realfunster

That appears unlucky and unusual in my experience. 1) getting any crap from a Grab driver 2) the meter fare being higher than Grab fare (subject to ridiculous Bangkok traffic) In my typical Grab usage, I know the routes well and usually Grab is at least 50% more expensive than meter in standard times, more so in busy times. Not hugely unreasonable, they will drive to pick you up from your pick up point and they remove all the hassles. Whatever happened with you, there was the option to report your issue with Grab. First mistake, getting in the car when “he turned on the meter and laughed”. You need to self-advocate in Thailand. People will often try to bend the rules. If not comfortable or not to mutual advantage and polite and clear “no” is required.

Two hopes - Bob & none. US FACTA/FCPA/other regulations will not be welcomed in Thailand's casino industry, it will be a brown envelope machine the likes of which we have never seen on these shores.

So what you are effectively saying is that access to such places should be means tested ? The comfortably off can enter, plebs cannot ? Are there other aspects of Thai national life where we should be implementing such an approach ? Perhaps we can means test access to alcohol and cigarettes as well. After all, the comfortably off have private health insurance, the plebs just run to the local state hospital and are a burden to the taxpayer. Hmm, on the other hand, perhaps just giving all citizens freedom of choice within an overarching general regulatory and legal framework might work better ?

Yes, good luck with that mate. I suspect the powers that be will prefer a more "grey" operator who is, let's say, more familiar with "Thai business style" and is not keen on or subject to much regulation/oversight. Knock me down with a feather if in due course the chosen operator is not Chinese.

Zzzz- that old chestnut. Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, as they say. Provide a better service - clean cars, polite drivers, no fare gouging , better safety, use Google maps to destination etc. I don't use cars for hire that much but I haven't picked up a taxi off the street for a few years now. That's even considering that Grab is nearly always much more expensive than a taxi. Perhaps an insight into customer dynamics that people will still pay 50-100% more than a standard taxi fare to remove the hassle of finding one, fare/route negotiations and the ensuing journey. Taxis - adapt or die. That simple really.

True but to be fair the left turners are often facing unseen to us hazards when entering the side road, double parked cars, food carts, packs of dogs and random motorbikes etc. On a similar note, one of my faves is the car drivers (using the term loosely) who swing out right a few feet to do their left turn, it's a classic. Especially appreciated on dual carriageways when you are bombing along at 80kmph in outer lane.

One of the less publicized impacts of the earthquake was it revealed the large numbers of pets in condos. As all and sundry hastily evacuated their accommodations, often with their animal chums in tow, I believe many building managers and co-residents were surprised to note the resulting menagerie assembled in their building’s front car park. Talking to Thai colleagues, some buildings have continued to turn a blind eye, some have offered a monetary solution (mandatory purchase of an “animal condo residency license”- never miss a trick, do they) whilst others are playing hard ball.

Agreed. Diversification. I hope the OP is not suggesting going heavy on Gold or Silver. Despite some of the comments above, may I remind everyone that Gold pretty much had a 12 year bear market very recently. I've taken some profit off the 50%+ since early 2024 and reduced my GLD ETF holding. I own a couple of mining stocks, focused on Gold & Copper. Whatever the underlying fundamentals, the kind of massive short-term run-up seen in Gold usually has a sting in the tail...

Great, so the plan is to buy a Chinese knock-off of an technologically obsolete German engine 🙂 What could possibly go wrong ? Any imaginary enemies in the Gulf of Thailand would be laughing their heads off. I did a quick Google search for available 2nd hand engines, it seems like the Thai Navy have beaten me to it !

Kindly allow me to step in right there, you didn’t really “have” to go to the hospital did you ? You and your family have common respiratory infection symptoms. I would suggest only worth visiting a Doctor if any of those symptoms persist or become worrying. A cough, sore throat and runny nose are best treated by home rest and if necessary, can be supplemented by a visit to your local pharmacy. Be careful not to fall into the Thai hypochondriac mindset, and start running to the Doctor demanding 8 different and useless medicines whenever you are feeling a little bit off colour. After recent events, I was completely unsurprised to note that, as the Thai press had dug up and published articles about Earthquake Dizziness Syndrome, it became the latest de rigueur medical condition in my office. Quite impressive, as it had previously only ever been diagnosed in areas suffering from major, multiple and long running after shocks (think Ring of Fire) , so absolutely nothing at all like what we experienced in Bangkok then….

