smylee52

The checkpoints are fine it is the shakedowns that need to disappear . Set up a few of these crooked cops with undercovers who catch them in the act and strip them of their jobs . Soon the shakedowns will reduce .

Stop thinking out loud because all it does is <deleted> people off .  Covid tests and 14 day quarantine feels like smart policy . The other <deleted> they spout seems like they want to punish tourists for wanting to go to Thailand . Truly detached from what tourists expect in a holiday . 

Time they got someone involved who understood the existing processes .

I have an O visa . It comes due in February so 3 months prior to  that date I deposit money into

my Thai bank account to top it up to 1,100,000 baht . This will satify the visa renewal in February and gives me the money to live off when in Thailand . By the time I leave several months later the account may have between 3 and 4 hundred thousand left in it.  This is how it works . Why would I keep more in a Thai bank then I need to satisfy renewal and a few hundred for emergency purposes .

So now the pandemic hits and we have a government in panic mode issuing edicts that O visa retirees need to have had 500k baht for 6 months prior to applying for entry . I don't have access to bank info of others but I would bet retirees WHO ARE ALREADY IN THAILAND  can satisfy this requirement . On the other hand people like me who are not in Thailand probably have the same modus operandi of topping up 3 months prior to arrival and then running it down . Issuing this unrealistic demand of 500k baht for six months at this time means it wil be next April before I can qualify if I deposit the funds tomorrow . I have no interest in going to Thailand as the weather warms up at home .

The other minor detail is how do you provide proof of funds in a Thai bank . Currently I need to go to the bank and have them provide a stamped ,signed print out of the last 3 months activity on my account . In the past I have tried to deal with Kasikorn over the phone from abroad and I would not be happy to try that again.

People with retiree visa's have pumped millions of baht into the Thai economy and the smart thing to do would be honour the O and OA visa's and let us get back to our Thai families , girl friends , boy friends , houses , condo;s , bars , etc .  14 day quarantine makes sense but that's about the only thing I have heard that does make sense .

Blah , blah, blah , Absurd proposals replaced with ridiculous demands , Looking forward to some adults getting in the room . Be nice when reality sinks in and the policy makers realize that Thailand needs to be welcoming to foreigners rather than pretending to be the hooker with

the golden pussy .  

I look forward to the day when I feel like the policy makers don't wake up each day thinking how can we <deleted> the falang today .

Maybe in the next interview you can ask Mike Mesommonta what they are  doing to train caddies .

You can sell the 14 day quarantine as smart and following the science . The prepaid 90 day is just taking the <deleted> and should be forgotten as the embarassment that it is . 

Nothing worse than a government dealing with a crisis because it clearly exposes the fact that not many competent people actually run for office . 

"With all the recent discussions on whether Thai caddies should be compulsory, well over 2/3rds of golfers polled in Thaivisa’s Golf in Thailand Survey just published, actually agreed that Caddies do enhance their round of golf."

Nice double speak . Apples and oranges .  Ask the question if golfers would prefer caddies to be optional to give a clearer representation of the reality. 

17 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Very true but alas many guys on here  are in denial and can't handle the truth. The subject can't be discussed without the sensitive lot throwing their toys out the pram 

I think you are being a little tone deaf here throwing out the old "they are all whores " chestnut on a thread about couples going through some emotional turmoil due to the present reality .

You'll have lots of opportunities to slag off  Thai women on other threads. Maybe give this one a pass as you have clearly thread<deleted>ed this one .

There are some of us who are actually affected by this topic .

Name of bar on Soi Lengkee or guesthouse.

Do you play competition ?

Are you affiliated with Pattaya Sports Club ?

How much for transport ?

I completed the survey but you you missed the important question of "Do you believe caddies should be

optional ."

12 minutes ago, rimmae2 said:

Currently as per requirements in ghe country that I returned from Insurance has to be valid for 1 year.

Safety wings is valid for one year but charges on a monthly basis so you can cancel before the 12 month point .

