Seneque

The french call it 'Poisons de Avril' or Apiril Fish day

That fits in with sudfficency day

Throw them a fish.

Just a small correction

''Poisson d'avril''

Poison in french is the same as in english ...

the tradition is (was?) to hang a paper fish (fortunately not a real one!) at the back of people's shirt without them being aware of it ...

For a broader picture it is perhaps about time something serious is done about Burma (not myanmar for me) as their citizens looking for survival are more desperate than ever and threaten the whole south-east asian countries

"LAWA" ? ... does not sound very french to me

Agree with previous post ... these foreigners making fool of themselves are not helping the rest of the community.

However wishing him well

''The French are league leaders in two categories and mid table in a third and nobody bashes them ...''

You did bashed them in rugby last night ! ... and deservely so ...

Green move, green venture, green technology, green engineers ...

More men in green ...?!

Ain't that the way we call army personnel (remember Chavalit's green isarn ..)

Hope all this green will turn the future into pink ...

Thailand tourism recovery seen ahead of schedule ...

then 2008, 1.7M less than 2007 ...

then first 2 months 2009 a drop of 38.5% compare to same months in 2008

I't quite amusing to see how when you just read the title of the song, it does not sound the same as when you hear it.

I wish them the best for 3rd and 4th quarter but the whole world will have to recover fast to please Mr. Anake.

Could we then hope for a reduction of the monthly fees ... which are way over board considering the quality of the programs proposed ... (in my area no other choices .... cable is not an option !)

Bank of Thailand (BoT) had intervened to stabilize the baht's value

Thailand’s economic fundamentals, which are currently much stronger than in 1997 when the economic crisis erupted

If economic fundamentals are strong (?) then why the BOT find it necessary to intervene ... ?

Thailand is a violent country Thais kill Thais all the time Farang just don't see it ............

Most Farang don't understand Thailand .......

TKT !... I thought it was TLT (Thais love Thais) ...?!

... and most Thais don't know (and therefore don't understand) farangs

The fine for fleeing the scene is .... 400 bt !!

A few days ago a guy driving a pick up hit my car on the side, backed up and fled ... I had time to write down his licence plate number, went to the police station and they tracked him down ... My insurance will not let him go easily as well ...

Condoleances to the family of this unfortunate tourist ...

They will get this guy for sure as his car is probably damaged and he will have to go somewhere to fix it (unless he does it himself)

The Thai Commercial Bank was checking if all the cards had been used

Never heard of this bank ?! have you ...

October, November and December they may have stolen Bt30 million

This means about 10 mil a week (they stay a week per month)... and the banks don't react ... quite strange. My bank call up when my credit card is used outside of thailand... as a matter of security for the bank ...

I guess with 140 fake cards they can get away with it ... but no longer

Will a weaker Baht help the economy?

You're a rice buyer, you need 500 ton of rice. A cheaper Baht won't make you buy more, you will just pay cheaper.

Now you're a tourist, you have a budget of $1,000. The more Baht you have for your dollars, the more you will spend, in Baht term of course, but that's what's important for the local economy.

So you may agree that a weaker Baht won't (in the short term) help exports, but it sure will help the local tourist-based economy.

I am in the export business. My two main competitors are Indonesia and Vietnam. In 2003 the average for the baht was 207 IDR and 387 VND. So far in 2009 the average is 330 IDR and 513 VND. The baht has strengthened considerably against these 2 currencies. If they weakened the baht to be competitive with these two currencies again I would have a dramatic increase in business. I know this for a fact because I am still getting inquiries from new customers asking me to compete on price with vietnam and indonesia. They like my quality better but the price difference makes most go for the lower price even when I only take a 10% profit.

You are right ... we have to compare what is comparable. The exact same product manufactured in Vietnam and Thailand is way cheaper in Vietnam ... I used to manufacture in Thailand, i moved to Vietnam ... simple solution ... exchange value of the currency is in favor of Vietnam. Thailand is losing when the currency is not in line with their main competitors (i could also mention the cost of manpower but this is for another time)

I don't see any particular reason why the PM should be worry about Thailand's image. To me basically everything is the same as it was many years ago ... (remember those days when soldiers were killing Thai citizen in the streets ...) Is the PM rather more worry to the fact that people nowadays are not more educated but simply are more informed ...? And for that very reason the powers that be are more bound to be scrutinized on their actions.

