Sydebolle

Happy days are here again. One day in jail and next day advising the neighbour in the South in view of ASEAN's challenges. Now how does this look on a resumé .......

Tell the Scandinavians upon arrival that antlers here are not deer which can be haunted - to avoid hunting excursions which otherwise might be offered by the Tourism Authority of Thailand to skyrocket their statistics even more. One in eight Scandinavians shot down a Thai deer with blinking antlers ......... now that would make the world travel news for sure!

These big spenders splash out more than 6,000-7,000 baht daily, far surpassing the average tourist spend of 4,200 baht per day or 120,000 baht per trip. This exclusive club is largely made up of couples, families, and LGBTQ visitors. TAT’s Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, revealed that this exclusive club, largely made up of couples, families, and LGBTQ visitors, contributed a hefty 40-50% of last year’s 2 trillion baht in tourism revenue. TAT’s Siripakorn Cheawsamoot might be delighted to learn, that there is another segment spending obscene amounts of money, namely the upper crust of retiree residents. Some brainless goons in the Finance Ministry floated the idea of taxing retirees on their entire assets they accrued over 45 years of working - resulting in tens of thousands of the better-off to move on. In my circle of friends some 15% to 20% are ready to move away the minute that taxation dream becomes Thai reality; they correctly state that their savings has nothing to do with Thailand as earned, taxed and saved before moving here. The semi-divine simply forgot, that non-Thais of any walk of life, have moved at least once in their lifetime and, wonder over wonder, are able to do that anytime again. There is sun, fun and nothing to do in many other countries with easier entry conditions such as visa, asset ownership and taxation! Meanwhile Siripakorn, "looking" after Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas, will have to live with the fact, that his colleague running South Asia and China is considerably luckier - as far as arrivals are concerned - they come in by the millions and leave a trickling small trail - per capita - compared to the rest of the world. Siripakorn's segment faces two obstacles; one is the immigration under the police under the Ministry of Interior and they - quite obviously - never ever spoke to each other. The thorny way to a long(er) term tourist visa, for instance the entire winter of the Northern hemisphere is a ballistic journey of bureaucracy, photocopies duly signed in only blue ink, photographs of the applicant who may not smile whatsoever on the shots etc. etc. etc. To be ahead of others and remain competitive in the anticipated luxury travel market, Thailand needs to ease some bureaucratic obstacles, upgrade the infrastructure and supply chains - all of which remain persistent weaknesses with no attempt for change in sight. Absolutely unknown remains also, why a tourist cannot open a bank account and get an ATM card. There is zero risk for the bank as the ATM only splurges money as long as there is money on the account. But have it your way and carry on dreaming - or get real and welcome the 21st century of tourism business!

Seriously, I am wondering what kind of excellent weed is smoked by these clowns. The market decides retail pricing which - in many cases - is borderline competitive. The pandemic resulted in a very fast dying retail industry and increasing retail prices is perfect proof of not having the slightest idea of anything. In true Thai fashion dropping revenues (and subsequent profits) is being fought with higher prices; i.e. make the same money with lesser volume and higher prices. Wondering which university is teaching this particular subject of guaranteed back-firing!

Yaaaawwwwnnn ......... a) ensure tax collection across the board, which includes all those cheeky oligarch eliterians b) 35% income tax gives real motivation for "tax planning", hence bring that down to 20% or less c) excise tax is so out of this world which again allows for serious "tax planning" and "dishonest operations" d) the VAT increase from 7% to 15% was and is a joke. Scared off the population for the acceptance without complaining of 10%; this you call psychological warfare e) the Ministry of Finance might also spare a moment in not only tax collection but also tax spending. Any clues on how to recover, i.e. the 300+ billion Baht losses carried forward by Thai Airways International? f) as long as the police and army are running around with converted flame throwers (now being used as money throwers), there is little hope for improvement. In all fairness, look at the jokes of Chinese submarines without engines, the aircraft carrier parked indefinitely for decades in Sattahip with one-day-a-year-duty for the kiddies on the "children's day" as a fun visit. In a recent visit to Nong Khai I saw not only one but two by-passes which had one thing in common - they were both completely empty. In short, you make money not only in optimizing fair collection but also in careful and common-sense orientated spending. This sacred Ministry proved over decades, that both the collection and spending are absolutely not under control. g) in order to fight the inferiority complex against the West, the government floated the idea of arrival taxing of each and every traveller landing in la la la land. At the same time, the very same gifted brainless goons floated the idea of taxing retirees on their entire assets they accrued over 45 years of working - resulting in tens of thousands of the better-off to move on. The semi-divine simply forgot, that all those aliens, dirty farangs and whatever they call them have moved at least once in their lifetime and, wonder over wonder, are able to do that anytime again. To wrap it up, yet another useless Ministry run by absolute morons and not having achieved anything to the betterment of Thailand or the up keeping of reputation and economic position the country once had - how sad 😞

1,000,000 Baht for 483 kilogrammes? That accounts to 2,000+ Baht per kilogramme - Kerry might have moved it cheaper - me thinks! Shoot the messenger boys (quite right so) but the source remains in the sticks of somewhere in lalala land and will re-surface only at the next haul. Did anyone forget to pay off the "highway tolls" as this weight/volume hardly fits into the usual supermarket plastic bag, or am I wrong here again?

