Sydebolle

The surge on "e-payments" has a different background, if you ask me. It has to do also with Thailand's retail industry being disinterested, untrained, incoherent in pricing and you sometimes get the feeling, that you're disturbing the retail staff (on their smartphone) with your enquiry on something! 

For argument's sake; call a shop and ask, if they carry X, Y or Z. You may even know, that they carry the product but you want to enquire, if that product is in stock or what the product costs now.

In 99 out of 100 cases you will either asked to:
- repeat your enquiry by using text through LINE (MegaHome, GlobalHouse)
- stay online forever (Boonthavorn, Central Dept Store) until the line drops
- or they say "yes, have" (Tops Supermarket) just to get you off the phone. Latter has resulted, more than once, in visiting the store just to hear that this product has been out of stock for months without any reordering intention. The staff (I always ask for the staff's name) who gave you the wrong information is on "lunch break" or "gone home for the day".

On simpler, day-to-day items it happened with shaving cream and toothpaste (Lotus's), deodorant sticks (Big C Extra) and tampons (both Watson and Booths) for the Missus. And no, I speak fluent Thai and it is not a linguistic failure. 

I gave up quite some time ago and the consequence today is, that I order anything available online ....... online and that invokes an "e-payment". Only fresh food items are sourced in stores; latter is available online as well but a) I have the time to shop myself and b) I can choose not to take the most rotten piece off the shelf. 

Bottomline is, I get EXACTLY the product I want without wasting my time and get it delivered to my doorstep. On top of it the product usually costs less (despite postage) as the inefficient, unfriendly and incompetent retail trade is cut out completely! 

Can you imagine, Somchai the police man typing up - with two fingers - a police report on the posthumous charge on trespassing and attempted rape? 

The lady might face an uphill battle with such police force representatives and the fact, that both the police and the courts are male dominated. All the while, the deceased's family seems to be of the opinion, that all this was "good riddance". Congrats go to the eventually charged lady; she brought yet another stellar career of Khon Thai to a screeching halt while also ensuring, that he will never ever again consider raping and trespassing - irrespective of Somchai's report 😉

Get realistic. Compare apples with apples and statistics of this kind should exclude small children and elder folks. If you apply the age window of 16 to 50, you're pretty spot on. Yes, there is the illegal less than 16 years old and some beyond 45 don't want to leave the trade - but you covered most of it. 

Then you will see, that the percentage is considerably higher and, given the fact, that there is a house of ill repute literally everywhere in this country you can take it to the bank, that Thailand is among the top three. 

Legalize the trade, don't just ignore it away as absolutely everybody in the land knows, that prostitution and corruption are both the backbone of many, many millions of Baht ......... me thinks! 

I met girls without the burden of children born out of wedlock, who were simply too lazy to work a "normal" job. Their iPhone-mania, their solid gold necklaces, motorbikes for brothers and pick-up trucks for the uncles, fathers etc. - all on installments of course - were overriding elements in their materialism driven by monetary greed second to none. Hence legalize it or - even promote it through the TAT. Maybe not what the average country would do but see the cannabis legalization .......... 

On 5/1/2024 at 10:22 AM, Irish star said:

Bla bla bla , you jealous , you never got s green card 55556

Correct, I do not sit on a green card as I neither needed nor wanted one - what for? 

Freedom of speech - Thai version! 

Why not counter react if this bloke's statement are wrong? Just asking for a friend 😉 

Legally you cannot keep any security deposit against rent payments ahead of you. In all practicality I always did it - after my first landlord shortchanged three months deposit in the 80s with the explanation "cannot find new tenant". 

Yes, they complain, phone and do but Thailand's mills rotate slowly and the amount in question does not justify legal approach. So just inform the landlord, that you will settle all the outstanding utility bills at the end of the contract but there is no more rental money going his way. As a particular good reason the refusal to comply with governmental instructions (TM30 etc.) suits you perfectly well. 

And, should you be "frightened" with a visit of some of his friends (in uniform or so) then you can tell them to take a hike! Legally you would have to be presented with a court ruling to pay - and that takes without any doubts - years! Good luck! 

Golf, to me (and I do not play golf) is a quiet, relaxing pastime - how do roaring engines of extended-range-aircraft fit into this equation?

The Air Force never bought the land as the government cannot buy land from the government. So based on what financial investment did they base their calculation?

Last not least, neither Air Force nor the Airport Authorities of Thailand are in golf clubs, membership et al. One is to defend the Kingdom from the air, the other one has to ensure that those zillions of travelers, tourists and cargo tons can get airlifted into and from Thailand.

If any of these goons in uniforms want to play golf, then why not do it like ALL the others in this country; subscribe to a golf course, pay green fees and caddies (without the 19th hole) and stop grabbing and stealing left, right and centre - what a farçe! 

18 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

Wow, yeah, but there are some days in every year the sun is shining bright, air quality excellent, refreshing temperatures all day round.

Or did I dream only???🤗

No, but I've lost my tenants on a yearly basis now ..... all due to haze and smog. I - myself - would have loved to live in Chiang Mai but for known reasons - off limits. 

And for the "nice" time one can still take up "residence" in a nice hotel with all the mod cons - simple as that. 

But it was Anutin's family enterprise which got - co-incidentially of course - awarded the expansion of Swampy during/after Covid already.

Do airports wear off that fast, I mean, we're talking three, four years here? 

Newly appointed tourism minister, Sermsak Pongpanich, though lacking specific tourism experience ........ 

