18 hours ago, Sighto said:

Just copy-paste the Hong Kong or Singapore playbook for businesses, taxes and banking.

Agreed. I live in HK about half of the year and previously worked here over 20 years.

A real,functioning Financial center !

 

After cut and pasting your above playbooks, they could try copying the HK assistance/stimulation programs instigated during (and after) Covid.

 

HKD10,000 handed out to HK residents followed by further cash handout, then (what they called) "Consumer Vouchers"#....worth thousands.

#These were the ONLY handouts with spending requirements.

 

All Conducted  seamlessly, quickly and efficiently.....not like the convoluted B10,000, vote buying fiasco. (IF it ever actually happens !)in Thailand.

 

But then HK has the brains, education and the money to execute these.

On 7/20/2024 at 10:38 AM, Ben Zioner said:

Misty you trigger my curiosity there. From you posts on other threads you seem to be a foreign investor in Thailand, whether it is your money or yourself yo invest doesn't matter. And yet you are painfully aware of the absurdity, possibly hostility, of the environment you have chose to operate in?

 

To rephrase the question less personally: why would one work and invest in Thailand, in it's current state?

 

Hi Ben, I've been living and working in Thailand for decades, and own and run a successful company here. But the regulatory and operating environment has been changing, and mostly not for the better. The one bright spot has been the introduction of the LTR visa.

 

To answer your question, one would probably not start working and investing in Thailand today given all the red tape, bureaucracy, regulatory burden.  Not to mention the recent confusing personal income tax changes.

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Misty said:

 

Hi Ben, I've been living and working in Thailand for decades, and own and run a successful company here. But the regulatory and operating environment has been changing, and mostly not for the better. The one bright spot has been the introduction of the LTR visa.

 

To answer your question, one would probably not start working and investing in Thailand today given all the red tape, bureaucracy, regulatory burden.  Not to mention the recent confusing personal income tax changes.

 

 

 

 

You are not surprising me at all. And thanks for answering.

2 hours ago, Captor said:

And there are the taxes....

Yes that is another thing to consider

On 7/20/2024 at 10:16 AM, MarkT63 said:

One look at the stupid facial recognition farce at Krungsri bank will tell you everything you need to know about the state of financial management in Thailand 

Smile. Open mouth. Turn right. What a pitiful idiotic system 

Lots of so called "transformations" dreamed up and blabbed about. None are actually ever accomplished. 

On 7/20/2024 at 10:16 AM, MarkT63 said:

One look at the stupid facial recognition farce at Krungsri bank will tell you everything you need to know about the state of financial management in Thailand 

Obviously you subscribe to the belief that Rome was built in a day.

A few days ago saw a major global farce in financial management, people had problems accessing bank accounts and paying bills, even the London Stock Exchange shut down.

Nobody gets where they want to go unless the first step is taken.

The real problem here is the foreigners come to Thailand and want things to be the same as where they left. If there is a financial farce in the world, look to the biggest economy.

In my opinion Srettha needs to focus and prioritise. When you have a million priorities none of them ever get done. First thing is cut the number of hubs down to five, and focus all of your energy on achieving those. Srettha is a butterfly, dreaming up new hubs before any have been accomplished. The worst type of manager. 

2 hours ago, retarius said:

In my opinion Srettha needs to focus and prioritise. When you have a million priorities none of them ever get done. First thing is cut the number of hubs down to five, and focus all of your energy on achieving those. Srettha is a butterfly, dreaming up new hubs before any have been accomplished. The worst type of manager. 

 

  Exactly.  Right now Thailand is the hub of:

 

  a.  Corruption

  b.  Overregulation

  c.  Political instability

  d.  Human trafficking

  e.  No legal recourse

 

  Hardly a menu of attributes that one would ascribe to a desirable "financial hub".  

On 7/20/2024 at 8:03 AM, webfact said:

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin delivered a keynote address at the Finance Ministry's "Ignite Finance" Initiative on Friday, part of his "Ignite Thailand" vision to position the country as a global financial hub.

The previous PM almost broke this country, the new PM & Co have no idea what they're doing...

Ignite Thailand... more of a fizz-pop than a boom.

Thai PM Launches Project to Transform Thailand into Financial Hub

 

Thailand the land of Hub disasters.

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

The previous PM almost broke this country, the new PM & Co have no idea what they're doing...

Ignite Thailand... more of a fizz-pop than a boom.

The Thai national dept to GDP is 64.5%, the UK is 104.3%, yet you think Thailand is "broke".

The UK spends more on national debt interest than it does on defence.

28 minutes ago, sandyf said:

The Thai national dept to GDP is 64.5%, the UK is 104.3%, yet you think Thailand is "broke".

The UK spends more on national debt interest than it does on defence.

So why does Srettha beg the world to invest in Thailand, why hasn't the 10K bribe not been paid out yet, why are so many in debt?

The figures don'r match the countries truth

 

I find this post to be quite astonishing if this has any foundation at all. 

