gabruce

What I find unbelievable is their statement that stopping the visa run people will reduce crime! Personally, I doubt very much that any of the visa run people are criminals.

Working illegally is a crime, and as we are all aware many of those affected do in fact work without permits, so yes it will reduce crime. Also there are those in BKK that are drug dealers and the like that use the tourist visas, so again iradicating undesirable criminals. The only ones truly affected are the under 50s,not married or working, everyone else has an option of obtaining the correct visa....

Thanks, you along with many others pointed out that working without a work permit is illegal and that if many of those doing multiple tourist visa's and/or doing many in and outs are working here, then if they no longer are in Thailand, an INVISIBLE crime is eliminated. True enough. Next up, eliminate the foreigners who drive without a thai license or without a helmet.

What I find unbelievable is their statement that stopping the visa run people will reduce crime! Personally, I doubt very much that any of the visa run people are criminals.

When I have spoken with middle-class Thai supporters of Suthep they were all against the 30 bath scheme because they didn't want to pay to provide healthcare to the poor.

There's a much broader issue of inequality of income taxation in this country. Only about 2.5 million people pay income tax. That's a lot of poor (and extremely rich) people that pay no income tax at all. An unfair burden falls upon the middle class, and it's not surprising some of them feel resentful.

The junta has said it will consider taxation reform, and has actively suggested introducing land tax. Of course, that will never happen, given that it would disproportionately hit the wealthiest and most powerful in society. However, we can hope for other tax reforms.

And if the junta is capable of reducing corruption substantially in government purchasing and in capital projects, then that will free up a vast amount of money which could be used for social programmes. However, that's a big "if". It seems suspicious to me that the junta has committed to going ahead with the 350 billion Baht water management at the same price as under Pheu Thai - a price that was heavily padded to line the pockets of certain individuals. Why hasn't the cost come down significantly? Or are different people's pockets to be padded now?

While it's true that the number of income tax payers is small, about 40% of Thai tax revenue comes from the VAT tax:

http://www.quandl.com/WORLDBANK/THA_GC_TAX_GSRV_RV_ZS-Thailand-Taxes-on-goods-and-services-of-revenue

VAT and sales taxes are inherently regressive since they consume a far greater portion of the income of poor families than rich or middle-class ones. In addition, other sources of income available to the wealthy are not taxed at all such as land, inheritance, and capital gains on securities transactions. These exclusions amount to substantial subsidies for the rich.

"And if the junta is capable of reducing corruption substantially in government purchasing and in capital projects" - Would you be at all interested in buying a bridge in Brooklyn at a very reasonable discount? Following the 2006 coup independent evaluations found that corruption in Thailand did not decrease, but increased. With 1600 generals to feed for a military of 300,000 (compare with 450 generals for the US active armed forces of 1.4 million) coupled with the ongoing takeover of the state-owned enterprises by the junta, it requires extreme wishful thinking to believe that corruption is somehow going to decline in the future.

Here's a graph from the Economist of 2011 on income inequality by country with Thailand coming out almost at the top to show that although only the relatively well-off pay the income tax here, that one inconvenience hasn't prevented them from sequestering most of the country's income to an astonishing degree.

I think it's interesting to compare the World Bank figures for:

United States: 45 (2007)

Thailand: 40 (2009)

I didn't see any numbers for more recent years, however for the USA I would expect the number to be much higher now given the changes in the last few years.

Interesting that Thailand has less income inequality the the USA.

They couldn't care less about putting a stop to the violence in the Thai south. But a few political framings are fine for public relations. Where was the army all this time in finding weapons and suspects?

I find it hard to believe that the army is indifferent to the violence in the south. The problem is that there is no easy solution (that I know of).

I still reckon it's fairly cheap in the grand scheme of things, but I'm not living on a Thai wage. I can certainly understand that the low income earners really do struggle. All of our Thai staff are on wages above the minimum wage, and get other benefits such as accommodation and meals, which certainly helps - but even then it's still tough.

