dave moir

13 hours ago, fishtank said:

Obviously trying to break the record for road deaths during this stupid festival.

I wish it could be banned indefinitely.

Sounds quite a selfish attitude!

1 hour ago, condobrit001 said:

Would I be correct in assuming the minister owns a golf course or two?

Maybe hit the nail on the head there!????

1 hour ago, Curt1591 said:

So, Smartphone- Schmartphone

When will the government give everyone free wifi to use the app? 

Exactly! Not everyone has WiFi on the phone!

7 hours ago, apex2000 said:

I assume these apps require an Internet connection to log in/out of places. 
What happens in the case of not having an Internet connection on my phone?
I use wifi for Internet on my phone at home.

Exactly! Not everyone has WiFi on the phone unless they are at home!

3 hours ago, Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai said:

Migrant workers reported yesterday  but not in yesterday figures see daily figures at top. 

We know testing only being done very minimal.

I could even have virus.

NUH quick TEMP check 35.6C  just a hangover. A hair of the dog will fix. ????

So you're on the border of Hypothermia!????

20 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

I don't care how many times the PM heard this.  You could have had a vaccine by now and nothing has been done.  To me this is dereliction of duty.   A vaccine now would have the country fully open in less then a year.  But to keep hoping cases go down on their own is not going to work.  I think Thailand needs new leadership.

Why do you think a vaccine that has hardly been tested will be a miracle cure?

14 hours ago, ukrules said:

They're idiots, vaccination is the only way out of this mess and as such it's their ultimate goal yet it's obviously not good enough for them.

 

I suspect they will also be quarantining recovered patients as well, those who are immune to it?

So you're a specialist on the subject of vaccines! Especially those that haven't been tried and tested for a long period of time!!!

First time around only about 3,500 cases?

Now could be 1000 to 10,000 per day what's changed so much?????????????

11kph seems pretty damn slow to me!????

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai tourism industry will never be allowed to recover to pre-COVID levels

by Andrew J Wood

 

 

BANGKOK: Last week the Thai government Minister’s speech shows me that tourism will never be allowed to recover to previous levels. The writing is definitely on the wall, windows and front door, that there has been a major policy shift in government thinking by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s cabinet. 

 

In a deeply worrying development for Thailand’s massive Travel & Tourism industry, which last year generated a huge Bt 2.2 trillion of income (US$ 55.2 billion), and accounted for 20 per cent of GNP and 10 per cent of all jobs in Thailand, the deputy PM Supattanapong Punmeechaow said that the country relied too much on tourism and that this was unacceptable. 

 

This must be as worrying for property developers as well as investors. If the 39 million tourists that Thailand received last year in 2019, is never to be repeated, why do we need to continue building and investing in new hotels?

 

According to Thailand’s Nation newspaper, deputy PM Supattanapong Punmeechaow admitted that the Covid-19 outbreak had exposed cracks and faults in the Thai economy. 

 

“The Covid-19 outbreak that hit Thailand since April has exposed the fragility of the economy and shed light on the fact that we rely too much on export and tourism,” the Minister said. 

 

This is certainly a departure from what the Minister was saying back in August. The deputy PM, who also holds the Energy portfolio, announced then the formation of a new economic panel, and boasted that the new economic committee will boost tourism and employment. He said the panel agreed to increase subsidies for local tourists and create 1 million jobs in the near future to combat growing unemployment.

 

Supattanapong Punmeechaow the deputy PM is cleary worried about putting too many eggs in one basket and spreading the risk. However it maybe too early to start walking away from tourism when other industries are simple not ready to take up the slack. Infrastructure improvements; legal reforms, changes in corporate ownership regulations and reduced bureaucracy are just a few of the changes the chambers of commerce have been asking for and must be in place BEFORE we start to cook the goose that lays gold bullion on the floor of the vault in the bank.  

 

The deputy PM who was speaking last week at the “Restart Thailand 2021” dinner talk held at Siam Paragon shopping complex in Bangkok said,  “The outbreak has had an especially heavy impact on small and medium businesses, prompting the government to spend over Bt 800 billion on SME aid measures including postponing debt repayment worth over Bt 6.8 trillion for 12 million SMEs,” he said. “However, from July onwards, economic indicators have been pointing toward an improving trend thanks to cooperation from all parties in outbreak prevention, despite some minor impact from the political situations.

