spidermike007

May 15, 2010

Yes, all red shirts are putting themselves at risk, and jeapordizing the well being of their country. They are

misled, misinformed, and there is a price to be paid for accepting the 300 baht per day they are being

paid by the ultimate goon. The government needed to assume control immediately, and they did not.

They lost control of the situation through a lack of action. The government and the military have shown

incredible restraint in all of this. But, the time has come to stop the anarchy. I am not sure how many

years it is going to take for the tourism industry to recover. We do not know what kind of impact this

is going to have on Thai industry that depends on foreign investment. The loss is going to be enormous.

This is the time to try to end this. If they do not disperse, continued military action is justified, and jail

terms for the protestors, and the protest leaders is needed. Of course, getting to Thaksin, arresting him

and putting the man in prison for a long time is ultimately needed. Prior to this incident I assumed

Abhisit was more competent than he is shown to be. He has shown that he is weak.

February 20, 2010

Every time I have heard about a foreigner having something sent here, by any express mail, FedEx, DHL, etc, they have paid customs fees. Apparently that is

a red flag. Try regular post. If it is urgent, buy it locally. You will probably not see alot of savings after you get finished with shipping, and duty. Remember,

Thailand has exceptionally high duty fees on imported goods.

February 20, 2010

What alot of farengs do not seem to understand, is that customs officers make a fortune at the airport. I was told that a medium level customs officer typically

pays about 4,000,000 baht (yes, about $135.000US!) to purchase a senior level position in the customs department. So, can you begin to imagine how much

money there is to be made, if a Thai family is going to invest that kind of money? I would estimate that less than 1% of Thai customs officers, and police officers

are NOT corrupt, and do not accept graft, and bribes. I would also estimate that less than 1% of all taxes collected by these Mafia men are paid to the state. So,

bear that in mind the next time to try to bring valuables into this country.

February 20, 2010

The one aspect that most of the doomsayers forget, is that the single largest cause of the crash in the west, is the crash of the mortgage market. That has not affected Thais very much, and will not in the future. Since Thais very rarely use mortgages, the aspect that has crippled the residential housing market in the west, is not present here. One of the reasons that the condo market in Bangkok for instance, has not crashed, is that most of those units were bought for cash. No pressure from the banks. The market is soft, but I do not see if coming down very much. There are currently over 7,000 properties for sale in Samui. Most were paid for in cash. The prices are softer than they were 3 years ago, but I do not see a crash. Thailand manufactures very high quality export products, and that market has softened, but not collapsed. Of course, if the world suffered a depression, Thailand would crash. But as long as the world economy hangs in there, I do not see it happening. Also, the one aspect that some posters brought up, is that the Thais will adopt to a falling economy much, much better than the west. They have the strong family support, and they are accustomed to doing without, so they will adapt. They can live on much less than we can, and if they have to cut back, they will be able to do so. Another aspect is that if a Thai loses his job, he can make up that income fairly easily by opening a street stall. Many of my Thai friends make more money with their little street businesses, than most college grads make here in Thailand. In the west it is hard to replace the income from good jobs. Here it does not require a creative genius to do so.

November 17, 2009

I have been using cloth bags, and bags made of recycled materials for some time now. Most Thai people comment

on them, when they see them. They are all shocked when I say no plastic please, and see the bags and say what

a good idea. I explain I am trying to save Thailand one bag at a time. It is long overdue. Somehow, the

extraordinarily deficient Thai educational system, is not teaching the youth any sense of awareness of the

environment. They just do not know, or think about these things. They do not consider where waste goes,

what happens to the plastic bags, etc. Even the concept of keeping the bags to re-use is foreign to them. It is

time the nation wakes up, or else it may be too late when they do. Hopefully this policy will help. I would love

for shops in Bangkok or Koh Samui to implement this too.

September 11, 2009

This seems like the minimum sentence that should have been imposed on the man primarily responsible for the airport fiasco.

He served to blacken Thailand's image around the world. He disrupted Thai society, and he showed a tremendous lack of

loyalty to the King and the government. I did not like that administration either. Few people did. But, what he did with the

airport was wrong, and some punishment is deserved for it. Thailand is still suffering now, and unlike the predictions of

some very ignorant pundits at the time, it will take years for the country to recover from this heinous act. Of course, the

equally preposterous acts committed by the equally ignorant red shirts in April were of no help, and equally treacherous in

their degree of harm to the country. Now, if only we can get someone bold in the government to start tackling the corruption

that is further crippling this poor country.

September 10, 2009

Just go to the Saphin Taksin station on the river, right outside of the skytrain station by the same name. The boats are

fixed price, and are quite cheap. You pay what the Thais pay, I believe.

