Expats Revolt

[StreetCowboy]

2 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

I would think so - big companies.  Supply much of Pattaya's restaurant trade.  At least they did when I was there.  Navy recruits clean up after them every morning.  As far as I know the tax guys come around to small businesses and estimate tax and it's paid right them.  Been a few years since I was involved so things might have changed but that's how they used to do it at a small cash laundry I was involved with.  

I'm not sure "cash laundry"  is the correct word for that sort of business, and even if it was, I'd try to be a bit less obvious - maybe "remittance company' or 'offshore investment advisers'.

 

Anyway, I wouldn't answer any knocks on the door, for the next couple of days, not that you'd need to...
you might want to check out extradition treaties as well...

[Puchaiyank]

Sorry, but.......not really have the problem. Only problem airport not big enough already.

 

You have correctly pointed to a more serious problem...the overwhelming numbers of Chinese will eventually change this country forever...become known as "little China"...one day.

 

 

 

[RichardColeman]

7 hours ago, Don Mega said:

Do street vendors actually put any money (taxes ?) into the govement coffers ?

Be fair, if you see the money being credited to official junta appointed senators, would you want to pay it ? 

[rumak]

8 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

  I stay because as an old, angry curmudgeon I do less damage than in the States. 

and.... it still costs less !       

 

 

[Gecko123]

Your spending power is the only power you have here. Stop spending money until it gets the attention of the idiots running this country. The agricultural sector is under great stress due to drought and insect infestations. If the tourism sector collapses, this government is going to have social unrest on its hands. Don't listen to the trolls who bleat about the farang's insignificance and the futility of changing things. There are many people who feel the same as the OP. Every bit will help.

 

The OP's suggestion of cutting back on a few restaurant meals a week is a good step forward, but it's not enough. Completely stop eating in restaurants. Completely stop staying in hotels. Completely stop discretionary spending. Spend as little money in Thailand as possible. Let's get this party started! It's long overdue. It's outrageous how the expat community has been treated by the government.

 

Stop acting like a bunch of sheeples! Stop using visa agents, which feeds corruption at immigration! Starve the beast! Be a man!

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

Your spending power is the only power you have here. Stop spending money until it gets the attention of the idiots running this country. The agricultural sector is under great stress due to drought and insect infestations. If the tourism sector collapses, this government is going to have social unrest on its hands. Don't listen to the trolls who bleat about the farang's insignificance and the futility of changing things. Every bit will help, but the OP's suggestion to cutting back on a few restaurant meals a week will turn things around isn't enough. Completely stop eating in restaurants. Completely stop staying in hotels. Completely stop discretionary spending. Spend as little money in Thailand as possible. Let's get this party started! It's long overdue. It's outrageous how the expat community has been treated by the government. Stop acting like a bunch of sheeples!

Totally agree, I've been doing this for over a year now, no bars, no restaurants.

All my discretionary spending is in Vietnam and Cambodia.

[thaiguzzi]

10 hours ago, Don Aleman said:

Pattaya/Phuket and much of the rest of Thailand having serious Tourist/ income problems

Here's some news for ya;

Pattaya/Phuket is not the real Thailand.

And the rest of Thailand does not care what goes on in those and other tourist areas.

The real Thailand just gets on with its daily business.

[Skallywag]

1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Completely stop discretionary spending. Spend as little money in Thailand as possible.

Stop spending money until it gets the attention of the idiots running this country.

Yes, practice what you preach I say. Ditch your cars, your motorbikes, and no kids after 45 years of age.  haha

We shall overcome, stick it to the man, power to the people, The revolution will not be televised 

 

Tourism brings in 38,000,000 people a year who spend a total of 2.5 Trillion Baht. 

Expats from England, Europe, USA, and Australia, 200,000 people, annual spending maybe 200 Billion Baht, if all expats spent 1 million baht per year (84K per month), still just .08 percent of what tourism brings in. 

[PingRoundTheWorld]

The government doesn't give two shits about expats or their money. It's local businesses that are supported by and depend on expat spending. Not that that's going to happen, but even if you managed to get all expats to stop spending in Thailand, all you're going to achieve is local business closures. Would this impact the government at all? likely not.

 

But the tide is turning. It's pretty obvious already that the Chinese boom is dead. Indians aren't the answer nor are they big spenders (lol), and the westerners have been driven away. Expect the next few years to be a spiral down in tourist numbers and money. Not sure what will happen first though - this government realizes they actually need westerners, or they will be replaced in the next "elections".

