halloween

3 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Everything wrong with racism. 

I remember a Sydney Morning Herald article which referred to a London black taxi driver. All the politically correct armpits were screaming complaints about the relevance of the colour of the driver's skin, until it was pointed out that black referred to the taxi, not the driver.

2 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Democratic Party stronghold, so "schemes" are OK.

So they don't grow pineapples in your "red village"?

2 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Obtaining the extension through an agency for a "fee" has been around as long as I've been in Thailand, and that's 8 years. No one has been busted yet otherwise the practice would stop.

As Grubster pointed out, it is both common and illegal. IF it goes pear shaped (and it may never) don't be surprised if you get a knock on the door.

3 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Not true. He only obtained his extension a month ago, it cost him 15,000 baht to the agency, who I'm sure had to share that money with someone else.

It sounds like someone was paid to approve it, which is all very well until that guy gets busted. Then the excreta hits the rotary cooling device.

I can remember when smarties were paying to have their passports taken on border runs. turns out they were using a faked stamp, and suddenly there was an outbreak of "lost" passports.

Just now, giddyup said:

There are certainly exceptions when it comes to how long that money is in the bank. A friend who doesn't have the required 800K had an agency deposit that amount in his account for 1 day to obtain his retirement extension.

That scam was around a few years ago. I have been told it now requires a letter from the bank saying the deposit has been there for 3 months before the visa is issued. And I know of a Dutch guy refused an retirement visa because his money was in a fixed deposit, unavailable for daily use. 

58 minutes ago, JAG said:

Yes, especially as the requirement to show cash in bank seems to apply only to certain nationalities.

What nationalities get an exemption? I can state that Australians, UK, NZ and Dutch citizens do not.

5 hours ago, Thechook said:

I actually live in a gated community in Chiangmai which may be the slums by your standard but I don't envy your higher social status.  I have visited the real Thailand over the last 11 years.  My wife's parents were rice farmers owning and working many Rai of fields in Chia Nat and earned enough to put her through her accountancy degree.  My wife now owns a lot of these fields and she and her father now lease them out and receive a percentage of the crop in return.  During the rice scheme they were very happy as they got good returns, better than previous seasons.  Some of the neighbouring fields didn't do so well but that was their poor management and wouldn't take advice from those doing well, stubbornness and greed were their downfall.  An uncle was one of these and after the rest of the family bailed him out and he listened he started to receive the rewards.  Yes I know the slums and the middle class but I don't know the high society set of Bangkok but to me that isn't the real Thailand.

I have to ask, did your wife's family increase the rent on the rice land they rent out? The failure to put as simple a step as a rent freeze meant that any increase many farmers received from the pledging scam went straight to their landlords. As one of those receiving benefits, allegedly intended for the poorest farmers, I can understand your support for the scam and those who conceived it.

3 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Nicely written, a lot of facts, let me put you at ease, you have 14 years, and I have 10, that will be 13, maybe 20 by the time we get to the old age pension age as they keep shifting the goal posts, i.e. 67 Vs 70 or 67 Vs 87, the old Ozzie saying of 6 2 1 half dozen the other is ripe amongst these politicians who are ripping not only the expats, but the system off BIG time.

 

The way I see it, I worked 39 years paid a lot of taxes, that includes capital gains tax from properties that I purchased and sold over my life time and should be entitled to receive a pension without any penalty for living overseas, fortunately for me I have enough candy to outlive my life, suffice to say when I am getting close to the OAP, i.e. if I am still alive I will of shifted some of that candy so to Aline myself with the assets test to be considered for the OAP and go through the usual process, and as soon as that 2 years is up, its the middle finger salute.

 

The funny thing is you pay up to a million dollars, if not over in taxes in your life time for a $400 a week, around $20,000 a year return for your pension, for what 10 years if your lucky to live that long, sounds like we got ripped, if we get it, ripped even harder if we don't get it.

If you have living in Oz for 2 years before OAP eligibility, your pension is portable from day 1. The extra 2 years is only if you have been living o/s for some time and return to make a claim. And you don't have to stay in Oz all of that 2 years. My OAP is due next May, and for the last 3 I have been staying in Oz more than 183 days, making me a resident (with all the other requirements - address, bank a/c, voting, phone number, etc). Going back Oct to wait for pension, making 4 years residence.

Did a check with CL last time back. they couldn't see there being any dramas.

2 hours ago, sawadeeken said:

       "PM: No loan to be sought from China for high-speed rail project"

NO PROBLEM.......... Don't need to borrow........

The PM already has his eye on the School Education Funds..........

Thai children don't need an education.... so the upper class Thai's will have a big pool of 'POOR' to clean their Hiso homes.............. LOL........

Do you have anything to substantiate your claim, or is it something you made up?

2 hours ago, Chris Lawrence said:

So you and only you know how this project is going to be funded?

