G’day everyone! First things first… I owe you guys an apology. I’m publishing this weeks edition on a Monday afternoon instead of the standard Sunday evening go-live time which is my bad. I’m preparing for an upcoming trip to the South which had me a bit behind as far as this week’s edition goes. With that out of the way, I hope you all had an awesome weekend (perhaps a few Leos were sipped if you’re currently in Thailand 😉) and have a great week ahead! Volume 49 incoming!
Three New Airlines Coming To Thailand ✈️
By the end of next year, Thailand is expected to welcome three new airlines to better connect the country and make domestic + international travel more accessible with P80 AIR, Really Cool Air, and Landarch Airlines all applying for operational licenses. Landarch Airlines will operate 10-seater planes with the goal of making travel easier between secondary provinces (Narathiwat, Betong, etc.) that airlines don’t currently serve, while P80 AIR and Really Cool Air will operate both domestic and international flights. Thailand currently has eight primary airlines serving the country…
Thai Airways
Thai Smile
Nok Air
Thai Lion Air
Thai Air Asia
Thai Air Asia X
Thai VietJet Air
Bangkok Airways
Our Take
Well, this was nice to read! I’m no expert as far as the airline industry goes, but I can only imagine that more competition and a better connected Thailand is a good thing. The most interesting development here is the 10-seater planes serving secondary provinces. I’ve never been on a plane that small and am VERY curious what pricing will end up looking like. The thought of taking a 45-minute flight between local provinces seems pretty cool to me though.
Summer Has Arrived… 🥵
It’s official… as of this past weekend, Thailand has officially entered summer, also known as the dreaded ‘hot season’. Meteorologists say that Bangkok is expected to experience record-breaking highs of 39 degrees (the hottest since 2019) while several provinces in the north are likely to see temperatures upwards of 43 degrees. The heat will bring heavy haze across the Country which has doctors extremely concerned. In fact, Dr. Chaichan Phothirat, a respiratory expert at Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Medicine recently said that unsafe PM2.5 levels (the fancy term for measuring air quality) is contributing to up to 40,000 deaths per year in the Kingdom. The hot season is expected to last until mid-May, at which time the annual rainy season will begin to clear everything up.
Our Take
Ahhh… the dreaded hot season. AKA my least favourite time of the year over here. There’s no sugar coating it… we’re about to enter a two month period where being outside is NO fun. Thankfully there’s a ton of fun things to do INSIDE (especially in Bangkok) that will make this period bearable. If you’re curious what those are, just go to the the Thailand Travel Tip section of Volume 47 from a few weeks ago for some ideas.
Thailand Travel Tip - Q&A
This week’s Thailand Travel Tip section is a bit different… given that many of you guys were curious enough to sign up for this newsletter and get weekly updates from Thailand, I sort of see this group as a collection of ‘True Thailand Lovers’. Because of this, I want to start to establish a proper feedback loop in the form of surveys, polls, direct emails, etc. To illustrate, a few weeks ago, I asked for suggestions on how I can improve this newsletter and got some AWESOME responses (special shout out to Christina & Nathaniel for their insight). Staying on the same theme… this week, I’ve prepared a very brief survey for those of you considering purchasing a home or condo here in Thailand. The most common set of questions I get tend to relate to real estate in some way, shape, or form (hotels is a close second), so by taking less than a minute and providing your responses to the set of questions I’ve linked here, you’re helping us better understand who YOU are, why you might want to move to Thailand, where you might want to move, etc. It’ll be awesome to get a better read on this as far as making videos and writing this newsletter goes. Very curious to see what your responses look like!
Phuket Authorities Introduce ‘Red Card’ System 👮
This past week, Phuket launched a new initiative called the ‘Red Card’ system to clamp down on bad behaviour and law-breaking by foreigners. The new system involves giving foreign visitors a yellow card if they engage in activities that are deemed inappropriate or illegal. They will also receive a warning and their embassy will be notified. If they commit a second offence during the same period of stay, their permission to stay in Thailand will be revoked and they will not be permitted to re-enter based on having broken the law on previous occasion.
The red card system is part of a larger initiative aimed at promoting better behaviour and attracting the right type of people to the Kingdom. As far as what constitutes ‘inappropriate’ or ‘illegal’ behaviour, Phuket Immigration Chief Praphansak Prasansuk said that “the actions would need to be considered case by case and the main standard of consideration is maintaining the peace in public areas”. To paint the picture further, he added that the tourists causing havoc on motorbikes in Patong recently have all already received yellow cards.
Our Take
At a 35,000 foot view, I actually think that this is a great idea and a solid way to crack-down on those misbehaving over here. The only problem I foresee is the lack of clarity in what is ‘bad behaviour’ and what isn’t. Yes - everyone should wear a helmet while riding a bike. But does that constitute what they’re calling a ‘yellow card’? Perhaps? At the end of the day, you DO need to wear a helmet over here by law, but based on the way that locals ride, it’s not exactly enforced… know what I mean? The point still stands though. I think that if this is going to be a success, they’ll just have to publish cases where tourists were given these yellow cards (and why) and also share cases where and why certain people were given red cards. Clarity is key.
Only In Thailand 🇹🇭
“Tuk Tuk Driver Punches Foreigner In The Face On Khaosan”… now that’s a wild headline if I’ve ever heard one! This past weekend, there seems to have been a bit of a scuffle on Khaosan Road after a Tuk Tuk driver had reportedly crashed into a taxi, all witnessed by a foreigner who stepped in as a witness to the chain of events. Frustrated, the Tuk Tuk driver let loose on the witness and dealt two pretty powerful blows. All of it was recorded and published to Facebook, so if you’re interested in seeing the entire interaction, just click here… the punches take place just after the 1-minute mark. This isn’t a good representation of Thailand at all (locals are extremely friendly), but more than anything, it just illustrates my point of Khaosan being a bit to wild these days for my liking…