Thailand golf organizations should get on board and offer courses with lodging to be added to the acceptable quarantine sites and give tourists some flexibility in staying at these golf resort for 14 days and playing golf as often as they like .  I find there is no problem social distancing on the golf course with the few modifications that have been implemented.

Thailand is very safe and that has been confirmed to me by people on the ground in Pattaya, Bangkok and the village. A close family friend is a nurse in the village and has seen no evidence of patients with Covid-19 .  i am in constant contact through Line , Skype and Messenger  and from what i hear and see I should have just stayed in Thailand .

5 hours ago, sas_cars said:

Google safety wings travel insurance, comes with COVID Cover. Costing around USD 50 for a month's coverage

Thanks . I contacted them and all is in order with a good price . Now we just need the green light to return home . Cheers

I am happy to stay with my exisiting travel insurance but regretably they will not provide Covid 19 coverage.

I am hoping conditions will be favourable for a December 2020/January 2021 return to Thailand but expect the letter 

stating  $100,000 US minimum  for Covid 19 will need to be produced  .  Is there an insurance company offering a

cheap policy with Covid coverage but not realy expecting people to claim against the policy just providing the necessary

letter for a fee . 

I expect a cheap policy to have a silly deductible and that is fine . I expect this to be an annual requirement so the

company should allow renewable  coverage between 60 and 70 years of age .

Pacific Cross is offering what I want but for around 60000 baht with a 40000 baht deductible is more than I want to

spend .

Any suggestions ( for insurance ) ?

No interest in staying at the tourist islands and paying big money to be incarcerated . 

Like thousands of ex pats I have  a lovely home in a village 2 hours outside of Bangkok and would gladly quarantine there for 2 weeks on my return . In fact i did this back in March before being forced to return to my home country . Went from Pattaya to village where a rep for the village head man knocked on our door when we arrived and notified us that we were required to quarantine for 2 weeks . No problem . Great internet and Internet Protocal TV with a daily walk around the house and the weeks flew by .

They could follow all the current precautions on arrival at the irport  but then have a COVID compliant vehicle and driver transport expats to their  village house . Of course the expat  would pay the transport cost . A nurse from the nearest hospital could be despatched to administer the requisite tests . 

Quarantine over and the local economy starts getting a boost as the ATM's are back in town ???? .

Typical apologists <deleted> . 

Expect little , demand nothing , MAKE SURE SHE HAS A GOOD TIME ( for <deleted>;s sake) and over tip so she will have a pleasant evening .  Why not invite her into the shower and provide the strap on so she can finish the job when you drop the soap .

I miss thailand but I don't miss getting played for a mug with the compulsory caddy scam .

15 minutes ago, topt said:

"poorly designed" in what way?

Personally I find it a real challenge and the previous gf (750) was not overly cheap by any standard so I don't think expats "play it because it's cheaper". They may choose to do so at 200 but we will see. 

Actually all the  Expats I know  play it because it is cheaper . Last year we played with a 1200 baht fee that included buggy . It is very popular with the golf bars . 

I agree it is poorly designed :

Hole #2 is a difficult par three creating a 2 or 3 group backlog  right off the start .

Hole #5 has extra coconut trees planted to create a wall in front of the green with a narrow gap .

Can't recall how many fairways have large trees in the middle of them to grab a tee shot or block your second shot . Just silly for a golf course to have so many trees in play . Give me a chainsaw and a couple of days and I could greatly improve this course .

IMHO it is poorly designed but playable and it is ralatively inexpensive so I am willing to play it . 

The basic presumption that Falang have too much money encourages golf courses to charge high rates .  Falangs know that is not the case as many have to scrimp and scratch to treat themselves to a South East Asia holiday . When you have people who are not 2 week millionaires but have to budget their holiday then you have a situation where people bcome very sensitive to currency rates .The fact is the consistent strengthening of the baht against most foreign currencies gradually pushes through tipping points where golfers realize that what used to be affordable golf now has become relatively expensive . 

