josephbloggs

Thanks for the links, some useful info there. Seems my accountant was right, unfortunately.

Will do some digging around to see about how the double tax agreement may make a difference.

Cheers.

Hi people,

My company is currently negotiating with a highly specialised guy from Europe to give some training to some of our staff on some highly specialised equipment. He will be in Bangkok for seven days and we will be paying him 5000 Euros. This sum will be invoiced to us from his German company and we will be paying by TT transfer. My accounts department tell me this will be subject to 15% withholding tax. So, now it's going to cost us significantly more (as we've already agreed they get 5000 Euros. Is this really the case or are they mistaken? It seems strange to me.

A German company will be invoicing us from Germany for some training from a German. We pay Germany accordingly. Why would this attract 15% withholding tax? I'll be the first to admit I don't know the law on this and that's why I'm asking here - it just seems illogical to me.

If this is so, what if we sent staff to be trained in Germany instead? The invoice from Germany would be identical, so how would that work?

Please be aware I'm not trying to circumvent the law, I'm trying to understand it to make sure we do things correctly. If we have to pay the extra 15% we will. But obviously I'd rather not if it isn't necessary.

Our company has full BOI privileges if that makes any difference.

Thank you for any input.

I ordered some "camcorder sunglasses" as I had a load of miles expiring. They turned up very quickly and with no tax to pay or any other problems.

12th of Nov: walked straight to the officer at around 23.15 hrs (who then tried to cheat me and stamped in only 30 days instead of 90 - but as I always have a look at my passport after leaving the immigration desk, I quickly discovered this and went back - the lady just had closed her desk and wanted to flee, but I was faster )

Really. Tried to cheat you. Hmmmm. And what would be in it for her to "cheat" you like that? Don't you think it's possible that she merely made a mistake?

'Best Money Changer At Swampy'

I think the moderators should pay serious attention at how the posters call the name of the airport.

the airport has its name and most importantly it was His Majesty the King who gave the name of this nation's airport.

'Swampy' is a derogatory remark, my opinion.

Commonly called this and quite appropriate.

I don't think it's offensive, but I do think it is ridiculous and cliquey. I see new people posting questions on here about forthcoming trips to Thailand and they get replies about "Swampy". How are they supposed to know what it means? I think it's quite sad actually.

Good post... great info....

Seconded. Excellent stuff LG, thanks.

It's not an RS2000, it's just a replica.

The price will depend on the spec... 150k to 500k or more...

It's a bloody nice replica though!

It should be allowed. They have a lot of spare channels but the Panda was not attracting advertising revenues so it was a financial decision not a philanthropic one (for want of a better word). But they lost viewer ratings so that will affect their advertisers. But money is the only thing motivating Thai's. This country really needs a Free To Air (FTA) Community Channel.

Sheesh, what a ridiculous leap of logic! So a cable broadcaster drops one of the most boring, pointless and unwatched channels after a boring, pointless and unwatched three years and you conclude that money is the only thing that motivates Thai people. Honestly, that's quite pathetic.

The ARL is two lines, the Express and an all stop suburban line called City Line. In the future this suburban line will have 10 carriages and run at a metro style frequency in peak hours but that was planned for 2026 though pax numbers have been higher so expect a few years earlier. It will also be extended as will the Express line which will go to DMK.

Hi LG,

If there is a plan to have a metro style frequency in the future, how would this work in conjunction with the Express trains? Currently I believe Hua Mark station is the only place where the Express trains can pass the City Line trains. Isn't there a limit to how frequent the City Line trains can be before it impacts on the Express trains (as they would be stacked up behind them)? Just curious.

Yes...tsk tsk on all the naysayers...

It's great to know some of the "thought processes" involved...

Even though the ARL does its work without much coordination with the Highways Dept., the parking situation at Hua Mark is "a horrible mess", the ARL Express Line service has been mis-planned relative to the City Line, something in the design of the ARL system was causing the trains parts to wear out prematurely and they couldn't get enough spares to keep all the trains running, etc etc etc.... The list is vastly longer, but I won't bore everyone with all the other details.

I do believe LG said the SRT doesn't usually coordinate well with the Highways department but in the case of the ARL it actually had. That parking at Hua Mark is a "horrible mess" is simply because it is full and people park with little consideration for through traffic. They have used all the available space for car parking (it's quite sizeable) but it is still usually full. I don't see how this is their fault - there certainly isn't space to build a multi storey car park at the moment, but as LG once again said, they have allocated funds to increase the parking area (presumably by buying adjacent land) and a multistorey car park may be built in the future. Do you actually read the posts? And let's not forget that this is a free parking service. Sorry if there are houses and roads in the way of it being bigger for you.

And yes, I do remember the issues with brake pads wearing out quickly and them not keeping enough spares, although I haven't heard anything about this for a long time now.

