josephbloggs

54 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Rather ageist of you once again .

BTW, how do you know how old all the posters on this forum are ?

Seriously, it's hardly controversial to say that the majority of posters here are fairly old.  It's certainly not ageist.  And you don't need to take a survey of everyone, just read the content.

Nothing wrong with it, it's just pretty well accepted.

17 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I can’t remember the last time I saw one other than the massive ones being presented to lottery winners and charities.... 

I just got an email from Avanti West Coast saying they are refunding my ticket cost as my London to Liverpool train arrived 90 minutes late (train travel in the UK is shocking at the moment)..........and that they are mailing me a cheque!!  Not refunding me on the credit card I bought the ticket with but mailing a cheque which is going to be useless to me (I am guessing that is their intention).

35 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Nice one... where do you live ?....   we’re coming round for Pizza !!!????

Ha ha, I live in Bangkok - just turn left at the 7-Eleven and I'm right there.

Hope to fire it up at the weekend and will make a post.

On 6/8/2022 at 5:54 PM, tgw said:

the only way is to educate these businesses by taking your business elsewhere.

Don't be silly, the whole world is going cashless.  I just got back from the UK and no-one uses cash there anymore - several business will not even accept cash at all.  

Reporting back.  I just arrived home with my pizza oven in its original box plus 20kg of oak chips.  Not even a second glance at customs, just walked right through.

10 hours ago, carlyai said:

You can get the wood chips in Thailand. Used in the Smoker oven. Last lot of Hickory I bought in Pattaya, but Lazada may even have them now.

I got pinged with a temperature remote (this was bringing something in via the port from China), all customs seemed to be as happy as they can be until they saw the remote, then they said my unit must be expensive, and pulled an expensive tax figure out of their head.

Thanks, but the only wood chips I have found - like Hickory - are for smoking.  But for pizza ovens you want wood that doesn't smoke.  So ideally looking for kiln dried oak or beech.   I am sure it must be available in Thailand, I just haven't found it yet.

I did find some cedar pellets so will try them and compare to the oak I am carrying back.

11 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

SLIGHT CHANGE OF SUBJECT.... 

 

That Pizza oven looks awesome, I’ve actually looked at the same model in the UK and through about brining it back.... 

 

Josephbloggs.... once you’ve arrived, cracked your dough recipe and have made a good pizza how about starting a thread so we can see how good this oven is ???  ????????????????????

Cool, flying back Wednesday with the oven and 20kg of oak so will report how it goes (in my limited searches in Bangkok I couldn't find oak pellets so figured I would haul these back to give me something to compare to).  I have also been after this for a long time so really looking forward to giving it a go - good idea to start a thread, I will.  

1 hour ago, josephbloggs said:

Yep, the people who say it puts people off have almost certainly never done it themselves.  I did one three weeks ago for a trip to the UK, very simple.  And I have just done one now for a trip to Singapore next week and they have simplified it further.  Previously you needed to upload details of each vaccine shot, state your purpose of visit.   Now they don't ask purpose and you only need to upload a QR code of your third shot.  Very very simple and quick.  Took me less than 5 minutes.

And now they promise you get your answer in less than two hours.

And just got issued my QR code, 29 minutes after submitting my application.  It really is super simple.

8 hours ago, CharlieH said:

There is a pinned calculator for import at the head of this forum.

Based on the information provided.

 

 

Importing a product classified with HS Code  84172000 to TH from GB with a value of 250 GBP results in the following:

Duty & Tax Charges

Duty: 0 THB (Rate of 0 %)

VAT: 749.47 THB (Rate of 7 %)

Total: 749.47 THB

 

 

That said, as stated above put it in a suitcase and it's luck of the draw. Probably won't get stopped, but if you do, you have a good indication what to expect.Make sure you have the purchase receipt proving value.

 

Thank you Charlie, that is really helpful.  I think I'll print out the receipt and declare it, if it's only 7% VAT then it's no big deal.

