realfunster

I call on the Chinese embassy to censor its exportation of pandemics. Such things might lead to misunderstandings and damaged relationships. Remember folks, China is not a friend.

I take this as a further sign that the Thai economy is fundamentally struggling. Srettha notes the unimpressive growth rate for the past 15 years, of course, not helped by all the political instability. PT have tried the usual Plan A for the past 20 years of flogging the tourism horse, with limited success. Now the usual Plan B, some kind of cash injection into the economy. I believe they are much wider systemic issues that need to be addressed if Thailand really wants to move forward from lower middle income levels. But that would take some serious self-reflection and loosening of tight grips by vested interests. I can’t say I am hopeful of either of those happening.

Rare indeed is the sound of choppers in Bangkok and when seen, they are usually military. Kind of surprises me more wealthy people don't use them to commute in and around Bangkok. There's certainly more than a few high-rise buildings around town with helipads that remain virtually unused. Don't go giving them ideas now...that's already covered with our top-of-the-range submarine.

What a sad reflection of this group of "animal lovers"...money, money and money. Formerly an industry of THB 1 billion = USD 30 million. Apparently, with "millions" working in the supply chain. Pull the other one, it's got bells on

Data on average earnings is always bit patchy but I found a source that indicated top 10% in India would be starting at THB 10k+ per month. As is the way, I am sure there will be an exponential increase in wealth as you move up through this top 10 %. India is a very low GDP per capita country, being around USD 2.5k, compared to Thailand/China USD 7-8k, Malaysia USD 13k, Vietnam USD 4k etc.

On all normal criteria, you are correct. I'm guessing they are aware of certain sensitivity around the Republic of China and didn't want to upset someone by offering the Taiwanese preferential visas....

The Thai man is clearly out of order, young & healthy and starting a physical fight with a frail and elderly old man. Having said that, use of the F word never helps with Thais and the video clip shows the Belgian guy doing some vigorous finger pointing at the Thai man, that never goes down well. Every society has its “fighting talk”, it’s good to know what these words/actions are and avoid, well, unless you are looking for a fight of course.

No, there were several terrorists in the video. It was out on the internet at least 2 weeks ago and I believe one of the many videos/livestreams that the terrorists put out on the internet from their raid on 7/10. Your attempt at humour/deflection regarding garden tools vs military hardware is misplaced. If you can take 5 seconds to click the link, more details in the article. Anyway, I summarise the video here : - Critically injured bloodstained man barely conscious on floor. - One of the terrorists decide to proclaim that his God is great and use a garden hoe in an attempt to decapitate him. - It would appear he actually failed, maybe the laughing and joking with his mates around put him off his stride but I would assume the 5-6 blows to the throat caused catastrophic injury. - The injured man's arms slowly collapse by his side as he drifts off... Anymore light hearted comments to make ?

I had the misfortune of stumbling across this video on FB a couple of weeks ago. It was in the comments section of an English language Thai newspaper site. It’s as grim as you can imagine based on the description in the OP. Very difficult to watch but giving the incident some exposure will serve a purpose in highlighting the barbarity those Hamas terrorists are capable of. IIRC the perpetrator was calm, laughing and joking to camera whilst doing what he did. ISIS level stuff. Imagine living next door to people capable of such atrocity…

FFS - he was saying 2 days ago that they were being coerced into staying there and started a spat with the Israeli ambassador or is it just that they have been offered pay hikes ? Anyway - the overall tone of the article rings true, the Thai economy needs a re-invention if the country is going to progress. Sad to see that the major brainwave from the new government so far (which has been repeated ad nauseam since 2000) is just to encourage more tourists. Interesting that although tourism has grown rapidly from around 10m pax in 2000 to 40m pax in 2020, the overall average economic growth rate is only 1.8%. Something needs to change

Pretty sure vast majority of office workers won't get this extra day off either ! For those unfamiliar with such things, on a regular basis the Thai Government will make such announcements on "extra" public holidays. Around 99% of the time this only applies to those entities under their direct control, being the public sector.

By Thai standards, this appears a very generous settlement, which I don’t begrudge them. there was thread the other day about the costs for Thais to go to work in Israel, some, if not all, would have gone there via the Ministry of Labour “approved scheme.” It’s possible the MoL up-front costs (insurance?), going via a Government scheme and payment of social security etc in Israel is what gives the families this entitlement? Or could just be Israel paying ?

