nigelforbes

The population is in denial.

A difference of 0.2% growth on USD 520 bill over one year, my goodness, that's massive! :)) It was reported in the Bangkok Post on 10 April that Thailand's growth for 2023 would be 3.8%, up from 2.6% in the previous year. The BOT now says in the OP that growth will be 3.6% in 2023. Frankly, this is like counting the number of angels on the head of a pin and expecting to be right! Thai GDP is circa USD 520 bill, the difference between the two estimates is 0.2% or about USD 1 bill, that's less than one twentieth of one months average exports. Does it really matter, it is after all a forecast (not an exact science) which is meant to be indicative and is always subject to revision. If conditions warrant then BOT will adjust interest rates again and that will impact on GDP growth, we wont know that until that time comes.

The Bangkok Post article dated 10 April says estimates have been reduced, that's all.

Yes I agree. I think the point is that not enough thought was given at the time to the downside risks of abandoning the gold standard which some argue should be reintroduced (impossibly I think). Perhaps if enough thought had been given one potential solution such as a migratory path might have been developed. The risk of dollar dominance in lieu of gold was also not reacted to soon enough, the dollar has already been debased and is now dragging other currencies down with it. This is a problem that should have been addressed or at least planned for, two or three decades ago.

Pretty meaningless really since almost everyone lies to the LO regarding the price paid for the land in order to reduce taxes. I sold a condo in CM ten years ago at market rate for 6.3 mill., the LO registered price was 3.4 mill.! The only requirement the LO has is that the sale price today cannot be lower than it was previously, or, less than their most recent valuation (which may be a decade old). There are so many variables involved in land pricing, including, access to a road, land usage, utilities installed or not, proximity to expansion areas etc etc. If you want to buy prime agricultural land you'll pay substantially more than paddy land, even if they are virtually adjacent lots.

If you're sick, go see a doctor, hospital or specialist, if the problem persists, go see a better one instead of attention seeking here!

Agreed. Eliminating the gold standard also removed the constraints and limitation that were an alternative to self control. "Liaquat Ahamed, a professional investment manager and author of the Pulitzer prize winner, “Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World,” states in his book that the break with gold was mostly responsible for pulling the nation out of the Great Depression. It allowed the U.S. government to adjust the supply of money in the economy and influence interest rates. In later years, Nixon’s announcement also stopped dollar-rich foreigners from emptying the nation’s gold reserves. But other side effects of moving away from the gold standard are arguably not as great. Because currency isn’t backed by gold, it’s much easier to print and borrow money, which might explain why the U.S. debt is $22.8 trillion (as of 2019). More dollars in the economy also creates inflation and cheapens the dollar’s value. When dollars don’t stretch as far as they used to, it’s the nation’s poorest who struggle the most to survive and make ends meet". https://saltlending.com/the-dollar-going-off-the-gold-standard-what-does-that-mean/

Eeeek! By contrast I filed my return online and didn't submit any documents and wasn't required to, I declined the refund of 450 baht. It sounds like they may be giving you the run around or perhaps because it's your first time they want to check a few things. Primarily they are interested in any income you receive in Thailand during the year it is earned. I declared my overseas pension income, you should do the same, that's point 5. If your pension or other income is not taxable here by treaty or doesn't qualify because of when it was remitted, don't declare it. Basically, they don't want to refund the tax paid on bank interest unless you can show that you don't have other taxable income. Point 4 - no idea, makes no sense to me, perhaps ask at the Revenue office? If you are over 65 years old you have a minimum of around 420k baht in deductions and zero band tax income before you have to start paying tax. That's 190k for over 65, 60k personal deductions, 150k zero rated, max 25k for health insurance premium.

Well yes, lots of things changed in the 40 years between what I described and what you now mention!

I can't be bothered to read through all the bickering so I'll do a quick knowledge dump. UK Non-Residents must file a paper return or have the software needed to file the return. There are several organizations in the UK that will file the return for you under these circumstances, free of charge, here's one. https://taxvol.org.uk/index.php/our-services/our-advice-service/#:~:text=How do I get help,Help will call you back.