It's nicely packed in the box so I think unpacking and repacking would be a hassle.  Plus I already have 20kg of oak pellets in my suitcase....  ????

Hi,

I am returning to Thailand next week and carrying a small wood fired pizza oven (15kg) that I bought.  Does anyone know if I can go through the green channel or should I go to red and declare it?  And if so what would be the duty to pay?  I have searched and can't find if there would be duties to pay or not.  It is not an electric item.

It cost £250 so not an expensive thing, so if I have to pay it's ok, but if I don't have to I would obviously rather go through green and not have the hassle.  Taking it out of the box and making it look used is not an option, I'll be taking it in its original packaging.

Any thoughts or advice?

56 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

What youre image shows is the second 'queue' room. Prior to that is another laid out in the 'up and down' lane pattern giving a total potential queue length of hundreds! The door (top right) of your image is the 'exit' leading into a third room with yet more 'up and 'down' control before reaching the 'end' for release to the frustrating 'robot machines' or manned IO desks. Incidentally, when I went through there were a dozen or so IO Desks but only four manned!

Yep. I hadn't arrived in terminal 2 before. Already done the horrendous up and down, thought I was nearly there then turned the corner and saw that! 

8 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

This is bad news. Flying out in September. I don't care about THAI, as, due to very bad experience, I won't ever fly with them again, but, I guess, I'll bite the bullet and prepare on spending half a day at the airport, one way or another. Wondering how this even works, do they open check-in 5 or 6 hours before a flight now?

Thai Air check-in is open all the time.

3 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jun/01/ba-and-easyjet-cancel-more-than-150-flights-as-travel-chaos-continues

 

We do chaos, disorder and bad service much  better in UK! Especially  Manchester  Airport!

This was the sight that greeted me at Heathrow when I arrived a couple of weeks ago.  Took 90 minutes to get through and I am a UK citizen and flew business class!  It was horrendous and I got told off for taking a photo of it by security!

Would be waaaay more efficient at Suvarnabhumi - I'll be able to compare next week when I come back.

 

4 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

That's good to know. Does check-in at Changi Airport accept Thailand's Mor Prom app for vaccination verification? (Singapore will be my stopover on the way to Oz, but I'm planning to check out the city too.)

No, you need to get your vaccination status verified online before you arrive.

https://eservices.ica.gov.sg/STO1/VCP

Enter your details, upload the QR code of your third vaccine shot, then you will be emailed a letter confirming your vaccination status that you present to immigration in Singapore.

On 5/22/2022 at 12:27 AM, josephbloggs said:

Ok, I have asked this question to several posters who shout "insurance scam" yet not one has replied. Not a single one.   Maybe you can be the first?

Explain the scam.  That is all I ask.  You can use any insurance company you like - Thai or foreign.  The requirement ($10k cover) is super minimal and has been continually reduced (form $100k to $50k to $20k to $10k).  You are NOT mandated to use a Thai company and I would suggest most foreign tourists buy travel insurance in their own country., so the majority of policies will be provided by foreign companies.   If you are employed in Thailand (as a foreigner) you are covered by social security and don't need further insurance at all.

None of that exactly says scam does it?  A scam would usually have a single beneficiary, no?

So come on, you can be the first.  I know you have collected all your "likes" already for shouting scam so it is job done for you, but it is really boring and I just want one single scam shouter to reply and explain it.  

@John Drake That's another no then....

On 5/20/2022 at 8:41 PM, John Drake said:

Still won't let go of the insurance scam.

Ok, I have asked this question to several posters who shout "insurance scam" yet not one has replied. Not a single one.   Maybe you can be the first?

Explain the scam.  That is all I ask.  You can use any insurance company you like - Thai or foreign.  The requirement ($10k cover) is super minimal and has been continually reduced (form $100k to $50k to $20k to $10k).  You are NOT mandated to use a Thai company and I would suggest most foreign tourists buy travel insurance in their own country., so the majority of policies will be provided by foreign companies.   If you are employed in Thailand (as a foreigner) you are covered by social security and don't need further insurance at all.

