Sir Dude

Well, it's amateur hour from Labour and two-teir Kier... an awful performance in their first 100 days. Talk about a complete clusterF*** of a operation... hope all you morons that voted Liebour are happy as we are going down the rabbit hole of far leftiness, as it will be a disaster.

Well, it's the usual socialist nonsense regarding "We can get it right this time..." despite every historical case study being a complete failure, history and the present is littlered with examples of the folly of the far left.... UK will be in the toilet soon as business, job creators, the wealthy that pay 60% of the tax revenue etc. etc. will flee. Giving unions and public service workers ridiculous pay rises just to politically placate them is a way to disaster... Liebour haven't changed at all, but hey, screw the elderly and be a new nasty party. labour in it's courrent form won't last long as the politics of envy is clearly alive and well in their ranks. I could go on... but pfft! Venezuela here we come soon.

Can see Victor is still sporting that dodgy stash and commiting crimes against facual hair styling... man, should get six month in jail just for that.

Really, it's a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other with this one. Problem is, you have two historically oppressed people living next door to each other that hate one another. Hamas kicked off this latest cycle of violence to stop Israel and Saudi Arabia making a diplomatic deal at recognition etc. which Iran clearly didn't want. Iranians aren't Arabs, they're Persians and Shia, who have nothing but contempt for the Sunnis... hate each other almost (if not more) than they hate the infidel. Hamas etc. are clearly being used and at great cost to themselves, and few have come to their aid in the Muslim world. Actions have consequences, I'm afraid... what did you think Israel would do? Theocracy is a terrible form of national government. Israel, on the other hand, acts beligerently and often disproportionately in its defense, and its government always has to appease the ultra-orthodox parties to stay in power and is clearly paranoid (with good reason). Sadly, unless Israel presents a very tough MO, then it will be overwhelmed by it's neighbours and they will be exterminated with extreme prejudice, so has the right to defend itself like all other countries. There's also one other problem you have in the Middle East, and that is that all sides want the last word, hence once it starts, then it's a very difficult cycle to break unless it's some very complicated face-saving deal for both sides... remember when Clnton almost got the deal between Ehud Barrak and Yasser Arafat all that time ago, these two leaders couldn't even walk through the door first at the White House, as both thought it was a sign of weakness, and had to jointly walk through together... ridiculous! Palestine had its chance at the two state solution and Arafat ultimately walked away, Israel was ready to let it happen. Not an easy problem to sort out, as whenever religion and historic animosity are involved... intransigence and wrath emerges, instead of tolerance and mutual understanding.

Going completely cashless is really dumb, there should be many ways to pay for items and some are more appropriate than others for differing transactions. Aside from the obvious invasion of privacy regarding the banks/government knowing what you spend every baht on, right down to groceries, it's the surrendering of complete control to the financial institutions which will make them even more powerful than they are now... citizen credit scores etc. will be on the way like in China, spend too much on beer and your score goes down etc., very Orwellian. Secondly, and more importantly, you'll have to rely on an internet connection to buy anything at all... how dumb is that? What happens when the connection goes down and the useless ISP takes a day to get it back? What happens when the inevitable large solar storm hits and knocks out a few satellites (something like the Carrington Event, lucky it was only the telegraph operating back then). These lazy kiddie sheeple are walking blindly into a dystopian future which will strip away personal freedoms and privacy... but hey, as long as they can gaze into their phones and be distracted by mind-numbing TikTok shorts and Facepalm etc., no-one will notice or care.

Russia is a nation that brutalizes its people, to stay in control, and they in turn brutalize everyone they meet third party to oppress.... an awful an horrific society.

All of this sort of nonsense from these nutjobs is nothing other than mental illness... should be sectioned, the lot of them.

It could all just be part of the slow-moving plan to get rid of everyone that opposes the military and certain individuals/elite families. Obviously, they are most scared of MFP (now PP) and what it represents, to the point that they even did a deal with Thaksin in desperation to buy them time to get rid of MFP and its charasmatic leaders. After that, they need to deal with Thaksin's influence in politics and his party... and there are plenty in the Thai intelligensia that are will to do their bidding by bringing court cases etc. against who they need out of the way. The plan all along could well be to slowly come full circle back to the only political choice being military-backed parties, as all others will have been "dealt with". Can't shift that sixth sense of mine nagging me that Anutin will untimately end up as PM... facepalm that will be.

