mfd101

5 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

This just seems wrong to me

 

Why? Seems perfectly sensible to me. Money sitting 'idle' in a bank - particularly if not earning interest - is of no use to anyone. Money needs to circulate in the economy as a national asset, to everyone's benefit.

If my (Thai) family are anything to judge the local situation by, there will be millions of unused accounts all over the place with a few baht left in each one. They just walk away as they move on along life's path. Too much trouble to close it down or transfer it. Just open another.

A bit like the people who change their phone number every other week, for 'goo lak'.

4 hours ago, InMyShadow said:

He apologized and next statement will be his in a program for sex addiction

1 year and it's like it never happened. That's how it works in the USA

The American equivalent of a good Wai ...

Taxi from Asoke BTS & using expressway is usually about 15-20 minutes.

59 minutes ago, Gregster said:

Accordingly to last night’s 60 Minutes program the “wealthy” country (as a whole) is experiencing a serious power crisis.

Not that good for a country so wealthy :)

Indeed. The continuing long-term incompetence of State governments in Oz in this area is quite startling. But has nothing to do with being wealthy or not. [If wealth=well-run, then Thailand would be a very well-run country.]

But they can afford their beer & cigarettes ... In any case, what some individuals can or can't afford and what a country as a whole can afford are rather different things!

13 minutes ago, Gregster said:

Many millions of taxpayers money spent on High Court costs to have him tossed out....and many millions of taxpayers money spent on a by-election to bring him back again.

This Is Australia.

It's a wealthy country that can afford it, and a democratic and law-abiding one that thinks it worth the trouble.

All of this is of course an issue for every country in SE Asia & beyond ... Australia, for instance.

Being friends with both the US & China is not easy, but being clever & good at diplomatic skills helps. Australia finds it difficult. Eating your cake and having it is counter to Oz cultural norms of honesty & directness in dealing with others. Shouldn't be beyond Thai skills however ...

Ignorance of the (complex) facts never stopped anyone having an opinion ...

5 hours ago, steven100 said:

Who cares ....    Australia's government is a big joke    !!    scum ...

 

not creating jobs.

very high electricity prices.

high food costs.

nanny state.

drug use is rampant

a wreaked justice system

zero wage growth

penalty rates canceled

banks never held accountable

Oh no! I didn't realize it was so awful! And all this has happened just since I left 23 months ago?

10 hours ago, Coconut007 said:

a successful, reputable businessman

A successful reputable businessman builder in south Surin is indeed hard to find. But there may be one somewhere. My b/f just hasn't found him yet.

Meantime we have the family , friends & friends of same - some are willing triers, some are quite good, some are useless, some are lazy, and some are thieves ... Rather like tradesmen in Australia, come to think of it.

Oh no! I've been missing out!

Yes, the firms aren't bluffing and the Europeans aren't bluffing. So who does that leave who's bluffing?

Don't seem to have heard from the lovely Nigel for a while ...

I use BKK Bank 'Bualang iBanking' regularly to transfer funds from Oz to Thailand and from my acct to my b/f's. Very quick & easy - entirely comparable to Oz systems for ease of use and haven't had any problems with security.

Dealing with them over the counter, both in BKK & here in Prasat, has always been easy & helpful also.

On 10/19/2017 at 8:23 PM, nisakiman said:

Why?

Everywhere in the world is the same: If you want a car industry from go to whoa (design, manufacture, assembly), you have to build in LARGE numbers & you have to export all round the world. Otherwise you can't compete.

Australia never managed that - too small, too small-minded, too late. The Holdens were solid & dependable but never cutting edge. I remember when we used to export them to the Persian Gulf countries (rich). Military guys there told me they always bought the Oz-built relabelled Pontiacs rather than the American rubbish because the Oz-built kept on keeping on in the heat & the sand & the dust of the Gulf.

Did that last? No. Insufficient enterprising spirit in complacent ol' Oz ...

Interesting body language in the photo: Two cheerful (including one smug) people, and one anxious-to-please ...

