nigelforbes

I read somewhere that all Chinese visitors must buy health insurance in Thailand. Has anyone else seen this rule and if so, is that now standard for ALL visitors, regardless of nationality? A follow up question is, doe long stay expats on non-O visa's also require the same thing?

Economics forecasters and News Weather reporters have much in common, they both speak in their own coded language that is apart from what the rest of the population has learned at school. As viewers, all we want to know is whether or not it's going to rain today where we live. Instead of a short yes no or maybe answer, what we get is that an area of low pressure is forming over the Irish Sea with dense cumulonimbus forming at 3,000 feet, blink, blink, and he keeps a straight face when he's saying it! BTW, I am vindicated via the link below, apparently, it's not just BOT, all Central Banks talk in the same way, it's a global problem that nobody understands what they are talking about: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-37551625

You're right, as an expat in Phuket for many years we didn't go to the beach that often but we did like to see the water and the coastline frequently. Gazing out into the bay and seeing the contrast of a green headland against blue sea and fluffy white clouds is very soothing, I find. For that reason, part of the appeal of both locations has to involve visual beauty. To be honest, if that was my sole criteria I'd have to say that Pattaya bay resembles more of a JC Penney parking lot on a Saturday afternoon but hey, lots of people like boats.

Stop touching dicky and you wont have that problem.

I think that governments around the world are saying that lockdowns aren't an effective way to treat covid plus they are an economic catastrophe so I don't think that's going to happen. I can see the hospital system being overwhelmed but since all Chinese tourists will be required to buy insurance, even this aspect has a silver lining. The real downside is the impact on locals who would otherwise not have caught covid and who may not be able to be treated as quickly.

Pattaya is cheaper, Phuket can be pricey. Phuket has nicer beaches and the sea is cleaner. Phuket is visually more attractive. Good choice of international, ethnic and local restaurants at both locations, cheaper in Pattaya. Shopping - there are more, bigger, newer shopping malls in Pattaya. Phuket attracts a higher/different class of tourist, there's still quite a few mongers/bar beer tourists in Pattaya. Beach Road in the evening is not that different from the Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars. Phuket has easy access to Koh Phi Phi, Phagna, Krabi and other holiday locations with nice beaches, eg Railay. Pattaya has Koh Chang and Koh Samet to the East but the deep sea port of Laem Chabang and the industrial zone is a barrier to the West. Onwards travel - Phuket is quite remote, getting there means flying from Bangkok or taking an almost 12 hour drive. Pattaya has excellent eight lane road infrastructure into Bangkok which is under 2 hours, less to the international airport. Bottom line - it's mostly a cost issue.

If yours was, so was mine!

Where do you live, North or South? We live in the North and the cooler season always seems to bring with it a new set of health issues that don't normally exist in the hotter months. November/December usually sees me down with bronchitis which seems recurrent.

You would imagine that Immigration status is not the banks business in Thailand but it is. And you might imagine that immigration status is not a real estate agents business but in the UK it is. The lines of demarcation are not that clear any longer.

The absence of English language proficiency and any proof reading, combined with excessive use of vague broad brush terms, renders the article virtually unreadable. What is a "recovery direction" for goodness sake? And why is everyone suddenly "coming out", were they all in the closet previously? But this is the best one, "She said that seasonally adjusted number of foreign tourists increased from the previous month from many nationalities especially Europe and the United States". Good grief, it's an English language paper, intended for an English speaking audience! If those things aren't meaningless gibberish, I don't know what is.

"language that is meaningless or is made unintelligible by excessive use of abstruse technical terms; nonsense". noun: gobbledygook; noun: gobbledegook

I understood it and I can assure you it is. In simple English: The situation is still not great but it's improving because some tourists arrived. If more would come, things will get better still.

"assistant governor at BoT came out to reveal that the economic and monetary conditions in November 2013 that the Thai economy was still in a recovery direction". Cool, but what 2022? I suppose they must be working on the backlog, dunno.

We all hope that you never get old and end up at risk of death, just because other selfish people thought that what you caught was only trivia, that would be a real shame. ????

For YOU! But not for many many people over 70, not for people who are sick and not for people with compromised immune systems. You move on, we'll wait here.

Nippy here this morning at 15 degrees, I had to put on a tee shirt for goodness sake.

Far too harsh, they're lovely people really, just misunderstood. Plus, Thailand gets the bonus of a stronger Baht, what more could anyone ask for. ???? (Caution: sarcasm and satire in play)

This is about managing the strain on the health system and hospitals. The degree of covid in the population here at present is being managed with existing medical resources at a comfortable level. Add a couple of hundred thousand unmasked, unvaccinated covid cases from China and the spread becomes much more difficult to manage plus the strain on the medical system will potentially break the system.

You fail to understand the complexity of launching such a mission and the coordination that is required. Locate boat, locate crew, have meeting, go eat, resume meeting, cast off with great gusto, return to dock, add fuel, depart again, return again, send runner to find coordinates of target destination, disembark crew, go eat, have nap, return to boat, depart again, return again, collect captain, depart again.....

Nearly all hospitals these days have the CV's/resume's of available doctors on their web sites You could start by looking there to try and find someone who graduated from a good university, is the age and sex you want and also somebody who has overseas training and experience. Or you could ask around for referrals, Sheryl in the medical/Health forum will almost certainly know somebody who is qualified. I really wouldn't just walk into a hospital and see who-ever the receptionist sends you to, in many hospitals that could easily turn out to be a medical student.

I had wanted to move from HSBC to First Direct about five years ago and they wouldn't accept me as a customer because I was/had been living here for over 20 years. No question this is a FD issue.

If it is, there'll be no traffic whatsoever.

Nearly all large hospitals here are OK or good at treating routine conditions, things they see and treat every day. It's when things get into tricky areas that aren't routine that patients really need to start to think about the doctor rather than the hospital. So, chose the doctor first and then go and get treated by him/her at whichever hospital he/she works at.

I really don't understand why people don't get that it's not about them, it's about the other guy who is old or ill or can't handle a virus like covid, a person who could easily die if they contract the virus. Did we stop caring about or wanting to help each other all of a sudden. I mean really, that's one very sound reason to wear a mask, even if people think it's stupid and wont protect them, it might protect somebody else, yet still there are people who think it's a crazy idea..

OP....just a thought. If you are determined to be UK tax resident whilst living in Thailand, and you have no income that arises here, why not change your Thai bank account to a non-resident account and provide that as proof to HSBC UK of your UK residency status? A Thai non-resident bank account will also mean you have no problems transferring money backwards and forwards although you will not be allowed to earn interest on the Thai account (so no fixed deposit accounts) plus you will not be able to deposit cash into your Thai account.