Tom100
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Everything posted by Tom100
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You can get several quotes at MBK and go with the best. I think phones are 4th Floor. I bought my Samsung here by getting quotes from 4 places and going with the lowest.
Rubbish. Thailand should be much higher. Spain should be much lower. I have spent 4 months in Spain in the last 2 years, and plan 2 months in 2026.Spain is nice to visit or live part-time but the global taxation, slow bureaucracy, and boring food make it hard to stay long-term. https://www.globalcitizensolutions.com/intelligence-unit/reports/global-retirement-report/global-retirement-report-full-report/Qman. Exactly. Well said. My last policy quotation from Pacific Cross was over 100,000 at age 66. This annual insurance premium could easily double or more...so self insuring on an O visa is better for many people than the LTR.I am surprised that the LTR has attracted/accepted ONLY 7000 people in 3 years! It is a fantastic visa for 50,000 baht (or 5000 baht/year over its 10-year life). Why only 7000 LTR Visa holders?
These poor results have been documented since 2000 when the first OECD PISA testing was done. What is worse is that these tests only reflect the students that are still in school when testing is done...and only 54.8% of students who begin primary school eventually complete upper secondary (Mattayom 6). School drop-outs are not tested so it can be assumed that the OECD PISA test scores overstate the ability of all Thai youth.
I had the same Bangkok Bank problem last week,after 2.5 years success. Bank said account number not correct. Rubbish! Tried again, same nonsense.This is a very ambitous (UNREALISTIC) target is an economy where most work is informal/unreported. Thailand has 21 million workers in the informal labour sector, accounting for 52.3% of the country's overall workforce while only 19.1 million (47.7%) operate in the formal sector. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2708701/over-half-of-thai-workers-in-informal-sector. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post PCL. All rights reserved.
The latest results from Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits survey show a record low 54% Say They Consume Alcohol. From 1997 to 2023, at least 60% of Americans reported drinking alcohol. The figure fell to 62% in 2023 and to 58% in 2024, before reaching 54% today.
So true Purdey! Great chart. Booze sales down and fentanyl sales exploding. Amurika has fast food and fast drugs.Booze is beng replaced by cannabis which is legal in 24 states for recreational usage and 40 states for medical usage.
Bought mine on Lazada for 150 baht delivered. It works as well as the Omron I had in the US that cost over 2000 baht. Dara Pharmacy is near Fascino and may be a cheaper option in Chiang Mai.The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) seeks to attract high-value travellers in line with national tourism strategy — driving toward its year-end target of 39 million visitors and 2.23 trillion Baht in revenue. TAT assumes the average tourist will spend 50,000 baht in Thailand per visit (not flights to/from Thailand). Now TAT celebrates low-dollar travelers.
KhaoHomDude: Is it really that bad?
AI says: Thailand has three main organizations involved in tourism—the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), and the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT)—because they serve different roles in the policy-making, promotion, and industry coordination of tourism. Here's how their responsibilities differ: 1. Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) Type: Government ministry Role: Policy maker and regulator Responsibilities: Develops national tourism strategy and policy Oversees legal frameworks, regulations, and development plans for tourism and sports Coordinates with other ministries for tourism infrastructure, immigration, and safety Supervises government agencies like the TAT Think of this as the top-level authority setting the direction for the tourism sector at the national level. 2. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Type: Government agency (under MOTS) Role: Marketing and promotion agency Responsibilities: Promotes Thailand as a tourism destination internationally and domestically Runs advertising campaigns, travel fairs, and public relations Operates TAT offices in Thailand and abroad Provides market intelligence, travel trends, and visitor statistics This is the "sales and marketing arm" of Thai tourism, actively attracting tourists and improving Thailand’s image abroad. 3. Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) Type: Private sector umbrella organization Role: Industry representative and advisor Responsibilities: Represents private tourism-related businesses (hotels, tour operators, airlines, etc.) Provides feedback to government on industry needs and concerns Supports tourism standards and workforce development Acts as a bridge between the public and private sectors TCT ensures the voice of tourism businesses is heard in national planning and helps coordinate the private sector’s response to policies and crises. Summary Comparison Organization Type Main Role Key Focus Ministry of Tourism and Sports Government ministry Policy, regulation, oversight Strategy, infrastructure, governance TAT Government agency Promotion and marketing Tourist campaigns, branding, market research TCT Private sector body Industry coordination and advocacy Business interests, collaboration, standards Why three organizations? Because tourism is a complex, multi-stakeholder sector, involving: Government planning and infrastructure (MOTS) Active promotion to attract tourists (TAT) Input and support from businesses that serve tourists (TCT) Having specialized entities helps Thailand balance public policy, market promotion, and industry collaboration effectively.Here is this week's update from the Bangkok Post...Thai tourism has been struggling to regain prepandemic peak https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/3072756/tourism-revival-goes-into-reverse. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post PCL. All rights reserved.