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Probably the only thing you can do is find a new builder and NEVER pay in advance. So if the builder runs he is running away from a payment not running with your money.

Very sensible, but - depending how far out in the provinces one is - usually not feasible. The builder usually has no money to start with - nothing to pay the workers, no funds to buy tools & supplies. So you either want your house built or you don't ... If you do, then you will almost always and at every stage be paying in advance. And they will almost always ask for more than promised before they reach the end of each stage.

And you're the one over a barrel, not them.

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

IMO May needs to give up the pretense of 'negotiating', as the EU has made it v clear that (at the moment) - it has no intention of negotiating, only dictating.

 

Time to be equally as intransigent and say 'OK, you're dictating the agenda/not even prepared to say what you require to start talking trade - we're out in '19'.

Yes, suicide is the only sensible response to someone arguing with you. Very good. Proceed.

Wow! so many hairy-chested Brits around these days. Walking tall (about 5'8" at last count).

The world is going to be a better place when all those nambypamby foreigners have gone back where they came from - um, Brussels. Oh and Poland too. And take their bills with them. And their skills (nursing, plumbing, edible food ... ).

35 minutes ago, Watchful said:

Mfd, you are looking at trade imbalances and assuming they are the result of ONLY currency valuations. Not so!  This is a multi-dimensional problem.

 

For example what are Thailand's border "adjustment" taxes on bourbon, Kentucky whiskey, cigarettes, California wine etc.??

 

These taxes also can play a huge role in trade balances. Thailand's exports come into the US duty free with no border adjustment taxes. Trump is correct to say this situation needs to be looked at.

 

I believe in reciprocity!  That is, if you hit our products with 20% to 40% taxes, so shall yours be hit at our borders.

 

Earlier I mentioned multi-dimensional and even taxes are only a single component. Countries can also introduce barriers to foreign imports via legislation around supposedly safety, environmental, etc.  That is, only "junk" made here can pass these tests. Chinese are notorious for "gaming" the system, especially when the local "junk" is made at government owned/runned factories. 

 

 

Yes, I agree with all of that. Fair points well made.

If the Americans were to produce more of the things that a country like Thailand and its people actually want and can afford, they wouldn't have a large balance of trade deficit (with Thailand or any other country). But they are so blind & ignorant of the world that they think the only reason a country like Thailand could have a large trade surplus with them is because they are 'manipulating' their currency.

To take just one obvious example: When was the last time the Americans produced a motor vehicle of any quality (at ANY price)? [I had a ride in an American-manufactured Cadillac in Canada in 2004. It was laughably awful. Nothing to compare with a Mazda or Toyota or Honda. And I don't suppose anything's changed in that regard since.]

The Americans' complaints are like a 4-year-old throwing a tantrum because he got caught with his hand in the cooky jar. As has been noted, if the Thais were manipulating their currency to increase their exports, the Baht would be falling, not rising!

The fact is that, despite its inefficiencies & widespread corruption, the Thai economy is doing remarkably well - healthy trade balance & healthy current & capital accounts. Anyone expecting the Baht to fall any time soon so that they can improve their expat standard of living is in cloud cuckoo land.

They didn't have time to issue warnings. They were heading out with a spade to clean up the khlongs ...

2 hours ago, GAZZPA said:

also heard somewhere that the Thai Government had empty coffers, not a surplus, hence the sharp tax rises in alcohol and cigarettes (Cigarettes have increased by around 80% in the past couple of years, 15% ish in the last few weeks).

The Government's budget deficit and the trade surplus & current account balance are entirely different and unrelated matters.

The budget deficit comes from extravagant spending by the government combined with antiquated (and no doubt corrupt) tax collection. The trade and current account surpluses come from real-world exchanges between Thailand and all other countries.

Terminal 21, 3rd-5th floor. Various good spots.

Now I'm watching Peter Sellers and can't stop!

More for the Yanks to gain than the Brits, I should think. But desperation can make strange bedfellows ...