Re: "Chiang Mai spoiled", (PostBag, Jan 10). Unlike Lungstib -- who asks (rhetorically) "can anyone explain why there are at least 50 times as many supermarkets, 100 times as many apartment blocks, and 500 times as many vehicles" as there were in 1988? -- I love Chiang Mai the way it is and look forward to even more development.
Frankly I have no patience with this kind of sentimental nonsense about present day Chiang Mai being "a monument to consumerism". The answer is that ordinary Thai people need jobs, need to make a living, and aspire to at least the same level of prosperity as the society that Lungstib comes from. Why shouldn't they? Does he imagine that towns and cities in Thailand are built to cater to his sentimental desire for a charming bolthole? If there are too many supermarkets they will go broke, it is as simple as that.
I first came to Chiang Mai as a visitor in 1981. Yes, it was very pretty, and also very boring.
I stayed a couple of nights and moved on. Modern Chiang Mai, by contrast, is an exciting and lively place. Still small enough to be manageable but full of variety. It has become a magnet for people from all over the world. Along with that comes traffic problems and associated pollution. Welcome to the 21st century! There are still plenty of attractive small towns in Thailand for a solvent foreigner to go if he or she is looking for bucolic charm. Or a solvent Thai person for that matter.
Chiang Mai is growing because young people like it, and it will continue to grow. It will become even more varied and interesting, and the local people will benefit in various ways. What I would like to see is more major industry coming to the city to diversify the economy away from tourism. I am 70 and have spent 10 years of retirement in Chiang Mai. But even though I have retired from work I have not retired from life, or from reality.
Leo Bourn
Retirees need to be warned
Thailand has recently been voted as one of the top 10 great places for retirees. An article named all the wonderful advantages, but it neglected one main subject. The writers, who probably have never tried applying to live in Thailand, failed to mention the horrendous immigration obstacles and hassles one goes through to get a retirement visa, especially under the so-called "new rules". TAT is of course delighted, but then, those who make up TAT are all Thais and do not need to apply for visas to live in Thailand, do they?
Unless immigration rules are relaxed and reformed, there will not be many takers for retirement. Laos, Cambodia and even Myanmar make it easier as retirement countries, offer many more advantages than Thailand, are cheaper to live in, and actually welcome applicants with a smile instead of the sourpuss Thai immigration police who go out of their way to make things as unpleasant and difficult as possible.
David James Wong
Kids should know how it is
Re: "Haves and have nots", (PostBag, Jan 11, 2019).
Unfortunately, income inequality is a reality in today's world. We may not like it and we should work to overcome it and avoid its worst effects. But I don't see the point in trying to shield teenagers from the reality of income disparity by insisting on compulsory school uniforms. The rich will always find ways of flaunting their wealth, whether schools require uniformed attire or not.
Decades ago, I attended school in patched clothes and hand-me-downs. I was well aware that some kids had more -- some much more -- but it didn't deter me from doing well in school and in my later career. Perhaps I even accomplished more and better, knowing that I had to try harder to achieve things through effort rather than having them handed to me.
Samanea Saman
Get insured or go home
In reply to Andy Lewis in his Jan 12 letter, "Let expats choose", a comment on health insurance. Australia has a type of compulsory health insurance -- if you don't have health insurance then an extra levy is placed on your payable tax.
I believe compulsory health insurance is a sensible move to ease the burden on hospitals and embassies looking after sick and injured foreigners. Mr Lewis points out expats have sufficient funds to take care of themselves. I have been here 35 years and found the opposite: I hear of expats stuck in hospitals with no funds all the time. I have lost count of the times I am asked to contribute, as the hat is passed around to pay for someone's medical bills or repatriate them.
I pay about 7,000 baht per month for my family, three of us with a well known international insurance company. I never have any problems claiming at most hospitals. If you can't afford the insurance then you should go back to your own country and not be a burden on Thailand.
David Sheehan
Just follow the rules
Mr Bahrt in his Jan 11 letter complains about a new requirement for expats to show monthly income that, he said, will trigger Thai tax investigations. His complaint has no basis in fact. Earnings should always be required to be verified by immigration and for too long there has been a loophole which has been a running joke in the expat community. That loophole is now closed.
Obtaining a long-term visa would be a simple matter if everyone simply followed the rules. Conniving expats and their agents have made it much more difficult to obtain these visas because they took shortcuts and interpreted the rules their way.
David Barkdull
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