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Spin

Yes, I like this page on the Bank of Thailands website where they stick up loads of data. Thailand earns from exports. Only 6% of GDP comes from tourism, in the grander scheme of things tourism is not significant.
here
A good nose though the purple coloured links on that page shows enough to get a good handle on the what and the how much.
If your anything like me, once you have looked at some of the volumes and the money involved you might start asking yourself questions like "Why are there poor people in Thailand?" I know I did.

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Loy Toy

^ Thanks spin and good afternoon!

watterinja

^^ ... Because there are greedy, conniving, super rich.

larvidchr

I was just joking mate , what I meant to say really was they seem to be very good at making sure that "Farangs" in business here pay their full due, but when it comes to many big and small Thai enterprises the Taxation looks to be somewhat more hap hazard.

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" I have been destined to go through life and not around it" Robert Frost.

Loy Toy

^ Of course I don't want to go out on a limb here but I have been told of some larger organisations who pay very little tax but get away with paying special donations.

Yes my tax is paid "in full" every month and based upon my salary and according to my qualifications and as stated on my work permit.

Something like three times the national average monthly salary last time I looked and about 1 year ago.

larvidchr

Maybe a more realistic view-

"Downturn to last 3 or 4 years

By: BangkokPost.comPublished: 28/02/2009 at 12:41 PM The current economic downturn would be more severe than the 1997 financial crisis and recovery could take three or four years, according to former finance minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn.
He said the 1997 financial crisis was cushioned by the export sector. The current problem was more complex. With the decline in exports there was nothing to help accommodate the unemployed.
Thailand took five years after the 1997 crisis to restore levels of production. Bailing out the current downturn would take three or four years, depending on government policy.

All countries in the region were experiencing a staggering decline in exports. This was an insoluble problem at the moment, the former finance minister said. The consumption stimulus policy would not be effective at a time of no confidence, and the government should turn its attention to ensuring the quality of life instead of the GDP figure.

Mr Chalongphob said the government should employ people who lose their jobs, because job training would be fruitless without actual work positions being available.
He also suggested the administration place more importance on increasing tourism spending, as every baht spent within the tourism sector adds two baht to the GDP."

And maybe it is time the Government get their priority's right, starting with throwing the people in jail (a long long time) that have contributed greatly to ruining the tourist industry.

Spin

Good afternoon to you too
Now we are getting somewhere, the majority of the worlds significant countries are all experiencing recessions at the same time. This doesnt happen too often and the recover curve will be much slower.
"Former", thats a shame because unlike the current minister, this guy seems in touch with whats going down in the real world.

natalie8

It's no longer a crices, it's now a crisis.

robuzo

Brad Setser: Follow the Money » Blog Archive » More bad news from Asia
Frederic Neumann, Asia chief economist at HSBC, told the FT
The collapse in Asian exports over the fourth quarter was “nothing short of breath-taking”, said “Economic models and experience suggest that financial turmoil tends to transmit far more gradually into the real economy than has occurred this time around. In fact, the severity and rapidity of the fall in output exceeds anything we have ever seen before.”

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露武蔵

ChristySweet

Well they won't have " Farang " to rip off anymore- and with all the floods , agriulture might not be the salvation.
HA HA HA !!!

Serves Thailand right!!! That what it gets for being the lying, scamming whoring child- sex capital of the world Ha Ha ha KARMA COMES HOME TO ROOST !!!

Ha HA HA !!

Mid

only to those not paying attention

Blake7

Yes, I had a meeting with him when he was minister of finance. Very much on the ball

watterinja

^ Who punctured the ball?

Butterfly

tourism might only be 6% of GDP, but the multiplier effect of the currency they bring, and the money they spent is definitely more

FlyFree

Methinks Thailand would be a lot safer with less police. Maybe it's the high per capita cop ratio that makes them rank it as dangerous.

EmperorTud

CPB pays no tax.

larvidchr

"Thai Airways posts huge loss in 2008

By: AFPPublished: 28/02/2009 at 06:23 PM Flag carrier Thai Airways posted a huge loss of 21.3 billion baht ($592 million) in 2008 because of high fuel prices and protests that briefly shuttered Bangkok's airports, the company said.

The airline made a profit of 4.4 billion baht in 2007, and last year's plunge was the company's first annual loss in 43 years.
"For the fiscal year 2008 Thai Airways International continues to encounter crises such as the continuing sharp rise of jet fuel price, the global economic slowdown as well as the political unrest in the country," the airline said.
In the statement released late Friday, Thai Airways also blamed foreign exchange losses due to the weakening of the Thai baht.
The national carrier reported a 1.6 percent year-on-year increase in its total revenue to 200.1 billion baht, but its operating expenses were up 10.8 percent to 206.8 billion baht.
The airline also reported foreign exchange losses of 4.5 billion baht.
Thai Airways is currently in talks with the government over a rescue package to help revive the struggling carrier's finances.
Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij has insisted the airline must submit a detailed recovery plan before it receives taxpayer funds.
Thai Airways officials have previously said that the company lost about 20 billion baht when protesters trying to topple the last government seized and shut down Bangkok's two airports for a week in late November to early December.
The occupation stranded around 350,000 passengers in Thailand and battered the kingdom's vital tourism industry.
In January, Thai Airways said it would ask for a delay in the delivery of six A330 aircraft from European aircraft manufacturer Airbus due to a shortage of cash."


