khunjeff

How so? The road looks well built and in good condition - this appears to be entirely driver error that would have had the same unfortunate result in any country.

I wasn't aware that provinces could make up their own visa regulations. This implies that the meetings with consular officers have some connection with the things that immigration is "ensuring", which they don't. "No warrants" and "no blacklist" simply means that arrivals are run through the immigration database, just as they are at every other checkpoint in the country. "Sufficient funds and a defined itinerary" is also a theoretical requirement at every checkpoint in Thailand, but is virtually never checked, in Phuket or anywhere else. And let's remember that these things are checked in Phuket only for foreigners arriving on the island directly from abroad. For those coming from Bangkok or elsewhere, Phuket immigration never sees them at all.

It's so novel that no one thought of it before, other than every market stall, every retailer, and even the Don Muang airport buses...

I assume that was generated by AI. In reality, blowing whistles doesn't accomplish any of those things, because when they are being blown everywhere, virtually nonstop, for any reason or no reason, people stop paying attention to them. Rather than thinking there's an emergency, people assume -usually correctly - that it's just some idiot with an ill-fitting uniform showing off his self-imagined power.

As do I - almost all second hand from market stalls. And I wear them year round.

Except that they weren't operating a costume rental business at all - they were just (illegal) employees at a shop operated by a Thai owner. But perhaps the police thought it would sound more impressive if they claimed they had busted a foreign-run business...

Just a few months ago they said it would be tied to the ETA, so that only visa exempt travelers would pay. But now the ETA has completely disappeared from the conversation, and the zombie tourist tax has risen from the grave yet again. Let's not forget that the supposed motivation for this tax was the millions the government was allegedly losing from tourists skipping out on hospital bills. But even if every instance of that evasion were accepted as true, that loss would come out to less than 10 baht per foreign visitor - so they've decided that 300 baht should just about cover it, and they'll figure out what to use the rest for. Uh huh. This tax is, and always has been, a solution in search of a problem.

Mr. Boon-Anan is living in a fantasy world. Thailand has never had strict screening of tourists, and is not going to start anytime soon. He and his fellow pearl-clutchers seem to think there's "one weird trick" that will magically detect people who will end up causing mischief here, but there isn't. Biometrics and database checks are all well and good, but all they show you is whether someone has gotten into trouble in Thailand in the past. Unless they want to start personally interviewing all potential tourists and rejecting anyone who looks the least bit suspicious, they will never keep out the troublemakers. Whether foreigners need visas in advance, or get them on arrival, or get a 30,60, or 90 visa exemption, there will still be no checks conducted other than running their names and (maybe) fingerprints through a local database. That's it. And his call for a return of the TM6 is patently absurd. There was never any check made of the accuracy of the listed accommodation, and even if there were, what would that prove? Are criminals unable to book hotels for one night?

...and yet there's no mention of any human trafficking. In fact, the only person who could possibly have been a trafficking victim - Ms. Khith - was, as usual, arrested rather than provided with assistance.

Oh look, he's awake! Good morning to you, Mr. P!

Better ban them quickly before they can gather momentum 🙄

1) The Bank of Thailand is independent, so the cabinet shouldn't be "urging" it to do anything - just leave it alone and let it do its job. 2) As others have noted, that inflation figure is as absurd as the sub-1% unemployment figures that the government here regularly publishes, so there isn't even a problem to address.

This seems like a fairly arcane topic, and yet 200 people were "studying" it from just one subdistrict?

Can anyone help me understand what this means? How would stopping at a checkpoint prevent overheated brakes? 🤔

So we haven't had bidding yet, and the contract won't be signed until April, but 500 buses will be operating by August? How is that even possible?