Kenny202

It seems the tests are obviously very inaccurate. How can you test negative...get on a plane, then get off the plane test negative again and still somehow be sick? But this seems to be a common occurrence more so with Omicron

I dunno if anyone is supporting him or anyone who would selfishly flee quarantine. It's more the information being reported doesn't add up, sound factual or is contradictory. It does reek of a$$ covering after the fact, or just plain old bad reporting (or all of the above as usual)

Whatever the case, he is going to be the poster boy scapegoat for all future Omicron cases in Thailand....dirty farang!

Once again have to agree. First came here 2012 and it was amazing. I would say the rot set in about 2015. Also the start of a very sharp decline in the service industry (Tourist, sex, and otherwise). I often wonder if its me getting jaded living here so long but for me some of the magic has definitely gone out of the place and I don't think it is just me. We went away a few times every years the 2 years just before covid. Islands, Chiang Rai...few other places. The accommodation was ridiculously cheap and they had very few customers, and both times right in the middle of high season. No advertised buffet breakfast at most places....which I kinda get with so few bookings but I doubt someone who flew 2000km is going to be so understanding. Worst thing was they had a set menu, which showed a photo of eggs, hot dog things, ham...cheese and toast. Was no ham or cheese (Finish...7am in the morning finished?) and we had to ask for the toast. Stuff like that costs little but does immense harm with online reviews, social media etc these days. I have had several family members and friends visit me over the last 5 years and opinions of Thailand were so so at best and no they wont be coming back anytime soon. What has happened now, based on a recent stay to Koh Chang and other places is that many places even before Covid were already suffering from a lack of any real maintenance and looking tired. 2 years on with no bookings and no income things have become really bad, understandably of course but we all know Thais and there is no forward planning or contingency for bad times. So even if things do spring back and the tourists arrive in numbers. What happens when they get to these tatty hotels with several issues in the room, lack of staff and service etc. Unsafe conditions. People aren't going to spend their hard earned and sympathize with these places trying to get back on their feet. they are going to be bitter and resentful for wasting their once a year vacation and money and wrote reviews that will reflect that

Nailed it!

I think you are right re Vietnam and they completely by passed the sex tourist route and went straight for the middle class market and have done exceedingly well. They were having issues with their taxi driver scams etc and cleaned it all up. Vietnam is quirky, interesting, old school and lots to see. A very charming place. I love living in Thailand for other reasons but as for a holiday destination I would rather go to Vietnam any day of the week. Some of the nicest, smartest most genuine, welcoming and motivated peoples I have ever met, even in the face of so much adversity in the past. And its not for the high end hotels or resorts. It's for all the things I would not have or see in my own country. Apart from the handful of generic overcrowded landmark sites in Bangkok, and millions of temples of every size and type, there is very little Thai culture, heritage, architecture etc to be found here. And they must have a rich history. Vietnam do very well with village tours. I don't think I have ever seen anything like that in Thailand and Western people love that stuff. I doubt Thailand has ever done any real research re demographics, target markets or customers needs. The first negative or constructive criticism they got they would have got defensive, started finger pointing and made excuses. And lets face it. it was all so easy for them back in the 80s, 90s. It just all fell in their lap. As an Australian, we already have resorts and beautiful beaches, with decent food of all cultures. Coming to Thailand with a family to second rate beaches, resorts with average at best food and service, unsafe transport.....that lets face it are not much cheaper than back home these days ain't going to cut it. I am sure the Thai smile and welcoming attitude of the people that used to be in these tourist areas has long gone. Middle class Europeans / Eastern Europeans as well as the Chinese should be Thailand's target market. But then again how does Spain / Portugal / Yugoslavia etc compare in Europe value wise and quality of service.

You would only have to look at the Philippines for the life lesson here. It was the go to destination in the 70's early 80's. Pretty much what is happening here happened there, and Thailand took over their market nearly overnight....never to return. The Philippines are still struggling to recoup their tourism back 40 years later. If Myanmar / Cambodia (both have coastlines) ever get their act together, get some investment, build some truly world class resorts and facilities.....Thailand with its old tired same ol same ol are going to be toast. I applaud Thailand in one way for wanting to attract a better class of Tourist, they have a lot going for them, but high end no way and no time soon. Walk before you can run. Cheap food and girls are one thing but that can easily be taken away by some of these neighboring countries. As someone noted middle class family type people from cold countries who don't have natural recourses, beaches and islands. Even that's a pipedream the way things are at the moment with little safe infrastructure or decent facilities.