Everything's great, except your rose colored glasses are in desperate need of a new prescription.

Nope, my glasses are nicely balanced thank you. Like I said, the mass transit systems here do have their faults, but generally they are well run and well planned. The SRT is certainly the least competent of the group but if you compare the ARL to what's available in other countries it remains a very good and reliable service. Let's take the Heathrow Express as an example. Similar distance, exactly the same journey time, the same rolling stock (although more pleasantly furnished), the same lack of decent check in facilities at Paddington, a service frequently disrupted, more than ten times the cost of the ARL. Imagine forking out close to 1,000 baht every time you wanted to use it! And do you think there is free parking at Paddington?

Overall, for what is still a fairly new system, it does a good job and it will get better. But there are those that simply love to gripe at things here whether it is justified or not, so please continue if it makes you feel better.

I once saw a Merc McClaren SLR parked in Emporium car park. Also seen a couple of different Merc SLS's knocking around.

And twice I've seen the same Porsche Carrera GT. Once driving along Sukhumvit and once parked on Thonglor - but luckily for me the owner was sat in it revving it hard. Incredible.

Currently getting built.

My freinds, almost finished.

One i just sold.

Currently getting built.

My freinds, almost finished.

One i just sold.

Very nice RS2000! How much would that go for?

From what I understand there were a number of factors regarding the siting.

Firstly, the SRT wanted to keep the Hua Mark eastern line station (west side of Sri rd) operational without interference during construction of the ARL station. Secondly, the location of the mosque and muslim community land had some restriction on exactly where the station could be located on the east side of Sri rd. I can't remember the exact details. Also, my what I understand there are some future plans to build a flyer over/underpass on Sri rd and Phattana Kan rd. (Usually there is not a lot of co-ord with the Highways Dept).

Lastly, don't forget that the elevated Yellow line will have station (Y10) will be located just north of the ARL line above Sri rd. Also, the Yellow line depot will be located to the east of Hua Mark ARL station. Of course there will be an interchange link built (eventually) between both stations.

Put all that together and somehow you get the station site decision!

The main issue at the station has been the lack of car parking space and last year the SRT allocated some funds to expand the area. It is still a mess and probably in need of a multi storey parking facility which I suggest may be built once the Yellow line opens.

Thanks for the good info LG - it's interesting to know some of the though processes involved. I must admit it does irk me somewhat when people make comments along the lines of "it's too far from the road [150 metres!], typical Thailand" as if the stations are simply randomly and haphazardly placed. The mass transit systems here do have their faults but generally they are quite well designed and thought out.

I wasn't even aware of the yellow line passing through there but it all goes to show that the system is well planned, never mind what the TV naysayers would have you think.

But yes, the parking situation at Hua Mark is a horrible mess and badly needs a multi storey, although I'm not sure there is space for one?

From the Hua Mark Station to the main road seems a fair bit longer than 150 meters by my reckoning, and certainly longer than a 90 second walk, though I haven't measured or timed it precisely.

Well that's the kind of spoon I am - I measured it on Sunday: precisely 155 metres. From the other end of the station it's a fair bit longer, obviously, but really it's not that far.

It's a long stretch down a narrow road along the regular rail tracks, and no sidewalks, as best as I recall. And whenever I've been there, I don't see anyone making that walk. Everyone seems to be taking taxis, motorcycle taxis or vans/songtheauws.

You're right about that - it's not a pleasant walk as there are no pavements and the road is clogged with lots of badly parked cars. Most people do indeed take motorbikes, taxis or songtheaws directly from the station but they go to wherever they are going - nobody takes them just to the end of the road I can guarantee that.

On the other hand, the Huamark ARL Station seems to be stuck pretty much in the middle of nowhere in terms of easy walking access to the nearby major thoroughfares. For who knows what reason, it's set a LONG way off of the adjoining Srinakarin Rd... long, as in, you can't even see one from the other.

That's ever such a slight exaggeration there. From the station entrance (bottom of the escalator) to Srinakarin road is 150 metres. It's pretty clearly visible and is possibly a 90 second walk. I use the station often.

Rather than assuming they plonk these stations randomly I think they are a bit smarter than that. If you'd rather move the station 150 metres to be right on Srinakarin Road can you imagine the congestion as cars and taxis stopped to drop off and pick up passengers? You'd be screaming at how idiotic it was to put it there I'm sure. Hua Mark ARL is an extremely busy station and the soi that it is on gets clogged every day with people picking up and dropping off, but at least the main road keeps moving (sort of).

I think the station was placed very deliberately and for good reason and, like I said, it is 150 metres to the main road. That really isn't far. At all. How close do you want?

It is rarely seen in use....

I use the ARL very often and the tram is always in use. It's there waiting when we get down from the train, people get on, it sets off. I never use it as I consider it pointless and only for extremely lazy people or people who have heavy bags or difficulty walking. Normally it's just full of lazy people.