The Thai Banking system has been ring-fenced by much of the western world since the Asian Financial Crisi because they basically stuck 2 fingers up at everyone and overnight closed multiple financial institutions to avoid repaying their loans. Effectively shafting the IMF and other international money lenders.

To suggest that they can become a financial hub is shockingly naive as it would require the rest of the worlds Banking Community to support it - and that is extrememly unlikely. There would need to be stringent safeguards put in place which the Thais would never agree to. 

When I was a kid there was a TV programme on Saturday morning called "Why dont you switch off your tv sets and do something more interesting instead". It was hosted by kids and they pretended to be adults and they tried to run an adult current affairs programme. 

This suggestion of making Thailand a financial hub actually reminded me of those kids pretending to be adults. It is just fanciful and incredibly naive. 

Posts with trolling images have been edited or removed.

6 hours ago, hotchilli said:

So why does Srettha beg the world to invest in Thailand, why hasn't the 10K bribe not been paid out yet, why are so many in debt?

The figures don'r match the countries truth

 

The government is looking for investment to increase  GDP and reduce tourist dependency, and hopefully whinging expats.

Coming from a country where the handouts come from the DWP budget rather than pass through parliamentary process I can understand you may find it confusing.

Personal debt in Thailand is around 91% of GDP, it is about 120% of GDP in the UK and about 150% in US.

The real truth is that the UK is deeper in the brown stuff than Thailand but nobody is interested, after all what would people do if they didn't have the whinging forum.

6 hours ago, Jackbenimble said:

To suggest that they can become a financial hub is shockingly naive as it would require the rest of the worlds Banking Community to support it

I take it you mean in the same way they supported BRICS. Naivity is thinking there is only one way to skin a cat.

 

"According to the Government Spokesperson, BRICS has a policy to expand beyond its current members, and has invited non-member countries to attend the 16th BRICS Summit, to be held in Kazan, the Russian Federation on October 22-24, 2024. This will be an opportunity for Thailand to accelerate its accession to BRICS in a bid to enhance Thailand's role as a leader among developing countries, and increase the country’s opportunity to take part in international economic policy making."

https://www.thaigov.go.th/news/contents/details/83640

 

 

"The main constraint on Thailand’s competitiveness, according to the OECD website, is not having enough skilled workers to meet the demands of advanced industries. The government has been actively working with Thai private sector and international partners to advance human resource development especially in advanced industries.

Thailand is currently collaborating with the OECD under the second phase of the OECD-Thailand Country Programme, which focuses on the areas of doing business, investment, sustainability, transparency, good governance, competition policies, and human resource development through education, science, technology, and innovation policies."

https://washingtondc.thaiembassy.org/en/content/thailand-aiming-for-oecd-membership

10 hours ago, sandyf said:

The Thai national dept to GDP is 64.5%, the UK is 104.3%, yet you think Thailand is "broke".

The UK spends more on national debt interest than it does on defence.

 

No one will loan Thailand money.

 

The UK is like the Lannisters - it always pays it's debts. 

On 7/20/2024 at 4:00 AM, Incorrigible1 said:

With this protection, better to leave your money in a box under the bed:

 

 The Thai Savings Guarantee protects up to a maximum of ฿1 million baht per person per bank. 

So they say , but would you really like to put it to the test?  I can also pretty much guarantee that the procedure for doing so would be enough to drive one insane.  Promises and guarantees are cheap here

On 7/21/2024 at 1:01 PM, TheAppletons said:

 

  Exactly.  Right now Thailand is the hub of:

 

  a.  Corruption

  b.  Overregulation

  c.  Political instability

  d.  Human trafficking

  e.  No legal recourse

 

  Hardly a menu of attributes that one would ascribe to a desirable "financial hub".  

You forgot money laundering hub ,    maybe that's what the PM actually meant 

8 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

You forgot money laundering hub ,    maybe that's what the PM actually meant 

That’s the only conclusion I can reach, after considering this hub proposal for a minute or two.

Hot money coming from less internationally palatable countries with fewer questions asked.

 

Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Russia & China for a start. I recall at least seeing 3 of these countries on recent condo purchases by foreigners lists. 
 

It’s a business model that works for the UK. Thailand just needs to set up some offshore tax havens to complete the structure. I’m thinking Ko Larn as Jersey and Ko Tao as the BVI.

 

Even better, Thailand always abstains at the UN, so no need to worry about pesky sanctions and having to move around your hard earned. 

22 hours ago, sandyf said:

Personal debt in Thailand is around 91% of GDP, it is about 120% of GDP in the UK and about 150% in US.

Does the Thailand number include the millions (bllions?) of debt to loan sharks?

1 hour ago, Incorrigible1 said:

Does the Thailand number include the millions (bllions?) of debt to loan sharks?

I can only assume you are of the opinion loan sharks are a species unique to Thailand.

Time to broaden your horizons.

Srettha is going to compete with Singapore and HK as a financial hub. It is so laughable it’s sad. Foreigners cannot set up asset management businesses and cannot be CEO’s of asset management companies. I doubt Srettha is even aware of this. He is just letting more hot air out of the balloon.