Well... here you go if you want to understand money laundering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YOLuCRxKXY

People that are on work permits have to submit a tax return before they go to the Ministry of Labour to renew their work permits, as the MoL will not issue a WP extention without the previous year's tax return being filed, and you also give them (the MoL) your tax readout from your employer. Therefore, people that get a renewed WP that has been issued by the MoL merely have to produce the blue WP book, with the extension approved, to immigration. You can't get the WP without having filed a tax return the MoL is happy with (as they check)... don't have to give immigration anything regarding tax, at least not in the major city immigration center I deal with.

Stop saying "foreign"... it's the Chinese in all these sectors regarding hospitality and tourism. Face it Thailand, the Chinese are pulling their usual slow but sure grey-zone tactics to take over economically... come on Thailand, even Stevie Wonder can see it.

Calling BS on this one... no way.

I did mention a couple in that post that I think have grated the financial world here (like the digital wallet) who consider it to be a disaster... and we all know who owns 30%+ of the SCB etc. Also, I think the increase property ownership proposals for foreigners has also got the conservative nationalists into a hot hissy-fit, with the hotel industry also panicking about the Chinese etc. swallowing up whole floors of apartment blocks and then renting it out to only Chinese tourists etc. These are industries with powerful people running them. I do think the tax law has ruffled many local and powerful rich Thais, and that seems to have been overlooked, as most of the focus/discussion has been regarding foreigners paying tax on their pensions and income from elsewhere.... I don't think it should be underestimated how much umbridge these types can take at such changes if they stand to lose out. Could also be many in the business community worried about the dumping of cheap Chinese goods everywhere... which they have only just a few days ago thought about addressing, coincidence much (just speculating though), and again powerful protectionist attitudes prevail here too. Things are often not as they seem here and countries like Thailand (as you eloquently put it before) are "gentle juntas", but juntas none the less... can be a lot of smoke and mirrors going on above a bed of organized deceit, and corruption always finds a way. I think a very few select individuals are being puppet masters and they don't like what they see, hence the dealing with of so many loose ends right now. However, having said all that, it's subjective, and I might be being too cynical as have lived here a long time. Cheers.

Well, it all looks like it's going according to a planned script. The election didn't go as planned for the elite few, so they stalled and made a deal with PT to give them enough time to get rid of MFP, as they were the bigger threat to the status quo. Thaksin and PT didn't stick to the deal and have wondered way-off script with all kinds of new policies that, quite frankly, looks like have made many powerful individuals uneasy, as it's not going in the direction the elite want. Now that Srettha and all his cabinet are basically dismissed by the not-so-free court at the top (and the decision is not subject to appeal), the way is clear for Anutin to take over and rule on behalf of the military and certain other individuals that pull strings from the shadows. So, gone will be the digital wallet (kind of handy though that they sucked up the personal information of pretty much everyone in the country in the process) after so many registered, gone too will be the visa changes, and wouldn't surprise me if the new tax law will be quietly binned... as that must have really riled up a whole load of rich Thais, politicians, and businessmen. As an epilogue to this farce, we have witnessed a coup without there actually being one, and it'll go back to how it was... no need for tanks on the streets. Will give them a gold medal for desperate evil cartoonish scheming though. This sort of MO still works, but for how much longer is anyone's guess as change is inevitable, for sure when the dinosaurs of yesteryear start shrugging of this moral coil. Although, in the short term, let's hope we all benefit from the baht going down... would be nice.

Well, can that "The Ministry of Grand Plans and Lofty Ideas" is at it again.

Kind of ironic coming from a country and government that is hugely anti-immigration and anti-foreigner... there's a word for this in English.

This is what China does to enable it's "dumping" practices on foreign markets. China can out-cost everyone because they subsidize their industries so much... Why? Well, I'll tell you why, it's because the CCP is desperate to keep people in jobs... as that's the deal with the Chinese people, we keep you earning and you give us power. This deal is called the "heavenly mandate", and if the CCP lose this, it's a massive issue. Trouble is, the over production and dumping of subsidized products on foreign markets is going to irk many government... already has with the US/Europe/West as they aren't stupid, they know what's happening. Thailand is also already feeling this with many products like EVs to solar panels etc. Good luck ASEAN as you have not the ballz to confront these self-serving bullies, and it will destroy your native industries... as Chine doesn't care.

