Karma80

I hear Dubai is very nice this time of year. Maybe you can take your family with you.

I for one am quite happy with this and hope it makes the Gazette quickly. The former, former prime minister who started this nonsense was delusional and for all his talk of investments and tax, it came to nothing. Thailand's ambition to join the OECD should be shelved given the current world re-order. The US has declared minimum global tax to have no effect in the US, so why should anyone else play ball. Time for Thailand to get very competitive and become a true territorial tax country.

Thailand declares a new hub for war journalist travel.

For sure. I guess the question is, will there be the usual surge in tourists, given the recent events over the last few months. The price will go up anyway. TiT

Not only Thailand, but Vietnam, Maldives, Malaysia, , Laos, South Korea, Hong Kong, Brunei, Philippines, Macao, China, UAE, Indonesia to name but a few places in Asia alone. Go to Dubai at the moment and you'll soon understand where the wealthy Russians really are.

Toothless ASEAN with thoughts, prayers and word salads. How is Myanmar nowdays? Cambodia can't accept a closed border. The regime relies on the porus border for human trafficking to scam compounds. The Chinese backed crime syndicates deilver billions in cash. Thailand should just keep the border closed.

Half of Cambodia's GDP is from the human trafficking and scam compounds being run in the near the border. Thailand's crackdown is an existential threat to the Cambodian regime. Sure, there's some history to the border dispute, but let's not pretend that right now it's about anything other than the crime syndicates and regime clinging to power.

Phuketbirsk has transitioned to a hub of Russian money laundering, tax evasion and foreign owned businesses in disguise.

Doing well for a sick old guy looking to spend his final days in Thailand away from politics.

Thai economy is collapsing on his and PT's watch, no matter if it's him or whichever sock puppet is PM.

As long as you don't breathe between January and April

He writes like a child. A post US world should be in the sights on most of Asia now.

I'm glad he was banned from politics and interference and sticking to his word for just wanting to see out his end of days in his homeland /s

No. You just can't apply from within Thailand. You can apply online from anywhere if you're eligible.

Oh - I see. It's the fault of the doctors, rather than the billionaire feigning illness to avoid jail.

I'm down for this. Anyone who lives in Thailand and travels frequently watches their passport pages fill up pretty quickly. If I don't need to stamp exit and entry into my passport - that's a complete win.

Because a debit or credit card will cause the merchant to pay a fee. The Thai QR Promptpay system is free to use under 5,000 Baht and even then a sliding scale of 2 Baht for up to 30,000, 5 Baht for 30k-100k, and 10 baht for over 100k. It's incredibly cost effective for people to accept money, especially for those small merchants every day. The QR system in Thailand is awesome phenomenal advancement when you consider how much is being skimmed by bank fees, or card schemes elsewhere.

Dont think it really matters. This was Phuket airport immigration yesterday. Please enjoy your 3 hour wait.

If you throw enough made up <deleted> against a wall, some of it will stick.

As a Canadian, the rhetoric from the methlab Canada sits above is profoundly worrying to most people I know. The shameless lies about fentanyl, drugs pouring in from the north, and cartels, to make an executive order legal is truly a disgrace.

An open-door policy on visas to a low-cost-of-living tropical country, with no control of weed or prostitution. All promoted by the clickbait of YouTube. What could go wrong? Add a DTV visa so that you can effectively live in the country for 5 years, having booked a cookery course. Thailand's immigration policy might be ok, but couple that with absolutely zero enforcement and a corrupt police force, if they even show up, what did anyone really expect?

I'd fly Thai direct or Cathay via HKG in business. I prefer Thai to Qantas, but Cathay fares are normally very good in business and the extra stop in HKG is usually well timed and the lounges excellent.

It's one of the few benefits of living in Phuket. However, we're looking to leave because of the traffic and low end tourist dumpster situation.

I was in Bangkok last week on business and stayed at a 5* hotel. The lobby was full of Chinese who had checked out but were camping out, lying and sleeping across sofas and chairs with feet on the furniture. The staff were exasperated and repeatedly asked them not to do it, to no real impact. If Thailand doesn't clamp down on this rental behaviour now, the Chinese will continue to push boundaries. I am curious which buildings are heavily impacted by this in Bangkok.

I fail to see the uproar. Why should a tourist be able to open a bank account? They can't in any other country. Get a proper long term visa and you can walk into any bank in person with legit ID and open it. DTV isn't a long term visa and some people need to get over that.