 

“The tourism industry has shown improvement, with about 30 per cent occupation, jumping from just 6 per cent in April, thanks to the government’s economic stimulus campaigns such as the ‘Let’s Go Halves’ shopping subsidy,” he added.

 

“Through the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation, the government is also planning to provide an additional Bt 150 billion in loans to help small and medium businesses.

 

“The battle against Covid-19 is not over yet. The government still has many projects in the coming year to boost the economy, attract foreign investors and build infrastructure for future expansion,” the minister added.

 

“These projects include the construction of 14 Skytrain lines in Bangkok covering 500 kilometres in the next four to five years, larger than London’s Underground, and the infrastructure projects in the Eastern Economic Corridor to support digital technology, 5G and robotics industry.

 

“It is unacceptable to let Thailand slide back to the period before Covid-19. Since the global economy is changing we must be more proactive in attracting foreign investors, and the agencies responsible for this are the Board of Investment Office and Eastern Economic Corridor Office,” Supattanapong said.

 

“The next step will be to put Thailand on the list of top 10 countries with ease of doing business, which is a goal proposed by five countries who are our major trade partners.”

 

2021 will be the year of investment. 

 

The deputy PM further explained that next year the government will focus on investing in new industries that will help reduce reliance on export and tourism. “Bangkok will be the centre of regional offices of multinational companies, while Thailand’s automotive industry will focus on the manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs), ” he said. “EVs will create other related industries such as smart equipment manufacturing and electricity generating from renewable energy. This will create a great opportunity for Thailand to further invest in community power plants, as well as biomass and solar power plants in Laos,” he concluded. 

 

-- Andrew J Wood 2020-12-21

How many deputy PM's are there? Prawit Anutin and now this guy!????

6 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Just to be pedantic, 'served'. As opposed to a party where everyone bring their own and consume it themselves. Then it wouldn't be served.

 

????Never heard of self service!????????????????

2 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

They want to have medical tourism when they can not get a vaccine for it's own people for more than half a year from now and a vaccine that is not as good as moss vaccines.  Those in charge should be ashamed of themselves..  Bet the government leaders will be the first to get the vaccine.

How do you know any of the vaccines are any good? Because they tell you so????

They've hardly been tried and tested!!!!????

I hope proper disposal of waste is taken into account as well! The Chinese restaurant in Khampaeng din road Chiang Mai just dump their waste across the street and let waste water swill across the road! There's usually half a dozen large plastic bags by the end of the night and the footpath swilling in stinking red gunge! It's a total disgrace but nothing seems to be done about it!

1 hour ago, ThailandRyan said:

Nationalities and names of the supposed companies would be nice.  Names of the new Hotels being built or that have been purchased, which Tour Package operations, which Zero Dollar Tour Bus companies?  The news report leaves so many unanswered questions that could have been answered instead of just saying 5 Juristic entities.  If they are Juristic entities, who are the Thai's that set these companies in motion, how much was the bribe paid, are the Thai individuals connected, and better yet will there be more reporting on this or will it just fade away due to connections and money paid to make it go away.

The $1,000,000 questions!????????????????

That's just on the quarantine!????

15 hours ago, anto said:

They are hardly normal tourists .Probably out buying property's and businesses at knock down prices . 

Yep!

5 hours ago, 2long said:

They're not tourists if they have to stay for minimum 90 days, but has anyone confirmed that they will? I would be very surprised.

 

Oh, maybe just maybe they're rich Chinese who will come to buy up the failing businesses in Phuket at rock-bottom prices. I wouldn't put that past the Muppets in charge.

That's exactly what they will be doing! and not just Phuket!!! They are already buying up Chiang Mai!????????????

1 hour ago, brommers said:

Oh gosh, how wonderful!

No, wait. Does England not have over 3000 new infections per day, does England not have a testing system that is about to collapse, does England not have resurgent city by city lockdowns, does England not have the threat of curfews being imposed???

Why would anyone in their right mind want to go to this shambolic mess of a country!

???? Gather you're not English! ????

22 hours ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

how did he get past customs with 10 million baht cash ?

Exactly ????????????

2 hours ago, Seismic said:

Really?, who told you that?  ????????

Thai driving license works at Chiang Mai zoo

Freeze his assets so if he is abroad he can't access his fortune!