 

"On transparency, Sumet said, the government needs to disclose full details of the economic and financial feasibility study on this project prior to granting approval and signing the contract." reported 3 days ago.

 

"Thailand will largely fund the project and China will provide technical assistance under terms agreed so far. The rail project, however, has hit various delays over details including construction funding and technical assistance." reported 8 days ago.

 

So where is the money coming from keeping in mind the big spending on military items and the 7 billion baht the mad monk ear marked for Police station upgrades?

 

Hallo, you just don't make sense.

I know what was publicly declared in the press, which was there was no loan from the Chinese, which made the claim that they were paying too high an interest rate TO THE CHINESE, quite silly.  If you expect omniscience, seek elsewhere.

What your 2 irrelevant quotes have to do with the subject, or with what I posted is hard to discern. Then again I don't expect logic from you.

1 minute ago, Becker said:

No need to simplify further, what you say is simple enough. I mean, they can just train people to do something else and voila!, problem solved.

You're a genius. Why haven't anyone else though of this??

Yes, and please use smaller words. Preferably tiny, tiny words.

They do it in jail. Others might need some income support while training (hey, just like they do back home!). What doesn't make sense is giving landless farmers a small patch of ground which will never be enough to generate an income.

But you just wanted a cheap shot, no interest in the topic.

15 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

It seemed Thaksin was hovering around Beijing while the negotiations took place.  Think that spooked the fresh coup leaders at the time while they were wanting show some progress.  The junta does not seem to have grasped even some of the most basic, general concepts such as maintenance training.  The Chinese do look as though they have won financially as well.  The coup leaders looked to have signed without asking for a more favorable interest rate. 

Not only that, they didn't ask for a loan. Try to keep up.

1 minute ago, Chris Lawrence said:

"Please do not feed the trolls".

If you don't want to know, don't ask, and post your BS without attaching to me.

Just now, YetAnother said:

fine 20 baht; next case....

You've got the wrong government for that. OTOH under the shins it never would have made the news.

I thought I already had, should I use smaller words? " One of the ways to encourage someone to get a job is to train them to do something else ......"

Just tell me which part you didn't understand and I will try to simplify it for you.

SIL did a pastrycook course in her last couple of years. Last I heard has her own shop and doing well. Definitely a step up from security guard cum car park attendant.

3 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Officially farmers and farm workers who are seasonally "inactive" are not accounted for as unemployed. (August 2015)

Because not having specialized skills and/or advanced education he can't get a job that pays enough to get out of debt, ie., minimum Bt300/day.

 

Economic challenges (2015):

• Total agricultural debt climbed to three trillion baht
• 1.64 million farmers owed as much as Bt388 billion, or an average of Bt237,000 each
• 85-89% of the low income earners such as farmers and general workers have created debts from spending on consumer products but only 17-18% of them are capable of servicing their debts - NESDB 
• 315,848 farmers and farm workers became seasonally inactive, causing the seasonally inactive labor force to rise by 30.7%

Farmers and farm workers need retraining and additional education to either improve their farming enterprises or get work in more lucrative industries. Having the military offer minimum wage pay to dig well holes is nonproductive. A continued government policy of loan bailouts and soft loans will not constructively change farmer's economic future. So it's not a matter of just getting a job.

 

If he hasn't got any land, he's not seasonally inactive, he's unemployed. One of the ways to encourage someone to get a job is to train them to do something else, because as you have shown, labour intensive farming is just a way to remain poor.

What do you call a landless farmer - unemployed? Why not encourage him to get a job rather than give him a small plot of land so that he remains poor (and asking for subsidies) for the rest of his life. Then you can use the land foe something a lot more productive.

The meditators should think long and hard before joining. Ommmm.

A compulsory "donation" is a fee, IMHO, whether you get a receipt or not. And B24 million is not chicken feed.

Where was there a mention of a crossing?

Just now, nahkit said:

"All 23 men and 13 women were tested positive for drugs in their urine."

 

"She blamed the men for bringing the drugs to the party."

 

So those evil men made the poor girls take the drugs then?

Standard procedure, the boys bring the drugs and the rest of the night is on the girls.

1 hour ago, Sooo Upto Me said:

And u know this do u Sherlock? ?

Yes, I do. Is it a surprise to you that some people are better informed than you are?

4 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Sure looks like a brilliant investigation and quick arrest of the perpetrator who seem very cooperative and singing like a song bird eager to admit his guilt and asking for forgiveness. In this time of smoke and mirror and the RTP backpedaling with many bomb cases investigation that went limp and silent, I will give this a benefit of doubt and will wait for further development.  

Of course you will, he's one of yours.

Oooooh! This is going to upset some people. The resort is part of the Imperial Group. Rooms from B1800/n.

http://www.imperialhotels.com/main/