Deputy Mayor Wuttisak Reumkitcharoen has no other fish to fry? The corruption can be stopped within 30 minutes, install a CCTV camera and make it crystal clear, that anyone getting caught gets not only the 15 minutes of fame but will be on TV, with name and clear picture, court case and a guaranteed slammer for no less than five years without parole. Would work wonders and bring the world's most corrupt "family seaside resort" - so inadequately worrying about its pristine and untainted reputation - to a screeching halt. Of course it will not happen as all those goons and clowns in the planet's biggest circus called Thailand are all a part of the show and on the take - after all - take while the taking is good!

Wondering, if the joy would be equal, if someone would sell ice cream in summer somewhere in Europe to the passing public dressed as a Buddhist monk. The Thai embassy in that country would go over the moon for sure!

Well, after 40 years in the realm I know of own experience, that what you say is possible but not the norm. Landlords make money whenever and wherever they can. Every condominium gets a house register and a land title deed which qualifies for an electricity meter (MEA or PEA) and a water meter. Some lessors though have an individual meter installed in front of each condominium but get one master bill for the whole building; due to the progressive charging not always a good idea. But what comes in handy is the 380V/3P hook-up with a TOU, a digital meter noting consumption by time as well. From 6am to 10pm the charges are 4 Baht/unit, 10pm-6am as well as holidays and weekends are low-tariffed at 1 Baht/unit. As most air conditioners run at night, the house estate/condominium building owners make a killing on that. In a 10 houses gated compound the savings were a hefty 60,000 Baht/month, the costs for street lighting and swimming pool already deducted.

Tarnishing the country's image - what kind of image if I may ask?

How many hundreds of thousands of women thought that they would not get pregnant if bedding Somchai from the same village and once she's pregnant he makes a runner. Never heard of a girl taking the father of her child to the cleaners, so she is left behind with no financial child support, has to wheel in money for granny or auntie looking after the offspring while having lost face in the village on top of it. Younger women had it with these chauvinists while bonding with a non-Thai is still, in many cases, a no no. So they rather enjoy friends with benefits (more popular among the non-Thai crowd), one night stands etc. - educated enough to prevent pregnancies and since the Thai family structures are falling apart also, the grannies and aunties are no longer a given option. Last not least, providing children with a proper education beyond fancy uniforms comes at a premium and is not on top of the priority list of expenses compared to smart phones, motorbikes, cars and whatever-else the 21st century marketing goons have in store for them ..... go figure!

Quality over quantity - an old formula which remains valid to this day. Thailand is, like neighbouring Laos and Cambodia, the living proof that they have not understood that message. So keep the good work up and attract more zero-dollar tourists, cheap and cheapest South Asians while brainwashing the semi-divine Khon Thai that they are the next best thing besides sliced bread!

Are you serious - I am surrounded by "not in the mood" people once it comes to work. Spending money (they mostly don't have but borrowed or credit-carded) though is a completely different ball game 😉

The next domino stone fell. Norman Schwartzkopf warned Bush already 30+ years ago what would happen, if the local chieftains would be taken out of their golden palaces and thrones. Nobody listened to Schwarztkopf and the recent history proved him spot on! It all started with Hussein, that vacuum created a domino effect, very much to the liking of the official US in Washington DC. Next milestone was to rip the CIA-carpet out from under the throne of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. The North African "cleansing" continued via Algeria and included the finalization of unfinished business left behind by Reagan with his Operation El Dorado Canyon in 1986. The Syrian war theatre found its momentary screeching halt by dethroning the nepotism of the Assad family. But the next chapter is being written already. Lets see, what is next - the vacuum will result in too many clowns in not enough circuses 😞

Possibly he still might spend more money than those zero-dollar-tourists from the land of the red brethren in the North!

You can easily get an extension into your foreign passport when you present your Thai passport to the immigration officer. Done that in the past for my daughter in Pattaya - walk in the park - free of charge 😉 Thais love Thais 8-)

Thai logic - explained! Word to the wise, park a cushion above the 800K to avoid this; will cost you much more, not only money but also inconvenience. Maybe an "agent" can intermediate as a fixer?

