whitfield

I think they should allow anyone to come in provided they are prepared to quarantine in government nominated hotels for 14 days.  Government should select different levels of accommodation so that people can choose what level of comfort they require.  The customer will of course pay, but hopefully at an "at cost" rate.  Then those that really want to visit can do so.

2 hours ago, Pinot said:

This isn't promising to hear from a business that owes me B40000 for cancelled flights. I imagine my equity position is somewhere near the bottom of the dumpster

 

You should be so lucky, I've been waiting 7 weeks for 180,000 Baht!!

11 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

So it's hitting the big boys pockets... Time for action !!

I don't think it's hitting his pockets.  Makro and 7/11 the only stores never to close!!

Thais will reopen when they want.  Already most of the shops in Cha Am are open.

Yeh right, you think the local booze store isn't going to open the back door!!

It's okay they've all been to the temple and they now have immunity.

It's not arrivals from abroad that is the problem, it's social distancing.  One irresponsible carrier can infect the whole country.  Shutting borders won't help but shutting off social interraction, the BTS, confining people to their homes etc will effectively stop it.  But is that level of intervention really necessary to prevent people getting a nasty cough and a couple of days fever?

The table at the top says all we needed to know about the figures.  177 cases, 135 in hospital and 41 recovered and 1 dead.  So there's absolutely nobody wandering around with mild symptoms.  They hospitalise all who test positive.  Or maybe just 6000 odd like the guy at Lumpini Stadium and the situation is already like Korea.  I guess we'll never know.

If they seriously want to weaken the baht they can simply remove the ridiculous import duties on products like wine and cars.  This would have an immediate effect on the current account and would enable Thais to benefit from their improving economy.

35 minutes ago, colinsmallman said:

Been to Thanachart Bank today to send money back to UK. No change in the rules, still require full paper trail of where the money originated from outside Thailand before you can send it back. Does any body know how to send 1.5million baht back to UK without tor tor 3 paperwork?

Just find 2 retired expats from your country who live here and sell them your baht.  They will transfer money from their bank to yours in home country.  It's a win win as you use spot rate for the exchange.  They all need to show 800,000 Baht at some point.

It's going to be tricky to get Health Insurance for my Mum, aged 88 years, with Alzheimer's.

The average age of expats is about to reduce.

Does this apply for Thai's, surely their biometric data is stored in their passports?

I first flew Thai in about 1990.  I used to fly frequently with them but in that time their service has remained completely unchanged.  None of the innovations that other airlines offer have been adopted by Thai.  Take off, pour the drinks, get the meal over and done with and disappear.   That was okay when they charged more or less what other airlines charged but now their Business Class is about 50% more on nearly all routes.  It's substandard and expensive.  They could improve profitability at a stroke if they just asked the customers, but sadly they don't have any anymore!

7 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

He started slowing down and just drifted left and off the road?  ????

Look at it again he's hard on the brakes.

6 years ago I went to Bangkok Hospital for a full check-up.  Just as I was leaving the hospital the doctor came rushing up and asked me to go back to her surgery.  She showed me the x ray and said she didn't like the look of a shadow on the lungs.  Could I see the chest specialist.  I went down to see him and he said:  Ah. Mr Vine, I'm afraid you have TB or lung cancer.  We need to do an MRI to determine which it is.

I spent 4 hours regretting every spliff I'd ever smoked and then when the results came through there was nothing on the image.  In my view his behaviour was nothing if not totally unprofessional.  I strongly suspect they just wanted another 15,000 Baht for the scan.

4 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Myself and a bunch of others would have used it, if it allowed motorcycles on it. Much quicker and easier to get to Krabi/Phuket (and back) instead of trying to navigate around Bangkok.

 

We have coastal ferries in BC that service small towns along the Straights of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. The smallest boat can handle 12 cars and 95 passengers/crew:

 

The next largest ones can handle around 26 cars and 150 passengers/crew (to Canadian Safety Standards I might add).

Both are "ro-ro" boats (roll on - roll off). Basically means you drive on at one end and straight off at the other.

When I first heard they were going to start such a service I was hoping they'd use something similar to these boats, even if they said no to cars (because of where they were docking) but allowed motorcycles. 12 cars (capacity) probably equals nearly 70 scooters.

Basically the same kind of ferry they use on the Koh Chang run (but hopefully in better condition). 

 

Alas it twas not to be. Strictly a passenger ferry from one coastal city to another. Might have been better to make a Pattaya (or Sattahip) route to Samui/Surat Thani instead so people could get to/from that area to Pattaya (or visa versa) easier.
But that would be a long ferry ride (420 kms as the lame duck flies) !
 

A ferry such as in the pictures would probably have a top speed of about 12 knots.  It would take 5 hours plus to get there.