khunjeff

We seem to get exactly the same responses to every news item about duty free sales. 1) "I've never seen duty free stores on arrival": then a visit to the eye doctor might be in order, since there are shops literally flanking the entrances to the immigration hall, and at least five more in the baggage hall. They're brightly lit and pretty hard to miss! 2) "Prices are cheaper at regular stores": if you're looking at local products, which aren't subject to import duty, then yes, they will always be cheaper outside (and these usually aren't sold on arrival). Prices at King Power are far higher than they should be, but for high tax items (alcohol, tobacco, cosmetics, and luxury goods), the duty free stores are indeed usually cheaper, though sometimes not by much. Many people are confused by the fact that the price on a bottle of liquor is the same as outside, but don't notice that the duty free bottle is 1000ml and the one in town is 700ml. Look at the Thai girls buying cosmetics or perfume at duty free, and you can be sure that they carefully researched the prices downtown before deciding to make their purchases at the airport. 3) "No one buys duty free on arrival": the 3 billion baht worth of goods that were sold in the shops in the arrival area would seem to challenge this belief! That having been said, this is obviously a stupid idea. The idea that purchases are completely fungible, and that a person who can't buy duty free will instead spend that money in a shop downtown, is patently ridiculous. I only buy a bottle of booze on arrival because the price is good; I will not buy the same bottle outside at a higher price, and I certainly won't buy a bottle of Hong Thong at 7-11 to replace the Glenlivet that I wasn't able to get at the airport. Even the government seemed to recognize this when they first floated this idea last year, and said that closing the arrival duty free would be combined with a lowering of alcohol taxes to encourage more buying from regular shops. What happened to that tax reduction? "a reduction in beverage taxes will incentivise tourists to purchase beverages locally, contributing to the circulation of money within the economy. With an appropriate tax structure for beverages, Thai citizens will find it more affordable to buy beverages domestically," said Finance Ministry permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit." https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/policies/40033367

Are we doomed to live through this pearl clutching over alcohol sales hours again and again, like Groundhog Day?? This is from less than six months ago: "Thai Restaurant operators are asking the Thai government to unlock alcohol sale hours and end periods of sales being restricted, especially from 2PM to 5PM in the afternoons." And this is from less than two weeks ago: "The Government of Thailand dashed hopes of extended alcohol sales hours, citing alarming statistics on road casualties and accidents. Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin announced the decision following a tense panel meeting at the ministry on Tuesday, asserting that public safety must take precedence." https://thethaiger.com/news/national/government-slam-brakes-on-extended-hours-for-alcohol-sales

And represents false precision in a poll whose margin of error is at least 2%, and probably higher. Scientific polling can tell us a lot about trends and opinions in a population, but it isn't meant or designed to provide the level of exactitude that pollsters here try to assign to it.

I wish they would stop reporting these poll results to the second decimal place. With 2,000 people in the survey, .01% is equal to 1/5 of a person...

Was this one of the online gambling rings run by police? Or are those taking a breather now while the large joker works out his difficulties?

And did they interview the women to determine whether they were trafficking victims? Or offer protection? No, just arrest and jail - and that's one of the reasons that Thailand is still on Tier 2 for Trafficking in Persons.

So...44 advisers let go for taking bribes, but no mention of investigations, arrests, trials, or punishments. A "bold move" indeed 🙄

Police officer, MP, and cabinet minister - and involved in three murders. The mind boggles.

Good question, and we don't know.

The writing is convoluted, but it seems that the debts were real, but "Kae" had not actually been contracted by the loan sharks to collect them. So, it was Kae's claim of acting to collect the money that was fake, not the debts themselves.

This was published in The Hill as an opinion piece, not a news article. In the end, contrary to the writer's wishes, the Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the Administration, on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue.

Perhaps when AoT issues its constant stream of self-aggrandizing press releases it can first check to see whether they make sense? Because this one is incomprehensible.

1) He was certainly in violation of labor laws, but no, he wasn't taking jobs from anyone. If he was able to charge high prices for nine years, even surviving through the pandemic, I think it's clear that there was a demand for his specific talents. 2) The claims that he was "taunting" or "challenging" the police are not backed up anywhere in these articles - or are the "journalists" just implying that openly running an illegal enterprise constituted a challenge to authorities?

I'm all for promoting and preserving traditional handicrafts, but that will have exactly zero effect on economic growth.

Yes, but this is the headline: "HBO Picks Thailand as Location for Season 3 of "The White Lotus""

Seriously?? It's not the conflict that threatens the people's confidence - it's the police themselves.

Wasn't this announced months ago?

They are not going to monopolize the industry, and they're not trying to do so. Zero dollar and scam tours are only a niche market, albeit a profitable one. China has been fighting zero dollar tours for years because they exploit and cheat tourists who don't know what they're getting into. Thailand, on the other hand, doesn't appear to care about the effect on the exploited tourists at all, but only about national image, taxes, and lower profits for local businesses. Note that all ten scam companies had been licensed by the government. How would a tourist know that a properly licensed firm was not legitimate? How did these companies get licenses in the first place?

"In the initial five months of the year, more than 50 foreign tourists applied for compensation, with seven cases approved, including four fatalities and three injuries, resulting in payouts amounting to approximately 4 million baht. There remains about 45 million baht from the originally approved 50 million baht budget." https://aseannow.com/topic/1330015-tourism-ministry-seeks-1-billion-baht-for-new-routes/

Alternatively, BoI could recognize that the plain meaning of "unlimited" does indeed include the number "$50K". Just a thought 😁

I must pass this fascinating bit of information to my many Chinese-American friends who are married to non-Chinese 🙄

"The net growth of new factories has also slowed, with the number of new factories opening minus those closing dropping to 50 per month, a sharp decline from the previous average of 150 per month." So if these figures are accurate, the number of factories is actually increasing, not decreasing. https://www.thailand-business-news.com/corporate/146599-thai-industries-face-challenges-from-chinese-competition-and-minimum-wage-increase

I don't get it. The story below says that he was at Sunthorn's new house in Thailand, and even spoke to media there... https://aseannow.com/topic/1329354-former-deputy-interior-minister-vatana-returns-home-after-16-years-in-hiding/?utm_source=240610-11

Foreigners can already vote in an AGM and their vote is the same as Thai owners. The question was not about how things are now, but how they would be under the proposed amended law:

So, which is it? I had always heard 30 years, with no guaranteed extension.