Typical Thailand. First rate high spending tourists but 3rd rate accommodation, service, safety and scammers. As usual dreaming. You don't get nothing for nothin, and near enough is good enough and a lot of talk ain't gonna cut it. I remember Thailand Tourism was well on the wane before Covid and any hotels I been to in the last few years may have had a nice facade and front of house but go to your room and it was back to the 90's. Many of these places have had little maintenance or upgrades (apart from a lick of paint) since opening. I note 3 lines down in my newsfeed the headline "Taxi driver charged with negligence in death of tourist" lol. I hope Thailand never goes down the route of our foreign Nanny states but if they want to attract even middle class tourists they are going to have to up their game with some basic regulations and high penalties particularly with regards to safety. Last "tour" I went on down near Hua Hin, picked up to go on a boat in a dirty old ute with seats in the back. The driver was an imbecile 80km hour on dirt roads. Cut the corner and slid out. tree branch came in through the back and cut up my wife's arm. That was the end of that dropped on the side if the road. That night at dinner we were told by people that completed the "tour" an elderly man fell down into the water and hurt his leg when the ramp to the boat gave way. Not my first experience of this either. Sitting in a speedboat off Phuket in a speedboat going to an island, 1 meter swell and these fools flat strap with 2 x 250hp Yamahas on the back. Plenty of terrified old people on the boat too and nothing to hang on to. I don't know what was worse that or the night mare transfer back to the hotel in the van from hell.

Funny you say that Crossy, just went out and bought the stuff and did exactly as you said lol....to a tee. I had 2.5mm twin at home. It's so small I thought it was less than 1mm 5555. Must be great insulation! Thanks mate

Didn't know there was an electrical forum lol. Thanks Joe

Probably a question for Crossy. Doing a small kiosk / shed for my wife's restaurant. Running power to the shed (small distance no voltage drop issues) and wondering what cable to use. Max demand very low, the only major appliances will be a small fridge. The rest a couple of LED fluros and a few outlets for phone chargers, a fan etc. All cooking, heating etc done with gas. Nothing much at all. Will have a main switch / CB of course before power goes into the shed. Just wondering what sort of cable I should use? As you know back home we use 2.5mm for power and 1.5mm for lights. Really we are just moving power from the old shed to the new and looks like old she wired in 1mm for lights and power. What cable would you suggest Crossy? And what size breaker? I don't think I'll worry about a power and light circuit. Just have everything going through the one breaker.

Well its at least double the price of soy oil. If I was going to spend the money on more expensive oil I'd get peanut myself

As annoying as it is, particularly where you are not in the wrong, you will have to make some small effort yourself. This is Thailand and you can imagine how many people would be claiming non delivery if it was that easy to get away with. Did you have a good look around the front of your place? Our drivers often toss the item over the fence or leave it on the gate post. The only item I ever thought was a no show I found in the back yard. Dried sausage skins for sausage making. My dog nicked the package, ripped it open and had strewn them all over the back of the house. Other than that with hundreds of deliveries I have never had someone claimed an item was delivered when it wasn't

It would make sense but I doubt its true. Most of the slow deliveries I get from Lazada are due to the inefficiency of that 3 letter companies delivery service not the seller. I don't know if you have noticed lately but when you check tracking last few months the seller may have packed the item and there will be a message "your item will be picked up and dispatched within 2 or 3 days". In all fairness a lot of these items are low value and should the seller send, pack and deliver with a normal more expensive company it would probably make their items uneconomical. So they pool all their deliveries at a lower price through Lazada

It depends on the value. Usually under 200 baht providing you show photos of damage they will right off and refund to you. Have had this twice now. More expensive items Lazada will pick up or you return to Kerry / Flash. Kerry and Flash can print off a return sticker for you. I don't know if they return the goods to China or what they do but not your problem if the goods were poorly packed or damaged.

Free wifi seats? lol

What I meant about over 30. An older person with a degree 30-35+ finds it very difficult to get work in their chosen field anywhere in Thailand. Coming straight out of Uni recently different story

