realfunster

No. Any more questions ?

Yes, indeed. It's actually all very interesting from a demographic perspective. A still-developing country which has already worked through (wasted?) it's demographic dividend and seems destined to settle into international mediocrity on many metrics. Hard to see how they are going to punch through the economic levels above unless there are fundamental changes in outlook and policy. All good news for the locals, as the labour force is already shrinking, so should see them being able to demand reasonable pay/opportunties. Similarly, maybe not great news for Thai employers, Unfortunately, on an international level, these demographic factors surely can't help Thailand be competitive and it's hard to see where they are going to stand out. So, if observers were expecting that modernity/globalisation was going to see all countries eventually dragging themselves up around the same standard of living, I think that ambition is well and truly busted.

I am sure the OP is sensible enough to realise that after going to this barber shop as a regular customer for 10+ years that a brief question/statement in basic Thai will highly likely confirm that you can get the Thai price. If the issue is their practice of double pricing, then you can go always go elsewhere. I didn't see it on here but recently there was a video of a European customer ranting at a barbershop in Pattaya and he ended up clipping the hairdressers own hair in a fit of rage before running out without paying. I could see why they might want to charge a premium to foreigners (tourists) given the challenges in communication and the often higher expectations from foreign customers when compared to the local working class Thai people who would typically frequent the 60-80-100 Baht barber shops.

Hmmm...more details are needed but : 1) Was this initially COVID related or 2) Were they really that overstaffed ?? 3) I hope they haven't overcooked the redundancies leading to maintenance and/or service issues ? I am still waiting for re-instatement of my small investment in THAI, as part of my RMF. It was written down/off by my RMF fund manager a few years ago. I assume they thought it a safe bet- being State owned at that time - until the government pulled out the rug. I'm surprised no-one has launched a class action lawsuit, a lot of shareholders/investors must have taken a hit.

Nothing new here...

A quick Google says that "pure" Thai gold (22-23k) is not best used for highly ornamental pieces/settings as it is too soft, so it might be they have mixed it with some alloys for this piece ? Maybe it's 18k/14k/10k carat gold ? Having said that, if it was the lower end of the purity scale, the colour difference should be clearly visible from Thai standard 22-23k. As Lopburi3 mentions, many moons ago I took a 18k gold item to a Thai gold shop, they were not interested in the slightest.

Beat me to it ! Lord knows where/what they are talking about.....

I have but I am still a bit confused. The article seems to suggest Ann's father was there and his colleague shot the boyfriend when he charged with a knife. The final paragraph then states that no connection was found between Ann and the man purporting to be her father. Maybe the father sent some police minions to pick up his daughter ? Anyway I suppose it will become clearer in due course...

Yep - that's the best way to remove the outbound issues...you could then move those IOs to working on the inbound queues as well....

A secondary issue to the main story but don't let this gem slip by unnoticed. They truly are a disgrace.

I think most Starbucks open at 6.30am.

I believe that expats are more likely to be Tory voters : Based on a 2 minutes Google search : 55% of British expats are men, who are slightly more likely to vote conservative than women. Voters >40 years of age are much more likely to vote conservative. (Average age of British expat: 53) Around 5.5 million expats in total. So, at face value, this would appear to benefit the Tories.

It happens, I had the same with a TG flight from Sapporo-Bangkok around a decade ago. TG put us in the Sheraton for the night and gave us each Y5,000 cash. A good time was had by all ! On a more serious note, this will have cost TG a lot of money and one wonders why they were not able to work co-operatively with other airlines either at Zurich or nearby airports to source the part in short order ?

Is that you Plodprasop ?

Depression can give people irritability issues but this feels rather like it is another mental health condition. Perhaps something lost in translation ?

It was a very pleasant drive to work today, I'd say about 20% of the usual traffic. There's no need for everyone to rush back to Bangkok, please take a few extra days off with your family and come back to work next Monday

I'd try following up a couple more times perhaps including a phone call as well as emails/letters (could possibly even engage a Lawyer to do this for you - with the implied threat that indicates) and explaining that you are considering going to the Labour Court unless the matter is resolved satisfactorily. Without knowing your specifics, the Labour Court is known to be fairly reasonable and generally supportive of employees. However, the whole Labour Court process may well take some time (think months, possibly a year+) so a negotiated and relatively amicable agreement with your employers would be easier/quicker all round.

I had an interesting attempted scam in Mumbai, India, the cashier (small convenience store inside an international hotel) put my note on the counter and then attempted a quick switch of my note for a lower denomination when he thought I wasn't looking. Unfortunately for him, I did see the switch, got my full change and I reported him at hotel reception which was all of 20m away ! Yep, good advice.

Whilst sounding out policy by public reaction and subsequent government u-turns is common here, in this case, the almost instantaneous denials indicate the good lady from the TAT was talking out of his rear-end and purely from his own viewpoint. The resulting <deleted>-storm and slap-down can only have resulted in a huge loss of face for the TAT Governor. Could possibly have been a heavy censure or sacking in many governments, probably not too much to worry about in the un-meritocracy of Thailand, where a delicate balance of power/influence amongst factions needs to be maintained, regardless of individual performance and competence. Still, lesson learned, and I am sure she will keep her gob shut from now on. Well, at least until the next round of monthly TAT Fantasy Figures are released...

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.