spidermike007

9 minutes ago, superal said:

Well , the elite Thai have suppressed the lower classes and maybe have the same plan for the expat . Certainly see nothing to encourage a non wealthy ex pat retiree to Thailand . Ex pats in Thailand have no standing , no voice or representation . As for the embassies , are they still here ? Expats are seen by the Thai as walking ATMs . Two tier pricing , visa rules and expenses , now possible tax on income or the hassle to prove otherwise . Not only are Brits avoiding Thai holidays but there have been reports of ex pat retirees leaving Thailand .

Tens of thousands have left. I cannot provide proof of this but a dear friend of mine is very close to one of the top foreign attorneys in Bangkok, and he said that over the last 5 years he doesn't have enough time in the day to handle all the appointments that are booked by foreigners leaving Thailand and working to create some sort of legal disposition of their assets here. 

I am happy here. But many are not. 

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

Dear Mr. My-glass-is-half-empty-all-the-time,

 

I am deeply concerned with your perpetually groundless anxiety, so here's your starter for ten.

 

https://www.reccessary.com/en/news/th-announcement/thailand-biggest-floating-solar-plant-inaugurated-prachinburi

 

PS: Google really is your friend.

 

Best,

 

Bladdered in Bung Khan

Funny. Guess you asked for it. Nearly every time I see someone complaining, or observing a shortfall within Thailand, some guy, who has not taken the time to think things through, nor to devote any focus or effort to a reasonable reply, says something like "Perhaps Thailand is not for you", or maybe you should leave, or I am concerned about you, or the top prize, "if you do not like it here, go back to your own country". Hard to even respond to such inane statements. Why? Because I have some issues with the place? The nature of a discerning mind, is to have issues. Though absolute contentment must be a beautiful state of mind, it is not something most of us are blessed with, in case you have not noticed. The fact that I complain, does not mean I do not love Thailand, nor most of it's people. I do. I love my life here. I have a very good life here. But, I do have some complaints, and there are some things I would love to see improved. I should leave because of that?

Please. Next time you make a post, try to devote at least two moments of thought to it.

1 hour ago, maddox41 said:

I lived and worked in Thailand for 20 yrs  now would I want to live as expat in Thailand nope 

The new sting the expat with  tax when you when you have already paid tax in your own country. 

The low end tourists mainly Russians run the place  phuket now the rude Chinese and the hoads of Indians. 

Thailand always works backwards all about the money not the quality or the type of  quality  individuals. 

When the <deleted> hits the fan they panic change all the rules and he we go again. 

Great to visit but to live to hard with all the red tape and the trailer trailer trash expatss and greedy Thais. 

Go to Vietnam  way better 

I have always found the Viet people to be a bit like cold fish. Not particularly fun to be around. With the Thais, many are fun and playful, and have light hearts, which I cannot get enough of.

Many 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. Especially one who is younger, and quite pretty. 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, 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. I have never been a person of extreme thrift. To each his own.

I used to have more issues than I do now. I worked on my attitude, which was getting in the way of appreciating Thailand for what it is, and was clouding my experience here. Used to stress over stupid stuff, as you can see from some of my past posts. Used to allow the politics to make me angry. Now it is not something I take seriously, just something I comment on, without anger or an emotional investment. Yes, I complain online. So what? It is a healthy form of venting. Now, I just tend to laugh it off. Spent some real time back in the US recently, and it allowed some clarity and perspective, that I am very grateful for. Now, I just chuckle at most of the nonsense. Water off a duck's back, so to speak.
 

1 hour ago, josephbloggs said:

No problem buying American products?

American / Western propaganda works, you are a walking talking example. Sad really.

No. I will buy an American or European made product over a Chinese product, every single opportunity I get. Not only are they higher quality, but I get to deny the subsidized Chinese factories, and the heinous CCP. Call it whatever you like. Makes no difference to me. Never been particularly concerned with criticism, nor name calling.

Why? Closer ties to China are not a good idea. They are up to no good. Their intentions are heinous. Their desire for power and dominnance knows no bounds. They cannot and should not be trusted. They are NOT a reliable ally, and are not a good or trustworthy world power. They are only one step above Russia, on the trust scale. Worldwide slavery, and organ harvesting? No thanks Xi. 

Perhaps the Chinese should educate themselves on what their own government is doing to the minorities in the West, and Falun Gong members.

Falun Gong practitioners across China are subject to widespread surveillance, arbitrary detention, imprisonment, and torture, and they are at a high risk of extrajudicial execution. The party-state invests hundreds of millions of dollars annually in the campaign to crush Falun Gong, while simultaneously engaging in exploitative and lucrative forms of abuse against practitioners, including extortion and prison labor.

https://freedomhouse.org/report/2017/battle-china-spirit-falun-gong-religious-freedom

The Chinese government has imprisoned more than one million people since 2017 and subjected those not detained to intense surveillance, religious restrictions, forced labor, and forced sterilizations.

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-xinjiang-uyghurs-muslims-repression-genocide-human-rights
 

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

 

Which of your rather weird DIY demographics do you fit into?

The 2%. LOL. Never thought I would be part of the 2% I guess I made it by attrition! 

2 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I don't know who did what. Maybe it was the Bangkok governor. Or maybe it was police enforcement of existing laws. There are multiple reasons why things might happen, and I think often it is not obvious why.

 

Years ago, there were a lot more vehicles with black smoke, especially busses and big trucks. Over the years, the situation got better and better? Why? I don't know. 

And I agree, less vehicles that are polluting the air the better, so getting vehicles that are old poorly maintained diesels off the road is a good thing. However we are experiencing a crisis at the moment with the air quality and by all accounts the government does not seem to be doing anything productive to improve it, nor to prevent it. 

