With some factories such as Sanyo closing and leaving Thailand due to the flood and other problems it may be prudent for Thailand to do away with useless and burdensome requirements such as the 90 day reporting for foreigners staying in Thailand. At least if the government really thinks they need this repetitive and basically useless information every 90 days then they could setup an online reporting system which would save the foreigners travel time and expense and the immigration officials having additional paperwork and backlog of people waiting in the offices. An online system could be designed quite easily saving everyone additional work and headaches.

 Hopefully Thailand will see the light of making things better for foreigners residing, working or investing or they may see many more foreign companies and long term residents move to other more advanced countries that are welcoming foreign investment and providing comfort and security for foreigners residing in their country.

Water-borne Disease

1.    ATHLETE’S FOOT

Athlete’s Foot is a common fungal infection causing flaking and itching of the skin. It is caused by dirty water and damp floors. Treatment can be done with anti-fungal creams available at local pharmacies / chemists. Advanced infections may require medical treatment by a doctor or clinic.

2.    LEPTOSPIROSIS

Leptospirosis is an infection caused by animal urine in contaminated fresh water. It can be contracted though ingestion of contaminated food or water, and through cuts in the skin. Symptoms include muscle pain, chills, fever, headache, bone pain, enlarged spleen, skin rash, and sore throat. Medical attention is required as it can be fatal if not treated. This is a common infection that can be serious after floods.

3.    CHOLERA

Cholera is a bacterial infection of the small intestine that causes severe diarrhea, usually caused by contaminated drinking water. Symptoms include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue, and excessive thirst. Medical attention often is required and patients must replace lost fluids and electrolytes quickly as excessive dehydration can cause death.

4.    TYPHOID FEVER

Typhoid fever can be contracted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with Salmonella Typhi bacteria. This is extremely contagious and can be fatal if not treated. With standing polluted water containing human waste that can contaminate food and water, the possibility of a Typhoid fever outbreak is high. Symptoms include bloody stools, abdominal pain, chills, confusion, nosebleeds and fatigue. Hospitalization is required.

5.    HEPATITIS A

Hepatitis A is transmitted by contact and ingestion of foods or water contaminated with human feces containing the hepatitis A virus. Symptoms include dark urine, fatigue, vomiting, low grade fever, and yellow skin.

Vector-borne Diseases

1.    DENGUE FEVER

Dengue fever is caused by the dengue virus, transmitted by infected Aedes mosquitoes. Symptoms include 104-105 degree fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a skin rash that looks similar to measles.

2.    Malaria

Malaria is caused by a parasite that is passed from one human to another by the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. The parasites enter the blood and infect red blood cells. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, bloody stool, chills, muscle pain, sweating. Need to seek medical help as soon as possible.

The next few days will be the most critical for Bangkok as the tides from the gulf will be the highest and the flood waters pushing into Bangkok from the north. Many people have already evacuated from the city to safer areas abandoning their homes and businesses and hoping that they will not be severely damaged.

Most all industrial zones have already been devastated with water as high as 3 meters in some factories causing a total loss. The Thai government will have to do some major work and provide aid and compensation to affected companies or there is a great possibility that many will leave Thailand and relocate to another country. This would be a great economic loss for Thailand and many Thais will be without jobs.

 We will all hope for the best but must prepare for the worst. It is advised that all tourists avoid Bangkok area during this time until officials notify that the flood danger is over. Also there will need to be a major cleanup and decontamination operation done as the water contains waste products and other unknown elements as farms and factories were affected. This will be a major operation in Thailand and government, military, businesses, and citizens are all pitching in and helping in this time of need.

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When looking at many companies you can see a variety of employee types ranging from highly skilled, trained and motivated to the lazy and unqualified that just take up space and perform no real needed function. So what more than likely will be the outcome of the minimum wage hike will be that company owners or managers will be taking a hard look at their employee structure and evaluating the need for how many employees they need for each department and do a thorough review of the employees training, skills and work performance. In such, good workers will be kept and advanced and non-essential lazy workers will be weeded out which will increase the company’s performance and more than likely it’s bottom line if the owner / manager is doing a proper evaluation and review of their employee structure.

So in effect, if this plan is implemented properly and company owners do proper evaluation of employees that are needed and proper training of their employees, company production levels and performance should rise and the standard of employees will have to rise as there will be no place for the lazy untrained worker. We should also see more competition in the job markets as companies will seek the best performing and trained workers that they can find, giving better option for the companies and also skilled workers looking for jobs.

Wat Pak Nam:  This very large wat has hosted many foreigners (mostly Japanese) over the years.  During the Buddhist Rain Retreats, there may be hundreds of monks and nuns study and meditate here.  The meditation instruction emphasis is on developing concentration through nimittas (acquired mental images).  A small English library is available.  Wat Pak Nam is located on Thoet Thai Rd, Phasi Charoen, in Thonburi.

Wat Mahathat:  This 18^th century wat locating on the opposite of Sanam Luang provides meditation instruction several times daily at Section 5, a building near the monk’s quarters.  Daily schedules: 07:00-10:00, 13:00-16:00, 18:00-20:00.  English speaking classes are on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Some of the Thai monks speak English and there are often western monks or long term residents available to interpret every day.  There is also a Saturday session for foreigners at the Dharma Vicaya Hall.  Instruction is based on the Mahasi Sayadaw system of satipatthana or mindfulness.  Time needed for practicing will vary with each session depending on each individual English speaking monks assisting.

Wat Cholaprathan Rangsarit:  The teachings here employ a modified version of Mahasi Sayadaw system of satipatthana.  This wat is also serves as a headquarters for monks from Wat Suan Mokkhalaram (world renowned English-speaking meditation retreat) in southern Thailand.  Wat Cholaprathan Rangsarit is in Pak Kret, Nonthaburi province, but Nonthaburi is so connected to Bangkok’s urban sprawl you can hardly notice the difference.

