Loom

At the end of March the Bangkok branch of the US Foreign Agriculture Service put the price of Thai premium white rice for export at $720 per ton. That's some Bt22,000 per ton.

According to the same source, the farm gate price averaged around 60% of the wholesale (export) price in 2005 and 2006.

If that's still the case, the farmgate price should be currently running about Bt13,000. I understand farmgate prices in the field are around Bt10,000 per ton currently, up from Bt4,500 to Bt5,000 last year. Last year was an abberation (low prices), I've heard, because the government wasn't participating (buying) in the market the way it had in previous years.

I've looked at the financials for a milling/export company and it hasn't been a good business over the years. Maybe things are looking better now, but in my opinion, there are better places to be invested.

The farmers in my Thai family's village have put together a cooperative of sorts, but it doesn't appear to be helping much. Farmgate prices reached four year lows last year.

BTW, would you please present the "medical evidence" that you are referring two.

Eur J Public Health. 2006 May 9; : 16684784 (P,S,E,B)

Respiratory symptoms and lung function in Bangkok school children.

[My paper] Uma Langkulsen, Wanida Jinsart, Kanae Karita, Eiji Yano International Postgraduate Program in Environmental Management NRC-EHWM Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.

BACKGROUND: Previous epidemiological studies have shown acute effects of ambient air pollutants in children with respiratory disorders.

METHODS: The chronic effects of air pollution in Bangkok children were investigated. Children aged 10-15 years were examined for lung functions using spirometry tests and for respiratory symptoms by the American Thoracic Society's Division of Lung Diseases (ATS-DLD-78-C) questionnaire during May-August 2004. Effects of residential area were estimated by multiple logistic regression analysis. Of the 878 children, 722 (82%) had completed lung function test and ATS-DLD questionnaire.

RESULTS: In children, who live in roadside ® and general (G) areas with high (H) pollution, the prevalence of respiratory symptoms increased significantly [odds ratios (95% confidence interval) in HR and HG are 2.44 (1.21-4.93) and 2.60 (1.38-4.91), respectively]. Children with normal lung function were less observed in H- and M-polluted roadside and general area [hr, OR = 1.41 (95% CI 0.89-2.22); HG, 1.08 (0.71-1.64); and MR, 0.99 (0.63-1.57)]. Residential locations and family members were associated with the prevalence of respiratory symptoms, whereas factors such as the responder of ATS-DLD, gender, age, residential years, home size, parental smoking habits, use of air conditioners, and domestic pets were not associated. Age was associated with the impaired lung function, whereas others factors were not associated.

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of respiratory symptoms and impaired lung function were higher among children living in areas with high pollution than those in areas with low pollution.

This debate goes back a long time. The Hobbesian dilemma. Hobbes came up with a theory explaining the relationship between government and society (back in the 1600s). Society needs government to keep the peace. There's a tradeoff between individual rights and security. The more individuals claim to be within their right, the greater the probability of conflict or war and vice versa.

Singapore government in recent years has admitted it's gone a little too far but it will take time to change.

On my last trip I left a supply of N95 respirators for my Thai relatives in case of pollution spikes. They're not recommended to be used for more than a few hours at a time though. Carbon dioxide rebreathing is a problem.

According to my stats, there has been some progress with the proportion of bad days (PM10s over 100) falling from 13% of available PDC daily readings to 8% since the 1999-2001 period.

I haven't checked the figures, but we also drove north to CM from Khamphaeng Phet in Feb and the air was much worse in Lampang. So some of the actions taken in CM appear to have helped a little this year.

I wonder if the government could encourage burning at times when the weather is more of a help to blow out the bad air...April thru June? Or maybe it's too wet then.

I would have thought that the coup made more international headlines last year. Anyhow, isn't this forum mostly read by expats not tourists? When I travel as a tourist to places I've never been before, I try to check weather conditions but never the air quality. There are many reasons why tourism may be down this year compared to last. I'd say that this year the global credit crisis will have more of a bearing on the number of tourists than the coup or air pollution may have had last year. Has anyone compared the trends in tourist numbers for overall Thailand and Chiang Mai?

As for the posts favoring a "let it go, nothing will ever change" attitude toward air pollution in Chiang Mai, I strongly disagree. My Thai family threatened to walk away from my wife's farm in CM many times last year after my frequent complaints about the burning of garbage and farm cuttings.