It probably is a stretch to ask golf courses to show a little more interest and reaction to fluctuating currency rates but no harm in raising the awareness . For golfing  Expats on a budget whose currency has lost 15-20-25% + then the first thing to go is golf for cost cutting .

I used to play 3X a week but now it is only 2X and sometimes just skip a week because I know when i go back home I get much better value for my golfing budget  .   

On 8/14/2020 at 1:46 AM, keithsimmonds said:

The PSC website on my phone says Treasure Hill 200baht Green Fee every day till the end of November....that,s 550baht walking with caddy.....excellent value....so long as they don,t insist on compulsory cart???

Would like to hear what the real price is from someone who played while this "special is on" .  I suspect cart will be mandatory but having said that it is still good value :

GF   200

CF   350

Cart 600

Tip   300

IMHO  1450 all in is value for money .  Treaure Hill beats me up everytime I play it but it is a course I enjoy becasue of reasonable pricing and I find the staff customer friendly .  

Don't get me started on fairways with trees , big bloody  trees , right in the middle ????.

Bottom line is the caddie program in Thailand is a make work project that the government doesn't have to fund . It is an unfair tax put on golfers because we get little to no value for our money .  I stipulate to the caddy master , no old ladies , no men and the prettier the better because other than a nice woman to look at I find them to be a pain in the ass that I have the added insult of having to pay to have them spend 4 hours with me  .  

They are a pain because more often than not they don't speak a lick of English , have zero interest in their own countries politics , history , culture or geography . After  the "how many babies " and "where you from ? " there is just redundant inanities . I love when they are 50 metres from the hole and tell you 2 cup  qua (right). Newbies go on about how well the caddies can read the greens . <deleted>. After seeing that putt a hundred times she could be at home and you contact her on messenger to show her where you are on the green and they can give you the break . I suggest video on messenger  because she probably can't speak English and there is a very high probabilty she is on Facebook

I golf to enjoy the game and socialize with mates . I don't need to spend time witth illiterate village women who genearally make litlle to no effort to improve themselves in their chosen profession . Yes it is a profession becasue they are receiving a days pay for a leisurely half day of throwing out the occassional , "caddie no good " . |For me it is compounded by physical restrictions as a result of arthritis that necessitates I take a buggy . I have to pay for a caddie to drive my buggy all the while being informed I still have liability for any untoward occurrences . i always tell  them I expect good information from them as they are professional caddies . Funny with their extremely limited English they all seem to understand professiional and 100% of the time they answer "me no professional ". 

I could go on at length , from my experiences , on Thai golf courses how we are being ripped off by making caddies mandatory but if you have golfed in Thailand you know the score . Obviously this is IMHO and unlike the evangelical hippocrites looking to interfere in everyone's lives I understand that scores of golfers enjoy  having caddies so making it  voluntary would be a good compromise . 

I now golf much less when in Thailand because comparatively speaking, when  you add caddies , the cost is way out of line .  Now that we are in a pandemic the cost is still over the top . I look forward to some well financed group , one day , opening  a course where caddies are optional in Chonburi . I believe it will do well financially . Perhaps a one time honorary membership fee of 500 baht to eastablish it as  a private club . I'm afraid if the exisiting courses tried to go the elective route the community back lash woud be considerable . For those that don't know there is no law requiring golf courses to employ caddies .

Before the apologists start their attack let me say I  give the caddie 50 baht after 2 or 3 holes to buy her own drink . 9 times out 10 the money stays in her pocket . I never fault caddies for bad reads on greens and I tip 300 baht at the end of the round . I treat them with respect and they never know that I would really prefer to not have a caddie .  Usually I get a jai dee (good heart) at some point in the round ; sometimes after an ignorant Falang is strongly rebuking a caddies poor read when in fact he is a <deleted>ty putter . 

I would wager courses would see more rounds if caddies were optional .

Always good to share what you beleive to be new information because although you may get questioned as to how new it is by people who spend much of their time on the internet it is obviously new to you which guarantees it will be new to others . 

I only learned of the insurance requirement for O-A because , for the first time , it was posted at the Immigration office for all to see .