StayinThailand2much

If it worked, it certainly won't for long.

I agree. However, they fool themselves with their fake/incorrect numbers, counting every expat who enters 6x a year as 'half a dozen tourists', not to mention the foreign labourers and people who come here for business (I met 2 the last few days who came for a few days on business, but arriving on tourist visas). And then they wonder why daily spending by tourists is lower than in other countries...

My favourite is the Thai custom of running the aircon full-power, while, at the same time, (knowingly) having the windows open.

Not to worry, Indian trillionnaires to save the day! 1 million of them expected to arrive on Dec. 31st, on 99 chartered airplanes...

I met a Filipina on a dating site who has clips on YouTube about travelling in Thailand. I invited her on an all-expenses-paid trip abroad. She was keen, but then blew it, asking me for a money transfer on her birthday, even though we hadn't met in person yet.

No idea. But I suspect a more 'sinister' reason, like a certain 'quota' of denials they have to meet.

Yes, okay, I read over this fact. But good to know. If applying for an ED visa to study Thai or whatever, is seen, as you say, 'gaming the system', then I'll make sure to never apply for such a visa. - I personally had trouble arriving in Thailand after my first METV expired in late 2019. I'm taking the consequences and spending a lot of money that otherwise would have benefited the Thai economy in other countries. (I'm planning to update the TAT in regular emails.)

Yes, but there seems to be a 'disconnect' between in-country Immigration and border-Immigration, esp. at the two Bangkok airports. The latter Immigration branch seems to have a different agenda.

If she has a booked flight out in September, she probably doesn't want to stay for a long time...

The Chinese, no doubt, also would see buying land in Thailand as a 'strategic decision', probably more so than a commercial or speculative one.

Yes, they are. But the difference is that they do so in the 21st, rather than the 19th or early 20th century. But of course, more and more is one reminded on what one learnt in history class at school, that happened a hundred years ago, happen- ing (in similar ways) now, with the difference, of course, that the players are others, and the dictators don't sport moustaches anymore... (And China will use their guns. They did so in the past against the Soviets and Vietnamese, not to mention the Korea War, and, just recently, agains Indian border troops. Also, how do you think, they intimidated people living in Bhutanese and Nepali border areas they are encroaching onto? - So far, the Chinese are careful not to get into direct military conflict with the U.S., but they will sooner or later. The question is not 'if', but 'when'. Also, some 'smaller' Western countries like Australia and New Zealand have been threatened recently 'not to get mixed up in Chinese territorial claims'.)

I would presume that most investors would just be private individual investors, while a good junk of Chinese investors might be corporations, possibly even owned by, or affiliated with the Chinese state.

The Thais bow to the Chinese. They may be stingy and rude, but at least they 'look Thai'...

To be fair, 'service to attract repeat business' is uncommon in Thailand. In the mindset of many Thais it seems normal to give a (you know) about customers and tourists, before and after they have 'paid'.

I'm sure, the monthly household income of the woman in the pic is 50,000 baht...

Rising number of new cases, and emergence of new, more dangerous varieties possible.

Just what Thailand needs, with most households already over their heads in debt...

The income situation seems to have improved recently.

Often, wenn Thais, even highly-educated ones, talk about crime, it's about 'dangerous Burmese thieves', 'Cambodian crooks', 'Filipino pickpockets', etc. (I heard many Thais, working in well-paid administrative jobs, and being university graduates, talk like that. They always deny that Thais steal something, or are dangerous criminals, but it seems to be 'generally understood' that it's usually 'foreigners' who are to blame for crime...) Also, how often do you read or hear about crime statistics in Thai media? (Found via Google: "Thailand has a relatively high crime rate compared to other countries in Asia. Thais are generally law-abiding people but there is a lot of drug abuse in the country, and going hand in hand with that are thefts and petty crime, and on occasion some serious crimes." - Wonder, how many of the crimes, incl. a relatively large number of murders, are committed by foreigners?)

Yes, perfect for a country that wants to attract tens of millions of them. - 'We despise you, but we haven't found an easier way yet to get our hands on your money...'

Works for North Korea.

Depends on the size of the brown envelopes... ????

Quality hospitality, quality service, no ripp-offs...

Half the (male) tourists would be denied entry... ????

Where else would crooks feel at home, if not in Thailand...