The turning point may have been the response a forestry dept official gave us when I asked if we should just burn dead leaves. It took him over 30 minutes to answer that question and not only did he tell us how to handle dead leaves without burning but he encouraged us to be proactive in many ways to discourage burning of all kinds.

Since then the soybean cuttings from the field have been composted and I've learned that the cuttings from clearing another small plot were set aside to compost as well (the second compost pile was made without any input from me). When I'm there, I am also seeing bags of garbage taken out to the roadside for truck pickup.

Everyone's situation is different, but it's factually incorrect to make blanket assertions that there's no point in doing anything about air pollution because nothing can be achieved.

The 15kg limit per person is for check-in baggage. Last time we went, three of us were over the 45kg limit by a few kgs and the staff shrugged it off. Wife and daughter have checked-in more than 20-25kgs in one bag several times. They've never checked the weight for any of my carry on bags.

We've never had a problem with a 15kg limit per person - 2 bags with 45kg and 3 people; one bag with 30kg and two people; both OK out of the Singapore budget terminal.

If the rent is Bt1,000 per year per rai, a purchase price of Bt25,000 -30,000 would yield 3-4%. That's in a range of prices and rentals I've seen mentioned in this forum and in the field for the non-chanote, squatter's rights type of land out in the boonies. So it really depends your alternatives, how you will watch after the land and collect the rent if it's a nice enough profit for you.

With the increase we've seen in agricultural product prices in recent months and sustained high oil prices (support for biofuel), there's probably upside in rentals and land prices down the road. But the market is working pretty well and last month when I checked things out on the ground, land prices and rentals had already reflected this bullish outlook somewhat. Over the past four - five years, I guess my wife's farmland has appreciated some 25-30%, with a lot of that appreciation in the last 12 months. Including rental, that works out to an annual return of better than 10%.

Censorship relates to certain topics like criticism of the government, religion and race. But the environment has become more tolerant lately by allowing performances (plays) and web blogs with critical angles on the government.

Censorship rules have been pretty effective at keeping several ethnic and religious groups living side-by-side without overt friction. There is some underlying tension and no-one is barred from speaking his mind in private. But public displays, which could get out of hand, are banned with good effect so far.

In the public housing market there are racial quotas (no segregation). That probably makes it more difficult for the them against us mentality from developing.

... it might be worth mentioning that the max concentration of particulate matter allowed in the US is 150 microgrammes per cubic metre (vs 120 ug/m3 in Thailand) and so on.

/ Priceless

The US standard is no more than 1 day per year at the 150 level for PM10. Otherwise there's an annual average figure of no more than 15 micrograms/cubic meter for pm 2.5. The PM10 standard in the US was revoked due to a lack of evidence showing health related risks to long-term exposure. Thailand apparently doesn't measure PM2.5.

... IF I could find a well paid, long term gig in Thailand, the missus and I would be back there like a shot. However, the question posed in this thread is whether Singapore is the best overall location for Asia expats to be in - on the balance of pros and cons, I happen to believe it is

There are some who have found a niche in Thailand and it's a great place to visit now and then, but I consider the country a career killer. Small economy; small market; too much corruption, too little vision; too dirty; too much crime; language barrier; poor IT/comm infrastructure; and on and on...I've lived and worked in five Asian capital cities and Singapore, by far, is the best place for raising a family in Asia.

Would cut flowers come close?

You bet its possible - there are a couple of Dutch man up in Chang Rai who grow flowers in greenhouses (for the European market) - anyway, if I is not mistaken they are BOI reg'd and their monthly turnover is in the millions (of Baht).

Now you're talking... Aside from poppies, orchids and gangja, there must be flower products that could do the trick, but haven't seen any threads. I understand roses are a fairly big market in the central area around Khamphaeng Phet. The high yield per rai is probably related to high labor and processing costs like packing and shipping but I'm only guessing.

Even though you may hold a US passport, you're required to show a certain number of consecutive years of residence in the US in order for your offspring to automatically qualify for citizenship if you apply outside of the US. As i understand it, there's nothing automatic about your offspring's US citizenship if you cannot prove the US residence. They want proof like school transcripts or passports that were never used.

Would cut flowers come close?

If you're really not feeling ambitious about your career, Chiang mai is a good place.

With your educational background I'd recommend looking for a position outside of the public educational system. The "big thing" right now in the Korean finance industry is developing English language skills. The local firms are looking to improve their competitiveness in the "global economy". There must be a number of language schools catering to this market, probably a shortage of teachers and you might find a part-time job that pays as well as a full time job in a public school.

