Thai News

Foreigners with one-year Non-Immigrant Visa O-A (Long Stay) will have to compulsorily arrange health insurance, according to new proposals.

The criterion under the Immigration Act 1979 was approved by the Medical Hub Committee, Dr Kittisak Klapdee, adviser to the Minister of Public Health, said on Sunday. The measure was approved in principle the amendment of the criteria for one-year long-stay visas.

Once it comes into effect, foreigners having the visa will be required to have Thai insurance policies covering their entire stay in Thailand with minimum Bt40,000 out-patient medical bill coverage and minimum Bt400,000 in-patient medical bill coverage.

Those already having overseas insurance policies that meet the minimum requirement would be exempted from subscribing to Thai insurance policies.

The proposal will now be forwarded to the Cabinet for approval as a formal policy.

Commented: Cover charge

28th December 2018. Thanks to Dave

If this compulsory Health insurance comes in a lot of people will be going home, the cheapest quote I could find was 400 quid a month

It has been officially confirmed that the much-awaited election will take place on February 24, 2019 with advance voting scheduled for February 17, according to Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam.

This will mean that 4 days will be affected by an alcohol ban around voting days.

Bars on the weekends of 16th-17th/23rd-24th February will be closed from 6pm on Saturday and nominally all of Sunday. However bars generally seem to be able to open mid or late evening on Sunday.

China will soon become the first nation whose visitors to Thaland will be able to apply and pay online for Thai visas.

It will be available in Britain and France starting on April 1, and in all countries with Thai embassies and consulates within three years.

The e-Visa system allows foreign nationals to apply online for visas, from completing the form to paying for the visa.

The website address for application will be www.thaievisa.go.th

T hailand had made major changes to the rules regarding work permits and its foreign labour law. The changes, which were introduced on March 27 2018 and saw Thailand relax some of its laws regarding work permits, including reducing the penalties for foreigners found working without work permits. For example, foreigners can no longer be sent to jail for working without a work permit.

Also scrapped was the rarely enforced requirement that all foreigners who come to Thailand to attend meetings, seminars or sports competitions need a work permit.

Arguably the most significant change was that the Decree states that a foreigner who has work permit in Thailand can now work anywhere and for anyone and carry out work not listed in the description on their work permit, providing it is not excluded under the list of occupations prohibited to foreigners.

There's a new narrower definition of "work":

Engaging in any profession, with or without an employer, but excluding operation of business of a licensee under the Foreign Business Law

The maximum penalty for working without work permit is reduced to a fine of THB 5,000 to 50,000 and to be deported from the country

There was no reference to the recent changes covering people who "work for themselves".

See full details in article from thaivisa.com

Thursday 26th July. Bars are asked to close at midnight.

Friday 27th July Asarnha Bucha Day Buddhist special day. Bars closed.

Saturday 28th July Khao Pansa . Buddhist Lent Day + King's Birthday. Bars closed. The bars are allowed to open after midnight, and some will.

Monday 30th July . Public holiday. Bars open

Thailand has announced its latest D-Day in the war against litter. The environment minister General Surasak Kanjanarat is declaring a war on plastic bags starting 21st July 2018.

Surasak said that the country uses 45 billion bags a year of which 40% are used at fresh food markets. His campaign will be snappily titled Doing good from the heart. Less Taking, Less Giving, Less Using Plastic Bags.

Signage will be going up at 7,000 markets nationwide. The aim is to reduce plastic bag usage by 20% by next year. There is also a target to reduce foam container usage by 10% by 2019.

No mention of the campaign extending to convenience stores and supermarkets though.

Thailand will ban trans fats from January 8 next year, six months after the Public Health Ministry implemented a ministerial regulation to ban the production, import, and sale of products with partially hydrogenated oils. Those oils are the main source of trans fats, and medical researchers say their elimination will reduce people's risk of cardiovascular disease.

The main product affected will be margarine and of course the bakery and cafe trade. A food-industry expert says the government action could lead to chaos in small bakeries and dairy beverage businesses. Nutritionist Sanga Damapong on Sunday said trans fats can be found in crispy snacks, french fries, cookies, shortening, margarine, non-dairy creamers and dry fast foods.

Sanga said trans fats, a type of unsaturated fat, were first industrially produced from vegetable fats 50 to 60 years ago. They greatly reduce the cost of manufacturing some food products while extending their shelf-life, eliminating odour and arguably making food tastier.

Thailand is always top of polls and charts about dangerous holiday destinations. No doubt there are more dangerous places, but then people don't go there on holiday. Thailand is the most likely place in the world where British visitors are likely to do be killed, but before you jump to conclusions about guns and murder, the most likely causes are death are more to do with motorbikes in conjunction with alcohol.

Now Thailand has been found to be the world's riskiest holiday destination for British tourists, according to a new report from UK firm Endsleigh Insurance Services. It looked at data from 2017, ranking countries on where the most insurance claims were made and Thailand came out on top.

The report found that Thailand accounted for 23% of travel insurance claims made in 2017 - more than any other country. Travel insurance claims included emergency medical expenses, damaged luggage and flight cancellations.