Please note the loss 21,3 billion Baht, further down in the artikel Thai Airways executives is quoted for claiming that the Airport closing by PAD cost TA 20 billion Baht. !!

In another piece in Bangkok Post it is stated that Thai Airways internationals bets against high fuel prices in the form of hedging have given losses of 6 billion Baht .

larvidchr

And on that note we continue-


"PAD LET OFF THE HOOK

Foreign carriers feel pressing charges against protesters is not worthwhile, writes Boonsong Kositchotethana

By: Published: 20/02/2009 at 12:00 AMNewspaper section: Business Many airlines and aviation service providers are allowing the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to go scot-free for seizing Bangkok's airports, which cost the economy more than 200 billion baht and ruined Thailand's international image.
International airlines such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines and local carriers such as Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia are not pushing lawsuits to seek compensation for the damage done by the anti-government movement last year.
In a survey of players in the aviation industry by the Bangkok Post, there seems to be a consensus among them that an endeavour to pursue legal action against the PAD may not worth the energy, time and costs involved.
Most airlines have written off their losses as the cost of civil unrest and are moving on with the business of staying aloft through the crisis.

They are resigned to what they regard as the ''civil unrest'' nature of the event after consulting with their legal experts who indicated that it might be difficult to win the case in civil courts.
They considered this sort of unrest part of the risks they have to assume while doing business.
Some also sense that the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration is not really keen to hold the PAD accountable for laying siege to Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports from Nov 25 and Dec 4 last year in spite of the disastrous effects it caused.
Thousands of the PAD activists stormed the airports to demand the removal of the Somchai Wongsawat government which they accused of being a corrupt nominee of the fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
The protesters dispersed after a court ruling to dissolve three parties brought down the government.
The blockade left 350,000 visitors stranded and prevented 3.4 million tourists from visiting Thailand, severely denting the kingdom's tourist-friendly image.
The most recent study by the Bank of Thailand estimated losses of 210 billion baht from the airport closure. That amount represents 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) based on 2009 prices.
The same study predicted that tourist arrivals in Thailand this year would fall 0.8% year-on-year to 14.3 million. Thailand's tourism industry accounts for 5% of GDP and employs two million people directly and indirectly.
Airline managers and operators of aviation supporting facilities would rather concentrate their efforts on getting their businesses back on track and swallowing the financial costs incurred to them by the political standoff.
''There is no reason for us to take legal action (against the PAD). We don't think we can get any compensation. It is difficult to win such a lawsuit,'' said Aaron Chan, Cathay Pacific's manager for Thailand.
The airline did not even bother to count the revenue it lost during the 10-day airport shutdown, though it has shouldered about four million baht from paying hotel, food, and transport bills for its stranded passengers as well as allocating manpower to help them.
''I'm not here to chase after somebody. I have a more important thing to do _ to spend my energy on [traffic] recovery,'' said Florian Preuss, Etihad Airways manager for Thailand. ''It is for the Thais to deal with the situation.''
British Airways seems to be thinking along the same lines. Though the siege cost it around 50-60 million baht in lost revenue and other expenses in evacuating some 3,000 stranded passengers out of the capital at the time of the airport crisis, Kevin McQuillan, BA's manager for Thailand, said that suing the PAD was not on the airline's agenda.
Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive of the no-frills carrier Thai AirAsia, was more vocal, saying, ''It is useless to talk about the the PAD and a lawsuit.''
''This is a political issue, something you cannot really make accountable and make them compensate for the losses incurred to us. It is not worth our time, legal fees and energy,'' he said.
The airport shutdown caused Thai AirAsia to miss its 2008 passenger target, set earlier at 4.5 million, by about 300,000 passengers, and revenue projection by a considerable margin.
''We're looking forward, not backward,'' Oman Air chief executive Peter Hill responded when asked whether his airline was pondering any legal action against the PAD.
''We have to deal with this sort of issues all over the world _ the tsunami, Sars, 9/11, the attack on Colombo airport that destroyed half of Sri Lanka Airlines' fleet in 2001.
''The situation in Thailand is something we call crisis management. You have to work around it, try not to get embroiled in these political issues,'' the veteran British airline executive said.
An executive for Singapore Airlines' Bangkok office said it had not received any indication from its head office to press charges against the PAD.
Thai Airports Ground Services Co (Tags) chief executive Ladya Uriya said the company had looked into the laws and concluded that it was a waste of time to take the the PAD to court, though the closure caused its revenue to drop by 30% last year. ''We would rather rebuild our business,'' he added.
Only Thai Airways International (THAI) and Airports of Thailand Plc have made known their legal intention.
THAI, which bore the brunt of the airport closure with 20 billion baht in damages, has already resolved to hold the PAD leaders accountable with a lawsuit for compensation equivalent to the disruption costs and future lost revenue.
AoT, in turn, will make the the PAD liable for its action that cost more than 50 million baht for each day of the closure."