Could be, we've had something of a rally after correction/bear market but not sure we are out of the woods yet. Any troubling US economic data could see a further slide in markets...

Oh and US Q1 GDP and Core CPE (inflation measure favoured by the Fed) are being reported tomorrow,30/4. With a very twitchy market at present - buckle up if these come in below forecast expectations.

It should be a concern to all investors that the US might be on a path to "reset" the global economic system. If you are heavy on US assets, you may want to rebalance your portfolio a touch until things clarify. Worrying that the S&P, dollar index and US treasuries have all struggled in recent weeks. What remains to be seen is if this is purely window dressing by WH for political reasons or whether any tangible changes will arise.

Carney is a credible Prime Minister. Pierre will be inconsolable that he lost such a large poll lead over the past few months. Refreshing from Trudeau to Carney was part of it, I also suspect Trump's tariff and 51st state antics in recent months played a major role in persuading swing voters back to Liberal. An absolute nightmare for the Poilievre campaign. I must say, this appears strategically inept by the Trump administration, you would assume a relatively allied and somewhat like-minded political leader right over the border would be the preferred outcome with all the various matters to be addressed on borders, security and trade. Carney strikes me as a pragmatic Liberal (dare I say - think Tony Blair), so I expect he will still engage with Trump, but clearly not the ideal outcome for the White House. Maybe ultimately Canada is not that important to them but they could have just kept quiet for 3 months, got Poilievre voted in, quickly resolved certain matters with him- showing a roadmap to others and then launched their wider blitzkrieg... Yet more "winning".

Glad they show the crash 20x, so we can really digest it. OK - the taxi was trying to overtake the pick-up truck parking up on left side, silly and inconsiderate. Ambulance should not be concerned by minor vehicle collision damage to either car and just move on at haste to hospital....in total a potential 15 second delay. The video doesn't show what happens next, I hope not everyone exiting vehicles, calling insurance agents and waiting 30 minutes for them to show up..... On a positive note, in Bangkok at least, over the last decade I have clearly observed much more consideration from road users to allow ambulance to pass through.

Brilliant post. Could be added to the similar topic "Why do so many people hold and share strong/extreme political views, create long-winded posts and engage in arguments, when it has zero tangible influence on themselves, or the world" Go for a run, shag the wife, read a book, walk the dog, watch a documentary, get drunk, listen to music. All much more personally impactful and better for you than ranting on t'internet over things you cannot possibly influence.

Not sure that's entirely going to plan. I'll admit, some direct talking and action rather than the usual diplomatic bluster has probably rattled some cages and let people be aware the US are closely watching things, I suppose we will see how it all turns out but certainly there has been some damage to the US image in taking such a scattergun and blunt approach. 1) Agreed, he clearly and sensibly wants lower interest rates with significant US National Debt up for renewal later this year. Of course, that could have been done in various ways, with recent events, it's possible the FOMC will not want to be seen to bowing to Trump's will, so that may backfire. This week will be important with Q1 GDP data released, let's hope that clearly supports a rate decrease or FOMC might dig their heels in. 2) Nations lining up - not convinced on that one at this point in time but I suppose clearly "communicating" US dissatisfaction with current trade arrangements may trigger some changes. I see Bessant is now taking a more active involvement in all these economic matters. He is fairly well regarded in the economic establishment and likely seen as a more reasonable person. Perhaps a case of the classic, good cop-bad cop switcheroo.

Just FYI from WHO website, the numbers vaccinated are significantly higher than that... 13.64bn Total COVID-19 vaccine doses administered

That's true enough - I think it's well known that China has tried to circumvent previous US tariffs. Still, it doesn't make the numbers on the placards waved around by Donald anywhere near accurate. I guess it's the "shock & awe" approach to negotiations !

