TooMuchToLearn

I look at a map of ASEAN countries, and there is Thailand, with ASEAN countries to the north...and south...and west...and east. Thailand and Malaysia might be called the geographic center of ASEAN. That means that for these two countries, in particular, the ability ot communicate effectively in ENGLISH is pretty important.

If Thailand is going to cut back to ONLY "qualified teachers," they may as well drop out of ASEAN, now. Because most of the teachers I've met--and have heard about--who happen to be Thai...can't even hold a conversation. So, if they're REALLY only going to allow only "qualified teachers," they'll also have to fire most of the Thai English teachers, as well.

Or is this the bureaucratic definition of "qualified," where meeting a standard on paper...is really all they are looking for?

(This, in a country where...copying...is given the same high regard as...learning? Where the teachers making sure the students have COMPLETED the lesson...is more important...than being sure the students have LEARNED the lesson? Where they've known that ASEAN was coming for YEARS...for DECADES...yet they've just discovered that SPEAKING GOOD ENGLISH might be pretty important?)

I like Thailand. I want Thailand to be SUCCESSFUL. But I fear ASEAN success...will look like a donut...with a Thailand-shaped hole in the middle.

So, what's the LAST THING Thailand needs...at this moment...on the cusp of ASEAN? SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS!...

Sad, really.


Alcohol didn't make this man a rapist and killer, nor did drugs. Being a rapist and killer made him a rapist and killer. The drugs and alcohol just lowered his inhibitions, and made it easier for him to unleash his true personality.

Odds are, this was not the first time he's raped someone.

A better screening process might have filtered him out...but probably not. Do you have any idea HOW INCREDIBLY EASY it is for a Thai person to change their identity? It's stunningly simple. A new screening process can't weed out the bad apples...if it's not connected to competent ID system. They need a new screening process...and a new everything else having to do with IDs and histories! Of course, they've got to start somewhere, and doing SOMETHING to improve is better than doing nothing to improve. But I wouldn't hold-out much real hope...for quite a long time.

Lastly, for the person who has said a couple of times, "Read the article. It says you can still drink. You just have to do it discretely." (paraphrased) -- No, it DOESN'T say that. Read the article. It says you can still BRING alcohol on the train, but it DOESN'T say you can drink it.

They are acknowledging that people go shopping...and sometimes carry alcohol home or on vacation with them. They're saying it's a SELLING and CONSUMING ban, but not a TRANSPORTING ban.

I agree with the consensus here: This ban is silly and does nothing to address the real problem. And it takes away a service that people clearly want...and eliminates a revenue stream the system clearly needs.

In addition, which is likely to make a more "secure" environment for the travelers--having the officers patrolling the cars looking for customers to buy alcohol...or taking away their reason for making the walk, at all? These are not "security officers," of course; but they ARE an "official presence" that might be helping to keep things somewhat under control.

Is taking away their reason for "patrolling"...really a way to make everyone more..."secure?"

Your condo owner may be charging you 6 to 8 Baht per KWH. My bill in a one room apartment normally 750.

Last month 1,500 almost half my rent. In kalasin, Isaan 97 to 100 degrees daily, using the A/C quite a bit more.

Most apartment owners in Thailand double the amount that they pay the electric company, so they make a 50% profit on your electrical use on top of your rent, water probably the same.

Back to the fan.

No, they make a 100% profit if they double the cost, which most do.

There's a lot of confusion about "profit" percentages.

If something costs 100 baht and you sell it for 200 baht, it has a 100% "mark-up"...but only a 50% "profit."

Think about your statement, "they make a 100% profit..." That means that ALL the money received is "profit"--100%

Unless you get something for FREE, you can never have "100% profit."

It's a confusion between the terms "mark-up" and "margin."

100% "Mark-up" (above cost) = 50% "Profit Margin" (50% of the Selling Price...is Profit...and 50%...is your cost-of-goods-sold.)

Spoken correctly, you should only talk about "profit percentages" in relation to Selling Prices, because the Selling Price is the only one that has profits!

