Sydebolle

No, that was a specific airport tax, initially 20 Baht domestically and 60 Baht internationally. Later the 60 Baht doubled and then the jump came to 500 Baht with ticket selling booths, girls devaluating the tickets a few meters down the road until all this disappeared from the public eye. The airport tax is still levied but collected through the airlines leaving Thailand and the airlines simply added it to the airfare.

They are paid in ........ mangoes - quite simple ????

Digital Economy Minister talks about health issues - or possibly tax income - while the Health Minister talked about speeding up the railway link from Laos to the seashores. Very sporty comments came from Prawatch on the subject of how many medals Thailand will bring home from the SEA games .... and others organize a 200 million Baht stint for New Year in Phuket which could never have taken place as the two artists were booked much earlier on more realistic projects. Governmental Job description = everybody puts his/her nose into everything which faintly smells of money, limelight or face improvement!

Unlike the border traffic between Cambodia, resp. Laos and Thailand ..... the dirty farang and alien have a choice and certainly will make use of it. The cross boarders got nicely shafted with some funny tests, available at Makro for 45-50 Baht by shelling out 700 Baht. There is no possibility to buy a governmentally imposed mandatory insurance policy - in short - the usual mess for which this country is known meanwhile for 20+ years. Venice has millions of daytime visitors, i.e. they roam the city like crickets in the morning and leave in the evening; by car, rail or by cruise liner. To keep up with the infrastructure, they charge a tax like in Thailand you pay for each and every "historical site" an access fee, locals usually 50% - 90% less than the alien from outer space. So, compare apples with apples as only those border crossers from Cambodia and Laos are daytime visitors (for massive shopping = leaving 80% to 90% of the revenue of places like Nong Khai behind). Put the entry fee of whatever into place and see what will happen. As this reflects, in purchase power, something like (formerly one day) 60% of a daily minimum wage I would suggest, that Von der Leyen in Brussels introduces an arrival fee for the semi-divine Khon Thai of the same purchase power in the respective European country they land. Just wondering, whose pockets are being lined this time round .........

Did it get omitted or did I oversee "the driver fled the scene", the "CCTV was not functioning" or anything else? No insurance in Thailand is deadly, with an insurance you might get died as well with the difference, that your in-laws will not go possibly bankrupt over the "flexible" interpretation of law and order in far-away lands ....... like Lalaland!

Not your day, it seems - lean back, take a deep breath and consider a G+T - who cares about likes?

I hope that the discerned reader and Thai traveller is aware of the fact, that these "subsidies" are nothing but taxpayers money. As the average rice farmer, most likely, is not vacationing in fancy places in Phuket, Samui and elsewhere, it addresses the middle class of Thailand which has seen a massive shrinking over the last 30 months. But yes, it reminds me of the carrot hanging in front it the rabbit (©Alamy).

I believe that I read 490 Baht/day as a proposal by the government (which does not pay the private sector's salaries anyhow). Yingluck floated that populistic idea of increasing from 200 Baht/day to 300 Baht/day while university graduates would get guaranteed 15,000 Baht/month. Not every company adhered to the change but it brought Yingluck to power. The university students were well advised not to insist on the 15,000 Baht/month as they had zero experience and no proven record of anything. If that new increase proposal goes through, the minimum would read 2.5 times what it was ten years ago. My question are: does the average worker's output produce 2.5 times the output of ten years ago? what does this mean in absolute terms of inflation over the last ten years? did the end consumer prices absorb this increase in their products and/or services? is the average employee today better off than ten years ago? I still believe that such Thais do not live, they exist merely which accounts for the lack of dedication, interest and motivation at work ..... but yes, it is a populistic approach, which worked just fine by former politicians in their election race ????

Get some ear protection; this place is to implode one day in not too distant future 8-)

Apart from being more expensive than some European destinations already, this is yet another nail into the tourism coffin of Thailand. It is not the 300 Baht, it is the attitude to skin the dirty farang and alien ..... while the skinning is good. Yet it needs to be seen, if these clowns have to be shown back into their circuses. Taking the (self-proclaimed) figure of 40 million tourists; they left trillions of Baht in dual pricing, cheating and short changing already, Take 15% of said figure for 2023 (if at all) would result in 1.2 billion Thai Baht - will buy quite a few insurances for the alien and, for argument's sake, 36 million American dollars, is not to be sneezed at either. Wondering whose pockets are being lined this time ...

