Mike Lister

So you believe anecdotal evidence based on a sample of less than ten rather than collated stats produced by the government? That speaks volumes about you matey, if I felt that way I wouldn't be able to live here.

Once again, I have never had a horse in this race but like you, I was initially inclined to believe that it is consolidated, Ben s post convinced me otherwise whereas the expert thinks and argued.....well, we know what he thinks!

Poster @Ben Zioner seemed to have different views.

Thanks, you saved me the effort.

Until somebody posts a link to a reliable source showing visitors by region by year, it's all blah blah and pointless. I'll see what I can find when I get home.

Yet others persuade us that CRS is one one thing, which they they know because they are a consultant who works with such data every day and are expert. But when others post confirmation that CRS is something else entirely and they are invited to debate the matter and fight their corner, they hide under rocks and in dark corners. It is not so much a question of who is right and who is wrong, it is more a question of what is correct. Will my transactions be recorded and be capable of being viewed at the detailed level asks poster A. Oh no, how can it be, CRS is consolidated data. Hmm, not so says another, here's the record layout from CRS. Personally, even though I'm not an "expert" tax consultant, I'm going with the latter because there is evidence and the poster is credible but I'll leave it for those involved to argue the toss. We have no horse in this race but it would be good to understand the truth, especially when it comes from the mouths of "experts", allegedly.

We can probably argue all day about what the numbers comprise and whether daily workers are included, along with Fred's weekly visit for shopping, indeed, we have for many years! The point is that regardless of what the numbers contain, they have been formulated the same way since day one hence nothing has changed, todays numbers can be compared equally with last years numbers because both sets count the same things, in the same way. Does anyone really care if the total is not actually 27 million, because one or two million extra people were counted who weren't genuine, bonafide tourists? Personally, as much as everyone likes to beat on TAT and Immi., perhaps the two most most expat cherished organisations in Thailand, we have to give them credit for getting some of the basics right and for recording the difference between a day traders cross border visit and some backpacker from Ohio on his gap year.

I know that long haul prices are up substantially but I hear that short haul prices are very similar to pre-covid. That fits with the profile of international arrivals which is heavily Asia based....but there again it always has been. Hotels seem to want to play catch up and recoup losses more quickly than is sensible but that's the Thai way!

Every stall holder always says that, it's the standard reply to a farang when they ask hos is business, I guess it's meant to elicit empathy .

Tourism is essential to household consumption because it provides income across communities. But the value in any other sense is negligible, it is certainly not very valuable to maintaining the foreign currency reserves. This year will see 27 million tourists each spend an average of 45,000 baht per stay, that's THB 1.2 trill. or USD 35.5 bill. One months exports on the other hand is worth around USD 25 bill. and since export bills are mostly settled in USD, one years worth of tourism is equal to 1.4 months of goods exports. As you can see, from a foreign currency reserves and balance of trade standpoint, tourism is not that important in the bigger picture. A similar picture emerges if we look at foreigners who live in Thailand and import funds from overseas. Again, that money is useful at the consumer consumption level of GDP and in helping poorer communities survive but in terms of the Thai economy, it is not a big or meaningful number. Foreigners here have long imagined their role in keeping the Thai economy afloat is much more grand than it really is.

Having own transport or not is neither here nor there in this matter!

US green card holders are/were required to obtain a tax clearance certificate before they could leave the country, even for a holiday, I did that for many years. So why not Thailand also?

We live in CM but visited Phuket some months ago. We found the place more expensive and we lived there for five years, fifteen years ago, If you know where to go and where to eat, all these places can be broadly similar but some places are harder to find cheaper eateries than others.

UOB seems to rotate them between branches every six months, knowing this I follow the English speakers from branch to branch, fortunately there are only four branches.

Stereotype much!

I only occasionally use the branch at UOB but every time I do, my passport is checked and the person flips to the latest visa page. I once asked them if they actually knew what a visa looked like, which they certainly did. I also have an account at Bangkok Bank and I go inside their branches even less often. But the same thing happens when I do, I've made a point of watching. Perhaps this varies by location, I can imagine in the more remote locations there is less interest because people are well known. There again, my branch has known me for 15 years! EDIT TO ADD: I even wrote to the CEO of UOB on this point years ago and asked if the bank was now an agent of Immigration, I received an acknowledgement but no reply, unlike previous times I had written on different subjects.

You understand very little about Thailand or its people.

JPM EM was the go to EM fund for a while but it seems to have fallen off a cliff, as many did, plus it's pricey.

I must admit I didn't read the article in full, I just searched for a link to support my statement and listed what I thought was the correct sequence in my post. I believe that foreigners who have work permits are classed in a similar group to other ASEAN residents. I am highly confident that resident expats (excluding work permit holders) are the highest group because I recall the angst amongst posters when the news was first released. I'll search further for more definitive confirmation.

Yes, I think there's a reasonable chance of that or something similar, in time. Banks have become agents of Immigration and now teller staff check passports and visa's for validity, no visa, no service, that's not to say such people can't use ATM's. So why not have the banks act as agents for the RD also? It's a sure way to make people comply, tie up their funds..

I don't think my immigration status has anything to do with my visits to hospitals, people visit hospitals because they have a medical need, regardless of what their visa stamp says.

Only a minority of patients to who visit hospitals are ambulatory, I've been dozens of times and never once been in an ambulance.

Sef reporting, but that's not to say they wont act on suspicious flows or make random checks.

A fair and complete representation. I think there is another set of reasons why foreigners don't use government hospitals, the main one being fear of having to navigate a foreign environment and secondly the appearance which typically doesn't match up to their expectations of what a hospital should look like. The reference to marble fountains in the foyer was of course tongue in cheek bit is also the business school reference for companies to be wary of! I stepped on a nail last year and badly injured my foot so I went to the local government hospital. It's a fairly new building but it was chaotic and I was shown into the ER. Inside were around fifteen or twenty table/beds, each one occupied by ER patients in different stages of distress. There was patches and splatters of blood in various places on the floor and the sheets on the beds didn't appear to have been changed, some patients were whimpering from pain and several babies and children were screaming.. A single female doctor managed the whole thing, she appeared to be under 30. Despite the appearance, the process was efficient and effective but I don't know how many Western tourists or newbies would have tolerated the place, I think many would have run for the security of Bangkok Hospital, in a flash. Personally, I found the whole thing interesting and a great learning experience. For me personally, having lived here for many years and having a reasonable handle on such things, my biggest reservation about using a government hospital is their use of student doctors which I think is the biggest risk that needs to be managed.

Like you, I read these stories also but I have to wonder about some of them. Either the patient was in a seriously bad way when they were admitted or perhaps there is another angle, journalistic license perhaps!