monkeycountry

Mus so nice being the PTP government. They try to sell rice at 50% over market price, and the baht has fluctuated less than 10%. However, since none of the red shirts understand the concept of "percentage", the PTP can tell them anything, and still get their votes :-)

Be fair, at least they are trying to do something positive - remember the saying some you win some you lose - let's not change it to become "some you lose, some you lose!"

Like the tourist police? Please tell me how they have protected tourists from the thugs that run the jet ski operation in Patong? The government can't even control the taxi cartel or get the airport bus up and running in Phuket.

The government IS the taxi cartel. Their boss is the Mayor of Patong's son!

“Phuket, Samui, Pattaya and Chiang Mai all have the same kind of problems, which seem to be increasing.”

Dunno about the other places, but on Samui according to both local Thai business/hotel owners and their customers, the only problem is the Thai taxi mafia. This small group are behind the vast majority of complaints from the tourists, behind a large proportion of the crimes and scams committed, behind most traffic jams, and none of them have ever paid any taxes. Yet they are always the ones complaining about everyone else.

I urge the authorities to make a survey on Samui, amongst registered voters only, and ask what they think is a bigger problem? The Thai taxis on Samui, or the problems mentioned in the OP?

Innocent until proven guilty!

Did anybody think that this at least could be a drummed-up charge?

He is a cop. The accuser is a noodle vendor. Could there be a grudge?

The victim was not alone. Her alleged boyfriend got out halfway between Rayong and BKK - Pattaya?

Never reported the incident for how long?

She is a poor woman (literally - to quote some), yet, instead of a bus she goes by taxi?

Taxi driver name/photo is on display in the car. Would you rape a passenger under such circumstances?

51 yo +second job - he should be a superman to be capable of a rape!

He lives in BKK, yet 'rapes' her in a 'room'? Hotel?

Could it be that she didn't have the money to pay him?

Could it be that she offered him to pay by providing sex?

Could she 'cook-up' the charge to get money?

Could her employer, her boyfriend be in on this with her?

Or these sort of things only happen to innocent Farangs?

I'm not saying I am right. But give the poor sod a benefit of a doubt. Stop acting on a scent like a bloodthirsty pack of... What is wrong with you, people?

Did you not read the part about him running away? People who flee are usually guilty. The only acceptable reason for fleeing is if you are in danger of being attacked, which is not the case here.

Amazing how one incident of a reprehensible crime brings forth broad generalizations and negativity upon an entire nation.

Notice this sort of sentiment only applies to "third world" nations.

Why does everyone have a comment about this being a "third world" country when the sale of new cars here last year was higher than most western countries, Look around you iphones, ipads, laptops, tablet computers coming into schools, new motorbikes in nearly every house, new shopping malls being built in every city, McDonalds, KFC, Swensens and the rest of the ever growing chains, the country has changed 10 fold over the last 5 years, but then again it must be difficult to see all this with your blinkers securey fitted.

The amount of sales does not change a country from being third world in most peoples opinion. Improvements on corruption, democracy, human rights, education etc. does!

JEEEEZZ !! Does this mean that most taxis and tuk tuks could be potential policemen in disguise ?? ..... Ah, Sure ! .... how stupid.... that's why the taxi/tuktuk mafia in phuket walks free...

Actually that is because the taxi mafia's boss is the son of the mayor of Patong, but that is another story!

Personally I am surprised the Phuket authorities have not yet allowed the taxi mafia to pick up the passengers inside the airplane. Afterall they have complied with every single demand from the taxi mafia so far.

"but I also need to ensure fair service is provided to customers"

I urge anyone to mention just one thing that Phuket officials have ever done to ensure fairness to (taxi) customers?

“We have about 250 members who all want to work legally under the conditions laid out by AOT"

By legally,does he mean using a meter?

PM Yingluck told us indirectly at the recent international meeting, that she could not care less about elephants., and had no intention to do anything to save them. At least she seems to stick to her promise!

The "give the guy a chance and come back in 12 months" approach has been tried 100 times already

Would you care to give an example or 100?

I see where you are coming from. I really do; however, were the government to do nothing, you'd all be in a fury...

At least - even though it may be persiflage - there is something being done, means that they are at least aware of the 'ploblem'...?