And the RCEP trade agreement forms the biggest trade group designed not to use USD to settle export bills. The group comprises 15 countries and a third of the worlds population.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Comprehensive_Economic_Partnership

Thailand and China have a swap agreement in place to settle trade bills, instead of using USD. "The Bilateral Swap Arrangement allows for the exchange of local currencies up to 70 billion yuan ($10.83 billion) or 370 billion baht ($12.31 billion) for a period of five years, starting from Dec. 22, 2020, it said in a statement here ($1 = 6.4639 Chinese yuan renminbi) ($1 = 30.06 baht)." https://www.reuters.com/article/thailand-economy-cenbank-idUSL4N2JJ1T3

Did you take them?

Back on the list you go for a few weeks, byee.

Probably more so than from somebody who hadn't even been born yet! Look, I'd love to bicker with you for a while but as I said previously, this is not about cars, it was merely a reply to the question you asked. You couldn't find it in yourself to get back on topic, could you, for the second time of asking.

Josh Murray wasn't even born when this was happening! Go read Iacocca and get back to me, he was head of Chrysler throughout this period..

I was in Detroit in the 60's and 70's, yes I saw much of those things first hand as a GM employee. And yes, I do blame the unions, sorry, but the UAW crippled the industry with their excessive demands, everyone in Detroit understands that, whether the rest of America does is debatable. The big three were still drilling their body panels to fit trim strips whilst the Japanese glued them on and didn't suffer from rust. The Japanese were building unit body construction which made them lighter with better gas mileage, the big three loved their chasis's, and so on. But fundamental redesign and retooling on that scale takes R&D expense and time, Chrysler certainly didn't have either and Ford did purely by luck.

You asked what elements caused pricing not to be sensible and I gave you one example using the car industry. This is not a debate about the quality of American cars or the knowledge gap between the Japanese and the Americans in the 1970'2!

The more money spent paying wages means less money for R&D, Read Iaccoca. Overall income and living costs didn't fall means overall living costs and income didn't fall!

The automobile industry is a good example. The unions brought the likes of Chrysler and Ford to their knees in the 1970's because overseas cost of production and quality standards were so much higher. By the time the US auto. industry responded to that threat it was too late, overseas labor and production costs undercut domestic costs and the US lost market share, yet overall income and living costs at home didn't fall. When other mainland corporates decided to follow that lead and outsource manufacturing and production overseas, it was an an attempt to increase corporate profitability at home but had two unintended consequences. Firstly, it created higher levels of unemployment at home which drove up social care costs, it also lowered skilling levels at home. Secondly, the use of cheap labor overseas and created a lower entry cost point for competing business that would otherwise never have entered the market. This had the effect of increasing competition and limiting profitability at home thus also limiting expansion. But because wages and cost of living overall were still not limited, earning expectations didn't fall.

If the America's had been realistically and sensibly priced in the first place, China's push wouldn't have succeeded.

Sadly, this is the realty of the situation.

Complaining about somebody or something, without offering a realistic alternative, is called whining".

Anti-government hyperbole without the benefit of consideration of any facts! "I can not believe that folks believe that Tourism will lift Thailand out from the abyss they have created". Tourism is an export, it feeds consumer consumption. Consumer spending led recoveries are very common in every economy globally. "Exports are in dire straights and the reported expected GDP growth in the 3% range many banks have forecasted is seeing the flip side and an actual decrease". Exports vary month on month, depending on the economies of the trading partners, that is the sole criteria. "Exports in Thailand increased to 22376.20 USD Million in February 2023 from 20249.50 USD Million in January. The government set export growth of just 1% to 2% this year, after a 5.5% rise in 2022". source: Ministry of Commerce, Thailand https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/exports "TAT, The current folks in power, and those who run the country are and have been way overly optimistic". https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-10/thailand-hits-tourism-goal-as-foreign-arrivals-top-10-million#xj4y7vzkg

And before somebody mentions the declining Dollar and how the currency will end this year, let's get some perspective shall we. USD has declined from a short term high, it is now approaching fair value, nothing more than that. https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/dxy