larvidchr

And finally just to illustrate how dead serious the present Government is about restoring tourist confidence and ensuring that this will never happen again -



"Anti-airport seizure draft is some joke!

By: Boonsong KositchotethanaPublished: 25/02/2009 at 12:00 AMNewspaper section: News Is the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration really serious about preventing the airports from being seized again, as the prime minister himself strongly pledged to the world recently?



Probably not - if one looks at how the authorities are pursuing charges against leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) for their siege of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports during Nov 25-Dec 4 last year.
Investigations into the case have been painfully slow, as police remain confused, intentionally or not, as to what charges they would press against the PAD leaders, despite the abundant evidence.
The draft bill on anti-airport seizure which was recently approved by the Cabinet appears to be more proof of the lack of any serious intention to keep airports off-limits to political rallies.
The draft contains a ridiculously light penalty for any attempt to seize Suvarnabhumi Airport, the heart and soul of Thailand's air transport hub around which much of the Thai economy is built. It is highly offending that the proposed punishment for a crime that causes the national economy a massive heart attack and ruins the country's international image carries a measly fine of between 500 and 10,000 baht!
Why on earth is serious criminal punishment conspicuously absent from the draft? The fine print in the five-step measures laid down recently by a Transport Ministry-appointed committee set up to restore Thailand's air transportation, is equally laughable and a reflection of the intent.
First, it calls for the dispatch of officials to negotiate with protesters before they reach the airport. Second, if the demonstration shows signs of being prolonged, the Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) should set aside an area within Suvarnabhumi Airport but outside the passenger terminal, for them to congregate. Third, find spare channels for passengers to enter and exit the airport.
Fourth, step up security checks along passages to the airside, including aprons and air traffic control tower. Fifth, the AoT needs to conduct anti-airport seizure drills every year.
In the event that demonstrators are in great numbers, the AoT should coordinate with the police and military for support in crowd control.
Both the draft law and the measures are clearly superficial and aimed only at pacifying anxious members of the public and the international community that there would not be a recurrence of airport seizures.
It also raises the suspicion that the Abhisit government came up with such a draft bill only to dissuade the red-shirted opposition protesters from following in the footsteps of the yellow-shirted dissidents by taking over Bangkok's airports and creating another disaster for the whole country.
Unfortunately, the contents of the draft law and the five-step action plan are undoubtedly ineffective, if not openly inviting demonstrators to hold the country hostage to fulfil their political ambitions.
One question springs to mind: Is the anti-airport seizure draft bill and action plan needed in the first place?
There exists a penal code (sections 135/1 and 132/2 amended in 2003) which classifies the seizure of airports as an act of terrorism, a crime subject to a fine of between 60,000 and 1 million baht, as well as the death penalty.
The penalty is harsh enough to deter any more crime - but only if the authorities enforce the rule of law.
In fact, the five-step action plan was "practised" by the AoT during the last airport blockage, and it proved completely futile. When the AoT sent out an SOS to army Commander-in-Chief Gen Anupong Paojinda and the National Police Commission to dispatch reinforcements as the situation at Suvarnabhumi was getting out of hand, it simply fell on deaf ears. The previous government, the PAD and the armed forces were too busy playing their own game and were insincere about unlocking the political stalemate that was devastating the country.
The Abhisit government needs to do a better job to convince us that it is dead serious about preventing history from repeating itself, and must indiscriminately allow existing laws to take their course.
Thailand has paid dearly for the PAD's senseless and embarrassing action: 210 billion baht in losses and causing the country's GDP to contract for the first time in nearly a decade in the fourth quarter to minus 4.3% year-on-year.
The blockade left some 350,000 visitors stranded and prevented 3.4 million tourists from visiting Thailand, severely denting the kingdom's tourist-friendly image.
Boonsong Kositchotethana is Deputy Assignment Editor (Business), Bangkok Post."




So the people having cost Thailand and the Thai people, losses of over 200 billion Baht will walk away with fines from 500 - 10.000 Baht, seems real fair don't you think that will definitely give them a fright they will never forget.

Mid

your going to be disappointed , they ( the people having cost Thailand and the Thai people ) won't be fined one satang .

as a matter of fact , some of 'em are in the cabinet .