No. I went back to Chicago in fall 2024 after 7 years away. It was very very bad...far worse than 2017. The airports are full of migrants who live indoors on the floors The downtown lost its good spenders b/c the white-collar office folks WFH since covid. At least 50% office & retail vacancy rates. Migrants sleeping on the streets, begging and hitting on the women. I loved the US as a young guy in the 1960s...but it now makes me sick.
Do not pay increased amount. Landlord will get the message. Plan to move and lose deposit. My last Bangkok condo (around Phrom Phong) increased rents 25% in fall 2024. I moved to Chiang Mai.Wait. Are you suggesting that scumbag South Texas politician LBJ, brought on as the JFK VP to win southern votes, wanted to be POTUS and may have conspired with bad hombres? But Trump said he would release all the files...
Obama Awarded Nobel Prize For Exemplary Work Planning Russian Collusion Hoax Hillary should get credit for promoting it. Trump is right on this matter. The Russia-gate hoax was an Obama-led covert ILLEGAL & UNCONSTITUTIONAL US intelligence operation that tried to terminate a democratically elected US President. This is treason against Trump and the US democracy. For reference, read this: In *What Happened*, Hillary Clinton repeatedly claimed that Russian interference significantly contributed to her 2016 election loss, promoting the "Russian collusion hoax." Throughout the book, she repeats the unsupported claim that Trump’s campaign colluded with the Kremlin. Clinton cites the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the election, but she goes further by implying a direct connection between Trump and Russian operatives. She repeatedly portrays herself as the victim of a foreign plot and uses this narrative to deflect attention from her campaign’s strategic failures, such as neglecting key battleground states and underestimating voter dissatisfaction. Rather than taking responsibility for her role in the loss, Clinton devotes significant attention to external forces—Russia chief among them—framing the election as stolen. This narrative helped fuel years of partisan division, led to the fake Mueller investigation, and shaped public perception in a way that many now view as treasonous. Critics argue that in doing so, Clinton undermined trust in democratic institutions and contributed to a climate of conspiracy and distrust—ironically mirroring the tactics she accused her opponent of using. I voted for Trump in 2016, from a polling booth in Chicago Illinois. I voted against Hillary and Obama (both from Illinois) because I know that they are total frauds, not because of Russian influence.
China is the regional/global leader in aviation, electric vehicles, and green energy. Thailand is not even a competitor. So WTF is he smoking?Travel + Leisure publishes annual ratings based on subscriber polls -- Anyone with a subscription can vote. Any city can boost its ratings by buying hundreds of subscriptions and voting for itself. How else could India have 3 highly-rated cities on list? Who cares? T&L is rubbish.As a retired teacher, let me correct you, The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is paid by the DOE to summarize state level education results but its simple work can be replicated by anyone. I could do a better job working 10 hours a week. AI can do this job in seconds. The Federal DOE NCES data is also extremely misleading regarding education -- it reports what percent of white/black students are officially graduated but ignores what percent of graduated students have met educational grade level objectives. This is political: Democrats prefer to indoctrinate & graduate rather than educate.