I hope Obergruppenfuhrer Anutin isn't made PM... will be a disaster for all.

Unnamed party accused of bribing senators with cash and cars etc.

A DTV visa could be a nice way to stay and work half the year, then bail on holiday for the other half (maybe remotely work), and still dodge the silly new tax-resident laws coming in. For example, it would be pretty sweet for a teacher to get a half-year contract at a school, then bail to the beach in another country and teach online for the other half... nice

I guess Anutin couldn't take the humiliation of announcing this himself... might detract from his rep.

Well, nothing has been set in stone just yet and it's all pretty ambiguous with lots of wild speculation, so I'll throw in my 2 pence worth. Personally, I just can't see them trying to tax pensioners on their pensions, as it would be financial suicide (maybe even diplomatic too with the DTAs) in many ways and put off almost everyone from coming here to retire (unless that's what they secretly want). People that live and work here might get hit that are tax residents, but again, not easy to police and enforce (enforcement is a moot point on many a thing here)... however, if you want to bring in a large amount of money, then just spend one year as a non-tax resident (less than 180 days), and just travel or visit relatives for the rest of the year, bring in what you want to without being taxed, then become a tax resident again the next year... ta-da, carry on as normal without paying.

Well, let's give some context to and analysis of the results of the UK election. This is how I see it: 1. The result isn't a ringing endorsement of Keir Starmer and his party, more a punishment episode handed out to the Tories (won't call them conservatives as they aren't now). Labour have actually lost a few % of the popular vote since 2019. Thing is, the political map is deceiving due to our archaic "First-past-the-post system". 2. Everyone knew that the Tories were in for a bashing, just a case of how bad it was. The other big loser of the election was the SNP in Scotland, and rightly so, as they are guilty of the same as the Tories... i.e. not listening to voters and doing silly stuff, self-inflicted outcome. 3. Reform have done well and have scooped up a lot of Tory voters from last time, even though they only got 5 seats. In a Proportionate Representation system they would have got like 100 seats. I guess the other big winners where the Liberal Democrats as they upped their seat number from like 11 seats to 62 or so in 2024... a big increase, so looks like many voters lent their vote to other parties, but not Labour. 4. The cautionary tale from this election is that voters are much less loyal to the two main parties than they were before in the days of voters voting Labour/Tory regardless of anything... voters are more fickle and volatile now if parties are seen as not delivering or being dishonest. This might actually be a good thing and help governments stick to what they promise and deliver solution (which is what they are supposed to be doing). 5. Labour has been ambiguous about many of its policies and it is not the same party that Tony Blair ran and go into power... it is a very different beast now, and a sanctuary for everyone and anyone who simply doesn't like the Tories, from apologists of a rainbow of topics to union barons to moderate center-left types to the far-left loons to communist Corbyn types and on and on. All these factions are going to start calling in favours and trying to steer the narrative and policy in their direction... controlling all this will be very hard. 6. It is inevitable that taxes will rise and the boats will keep coming, plus starting a love-in with the EU again could all grate many folks.... buyer's remorse is a real possibility. As you all know, you reap what you sow, I'm afraid. However, having said all that, I hope they sort it out, and the proof will be in the pudding... we'll see soon enough. I guess, with the expectations and impatience of the modern day public, failure to deliver will instigate a punishment too at the next chance to vote. Democratic governments everywhere need to wake up out of their slumber and deliver, as people are getting the hump with a lot of things. Cheers.

I haven't read the entire thread, just some of it, but having a good view of what's going on in the world and understand supply and demand is obviously crucial. I suppose the clear message at the moment is that the world is becoming more dangerous and chaotic all the time currently, so if you are not an "ethical investor" and want to go for stocks/shares, then the defense sector looks like a good bet (the likes of Lockheed Martin/Raytheon/Northrop Grumman etc.)... although it could be argued that this boat has already sailed, I don't see a new era of enjoying the peace dividend will happen anytime soon like after the Cold War and fall of the USSR.

Well, let's wait until the dust settles on Srettha's impeachment on June 18 by the military-learning senators, and how the cards fall with Thaksin's LM charge. Both of them could be being "dealt with" as the deal isn't going as agreed/honoured with the elites. With a bit of luck, they both get stitched up and all their policies are quietly dropped/brushed under the carpet with some bureaucrat saying "Nothing to see here, move along" in classic Thai style... it was all a "misunderstanding".