Spilornis

Hong Kong dropped its paper form in the last few days citing a possible tourism boost as one of the reasons for doing so. I don't mind the electronic forms but it would be nice if they were relatively standard between countries allowing automatic pre-fill. Singapore's form is relatively painless whereas Malaysia's is a bit more cumbersome. Indonesia with its separate customs declaration is over the top

Many e visa approvals are computer generated these days. It's only if an answer to a particular question raises a flag that a human looks at your application. If these visa approvals are computer generated I'd expect approval within 24 hours. Will be interesting to see how it plays out

Correct The "tax clearance" issue for travel has been around for many years but in the last few weeks they have revived it. Not sure about Thailand but in Malaysia the tradition is that things like tax, speeding fines etc are not paid until the authority offers a discount month. As an aside Malaysia has just started to track Singaporean vehicles with outstanding traffic fines. It seems that those law abiding Singaporeans aren't as squeaky clean when it comes to paying Malaysian fines

Gaya is only a few miles from Bodh Gaya one of the holiest sites in Bhuddism. It has the "descendant" of the tree under which the Bhudda sat and derived his "wisdom". Not a Bhuddist myself but very peaceful and well worth a visit

At it's simplest it's all riding on new battery technology. Unfortunately while there have been a lot of promising developments the massive breakthroughs predicted about ten years ago are yet to be produced in marketable quantities.

It's a freight service that they are trialling . Takes ten days and is designed to compete with sea freight https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/new-freight-train-service-between-selangor-and-yunnan-set-to-spur-malaysia-china-trade

Condos and Land are completely different issues. The space for building more condos is relatively unlimited and tying up a foreigners money in bricks and mortar (especially newly built condos) is great for the local economy. Sure you have to maintain some balance and try and avoid overheating but in general it's manageable. Landed properties and rural land are comparatively scarce and keeping them for citizens is reasonable. A tax on unoccupied condos might get some of the overhang moving. There seems to be no pressure to reduce prices to meet the market as we would normally see in the West. I live next door to a 15 year old upmarket condo building (US$1m per apartment). Of the forty floors , 3-4 apartments are occupied. Most are still concrete shells not fitted out. I can't understand it but .. it is the way. My own local real estate investment is at best zero return over 12 odd years but the lifestyle return has been enormous so I'm happy

Was listening to a demographer on the BBC a few weeks ago. World birthrates dropped below 2 per female last year for the first time. The raw population numbers are increasing due to people living longer. By 2050 numbers will start to decrease and then fall dramatically by 2100. Migration will cover up population declines in some countries but places like Japan and China will see their population halve in the next fifty years. Great for the planet but it will challenge the "Economic Growth is Good" syndrome that the world has relied upon for nearly the last two hundred years

The loss referred to in the article is customs revenue. It's not that the shops themselves are making a loss. IIRC there was an article some months ago about the Government buying out the duty free concession holder. It may also have been linked to the reduction in the wine tarrifs. Strange move...

Nothing wrong with trying to be a hub but look at all the places you could define as hubs and think about how they have become so. Short of being a natural destination (Heathrow, CDG etc) what makes them special. In the case of the Middle Eastern hubs they established mega international airlines. Can Thailand do this? Maybe.. Singapore a much smaller country has but it has taken them 50 years of superior (expensive) performance. Can it be like Schipol that is a world hub with a less than stellar national airline (KLM)? Then there is the Air Asia play. How does this work if KL is a competing hub for Air Asia. Finally how does Thailand deal with competing hubs in China and soon India. Perhaps just start small and make the airport as welcoming as Changi and please never build a dysfunctional airport/shopping complex like KLIA2. One way might be to make Bangkok the hub for a number of very fast trains to neighbouring countries. Probably way too expensive but imagine if Bangkok was connected by rail to Kolkata for instance

Malaysia is now rolling out dengue vaccinations for all (not free). This is a new vaccine that is suitable for people who have not had dengue. The previous vaccine had problems for non sufferers. Worth a look perhaps https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/06/12/dengue-vaccine-is-now-available The vaccine can also be safely taken by those who have not had a prior dengue infection. This was an issue with the first dengue vaccine licensed for use in 2015 in a number of countries. It was found that this vaccine, produced by the pharmaceutical company Sanofi, actually increased the risk of hospitalisations and severe dengue disease in those who had not previously been infected at the time of vaccination. Dengue Prevention Advocacy Malaysia chairman Prof Datuk Dr Zulkifli Ismail explained, “The second dengue infection is invariably more severe than the first – it’s caused by two different serotypes. “If you get the vaccine, that will be considered as the first infection, which is not severe. “If you get infected by a second infection, that is the one that causes severe disease. That is what happened with the previous vaccine.” However, the consultant paediatrician and paediatric cardiologist said that this effect showed after two years of the previous vaccine being administered. “This vaccine (Qdenga) has been tested for four-and-a-half-years and there have been no red flags as far as this is concerned. “So it is quite hopeful and I don’t think we will see it,” he said. The vaccine is administered by injection and is given in two doses, three months apart.

Have a look at the UK US or Australia where long distance train travel is not subsidized. They are often a factor of two or three times the price of a cheap discounted airfare. Railway maintenance isn't cheap. In Malaysia Air Asia is often under the price of the train on the KL-Penang route and in Malaysia the price is subsidized. Kolkata to Dhaka train is about the same as the airfare whereas a train within India is very cheap. Someone pays in the end... the passenger or the taxpayer

Excellent development. I see it's roughly 600 kms between Bangkok and Vientiane. A journey time of around 4 hours would be a game changer. The problem is that per km rail travel unsubsidised is generally more expensive than air travel. Will be interesting to see how tickets are priced

In Singapore it's egates for almost everyone on arrival. On your first arrival in Singapore you scan your thumb print at the e-gate. Next arrival just your passport. Exit and entry at Singapore is now a breeze. Literally 1-2 minutes after walking into the immigration hall

Because the mosquito has a limited range it's unlikely to pose a risk to most. It's more the village or condo with a nearby rubbish dump or deserted house that pose the risk