realfunster

Not inaccurate but they have left it late and they are behind the US who just cut 0.5%. Dare I say it but Srettha was right in suggesting an earlier rate cut might have set some momentum for a weaker THB for tourism/exports and to stimulate local investment.

Regrettably, I did watch some videos. From October 7th. You know, the ones where unarmed civilians (for the most part) were mass slaughtered. Particularly harrowing was the gunshot wounded Thai agricultural worker being hacked to death with a garden hoe by laughing Hamas terrorists, the slaughter of captives at the dance festival and the German lady's disheleved corpse being paraded around Gaza in the back of a pick-up, to the whooping enjoyment of the assembled crowds. If there was any doubt in my mind, that told me all I need to know. They are getting what they deserve in response, which in no reasonable way can be equated with a genocide. Remember, Israel could completely wipe Palestinians off the map but don't. In fact, they specifically use a targeted approach, often informing areas to evacuate in advance. It is now absolutely clear, despite initial skepticism and waves of complaints, that there is a maze of tunnels under Gaza used by Hamas terrorists, including under schools and hospitals. If the shoe was on the other foot, well, see October 7th. Please don't fall for the Hamas tactic of playing on Western morals whilst stabbing you in the back, as soon as the opportunity arises.

Details are scant but I was working on the assumption that this was "makeshift" Palestinian UXO on Israeli soil... I would postulate that "military" grade Israeli ordnance is unlikely to be set off accidentally by fruit pickers. I may be proven wrong....

Whilst stating women can't drive is, of course, an inaccurate generalisation, there's plenty of scientific research on the matter of relative physical co-ordination between genders, generally finding men have superior hand-eye co-ordination skills. I mean, I think anyone going through life could casually observe that but if academic research is required... Here's one example conclusion "The males outperformed in efficiency index when compared to females in hand-eye coordination with repeated practice. The study concluded that males were having greater efficiency index and less number of errors and less time taken compared to females." In fact, it's almost as if men and women are different in some ways, each having their own respective strengths and weaknesses !

How do you know he has not acclimatised to Thai driving ? I have been driving here 20 years, consider myself acclimatised and would call the driving in the clip objectively idiotic and reckless...the fact it is the sort of driving we will fairly regularly observe is by the by. It is still idiotic and reckless. It's about time they changed the Thai driving code to ban undertaking, which (IIRC) is allowed on dual carriageways and above here. You can see the occasional outcome of this in the clip, a fast moving undertaking vehicle mixing with slow traffic in the inside lane.

Despite this wonderfully positive SET market outlook, for investment performance and many, many other reasons, I know where I will continue investing my hard earned...risk of repatriation taxes by RD or not.....

Nothing to see here, move on, absolutely nothing is going to happen.

I don’t know whether this is the expected price and it was rigged or whether this is over the reasonable budget. In either case, why on earth would a “public company” be spending X million on something like this ? If it wasn’t for a virtual monopoly and captive market, you could easily imagine AoT going the same way as Thai. The gravy train must be enormous…

Sub-saharan Africa.

there is likely some truth in this. Certainly over the past decade or so of a comparatively strong baht, there has been a lot of Thai corporates making overseas acquisitions. You could argue that is a reasonable economic strategy for the country as a whole. it’s probably also contributed to individuals off shoring personal investments (I know I have been..) with a view to repatriating later with a weaker baht. Potentially also a reason for the revenue department’s increased focus on incoming overseas remittances.

Yep - readers can do a Google but from what I remember the "league table" for dog fatalities in the US is something like : Pit Bull "type" : >60%+ Rottweiler : 10% All other breeds : <30% I've mentioned before I used to have a Jack Russell. All Terriers are, well, Terriers....feisty, determined and with a major attacking instinct that is difficult to re-set when triggered. I am sure this behavioural trait is one of the reasons Pit Bull Terriers top the list, along of course, with their sheer physical size and bite strength.

Agreed and being both practical and realistic, there is zero hope of a "responsible ownership" culture developing in Thailand in the foreseeable future. Ergo : potentially dangerous dog breeds presenting a higher public risk should be banned in Thailand.