September 10, 2009

The problem, as usual, is that the fine imposed is not commensurate with the crime. This is one of the problems that Thailand is

facing, with it's rather anemic fight against corruption. There is no teeth with a 1,000 baht fine. Who cares? If they are serious, they

will start imposing fines of 500,000 baht, and a jail sentence of 90 days. Word will get around, and the problem with shrink overnight.

All of these scam artists know that the authorities are not serious in their fight. They know it is just a front, and that too many people

benefit from the ongoing corruption. If they were serious about cleaning up the airport, they would arrest the CEO of King Power, and

also the Police Chief responsible for the department that handles Suvarnabhumi. These guys would be tried, convicted, and sentenced

to 10 years each, at the Bangkok Hilton Prison. Then we would all take them seriously. Until then, the Thai authorities remain the

laughing stock of ASEAN, and remain among the lower ranks of Burma, Cambodia, and the Philippines, in their fight, or lack thereof. Already

Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and neighbors China, and India are working hard to root out this problem. Thailand is focusing on corruption

from the elections, and not the aspect of corruption that keeps the country from becoming a world player. At this rate, in 30 years, Thailand

may be in the lower half of ASEAN, having been surpassed by Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

August 26, 2009

I find it strange that the Government has recognised a problem and chosen to address it - and the majority of responses n this forum are condescending and negative.
When they ignore it, the majority of responses are also condescending and negative.

And if the problem is covered up - guess what?........condescending and negative.

I say good on the Government for publicising it, and trying to address it.

The armchair army on this forum are laughable.

How should they do it right in your faultless, all-knowing and mocking opinions?

Come on, give us the benefit of your great wisdom and experience in tackling a major problem that has taken 5 centuries to establish, so we can eradicate all criminal activities and negative traits within the Kingdom by 01 September 2009.

Perhaps instead of criticising others, you could prepare a comprehensive reort and action plan?

Or are you just parroting catch phrases at email headlines without any actual facts, knowledge or deeper understanding of the myriad underlying issues?

<sigh>

Wake up, and hop off the over crowded bandwagon of arrogance and superiority.

Chefshane,

I was just sitting around waiting for my electricity to go back on for the third time today so that I could use my intenet service which never works so that I could reply to your critical post. Hopefully, it won't take another five centuries for the intelligencia of Thailand to figure out how to get the flucking internet service to work. Perhaps someone here could contact someone from a corrupt country like the USA and ask them how the fluck to do it.

Now, in answer to your question of how to fix everything by Sept 1, 2009 I will give you my outline but first, I would like to address your other concerns. In par 1 you state that , "the government has finally recognized a problem and chose to address it". You then state that in essence no matter if it addresses the problem we foreigners are condescending and negative and if the government doesn't address the problem we are condescending and negative. You are 100% correct. You make a very astute observation.

The reason that you can't win is because in order to be taken seriously, one has to be serious. As an observer of Thailand and it's peculararities for the past four years without ever making a commen on TV I now realize that the government, politicians and most businesses here are inefficient, insincere, disinterested, and corrupt. To those that aren't the banner does not apply.

It is quite unrational to state that we should give Thailand a break as it were since it is "only five centuries old". Only five centuries old and just now out of the blue someone finally has a vision that it is totally morally bankrupt and corrupt. Give me a break. Did some Gennie pop out of a bottle to advise the powers that be that hey guys you are all corrupt and now would be a good time to shape up?

Or could it be that the economy is slowly (or quickly) going down the toilet and the tourist money with it and someone has finally waked up to the realization that it is time to act? Wanna take a poll?

It is genuinely insincere to suggest that all the foreigners on TV are that stupid. Surely you jest.

Let me give you another example albeit a silly one. The police in most countries are supossed to stand for something. It is an institution that is supossed to command respect from its citizens; protectors of the people etc etc. Well, as we all know that doesn't apply here in Thailand.

You state that the, "armchair army on this forum are laughable" but the reality is the corrupt institutions and people who are corrupt are laughable, not those laughing at them. We wouldn't have anything or anybody to laugh at unless it was a reaction to something done. Here is an example. Everyone knows the police have roadblocks to give out tickets for those not wearing helmuts. In the city I live in there is a turn around that motorcyclists use all the time. The police regualarly set up roadblocks about one block away from there. Yet, when the motorcyclists see the cops they make the U-turn and get away but the hilarious part of it all is the cops start yelling at the motorcyclists to come back so they can give them a ticket. And you want to know why we all laugh. It's hilarious that's why. Now, the motorcyclists may be stupid to not wear the helmuts as we all know we risk getting a ticket especially near the end of the month (gee to help pay the rent I muze) but the cops have to be dumber than a box of bricks to think that anyone who makes the U-turn is gonna turn around and go back. And why do they do it? You would NEVER see that happen in the USA or England. The cops would chase you and administer a more serious ticket. But here apparently eveyone knows the likelyhood of getting chased is a mute point.

