Spilornis

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

This is the big thing. If you can reduce the number of carriers as well as the mosquito numbers then outbreaks are less likely. As I understand it the range of the mosquito is very short. Even Singapore has outbreaks so it's hard to eradicate

The US is the biggest advocate for exchange of cross border financial information. It's just a matter of running cross checking computer programs. If there is a problem it's with cross identification. For example Thailand won't necessarily have tax identification numbers for foreigners resident in Thailand

Becoming a common approach. If you buy a Microsoft licence for example it is sold to you from Ireland so Microsoft pays zero tax. Countries are now insisting on a slice for sales to their residents. Youtube ad revenue and the like is also under review

Disney's largest cruise ship will be based out of Singapore from 2025. Singapore gov't has invested big time in the venture. Would have been a great investment for Thailand. Theme park revenues rely on local attendees for a fair proportion of revenues which could make the numbers for Disney like theme parks tough to stack up. Legoland in Johor Bharu just across the border from Singapore isn't exactly a gold mine from what I've read.

Just to add. A little discussed story. Arthur Wellesley long before he became the Duke of Wellington was despatched from India to Penang at the head of a small invasion army/fleet. His mission was to invade the Phillipines and take it from Spain. When the mission was conceived France and Spain were allies in the war against Britain. Before he could leave Penang Spain changed sides and history took a different turn. On the flipside Raffles of Singapore fame took over Indonesia (key cities) but post the Napoleonic Wars Britain gave it back to the Dutch so Raffles who died almost destitute went and founded Singapore.

Exactly... happens now in most countries. Alipay into Australia is another example I suspect it's the sale platform who remits the tax rather than the end seller. The seller would get paid net of tax and platform commission

Toyota has been working on the "famed" solid state battery for a long long time. They still have some huge technical obstacles to overcome unfortunately. It will give a range of around 1200 kms on a 10 minute charge The break through battery has not eventuated but it may

Multi year visas make more sense than one off. If you are going to vet people then it would be rare that they became "undesirable" within five years. India has a five year visa for US$80. China offers a ten year visa to Americans. Both are multi entry and have a maximum stay per entry cap

My favourite threads were the rubber farming and the pig raising. Hope they are finally seeing some rewards

How about removing all the vehicle paperwork Just pay for an insurance stamp and you're away instead of the multi step process

Agree but BKK has to improve its immigration and baggage delivery time to catch up with Changi where it's a slow arrival if you're not in a cab, bus or train within 15-20 minutes of your plane reaching its gate. Check in and immigration on leaving is also a breeze with everything fully automated. These things aside it offers far better value than Singapore for a stop off. The use of two airports while making sense may not help the hub concept

Wow.. I thought ....but it's just Chiang Mai via Taipei... not exactly earth shattering as I assume Eva already does it. Looking at international flights from Chiang Mai it seems well connected to the usual South East Asian hubs. Will be interesting to see if direct flights to India or the Middle East are introduced

The traditional AA model was multiple companies that allowed for maximum loan leverage and an IPO of each business. High interest rates and tougher lending covenants make that model a lot harder these days. Fare wise Scoot seems to have kept its fares lower on the long haul flights by comparison to AAX. Flying through Singapore can however be inconvenient and its relatively high airport charges mean the short intra SEA flights can often seem expensive

Good point Thais working in the UAE for example are tax free in the UAE on their earnings. This will tax those earnings when remitted. The flipside is that it will make it less attractive to work in such places. I assume the Thai Govt would know (or could easily ascertain) who these people are and take it from there

They (AAX and Jetstar IIRC) tried a Darwin hub for a few years but they couldn't make it work. If the Australian government had allowed foreign airlines the right to pick up passengers and take them to the Southern capitals and return it might have been a game changer. It also might have made much of Asia reachable with narrow body jets which would possibly result in opening up more destinations. Alas it seems very much off the cards these days

Computer matching is rather easy and cheap these days. It's massive and within countries the Tax authorities have been doing it for the last 50 years. The problem will be matching names and identifying numbers across jurisdictions. The good news is that it won't be all done at once and I think that running a match on activity in Thailand will be a relatively low priority for the main Western tax authorities

This information sharing system has been pushed by the US for years. As they have a world wide income taxing approach (as does Australia) it's easy revenue for them these days. How identities are matched between the various countries may be a little challenging but increasingly will become easier I'm sure.

Great suggestion...

Excellent suggestions particularly that from Brit Man Too. Gives you a source of income and flexibility should Thailand not work out. Interest on any mortgage and taxes need to be considered. Even if the rent is not enough for you to live on you might consider borrowing a small amount to live on Hasten slowly is my advice

Freight and HSR are two different products. Rail makes sense but there's few places in the world where it makes money. Coal and ore railways over long distances work well. Same to some extent for grain. Hard to compete with ships simply because of the cost of maintaining the tracks. HSR is way more complex and is driven by passenger traffic. Maximum distance is perhaps 4 hours before planes take over on the basis of cost and comfort. Passenger rail from Singapore to Paris is a wonderful dream. I like it but..............

Trans shipment and oil refining can be big money. The oil pipeline probably made sense 20 or thirty years ago. Bulk oil probably only has another 10 odd years as does mass scale refineries. Oil trans shipment only requires a breakwater and pumping equipment plus of course the pipeline itself Just can't see the financial case for building two trans shipment ports for containers plus the rail infrastructure. They floated the same idea for a port and rail on Malaysia's East Coast about five years ago. Never heard of again

China has changed to being once again an inward looking country. Public servants (even teachers) now need permission to leave the country and are being limited by time and destination. There is a strong push to reduce foreign interaction. The article below gives some insight into the reasons but you have to wonder how pervasive this move will be. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-tightens-curbs-on-foreign-travel-by-bankers-state-workers