Had reason to originate a trip on the ARL line from Makkasan Station this morning, via the Petchburi MRT subway line...

Just by way of update, even after all these months and many news account promises, I saw absolutely no sign of any work underway or even in preparation for the supposed convenient connection between the MRT Station and the ARL Station across the street.

Among the odd things I noticed, was arriving at and coming thru the Petchburi MRT station, the underground station itself seems to have almost no directional signage pointing passengers there toward the correct exit for heading to the ARL station. I believe the correct exit had signage labeled only relating to a nearby school and was absent of any mention of ARL. But once we finally did pick and head for the correct exit (by looking at one of the wall mounted station layout and exits maps), I did finally end up seeing one sign saying it was the correct route toward ARL.

Then once we got back above ground and crossed the road toward the ARL station, we walked down a wide paved concrete pavers sidewalk that immediately ran directly into a huge concrete support column for the station or the ARL tracks (I'm not remembering which). The support column blocked the entire width of the paved sidewalk. On one side was the vehicle access road to the station (the street), and on the other side was just empty dirt... Obviously, a real genius designed the layout for that one.

Then we went up the escalator into the Makkasan ARL station (my first time there) and arrived in a huge, cavernous and totally empty hall (at about 10 am on a Saturday morning.) No clear or particularly obvious directional signage of which way to go to access either the City or the Express Lines, and no one around to ask. Eventually found our way through some glass doors en route to the ticketing area for the City Line. Our City Line train was moderately full, some seats still available, at that hour of the morning.

The other curious thing I noticed, but didn't have time to stop and check about, was upon our arrival at Makkasan ARL, there was an Air Asia painted and logo'd mini tram vehicle sitting downstairs and took a load of arriving passengers who passed us going out as we were going into the terminal. Not sure what Air Asia was/is doing with a tram there or where it was taking those passengers.

Overall, my biggest impression was the stunning (at least for the present) waste of facility space that's occurring with the ARL terminal there. They've got this HUGE building that seems to be largely empty and unused...

Ohh...and the other thing.... as we arrived at Makkasan ARL, I didn't notice any meter taxis parked downstairs. Literally, I didn't see a single one.... unless they were queued in some other area of the station property. In contrast, when we arrived later at our Huamark ARL Station destination, there was actually a formal meter taxi queue with at least a half dozen waiting for arriving passengers.

The Airasia sponsored golf cart is free and is to transport passengers to and from the main station entrance to the main road near the MRT.

The utterly stupid thing is that this would not be needed if they had simply put an escalator where the cart now picks up passengers from the MRT - it would take you right to the edge of the platform. Instead they make everyone walk down the entire lengh of the platform and actually past it, into the main building, take a few twists and turns and finally getting to the platform after having done a good 5 min detour. The wasted man hours per year related to this must be staggering.

Seriously, that golf cart goes about 75 metres up and down the road - it's pointless if you ask me and is more of a token gesture than anything. Yes, there should be a direct link between the MRT and the ARL station - and it will come - but seriously, loosen up. Wasted man hours? Really?? By walking inside the building then going up, rather then going up then walking along a bit instead? Yes, I'm surprised Bangkok's economy can handle that crippling burden. Unbelievable.

I suspect...since you say it occurs at or near a junction of two tracks...that it is the the actual section of the track where the train switching is actually done.

The train has two possible routes to travel there...and the switching section is moveable to allow the train to travel either path.

So as the wieght of the train enters on to that switch section you get a CLUNK as the wieght of the train carriage enters it and the another CLUNK as the wieght of the train carriage exits that section.

If you were OUTSIDE the carriage you could probably hear a Clunk Clunk as the front of the carriage entered that section and a 2nd Clunk Clunk as the rear of the carriage exited that section.

INSIDE the train carriage you would feel a Clunk (Jolt) then another Clunk (jolt) seperated by the amount of time it took that carriage to enter and exit that switch section of the track.

P.S. The probable reason it is louder on the Express train than the Local train is that the express train is traveling faster?

Hi,

No, I don't think it's that. The points/spur that Lomatopo mentions are between Makkasan and Ramkhamhaeng (but closer to Makkasan), and the trains do slow down for this but it's nothing like the loud clunks I'm referring to. These happen between Ramkhamhaeng and Hua Mark (maybe a km or so after Ramkhamhaeng station) when the trains are well clear of any points - it is just straight track.

And SVB is right - it does give people quite a shock. They do have small signs on the trains saying it's normal to hear those noises at that point but most people would never notice them. Still hoping to satisfy my curiosity and find out what causes them.....

Edit: Another reason I can say it's not that is because the two clunks are a reasonable distance apart - I'm guessing a few hundred metres - and are therefore definitely not the front carriage and the rear carriage passing the same thing.

