spidermike007

People caught hunting in national parks should be sent to an offshore penal colony for 10 years or so, where there are hundreds of wild and carnivorous animals on the loose. Good reform.

Those of us with driving skill, and a strong desire for not only survival, but the avoidance of terrible injury, are constantly scanning the road, in front of us, beside us, and behind us. There are an exceptionally high number of reckless fools, and drunk idiots on these roads, and it is the only way to preserve our lives, and those of our families, and friends, who may be driving with us, and depending on us. That means avoiding electric poles and trees. They can be very unforgiving and intolerant of fools.

Talk about an effective way to decrease passengers loads by 98%!

Discipline, people! Behave yourselves! Or else! By the way, I am not a supporter of exterminating masses of people. Only the ones who deserve it!

Well if there's any truth to him getting hit with the shovel all bets are off. When somebody resorts to extreme measures like that, it's survival of the fittest. It will be a question of him being able to prove it, if it is indeed the truth.

Completely agree. Extreme, yes. But on a commercial aircraft, strong measures must be taken, when it comes to fools and drunk imbeciles behaving badly.

You are likely near Sukhumvit. Get out to Bang Na, Ratchathewi, and the vast majority of other areas. Bangkok is a tourist mecca. Does that mean tourism is booming? Ask anyone in the industry.

I think airplane flights are one of those areas where you have to take a really extreme approach, if there is not an air marshal or law enforcement on the plane the passengers certainly should have the right to subdue the man. Perhaps they should go a step further and have very powerful tranquilizers on board to just knock the guy out, so handcuff him, knock him out with tranquilizers. When they land there should be a mandatory prison sentence of 10, perhaps 20 years. Flights are one of those areas where you need a certain amount of order and security, there's just too much that could go wrong lock him, and too many people are affected by a numbskull like this guy.

You mean people pretending to be conservative, to fit into a restrictive and repressed society.

Yet very few Europeans can be found in Thailand now. They may be talking, but they are not acting.

It is rather shocking the number of bizarre and murderous incidents that happen which are perpetrated by active and retired police officers. It really does make you question the entire institution, and why it is so rotten, had you not been questioning them already. The RTP. What can one say?

I would not expect much from any government agency here. Some time ago when I was living on Samui I had an issue with an air conditioner that I had just bought from Homepro. I went into Homepro asking for service and got no satisfaction at all. I asked for the manager which is something that I usually do, when I am not getting anywhere, and she had a terrible attitude and was very unhelpful. I had got her name, went home, looked up the head office in Bangkok, sent them a quick email explaining the situation calling her out by name and within an hour I got a phone call from a vice president telling me that everything would be addressed, and he said that I should go back into the store the following morning. When I did I got a deep bow from the manager, I'm so sorry I misunderstood yesterday. What can I do to make you happy? It was the exact response I wanted the first time around but that I got after she had been scolded by the VP, and likely her job had been threatened if her attitude didn't improve. Sometimes we just have to escalate things to a more senior employer or manager in order to get things done here, sometimes the fools on the floor just don't know what service looks like. My Thai wife was shocked when I first started doing this, as she tried to explain to me that they do not have customer service in Thailand. I explained to her that they sure do! Now she realizes that service does exist, can exist, and will exist if the right amount of will, force and action is brought to the table. Well it happened. Fact. All I can go on. I did not reach out to a VP. I simply sent an articulate note to the email contact on the website. And unlike your supposition that they do not get read, it was responded too quickly. Might have helped that I added that I was averaging 100,000 to 200,000 baht a year in Home Pro expenditures with my hilltop villa, at the time. A VP took it upon himself, called me that day, speaking perfect English, and asked me if I would be kind enough to visit the store again tomorrow. I suppose with any service anywhere, it comes down to the approach one uses, negotiating skill and fortitude. I do not let these things go. You can lay down and die, like a submissive sheep in this life, or you can defend your dignity and put up a fight. I usually choose the latter. Don't consider myself to be a dog or a doormat, and prefer not to let others that I do business with treat me like either. My Thai wife has been astonished a dozen times when things like this have come up, and she has seen me wage battle. She just shakes her head and says great job. I had no idea!