I'd say that his workers are fortunate, and still at the low end of things, and definitely far from the bottom. They get free room and board and wages that are above minimum wage. A pretty good deal relative to someone getting minimum wage and paying rent and buying food. I would hope that accommodations are decent and that the food is good, and I'm assuming it is given the tone of the comment. I am assuming that room and board is free.

Rooms and meals are free, no deductions. 3 meals a day if they want them even on days off. Rooms are properly furnished. We aint perfect but the staff are happy.Health insurance, proper work hours. End of year bonus etc

Other Thai staff in senior positions are getting wages that their responsibilities and qualifications warrant. Certainly more than some of the Westerners posting here.

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I'm wondering if I could get my girlfriend a job there?

Now, if I could stay there for free (family member), I'll definitely encourage here.

More seriously, kudos to you. I think you are doing a fine job here, and congratulations on running a successful business and providing good employment.

but a minimum wage was introduced only in a very few provinces, I think only 6 of them. The rest of the country is without any minimum wage.

but the ultimate solution to exploitation of work and powerty of employed is not a minimum wage, but a socio-economic system, where human needs of all, and not profit for a few, are the objective. That means ending with capitalism. So far thailand is closer to feudalism than global capitalism

That means ending with capitalism.

Good idea, let Thailand be just like the communist Chinese who have built Shanghai up to house the millions of feudal peasants.

Communism doesn't work ask Putin and Xi Jinping.

Well capitalism isn't working so well either, we live in a world where the 85 richest own as much as the 3.5 billion poorest.

Well that wouldn't exactly be capitalism, it's more like feudalism. I think that capitalism is the best mechanism we have yet, and I also don't know how to solve the problem of the majority of capital ending up in the hands of only a few over time. I would note that we haven't seen either socialism or communism work at all, so it seems the capitalism is still the lesser of evils. Maybe mandatory confiscation of 99% of assets once some makes it into the top 0.1%

I still reckon it's fairly cheap in the grand scheme of things, but I'm not living on a Thai wage. I can certainly understand that the low income earners really do struggle. All of our Thai staff are on wages above the minimum wage, and get other benefits such as accommodation and meals, which certainly helps - but even then it's still tough.

I always get a chuckle from posters like this.."they get other benefits etc" You generosity astounds me. Where is the benefit when you have to live and eat at your place of work.

Why don't you pay them a sufficient amount where they can live, eat and sleep with their family and loved ones?

Easy to see why you don't live on a Thai wage.

You assume too much. I get a chuckle out of tards like you who have no idea.

Most of the staff are living out of province and they are all getting a proper wage.Those that are from the area live in their own places. They get other stuff sucha as health insurance, additional leave, travel etc We must do something riggt cos most have been with me for at least 3 years.

What gave you done for anyone lately? Probably not a lot.

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I'd say that his workers are fortunate, and still at the low end of things, and definitely far from the bottom. They get free room and board and wages that are above minimum wage. A pretty good deal relative to someone getting minimum wage and paying rent and buying food. I would hope that accommodations are decent and that the food is good, and I'm assuming it is given the tone of the comment. I am assuming that room and board is free.

Funny how those with a nice fat bank account are the first to criticize raising wages. "What? I have to pay my servants more? no way!" Let have those driving the BMWs and Benzes live on 300 baht a day, even for one week. Suicides would increase 500%.

At least recognize that there is controversy over the effects/results of minimum wages. The current popular sentiment is that it is a good thing to do. The contrary position is that it misbalances the economy, resulting in inflation and less real income for the low income earners. There is no such thing as economic science, it's all theories vs common sense, and neither work exceptionally well. I would venture to say that the majority of the people against minimum wages have that position because they believe that the result is not beneficial. Could be wrong. I also think that it's incorrect to ignore the effect of warehousing hundreds of billions of baht of rice in warehouses (in effect throwing the rice away and putting extra money in the pockets of the wealthy warehouse owners).