Police have said that the points system for driving offences will definitely be introduced in 2019.

In total drivers and riders have 12 points to play with each year before getting a ban.

• Category one: Minor 1 point offences such as no helmet or non-wearing of seat belts. That's one point.
• Category two: Medium 2 point offences that includes going through red lights and going the wrong way on roads.
• Category three is described as serious and includes drink driving, driving under the influence of drugs, speeding and fleeing the scene of an accident. For that you will get three points.

Collect 12 points in a year and you will suffer a 3 month ban.

Get 3 bans and you will be banned from driving for a year.

Get 12 points in a year again after that and you lose your licence for three years and have to make a new one thereafter.

The measures were announced by Pol Maj Gen Ekkarak Limsangkat who chairs a committee looking into changes in the traffic laws. A consultative meeting was attended by 500 members of the public in which the points system was revealed by the Maj Gen who said it would definitely come in next year, reported Daily News.

A new train station in Bangkok is set to be the largest in Southeast Asia. Construction of Bang Sue Central Station is in progress and is scheduled to open in 2020.

The station, which is located near Bang Sue intersection on Thoet Damri road, will become the hub for Thailand's high speed rail links, from Bangkok to Nong Khai and Bangkok to Chiang Mai.

It will also be used for the proposed Eastern Economic Corridor high-speed rail line which will link three airports - Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao in Rayong, and which promises travel from Pattaya to Bangkok in less than one hour.

The new station will eventually replace the Hua Lamphong station, which has been Bangkok's primary train station since it opened in 1916.

The Thai authorities seem to be taking on people who offer short term lets on rooms, condos, or house, of less than a month. It is legal to privately rent property for periods of over a month but less than a month are only allowed in officially licensed hotels. Of course the licensing of hotels is very onerous and so is widely ignored.

The issue has perhaps been brought to a head by AirBnB as it provides a straightforward way for people to rent out their properties. hotels feel a bit challenged by the competition and so have been complaining to the authorities.

As is often the case in Thailand, these laws have been in existence for some time but the law has been loosely enforced with some condo developments around the country acting as defacto hotels and listing in many online booking websites.

This week says a court in Hua Hin ruled it was illegal for people to rent out their condos or rooms on a daily or weekly basis. While AirBnB was not specifically mentioned in the Hua Hin court case, the home-share system has grown to the point where Thailand's legally registered hotels are calling foul.

Earlier this month, authorities in Pattaya arrested seven individuals for operating what were described as illegal hotels (lacking permits or failure to abide reporting laws). Just one of the properties was an apartment building.

AirBnB in Thailand claims its service is legal but have been less than helpful when one a property owner posted on its website's community page a request for clarification. A year passed and no response.

The Immigration Department also have specific requirements of hotels to report any foreign guest's arrival. The unregistered properties fall through this reporting system making them a target of Thailand's strict Immigration requirements.

Basic times and prices have been announced for the confirmed high speed train linking U-Tapao airport with Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang in Bangkok.

The journey time between U-Tapao and the capital will be just 45 minutes. The cost of the journey will be just 330 baht. Speeds will reach 250 km per hour.

The train will stop five times from Bangkok at Chacherngsao, Chonburi, Sri Racha, Pattaya and U-Tapao.

A government ministerial meeting rubber-stamped the project yesterday.

Thailand's popular resort of Phuket has an ambition to turn the island into a 'smart city', according to Thailand's digital economy minister.

The province may also develop an electronic wristband system for foreign tourists so their identity and location would be known in case of untoward incidents, said Digital Economy and Society Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj.

He said the province has planned to develop the uses of wristbands to track tourists and to use Big Data to analyse information about tourists' habits.

He said the Phuket command centre would also link to all CCTVs on the island to work with face-recognition software to guard against crimes as well as to collect the data of tourists who use public boat services.

Comment: Alienation

19th March 2018. Thanks to Dave

Why are the Thai Authorities doing everything they can to Alienate Tourists and Expats.

Raiding Darts Clubs, Bridge Clubs, putting them in Gaol for Smoking on the Beach.

The Police are constantly stopping Tourists on Scooters looking for international Driving License's, which were never needed before.

Now wristbands to track Tourists movements, registering Mobile Phones with your Passport.

Thailand is turning into another North Korea, The sooner we have Elections and get rid of the Army the better.

The convenience store 7-Eleven is rolling out artificial intelligence at its 11,000 stores across Thailand.

7-Eleven will use facial-recognition and behavior-analysis technologies for multiple purposes. The ones it has decided to reveal to the public are to identify loyalty members, analyze in-store traffic, monitor product levels, suggest products to customers, and even measure the emotions of customers as they walk around.

The company announced it will be using technology developed by US-based Remark Holdings, which says its facial-recognition technology has an accuracy rate of more than 96%. Remark, which has data partnerships with Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu, has a significant presence in China.

The rollout at Thailand's 7-Eleven stores remains unique in scope. It could potentially be the largest number of facial-recognition cameras to be adopted by one company. No corporate entity is so entrenched in Thai lives, according to a report from Public Radio International. And that may be crucial not only to the success of facial recognition in 7-Eleven stores in Thailand, but across the region.