiative rather than a Japanese initiative.
"The Nanning-Singapore Economic Corridor, or China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC), is one of the six major corridors envisioned by China’s One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR). Its goal is to deepen economic links between ASEAN countries in Southeast Asia and China’s relatively underdeveloped southwest region (Yunnan, Guangxi)."
https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/fact-sheet-kunming-singapore-high-speed-rail-network/
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28 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:
The Lao government gave the green light in 2016 for their high-speed train on an uncharted territory as Laos never had a train system before. The Chinese dug hundreds of tunnels and constructed hundreds of bridges in order to open the link from the Lao-Chinese border in Boten to the Lao-Thai border in Vientiane. 2016 they said, it would be running on 2 December 2021 - in line with the Lao National Day.
Guess what, the train rolled on 2 December 2021 and since then proved a flawless operation. If the former Thai government - self-assigned since 2014 - would have started then as well, the train link would have been finished in 2021 as well and Bangkok would be connected by rail to the rest of the world. This did not happen and lukewarm excuses came, as the self-elected government finally got out in 2023. The Thai terrain is much easier without all those hinderances of tunnels and bridges - but there was no will.
Now they finally had to give in and listen to the marching orders from Beijing; I guess the train might run by the end of this decade, unless a political bumper is thrown in - for good measure!The northern Thai section of the project wasn't the only one that run into trouble.
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- The Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok section of the Kunming-Singapore railway would be the highest-hanging fruit of any regional rail network. It would have to traverse a very long distance, much of it through underdeveloped and rural areas that would provide little economic benefit to the railway’s operators. Unsurprisingly, the project would also require a huge investment to get off the ground, and given Thailand and China’s struggles to get a deal on the Bangkok-Vientiane portion done, a Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok initiative won’t be forthcoming anytime soon."
- https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/fact-sheet-kunming-singapore-high-speed-rail-network/
Thai government’s 500 billion baht digital wallet under scrutiny
in Thailand News
Posted
Yet the UK government claim that economic recovery is on course due to the handouts in recent years. Who is the greater expert and is the UK free from structural issues that need to be addressed. The condition of much of the infrastructure would suggest otherwise.
Thailand and the UK have similar size of population, UK national debt is currently 100% of GDP, Thailand national debt is 55% of GDP, well below the average for SE Asia.
At the end of the day all political initiatives attract critisism and the only thing that counts is international opinion on the currency, you only have to look at what happened following the Liz Truss initiative.