MoonShadow

You are correct, most Thais do not understand that a Government has NO MONEY; it can only spend what it raises in taxes OR borrows......QED most Thai's do not pay tax that they can see....VAT is nominal to them if they shop at markets and drink Lao Kao.....so no big deal. What is happening here is the Government saying to the Finance Ministry, " you have to find the money...." Guess what, its like a Bank having a lot of defaulting loans asking the markets for Capital.......the price just goes up!!

S & P and Moody's will soon lower the Soverign debt rating for Thailand and the cost of borrowing will go only one way.....who pays for this.....not the farmers in Isaan or the Mom and Pop stores or the noodle sellers or street traders, but the businesses and people who pay business or personal In come Tax......why should they pay for something which doesn't benefit them......"seconds out - round Two"......

Good point Moon Shadow, this current Thai administration is spending more that it raises, 20% of the annual budget is funded by debt. This debt is on the books, the rice scam, 1997 debt, onion scam, rubber scam and the proposed 2.2 trillion debt are all off the books. Eventually all these debts have to be paid or at least maintained, that means every Thai and ex-pat can expect increased taxes, fees, levies and rampant inflation, that is the cost of living in Thailand will increase and the quality of life will decrease. Anyone who doesnt accept the fundamental truth of this is living in LaLa land.

Is it only me, or do others feel VAT going to 10% in the very near future?

The official rate has been 10% for some years but temporarilly lowered to 7%.....easy to take that off and use the publisised and official rate.....

Lots of good stuff from the gloom merchants here and I wouldn't care to disagree with the dark forebodings that they prophesy. Looking at the future begs the question what happens if Thailand reneges on it's debts?

Some time ago it was bandied about that Thaksin would be the leader of ASEAN. What a prospect knowing what we know now.

I don't think thats likely in the short to medium term, what I think they are, or should be, coming to terms with is that they are either going to have to renague on their promises or hike taxes.....given the former is a 'face' issue and the latter will affect more Democrats than Red Shirts, what do you think they will do???

Just what was the purpose in giving every child a computer tablet when the whole education system is flawed? What's the point in paying 50% over the market price for rice when you don't control the market and in fact have lost that #1 rice exporter slot.....lets follow it up with Rubber.......lets tell everyone that price inflation is only an illusion......and of course the THB 300 minimum wage has no effect except to price Thais out of the market in favour of Burmese.....ask any Thai who had to leave school to support the family and has only a basic education how they can get a job which pays a meaningful wage.....its just the same as the caste system in India......now their jobs are being taken by Burmese........

You are correct, most Thais do not understand that a Government has NO MONEY; it can only spend what it raises in taxes OR borrows......QED most Thai's do not pay tax that they can see....VAT is nominal to them if they shop at markets and drink Lao Kao.....so no big deal. What is happening here is the Government saying to the Finance Ministry, " you have to find the money...." Guess what, its like a Bank having a lot of defaulting loans asking the markets for Capital.......the price just goes up!!

S & P and Moody's will soon lower the Soverign debt rating for Thailand and the cost of borrowing will go only one way.....who pays for this.....not the farmers in Isaan or the Mom and Pop stores or the noodle sellers or street traders, but the businesses and people who pay business or personal In come Tax......why should they pay for something which doesn't benefit them......"seconds out - round Two"......

This current Thai administration is spending more that it raises, 20% of the annual budget is funded by debt. This debt is on the books, the rice scam, 1997 debt, onion scam, rubber scam and the proposed 2.2 trillion debt are all off the books. Eventually all these debts have to be paid or at least maintained, that means every Thai and ex-pat can expect increased taxes, fees, levies and rampant inflation, that is the cost of living in Thailand will increase and the quality of life will decrease. Anyone who doesnt accept the fundamental truth of this is living in LaLa land.

As my wife says..."Thailand is walking backwards to the klongs..."

Yes she is Thai and understands what is happening, and no, she is not a well educated BKK Thai either, but she has lived outside of Thailand, speaks good English and runs a successful business so she knows who is going to pay for this......

You are correct, most Thais do not understand that a Government has NO MONEY; it can only spend what it raises in taxes OR borrows......QED most Thai's do not pay tax that they can see....VAT is nominal to them if they shop at markets and drink Lao Kao.....so no big deal. What is happening here is the Government saying to the Finance Ministry, " you have to find the money...." Guess what, its like a Bank having a lot of defaulting loans asking the markets for Capital.......the price just goes up!!

S & P and Moody's will soon lower the Soverign debt rating for Thailand and the cost of borrowing will go only one way.....who pays for this.....not the farmers in Isaan or the Mom and Pop stores or the noodle sellers or street traders, but the businesses and people who pay business or personal In come Tax......why should they pay for something which doesn't benefit them......"seconds out - round Two"......

