khunjeff

On 5/15/2025 at 12:56 PM, snoop1130 said:

The plan is for the revamped terminal to open for domestic flights in June, eventually facilitating international travel by October.

Trang doesn't have any international flights, so I'm not sure how that's going to work. Also, the new terminal is on the opposite side of the airport from the current one, and is accessed by different roads, so I don't think it's realistic to operate both at once.

On 5/10/2025 at 9:59 PM, Georgealbert said:

AOT is in the process of revising the Suvarnabhumi development blueprint to accommodate up to 150 million passengers annually by 2031

On 5/10/2025 at 9:59 PM, Georgealbert said:

The revised masterplan is expected to be completed by August or September 2025 and will then be submitted to the Cabinet

So they haven't even completed the plan yet, but it will be operational within six years. Uh huh 🧐 

15 hours ago, Kinnock said:

Chinese company employing Chinese people and illegal foreign workers = zero dollars to Thai workers plus no financial benefit to the Thai economy.

 

Same issue as zero-dollar tourism where all the cash is recycled withn Chinese businesses.

That isn't what the term "zero dollar" refers to - there are even zero dollar tours for Chinese people within China. Authorities in China and Hong Kong have been fighting these operations for years because they exploit and threaten tour participants - only in Thailand is the focus on loss of revenue to local businesses rather than on the safety of the tourists themselves. 

"As its name suggests, zero-dollar tourism refers to packaged tours which are much less expensive than independent travel with one catch: tourists are taken on many shopping trips and are often required to buy overpriced products. Tour guides and drivers get a kickback from these shopping excursions, offsetting the loss on the tour’s initial cost."

https://theaseanpost.com/article/made-china-zero-dollar-tourists

20 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

officers have dismantled a "zero-dollar" Chinese lobster factory

20 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Social media highlighted the issue of a Chinese group subcontracting air conditioning installations

I'm not following this - was it a lobster company, or an air conditioning company? Or both? And in what sense is this "zero dollar" (a term used for cheap group tours)?

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The introduction of these automated systems is particularly timely, as Phuket sees an increasing number of tourists.

So will these be available for foreigners? On entry, or only exit?

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) has called for urgent government action to lower travel costs

And yet Vietnamese people come to Thailand instead of vacationing domestically within their own country because they believe costs are cheaper here...

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Vietnam's allure includes a variety of new attractions, efficient transport networks with strong international connections, and more affordable tour packages

Vietnam's transport networks are far worse than Thailand's, so I don't know what they're talking about. And TAT continues to be obsessed with tour packages and "new attractions", even though an increasing number of Chinese now travel independently, and are first time visitors who are perfectly happy to see "old attractions".

3 hours ago, Wake Up1 said:

Contact the LTR. I don’t believe the 80,000 requirements still exist.

They took away the income requirement for the Wealthy Global Citizen category, not for Wealthy Pensioners.

3 hours ago, Wake Up1 said:

Anyway I gave them one tax return and not two.

Yes, this. Despite the references to "two years" in the description, everyone I know who has been approved for the Wealthy Pensioner LTR has only been asked to show one year of income.

On 4/24/2025 at 10:59 AM, webfact said:

the driver was speeding, unable to decelerate in time

So clearly the problem is the bus...and the road? 🤔

On 4/11/2025 at 8:33 AM, impulse said:

 

Which makes perfect sense.  Some state laws only affect residents of the state.  But other state laws affect the rights and lives of residents of other states, including interstate commerce. 

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/04/trump-executive-order-state-climate-laws-illegal-legal-unconstitutional/

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

My thoughts exactly... that earthquake like most are unpredictable.

What would the emergency message say?

"What you just felt was an earthquake,take shelter somewhere safe"

It doesn't have to be an advance warning to be useful, though of course that would be ideal.

The day the earthquake struck, people evacuated their buildings and then had no idea what to do. The government did in fact send out mass SMS messages explaining what had happened and telling people when it was safe to go back inside, but for most people those messages arrived so late as to be useless. (In my case, the SMS came eight hours late.)

If they can manage to get the word out to everyone quickly, that could be very helpful. I personally didn't receive anything from this supposedly successful test on either my DTAC or True number, though, so I'm not sure whether their bragging is justified or not.

Stop with the study tours and just build the damned thing - this has been dragging on for years and years now, with little to show for it.

Not mentioned in the article: 

- Cracking down on officials who accept bribes

- Arresting the Thais who take money to put their names on the papers of the nominee companies

- Developing foreign language skills in the tourism industry so that foreign guides would no longer be needed

No, instead the "solution" is...cut the visa exemption period to 30 days? Inconveniencing millions of tourists to punish a few dozen illegal guides?

6 hours ago, Social Media said:

the U.S. Supreme Court has delivered what amounts to a triple win for former President Donald Trump, while issuing a firm reminder to lower courts: respect judicial boundaries and procedures.

This is a highly imaginative interpretation of these rulings. One involved venue, one involved standing (something the Supreme Court itself seems fairly unconcerned with these days), and the third was a disagreement over the application of the Administrative Procedure Act. All of these are quite ordinary matters that are routinely hashed out in appeals courts in all types of cases.

And in the case involving venue, the court unanimously struck down Trump's attempt to use the Alien Enemies Act as a way to avoid giving due process to deportees - I would hardly call that a victory for him no matter how he tries to spin it.

44 minutes ago, ronnie50 said:

Thanks. But I thought only certain nationalities can apply for the  e-visa (e.g. British and EU), other nationalities need a visa from the embassy (and the stupid invitation letter - from an agency I guess), isn't that right?

The VN e-visa system  now covers visitors from all countries and territories (though of course it will be irrelevant to people who are visa exempt). 

https://vnembassy-canberra.mofa.gov.vn/en-us/News/EmbassyNews/Pages/Vietnam-Introduces-E-Visa-for-All-Nationalities-from-August-15,-2023.aspx

21 hours ago, Digitalbanana said:

My Wise came thro in seconds this week.

My transfers normally take under 10 seconds, but the one yesterday ended up taking 90 minutes. I have no idea what the reason was, but it was still fast enough that I'm not going to worry about it.