Wat Rakhang Khositaram:  To study here, one ought to be able to speak Thai fairly well; otherwise, an interpreter will have to be arranged.  The teaching tradition here is strongly focused on Abhidhamma, the pitika (one volume in the three volume Tripitaka that make up the Theravada Buddhist canon) most concerned with Buddhist psychology.  Vipassana is considered attainable without strong concentration by means of a dialectic process.

On Thursday September 23, 2010 the Supreme Administrative Court put a hold on the 3G auction until the court case is over or the court’s order is changed.  This is due to CAT’s lawsuit to stop the 3G auction. Quite a disappointment for millions of Thais hoping to at least have the higher quality mobile communication technology of their neighbors, Cambodia and Laos and a very frustrating turnaround for the high stakes bidders competing for the 3G licenses, AIS, DTAC, and True which all had paid 1.28 billion license deposit fee for the auction and sent representatives to prepare for the bidding process only to have it canceled a couple of days before the auction was scheduled to begin.

So for now, Thailand’s mobile communication technology will still lag behind all its SE Asian neighbors except for Burma which seems to make Thailand look like it cannot or does not want to progress. This is a terrible blow for the rural Thai people who needed this technology for their children and proper internet access and another blow to investor confidence.

The upper court was suppose to rule on the appeal September 20, 2010 at 8:30AM but now said it will rule September 23, 2010. If the appeal is successful the NTC plans to go ahead with the auction on Saturday September 25, 2010. If not successful the auction and 3G technology will be put on hold until the formation of the NBTC which some say could be as long as 3 years. If the appeal fails, most likely investor confidence will fall even lower and Thai people and businesses will be forced to use outdated and inferior communications keeping them behind the rest of the world including their local neighbors, Cambodia and Laos.

The director general of the Land Department has reiterated that foreigners using Thai nominees to buy land anywhere in the country will have their land title deeds revoked if caught even if the nominee in question is a lawfully wedded spouse.

Land Department Director Anuwat Meteewiboonwut made the comments during a recent stop in Phuket as part of a nationwide inspection tour of 30 provinces.

The tour is aimed at improving public services by land officials in three areas: dress, conduct when dealing with the public and working harder to eliminate a backlog of work.

Many members of the public have complained that it takes up to a year to complete a transaction that should only take one day, he said.

Mr Anuwat, a former governor of both Phang Nga and Samut Prakan provinces, said he was satisfied on the first two points, but rated the general level of success among land officials nationwide at speeding up their work rate at only 30%.

The next round of inspection tours will come in July, after which time personnel changes will be considered if service does not improve, he said.

“We have to keep pressure on them, otherwise the work will not get done,” he said.

As for foreigners seeking to buy homes in Phuket, they can do so through the Condominium Act, which allows foreign ownership of up to 49% of any project, he said.

Foreigners cannot use a Thai spouse as a nominee to buy property in Thailand, however.

“If the Thai spouse has enough money to buy the house that is fine, but if the Thai has no money and uses money given to him or her by a foreigner to acquire property, that is against the law. If we check and find out later that a Thai person has been using money from a foreigner to buy land anywhere in Thailand, we will revoke title deeds,” he said.

Mr Anuwat said the provisions of [Ministry of Interior] ministerial order 43 makes it difficult to issue land documents quickly, as it requires action from a number of different agencies. Desire for land on the island has also led to encroachment problems here, he said.

As a key market for property companies, Phuket is a constant source of problems and complaints to the director generals office, he admitted.

“We will try to resolve these problems and develop our personnel continuously in order to provide high quality services. Fortunately the governor of Phuket used to work in the Land Department, so he understands the procedures and can help co-ordinate all the agencies involved,” he said.

This comes even in a time of world economic recession and with the Thai economy in a downward spiral. It is very unclear of the thinking of the current government officials but it seems quite bizarre when married couples have always been allowed to purchase a home and have the land titled at the land office and there has been promotion in the past by law firms, setting up companies to buy property for foreigners with supposed safety and the titles lawfully registered at the land office, and now they talk of title revocation for even a lawfully wedded couple that has purchased a home if the money came from the foreign spouse. This seems to cut close to a human rights violation, denying married couples of seeking a home to live in or even helping their children to get a home or start a business.

So far there has been no word of this being attempted by the Land Department, but it would surely bring countless lawsuits against the government along with very bad press from international news agencies which would completely devastate any further foreign investment in Thailand.

If foreigners are considering retiring in and purchasing property in South East Asia, they might just want to consider Malaysia. Now in Malaysia, one can get a visa to live much more easily then in Thailand and also be allowed to purchase a home in your own name. Many foreigners that were living in Thailand are now relocating to Malaysia as it is more stable with government, visa regulations, and home ownership.
Thailand will come around with forward thinking on these issues some day, but unfortunately not before doing great financial damage to their economy from backwards thinking and laws, along with unwise comments from officials.

The bottom line would be, if you are a foreigner or Thai-foreign couple, don’t attempt to purchase property in Thailand under any conditions! They don’t want you to unless you consider a condo, and then they only allow 49% of the condos in a building to be sold to foreigners. Now there is a strange law that hurts their economy more and really hurts developers on the 49% rule. That is effect means that if a condominium has 100 units, then only 49 of them can be sold to foreigners. Then if Thai nationals don’t purchase the other 51, the developer has to sit on them or try to rent out.  If things don’t change then there will probably be many developers and Real Estate companies going out of business.

From Bangkok Post: Xenophobic nonsense from the Land Dept