RTH10260

i reckon the informant will be moving very soon

His boxes or in a box?

As a kid, I always enjoyed the most religious of christian holidays.
 

Fresh hatched birds asking for their worm comes to mind :)

Waiting for the day the world gives up on religion. Probably the day that the aliens land.  Would love to see the expression on the pope when he is told aliens have landed.   I'll probably die first.

You got that wrong, it's something about Hell freezing over and pigs start flying :;

 

Call it what you like, I call it exploitation.

AFAIK the locals get the same price/kg for the berries they pick. Most won't bother, because the pay is relatively low when you're living in Finland/Sweden. For Thais is comparatively good salary, since they'll be using it in Thailand after they return. It's just a remote job, nothing evil. 
 

Yes and two years in a row i have read about so called Thai berry pickers being exploited in said countrys on here and also by their respective recruitment agencys in Thailand i still dont understand how such slave labour is still allowed in Europe.

I guess Sweden and Finnland have no control over Thai local emloyment agencies. The countries only offer job opportunities by granting a number of visas. They are not active in selecting the applicants. The Thai sharks exploit the opportunity of the likely uneducated workers. It's up to the Thai government to regulate the job market.

"Each of the Thai berry-pickers paid THB75,000 to cover expenses related to passport and visa applications and health insurance. They are promised the equivalence of about THB91,000 per month provided that they meet the agreed minimum quantities of berries.

But while there, the Thai berry-pickers are required to pay for food, lodging and transport. The typical berry picking season lasts 75 days from July to September."
 
So the most they can gross is 2.5 x 91,000bt =227,500bt less 75,000bt = 152,500bt
then less 2.5 months of food, lodging & transport in 2 of the most expensive countries in the world
Plus they probably had to borrow the 75,000 at exorbitant interest rates.
 
Can't see that many will have much left by the time they return and pay their debt
 
More of a money making scam scam for middle men
 I also wonder how many overstay there visas or find extra work on the side

 
Something wrong, for that money you would get plenty European berry pickers. Romania, Bulgaria, Greece....who all don't need the expensive flight ticket.

With current unemployment rates possibly the reason why the number of Thai visas is down.

"But he said he took money from traders to pay the owners of the copyrighted goods,"
 
Errr.. is this the beginnings of a script for a Monty Pythonesque "silliest excuses" episode.... or a blurting goat with the IQ of melted cheese ?
 
 

Ahh - he put all proceeds into an escrew account until the copyright owners contact him. Then he will distribute including interest. What? The account is empty? Those dang management fees ;)

Immigration Inspector Tianchai Chompoo said:
"Please do not worry right now. We have yet to receive an order from the Phuket Immigration Chief to crack down on school teachers
 
 he said "yet"... (meaning: it could well happen SOON).
 
ALSO:
Inspector Tianchai went onto say:   "Immigration officials in Phuket currently have orders to target, register and legalise illegal migrant workers".
  really?  they want to Legalise the illegal workers?   no deportation? no jail? no ethnic camps?   they want to GIVE them a work permit?
is he saying that there is currently an AMNESTY for all illegal workers???
  that's how it reads to me.
 
 

Note the quote is "illegal MIGRANT workers". I bet tourist visa doesn't qualify as MIGRANT worker. In the eyes of a Thai official, migrant likely means neighbouring Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos folks, not (white) falangs.

Wonder how Thais would like it if similar rules were enforced upon them when living overseas. Thais in the UK can travel freely without any of this nonsense.

Most continental European countries also require a form of id, doesn't have to be the passport. Switzerland will let you roam without ID, just avminor hassle should the unlikely event of a personal check happen.

/* snip */

For the ID, they say a copy of your passport stamped by immigration is acceptable.  If I were coming in with no TDL, I'd ask the immigration guy who stamps my passport in to also stamp a copy of my passport that I had the foresight to print before I left for Thailand.  Maybe they will.  Maybe they won't.  Can't hurt to ask politely.