I think that was the point I was making. There is no half measures with coffee or food for that matter. You either sell a lot of low grade stuff cheap (labor intensive / long hours / hard work / low return) or go all out. That of course will depend on your proposed location. The example you gave is 100% spot on. Yes people will pay 100 baht for a shot of excellent coffee in Bangkok. In a provincial town or village no. They equally wont pay 40 baht for a <deleted> cup of coffee. I am sure its the only reason Amazon and the other horrible, expensive mall coffee chains do so well here, and their coffee is awful. Thai people think it is up market. Its not about the coffee its about the FB selfies. So for that I would say your choice is go big or go home. If the area she is considering selling not a modern, cosmopolitan demographic.....Go for on the stove Moka coffee or a Nespresso machine with a milk frother. Still decent coffee but not the huge outlay. Your focus then should be add on sales. Coffee alone, even if it is good wont be enough to pay the rent or attract customers. Again your decisions should be location / turnover based. if you are going to be selling snacks and cakes etc no good having stuff that needs to be thrown in the bin at the end of everyday if not sold. Frozen / microwavable or long shelf life is the go. Armed with all this knowledge I would be asking her what her plans or ideas are with some of these stuff. Does she know what the best milk to use is etc? See how much of her own research she has done and how committed to its success she will be. I saw a guy invest 300k in a coffee shop in a side street in a very remote, small village, to appease his Mrs of course. She was trying to sell coffee for 25 baht a cup which even that she couldn't acheive.....do the math on that return on investment lol. Was just such a bad idea on every level and the guy should have known better. It is ok to say no here. They never stop trying it on or asking but you also have the right to say no, particularly where she has no business experience or for that matter education, let alone any knowledge of cooking or producing a half decent coffee. Or more importantly no skin in the game and the only person who is going to lose is you. Ask any Thai woman what business she wants to do. Will usually be a coffee shop, online skin whitener, gift shop or noodle restaurant. then ask her how she is going to distribute the profits and repay the start up investment? I bet the answer is "not worry, I take care you" lol. Just pandering to childish whims. A wise man once said, going to a chain store coffee shop for coffee is like going to prison for sex. You know you are going to get it but its going to be rough ????

That's a Chinese tactic. They seem to exploit and pollute everything. Its the same when you go to a big market, or somewhere like MBK in Bkk. You start to notice all the stalls have the exact same stock at the exact same price apart from a few that are inflated, to give you the illusion you are getting a bargain. Then you realize they are all the same owner.

That the other annoying thing with them. They have so much of their own spam and pop ups within their own app it, screen jumping around all over the place in an effort to make you click on something you don't want makes things even more difficult to find. A bit like another app / website we are all using right now ???? I have found the search engine within Lazada also rubbish. What I often do now if I am looking for something particular is do a google search and often the thing I was looking for comes up in shopping / Lazada. No rhyme or reason. Same search keywords in English or Thai are in the description and exactly what you searched for within Lazada app or website but no results. Maybe google has a better translate algorithm?

Yep, usually it's desperation where they open a business. And I feel very sorry for many of them. Over 30 here, even with a degree very hard to find employment. Without a degree or college education....the only thing open to you is farm, construction or factory work. You can't even get a job at a small Tesco or 7 without further education. Most of the new owners put the last 20 or 30k they have into starting a business thinking or hoping they will be making money from day dot. With a simple business such as BBQ chicken, moo ping or soup and a bit of experience I guess you could....but they also don't do the math. Maybe they see the money in the till from the days takings and don't consider only 10-20% of that is profit. The rest will be needed to replace the stock they sold, rent, electricity, gas etc. Soon (weeks) they don't have the money to buy the stuff that's needed....menu items become unavailable or food isn't fresh. Sales understandably drop off and the end is inevitable. They end up having to shut up and return to work for someone else, losing what little savings they had and usually a debt with the loan sharks. Must be awful to be poor behind the 8 ball here.

yeah I hate that you can't search only in Thailand anymore. Been like that for a few months. The option did come back for a week or so last month and then disappeared again.

I don't know why you would worry about COD unless it was a high value purchase or you didn't trust the seller. Do you actually open your stuff and check before you pay for it? If you are just doing COD because you are afraid of a no show don't worry as Lazada very good with returns or refunds. I have literally ordered hundreds of things through Lazada over the years and never had a seller try and scam me or something stolen etc. Had a few wrong items or small issues. If low value I throw it in the bin and chalk it up to experience. If not I make a claim and return it. Very simple. Just annoys me having to go to that extra trouble when the seller is clearly in the wrong but its all pretty easy these days. I think returns after approval can even be picked up from your home by Flash express, Lazada pays. COD just adds more stress to the transaction. Finding the right money, needing to be home when the delivery is done. Not worth it for me

That would be LEX who are I believe owned by Lazada. Very slow process with them and as you say often claim no one home but that probably comes down to your driver. You are the only delivery in that particular area, he wants to get home early and takes the easy way out. They must be cheap and pick up from the sellers I think. Cheap delivery cost = below average service.

I have been here 8 years now and where I live up North, I see businesses going out of business everyday. Usually 3 months and done. They start off with very little capital, no plan or even cost analysis on what they sell....what their profit will be and if they can even break even let alone make money. What really amazes me though is as soon as one falls over seems to be someone eager to take their place and the process is repeated. Even during Covid seeing so many new businesses start up (just as many closing). I have come to the understanding that to have a successful business in Thailand, you would be far better off as a Landlord in a busy area or someone who rents equipment out to the new and inexperienced. You would need a masters in debt collection though or group of thugs to go and collect your money.