Yet another expert stirring the tourism soup. One day - protect Thailand from over tourism, next day introduce 300 Baht arrival/landing fee, another day cancel TM6 for arrivals/departure by air but not overland, then a year later cancel the TM6 overland as well on a temporary basis. Next you read is expansions of airport to accommodate extra traffic while Korat airport, built for the sake of - most likely very juicy - commissioning, is moving back into the barracks of the Air Force where it had been operated for decades. Betong in the South got a new airport and the tourism experts back in the day did some arm twisting with Nok Air to operate there. After a few weeks of literally empty planes they seized the services without great fanfare. 
Other experts called tourists "dirty farang" and "alien", the rip-offs by cabbies and jet ski operators are standard here, apart from governmentally endorsed two- if not three-tier pricing for admissions to national parks and historical sites - which are rarely visited by the locals anyway. Instead of letting the locals go completely free and hence avoid the pricing discussion, the non-Thai fees are getting jacked up.

So may I conclude, that the appointed Mr Sermsak Pongpanich fits perfectly well into the tourism ministry which has been run by clueless politicians in successive rows while the underlings keep on hammering on the goose which had been laying solid golden and platinum eggs in the past. The writing is definitely on the wall, in big red letters which even gloom at night ......... what a pity! 

This might turn out to be better than any soap opera they usually broadcast nightly at 8.30pm - get the popcorn out! 

Thailand had one of the best airlines 40 years ago, but yeah ...... that was 40 years ago. I have not flown TG for many years as I had it with delays, HiSo-nose-up staff on the ground and in the air apart from being usually the most expensive carrier out of Bangkok. 

Domestically any dog <deleted>-carrier is better than TG and internationally there are so much better alternatives on offer, so why bother - really, why bother? 

They now brushed up the P&L by selling B744 and A380 and will got and buy new toys by whoever offers the biggest kick-backs. Call Rolls-Royce for guidance; they know how to deal with the semi-divine Khon Thais when it comes to selling ........ 

Good luck with that idea ..... me thinks, that Thailand's Cabinet Reshuffle should fuel the possibility of Government Reform ..... 

Now you see him, now you don't!

How can you run a country like that; it is the name card of the country and should be managed by the best possible candidate, irrespective of political alliance. 

But there is hope, in 2027 latest the total reshuffling of (old) cards will happen; lets see

Last time round it was the Russian President Putin, this time they are s1ht-scared about the Chinese leadership in Beijing. 

The US is in itself a failed state for quite some time already and uniting domestic fighters under one umbrella is done easiest by inventing a non-existing foreign enemy. 

China's farewell protocol of Blinken's recent departure was self-explanatory for the fact, that there was not a single Chinese present, neither foreign minister nor cleaners - get the message, Mr Blinken. 

In closing, how poor must the American electorate system be to allow any Tom, Dick and Harry to fiddle around in US internal elections? 

Ordered some plastic screws from China, THB 94 incl. postage.

The following scenario shows the more juicier details of yet another splendid idea on how to finance the three engine-less submarines 😉 

7% VAT is THB 6.58 (or THB 7). In order to "earn" THB 7 tax money, the costs in opening, checking, resealing, delivering, collecting and channel the VAT via Thai post (or courier service) to the Ministry of Finance ........

Yet another royal fart by this most entertaining group of governmental goons and showtime by the clowns of Bangkok's bureaucratic circus! 

And then the Thais are surprised, if the non-Thai crowd has a kind of non-understanding smile on its face 8-) 

Kotchakarot Parthanawong will get a warning, consider financing a few metres of the temple wall and start looking ....... for new Indians 😉 

a significant increase in commercial activity

Now, that's one way of putting it - now the boys drip in and out of sick bay and by the time they hit home, the dripping is over ....... everybody is happy; what more do you want. 

On 4/26/2024 at 6:43 PM, JohnnyBD said:

Does anyone know if SCB or Kasikorn allows you to convert the USD that's in your Thai bank FCD account to your THB acct online, without having to go into the bank, or without having to phone them? I was with Citibank, and I could always convert online, but my accounts were transferred to UOB last week, and they said I would have to come into the bank each time, or do it by phone. UOB doesn't allow online currency conversions. Thanks. 

 

 

Yes, it works with commercial banks like those named or even Stonehenge Bangkok Bank. 

UOB is a different story; had a credit card for 30+ years by Citibank and since UOB took over, literally n nothing works anymore. Well, I had a fraud billing, announced by SMS with a phone number to call in case of fraud. After 17 minutes waiting a lady answered "no sapeak Thai" and cut the line. Went online onto the website; the first 
pop-up on their webpage are the numbers to call in case of fraud, one for Thai and one for English. 32 minutes into the waiting - phone got answered, card blocked and new card announced for "next month". 

No online statement viewable for the time being so it is "wait and see"; I for one would want to keep the card as the paperwork involved to get a credit card from another bank reminds me of Einstein's theories with an avalanche of papers, certificates, blue ink signed copies and hours at the bank. 

But to your question, I am using BKK Bank for a foreign currency deposit account, online through Bualuang Ibanking and it works flawlessly, real time BUT only during office hours of the bank (for whatever reason) ..... 

Well, even he will learn rather sooner than later, that he cannot eat money nor does power last forever.

Yet, absolute power corrupts absolutely - as the saying goes; but we all know that this certainly does not apply to the kind gentleman who took care of watches of his deceased friend as he was not willing to share the details of the widow to avoid more pain over the lost husband. Mysterious are the ways of the East ........ 

What a lucky surprise - sort of a Songkran gift? 

We're all back in business - it seems .......... 

The envelope size is not finally defined yet - me thinks!