By the way, I'd love to have a Benz or BMW to drive. Feel free to send one my way (along with gas money and maintenance funds please).

How heavy is a sack in this case?

I think that they are 50kg sacks. I don't know for sure.

Yingluck's wealth is mostly from stocks she holds in many firms, including SC Asset Corporation, which rose in value during her tenure.

So if this is the main reason for her gain in wealth, then why is there a slant in the article which implies that her rise in wealth is from corruption? This article does nothing except fuel the propaganda for the PDRC, I think what everyone really wants to see is hard facts proving her misconduct beyond a reasonable doubt.

I need to brush up on my english skills. To me, the article doesn't seem slanted to claiming that she gained in wealth due to corruption. Do you think it's slanted because they don't detail exactly which assets increased and decreased? I just don't see it.

And we complain about "politics" in Thailand lol . . . every other country is a <deleted> mess too . . . I however propose an amendment to the voting laws so that people can only be eligible to vote once they've exceeded 45 on a standardised IQ test . . .

Very bad idea. I enjoy choosing not to vote instead of someone telling me that I cannot!!!

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Here we go. All the "all Americans this, all Americans that" statements. As a Brit is winds me up when a Brit is hauled up and we all get tarred with the same brush. I KNOW it will wind up the Americans on here as they all get grouped in together. I know it winds up the Australians on here when the same happens to them, etc, etc

How about we discuss the issue and not the nationality this time round? That kind of conversation is only the domain of the knee-jerkers with nothing to add on the subject.

The real issue here is that the American is wearing a "Canada 1867" shirt with a maple-leaf. I wonder if they could arrest him for trying to impersonate a Canadian. Throw the book at all Americans pretending to be Canadians!!!!

You keep that sh*t up and the USA will not allow you to become the 51st state.

We can but hope and pray!

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So projects in the planing stages for many, many, many years, including during Khun Pramote's tenure as head of the Royal Irrigation Department, are all shelved after what, a week of review?

Crazy stuff.

Well they are shelved pending review. The article says that they need to submit info on Monday. It seems more likely that they are being suspended until they can sort out which ones are for real and which ones were designed for pocket money. So, no water projects until they can show that individual projects are useful (and presumably worth the cost and budgeted properly). Seems like a responsible approach.

Your denial is even more pathetic.

Thanks for the kind words.

I still think I read the article correctly, however perhaps you are commenting about whether they are telling the truth. If so, only time will tell. I'm guessing some projects will go ahead in a few weeks. I could easily be wrong.

So projects in the planing stages for many, many, many years, including during Khun Pramote's tenure as head of the Royal Irrigation Department, are all shelved after what, a week of review?

Crazy stuff.

Well they are shelved pending review. The article says that they need to submit info on Monday. It seems more likely that they are being suspended until they can sort out which ones are for real and which ones were designed for pocket money. So, no water projects until they can show that individual projects are useful (and presumably worth the cost and budgeted properly). Seems like a responsible approach.

It has been said before but people are ignoring. Just for those flicking through.

This was at Government HOUSE on Rajdamneon (we can debate the transliteration another time) Avenue.

Buddha Issara was located in the Government COMPLEX site on Chaeng Wattana. These are separated by roughly 15km as the crow flies and represent 30 minutes by motorbike (I know it is a regular journey of mine).

Maybe the Monk is guilty of all you lay at his feet but the fact here is that he didn't have anything to do with this site. Move on and debate the right issue.

They probably also want to blame him for the deaths in the Ukraine Doesn't need to be rational, just fit an agenda.

This is straight out of the military propaganda playbook. 20% variation in price spreads. Lol

These blokes are so 1950 its incredible. Next it will be the dangers of communism. Please rewrite your playbook.

I'm a little lost. Reporting food prices is out of the military propaganda playbook? Or is it that the price spread is mandated to be 20%? Are you suggesting that the numbers are fake? What are you saying? Please clarify because it sounds like an interesting comment if it was just clear.