I could not stop laughing witnessing the cops yelling at these guys to come back. And you ask why we laugh.

Let me give you another example as I stated in another post. I recently went to the UBC office to get TV service and I jokingly asked why can't anyone fix the internet problem and the Thai manager said, "because no company want to pay the minister enough to do it".

I sit here every day asking myself the same question. If my internet never works then I wonder if the internet works for the government and politicians either. Is the sytem that corrupt that nobody cares??? Are they that inept that when a project they are working on goes offline that they don't get pissed off. I would think that there must be some very high level officials whose internet quits working on them at times just like us low life foreigners. Don't they get angry too. What do they do when it happens? Take a nap? I really would like to know.

Now, regarding how to fix thte situation that is a more serious question. In my view it starts with education and a democracy. If you have elected officials you can't have a coup every time you don't like the guy in office. Especially if it's simply because you don't the way a PM cooks his food on TV. You become a laughingstock to the rest of the world when you do that. If a politician is corrupt, indict him and give him a trial but to let the guys with the guns rule is a fatal mistake. Censoring the news media is another. Unless you have something to hide.

Someone once said democracy may not be for everyone but it beats the hel_l out of second place. People in power have the most to lose when there is a democracy and transparency in government. Supression is the key to existence for corrupt governments. Just look around the world: Iran, Iraq, China, North Korea. What do they all seem to have in common??

I could go on all day but my alloted time is up. At the end of the day what I say or any other foreigner says on TV doesn't mean a thing. The only change Thailand or any other corrupt government will listen to is the will of the people. Unless the will of the people of Thailand want change it will never happen. And it's pretty obvious to me that the powers that be are happy to allow the low level corruption only because the money flows to the top so if the cops can make a few bucks on the side so be it. Keeping the soldiers happy allows the generals to be more corrupt. Why piss off the police. And I am sure no one in the military is on the take-impossible to imagine.

So, no I think there is no easy answer by Sept 1, 2009 but keep reading the posts and maybe some of us laughable arm chair quarterbacks can help you improvise a blueprint that you can take to someone to change the direction of this mighty kingdom. There are a lot of great people here. They deserve better. And you can even take all the credit. All I ask when you become the President or PM or whatever is to fix my flucking internet. Okay??? Oh, and to keep prostitution illegal. God forbid prostitution becomes rampant anywhere in Thailand. We wouldn't want to see people start laughing about the hypocrisy of it all if that starts to take place now would we?

Well said.

I applaud the post by Kevinbloodywilson. well said, and well thought out. We must ignore the ignorant gripes like the one from Chafshane. He does not realize that to complain

is natural. Should we all just grin and bear it? If we do not speak out, who will? Is this not our right, or would you prefer a fascist state, where comments are not welcome? To

complain does not mean we do not love Thailand. We are merely voicing our concerns. For a government leader to state that they are going to do something about something

means nothing to any of us. We want action, and not just words. Words are very cheap here, and they mean NOTHING!

August 26, 2009

The question is whether or not a bill like this could ever get passed here. It does not appear that Thailand is ready,

willing or able to tackle corruption in any real, and sustainable level. They have to start by imposing real fines, and

real prison sentences. Like 500,000 baht, and 10 years! Abhisit has good intentions, but I am not sure he can get

past the extraordinary amount of fools in office here.

August 26, 2009

Puerto Rico is very dull. Does not have the flavor of Thailand. The crime problem in the Dominican Republic is incredible.

You cannot walk down the street. All my friends who live there suggest only using cabs, or drivers, and not even walking

one block at night, in the capital. Though there are problems in Thailand, the crime problem is still very minimal. There

is little fear here, which is great. Though Thailand is suffering at the moment, I ask myself what the alternatives are. Any

thoughts from the peanut gallery?

August 26, 2009

There is something about Thailand, and especially Phuket and Samui, that seems to attract the lowest element

of Brits. I would imagine that at least 60% of the Brits that visit Thailand are gentlemen, and scholars. But, the

bad seeds are here, and they seem to be looking for a fight. I know guys who have been pretty badly beaten

by the Liverpudlian thugs that hang out in some of the local pubs. They are itching for a fight. They know the

place is lawless. They know they can buy their way out of assault, and in some instances, murder. And when

they get on the road, they have that same disregard for life, and it seems to include their own. Very few people

drive with helmets on Samui. People drive like maniacs. The roads are poor to begin with. I have a dear friend

in the hospital now, and he is at risk of losing his leg, from a motorcycle accident. And he was being careful,

and wearing a good helmet! Eventually, Thailand will have to start policing the roads. I always said it will not

happen until they are embarrassed enough, from articles like this one, from abroad.