I guess I am much too logical and practical for Thailand, but my suggestion would be that at the point of entry the use all personal information they have in their computer to print a temporary visitor ID card. Photo from the mugshot camera, perhaps visa type as a watermark overlay, valid 90 days. Those reporting every 90 days get a fresh card. Do away with the departure slip, use the back of the card to note kind transport and date of exit for statistiks.

Lets face it, if there is a proper clampdown and all the illegal workers do disappear many shops will have to close.

There will still be demand and the legal shops will prosper, but they will suffer from limited capacity.

There will be opportunities to grow and buy equipment pretty cheaply over the next few months so all it needs is a big enough player to move in.

If rates need to go up to enable DM to be legal, then so be it. If courses cost twice as much, will there still be demand?

My guess is yes, if it is the same throughout the country.

Maybe the history of business development on KT has led them to cater to the lower end of budget tourists. This segment will be price sensitive and may drop out. Or maybe they will just spend less on the sanuk side if they are true lovers of the underwater environment.

Does anyone know the procedure that was used for the inspection?

How much rice will be missing if one truly unstacks the bags, counts them freshly before restocking in another pile at the warehouse?

Would be a good chance to tag each bag with RFID and have scanners at all doors of the warehouse to control the movement of stock.

Ah! Thank you very much for the swift reply.

I am aware of the 90 day reports. Last time I was at the immigration office, a British gentleman told me that the 90 day reports can now be done on line. I find this hard to believe though.

The 90day reporting can also be done by mail.

Great thread, thank you guys for going down memory lane!

Those little orange buses are a nightmare on wheels .... total lack in driving or care for other cars , not surprise about this accident , thanks god there are only 3 injured ... How can you work so much and rest so little when you have to carry passengers .....I will never understand the Thainess.

Only three injured but one had a leg severed :-(

Those little orange buses are a nightmare on wheels .... total lack in driving or care for other cars , not surprise about this accident , thanks god there are only 3 injured ... How can you work so much and rest so little when you have to carry passengers .....I will never understand the Thainess.

Only three injured but one had a leg severed :-(

Those little orange buses are a nightmare on wheels .... total lack in driving or care for other cars , not surprise about this accident , thanks god there are only 3 injured ... How can you work so much and rest so little when you have to carry passengers .....I will never understand the Thainess.

Only three injured but one had a leg severed :-(

What I found strange is why those people are chosing Thailand....In Europe and the US any ATM machines probably hold a lot more money than here to get in a single withdraw....May the Thailand's ATM be easier to skimm?

Skimming means to hijack the contents of the magnetic strip and the card code entered on the ATM keyboard. It does not mean cash retrieval. Thailand is interesting cause it has a wealth of tourists from everywhere, that may only notice loss of funds very late. And it has a plethora of different styled ATM machines, so dezecting a tampered machine is difficult, especially at night in badly lighted soys.

As for Europe, skimmed cards cannot be used there cause the current generation of cash cards contain an encrypted chip that cannot be copied by the skimming devices. The magnetic strip is not used, only maintained for card use where the chip is not implemented outside Europe. The large amount of money in the ATM does not come intp play as the daily and monthly limits are enforced world wide.

Just for the fun, my farangland bank card was skimmed in Pattaya in December 2011, only made two cash retrievals at different days. The card info must have been sold online, cause two months later when already back home, four smaller amounts of cash were taken at a shopping mall in the Philipines. The computer system recognized that unusual use and blocked the card. Was issued a new card a week later. No financial damage, total refunded after submitting the police report in farangland.

In the mean time the Maestro clearing group implemented a locking scheme that will not let the card be used outside of a freely selected list of countries.

You know, in UK, handguns are banned. Very few firearms aren't banned. What does an honest person need a handgun in his house for?

I am not advocating one way or another, but if there were no guns in that house, then there is a good chance we wouldn't be reading this report.