Its all about how you define a non-performing loan; there are many agreed international accounting standards on this so why is it so hard.....for sure Moody's and S & P will use the international standards to arrive at the correct figures; so should BOT!!

got em allready in samui not from the platforms but from the bloody jet skis

And the fishing boats.......

What kind of solutions could Belgium provide? Also don't blame Thailand on this issue. Even in Singapore they have the same issue.

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All tropical country's are prone to Dengue, however, the degree of infestation is related to the sanitation, vegitation andsensible practise and regulations. Singapore has strigent practice and regulations regarding the control protocols for Dengue and applies them diligently while Thailand has few indeed.and dislocated and random at best. Singapore recorded cases of Dengue are very few indeed..

Actually percapita Singapore has more cases than Thailand; the warm and wet climate is ideal and despite the stringent activities of the Goverment agencies dengue is still prevalent and on the increase this year. The Singapore government is very good at recording the statistics....see http://www.dengue.gov.sg/subject.asp?id=73

Just wait until the commercial banks are pressured into taking over the other Goverment leding, with no security and even less chance of being repaid!!

I worked in HK for 5+ years as a Director of a Bank, my boss, the CEO, and the Chairman of the bank, both Chinese, could not understand why I refused to eat Sharks Fin Soup as they believed that the shark would "grow another fin!" These are 'educated' people but until you re educate them nothing will change. Any initiative, however small, in banning this inhumane treatment of sharks will have my support. Unfortunately the expernetially growing middle classes in (supposedly Classless), China want to emulate what they perceive as the behaviour of the 'elite'. Unfortunately when they were a few it may have been sustainable but now, no way!!

Another poor headline.....the Goverment is not Lending its seeking to Borrow.......so its a debt!!

I'm also with BUPA international but check if they will accept a transfer from BUPA Thailand without any conditions as the advise I had from BUPA a few years back is that they will not cover any pre existing medical conditions despite them being the 'same' company. Also as I live on Samui I pay GBP75 each year for evacuation cover, which means they will fly me by air ambulance to BKK with this cover should it become necessary.

As HSBC have sold their retail banking business and credit card portfolio to a Thai bank I don't think they will be back. They have neen here for more than 100 years but because of Thailand's restrictive banking laws they are unable to have more than one branch. Standard Chartered were in the same boat until they bought an ailing Thai SME bank but they are still very much Bangkok centric. Still no problem with banking with HSBC from HK and using a local Thai bank for day to day transactions.....

MoonShadow, I think indeed that more general public involvement or opportunities to watch in some way are needed to lift the popularity among the 'general islander'. It still seems a bit 'elitist' to me.

Although I'm a runner myself, I do not quite understand why 10M Baht has been given to the triathlon, I can understand some funding but this seems a bit over done.

I'm also a runner, well a hasher, as well, but as you know there is practcally zero involvement by locals in the tri-athlon except as part of the support teams.....same as the regatta...???!!!

A pity it's ignored, it gives a stigma that it's a closed shop. As you said it would be great to encourage some spectator

facilities / involvement might revive the interest in sailing.

There is always the problem that often the racing takes place 5-6 miles off-shore.....not easy to spectate from the beach or even a headland!

Two things which could make it more spectator friendly are; a) spectator boats offering on the water views of the racing with some catering thrown in and a ticket for that days beach party where they can mix with the yachies, see the prize giving etc and moving the finish line closer inshore for all or some of the classes; Chawaeng bay is a great location and yes, the wind can be a bit variable in the bay but its the same for all boats and they have to come back there at the end of racing anyhow.

For sure the big IRC Zero boats would be better finishing offshore but the 40' ers and bareboat/cruising/sports boat and multihulls could have their own finish line in the bay. I'm going to suggest that but sadly I think it may be down to logistics as that will entail more mark/finish boats and committee members which cost $$$'s.....that why the regatta needs cash sponsorship......the more boats that enter the more cash there is and maybe if every Chawaeng hotel gave THB 10,000 from their petty cash too there would be another cash injection which would help bring the sailing closer to the public.

I too would like to see a sports boat class as we can race close inshore which is fun to watch.....

As I understand it the reason the billboards did not appear until three days before the regatta was due to the contract signed by Samui Triathalon and Mayor office was for the Triathalon billboards to stay for a month after the Triathalon.

As the Mayor office is in charge of public billboards the regatta committee was powerless. The Triathalon recieved over 10m Baht of tax payers money, the Samui regatta recieved nothing

Triathalon athletes received air fares, accomodation and guaranteed prize money

The regatta yachts arrive at their own expense - some owners providing 200k to 1m Baht to get their boats and crew accomodation plus an entrance fee of 17k Baht

They stay for two weeks and number up to 500 and spent 50m Baht on hotels, fuel, food, restaurants and bars

Well said Tornado40. I entered my sportsboat again this year; crew of 5. Two flew in from Australia and one from HK; so 1 small boat has 3 return international flights to Samui and 30 hotel room nights in Samui hotels, the other two crew are locals. Plus the regatta fees (THB 17000 per boat and THB 4500 per crew member), and beer, water, food etc.....I understand that the total number of room nights as a result of the regatta was 3000+, not bad in low season, and only Bangkok airways will know the revenue from flights. Yes it costs money to enter regatta and there is no prize money on offer so cash is important. I'm a Samui tax payer so why does the administration think it should completely ignore the Regatta which is a truely international event and give THB 10 m to the triathlon where athletes are paid to come here and race for cash?????

