Thailand Weekly Vol. 59
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Good evening and/or morning everyone! Man… does it ever feel good to be back in Thailand. As mentioned in last week’s edition, I did a two day stint in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City to be exact) with a couple pals, and I gotta say… I MUCH prefer Bangkok. To be fair, I was only able to see so much in such a short window, but my initial gauge is that I’m more of a Bangkok guy than a HCM City kinda guy. I just find BKK to be a much easier city to navigate and explore, but definitely look forward to checking out Da Nang, Hanoi, and the countryside to get a better read on Vietnam as a whole. For now though, I’m happy right here in Thailand and am in no rush to leave any time soon 😉
Interesting Times Ahead…
Thailand is currently in the great unknown as the ‘Move Forward Party’ stares down risk and conflict (as well as a potential coup) if it fails to finalize a coalition government. While the military assures order and denies the chance of a coup, concerns still remain over stability and what will happen in the coming months. Phichai Ratnatilaka Na Bhuket, a respected academic, outlines two scenarios:
MFP coalition success brings stability, democracy, and economic growth
MFP coalition failure (due to PM elect Pita unable to get enough senators in the upper house to vote him in as PM) leads to division, conflict, and an economic downturn
The influence of social media on the MFP's decision-making, coupled with the absence of Section 112 (Lèse-majesté) revisions in the memorandum of understanding has added an element of uncertainty.
Our Take
The coming months will be VERY interesting on the heels of last week’s election results. Things are far from certain for Pita Limjaroenrat and the multi-party coalition that he will ultimately form as they still require in and around 70 of the 250 Senate votes to lock things in as far as the PM position goes. The wrinkle in the equation is the fact that 194 of the 250 senators were appointed by the previous administration, so only time will tell what plays out.
Mae Hong Son Back On The Map
Mae Hong Son Airport in Northern Thailand (now deserted after Nok Air ceased its commercial route) is set to be revitalized with Bangkok Airways about to reintroduce flights between Bangkok and the popular Northern province this August. The move is expected to bring economic benefits to local tourism operators and specifically benefit the popular backpacking town of Pai. Nok Air's discontinuation of the Don Mueang – Mae Hong Son route was due to its fleet transition, replacing its Q400 aircraft with larger Boeing 787-800 jets. Considering the demand for the route, Bangkok Airways is looking to utilize their propeller planes, which have around 70 seats. The airline is currently in the final stages of gaining approval for the route and operations are expected to begin this summer.
Our Take
I’ve only ever been to Mae Hong Son twice, but man, is that ever a beautiful province. This is one of the few new flight routes that I’m genuinely looking forward to. I love it up in Northern Thailand and am excited that there’s going to be an easier way to get directly to the countryside versus having to fly into Chiang Mai and drive 3 hours up into Pai and the surrounding areas.
Thailand Travel Tip - Opening A Thai Bank Account
I get a lot of emails every week from those of you asking if you’re able to open a Thai Bank Account and if so, what the best way to go about it is. First off, you’ll likely need some sort of a long-term visa if you want complete flexibility (ie. Non-B, Retirement, Education, Elite, etc.). Yes… it is possible to open a Thai bank account without any sort of visa, but it’s hit or miss… especially here in Bangkok. I spent my first 6-months in Thailand without a bank as I wasn’t able to find a branch that would allow me to open an account up on the short term visa that I was on at the time. There’s definitely cases where you can get lucky and strike gold right off the bat (mostly at rural bank branches), but this probably isn’t the easiest approach.
As far as banks go, you’re likely going to want one where you can transfer in more than 50,000 THB at a time through TransferWise (a service that many foreigners use to convert currencies and send money to international bank accounts). As of right now, the only banks that allow this are Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn Bank, and Siam Commercial Bank. To illustrate, if you’re someone that uses TransferWise and opt for a Krungsri account, you’d need to make 4x separate transfers to bring 200K Baht in to your Thai bank account. A bit of a pain. I personally use SCB and love it. They have a solid mobile banking App and good customer service from what I’ve experienced, so as far as any recommendations go… that’s the one I’d suggest.
Hope that little tid bit of banking info helps! If you ever have any Q’s, feel free to reach out and I’ll do my best to get you an answer.
Outgoing PM Prayut Thanks Supporters And Congratulates All Parties
The current Prime Minister of Thailand, Prayut Chan-o-cha, has remained relatively silent since his administration was rejected in the recent election, however, during a cabinet meeting this past week, he expressed gratitude to all voters and congratulated all parties that received votes in the election. Prayut's United Thai Nation Party only secured 36 seats, facing defeat from progressive opposition parties. Acknowledging the transition and government formation, Prayut emphasized his position as the current PM and stated that he will remain in charge until a new government is established. This marks the end of nearly a decade of governance as the Move Forward and Pheu Thai parties achieved a significant victory over the current administration. As mentioned in the first story in this week’s edition, the path to the prime ministerial position for Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat will likely face obstacles as any coalition seeking to govern will require the support of the military-appointed Senate, which traditionally favours conservative, army-backed candidates in the election of the new prime minister.
Our Take
Like I mentioned above, it will be VERY interesting to see how the next few months play out. I think for the most part, it’s just the waiting game right now to see what goes down. Will enough of the appointed senators vote Pita Limjaroenrat in as PM? What happens if they don’t have enough votes? What will be the public’s reaction if that happens? Only time will tell.
Only In Thailand 🇹ðŸ‡
Crocodile blood = good health? Well, one local man in Southern Thailand seems to think so. This past week, 52 year old Rojakorn Nanon came out and said that he was once in a constant state of exhaustion, but has had a wild shift in energy levels after consuming crocodile blood mixed with alcohol two times per day. The unique energy booster is provided by one of Nanon’s colleagues who owns a crocodile farm in Trang Province. Man, maybe the next ‘5-hour energy’ shots will come in this form. Only in Thailand. Gimme some of that croc blood! 🇹ðŸ‡