Thailand Weekly Vol. 55
Thailand News and Stories Delivered Free to Your Inbox Every Sunday 🇹ðŸ‡
Goooood evening everyone. Comin’ at you from a hot and windy Bangkok, Thailand. Seriously… on my evening walk today, it felt like I was getting hit with a blow dryer… On another note, now that we’ve officially entered into low season, I’ve definitely noticed things level off as far as foot traffic and overall busyness goes here in BKK. In a way, it’s kind of nice, but I do enjoy the city when its jam-packed with people and full of action. That’s what BKK is meant to be. Anyways, Volume 55 below. Hope you enjoy this weeks edition!
Boosting The Biz Environment In Thailand
In a recent interview, top executives in the Kingdom have emphasized that the next government should prioritize business-friendly regulations, increased support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and a practical approach to minimum wage. With the upcoming election now just 3-weeks out, here’s what some key execs had to say…
Regulations: Thai executives have called for the simplification of business laws and regulations to attract more foreign investors. The laws should be less burdensome for both Thais and international businesses.
Support for SMEs: Wisan Wanasaksrisakul, CEO of Warrix, has suggested a system for a ‘SMEs National Score’ to collect information on Thai SMEs to help the government understand how healthy their businesses are, the problems they face, and what they need to do to move forward.
Tackling The Funding Problem: Wanasaksrisakul has also urged the government to improve access to bank funding sources for SMEs, develop policies to assist SMEs in obtaining funds to develop technology or software, and implement systematic financial liberalisation to promote free and fair competition. He believes that Thai SMEs have excellent ideas and potential to compete, but lack funding, which often results in failure.
Minimum Wage: The country head of Grab Thailand, suggested that the central government should let provincial governors decide what wage rate is most appropriate for their regions.
Improving Aviation: Patee Sararin, CEO and co-founder of Thai full-service airline Really Cool, expressed his eagerness to work with the new government and improve Thai aviation. He hopes to use his 30+ years of airline industry experience to make Thai aviation more attractive to tourists and increase tourism and service industry revenue.
Our Take
Interesting to hear what private-sector leaders here in Thailand have to say about making the Kingdom a better place to start, operate, and ultimately scale a business. I honestly think that Thailand is sitting on a gold mine should they ever decide to make it crystal clear as to how to set up a company and allow SME’s to start up with ease. That’s one thing that a place like Singapore has done such a good job at.
One thing that I would add to the list above (as far as potential improvements go) is for officials to make it easier to facilitate international digital transactions. To illustrate this, let’s say you wanna sell quality handmade soaps (made here in Thailand) internationally… as things currently stand, it’s not easy to collect international payments through gateways such as Stripe. In fact, foreigners can’t even use PayPal to its full potential over here. Lots of room for growth as far as fostering a seamless biz environment goes.
Koh Kradan Sees 6x Increase In Tourism After Being Named World’s Best Beach
Koh Kradan island in Trang province has become increasingly popular among tourists since being named the "best beach on earth" by the UK website World Beach Guide last month. According to Thailand's Minister of Tourism and Sports, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the island is now welcoming over 2,000 tourists per day, a significant increase from its previous average of 300 visitors per day. However, the government is concerned about the impact of tourism on the island's natural environment and is exploring ways to turn Koh Kradan into an eco-tourism destination. The majority of tourists visiting the island are foreigners, with 60% coming from Scandinavian and European countries and staying for three to five nights, while 40% are Thai tourists. The government is working to ensure the island's sustainability and is considering limiting the number of daily visitors if necessary. This move comes after Thailand's experience with Maya Bay, which was closed in 2018 after overtourism caused significant environmental damage.
Our Take
Ahhh… the good and bad of fame. Amazing for operators (restaurants, hotels, boat companies, etc.) on the Island, but not so good if daily arrivals continue to rise. Obviously we’ve seen it time and time again where ‘paradise on Earths’ ultimately become dumps from over tourism, so hopefully Koh Kradan isn’t on that path. Nice to hear that officials are considering limiting the number of daily arrivals if required. I think that will keep things in tippity top shape down there based on the fact that it’s being thought about and planned for in advance.
