realfunster

I am surprised they missed the opportunity to push for drone acquisitions, these have been fairly effective in the Ukraine War and such procurement would provide “envelope opportunity”. They must be losing their touch…

Quite possibly but overseas investment might also help modernize the Thai agricultural industry and increase yields. The smallholder model is a nice social idea but it’s difficult to manage in the modern and competitive world. How many times do you see various farm produce organisations coming out cap in hand to the government to get subsidies.

I’ll take that as a rhetorical question. Quite simply, and as usual, various Thai governments since 2000 have simply taken the easiest path and flogged the tourism horse for all it is worth. Quadrupling tourists from 10m in 2000 to 39m in 2019. Given the very average overall economic growth in the same period, where some describe Thailand as the “sick man of ASEAN”, one must wonder how bad the rest of the economy must be performing. I’m afraid Thailand is steadily cruising towards abject mediocrity in economic and social development unless there are major changes in mindset and outlook. Perhaps the social implications of the super-aged Thai society will be the stimulus for change.

Does anyone know the actual detailed law on this sort of thing ? To the best of my knowledge these are actually dead corals and can widely be found washed up on many beaches. I must admit I have taken some in the past (pre 2019 law, officer) as decorations for my aquarium. However, my wife still likes to collect shells off the beach. Is she risking a visit from SWAT and a shaming in the national press ?

That sounds promising, what’s a chief trade ally and how does it stimulate the Thai economy ? Oh, I see now. It’s a trading partner where you run a deficit of $33.3bn. You probably wouldn’t want too many of these “key ally’s” then.

Must admit that sounded a bit of an odd choice at first but then I remembered reading recently that they are moving the whole of Bangkok Port somewhere else. I guess that area will get the Siam Paragon/Asiatique redevelopment treatment, which makes more sense.

I would assume in the good ole US of A that the casinos are paying their legally required state and federal taxes though right ? Otherwise the State Troopers, ATF, FBI and IRS would be kicking in the doors with prejudice. Why would they be responsible for contributions to repairing the roads or supporting schools ? I even doubt they could do the latter for fear of being accused of trying to groom future gamblers. I have several unhealthy and damaging habits which includes drinking, smoking and eating biscuits. These things are taxed to varying degrees but I don’t expect McVities, as a purveyor of a wholly unhealthy but delicious snack (pick your own favourite) , to be separately subsidizing my local recreation area as some sort of corporate atonement for their contribution to obesity and diabetes. We are all adults and can make our own life choices.

Well quite, it’s health and safety gone mad ! Just think if they had a standard policy (employed by many venues in more safety conscious jurisdictions) that a member of staff quickly checked the sauna every 30 minutes, then the woman might have survived. Hardly a major hassle for staff to do that is it ?

It is possible, on the other hand most retirees eat into their savings after retirement. Having USD 600k cash in the bank at the age 81 would put him in the very top wealth bracket in any developed country. Being 81, he probably would have retired either 16 or 21 years ago. Imagine what his retirement savings potentially were back then. Anyhow, as this is pure speculation, I will unreservedly join the condemnation of the taking of his life savings.

I should add, looks like the guard who gave the final kick to the grounded unconscious man was also using a knuckle duster. When he takes a breather, you can see him slip something off his right hand into his back left pocket.

Correct - videos can presently be found in the comments section of Pattaya News on FB for those interested. If the current rumors of a fatality are true, I expect they will be taken down. It’s a street brawl…but unfortunate to see some head kicking of downed and semi-conscious opponents. Where it got completely out of hand…one of the security guards has a gushing nose, possibly where the broken nose story has come from, so presumably he took a good slap from one of the Brits. He takes a step out for a few seconds before running back in to absolutely hammer a fully unconscious man with a football style head kick. Needless to say, that could cause an extremely serious injury, or worse.

I’m guessing but assume this impacts when booking tickets with connecting flights. If an airport is on the slower side to process transfers then you will be automatically pushed to a later flight to minimize chance of a missed connection, dragging out your entire journey. If you are looking at a Thai flight with connection in BKK, then you may choose a quicker option elsewhere. So, I assume they are looking to make BKK more of a competitive Thai Airways international - wait for it - hub. For example, I assume Dubai is pretty quick as I get offered flights to UK with 60mins+ transfers.

If they enact this through parliament, I would be expecting class action lawsuits. Hard to say how those would play out but it would certainly create negativity about the investment climate and regulatory stability in Thailand. Whilst some of the shops looks expensively fitted out, I am also aware that companies have set up growing facilities here in Thailand, those investments will be of a higher magnitude I’m sure. I don’t know if these would be included in the government’s proposal.

Sonthiya is one of those irritating serial petitioner types. A quick Google marks him as a "staunch royalist". I would not invest too much interest in his actions. For those that are not aware, the sufficiency economy philosophy was particularly espoused by the late previous monarch, which is probably why Sonthiya has his knickers in a twist.

They are out there, I am in Bangkok but they were selling electric bikes & trikes in HomePro when I visited last week. Alternatively, you can do some browsing on Lazada/Shopee and then try to find a local shop with the ones you are interested in. You can search for "electric bike 3 wheels" - they've got all sorts.