Hmmm, Google AI seems to be following the White House's line. I just searched "tariffs on US cars in Thailand: and got the following. "Interesting" that the back of a fag packet 72% tariffs are now being stated as fact. "AI Overview : Thailand faces potential economic impact from US tariffs on automobiles and auto parts, including a 25% tariff on automobiles and components, as well as a 36% tariff on Thai imports due to Thailand's 72% tariff on US goods. "

All very true - but I cling to the hope this is all bluster and a negotiating tactic 🙂 Let's be realistic, the US remains the global economic superpower, after the huffing and puffing, I expect pragmatism will kick-in and all sides will be looking for deals to be made rather than starting an escalatory trade/tariff war. Thailand for example, a healthy trade surplus with US. They can either walk away from that or negotiate a slightly less favourable US trade surplus. With China, they have a huge deficit and who knows whether Beijing sees reducing their current surplus as economically possible or politically advantageous. They might be able to expand trade with EU and UK. Currently neither of these have an FTA in place due to Thailand's protectionist policies... Anyway, we will see !

That Chinese consumer market has been there for eternity. As we speak, Thailand runs a trade surplus with US (beneficial to Thailand) and a massive deficit with China (negative for Thailand) and has done for many years. I wonder how/why this massive deficit with China will suddenly turn around ? "If" China starts offering more equalised trade with Thailand and others, I wonder how that will impact the Chinese economy Frankly, I can see why the Yanks have targeted Thailand. Been enjoying a trade surplus with them, whilst subsidising the CCP economy....

When we transitioned to globalism, there was a lot of domestic pain across developed countries. Those of a certain age will remember the mass layoffs in the manufacturing/manual jobs industries as these were offshored and we switched to a service based economy. This is still a developing scenario but perhaps we are seeing the start of a globalism re-set. I believe all will be looking for a negotiated settlement which will water down these tariffs. We will see how things develop. The tariffs are broad but you can see a pattern of heavier tariffs on those whom the White House are not acting in good faith. The US has no responsibility to subsidise other economies. I guess the White House feels that many countries take too much advantage of the status quo whilst engaging in protectionist policies themselves. Closer to home, as I have mentioned elsewhere : 1) Thailand has highly protectionist import and business restrictions. 2) Thailand runs a healthy trade surplus with the US, which the US might accept if it were not for (1) and I speculate particularly (3) 3) Thailand runs an unhealthily large trade deficit with US-nemesis China. Partly as China appears to have been able to side-step point (1). No particular view on whether this is the right approach, I'm just trying to analyse things beyond "Trump is a c*ck" 🙂

I was in the office Monday (high-rise) and did a walk round to inspect the obvious but minor damage to our site. I'll admit to being a bit twitchy for an hour or two but settled down soon enough. Quite a few Thai colleagues got swept up in Monday's mass unsubstantiated panic via social media, evacuated the building (via the lifts, of course 🙂) and took leave on Monday PM rather than stay in the office. Today more of my Thai colleagues returned back to the office and indeed, PEDZ seems to be the trending illness-du-jour. Interesting how Thais can be both so resilient at times and then equally as flaky at others... A quick Google indicates the Japanese have most commonly identified this condition in areas with major quakes followed by numerous significant after-shocks. The latter doesn't seem to apply in Thailand, unless sensitive folks that are on edge are picking up the numerous Myanmar after-shocks and others just aren't registering them. Two main factors are proposed (1) motion sickness - hardly seems likely to be long lasting in Thailand beyond a few minutes/hours after a 1 minute quake and (2) anxiety/panic - more likely. Advice includes avoiding doom scrolling and reading negative earthquake related news which may heighten anxiety. Presumably, that might include reading about PEDZ and feeding that into the anxiety feedback loop also 😉.

The burning obviously doesn’t help but I do recall that during COVID with massively reduced commuting in Bangkok and with many people working at home the air quality that year was significantly better… There’s even a Wiki page for it now : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Bangkok_smog