Thailand Travel Tip - So You’ve Gotten Stopped By The Cops…
With tourism now back in full swing, there seems to be a lot more police checkpoints than I remember, meaning that it’s entirely possible you’ll pass through one of them and go through what I call a ‘standard shake down’.
Here’s some tips if you find yourself in one of these situations while walking, biking, driving, etc…
Remain calm. If you genuinely haven’t done anything wrong, there’s nothing to worry about. Most Thai police officers are good people there to do their job and enforce the law. Yes, there’s some bad actors looking to take advantage of the situation (just like anywhere), but no need to panic or stress right off the bat
In most cases, Thai police officers are not proficient in English or other foreign languages, so it’s best to keep it simple and only speak when they ask you questions. Answer them clearly, concisely, and calmly
If they ask to see your passport and ID, provide them without hesitation, but politely ask for their return.
Don’t admit to anything. If possible, don’t agree to having your photo taken
If needed, you have the right to ask for their ID as well, and they should have a name badge displaying their name
Allow any bags or your pockets to be searched. You can record this process as long as it doesn’t interfere with the search. You can also ask for someone to act as an independent witness
Avoid signing any documents, especially if they are in Thai language and you don’t know what you’re signing
Don’t agree to leave the immediate area you are in
If required, politely ask for the Tourist Police or for a Thai friend to act as an intermediary and interpreter. The Tourist Police can be reached anywhere in the country at 1155
If the situation is serious, such as an accident or drug possession, you have the right to call for a consular or embassy representative from your country
Remain polite and don’t cause a scene (by getting angry, yelling, swearing, etc.), as this will not end well. Avoid any sort of righteousness at all costs.
If you’ve actually done something wrong that’s relatively minor in the grand scheme of things (speeding, possession of an e-cigarette, etc.), you may have to pay on-the-spot fine. Whatever the police want as a fine will be a lot less than the trouble you’ll have to go through if you choose to refuse their on-the-spot resolution
Here’s an awesome additional article on this topic if you’re interested in reading further.
Thailand’s ‘Seven Deadly Days’
Thailand's Songkran Festival, also known as the ‘Seven Deadly Days’, has once again proven to be a dangerous time on the roads. According to official figures released on Tuesday, there were 2,203 road accidents during the week-long festival, causing 264 deaths and 2,208 injuries. On the last day of the safe driving campaign, there were 183 accidents with 16 deaths and 202 injuries. Speeding contributed to 45% of the accidents on that day, with sudden lane switching following at about 17%. The majority (80%) of accidents involved motorcycles. Chiang Rai recorded the highest number of accidents (68), while Bangkok had the most deaths (22), and Nakhon Si Thammarat the most injuries, with 70 people. Despite road deaths being down by 5%, the number of accidents and injuries was slightly higher than last year. Most of the deaths and injuries were people riding motorcycles without a helmet, with 10,530 people cited for this offense.
Our Take
We all know that Thailand’s roads are some of the most dangerous in the world… but what I wanted to comment on here was the MADNESS of Songkran and people shooting water at motorbikes going 50 KMH down Sukhumvit!
I’m all for going hard and partaking in festivities, but man… when I saw that a few weeks ago, I couldn't help but think how dangerous that was 😲
Only In Thailand 🇹ðŸ‡
In an amazing act of kindness this past week, a Grab delivery rider got some unexpected help from an unlikely hero after getting into an accident here in Bangkok while delivering goodies to a customer. That’s right… officer Kritsanachai Sicharoen came to the rescue and stepped up to the plate by delivering the food himself while the driver went to the hospital to get patched up. Talk about going above and beyond! The heartwarming story quickly went viral on social media, with netizens praising the officer for his act of kindness. Some even suggested he deserves a reward from the Royal Thai Police for his efforts. Only In Thailand 🇹ðŸ‡