So Auntie has enough loose change for Japanese food and uncheap proper education not available in the motherland. Well, Auntie got used to the "dirty farang" world and hence seems to be in hurry until certain switches are flipped, certain envelopes moved above or below and everything is happy, mellow and grateful. For how stupid is the Thai electorate taken - seriously?

Professionalism would be to study the needs of tourists and then create the product. The airline or the tourism promotion board does not have to eye around, they have to create the product which, if attractive will have growing numbers of followers. Thailand was "discovered" as an alternative some 40 years ago, prior to that it was more known as a country of ill repute; "Amazing Thailand" campaign was born. Tourists, returning back to their home countries, created the need for Thai food and Thai restaurants in faraway lands and cities; the demand came from returning tourists and not the endeavours of anybody inside Thailand. Nothing has changed to this day; do good and talk about it. Forget about the red light reputation - every country has that. Do away with your racism, your two-, three- and multi-tier pricing policy, stop looking down on other races, stop calling Westerners "rich farang", teach your people English across the hospitality board, simplify your tremendously complicated and corrupt immigration acts. Once a competitive, clean and good product is here, the market will follow - it is called marketing!

How glad am I - this month the "hub" is about aviation with Airbus - looking forward to the celebration of "hub of all hubs" then anytime soon 😉

Well, well, how blind are the boys at the immigration then? Have a look into your fancy computer screens and run a report of all those who are overstaying. The bureaucracy notes the colour of the underwear and the brand of toothpaste of the alien; every ninety days the entire crowd of non-Thais has to make the pilgrimage to the geeks and still some suspects of other countries manage to go undetected for how long? What a joke all this is!

Foreigners 300 Baht vs 40 Baht for the semi-divine grown-ups; alien kids 40 Baht vs. the local brats at 20 Baht. Instead of letting Thais go free; everybody could level with this as it is their country, their heritage, their national park and their museum - while visitors are requested to pay for the up keeping and maintenance. Thai logic resulting in seasoned foreigners turning around. After 38 years living, working and paying taxes in Thailand the following incident might be noteworthy. Road 2331 wanted to charge 500 Baht while my Thai grandson would have sneaked through for 20 Baht. I patiently waited for the staff to hear off the ticket, rip it across to invalidate upon which I put my wallet back and proclaimed a change of mind. The staff went ballistic, well knowing that these two tickets had to paid by the staff. There is only one way to drive the message home - through the wallet. Racism could be avoided by Thais = free, non-Thais = pay; simple as that and practiced in many other countries without argument!

Did not jump off the band wagon when they could have. They know no other life but drinks, smokes, weed and crack and whatever else. Look at Fellini's "La Strada" made in 1953, an epic film wrapping up the situation quite nicely during post war days. So they rather massage some old geeks on a barstool, get them cigarettes and some snacks from across the road for little tips - back home there is nothing waiting for them. Eventual kids are either gone or do not want to deal with them as the kids were pretty much neglected throughout the childhood as far as motherly love is concerned. A vicious circle; instigated by greed, power hunger and face saving - sad actually 😞

Repeating myself; in case of being guilty, then get rid of pedophiles, rapists and drug dealers with a single bullet. Society interests must prevail and you cannot un-rape nor reverse the horrors of a pedophile to a minor! But you can ensure, that this particular individual will never ever be able to do any harm to anyone else in the future; apart from spending millions of whatever-currency. Harsh statement, I know, but while you will not be able to rid the planet completely of such creeps you can get drug dealers to eventually reconsider the professional activities while the others will resort to prostitution or face the gallows - definitely a step in the right direction - me thinks!

Now that makes sense. Bring taxation down to normal levels and you will have much less "tax planning" and outright cheaters to hunt after. 35% income tax is ridiculous compared to what the state offers those pristine tax payers in return; 20% corporate taxation is also more than border line. This will also do away with the planned (over-)taxation of non-Thais. There the mathematics are even simpler. A non-Thai has a pension of, say, THB 40'000/month. If the state takes away 15% (THB 6,000) it means, that this person spends only THB 34,000 and not THB 40,000 into the SME industry of Thailand (food, drinks, rent, entertainment, transport etc.) - in essence the state cuts into the earnings and profitability of the Thai SME. VAT depends on consumption; those consuming more = pay more money whereas the percentage is linear and not progressive. In addition, the VAT system is in place and works (mostly; the convenience stores of Somchai and Yodsak remain excluded but pay at least in-put VAT). If this goes through, then Thailand inched itself closer to the 21st century indeed! Carpe diem!