May ave. daily pax ridership-

Cityline: 36, 644 (Highest 52, 278 on 25 May, Lady Gaga concert)

Express: 2416

Source: http://www.posttoday...bdquo;น

I find the figure for the Express very difficult to believe. I use the Cityline often and rarely see even a couple of dozen people on the Express and usually see only around 10 or so. Sometimes there are literally 2 or 3 people using it.

And from time to time I even see the train pull and NOBODY gets out.

I think the numbers are good, there is no real need to inflate the figures as they have actually dropped a little from late last year when they where just under 3K. I also often see around 10-15 pax off peak but at peak it is not uncommon to see twice that number (20-30) and a bit heavier during morning/afternoon peaks. Some trains are nearly empty, agreed. There are 76 Express trains per day between the airport and PT and 54 between the airport and the CAT which means a total of 130 Express trains

The significant change, as it was always going to be was the price change. This, along with providing the PT option, boosted numbers almost immediately from 700 a day to over 2000+. They kept rising thereafter.

This Thairath article from last week says the numbers are around 3K (42K-47K for Cityline) which is about right but are not specific figures that the SRT normally gives. It also says that the Makkasan CAT to Phetchburi MRT viaduct is being fast tracked but then we have heard that before........

http://www.thairath....tent/eco/275175

Are they still running whole 6+ car trains? They could run shorter trains and use the extra rolling stock on the City line..

They've never run 6+ car trains as far as I know. The Express runs four cars - three for passengers and one for checked baggage (so maybe one or two pieces of luggage in there). I believe the stations are designed for eight-car trains and I saw some of these during the test period but never since. The City line runs three car trains.

Recently they've occasionally been using Express trains as City trains to ease congestion.

joseph:

sigh...if you can't distuingish the difference between a paid demonstration and acivil war then you and me occupy different worlds I'm afraid my friend.

Follow your hunch mate and stock up on tins of baked beans, and the moment before my dear old 92year old neighbour slaughters me in the cross fire with her ak47, I'll accept it if youd say I told you so.lets just agree to disagree on this on

I wish you well

Ok, thanks - it's been a while since I've been patronised quite so heavily, that was refreshing.

Regardless of whether it was paid or not (and it mostly was), heavy weapons, snipers, 90 people dead in the street is not trivial. Don't dismiss it so lightly.

I've been here a long time and I'm not an idiot.

there will be no civil war in Thailand, nobody is starving or dying. People only put their lives on the line if their lives are in danger. Besides theres too much money from foreign companies and thais in position of influence losing too much money if war broke out. You might get paid skirmishes but one plea from the privy council and then threats by the army would quell this. which Thai fathers do you know of who would sacrifice themselves for some politicians?

Get out from your paranoid computers and tell me who would sacrifice their lives and families for Korkaew or Jaturaporn? They'll happily cause aruckus for a free feed and 200 baht, but you could never mobilise half the population all because some millionaires aren't getting their way.

When was the last civil war in Asia? Whose living conditions in Thailand are so desperate that they're prepared to die to give their family a better life?

I hope you're right but did you not see the thousands of people barricading themselves inside Rajaprasong, many of them armed, willing to fight? Of course most people were unarmed but they were all willing to put themselves on the line, that's why they stayed put when it was getting ugly. They were all listening and cheering the hate speeches on stage. Many of them cheered when grenades were fired. They could have disbanded when the "leaders" gave themselves up but they didn't.

And let's not forget Sah Deang and his outrageous militarism!

That, in my mind, was not a million miles away from a civil war. I still find it hard to believe it really happened. And yes, this was all because a few millionaires weren't getting their way as you put it. 90 people dead. None of what you said correlates at all with what happened in 2010.

If I hadn't seen that then I would agree with you. But the rhetoric is increasing again - it could be far worse this time. I hope I'm wrong.

Detonator caps on the line to warn the drivers of an approaching hazzard, such as people working near the track. The yellow button sits on the line and the lead straps are bent around the rail to keep it in place. 1 bang, 2 bangs, 3 bangs etc have different meanings/levels of approaching hazzard.

Thanks for the reply, very interesting! However, I don't think it's those. It happens on every single journey in exactly the same place and the train doesn't slow down at all as it would if there was a hazard. And it's more of a clunk than a bang. In fact clunk is a much more descriptive term - I should have used it my title.

arcing electric perhaps

No, it's not that. It's a physical thing that you can feel as the trains passes over it and you hear the bang.

Hi folks,

I know there are a couple of posters on here who are very knowledgable about the ARL so I hope they can answer this for me.

When travelling, just past Ramkhamhaeng station (on the way to the airport) there are two loud bangs. They seem to be louder on the Express than the City trains. I know they have signs in the trains saying it is normal, but I would just like to know what it is. Anyone?

Cheers.