I believe the general anxiety Thai people are confronted with comes from the fact that an era is ending and politicians/businesses want to be in a 'power' position when this will happen.

I don’t believe the image of Thailand overseas is a real concern for the PM. Furthermore foreign countries wherever they are have more problems of their own now than to care about the well being of Thailand

The Thai central bank study showed no positive relationship on export growth or potential deriving from a weaker currency

Sorry about that mr. & mrs. central bank ... but if there is no import content into your export ... a weaker currency will DEFINITELY be a positive factor ...

However i think this new comment from the central bank (and there seems to be more and more these days) is a clear sign that they won't allow the baht to depreciate ... only time will tell if it was a good or a bad choice ...

They're... they're EVERYWHERE!!!

That is why i would rather ask :"is there a place around Chiangmai where Thais live" ... after 20 yrs in chiangmai it seems that all my thai neighbors are leaving to make way for foreigners ... I just wonder where do they go ?

Crackdown (of the week) in order for the US to upgrade Thailand from 'priority watchlist' to 'watchlist' ... so the people are urged to help ??!!

These 'democrats' are a disappointing bunch and their vision (if any) of the future is blurred ... just like the cigarette, the gun, the odd breast, etc... the government puritanism is fake and the people are blamed.

Warnings are everywhere, together with a substantial fine if you burn whatever... anyway total lack of enforcement means people do not care and burn ... and this is frustrating. But this year will probably be one of the driest ever, so the dangers are real.

I don't this idea is so bad. Give some cash to poor people. Yes, they will spend it because they have to. Suggest to stores to lower their prices to spur demand. This is contrary to the Thai tendency to raise prices when there is lower demand. Maybe they are just making a friendly suggestion and educative nudge.

Another good way to stimulate the Thai economy is to temporarily radically reduce the financial requirements for new retirement visas and also temporarily allow retirees to buy small plots of land to buy houses. New household formations are very stimulative. So if Thailand could attract a million new foreign retirees that is potentially a million new households, that could create 5 million Thai jobs.

Yes, it seems reasonable and very easy to implement, but unfortunately i do not think they will go any further than the actual 'condominium' law in regards to foreigners. Land in Thailand is for Thais only that is what being insecure means.

Why is the PM threatening to use tear gas ... he should rather be 'threatening' to use parliament dissolution (with a time table) and yellow / red / and others (who are majority) could start thinking and working at a legitimate futur

And the government will credit the stores loss of income ? ...

Anybody know the what the rationale is behind these changes ? 5555555555555555555 Stupid question I know !

Quite simply, Its all about the money..!!!!!

Yes but probably not what you think as in over 20 years i never had to pay the so-called tea-money (perhaps having all the documents in order helps). The extension is 1900bt, they probably want to make sure to collect this from their 'local' foreigners preventing them going to another office.

Have you seen the sign at the airport :

Welcome to crackdown land !

I just wonder what will happen to the relations between the UK, Japan, eventually the US (if the report is confirmed) when Mr. T. be again prime minister of this country (sometimes dreams, not mine, come through) ...

Do like Singapore does ... It is forbidden by law to breed mosquitoes !

I suppose a loan is not the same as a gift!... so what are the implications on top of the fact that Thailand will have to pay back (despite zero interest rates ... with a possible depreciation of the baht on the way ... it might be costly to pay back if the yen maintains its firmness).

Japanese companies to build the project, Japanese equipments to be used (at what costs?), Japanese manpower (for management), etc.... is this part of the 220 billions this government wants to borrow to 'stimulate' the economy for Thais’ benefit ?

I believe development of infrastructures is essential for the future of Thailand, only if Thai companies are involved other than being just providers of workers ... which are probably going to be mostly from neighboring countries...

Hope we will get more info on this. However as most news here, there is rarely any follow up on the announcement