Well, the political asylum route might have legs. In a country like Thailand, which has a volatile political situation, it might be an attractive option. Seemed to work for UK long stays for Yingluck and Red Bull guy. Reality is, if she is coming in hot with X00m THB, then I am sure the UK will welcome her with open arms. We must maintain our status as the global money laundering capital. We’ll even provide advice on which offshore tax haven to park the funds in, to avoid those prying eyes. I just pity the poor Thai taxpayers whose money disappears off-shore to enrich the chosen few… Of course, it’s rare that any of these cases ever get prosecuted by the rest of the establishment, because they are all at it. The most severe punishment that is available is to merely turn off the money tap.

Not as much as I might expect. A lot of talk of overseas assets, Prawit probably does indeed have these. It’s the tried and tested route for the “Thai elite”. I recall an estate agent acquaintance telling me they were working with a Thai minister on a GBP 2m London house purchase back in the TRT days. However, it’s also just lot easier just to transfer your Thai assets to a nominee or company instead. Not that Ol’Toady is particularly interesting to me but I hadn’t realized he was single. I’d be checking his maid or “secretary” 😏

Dear AseanNow - this article appears to be under your name and ownership. Got any evidence/references for this claim ? By the way, it's a 61% cost of living reduction based on your figures. Below is a Thailand inflation chart to get your critical thinking juices flowing. Your credibility is at stake...and I do hope this is not a sign of the quality we should expect going forward after the recent business restructuring.

Good grief - could they not have managed to get a slightly more flattering picture of the old girl...

Whilst noting this crossing appears to have lights/signals and it would appear the driver simply wasn't looking - else he would have the seen the victim striding out, it's well overdue to have a single standardised zebra crossing project in Bangkok. There appear to be several different types of crossing (lights/no lights/lights set up ridiculously high etc), which I think can lead to bad habits and confusion for both drivers and pedestrians. Examples off the top of my head would be the numerous crossings with no lights on Sukhumvit from Phrom Pong down to Pra Kanong where pedestrians are taking their lives in their own hands and drivers get accustomed to simply stopping out of "goodwill", getting into the habit of ignoring the pedestrian crossing road markings. Those markings should be ingrained to generate a vehicle stop (perhaps wishful thinking) or at least extreme caution.

I assume roughly the same as any government looking to cut interest rates : - reduction in debt interest gives more room for corporate and personal spending, potential economic boost - likely leading to a weaker Thai baht - good for exports & tourism It would seem that inflation appears reasonably under control, so I would be asking the other Q - why are BoT not reducing interest rates from 2.5% ?

I just tested COVID+ at the start of the Songkran weekend. Lousy timing. Splitting headache, lethargy and muscle aches put me on the sofa for 2 days and a sniffle for a further 2 days. Like with the ‘flu back in the home country, I kept a low profile for a few days to avoid spreading it around. Sorry, is the professor really raising concerns on 3 deaths last week = 156 deaths a year. Sad for those involved but I would have thought completely immaterial from a public health statistics perspective?

I'm not really clear what you are trying to communicate : 1) If you are saying my opinion doesn't matter to Thai government, that's already understood but I can have a viewpoint - correct ? 2) Not sure what you are talking about, my comment was aimed more at the "now" and piggy-backing others space programs (and other "fashionista" issues) whilst there undoubtedly more prosaic concerns and spending priorities for the average Thai citizen. If you are going back to the 70s to discuss "giants" and their space programs, then presumably you are referring to either Russia or US, anyway, not relevant. 3) I don't understand the link between this and my post. Anyway, my point remains, go and walk around the Bangkok slums or pretty much anywhere outside of Bangkok and come back and tell me it's a good use of Thai taxpayers' money.

What a surprise that the minister involved has a reasonable looking soundbite to justify his department’s existence and spending. I recall seeing plenty of satellite images during the floods in 2011 and over the last decade with our persistent poor air quality issues. It would appear alternatives already exist. Certain elements of Thai society love nothing better than implementing the latest international trends from developed countries. The problem is, the wider societal foundations for these are not yet in place. Rather than standing on the shoulders of giants and messing around with vanity projects such as space exploration and submarines, below is a list of what I would describe as much higher priority spending issues for “the wellbeing of Thai people”. Education Health services Social and old age care Water/flood management infrastructure - engineering/construction Air quality management Road safety

I ... did a quick Google. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/background/index.html This article from early March is an interesting read...below some excerpts which don't 100% state "it's flu" but the message is clear. Data in the link indicates that flu deaths are now similar COVID deaths for 23-24, and as the CDC openly state, it is probable that flu deaths are/have been understated for several years now. This is not to downplay the massive impact of COVID during 20-21-22 but merely their opinion on the matter. Below the hospitalisations graph for the period, which show COVID falling to comparable flu-type levels, although the seasonal variations seems different. "The 2023-2024 fall and winter virus season, four years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, provided ongoing evidence of the changing face of respiratory diseases. COVID-19 remains an important public health threat, but it is no longer the emergency that it once was, and its health impacts increasingly resemble those of other respiratory viral illnesses, including influenza and RSV." "As the threat from COVID-19 becomes more similar to that of other common respiratory viruses, CDC is issuing Respiratory Virus Guidance, rather than additional virus-specific guidance. This brings a unified, practical approach to addressing risk from a range of common respiratory viral illnesses, such as influenza and RSV, that have similar routes of transmission and symptoms and similar prevention strategies."