sandyf

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."

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/life/tourism/2024/04/01/aot-raises-passenger-service-charge-to-improve-efficiency/

"Common Use Passenger Processing System (CUPPS)"

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.

https://www.newsweek.com/fauci-said-masks-not-really-effective-keeping-out-virus-email-reveals-1596703

Useless  advice. If you cannot board the transport you are not a traveller.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

https://www.juslaws.com/articles/renting-out-a-condominium-on-airbnb-in-thailand#:~:text=As of 2018%2C AirBnB has,stays longer than 30 days.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

6 hours ago, mrmicbkktxl said:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterlyon/2024/03/03/bucking-industry-trend-toyota-chairman-downplays-ev-growth-predictions/

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.

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.

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.

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/

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.

"

• 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/

5 hours ago, SingAPorn said:

Who on earth goes to Thailand in the rainy season in summer in the first place ?

 

One day you may come to realise Spring and Autumn are not in the vocabulary, only summer and winter.

Songkran is not seen to be in the winter.

46 minutes ago, Shocked farang said:

It's actually almost impossible to identify an overstayer if he has foreign income and access to that income through a bank card for example. He can just stay in rented properties, whatever. He is almost impossible to detect, unless someone tells the immigration. 

Only if the property owner is an accomplice.

4 minutes ago, dyertribe said:

 Being able to move troops quickly is vital.

Why the US has a presence all over the world.

11 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

you're comparing the average Chinese of today with the historical population in Thailand? Spend some more time around Chinese and tell me how similar they are to Thai people.

Comparing in what way, are you trying to say the Sino-Thai have no influence on how Thailand is run?

Probably not, for you and many others it will all be about social behaviour, in some distorted belief that your own nation behave impeccably wherever they go.

I have been to China a couple times and accept the fact that as an isolated nation they have developed their own social etiquette which they find perfectly acceptable. It is not to my taste but only the arrogant and racist would condemn their way of life.

On 3/24/2024 at 11:08 AM, Captain Monday said:

A generalization, not even theoretically true for US any longer. There are no non-stop flights to the US anyway and  airline won't board you even if there were. The process is to get an ermargency travel document or new passport.

 

U.S. citizens will not be allowed to use their expired U.S. passport for direct return to the United States after June 30, 2022.
 

 

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article1861?language=en_US

You can correct me if I am wrong but it is my understanding that Immigration do not need a valid travel document to execute a deportation order, the destination would have to be a country where the deportee has citizenship.

Someone walking about on significant overstay is a deportaion waiting to happen.

1 hour ago, wombat said:

Bullet Train from China to Pattaya...I can't wait.

I didn't realise Pattaya was on the route from Kumning to Singapore.

Learn something new every day.

3 hours ago, connda said:

$411M USD per kilometer?  That's a whole bunch of rich "brother-in-laws."

Doing an internet search, HSR ranges from $17-30M in China, $24M in France, and $27M in Spain.¹ 
Thailand?  $$$Cha-Ching$$$

Source:

¹ Lowyinstitute.org

Of course it wouldn't have anything to do with the water that is in the way or the freight/passenger integration and border controls.

There may be bit parts available in "Carry On Searching".

11 hours ago, kimamey said:

 

To be honest if it's serious enough to stop me getting back in time, it's probably more important than my visa. 

I've booked my flights and I'll be back in Bangkok early on the 27th May which should give me enough time. However long I have there's always the possibility something could go wrong. If it does then I'll have to come up with a plan B. I assume I'd have to leave the country and apply from there.

If something happens so you are not back in time just get an e-visa from London, usually fairly quick, mine was about 48 hours.

I went back in Sept to renew my passport and expected to get both passports back at the same time. However I was told the old passport would come back about 10 days after the new which if it had materialised would have been after flight back. Rather than change the flight I just applied for an e-visa. I was prepared for a hicup and had available the required information and used the funds in Thai account, all very straightforward.

My old passport did come back shortly after the new so I then had the choice of returning on the re-entry permit or the new visa, I opted for the new visa. A bit like you my extension was due to expire shortly after returning so using the visa gave me a bit of breathing space before going to immigration.

All about personal choices.