From what I've read on this the Thai government is serious about raising the proportion of ethanol in diesel and gasoline. They are looking at sugar cane and cassava as raw material in the short term. both crops are at a significant surplus in the domestic market. So the ethanol targets can be met by diverting exports to Thai refineries presumably without causing shortages in Thailand.

There is also a longer-term plan to develop substantial oil palm production. I assume the conversion of palm oil is more efficient. The figure I've seen are 4m rai of new palm oil plantation.

The authorities believe that Thailand can be a regional biofuel leader. As I understand it, sugar cane is under government price controls. So they would need to offer only enough of a premium to attract growers to supply raw materials but could avoid passing along too much profit by maintaining export controls. (We saw five year low rice price realizations last year while the global market hit new highs. ha, ha...)

This is all happening at a time when global grain stocks are near multiple year lows, so market pricing is very sensitive. Even though the government is talking about diverting exports, importers will have to scramble for new supplies and this may be what's contributing to spiking product prices right now.

I tend to agree with Gary on supplies. Higher prices should naturally lead to higher productivity/supply but I've got no idea how much farmland is underutilized and how much land would need to be used for biofuel if oil production ends up slumping.

The Thai government was planning expanding biofuel use before 2004, so it must make sense even at lower oil prices. The plan is to get to 10% ethanol input for diesel and gasoline by 2012 or 11.5m liters/day.

The US embassy should help you submit the SSN application as part of the process of applying for passport and notification of birth abroad.

When the ITIN application is made, you should be asked to make an election to file jointly or separately. As I understand it, the IRS doesn't like people flipping back and forth. It might help if you consulted an accountant on this since the tax rates are higher for married and filing separately. But I would think your wife would be able to claim a foreign tax credit if u file jointly.

I think what we are seeing on price increases on any product remotely connected to petroleum is price gougeing by manufactors. If, as one person noted petrolem prices are based on replacement costs, how do you replace a fuel supply which is disappearing, faster than we can find it? This is the same product that 7 years ago was selling for 12. dollar a bbl. There is a lot of Middle east oil that was intially produced for 2. dollars a bbl. I do not believe well production cost has not gone to 90 or 100 dollars on these wells. Refining charges quoted at 3 to 4 dollar a bbl are now using 20. here in Asia. When I see profits in 6 to 8 billion/ qtr from oil companies I feel vindicated in my orginal thought.No I am not anti oil, after working in that sector for more than 30 years, but do get kind of upset with some of the statements made by some of the powers that be, involved in the industry. No I do not have an answer or a solution, but do expect to pay too much for petroleum products, for awhile. Some people blame the funds for getting heavily involved in future markets.

In theory and allowing for the smoothing of prices over time as opposed to having the price directly linked to the commodities exchange at the pump (now there is a novel idea !) the fuel price would largely follow the crude prices with all other things remaining the same. However, it is the oil companies themselves who internally account for the future cost of ever more expensive exploration and extraction to justify the fairly static price they sell at to retailers.

In days of yore when these companies were largely controlled by families then bumper profits earned today would be retained to smooth future leaner years but with the average lifespan of a CEO ever decreasing and with both hedge funds and private investors wanting ever increasing dividends, the pressure to declare profits as they are earned is very high.

Oil pricing is more complicated than replacement cost. Supply and demand determine pricing at the margin. OPEC is bumping up against capacity and non-Opec production is flattish. Higher prices will make it economic to increase production of oil that wasn't economic before, but this will take a few years to happen. So supply isn't increasing much but demand is surging in China/India. There will probably be some relief on the demand side as the global economy slows in the coming months.

If biofuel is economic at $90 oil I'd expect substitution of traditional food products for biofuel crops (in Thailand I understand cassava and sugar cane are used for biofuel). That may be one reason explaining why grain prices are soaring in the global market. Another reason would be higher production-related fuel costs. In our area, the quantity of rice paid for land rental will be about 17% higher next season.

We are north of the city and I noticed that some forest fires up the side of the mountain were put out pretty quickly a week ago. In addition, the pooyai broadcast over village PA system that burning by farmers would lead to jail time and that ag waste should be composted instead of burned. More village waste seems to be getting packed in bags for pickup by dumptruck this year. Weather has been clearing out the smoke pretty well so far anyway. But we'll see if there's any material change next month.

I applied for and received PR status a year and a half after working under an EP. Approval took a month and a half. It's been two years since getting PR and I've received an invitation to apply for citizenship. My inclination is to give it a pass but since the Singapore passport is just as good, if not better than my US passport for travel, got to take a closer look.