Goodness me, that linked article will give you a headache. There is a very good reason someone invented the weather map.....

It always amuses me that for such a generally inward looking bunch, Thai officialdom are so adept at linking economic and industry performance to local and international geo-political issues. Of course, in the majority of cases this is only ever used as an explanation for a failure to meet targets or expectations. When things are running to plan, the plaudits will come unfettered to those Thais involved, no chance of geo-political positives stealing any of the credit. As for October tourism ? Well, it's the wettest month of the year in many parts of Thailand, that would likely have something to do with it...

Quite. There’s a whiff of exploitation here..including a THB 40k fee when arriving in Israel. It also seems odd that they are buying one-way tickets, would have thought a 1 year open return would be a better idea, and cheaper. The denial from the Minister is on the weak side and frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if someone, somewhere in the Ministry had decided an exorbitant and mandatory airport transfer was a good way to get their slice of the money pie.

Yes indeed. After the Don Meuang incident, it’s great copy for newshounds isn’t it. Whilst accepting this may be a developing situation, initial medical costs reported of THB 7k don’t appear to indicate a major injury…

The flight mentioned above goes over Jordanian, Saudi and Emirati airspace….

El-Al is still running flights from Bangkok to Tel-Aviv.

You’re right of course but I rather had more of that positive modern outlook vibe from the now sidelined Move Forward Party. Having to read press this week about PT’s own dinosaurs in Plodprasop, and the particularly vile Chalerm, I could see why some might be having doubts that we are set-up for a repeat performance of the last PT administration. Whoever is fronting the current government, we all know the true power behind the scenes, who could not in any way be described as a spring-chicken. PS : my keyboard tried to autocorrect Chalerm to Charm. Never in the history of autocorrect has a more inappropriate suggestion been made !

Could well be ! That sounds very similar to my COVID symptoms but the runny nose was only about 5 days.

So an 186% increase from 1/10/22-30/9/23 compared to 1/10/21-30/9/22. Thailand's obviously an attractive investment destination. Oh hang on, wasn't there was some sort of minor global incident in that 21-22 period ?.... I wonder if that might have artificially deflated the investment figures for that year, making any comparison pretty much worthless ?

Not buying it. Just trying to distance themselves so Chalerm can do his “behind the scenes” stuff without implicating the PT leadership or the messiah. My initial enthusiasm for a new democratic government (sort of) is starting to wane. PT need a refresh, in yesterday’s news we had Plodprasop and today Chalerm….

I pay no attention to these reports, not sure if it is the reporting or the source but they are often way off the mark and usually way too broad to be any use. I mean, come on ! ???? Best to use them as an advisory to go and check a proper weather information source.

Jamie's restaurant had been racking up reasonable and consistent losses since their inception in 2016. For sure, COVID made the decision easier to wind it up but I understand it was badly struggling even prior to this. Jamie's operated under a licensing/franchising type arrangement (perhaps similar to hotels) and he provided some Management & other staff here in Thailand, as I met some of them. The business was actually owned by Siam Piwat Group. I assume Gordy will be looking at a similar arrangement, at least, he will be if he has any sense !

In my case I would be more like the typical Thai investor who has invested overseas and would be bringing my funds back in Thailand at some point (or maybe not if this transpires...). Pretty sure my overseas investments are taxed for capital gains and most deduct tax on dividends. Likely no issue there. An exception, the UK offers zero tax on dividends for non tax-resident investors, which was looking an attractive option, until this news reared it's ugly head. Whilst I would certainly pay any due tax in Thailand through gritted teeth, I would do so. More of concern for me would be the sheer bureaucratic ball-ache of any such process with the Revenue Department and the documentation/time required. If they want people to reduce offshoring investments they can look to reinstate/reinvent LTFs. They changed this scheme a few years back, so many people started looking for alternatives. The SET is far from stellar but certainly has the convenience factor for locals, removes most FOREX risk and used to come with decent tax benefits. I was chugging along for many years using LTF until they changed the scheme/benefits. The change is what actually motivated me to go out, research, set-up an offshore trading/investment account and move most of my investing out of Thailand As for the overall tax regimen in Thailand, well, let's save one that for another day...