None of that exactly says scam does it?  A scam would usually have a single beneficiary, no?

So come on, you can be the first.  I know you have collected all your "likes" already for shouting scam so it is job done for you, but it is really boring and I just want one single scam shouter to reply and explain it.  

55 minutes ago, RandiRona said:

Safe passage?? Most Asean countries has opened their borders and figured out what is safe for them. Thailand still believes that 10k scam Insurance and cumbersome ThaiPass approval would keep bringing trillions of baht to Thai economy.

Yawn, here we go again, and no "scam screamer" has ever answered this question, maybe you can be the first.

Explain the scam.  The insurance requirements are very minimal and have been reduced several times already.  You can buy from any insurance company you like - foreign or Thai - there is no mandate to use any company.  If you are employed here you do not need any insurance as you are covered by Thai social security.  So where is the scam?  Can you please enlighten me.

And the cumbersome Thai Pass take 5-6 minutes and is pretty simple, and you receive your approval in a  matter of hours.  No better or worse than many other countries.  Likely it will be gone soon but it really is not hard, I suspect though that you've never done it.

Anyway, enlighten me as to the scam please, I might learn something.

20 minutes ago, d2b2 said:

Do you not have health insurance? Are you one of the people who expect a Gofundme appeal to cover medical expenses in an emergency?

 

the Thailand Pass basically accepts all health insurance or trip insurance policies issued from any country. It has no requirement that you buy insurance from Thai providers. It just requires you demonstrate responsibility, but showing you are covered.

 

You may as well talk to the wall.  He doesn't reply to any questions, doesn't respond to logical information, he just yells "scam" and then runs away.

7 minutes ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Announcements are hitting the street that 1 million tourists have arrived this year, and each was required to purchase Covid insurance. The absolute cheapest I've seen is ฿650, and I'd bet most of those tourists bought insurance a lot more expensive. That's a minumum of ฿165,000,000. Don't tell me there aren't brown envelope discussions on how to keep this cash cow alive as long as possible.

Well done, you managed to drop "brown envelopes" in too!  You are on a roll!

Don't you think most foreign travellers buy travel insurance in their home countries?  So are these foreign companies sending their brown envelopes by DHL?

And if they wanted to keep this "cash cow" rolling why have they been continually decreasing the coverage amount required?  Why wouldn't they still ask for $100k cover?  Why drop it to $50k, then $20k, now $10k?

Again, have a think and then come back to me.  Maybe in your next post you can add "another nail in the tourism industry" then I think you have ticked all the TVF cliche boxes.

1 hour ago, HappyExpat57 said:

You really are like a dog with a bone. Again, apply for Thai Pass without proof of insurance. STILL waiting.

Sorry you didn't answer how that is a scam. If you had to buy insurance from a single company that was owned by someone in government and it was overpriced I would agree with you.

But you can chose any insurance company you like: Thai or foreign.   So how is it a scam?  Still waiting for you to explain.

And if you have Thai social security (Ie. you are employed here) you are already covered and can submit a letter from your employer in lieu of insurance.  I know people who have done that.

So, again, in your own words, please explain how it is a scam.  

18 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

The insurance scam is raking in the money, particularly now that the pandemic is for all intents and purposes over.

You do like your TVF cliches don't you.  First it was "Thai Pass cash cow".  Brilliant.  Oh, then when it was pointed out that TP is simple and free you bleat "insurance scam".

The insurance requirements are very low (you can get it for 650 baht - I just did).  You can buy from any foreign insurance company you like, there is no mandate to use any particular company.  If you are employed by a Thai company you are covered by social security so don't need to buy anything.

So please explain these cash cows and scams that are free and non obligatory.  Please try and explain by yourself in your own words without using cliches and TVF buzz words.

And do you not think that everyone involved - government, hoteliers, travel companies - would make a hell of a lot more money were TP and these restriction not in place?

Apply some logic please, can't wait to hear your explanation of this scam.