They are completely unwilling to stand up to Big Agra which is a huge part of the problem. The burning of sugar, rice, and corn, if controlled, would go a long way toward improving the air quality here. And would save lives. 

1 hour ago, Denim said:

A holiday to Thailand now has as much kudos as a fortnight in Torremelinos to most Europeans.

 

The country has prostituted itself to the tourist industry and over hubbed itself , all the while missing the point that the ' high quality ' visitors it wants are looking for a more exclusive experience than Thailand now has to offer.

 

The quality of the tourists Thailand is now attracting has spoilt places like Phuket and Chiang Mai and this has not gone unnoticed. 

A very spot on analysis, people with money do want a better experience than what Thailand has to offer. Granted there are very high-end villas here and there are very high-end hotels here, but for the most part the concierge services are lacking, the sommelier service is horrific, the selection of fine wines (nearly every wealthy tourist drinks a good bottle per day) is horrific, the price of the fine wines is stupid, it's very difficult for a wealthy person to hire a helicopter or private plane  to fly from one part of the country to another, the highways are completely choked with small trucks due to successive administrations ignoring the issue of cargo movement for seven decades, and the air quality stinks. I could go on look.

I'm still living here, I love it here, but I have a lot of issues and if I were a tourist with money, Thailand would not be my first choice as a destination. 

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

That is not corract.

At least in Bangkok decades ago the air quality was worse and the traffic was worse.

Now it's far away from good, but a lot better than it used to be.

 

Remember those things?

 

Well the natural gas vehicles were put into the fleet quite some time ago and obviously the BTS and the MRT are making a contribution to cleaner air. Beyond that, please list the accomplishments of either the current administration or the Prayuth Administration when it comes to cleaning up the air, and the environment

I'm anxious to hear them. 

16 hours ago, xylophone said:

 

Yes, a lack of planning, money siphoned off for this very purpose goes into other "pockets" and the powers that be hope that the tourists keep coming, but as these two posts have pointed out, things are getting pretty dire in Phuket.

 

Just a couple of hours ago I was making my way back by car, from Bangkok Phuket hospital to Patong and the traffic on the hill from the Kathu traffic lights up to the shrine and just beyond, was stopped nose to tail, so obviously I thought there had been an accident, as often happens in this dreadful piece of road.....but no, it was because there had been a really heavy downpour, where the heavens opened up, for about an hour previous to my journey, and the road being slippery, combined with the lack of driving ability of the everyday Thai, saw quite a few trucks and vans on that hill spinning their wheels in an effort to move, but to no avail.

 

I didn't realise that this was the case until a Fortuna a couple of cars ahead of me was skewing a little sideways in an effort to get some traction, so everything behind him stopped and a good 50% of the trucks and vans started to do the same thing, and as no one would let anyone else in to the other lane to get away from these potential disasters, everything came to a standstill – – and this was the reason for the nose to tail traffic!!

 

As most will know, half of this road on the hill slid away a few months back, and there was talk then, as there has been for many years previous, of building a tunnel, or of finding another route out of Patong in order to bypass this hill. However nothing has become of this although the problems with this piece of road have been known for a couple of decades previously.

 

Add this to that which @ChipButty has mentioned, and no matter what has been done to improve the roads here, it has inevitably ended up being a disaster and causing more problems than it tried to solve.

 

So the solution of the people in power has been to open up the likes of Patong/Phuket to more tourists with visa free entry, or ease of extended stay, or whatever else you want to call it, whilst the whole place has turned into a nightmare.
 

It does indeed sound like a nightmare, the bottom line is choosing quantity over quality is never a good idea unless you're selling $2 items at a swap meet. Thailand has completely lost sight of the game and their policies are the exact opposite of what one would describe his visionary and wise. 

13 hours ago, Neeranam said:

The US will always support Israel for reasons we can't talk about. It's not political. 

Well Israel does have one of the largest lobbies in America, so that is certainly a deterrent to a refusal to go along with their horrendous policies. And as you say there are other factors at work, but the bottom line is that we should not be supporting the extremist policies in Israel. It is simply not wise, nor is it visionary. 

16 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

No need to wait until 2027.

 

First electric car equipped with solid-state batteries goes on sale

 

 

I don't trust Chinese cars, and I don't like supporting Chinese companies, nor the Chinese government. So I have multiple reasons to never buy a Chinese car. 

Not gonna happen. 

Thailand has been facing a decline in Western tourists for a decade now. There are a dozen good reasons why Westerners don't visit Thailand as much as they used to. I was recently in Phuket and I would estimate the population of foreigners was 40% Russian, 20% Arab, 20% Malaysian and Chinese, 15% Indian, and about 2% Westerners and a sprinkling of some others. It was a low end crowd. 

The sad truth is that Thailand is not doing anything to improve itself they are making absolutely no effort to tackle air quality environmental issues traffic congestion or any other problems plaguing the nation. It seems to be a combination of sloth lack of vision and extreme arrogance. 

1 hour ago, Captain Monday said:

I vowed to never go to Phuket again more than 20 years ago based on taxi mafia alone ago but did 2 weeks in July 2021.  “Sandbox”

 

Prior to my last trip late last year I hadn't been there in 10 years, and it really felt like it had declined significantly. Especially the nightlife which was utterly pathetic. There was really no appeal to the place other than the Andaman, which is fantastic, but it's just not enough. 

And now with the Russian takeover, it's just one more reason never to go again. 

Phuket is a disaster, it is horrific at this point in time. I was just there several months ago and I couldn't wait to leave. If they keep going with the development Phuket's going to be another Bali within the next 10 years. Bali has become like Midtown Manhattan at rush hour, the whole Southeast third of the island is an absolute abomination.