Please tell me you remember various ministers promising to eradicate corruption (Chalerm), traffic jams (not sure who), floods (may have been Yingluck), poverty (Thaksin) etc. in 6 months. I am sure google will give many more examples that I have currently forgotten.

I agree of course that everyone is aware there is a problem, incl. the officials. I do not think they care though as more often than not, they benefit financially from the same problems, or at least the problems do not affect them.

In order to put some pressure on the officials, why not ask them to come up with a list of problems they can fix quickly so they can prove themselves this month instead of in 12 months? This way they also have a chance to step down and let someone else try next month, in case they fail. Afterall I assume they are working for the public interest, so if they fail to meet their own targets they will resign on their own.

Reg. your comment that IF the government did nothing we would all be in a fury, I hope you understand that we are many who believe the government IS doing nothing, which would warrant the mentioned fury!

If you hired a guy to fix your aircon but he kept saying he would come tomorrow you would eventually fire him. If the next guy did the same you would fire him too, most likely a bit faster than the last guy. After having tried several aircon repair guys who all told you they would fix it tomorrow, you would and should change your approach to the problem. Not just keep saying. "Lets see if this next random guy will show up within the next 12 months".

Give the guy a bloody chance. Come back and slay him all you like if nothings changed in 6-12 months but he deserves a fair go and the opportunity to back up his words.

That's far too logical/sensible.

You can't let the Thai Visa membership lose a chance to let their 'wisdom' and 'political awareness' of how 'Thailand works' pass by....

The "give the guy a chance and come back in 12 months" approach has been tried 100 times already, and the result so far is always the same - nothing changes except the guys wealth.

Would one not be an idiot to keep using that approach?

Were there nothing being done, you'd all be whining. Now someone is given a job to do and is talking about positive action, you're all still whining.

Go have a think about it....really...

Ask yourself this. Why did he not come up with an specific problem, an actual solution and a timeframe? We have to assume of course, given his new title, he knows alot about the specific tourism related problems and has actual solutions. Otherwise why would anyone give him the job in the first place?

Imagine if a new CEO of Apple in his initial speech said "Well, I think we should just do as Samsung, it seems to work for them!"

Blimey! So many 'experts' coming out if the woodwork! I can hear the barstools wobbling in disgust...

Give the fella a chance at least.

At least he seems to know there ARE problems which need to be addressed...

That alone for me, is a good start....

Notice that "the fella" is simply mentioning that Thailand should do as japan. Well, what is that then? My guess is he has no clue what Japan is doing, and that he will never bother to find out either.

The problem with the nice approach of giving everyone a chance to prove themselves is that it takes too long time. And when the time comes for evaluation of his performance, he will be promoted to somewhere else, where he gets another few years to talk alot but do nothing.

There are plenty of improvements that could be implemented in a week, if someone was sincere about fixing the problems. Why not demand immediate results from all new officials, and if they fail to perform, ask them to step down, so no more time is wasted?

Notice also in the real world (large private companies) newly appointed CEO's are appointed because they have already proven themselves in their previous job - and have relevant qualifications. They are not appointed randomly and then given a chance, as that could, and probably would, end up very costly.

Blimey! So many 'experts' coming out if the woodwork! I can hear the barstools wobbling in disgust...

Give the fella a chance at least.

At least he seems to know there ARE problems which need to be addressed...

That alone for me, is a good start....

Notice that "the fella" is simply mentioning that Thailand should do as japan. Well, what is that then? My guess is he has no clue what Japan is doing, and that he will never bother to find out either.

The problem with the nice approach of giving everyone a chance to prove themselves is that it takes too long time. And when the time comes for evaluation of his performance, he will be promoted to somewhere else, where he gets another few years to talk alot but do nothing.

There are plenty of improvements that could be implemented in a week, if someone was sincere about fixing the problems. Why not demand immediate results from all new officials, and if they fail to perform, ask them to step down, so no more time is wasted?

Blimey! So many 'experts' coming out if the woodwork! I can hear the barstools wobbling in disgust...

Give the fella a chance at least.

At least he seems to know there ARE problems which need to be addressed...

That alone for me, is a good start....

I guess, by your attitude, that everyone criticizing these things sitting drunk in a bar, that are here for quiet a while.

