Fex Bluse

Wow. None of this was predictable... I guess their free visa scheme didn't help... 

2 hours ago, starky said:

Yes letting people extend their visas instead of deporting them for overstay which they are well in their rights to do and then allowing those extensions to roll over multiple times allowing people to stay here legally and officially.  Terribly small minded.

Sigh. Many countries had long ago indefinitely paused any sort of scheduled visa process, acknowledging that the world is in chaos. 

Your comment demonstrates your lack of travel and living outside Thailand. 

Compassionate countries are not forcing law abiding guests to worry every few months over where they will go as the world plunges into wave after wave of the pandemic. 

41 minutes ago, Pravda said:

I posted in another thread that mutating virus will basically kill Thai tourism economy forever.

 

However, losing a tourism related job does not mean you can't get another one.

It does if the lazy, xenophobic and selfish elites do nothing to develop the economy. That is the risk for the normal Thais. Will their elites help them create a bigger economy that all Thais can share in? Or will the elites continue to use Thailand as their playground, exploiting the normal Thais to become super wealthy? 

I think I know the answer 

On 3/26/2021 at 7:56 PM, skatewash said:

Fourth highest number of expats?  What about expats from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, UK, and India?  Where do your figures come from?

I suspect they are counting Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia people as migrant workers as opposed to expats. But, I think the numbers are entirely wrong. 

There are hardly any American expats and certainly more from Australia and probably UK, for example. 

Very suspicious numbers from whoever wrote this article. 

4 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

 

Image: Reuters file photo

 

The Thai Immigration Bureau has announced that foreigners who are still stranded in Thailand due to the COVID-19 situation have until the end of May to extend their stay permission to remain in the country.

This reads as a very insensitive. Thai government still worried about insignificant nonsense like this as their economy crumbles and the global virus waves continue in much of the world. Very bad look for them. Very small-minded. 

There is a very real risk that this is a proxy war warm up being fought by China to test out some of their capabilities before the real big one - their potential invasion of Taiwan and subsequent WW3

3 hours ago, Donaldo said:

Not taking advantage of tourists. So does that mean that the double pricing at parks and others will be abandoned ? I don't believe so.

It also means the Thai bar girls will give you the Thai guy price on your weekly HJs. Great way to save money.

On 3/29/2021 at 1:19 PM, webfact said:

A so-called ‘Expat Card’ was also touted as a possible solution to ending dual pricing.

Will this Expat Card also prevent Farangs from being beaten up and worse?

"Don't you know who I am? I am an Expat and I have the prestigious Expat Card. Be gone, you scoundrel!"

7 minutes ago, rioD said:

Tourism is a key driver of Thailand’s growth, typically accounting for 11-12% of gross domestic product.  This comment seems to vastly understate Thailand's dependency on tourist and foreign dollars. Besides tourism the really have nothing to drive their economy.  They don't really produce anything for global consumption besides rice.  They have no natural resources or major industry (besides tourism).  It seems they're in denial, denying the obvious.  Tourism is their bread and butter, without tourist and foreigners Thailand struggles. This is not an insult but reality.

Spot on - they have been in denial for decades. No surprise in the land of the Face Saving culture. They are embarassed by their lack of development after so many decades farting around accomplishing minimal modernization.

4 hours ago, kentrot said:

For the love of God, what did Thailand do before it became a tourist destination ?

The loss of 12.9 % of the jobs means that 87% of Thai's earn a living in other fields, like farming and manufacturing.

Can we please stop the news sources' obsession with reports about TOURISM ?

 

12.91 percent

Share of tourism to Gross Domestic Product Thailand 2017-Q1 2020. In the first quarter of 2020, the tourism industry contributed around 12.91 percent to Thailand's GDP.Aug 19, 2563 BE Thailand: share of tourism to GDP 2020 | Statista

https://www.statista.com › statistics › thailand-share-of-tou

 

Thailand has been lying for decades about its reliance on foreign tourism. I know, it's not good, but people lie, especially when they are embarrassed about how undeveloped their economy is after decades of saying they were moving into the middle income bracket and modernising.