The other is a "Mark-up percentage."

Make sense?

Yes, though very verbose. I actually realised I'd expressed the matter wrongly immediately after posting, but I couldn't be bothered to change it. In my opinion, to be less technical and more informative to the readers than you, the point is that the cost of an electricity unit is about 2.5 baht and a great deal of landlords bill tenants at 5 baht a unit, so tenants are being charged about double what they would be if they were billed directly by the utility company.

So..."correcting" someone else's correct information with incorrect information...realizing you got it wrong...and then leaving the error uncorrected...is your idea of being "informative?" Gotcha.

Succinct enough?

Your condo owner may be charging you 6 to 8 Baht per KWH. My bill in a one room apartment normally 750.

Last month 1,500 almost half my rent. In kalasin, Isaan 97 to 100 degrees daily, using the A/C quite a bit more.

Most apartment owners in Thailand double the amount that they pay the electric company, so they make a 50% profit on your electrical use on top of your rent, water probably the same.

Back to the fan.

No, they make a 100% profit if they double the cost, which most do.

There's a lot of confusion about "profit" percentages.

If something costs 100 baht and you sell it for 200 baht, it has a 100% "mark-up"...but only a 50% "profit."

Think about your statement, "they make a 100% profit..." That means that ALL the money received is "profit"--100%

Unless you get something for FREE, you can never have "100% profit."

It's a confusion between the terms "mark-up" and "margin."

100% "Mark-up" (above cost) = 50% "Profit Margin" (50% of the Selling Price...is Profit...and 50%...is your cost-of-goods-sold.)

Spoken correctly, you should only talk about "profit percentages" in relation to Selling Prices, because the Selling Price is the only one that has profits!

The other is a "Mark-up percentage."

Make sense?

Just bought a couple of Air units and had an occasion to look at energy usage for different size units.

The Panasonic one shows a 9000 BTU rated at about 700 watts.

A 13,000 BTU unit is rated at about 1000 watts.

An 18,000 BTU unit was rated at about 1300 watts.

Now, if I have read my electric bills right, a "unit" on the bill is a "kilowatt/hour."

An appliance that uses 500 watts would take 2 hours of usage to make one "Kilowatt/hour." (I think I have this right! lol)

So...

A 13,000 BTU Air Conditioner (at 1,000 watts) would use approximately one Kw/H per hour of usage.

A 9,000 BTU Air Conditioner (at 700 watts) would use approximately .7 Kw/H per hour of usage.

An 18,000 BTU Air Conditioner (at 1,300 watts) would use approximately 1.3 Kw/H per hour of usage.

Of course, these are the "rated" numbers. Set the temp higher, and it will work less. Set the temp lower, and it will work more.

But I thought this might be helpful as a guide.

Thank You to all those who answered (well, except "thepool"). I feel much better informed, now.

I guess I should be pleased--and impressed--that Thailand DOESN'T have a 10%-15%-20% "Hospitality Tax"...like I've seen in just about every place I've traveled, huh?

I've been looking at some Thailand hotel listings online for the first time, and noticed listings for a Room Rate, 7% VAT, and a "10% Service Charge." Sometimes I have seen this "10% Service Charge" included in the quoted price, and sometimes it's been listed as "plus 7% VAT and 10% Service Charge."

So, what exactly is this "10% Service Charge?"

A friend who has lived in Thailand for a long time (and rented many a hotel room) has always believed this was a charge that was collected and paid out to the workers, to supplement their low wages. But frankly, this seems unlikely to me. To me, it reeks of a standard "hospitality tax"...like I've seen charged in many different cities...but with a clever name to make it feel less oppressive.

But the fact is, I am so poorly informed that I don't even know if this is a charge levied by the hotel...or levied by the government and merely collected by the hotel (like the VAT).

So, can anyone tell me what this "Service Charge" is for, and who the money goes to? It's kinda bugging me a little!

Thank you in advance!

TooMuchToLearn