I will check out the contention that Singapore citizens like to keep a toehold in other countries "just in case".

So far as 'renouncing your [other] citizenship' is concerned, what is actually required? Another friend of mine who took Thai PR and eventually citizenship, told me that whilst he was required to show that he had cancelled his UK passport in order to be granted his Thai citizenship, that did NOT prevent him from re-applying for a new UK passport the day after he'd got his Thai one! Obviously, he feels he has the best of both worlds and I'm inclined to agree! Anyone know if you can get away with the same stunt in Singapore?

If the OP has only been in Singapore 1 year, then unless he can show he's going to bring in lots of money and invest it somewhere, he may have to wait a little while to be granted PR. That's why I suggested PEP - it's a new scheme but the 'one time only' nature of it strongly suggests to me it is intended as a stepping stone to get people to PR - why would you go back down to an EP (and be tied to an employer again) after having a PEP?

Interesting...does say below you could submit a letter stating surrender of foreign passport (not renunciation of foreign citizenship). If you're "stateless" or below the age of 21, this wouldn't apply.

So in some cases dual nationality is allowed. I don't know if it would be possible to become stateless for this application process and reclaim original citizenship later. In the case above the UK authorities must have known what was going on but went along with it anyway.

For Citizenship Registration

• Original and a photocopy of the Renunciation letter of foreign citizenship and/or letter stating the surrender of the foreign passport from the authorities concerned. This is not applicable for applicant below 21 years old and for applicant whose nationality is "stateless".
  

There are meaningful tax benefits using the PR as a path to Singapore citizenship for US passport holders as well. Singapore citizens/corporates are not taxed on offshore earnings or capital gains, income tax rates are substantially lower than in the US. There's a 15% tax limitation on long-term capital gains in the US (wherever the gains are booked), but paying nothing as a singapore citizen looks like a really good alternative. As a travel document, the Singapore passport seems to be just as flexible if not more so than the US passport. Problem is the required renunciation of your old citizenship.

National service is for male children of PRs.

National Service Liability

Under the Enlistment Act, all male Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) are liable to register for National Service (NS) upon reaching 16 1/2 years old. They are required to serve 2 years of full-time NS at 18 years old, followed by 40 days of Operationally Ready National Service per year till the age of 50 years (for officers) or 40 years (for other ranks).

Main applicants who are granted PR status under the first generation Professionals/Technical Personnel and Skilled Workers (PTS) Scheme or the Investor Scheme are exempted from NS. Male children who are granted PR status under their parents' sponsorship are liable for NS upon reaching 16 1/2 years old.

NS-liable PRs are expected to serve NS. Should they renounce or lose their PR status without serving or completing full-time NS, this would have an adverse impact on any application by them to work or study in Singapore.

PR couples are eligible to buy HDB resale flats.

I've never heard of being asked to be a citizen. There's no dual citizenship allowed for PRs who become Singapore citizens. So you're re

I can't imagine there are any cons. Pretty sure your tax situation would remain the same, as you'd still need a work permit, etc.

PR status does away with need for a separate work permit.

National service is for male children of PRs.

National Service Liability

Under the Enlistment Act, all male Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) are liable to register for National Service (NS) upon reaching 16 1/2 years old. They are required to serve 2 years of full-time NS at 18 years old, followed by 40 days of Operationally Ready National Service per year till the age of 50 years (for officers) or 40 years (for other ranks).

Main applicants who are granted PR status under the first generation Professionals/Technical Personnel and Skilled Workers (PTS) Scheme or the Investor Scheme are exempted from NS. Male children who are granted PR status under their parents' sponsorship are liable for NS upon reaching 16 1/2 years old.

NS-liable PRs are expected to serve NS. Should they renounce or lose their PR status without serving or completing full-time NS, this would have an adverse impact on any application by them to work or study in Singapore.

PR couples are eligible to buy HDB resale flats.

I've never heard of being asked to be a citizen. There's no dual citizenship allowed for PRs who become Singapore citizens. So you're required to renounce your old citizenship in the process of becoming a Singpaore national. With this condition, I don't see how they could ever force you to become a citizen. I believe you can apply within a year or two after getting PR status.

It has no impact on Singapore income tax. Also, Singapore citizens and residents are not taxed in Singapore on offshore income.

The CPF contributions are withheld from your pay and employer has to come up with matching contributions.