mfd101

Thailand always fascinating. Lots of ifs & buts and lots of surprises. Never dull.

I hate to be ethnicist, but here in south Surin, if we don't know anyone or family capable guy, we'll look for a Thai Chinese workman/supervisor ... We don't always find one but when we do the job done is invariably a whole lot better than the alternative and at reasonable price. And that includes my once-every-5-years doctor.

Mixed economies work quite well in most Western countries other than the US (which, compared to the others, is so far to the political right as to have disappeared over the edge). But they need to be mostly non-corrupt societies and getting the mix right is difficult. And in any case the 'right mix' changes over time. Unforeseen consequences can be a problem in any country, just worse in Thailand where popular culture does not encourage forward thinking. And overly-'socialized' economies (not to mention societies) struggle to work coherently. France comes to mind, a country which for an Antipodean to live in is a bit of an authoritarian shock (as I discovered in the 1970s). Lucky countries such as Australia do well with smallish population, lots of wealth to dig up & generate, and egalitarian attitudes positioned between government control & free enterprise (the inheritance of its penitentiary origins - dependence on & loathing of the jailers).

Mmmm, well, a free market economy works only where there are minimal levels of corruption at all levels of society ... The alternative, when there is corruption at all levels, is various forms of governmental control (ie 'socialism'). And one control leads to the need for a counter-control elsewhere etc etc. Unforeseen consequences are a Thai specialty.

Life in Canberra: comfortable, boring and noone to hold in my arms. 7 Life in Surin province : less comfortable, interesting, diverse, unpredictable, plenty of places yet to explore, trips to BKK & Cambodia & Vietnam, and I have my boy to cuddle every night. 9

Here right next door to you in south Surin we've had no long blackout so far this monsoon season but we have had 1 or 2 shorter ones (say 1-5 minutes). The longer ones are usually caused by a tree falling across the lines but we haven't - in this El Nino year - had sufficient storms yet to cause that. Also several 2-second jobs that don't cause me any problems (everything comes straight back up) and which don't seem to be related to weather. Someone pushing a test button back at HQ?

Golly, um, how does that work? Paying fortnightly is more expensive than paying monthly? Will cost billions to reprogram the computers? The debt collectors will have to work twice as hard?

No to your question. The point about no longer being an Oz 'resident for tax purposes' is that you lose your 1st $20K tax-free threshold. Which makes a real difference when the majority of your income comes from federal (CSS/CSC) superannuation + investments from retirement lump sum many many moons ago.

Yes I can & do use Mygov when I know there's something to check ...

PS But what if it's earned in the current year?as mine is. ie Every time I bring currency in from Oz, I pay x amount of tax to Thailand ...

Sob sob. It seemed like a good idea ... ????

If people bother to check in the OP the list of countries that have a double-taxation agreement with Thailand, they will see that about 99% of all 'Westerners' in Thailand are covered by those treaty-status agreements. Which aren't about to change. So no sweat. But it does raise an interesting question for many of us, a question which those who actually are informed on this might wish to address: Assuming that (as I understand) Thailand's income tax rate is way way lower than that in any 'Western' country, why not use the double-taxation agreement from the other end? ie pay income tax in Thailand and thereby avoid the much higher rate of income tax in your home country.

That sounds very tempting. As an Australian 'not resident in Australia for tax purposes' I have 1/3 of my income confiscated each year by the Australian government. If I could stop that and change to paying a nominal amount of income tax in Thailand, that would make a huge difference to our living standard here.

Ditto for me re the Australian authorities. (I also gave them a lecture on sending me important papers thru the snailmail to Thailand, instead of emailing. That made me feel better.)

So in just 3 hours AN readers who can't be bothered to read the full original article have managed to generate 6 pages of comments based on ignorance.

Before you convert the soil, you have to convert the farmers. I know of what I speak. When I arrived here in south Surin in late 2015 to live permanently near my B/F's family, I spent a fortune on earthworks for their tiny farm right next to a large lake, to build big ponds full of fish. Also geese & ducks to accompany the usual cows & chickens & 1 large pig. We also told them to stop growing rice (which they grew only for their own consumption in any case). Too hard work, we'll provide, we said. All splendid for a while. People came from far & wide to buy the fish, the military came once a week to buy a goose or 2 for dinner, the new vegies (seeds introduced from Oz!) were doing well, and local government bureaucrats came to inspect this marvel of modernity. Problem was that it was all a lot of hard work for the family, it turned out that they wouldn't eat the vegies themselves (their diet consists 98% of boiled white rice + chilis + fish or chicken) and they were quite unable to sell them at the local market. FIL would push a barrow thru the village selling produce but the villagers always wanted to pay next week, which of course never came ... And the fish ponds needed frequent cleanouts ... and on & on. Slowly they reverted to the past they knew too well, several of the ponds were filled in again, the geese went ("Too noisy"), and finally a (totally pointless) rice paddy reappeared ... So capitalism doesn't work for the poor & uneducated. What they have is a way of life that keeps them poor but it's all they know or understand. I now continue to support them on minimal handouts but without hope of change. Half the younger members (BILs, SILs, nephews & nieces) have disappeared off to poverty in low-skill factory jobs or cleaning maidery in BKK. My B/F has taken up cockfighting & I've retired to my library.

And then there's the quaint link that the article's headline makes between a reduction in train fares and Bangkok's 'renaissance' ... Dreamworld strikes again.

But but ... MFP are trying to overthrow the Monarchy! Or, as Shakespeare might have commented: Butter me no butts.

When you say 'the government' I guess you mean the bureaucrats? The current government has scarcely been in place for a couple of weeks ... In any case, while 'water management' is something that could no doubt be improved over the long term (though the fundamental geographical difficulties are challenging), 'severe drought' is more in Buddha's hands than anyone else's.

You may - like most people under the age of about 60 - use the word 'peasant' as a term of abuse. I do not. OED: "A poor smallholder or agricultural labourer of low social status ... chiefly with reference to subsistence farming in poorer countries." Which exactly describes my large and very poor Khmer family here in south Surin.

(1) They were'nt paid (2) Whether it's 'worth anything' depends on your value system. If 'marriage' and especially a wedding is about recognition and acceptance by family and friends, then we were amply rewarded both here and in Oz. As to the Thai bureaucracy, the attitude of the peasants here is one of contempt: "They've never done anything for us. We don't care about them."

When/If the CC gives him the all-clear, he can resume his leadership of the party and the position of L/O.

My b/f & I were 'married' in a village (Buddhist) ceremony here in Surin in 2013. The village elders did the job. "Marriage is for 2 people who love each other." All fine by family & friends, but of course unofficial ...

As far as I'm aware, there's no such thing (yet) in Thailand. PTP promised action on gay marriage during the election campaign (as did MFP) but don't hold your breath ...

Ever heard of 'self-exile'? Given that we live in a banana non-republic, your last sentence makes no sense. The laws of the land are not imposed equally, as has been amply demonstrated over the last 4 months. As to Thaksin I merely make the point that, whatever his sins, I am disinclined to take seriously the penitentiary outcomes imposed on him back then as a democratically-elected PM by the would-be authoritarian regime that had just overthrown him.