One more thing? A SIX floor condominium? Good luck to them for living in one, but I didn't know such things existed

The article mentions that the extended family was at home there too. The couple likely only used one floor for themselves.

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But overseas-buyers will probably be insisting on new-crop rice, if they've any sense at all.

This problem has a long way to go, yet.

If they had any sense, they would probably avoid Thai rice altogether until this problem is over. Would you trust that some old rice was not mixed in to your order...

There are international goods inspection compagnies that make it their job to guarantee that the shipped goods conform to the ordered quality. At worst they will take a sample from every sack of rice being loaded on ship.

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Travel insurance does not pay out to long-term residents so if you are living in Thailand on a non-imm visa or extension of stay just forget it.

Interesting that they cover trip cancellation yet the insurance cover doesn't start until you have passed immigration to enter Thailand.

Without reading the full policy I can't comment further.

As for annual insurance, you can probably find this cheaper in your own country and it covers you for any country.

Please remember that despite popular belief, coverage is not negated under the majority of travel policies just because Thailand is under military rule unless the claim is as a direct result of such.

For trip cancellation this may cover costas for bookings within Thailand, the amounts are too small to cover international flight tickets. But usually a travel insurance at home will cover a cancellation due to civil unrest at the destination.

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After reading thru this thread and skimming the exklusions quoted upthread in post #55, as a replacement for unrest not covered in a home country insurance, this Thai tourist insurance misses one point: the person who accidentially gets run over by a flash mob of protesters, or suddenly sees themselves locked in between the front of protesters and police.

How I read the exklusion list, many potential injuries sustained in such a scenario are not covered.

This is the kind of coverage a tourist would expect when being lured to a country with possible public unrest.

And as noted by others, there ought to be a 90day option to coincide with maximum tourist visa terms.

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IMHO one point not yet mentioned is that in many places people take a dim view on the USA spying on their USD transactions thru banks, now having to go thru US based banks (or banks forced to report cause they have US subsidiaries). The war on terror, how legitimate it may be for a nation to defend itself, has some collateral damage.

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I believe the migrant workers are given free room in addition to at least minimum wage. I wonder if this means Thais will also get free rooms?

Same as for Thai workers: find / buy a set of wood or bamboo sticks and corrugated metal plates and build your own shack (ie builders on construction sites, factories may be slightly different).

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It says quite clearly on the Immigration notices that farangs are 'aliens' not 'migrants.'

Splitting hairs aren't you?

I think the gist of the comments above is: Treated as locals. You know, humans?

Instead of "the falang"?

Apparently you have accepted the bigotry by cavalierly using the term...

As a Swiss author commented on the 1960s post-war economy boom in Switzerland:

"We called for workers, but humans came!"

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Just to say. I have been driving in Thailand eight years. In that time I have made two claims. I have no Thai driving licence but use UK driving licence. Insurance company (Viraya) say "no problem as long as you possess a driving licence". Both times no Thai driving licence (but UK licence) and both times absolutely no problems with making claims.

Do you live in Thailand? If so, Thai DL is required. If you live elsewhere, home license (provided in English and with photo) is sufficient. As mentioned earlier, after 3 months you're presumed living here.

So if you do live here you have been lucky. If you don't, they did what they were supposed to do.

My experience is the same as cms22. I have never had a Thai DL and have been living and driving here for a long time. Perhaps all insurance policies are not the same, but I have had three claims over the years and all were accepted by my insurance company while I was driving on my home country license. My policy states that the driver must have a "valid license" and when asked, the company specifically stated in writing that any license, Thai or foreign, is covered so long as it is a valid one.

So you, together with many,many others, have been lucky.

In your situation Thai DL is legally required. So your home license is not valid in Thailand.

Hit somebody for a couple of million Baht and see what happens.

For the sake of discussion: I think the insurance company can be more lenient in their contract terms than what Thai law demands. I guess they assume that drivers with foreign licenses are same or better qualified drivers considering the easy way the Thai DL can be had.