There were only 2, yes 2, Samui based boats competing all week......why were the others, all multihulls swinging on their anchors when they could have been racing; why indeed were they not offering a charter to watch the racing on the water?????

I have raced in 10 of the 12 Samui Regattas and this one was fun....friendly, competitive and 100% enjoyable; my crew are already preparing for next year's!

As for coments about parties; anyone who has raced yachts competitively will know all yachties want to do after a hard day on the water is get on the beach with some cold beer and food and relax......parties like Beach Republic are usually not well attended by the racers as it means being bussed there and back when they would rather stay in Chawaeng and chill out.....

I would like to see us get back to the monthly racing on Samui which we had a few years back; a weekend of racing with a BBQ after and a few beers.....anyone want to help get that back on the water???

Kasikorn do have a very good on-line service which enables you to see every transaction going back 3 months; as stated earlier in this thread every ATM has a discrete identifying number so yes they will know the date, time and location of every transaction. The receipt will be printed with the destination account which should correspond with whatever you wrote on the deposit slip; if it isn't the same the cashier should have queried it at the time. If you still have the deposit slip check it and go back to the bank. If the slip says the same as your bank a/c details then it was credited to your account but maybe summarised in a block amount if there are a lot of unprinted transactions. Either way there is a paper trail you can follow.

None of the bars I've frequented were owned by the police. Why go through the hassle of actually owning one, when you can let someone else own it and you still get the profits without the headache.

Leased probably but from who.......?????

If This proposal had come from sort of "Bar owners federation" or the like I could have understood it but the METROPOLITAN POLICE???????. The proposal from bar owners would have been to make more money however the proposal from the police is purely to --------- make more money!!!!!!

OK------ lets do it and make everybody happy------------Never heard so much crap in all my life

Seriously, who do you think owns the bars...??????

I have lived on Samui for over 8 years and until 2012 dengue fever did not appear to be a major problem, however, last year and so far this year 11 of my friends on Samui, all long term residents, have contracted dengue, including myself. It does seem to be an increasing issue probably connected to the increasing urbanization of Samui along with poor attempts at drainage which result in a lot more 'standing' water being around. It only takes one mosquito!!

Only Samui based and registered businesses pay tax in Samui; Seatran, Bangkok Airways, etc and probably most of the large and medium sized hotels/resorts are not registered here so they will pay taxes on the income generated in Samui somewhere else; probably Bangkok or Surat Thani. Believe you me the rate of tax is not 5%. Corporation tax is 30% here. So the issue is very real, Samui can only collect taxes locally but most of the income is to entities outside of Samui so nothing is collected which can be spent on local infrastructure improvements.

"Each year, the bureau's offices in Bangkok collect close to 800 million baht in revenue from fines and fees. The electronic payment options would increase convenience for the payer and the bureau itself, Pol Lt Gen Phanu said."

and maybe another 200mil baht for tea money??

Actually I'm surprised that their figures are so low. Judging from the full house at CM immigration, I would estimate yearly fees to be at least 2X that.

I agree, if you just look at Visa renewal plus Multiple entry charge is about THB 5500 so that into 800 mil is 160,000, I think there are more than 160,000 'foreigners' in thailand needing to do this.....

The Immigration Bureau could be paying people on TVF 5% for the convenience make electronic payments, and they would still be whinging.

For god's sake, if you can't afford the 1%, keep paying by cash - or even better, reconsider whether you really should be living in a foreign country.

What arrogance. I love cash and despise credit, especially credit cards.

I love its simplicity, its anonomity. People that live on plastic shouldnt be living in a foreign (developing) country, especially an Asian one.

Using a credit or debit card doesn't mean you have to use credit; its simply an alternative means of payment with up to 50+ days before you have to pay; if you pay in full then there is no charge and no credit.....for debit cards you are simply accessing your cash immediately so again no credit involved!!

The charges to the merchant are in fact the same whether a debit or credit card is used.....around 2-3% of the payment PLUS additional administration in accounting for the charges etc. If the merchant isn't charging he has probably already factored this charge into his pricing and so you should be asking for a discount for cash.....

It is not enough that we have to pay these fees ie Baht 3,800 for multiple entry.( just to come back into the country).

NOW we have to pay another 1%.

Baht 800 million a year.

Welcome to Thailand.

No thanks i will still pay cash, until they MAKE us pay by card.

So paying an 'extra' 38 baht for the convenience is a problem?????