Some of us live very good lives here. Some of us have been fortunate enough to find an outstanding woman, who is delightful to be around, on a daily basis, always has our back, and is fun, smart, and lovely. For me, that likelihood of finding that back in the US, would be very low. So, that is a big factor for me. The second factor is just the quality of life. Sure, I miss alot of the culture back home. The theatre, independent film (which I can download here with no issues at all, and a super fast 1 gbps fiber optic connection, at under 700 baht per month!), stand up comedy, live jazz, etc. But I have a lovely home that I rent, for about 10% of what I would pay in California, I live very well on an income which is not huge, have access to great health care, at a tiny fraction of what it costs in the US, and do not have to put up with alot of the aggravation that I had to when I lived back there. It is a very personal choice. I have friends who seem to be dropping like flies. I could be dead next year. You just don't know. I am not extravagant, but I live very, very well. A nice house, a new car every few years, new motorbikes for my gal and I every few years, a great art collection, plenty of good wine in the wine cooler, a new 77" OLED TV, a world class home theatre, plenty of international travel, eating in good restaurants whenever we want, etc. For me, it is a great lifestyle, that I could only dream of in the US. Well worth the expense and very easy to justify. Life is way too short.

Very true, they just do not have the terroir nor the climate for wine here, so they create an insipid product. No excuse. If they want to be the high quality tourist destination they rant on about, they must make sacrifices. Allowing imported wine and beer, at low duty levels is just one thing they could be doing. Otherwise the quality of tourist will continue declining, and so will the spend per tourist.

I totally agree, I went to Phuket a few months ago for the first time in about 10 years, I was quite astonished at how much the place had slipped, how boring the nightlife was, and how disappointing the overall experience was. I never need to go back. It was so much better 5 or 10 years ago. The only highlight for me was the Andaman, which is an amazing sea.

Very true. And the importation of 10-20x as much wine as the current status, would mean a huge increase in taxes, even if the rate was 80% lower, and a countless number of jobs within the industry. The politicians do not get it. They have no focus, and their nationalism blinds them to reality and prevents them from achieving any meaningful level of improvement. The domestic wine and beer industry deserves no support, or favorable treatment, as they produce such a vastly inferior product.

Well, that is not saying much! Suppressing human nature does not work. History has shown us that. Malaysia is a suppressed society, due to the influence of the Imans. So, what do suppressed people do?

While I see your points, it still does not make any sense. I think it is more about corruption, pure and simple, than it is about protecting a small, feeble, super low quality local wine industry. They could be making a fortune on wine imports, wealthy Thais love fine wine, and so do tourists, especially the wealthy ones they drone on and on about wanting to attract, yet they attract relatively few of them, for a dozen good reasons, including this one. There are countless things the government could be doing, if they wanted to attract the high quality tourists, and go for quality over quantity. Quantity over quality is never a good thing, unless you are selling one dollar items at a swap meet. It just lowers the quality of the experience for all.

Thailand has still not made anywhere near a full recovery, there are so many problems around the world, the economy in China is terrible, many other countries are near recession, and airfares are way up. This high season will not be anything special. Last year I went to Samui during absolute peak season, on a last minute whim. I looked up hotel bookings and was surprised to find a lot of hotels were available and the prices were relatively low. That's never happened before in peak season, where Samui used to enjoy occupancy rates well over 90%. I don't expect it to be that much better this year, than last. Thailand is no longer attracting very many Western tourists for a dozen very good reasons. Right now it is predominantly Malaysian, Indian, Arab, Chinese, and Russian. One could argue that these are relatively low quality tourists, in terms of the amounts of money that they spend. Sure you have a few wealthy Russians and some wealthy Chinese, but most are lower to middle income and don't spend alot. This process will not be reversed until the authorities wake up and make some sacrifices such as lowering luxury taxes, lowering wine taxes, cleaning up the air, making the highways safer, allowing more private air travel, helicopter travel, high-speed trains and alternatives to the totally choked and extremely hazardous highways. Prices are up, inflation continues its march, and income for many Thais who are not successful entrepreneurs, or government workers, is down. Tourism will not recover anytime soon. The quality of tourists continues to drop, the average spend is down, and occupancy rates are low. In addition, exports are down, and we have not even seen a real recession hit yet overseas. Nor has the market correction come yet. So, there is still alot of headwind that Thailand faces. For now, its future has been stolen once again by the army thieves and goons. The army is no doubt the enemy of the people, and so is the new stooge PM. The recent election shows that the people are both sick of being led by highly ignorant dinosaurs, with no interest in progress, and are interested in smart, young folks, who are serious, accomplished, capable of change, and interested in insuring that Thailand has a good future. Pita is exactly what this nation needs, at this point in time. However, he was too progressive, and the goons had to stop him, in the name of regression.