How many times, did you hear things, similar to this, gave it a "fair chance" and in the end were dissapointed?

Let me guess: 99%?

Smile- things might be worse!

So I smiled...and things got worse!

No Doc,I'm having a pop at people who whine endlessly about such things as 'jetski scams' etc, and then when we actually see a positive move by the powers, they still whine like pigs...

"and then when we actually see a positive move by the powers"

Are you referring to any specific positive moves by the powers? I do recall alot of positive talk over the years, especially from newly appointed officials, but no actual positive moves.

What Mr. Somsak Pureesrisak said: I will promote tourism safety

What Mr. Somsak Pureesrisak was thinking when he said the above: I wonder how big my share of the 2 trillion baht infrastructure loan will be?

The good news is, the developer can't just leave it for years this time, as we saw after 97, as the adjacent building can't be used until the tilted one has been fixed - and I assume the owner wants a return on his project.
On the other hand, I assume both buildings have been built with similar foundations, or lack thereof, so count me out as a tenant in either building :-)

A few years ago whilst staying in a CNX gh , a huge 'skinhead' type Serbian did a runner owing a months rent. He had used a photocopy of his passport.

The landlady reported it. Two days later Immigration and 'others' turned up and checked her records. They said the guy was on thier wanted list and made her promise to submit a detailed guest list everyday. Which she faithfully honoured.

A guy would come round each morning, collect yesterdays form and leave a new form to be filled in.

Months later after returning from Laos, in the same gh, reception where called by the consulate asking to speak to me (family emergency-go home asap). The consulate had found me via the guest reporting system and so I was able to say goodbye to my farther.

This system is priceless for safety and emergencies. It should be strictly enforced.

Most people have a mobile phone these days, so your family (if you have any) could have called you direct, unless of course you change your number when travelling and forget to give them the new number. Email works for many too, provided that one checks email regularly (daily).

Some people don't inform their family of contact options when travelling, but that is their problem, and everyone else should not be punished for it.

Imagine you come into a bank. Some guys with masks are openly emptying the volt for cash (the PTP). One of the customers are trying to steal a wristwatch from one of the other customers (the DP). Next the DSI comes in, sees what is going on and decided to forget the guys robbing the bank, and instead jump the guy trying to steal the wristwatch :-)

It is a shame and I feel sad for the farmers trying to make a living and also people having to sell their livestock.

It seems that the people in power of these issues only report the problem and actually do nothing about solving it.

As a foreigner there is really nothing we can do about it. (Or is there? Im not sure?) It is a big problem for Thailand so therefore it is a shame that the problem falls on the Thai people trying to make a living. From what I have seen they work really hard to make that living, the farmers that is.

I wish there is a way to help these kind of isues!

Don't forget that these same farmers are knowingly enriching themselves by protesting in order to force the PTP government to buy their rice at 50% above market price. The farmers know of course that the tax payers will lose a lot of money this way, but not one of them has suggested that the pledging price should be lowered to reflect the market and thereby ease the burden on the tax payers.

Since the PTP government has clearly sided with the farmers, I for one welcome this drought, as it seems to be the only way to at least partly prevent the rice pledging scam.

"The government's rice price-pledging scheme has encouraged millions of farmers to plant extra crops in the off-season, hoping to cash in on the populist programme. Unfortunately, as the paddy starts to grow in the hot season, many of these farmers might be unable to harvest their extra crop because the water supply is insufficient."

My suggestion is that when the farmers start blocking roads blaming the government for their problems, the PTP ask the farmers to simply inform authorities how much rice they INTENDED to pledge, and then pay the farmers for that. This way drought and flood problems will be eliminated. Thailand will not lose much more money than it already does, as the currently pledged rice is not sold or used anyway, so might as well be imaginary rice. Imaginary rice also cost alot less to store and transport.

In my opinion the tourist police is even worse than the real police. They don't behave any worse, but unlike the real police, the tourists are under the false impression that the tourist police is actually there to help them, not the Thais, when disputes arise. This means, in case of a scam (jetski, taxi or whatever) the tourists are unaware that the tourist police are in on the scam and get a share of the take after they have told the tourists that they should just pay up!

