Karma80

That's true. But the same announcement was coupled with the promise of relaxation for outbound tourism over the next months.

My partner is Chinese, so I'll refrain from joining the bashing or casual racism. But, on a more serious note, Thailand could experience a large spike in long term residence via wealthy LTR. A million in assets / buy a $500k property in exchange for a 10 year residence and a work permit for you and all your family is an attractive exit option/2nd residence for rich Chinese. Thailand, when structured well, has a ridiculously attractive taxation system. The mainland exodus will also push Hong Kongers to consider exit plans. I think SE Asia thinks it wants the Chinese to come, but I am not sure they are really prepared for the long term economic consequences post covid.

KYC - Know Your Customer rules are tightening in every financial institution. In Thailand there has likely been a rise in foreigner account opening with the large influx of Russians on tourist type visas, Chinese educational dodgy visas and so on. I daresay some banks have directed staff to check passports and visas for all in branch transactions, but this is Thailand and we know nothing is uniform, or even the same the next day.

With the rise of the remote working capability driven by covid, I imagine the amount of people on fake volunteer and dodgy ED visas has accelerated to the point it's no longer something that can be swept under the brown paper carpet, Here in Phuket, the number of Russians arriving is quite insane over the last few weeks. Many are looking for long term rentals, so would have a visa to match that intention. I would think a proportion of those are provided through an agent. Of course, being seen to do something and actually doing something are two different things.

I have a Thai driving licence and the digital version on my phone which has also been ok on the rare occasion I've been stopped. I do carry that physical card. My work permit is only digital, and as soon as I show that I never have been asked for a passport. Not that I would ever carry it with me unless I was heading to the bank or immigration. But, I keep a copy on my phone.

Easy. Remove the requirement for the employer of a foreign working professional to be a publicly listed company / $150m financials. You then get access to every decent earning remote worker. It would transform the program to a success. Not everyone is retirement age.

I guess this level of failure will mean it can't be blamed on external factors and they might be forced to revisit the criteria sooner rather than later when they twiddle their thumbs having run out of retirees.

It's pretty clear what happened to the LTR, outside of wealthy investors or retirees who were already accessing retirement visas anyway. It got bounced between a bunch of civil servants and committee members that just piled on requirements that are out of touch with reality, or the target demographic. Meanwhile, neighbours and other countries are waking up to the reality of how much money can be poured into the economy from higher-earning remote or independent workers. It's quite sad to see this potentially transformative moment slip away due to the shortsightedness in the program criteria. I hope that someone fixes it, but on past form, the loss of face involved with an overhaul to make the program work may just be too much.

I sincerely hope that controls are put in place, and quickly. To be clear, I am not anti-weed, but last night I walked into our local mall where there's a night market. Two tables with weed vendors selling to anyone with cash. Walk out into the car park and a stink of weed smoke. One guy in our building has decided that it's his new hobby and stinking up the common areas. It's not a good situation to be in, where people now just do as they want - technically illegal or not. How many people are stoned on bikes? Make clear some rules around it that work to protect the public and just avoid it becoming a worse public nuisance. I'm totally behind people smoking weed if they want to, but you shouldn't get to impact others with your decision.

I sympathise with what you have experienced during covid both in a real and mental health sense. We are all in that same boat and I doubt there are many people that have not had varying moments of darkness throughout this time - myself included. These are the worst of times that a generation will hopefully see, and I have no doubt the lasting impacts socially, politically and economically will be felt for many years to come. People had to migrate, expats return to their countries for a variety of reasons. Some even could not, finding themselves in bleak and dire circumstances. But, I disagree that your or indeed anyone's personal perspective and values should be put upon me for a sense of comfort or normality. In the same way that I would absolutely refute anyone who insists I should wear one on that point of principal. If there is no legal requirement, it's my choice and yours. I hope that you found a better sense of peace wherever you are now.

Some people here are really triggered by masks. I wear one when I think it's prudent and for my own reasoning that's not for you to debate. It doesn't impact you. Please carry on with living your own life as you see fit.