Was always OK when I ordered but they had a few menu problems, IIRC they offered chips/crisps with their meals, I would certainly have preferred fries/hash browns or similar. I did use to enjoy their biscuits/scones though.

This is becoming something of a fad with Thais, renting overseas billboards in London/Times Square etc and thinking it adds legitimacy to something...a certain someone was plastered all over Times Square a few weeks ago. Possibly/probably - still at least they will get the FB/Insta likes from the charming bus photo in the car park of a 1960 concrete monstrosity...

Blimey, got out the wrong side of bed ?

Maybe some common sense kicked in ? Means tested disbursement targeting the poorest seems reasonable to me.

Interest rates are already low (comparable to most places) and inflation is negligible. Exchange rate movements are not easy to predict but, in theory, reducing interest rates would likely help weaken the Baht. Given already low inflation, unless the BoT are worried about economic/debt overheating, I can't see why they wouldn't be doing that. The US Fed will be lowering rates this week, I would not be surprised if Thailand followed suit shortly with a 25 basis point cut.

I'd treat such "news" with caution. It's a Mickey Mouse market that has gone nowhere in a decade. Better off parking your hard-earned elsewhere. Relatedly, I am still waiting for re-instatement of my Thai Airways debenture which was written off a few years back due to the financial restructuring, which itself was caused by rampant corruption, nepotism and mismanagement. The only surprise in the OP was that they missed to opportunity to mention Thailand as a "financial hub".

On a purely economic basis, I do wonder why the BoT feel 2.5% rates are appropriate : - We've had negative inflation past few months, just barely tipped into inflation in July. - The Thai economy is definitely sluggish and post-COVID recovery in Thailand badly lags regional competitors such as MY, PP, VN & IND. Why wouldn't you be reducing interest rates a touch to stimulate the economy ? For the "political appointee" crowd, may I present exhibit A, from the OP :

1) Doubtful 🙂 2) Possible 3) Likely - the US economy still makes the world go round and most currencies dance to their tune. I think around 2% Fed cut is priced in to most market/economic projections over the next year and I'd be extremely shocked if they don't start cutting this month. There was a big blow up on markets a couple of weeks ago when the Japanese central bank raised interest rates which caused a lot of unwinding of certain positions where I understand institutions had borrowed in JPY at around 0% and then invested in USD or others at 5%+ (aka "carry trade'). Above my pay grade but the Japanese interest rate increase seemed to cause some major global market and currency wobbles.

They haven’t gone far enough in my view, criminal background checks should also be implemented.

Nail meet hammer. Thai economy is not looking good at present. Rebound since 2020 has been slow and markedly weaker than comparable economies around SE Asia, perhaps an indication on a local relative over reliance on tourism, which globally has taken a long time to bounce back. I saw a report recently that tourist numbers in Thailand are back around pre-pandemic levels this year but comparative spending is only 80% of previous level. High volume/cheaply priced tours are obviously the current preferred approach. In their slight defence, if running a business/economy it is absolutely imperative to generate revenue, even if the profit margins are weaker. The alternative of even higher reduced revenue is an even worse outcome for all.

Thanks for explaining - there’s a lot going on in that video !

In the linked video, it looks more like boisterous play at that stage. The young man doesn’t seem very confident with the situation and his response/body language is showing that. When dogs switch into pack mode, things can change very quickly, you wonder if the dogs started fighting amongst themselves and young man tried to break it up attracting their fury. I will also say, having owned various breeds of dogs over the years, that the one that worried me the most was my Jack Russell Terrier. Her ability to “zone out” when in hunting/attack mode was scary. She was never human aggressive, only other dogs (of any size), including some our own pack. She was only around 10kg and imaging any Terrier at 3-4-5x that size gives me shivers.

I'm not sure on any max number, 30 seems insane though ! Bit surprised in a "proper" estate like Sansiri there was no legal recourse available, I live on a normal street, so no development bye laws/committee or similar. Another house nearby has since gone OTT on dogs (they were burgled) but at least they keep them inside their property, so no-one is too bothered about the occasional barking. In fact, people might even appreciate their guarding skills as we don't have any security guards.