kimamey

Well if you live life expecting everything then you're going to be disappointed

You should go back. They've got gas and electric central heating now. ????

I've never used it although being in Mahasarakham it might be a useful alternative to Khon Kaen. As well as the long lead times on these sort of projects maybe they think a better airport might attract more passengers and airlines. As I say I've never been there so is it a good airport to use or not?

That's the same with a lot of countries isn't it. It's the regime in charge, often through rigged elections or none at all. The citizens are a different matter and in a lot of cases less of a threat.

I had to do the online driving course a few months back. Most of it followed the rules I've been subject to for the last 51 years in the UK. It might have been better if it was a little less, cheesy. That's the best I could describe it and maybe use some roads that aren't in the middle of a city, probably Bangkok. The thing is the next day whilst driving it was if I'd been shown a video with secret information nobody on the road was allowed to see, which they probably haven't. It's an ingrained system which will take time and effort to change and proper funding of the police from government. In the UK when cars first arrived a test wasn't required but they were brought in first for public service vehicles and then cars in 1935 for anyone who started driving after 1934. Those who were driving before that didn't need one but they have gradually died or been required to take a test after a road traffic offence. They could do the same if they brought in a proper driving test.

Great idea and most grown up countries have probably been doing this for years although I suspect more effectively. They certainly have in the UK. There's something missing from this though isn't there? Revenue Stream. From my observation the traffic police and probably all police is based on low funding from government which the police can top up from what might best be called 'dubious methods' or 'Thai culture' depending on your view. For the non traffic police it's most obvious form is in the retention of cars and goods such as in the case of Joe Ferrari. Lower down there are probably fines and further up payment for promotion. The traffic police obviously have roadside fines. There's no other obvious reason to have a a facility for payment directly to a police officer other than making a profit for the police rather the money going to the government. If you look at all the Grab, Food Panda and Lineman riders they as far as I can tell always wear a helmet. My guess is that it's a case of 'no helmet no job' and despite Thais love of not abiding by rules they don't like it does work because it makes sense financially. I suspect this applies to a licence as well. For the police it isn't intended to be a deterrent but a fee for breaking the law and like any fee if it's too much people will stop using the service which isn't a good business move. All those food delivery drivers are a loss of revenue unless they can find something else to fine.

Despite seeing dozens of bands in the early 70s I never saw Fleetwood Mac in any of their lineups but I did see Chicken Shack. Unfortunately that was after she left and I think t was a 3 piece then. RIP

I think the sanctions are having an effect over time but they won't work on their own.

It would be interesting to know how many are flying back over a longer period.

You're forgetting some may like the males.

I think one of the things he did was film people involved in a trial (some or all of the defendants were Muslim) as they entered the court against the rules surrounding court proceedings. The interference could have been used to claim the defendants had been denied a fair trial thereby preventing their prosecution. Something I doubt he'd thought of.

Maybe it's my lack of knowledge but it seems to me that they are doing this the wrong way round compared to what I've experienced in the UK. I'm guessing this is replicated elsewhere. The card containing a chip complimented the magnetic strip and presumably was superior and you entered your pin. Then came the readers that you could just swipe your card over so you only rarely needed to use your pin. Using NFC, as it became available meant the phone provided much of the security. Thailand appears to have come from the other direction in a lot of this. Making things easier for those using NFC first rather than the other way round doesn't make sense to me. Using QR codes between phones is great for those selling in markets ect as they don't need a separate terminal but for bigger shops it slows things down. I haven't needed to do it for years but I used to use my Lloyd's Bank Visa debit card to draw money from an ATM. I could also use my Sainsbury's credit card which is Mastercard. Given that Thais and foreigners can use Visa or Mastercard in Thailand and Google Wallet (Applepay as well I assume) can take money from both I can't see why it's so restricted.

Bad news for you if they bring in a QR code based permit before you can die.

I think in most shops such as Lotus's and 7-11 their tills use electricity and they probably aren't able to take money without it. I remember a couple of times a few years ago in the UK in Tesco or Sainsbury's the power going down and they had to stop. They needed their electric tills even to take cash as they need records of transactions.

I would think so as its already the case elsewhere. You need QR codes if there's no NFC. The ability to swipe your card over a terminal would also avoid that problem.

That doesn't mean you can't own it just that the revised document doesn't show ownership. Usually the owner and registered keeper are the same. There is a reason for our but I can't remember what it is now. I think there's a situation where a company owns a vehicle but the driver is the registered keeper. One other thing that I think isn't entirely correct is the idea of being jailed for not having a TV licence. I think you can be fined for not having one and then be jailed for non payment of a court imposed fine which is normal procedure. I think the original reason for needing one regardless of what you were watching was it's very difficult to check on people.

I had to look up which hotels are his and I don't think I've used any of them. Assuming some of these hotels are listed on Agoda, Booking.com ect will they be able or willing to deal with this sort of discrimination? Will it be added as a tax or will you have to pay at the hotel? How will it work with one Thai and one foreigner?

That's what I thought but if you can still use Payonner (USA) and Skrill (UK) then I'm not so sure. Only saw the name Payoneer afew days ago but I used Skrill a few times some years ago when it was Moneybookers. It looks more plausible with Uber though.

Maybe not too much of a problem then. It would help if Thailand weren't so restrictive on vehicles meaning less choice

I think they were staying on the fence to avoid any financial consequences. Now might be a good time to rethink that. If the war could be stopped that would help.

That was a decade ago and in other countries the motivation was to remove old inefficient vehicles from the road and replace them with one's that use less fuel. Thailand seemed to avoid that with their take on it. Things are different now and EVs are much better. Hopefully in terms of vehicle fuels at least the big companies are beginning to see the longer term financial advantages of cleaner fuel and since money rather than oil is their motivation they may change. Politics may be what is holding things up.

Yes that's the problem. I've thought about EV as I could charge at home if the supply to the house will stand it. Lights dim a little as the electric shower comes on now. I know from posts some time ago including from Crossy that there is, or was a limit to the power available unless you paid to upgrade it. If solar were an option then that would help but I suspect cost might be an issue although that could change.

Based on that it doesn't seem much of a game changer. Maybe if they tried the plan they used in 2012 but without making a complete mess of it. We bought our Honda Jazz using that. The problem with it was unlike in other countries where the tax reduction (I can't remember how much but it was worth it) was available if you gave up your current vehicle so not increasing vehicle numbers here it I was if it was your first car. In a lot of cases that meant an extra vehicle rather than replacement and there were apparently a lot of old people who couldn't drive suddenly owning big pickups and SUVs.

Hopefully they will deal with that as well. These things take time and just waiting for everything to be right at the same time won't work. I don't know how green power generation is in Thailand right now so I can't say how relevant your comment is.

I think PTT are adding them at their sites which will help. There's a new one in Mahasarakham and I think there are EV chargers there. There are several different aspects to increasing EV vehicles. Cost, availability of different vehicles, charging infrastructure, clean production of electricity, ethics around mining of lithium and probably several more. The details of this tax reduction isn't clear to me but if it helps then great.