Why is wine tax in Thailand 250% on average? In most cases, duties constitute a State’s first protection against products imported from other countries in direct competition with local production. Does Thailand produce wine? Yes, local production is around one million liters per year and is based in 3 areas of the country: Loei, Hua Hin and Khao Yai. The projects are relatively recent, and the quality of the wine produced is rather low with a high price. Therefore, taxes on wine imports into Thailand would not appear to be a protectionist measure: against a production of one million liters, import weighs for 18.5 million liters per year, for a market worth 4 billion THB before customs, therefore estimated at (at least) 20 billion turnover on the retail market (source: Thai Custom, December 2022). https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e5332250-7d7e-4274-8aaf-5fac06ce95f2

Utterly ridiculous tripe. The wine import market would be ten times the size it currently is, with a 70% tax, instead of 300%. And that would mean many billions in taxes. The only reason the domestic market is protected is bought and paid for officials and politicians, and the extreme lack of wisdom inherent within this policy is a national tragedy. Also, an abundance of fine wine at fair prices would attract more wealthy tourists, wine events and festivals, etc. Thai wine is a highly inferior product. It does not deserve any protection.

Such exemplary service is the reason why wealthy tourists are flocking to Thailand. They cannot get enough of the place, and the wives love shopping at overpriced luxury boutiques!

This is really good news. Phuket really needs the genius that this man possesses, his wisdom knows no bounds, his intelligence, his clarity, his vision and his planning are things that are a tremendous blessings to this nation. Every day he serves the country it improves, and there is probably not a single man in the country that could have been a better choice as a leader. This man is a sage, he's a saint, he is selfless and cares only about the common man. He is a genius, let him dispense his wisdom at every opportunity.

Issan women are some of the most lovely women I have ever encountered. It just depends, there are dreadful women all over the world. Perhaps one needs to step up, and improve the vetting process? Alot of guys fall in love with the idea of being in love. And they devote their heart to a woman who is undeserving. So, the best course of action, is to really take you time to get to know her. Time allows clarity. If it is good it will only get better. If there are problems, they will manifest themselves over time. This is why you do not allow yourself to get emotionally invested, until you know who she is. That takes a year, or two, or longer. If she shows you she is not worthy of your affection, and attention, you walk away. Man up. Pay tribute to your gender. Show yourself some self respect. Do not allow yourself to be abused, and treated like a street dog.

They say they want rich tourists. What sacrifices are the ministers willing to make, to get them? Rich tourists like to spend money when they travel. And they cannot do that here, as they do not like getting taken for a ride. Most wealthy people are smart with their money. Thailand could be making a fortune on a 25% luxury tax. Instead of the 100% or more, which discourages most people from buying. How many people do you see in the luxury stores here? They are almost always completely empty. Inane. Beyond inane. The lack of access to fine wine at fair prices (whether you drink fine wine or not, it is part of the lifestyle for most wealthy people), grossly exorbitant luxury taxes (every wealthy person I know loves to shop for luxury goods while on vacation, especially the wives!). I could go on. Some regressive nimwits do not understand basic economics. By reducing taxes you stimulate the economy. In addition, if Thailand reduces its punitive wine taxes and luxury taxes, they might be able to attract more of those rich tourists they keep droning on and on and on about. The rich are smart with their money. And not only do they enjoy a nice bottle of wine with dinner, their wives also love to spend alot of money on luxury goods while they vacation. Impossible here. Who would buy a Prada handbag for $11,700 here, when you can get it for $4,800 in most world capitals? Same goes for wine. Who would spend $700 for a bottle of wine they could get for $125 at home. It is referred to as self sabotage, or idiotic policy. An extreme lack of creativity forces retrograde politicians to become overly dependent on import taxes. Dumb and dumber. I was with a group of friends, some time ago, and we wanted to order a bottle of wine, at of one of those high end restaurants in the LeQuartier complex. It was Bella Rocca Restaurant. I asked about a 2011 Chianti they had on the list. I was told they were out of stock. I asked about a Barbaresco, at 2,600 baht. Again, out of stock. How about this Nebbiolo? Do you have the 2010, as stated on the list? No, we only have the 2015. OK, what is that wine like? Is it drinking well now? I do not know. Is there anyone here that is familiar with this wine list? No. Sorry sir. Wait a minute. You have 100 bottles on this list, ranging from 1200 baht to 10,000 baht per bottle, and NOBODY who works here knows anything about the wine? Are you serious? We all just looked at each other, and got up and walked out. We realized the restaurant was a pretender. And more than likely the food was marginal at best. It was all dressed up to look like a very nice Italian restaurant. But, it appeared to be only window dressing. High end tourists have little patience for that lack of quality and lack of service.