uncleeagle

The OP sounds like one of the many falang real estate agents, I recognise the tendency towards bubbly optimism no matter what the facts say, the desire to seem big and successful (that businessman, that polo club etc).

Personally I think Pattaya is in danger of becoming a ghost town. If the recent collapse in clientele of the bars and restaurants continues then we will see closures and once that process starts it can be self feeding...a death spiral....fewer places to go and less buzz will mean even fewer visitors and then even more closures and then even fewer visitors. Who will want to visit Pattaya once all of its buzz has gone? Even the Chinese wont want to. What happens when the hotels start going bust? Imagine Pattaya with half its sois boarded up and empty...thats the future its headed for.

Success breed success. Failure breeds failure. I know which of those looks more likely.

So they want more first time visitors cos they spend more do they, presuming they want repeat visitors less. Then they say the first time visitors will become repeat visitors....the ones they seem not to want. I guess they didn't really think that one through....once again.

I think the real problem Thailand has isn't the scams, the xenophobia, the strong baht etc etc...its that they're just really really DUMB.

46 minutes ago, z42 said:

Terrible. It is actually really scary how fast this kind of thing can happen here.

Pattaya is for the large part very safe, but obviously a huge drinking and party culture gives it a sort of "anything goes" feel, and the authorities tend to have a reactive approach in which cover up and indifference rule.

The slapdash nature of court rulings here don't improve the image either. Crooked people get away with murder (literally in some cases) in this environment. I hope the attackers here are given the maximum punishments in this case

You mean a 500 baht fine?

1 hour ago, JHolmesJr said:

Did they steal his shirt as well?

Shirts are often pulled off or torn off in a fight or violent attack as people may have their arm up to cover their heads and are at the same time being pulled and pushed around, as well as being punched and kicked and worse. 

52 minutes ago, bangkokequity said:

I wake up every day, look out at my view of the Chao Phraya River, my lovely Thai wife, the life we have ... and am happy and grateful for the past 9 years in Bangkok.  It has everything I need, and would be very surprised if I ever left it.  The best decision I ever made ... was packing up and putting the USA in the rear view mirror, and moving to a country filled with beautiful people and places.  I would consider it a great favor if the haters would just read this ... and move along. This posting is for like minded people who love life in The Kingdom, and respect Thai People.

Well how lovely for you...but maybe open your tiny American mind to the possibility that there are lovely people in many other countries, that there are great views everywhere and that people can have a great life elsewhere without the excessive number of negatives and annoyances that have been worsening here over the years. Thailand isn't the only country, there are many others, get out a map and have a little look.

And one more thing, people can be critical of Thailand and especially its immigration process without that implying that they hate or disrespect Thai people or Thailand in general. I am sure most posters understand that, but obviously not all.

56 minutes ago, Seismic said:

Seriously, Adding insurance to your exotic overseas trip is not that expensive. I doubt it will put a dent in tourist numbers, after all scams, ripoffs, unsolved crimes, and the huge numbers of sick buffalo's do not seem to have done much to those numbers.

that should be true and very good travel insurance policies cost very little. mine is less than 2000 baht annually and its coverage is far superior to the ones over age 50 non OA visa applicants and extenders now have to buy, but for 25 times the price.

so although what you said should be true, when the required insurance has to be bought from government approved thai insurance companies at an obscenely inflated price, the statement becomes patently false.

as he said, and as ive explained before, the issue is basically the current account surplus. this surplus is a combination of high exports such as tourism and agriculture etc plus imports kept low due to xenophobic protectionism and high import taxes. so in a way it boils down to thainess. either fix the thainess or the laws of supply and demand will eventually fix the thainess for you and it wont be in a nice way.

1 hour ago, getithere328 said:

The O-A seems to fit my needs, I would have insurance even it wasn't a requirement. I wouldn't stay in a country for any amount of time without something in place for medical care.

we all get the need for some kind of insurance but youve just paid 30-50k for a policy that is grossly over priced and provides very poor insurance. for a tenth of the cost outside their forced scheme you would have better coverage by far.

to make it simpler for you to understand, youve just done the equivalent of paying 1000 baht for a coffee at starbucks when the normal price in starbucks for the same coffee wouldbe 100 baht.

12 minutes ago, Henryford said:

If they ever bring in health insurance for Os it's game over. Most of us either wouldn't qualify or couldn't afford the premiums. Bye bye Thailand.

1. dont qualify...2. cant afford....AND...3. can afford but wont pay because dont like being scamemd and sick and tired of the ever worsening visa nonsense.

 Actually, I think there are many other reasons.

Ive been taking my money out of Thailand recently (thanks for the 10% gain Thailand, did you know you have somewhat enriched this white westerner?) as I have decided the yearly non O based extension is now more trouble than its worth and the reason is the TM30.

The day or two at Chaengwattana, the time getting there, the time taken to get the paperwork from my bank...etc etc...it was bad enough already but now that I will need to wait at desk B for hours for the TM30 receipt, obtainable in no other way, worrying about rejection for some petty reason, plus other added complications I wont mention, has added up to too much for me to bother with. 

The insurance requirement apparently wont apply to me anyway, and no way would i buy it it did (hey guess what I dont like getting scammed) but the need for a TM30 receipt will and ive decided its the straw that is breaking the camels back in terms of nuisance, nonsense and wasting of my time by the immigration idiots.

I will therefore be spending far less time in Thailand once my current one year extension has expired. But thats OK, I will close the door on my way out and my lost revenue will easily be made up for by a couple of hundred Chinese and Indian tourists and I am sure the Thais will love their manners.

The reason the Bhat is strong is that exports vastly exceed imports and the reason for that is unfair tariffs and protectionism. Just look at the prices of imported items such as wine.

If Thailand is able to tackle its xenophobia, absence of ethics and get that you cant dump your exports on the world but then do everything possible to prevent imports, then its surplus will narrow and its currency will moderate.

But I believe they cant get over themselves and their petty, greedy, xenophobic and narrow minded way of thinking so in the end the currency will only weaken when exports collapse due to their high prices or natural disaster such as drought, or when foreign countries decide enough is enough with Thai protectionism and hypocricy and apply their own punitive taxes on Thai goods, or when the domestic debt pyramid comes crashing down on their thick heads.

So when it weakens, finally, it will weaken a lot and in an an uncontrolled manner, a sort of forced loss of face reminiscent of 97.