I am saying that for the last 6 months to a year all anyone has been talking about is rising prices.

Now we are in the happy post coup world and all stories must be happy and positive and price increases must not be mentioned.

Yay for coups.

Thanks.

Here in Chiang Mai the prices in the local market shot up when the coup happened, and for the whole year they seem to have been steadily rising. I don't do a lot of shopping, and some of this is what the missus is saying. I think that after the abrupt rise, they have dropped back down to pre-coup pricing.

This is straight out of the military propaganda playbook. 20% variation in price spreads. Lol

These blokes are so 1950 its incredible. Next it will be the dangers of communism. Please rewrite your playbook.

I'm a little lost. Reporting food prices is out of the military propaganda playbook? Or is it that the price spread is mandated to be 20%? Are you suggesting that the numbers are fake? What are you saying? Please clarify because it sounds like an interesting comment if it was just clear.

Just visit any market and ask yourself is it possible prices are going down? The inflation here has been dramatic over the past few years. Oranges have gone from 25 baht per kilo to 50 - 80. Watermelon has doubled. Pomelo has doubled. Meats have doubled. Shall I go on? Who presided over this enormous increase?

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Can you narrow it down to the province and/or town? I paid 10 baht for three ears of corn at VM in Pattaya. I haven't seen much movement upwards in proper supermarkets, but then again I can't speak for traditional marketplaces. Milk (2000 ml) did go up 50 Satangs, which I realize doesn't fit into the produce category.

Oranges are dear no doubt. Apples likewise. I do feel for the locals who do not have the resources to absorb any cost increase.

Gosh. I didn't realize that Pattaya is so cheap. I always assumed (without any facts) that the cost of living would be high there. Corn in chiang mai is 20 baht for 2 ears, and has been for a long time. Thanks for the info!

This is straight out of the military propaganda playbook. 20% variation in price spreads. Lol

These blokes are so 1950 its incredible. Next it will be the dangers of communism. Please rewrite your playbook.

I'm a little lost. Reporting food prices is out of the military propaganda playbook? Or is it that the price spread is mandated to be 20%? Are you suggesting that the numbers are fake? What are you saying? Please clarify because it sounds like an interesting comment if it was just clear.

any news?

All 96 of them are ill and wanted by NCPO and DSI? So another of them will be ill at 10am on the 15th December. Pathetic. The justice department and specifically the criminal court also needs immediate reform.

The article states that some of them are currently detained by the NCPO and DSI. So they are physically unable to attend unless the NCPO and DSI release them. So some sick, some in detention, and possibly some able to attend.

SOME!...

you are kidding me

You think they are all in detention? They all are sick? They all are able to attend? So no, I'm not kidding you. The article seems to state that some are in detention and so cannot attend. Maybe the writer is lying and they aren't in detention. I do agree with you that all of them CANNOT be too sick to attend if that is your point, and the number of sick might be zero or 1 and would certainly not be a large number.

All 96 of them are ill and wanted by NCPO and DSI? So another of them will be ill at 10am on the 15th December. Pathetic. The justice department and specifically the criminal court also needs immediate reform.

The article states that some of them are currently detained by the NCPO and DSI. So they are physically unable to attend unless the NCPO and DSI release them. So some sick, some in detention, and possibly some able to attend.

Now we will have even more of the world speaking 'American' English, when word constantly tells them they are making spelling errors when they are not.

British English is soooo yesterday. American English is the language of world trade, of the internet, and all of the most popular websites are American. British English is used on some tiny fog shrouded island somewhere off the coast of Europe by a tiny number of people who the world has passed by.

Wake up! Shakespeare died already.

Don't forget Canada. We too spell words correctly. The americans get some of them wrong.

I thought Suthep had publicly promised to clean up after his group

Be fair now. Both the redshirts and the pdrc were sent home quickly. There was no option for staying a few days to cleanup. Yes, he didn't keep his promise because he was prevented. Just the way things turned out.