August 22, 2009

It would seem to me that if any changes are to happen at the customs department, it would have to be forced upon thailand by

some outside forces like the WTA, or the World Bank, or the UN. Maybe some embarrassment over an overseas PR campaign,

that causes Thailand great embarrassment? If it is true that the top customs guys pay as much as 4 million baht for their posts,

they must know how secure that position is. I have never heard of anyone fighting customs and winning. It is like a blank check.

If Thailand is serious about tackling corruption (they are the least serious nation in SE Asia, with the exception of Burma, Cambodia,

and the Philippines) they have to start arresting these clowns, imposing fines into the millions of baht, and imposing sentences

at 10 years of longer. Only then, will the customs buffoons take it seriously.

August 21, 2009

Back on topic (which was WINE TAXES if you need reminding): does anyone know specifically how the TAX on local Thai wine (which is obviously very high) compares with the tax on Australian imports (which nows gets a slight break) and for example French imports?

Sorry, old data of 1999, but givces some idea

HERE SOME EXAMPLE, BASED ON LATEST CUSTOMS TARIFF ISSUED ON JANUARY NO.

(23/1999) ( 55% + 10% + 1.392405 + 10% + VAT 10%)

1. ASSUMING CIF VALUE IS USD 100.-

2. DUTY 55% USD 55.-

3. SPECIAL DUTY 10% ON 21 USD 5.5

4. EXCISE DUTY 1.392405 ON 1+2+3 USD 223.481

5. INTERIOR TAX 10% ON 4 USD 22.348

6. VAT 10% ON 1+2+3+4+5 USD 40.63

ACCORDING TO ABOVE, GIVING THE TOTALLY TO PAY IS USD 346.959/CIF VALUE

But .. why not to set up a member's organisation, and import together a 20 ft container ? 1200 cases of 12 bottles. 6 different types, 200 members = 6 cases per member.

Regards, Harry Romijn, www dot thaitrade dot nl

Sorry Harry, but it gives no idea at all, unless:

- the duty rate is the same

- the special duty still exists, and at the same rate

- the excise rate has not changed since 1999

- the interior tax is still applied, and at the same rate

- the VAT rate is still 10%

Based on the above information you have posted, I would be loath to commit to an importation of a container load of wine (or anything else) which was under your control.

This would all be fine, if the info was correct. Why customs publishes the 55% rate, I am not sure. It is 430%!

It is more than likely a PR ploy on the part of embarrased government officials. I know for a fact

that imported wine is taxed at 430%. As far as I know, this is the highest import wine tax IN THE WORLD! I was told that a group

of Thai wineries (monsoon valley, and the other purveyors of boones farm type garbage wines) lobbied some of the Thai senators,

and got them to pass the anti import wine bill. It was supposedly to "protect" the Thai wine industry. Unfortunately, the reality is that

Thailand in their xenophobic zeal, is depriving themselves of an estimated 5 to 10 billion baht per year, which they would earn on

imported wine, if it were taxed reasonably, at 100%. The wine industry here would flourish, as there are many Thai people, and

of course many ex-pats, and tourists who would avail themselves of a great selection of reasonably priced, and high quality wines.

Instead, people are having to pay 2,000 baht for a bottle that I can get in California for $8.00. I went to a nice restaurant (Dr. Frogs)

in Samui recently. The house wine was gato negro, for 1,450 baht per bottle. This wine is $4.00 in Los Angeles, and nobody that I know

drinks it, as it is garbage wine. And it is the house wine at one of the best restaurants on the island. It is a shame that Thailand has to

appear to be so ridiculous, and so unreasonable in the eyes of the world, on this issue. And all for what? Protectionism? Lack of vision

to be sure. Lack of wisdom to be sure. But protectionism of what? An industry to creates a horrific product. They cannot compete with

the foreign market without this silly taxation. Oh well

August 21, 2009

It's pretty strange that a bottle of the local firewater costs less than a bottle of wine.
Yes, seems like a recipe for alcoholism, but apparently the powers that be still see wine as a 'luxury' but cheap hard liquor as a necessity for the working man. Thailand surpassed India a couple years ago and now has the highest duty on wine of any country in the world -- well over 200%.
I normally bring two or three bottles of wine when coming back into the country, something I do every couple weeks. Haven't been checked in at least 20 years.

That is ABSOLUTELY incorrect, and more than likely a PR ploy on the part of embarrased government officials. I know for a fact