Keep up the good work, you're funneling millions of dollars into the capital's coffers as there are millions of tourists here already. With such taxes, even more people will be coming as they all want to offload even more money. The boys down at the Tourism Authority of Thailand are getting competition; after a "landing tax" there is now this discussion over a "city tax". It's written in the bible "Lord, forgive 'em for they don't know what they are doing". Or is it possibly a populistic election fart - again? It worked higher up with Yingluck - until she got unseated - so why not try the same stint again on a lower level ????

So much to education and nobody querying the source of money from a 15 year old girl, how sad and how very believable!

Specially during rush hour, there is an increased risk for "women sitting with crossed legs being vulnerable to upskirt photography" - really? Why don't you get the esteemed passengers to move away from the doors inside the carriage - as a start - as well as ensuring immediate addition to rolling stock. Still better than submarines without engines or F-35 fighters, latter cannot accommodate the overflow of Bangkok's BTS. What a joke!

Well, if our watch lovers, who got millions of dollars worth of watches borrowed by a meanwhile deceased friend, "targets" something, he usually gets it. It goes with the job and, not knowing, how many disciplines are in the SEA games, I would assume that 110 medals are quite a figure. Wondering sometimes, what kind of excellent weed some people smoke. As Prawatch, a pristine example of sport, I would not expect anything else that 110 medals either ???? What a load of kcorc ........ Ridiculing the entire exercise

Destroy the BMW in front of the owner, the driver is to be booked for attempted murder and the keys to be thrown away. I sometimes wonder, what is going on in some people's heads, honestly!

The Middle East - coming to the rescue of the Thai tourism industry to replace the dirty farang. Now this, unbelievable from an area, where one would only expect quality tourists. Well, some of Arabs like 'em elder, it seems and the lady must have been believing in Santa Claus ... provided the story is true in the first place!

The Italians even have a word for the Thai - they refer to "Cornuto" - usually it is the other way round ????

Always the Burmese and always in the South .......... the Thai will be free of anything as the whole thing would not have happened, if that Burmese would not have been in Thailand in the first place. Most likely illegal immigrant = 50 years jail; b0nknig a common-law wife of a Thai = nuts off! Simple as that!

Well, maybe now we can switch off the internet as I - for one - just have read it all!

Well, I did, do and will do domestic travelling. I noted with distress, that cheap hotels (i.e. Korat Hotel in Nakorn Ratchasima, middle of the town, ample parking and good in-house F&B) have little to no business; we occupied one out of three rooms that night. Dan Kwian (15kms South of Korat), known for pottery products, featured literally hundreds of little shops offering anything you can think of; now you have less than ten which are open but equally ...... empty. The cross-province business enhancement allowed Thais from i.e. Udon to travel to Nong Khai and benefit of massive discounts on governmentally sponsored programmes. Bottomline was, that the Udon Thanians travelled to Nong Khai for shopping while the Nong Khaians went to Udon for shopping. Apart from wasting most likely millions of taxpayers money (as the government itself has no money) the purchase costs were increased with travelling costs. You ask me = domestic business keeps everyone busy but profitability is in no relation to the endeavours.

Any bookies around? I bet, that the Thailand Pass will be replaced by the international vaccination certificate, issued for the last 50+ years already, by the WHO. That also means, that yet another useless bureaucratic milestone will disappear - eventually. Meanwhile all those tourism related businesses can kiss the very little summer 2022 business definitely Good Bye as competing summer destinations realized last year already, that this coronaphobia is not essentially driving business upwards ???? See Senegal, the Dominican Republic, Central and South America, apart from many European destinations - fully booked to the rims.

You can take this to the bank. The order "toys for uniformed boys" proves, beyond reasonable doubt, the lack of education as they are apparently getting Chinese submarines without engines ........ Make sure the flying saucers come with wings, engines and canopies ???? Education? Forget it, those in charge of education do not want an educated electorate as the latter might start thinking and vote for politicians rather than crooks!

SME's (the two legged little factories) are busy at work. Interesting also is the statement "As restrictions for entry of international visitors ease from May 1st, residents have increased their complaints and concerns that the area could become a major traffic jam." A pre-emptive racist comment towards those millions and millions of tourists who all want to roam on Soi Buakhao? Lets wait and see - the resurrection of Walking Street? ????

Finally, the ultimate proof of the existence of ghosts ......... so Grannie around the corner was always right ????

The PM asked apparently ""Do you think I am a corrupt individual?" he asked rhetorically and with feeling." Well, regretfully he never answered his own question .........