I am sure the tourist police do help out with minor matters once in a while, but weighing the upsides and downsides, I think the tourists would be better off overall, if the tourist police was abolished, or at least renamed "translators", which is one of their few useful functions.

That is incorrect.

Before if you wanted to transfer from your kbank account to another bank in Thailand, you had to add the account, print the page, go to the branch, provide few dozen documents, and then that account would be added for you to make transfers.

Few months ago, they made it more of a real Internet Banking, where you simply add the account and make the transfer.

International fund transfer is so new that none of the branches have any idea what and how it works.

You still need to add account, that account in another country can ONLY be in your name, then go to the branch with a few page form, then in the branch you get countless dirty looks because no one knows what to do, then if you lucky, they will call call center who will advise them to take all documents and fax it.

After its faxed, you will get few more phone calls asking for additional papers and eventually if you lucky, it gets approved, HOWEVER your account in Thailand and account in your home country must be identical name. So if here you have Alexander, it must be the same in your home country.

If for example account in your home country is Alex, instead of Alexander, it can not be approved, because local banks do not comprehend that its the same name, just shortened.

Back to OP, point is large transactions are done with the cheque

As i said before, i rent one premises with the said family and it was made very clear at the time of signing the lease for cheque to be made out and the name of the person. This is even stated in the contract.

I had to get 2 cheques, because the amount was high enough that if deposited into the bank, bank must notify revenue department (or something along the lines), so they asked for 2 cheques in 2 different names.

Lawyer was present, everything was professional and very pleasant.

After signing, we all went for a cup of coffee and since then, i have never had any hassles with that family.

Sometimes, i pay rent late by a week or so, but they never call or remind or anything.

If have a problem with something, i call them, and someone comes out same or next day and we agree on who pays for what.

I note other posters are arguing the transfer issues, so I will leave that for you guys to discuss. Apparently it works for some and not for others.

The reason the mentioned family wants 2 smaller cheques that the bank does not have to report to the revenue department, and the reason they want them issued to different individuals instead of a company account, is simply because they are cheating the revenue department. Any shred of professionalism is gone right there. If playing by the rules, you would also have to deduct 5% withholding tax from the rental payment and pay the amount to the revenue department as prepaid income tax on behalf of the family.

Big restaurants and hotels etc. do not run around with a trolley in Macro, they have food delivered to them by truck from one of the many wholesale food supply companies - and pay their bills once a month. Bars too, even smaller ones, have alcohol, soft drinks, ice etc. delivered by truck, they do not buy it in Macro, you must have seen that many times in Pattaya with it's many bars.

Actually I have seen some staff (and owners!) of fairly high-profile Pattaya restaurants shoving a huge trolley around Makro on occasions. Though clearly the same places do also have deliveries as you mention.

I can fully understand that deliveries of perishables or supermarket shopping would often involve cash payments (given the here-today-gone-today nature of many Pattaya businesses anything else would be surprising), but I doubt that the same places pay their rent in cash, unless there is something dodgy about the rental price. And I see no reason for any of them to pay their electricity bill in cash any more than I do.

I am sure you are right reg. small or medium sized family run places, they probably use a mix of deliveries and Macro as you mention. By big restaurants and hotels I meant the kind where the owner(s) are not actually sitting in the lobby running it on a daily basis and where the accounts department is not the same as the cashier. Think Central, Dusit, Hilton, Sheraton, Amari, Fuji, Mk etc. The kind of places where daily food supplies simply do not fit in a shopping cart from Macro, no matter how big it is. These kinds of places also do not suffer from the mentioned "here today gone tomorrow" issues, and have no problem getting the suppliers to accept monthly payment.

Anyway, I think we basically agree!

You say,who wants to holiday in England? The answer is,most of the world.It seems all of the world wants to visit England and no one wants to go back to their own country. England is a great place. When I tell people I am from england they always say the same thing,"You are lucky".

Even though we are ruled by a bunch of anti-british politicians (I mean Cameron,the Lib/Dem Con and the establishment)the indigenous people are sharp,modern and very intelligent. We are lucky to live in such a well organised country.Such a beautiful country,too.Could it be that people envy us!

Isn't England the place with never ending rain and grey skies? (At least it is in most movies :-)