[Gecko123]

8 hours ago, Skallywag said:

Yes, practice what you preach I say. Ditch your cars, your motorbikes, and no kids after 45 years of age.  haha

We shall overcome, stick it to the man, power to the people, The revolution will not be televised 

 

Tourism brings in 38,000,000 people a year who spend a total of 2.5 Trillion Baht. 

Expats from England, Europe, USA, and Australia, 200,000 people, annual spending maybe 200 Billion Baht, if all expats spent 1 million baht per year (84K per month), still just .08 percent of what tourism brings in. 

I have to admit the "no kids after 45 years of age" crack was pretty funny. I don't own a motorbike, but I've dramatically reduced the amount of miles I've put on my pickup truck. I've cancelled my True Visions cable service, have eliminated all overnight trips in Thailand, and eliminated virtually all discretionary spending.  In typical past years I've spent about 700K/yr. My plan to slash expenditures to 300K this year is totally on track. That's 400,000 baht per year out of the Thai economy. Were just a 1000 people do that, that's 400,000,000 baht out of the economy. Imagine if 10,000 or 100,000 or more people did the same. Don't tell me that won't have an economic effect.

 

I'm amazed at how many people on this forum have resigned themselves to feeling powerless to do anything about how they are being treated by the government. Of course there are geographic pockets where the contribution of tourist dollars swamps the spending power of expats. But, there are also many areas off the beaten track which are far more dependent on expat dollars than tourist dollars.

 

Tourism is reported to be in decline in many areas, and climate change and a slowing global economy are likely to accelerate this trend going forward. The Thai government is going to have to respond to the economic frustrations of the Thai people. If farm incomes are down, and if supplemental income is harder to find working in construction, tourism and transportation, there's gonna be economic frustration and unrest in rural Thailand which the government is going to have to address.

 

When hotelier and restaurant owners associations start reporting a drop in receipts (as they already have), sooner or later people are going to start asking the government why this is the case, and maybe, just maybe, somebody will look at government tourism and immigration policies, and realize that they may be having a ripple effect on how desirable Thailand is perceived abroad as a tourism or retirement destination. At any rate, that's the hope.

 

I say, yes, use your money to show how you feel! Yes, get on board the freedom train! Yes, let the memory of Harper's Ferry live forever! Yes, shout in the bathroom mirror : 'I am S-O-M-E-B-O-D-Y! Yes I C-A-N! I'm a human being, not just an ATM or TAT statistic, goddamm it!'

 

[Odysseus123]

Ah..the revolutionary expats..

 

"The expat's flag is deepest red

its shrouded oft their martyred dead

And ere their limbs are stiff and cold

their pensions have stained its evr'y fold..

 

So raise your Tee Em 30's high!

At immigration we'll stand or die!.."

[Gecko123]

The revolt has found its poet!!! Any chance you could set that to music?

[rumak]

I'm doing all I can............

 

 

[soalbundy]

50 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Ah..the revolutionary expats..

 

"The expat's flag is deepest red

its shrouded oft their martyred dead

And ere their limbs are stiff and cold

their pensions have stained its evr'y fold..

 

So raise your Tee Em 30's high!

At immigration we'll stand or die!.."

There's not one wave

but marks the grave

of one of our English dead.

[1FinickyOne]

12 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

And the rest of Thailand does not care what goes on in those and other tourist areas.

The real Thailand just gets on with its daily business.

This is the truth as I see it... absolutely spot on...

 

12 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

Spend as little money in Thailand as possible.

I don't get this at all... I surely don't think anyone cares that much but I personally did not retire with the goal of not spending the money I have earned to enjoy my life... 

[1FinickyOne]

1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

I say, yes, use your money to show how you feel!

Finally a good idea - - I will take my friends and family out to the movies more, for a great meal, for an evening of entertainment, continue to help paying for quality education for the children in my family and giving a helping hand to good people in times of need....

 

Gecks, i hate to say it, but if you are so filled with hatred, it is not healthy for you... maybe it is time to find someplace else... ?? Your ideas of cutting your spending in half or more sounds like cutting off your nose to spite your face... 

 

good luck to you - - try and enjoy life a bit more... don't worry, be happy... 

[cornishcarlos]

12 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

and the rest of Thailand does not care what goes on in those and other tourist areas.

 

I'm sure the 1000s of families, that survive off the earnings of sons, daughters, mothers and fathers who work in those tourist areas, care a great deal...

[blackcab]

An off topic post has been removed.

[Gecko123]

Irrespective of how you feel about this issue, people should be counting their pennies these days. The global economy is definitely slowing down and climate change is bound to have an inflationary effect on food prices. Because of quantitative easing and looming sovereign debt crisises, there is a great uncertainty about the reliability of benefit programs and future returns on capital (whether invested in stocks, bonds or real estate), as well as currency exchange rates, in particular for the US.

