StayinThailand2much

"Axe hangs over Thailand’s reform movement as Move Forward faces judgment day" Who else thinks that they might get 'terminated'?

Yes, and to stay in SE Asia, none of the countries developed other cities for economic or cultural reasons, but instead only a few did so due to random other reasons, such as... - (mostly) because of the danger of severe flooding (Indonesia) - because of megalomania of ruling generals (Myanmar), and - because of separate political development over decades (Vietnam).

It basically depends on how much you offer the lady, but there are reports that nowadays some ladies won't leave the bar with anyone, as a few make as much as 147,000 baht (source: Stickman) from only their salaries, bonuses, and lady drinks. - This is like 10x the average salary in Thailand, and, I suspect, most have a boyfriend and husband waiting at home, so why should they bother. Of course, if one offers outrageous sums, one or the other may still be tempted, which might explain the inflation in P4P prices in recent years...

I couldn't sleep at night; 100k plus the girls' salaries, utilities, losses due to people helping themselves from the till, brown envelopes, etc., etc. - That's a helluva drinks to sell! Hope, his bar is popular...

If so, will they automatically stop the scams after they've recouped their losses? LOL

Some do. But many excel at only one, very easy, service (with disproportionately high income). Also, I wonder if Thai is the language at the casino, or whether staff don't need to speak (English or Chinese)...

I wanted to say 'me too', but then remembered how much accommodation is in Hong Kong; Macau is probably not much cheaper in this regard...

Maybe. However, running a shop/bar, whatever, that can't be a good long-term strategy, esp. in the internet age. But who knows, perhaps those bar owners want to sell off their business anyway, so they take now whatever they can get...

Well, after all, it's not really tourists Thailand wants to host, but about the money they want to get their hands on. Unfortunately, for Thailand, the money only arrives together with the pesky tourists...

That's like saying: "I just bought a lottery ticket... I will be rich soon!"

Some of those chicks sell so many lady drinks per night (up to 40!) that they don't even go with customers anymore.

Agreed. It always bothered me in a bar, how many lady drinks would actually end up on my bill, so I didn't order. Better less female company than having to worry about getting scammed, as I always knew exactly what I had ordered for myself.

Stickman, in his weekly column, has reported similar practices in recent weeks, as have his readers, with bar owners often turning a blind eye it seems. Who will accept such crap? Do they care about regular customers, or have they gone native; i.e. scamming as much out of everyone while they can, not bothering whether they will ever return?

Seconded. Most dishes' flavours are overpowered by the large amount of chillies, garlic, and glutamate used. It tastes mostly like 'chilli' and "burns" the stomach... Maybe it's like Chinese food; being delicious when prepared in America, but not in Asia... (I like Asian food, but more along the lines of Japanese, Malay, and Indonesian, with a few select dishes from other SE Asian countries.)

Yes, they are 'optimistic' about every year, and ever more so every other week... (I'm very optimistic that they will come up with higher number projections for both, tourist numbers, and tourists' spending habits, at least, another two dozen times this year...)

You don't say!

Yes, rather than reading such pointless (based on exchange rates?) "spending" figures (not to mention in different currencies: baht for Thailand, and dollars for Vietnam!), I'd be interested to learn what was the percentage of Americans, Brits, French, etc., among travellers to Vietnam and Thailand, and also the growth rates of such traveller segments. Also, which country attracted more couples and families? (I would imagine that this could influence per-person daily spending, as little kids, obviously, don't spend as much.*) *Beware: sarcasm!

True. How many of the surveyed travellers were from the U.S.? And where did the "Europeans" come from; Albania, Bulgaria, France, Switzerland, or Ukraine?? - Absolutely pointless survey!

Applying in person; what are the latest documents one has to provide? (I was told that 'all passport pages with all stamps need to be copied'.) Also, how long to receive it?

Thank you.

Wonder how it impacted flights. Anyone read, or heard of passengers missing their flights?

I used to get only ATM cards for my accounts for a one-time fee. Then the banks started forcing debit cards on customers, with ATM cards being unavailable.

Same here. I still have four bank accounts that I opened a couple years ago. I only use one actually for regular transactions, but as opening a new one is so troublesome now, I hang on to all four like grim death, only willing to close them if I were to leave Thailand permanently.

That's kinda vague...

Believe it, or not; but in the last few days I've heard two Thais, incl. a kid, mumble 'long-term' behind my back, and it had the sound of disapproval. Knowing the average Thai's English proficiency level, I wonder whether such disapproving remarks of "Long-term..." are a reflection of, possibly, recent negative Thai media reporting or discussion...