Foreign tourism is at least 20% of Thailand GDP (see attached analysis), not including grey and black market activities like the sex trade.

Sex trade is likely to be very significant, and it would not surprise anyone if it was 5-10% of GDP? This is the country that is world famous for sex tourism - perhaps the most famous country in the world for it.

ditcinf2020d3_en.pdf

On 3/22/2021 at 11:56 AM, MasterBaker said:

have you seen those beaches? would you pay flight tickets to get on that dirty sand and dirty water. beer is more expensive than anywhere in the world... and girls... don't get me started on thai bar girls

Girls will get better in the short term. Thai economy will be depressed for at least 5 years. More and younger Thai ladies will enter the trade for lack of alternative options. 

Probably the only positive of the pandemic 

Every time I see this title, I have a massive laugh. That is very good comedy 

@sandyf this is truly shocking since we thought the Thai domestic tourism would replace the foreign tourism. So shocking

13 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Thailand has embarked on an ambitious plan to be at the forefront of the space travel industry for the Asia-Pacific region.

Space Cadets

Finally a more realistic hope. Seems the Thai government has been learning from Thai Visa News. 

They might still be too optimistic, particularly with the possibility of military conflict in the region becoming very real. 

1 hour ago, DLock said:

 

My experience is that few of the sales teams can speak English and know that farang buyers ask more difficult questions about performance and specifications...and I agree, Thai's are probably an easier sale.

I suppose the sales ladies running away is an upgrade from the typical MO which is to follow you around a meter behind you announcing everything you touch --

"Car, siiirrrr"

"Ford"

As you open the door to look inside --

"Inside, sir."

And demonstrating their knowledge only by giving you the most basic info --

"Siiiir, have red colour and blue colour."

"Have discount duay na kha."

11 hours ago, Fairynuff said:

I’ve often wondered why car sales staff always try to look busy when they see a foreigner around. Perhaps they don’t think foreigners buy cars.

Suspect only a very small percentage of Farangs in Thailand buy cars. Mostly demographics - mostly old blokes, many don't have that much money, and almost none like the idea of learning to drive (without dying) on Thai roads. Easier to let the missus drive or just hire cars.

Different in different countries. In some countries, white expats are less retired, therefore have more disposable income and can fathom driving as the roads are safe

Good try to the guy with the camera, but far too shaky to watch. Anyway, auto shows are boring.

14 hours ago, tonray said:

Seeing that the latest surge in Covid cases from Samut Sakhon was largely imported by Burmese migrant labor....blaming them is not the issue but simply a statement of fact that the largest risk from Covid-19 is importation and the largest group coming from a country where Covid is out of control are the Burmese. Save your commentary for situations where it applies.

HI. I'm not sure what to tell you. But, hopefully you understand that you have started from an assumption that what you have been told (by Thai authorities) is accurate. 

In other words, you are not accepting you may have been intentionally lied to or unintentionally lied to... 

Do you understand my point? 

9 hours ago, tonray said:

Queueing up for those in person 90 day reports probably isn't going to help either. I need to go in the next two weeks...always a surge of Burmese laborers crowding the office in Nonthaburi too.

I don't know.. This constant blaming of Burmese migrants is funny to me. It is the one immigrant (farangs) mimicking the xenophobia of the Thais. When the Thais also do not like the farang. 

It's weird to see... 

For all the blame on Burmese, I've seen almost none of the people on these forums make mention of the ongoing sex work by Thais with Thais and expats that is almost certainly contributing to virus spread. 

I guess it's exclusively the Burmese' fault 

9 hours ago, KhunMorris said:

With some obvious exceptions Thailand needs to close its borders until Covid has been fully erased. 

 

The world has changed, we can't justify death and despair by allowing sex tourists and backpackers to travel here to simply take pleasure with some local poo ying. This isn't just my opinion. Thais in general feel this way.

 

Please respect expats and Thai people alike.

 

Sincerely 

 

Morris 

You conveniently forgot the largest by far group of tourists which are the Chinese. You know, the place where this global catastrophe began. Shall we keep them out, too or let them in?

Sincerely 

Old Senile Man