 

Aside from food inflation driven by climate change, I believe the world is on the verge of a global deflationary spiral driven by income inequality, a drop in the 'wealth effect' as asset prices drop, and an erosion in consumer spending power due to a drop in the dollar and other Western currencies. That deflationary spiral is only being held back now by negative interest rates and deficit funded fiscal stimulus in much of the world. Signs that a deflationary mindset may have already set in can be found in many housing markets in the West where buyers who have been priced out of the market, are waiting for prices to drop.

 

Because of all this uncertainty, anyone who thinks there's a good chance that they'll still be around in 20 to 30 years, would be well advised to trim their spending below what their financial advisors are telling them they can safely spend without running out of money.

 

[Gecko123]

33 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

Finally a good idea - - I will take my friends and family out to the movies more, for a great meal, for an evening of entertainment, continue to help paying for quality education for the children in my family and giving a helping hand to good people in times of need....

 

Gecks, i hate to say it, but if you are so filled with hatred, it is not healthy for you... maybe it is time to find someplace else... ?? Your ideas of cutting your spending in half or more sounds like cutting off your nose to spite your face... 

 

good luck to you - - try and enjoy life a bit more... don't worry, be happy... 

I'm not filled with hatred. I am filled with resentment about how immigration and the government has demonized foreigners as an undesirable criminal underclass. I'm well aware of my options. I can: (a) stick my tail between my legs, and grin and bear it; (b) leave, or (c) protest how I am being treated by using one of the few tools at my disposal.

 

[villagefarang]

(d) Just be happy and live a great life.????

[Gecko123]

so what if the government wants us to sew stars on our shirts so we can easily be identified as foreigners? so what if the government decides we can only live in designated neighborhoods because we're a public safety risk? so what if the government broadcasts propaganada every night on the nightly news about how another foreigner has been rounded up or arrested? we still got food on the table. it's all good. just be happy. just enjoy what's left of your life. life's too short. it'll all be over soon. go back to sleep.

 

[Guderian]

The OP thinks that expats should be revolting - but surely that's what the Thais think of us already, lol.

[villagefarang]

What if the sun doesn't come up tomorrow?????

[watcharacters]

47 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

Irrespective of how you feel about this issue, people should be counting their pennies these days. The global economy is definitely slowing down and climate change is bound to have an inflationary effect on food prices. Because of quantitative easing and looming sovereign debt crisises, there is a great uncertainty about the reliability of benefit programs and future returns on capital (whether invested in stocks, bonds or real estate), as well as currency exchange rates, in particular for the US.

 

Aside from food inflation driven by climate change, I believe the world is on the verge of a global deflationary spiral driven by income inequality, a drop in the 'wealth effect' as asset prices drop, and an erosion in consumer spending power due to a drop in the dollar and other Western currencies. That deflationary spiral is only being held back now by negative interest rates and deficit funded fiscal stimulus in much of the world. Signs that a deflationary mindset may have already set in can be found in many housing markets in the West where buyers who have been priced out of the market, are waiting for prices to drop.

 

Because of all this uncertainty, anyone who thinks there's a good chance that they'll still be around in 20 to 30 years, would be well advised to trim their spending below what their financial advisors are telling them they can safely spend without running out of money.

 

 

Maybe it'd be better if everyone just put a gun to their head and ended their misery?

 

 

[Gecko123]

3 minutes ago, watcharacters said:

 

Maybe it'd be better if everyone just put a gun to their head and ended their misery.

 

That's not a choice I would make. Please get help if you are considering this. If you're suggesting my post depressed you, sorry, bro, but plenty of macroeconomic analysts out there will tell you the same things as I wrote in my post. Burying your head in the sand isn't going to make those realities go away.

[cornishcarlos]

17 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

What if the sun doesn't come up tomorrow?????

 

It might not if Prayut doesn't get his way...

[newatthis]

22 minutes ago, watcharacters said:

 

Maybe it'd be better if everyone just put a gun to their head and ended their misery?

 

 

95% wouldn't have the balls.

[bert bloggs]

6 minutes ago, newatthis said:

95% wouldn't have the balls.

Most ladyboys seem to????????????????????????????????????

have balls ime told.

[luckyluke]

2 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

but I've dramatically reduced the amount of miles I've put on my pickup truck. I've cancelled my True Visions cable service, have eliminated all overnight trips in Thailand, and eliminated virtually all discretionary spending.  I

This don't suit me at all, don't want to penalise myself. 

Since 2000, I transfer monthly 2000 Euro to Thailand and spend it, as I like enjoying live as much as possible,  money help me archiving this.