Thailand News Today | TAT Governor: Save on Electric Bills, Fly to Thailand Instead
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Instead of wasting money on high energy bills this winter, Westerners should turn
off the heating and spend their money in Thailand instead, advises the Tourism
Authority of Thailand (TAT), Tourism operators demand cheaper flights to Phuket,
and Thailand’s ‘master complainer’ gets punched over a complaint against
comedian, all that, and more coming right up in today’s program.
Instead of wasting money on high energy bills this winter, Westerners should turn
off the heating and spend their money in Thailand instead, advises the Tourism
Authority of Thailand (TAT)
With wholesale gas and electricity prices rocketing in Europe TAT’s invitation
makes sense. In the UK, the average household is about £2,500 a year, up from
£1,400 in October 2021.
Governor of the TAT Yuthasak Supasorn said high costs of gas and energy will
incentivize Westerners to escape the cold and come to Thailand…
“Save your money, lock your home, and come to Thailand. Pay for a pool villa in
Phuket instead of paying the energy bills.”
Yuthasak calls escaping harsh winters by coming to Thailand “revenge
travelling”…
“We hope that, with revenge travelling, there will be a shift to revenge spending.
They buy everything.”
The TAT knows that tourism is nowhere near returning to pre-Covid levels, so
they are depending on increasing how much each tourist is spending to boost
tourism revenue.
American tourists are expected to be spending more money in Thailand this winter
as the Thai baht depreciated to 38 against the dollar for the first time in 16 years.
Tourists escaping chilly Western winters can keep warm for longer than usual this
‘High Season’ as Thailand is now granting longer stays to tourists with extended
‘Visa on Arrival’ and longer ‘Visa Exemption on Arrival.’
Between October 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023, foreigners arriving in Thailand are
eligible to stay for 30 or 45 days…
Visa on Arrival stays will be extended from 15 days to 30 days. Passport holders
from 19 countries are eligible for Visa on Arrival.
Visa Exemption stays for passport holders from 64 countries which have bilateral
agreements with Thailand will be extended from 30 days to 45 days.
Before the pandemic, in 2019, Thailand welcomed almost 40 million tourists,
generating US$62 billion in revenue.
As of October 9, Thailand has so far welcomed 6.48 million tourists this year. The
TAT expects 10 million arrivals by the end of 2022 – just one-third of pre-Covid
numbers.
Tourism operators demand cheaper flights to Phuket
Phuket tourism operators are demanding that airlines cut ticket prices to make the
island destination more financially attractive. As Chinese tourists are largely
missing from the Phuket tourism market, operators are worried that travelling to
the island is being seen as too expensive. According to The Bangkok Post, Chinese
tourists accounted for 40% of the Phuket tourism market before the pandemic.
Now, as it struggles to bounce back post-Covid pandemic, local travellers are in
focus on boosting Phuket’s economy.
But, local travellers are viewed as not wanting to pay an arm and a leg to travel to
the southern destination. Thanet Tantipiriyakit, president of the Phuket Tourist
Association, says local tourists accounted for the largest number of airport arrivals,
at around 8,000 to 9,000 passengers per day. That figure surpasses the number of
foreign travellers by at least 4,000. Thanet cites airline tickets as being the most
critical obstacle for domestic travellers to Phuket.
“Phuket had been perceived as an expensive destination among local travellers
since before Covid-19. Although room rates and the cost of living remain
affordable at the moment as hotels are keeping prices low to attract tourists, the
expensive airfares will deter them from visiting the island.”
He went further to say that without advance bookings, a round-trip fare could cost
around 10,000 baht per person. He says that the current rate has an impact on
tourists travelling as a group, like families, as the price of a visit would be inflated.
He noted that despite Thailand’s reopening, the number of flights at the airport sits
at around 100 per day, which means the airport still has slots available for airlines
to expand their services for the high season.
“With a lot of available slots for domestic carriers, we would like them to increase
flights to Phuket, which will consequently help reduce the average airfare if there
are more seats filling up this market.”
Thanet said that although the rainy season produced flooding, most of the island’s
beaches remained intact, which is a good indicator that more tourists will want to
visit.
Pheu Thai calls to dissolve Bhumjaithai Party over cannabis policy
The Pheu Thai Party is pushing to see rival Bhumjaithai Party go up in smoke,
planning a petition to dissolve the party over the handling of their cannabis
policies. The party plans on filing a petition to the Election Commission to
consider the dissolution of all parties involved in the bungling of the
decriminalisation of cannabis in Thailand.
They claim that the Bhumjaithai Party, who pushed for legalisation and then
feigned shock that cannabis was being used recreationally and not just medically,
used marijuana laws as smoke and mirrors to gain political favour among voters
without proper legislative diligence, according to TPN National News.
Cannabis was legalised in June with almost no regulation or policy thought out and
put in place. Opponents of the legalisation say that abused administrative powers
and created problems. Claiming that the botched decriminalisation is a far cry from
the medical cannabis plan the Bhumjaithai Party advocated for, the Pheu Thai
Party leader called for consequences for the parties supporting the legislation.
“The current policy of allowing households’ to plant marijuana, having
dispensaries, cannabis cafes, and cannabis decriminalization had nothing to do
with the medical only policy Bhumjaithai Party introduced to the public during the
election in 2019. The petition to the dissolution of the party will be submitted to
the Election Commission and will be considered in detail in all aspects. The
consideration progress is expected to be reported by November 1st.”
While cannabis legalisation has had its ups and downs, Minister of Public Health
Anutin Charnvirakul said there was no putting the cat back into the bag. He said
the decriminalisation can’t be reversed, but some Pheu Thai Party members have
pushed for exactly that – recriminalisation. The party’s official stance is that they
do not support any recreational uses of cannabis and want regulations solidified.
Political parties have been wrestling over draft proposals for regulatory lows, and
Pheu Thai wants the grey area cleared up immediately.
Thailand’s ‘master complainer’ gets punched over complaint against comedian
Solo political activist Srisuwan Janya deemed “Thailand’s master complainer”,
was physically attacked this morning (Tuesday), as he was giving an interview to
the media, while he was at the office of Technology Crime Suppression Division
(TCSD) to lodge a complaint against Udom Taephanich, a stand-up comedian well
known for his comedy series “Deaw 1-13”.
The attacker approached Srisuwan and started punching and kicking him. Police
among the crowd of reporters intervened and managed to separate the two men.
The assailant later told the media that his attack on Srisuwan was meant to teach
him a lesson, in response to his penchant for filing complaints on almost every
issue against various people “indiscriminately”.
He claimed that he did attack Srisuwan of his own free will and was not hired by
anybody, adding that he took leave today in order to show the public that not
everyone agrees with Srisuwan’s complaints.
He also said that he is ready to face legal action for the incident today and
apologised the TCSD police for the inconvenience caused.
Before the surprise attack, Srisuwan told the media that he came to the TCSD
office to ask the police to take action against Udom for his latest solo talk show,
which was posted on social media.
He alleged that Udom’s talk contains some remarks which could be deemed incite
the public to participate in protests, which may threaten national security, public
order and the rights of the other people.
Despite Srisuwan’s apparent Pro-Prayut stance, his complaining used to be
directed at the Prayut-led military junta. After the NCPO took power over Thailand
by military coup in 2014, Srisuwan filed numerous complaints against its members
and associates. Then, he was summoned by the junta for an “attitude adjustment.”
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan says Nose Udom’s anti-government
jokes are “not a big deal.” However, it is no secret that you can get in big trouble in
Thailand for anti-government espousals. For example, three men were jailed last
week for “insulting” PM Prayut and Deputy PM Prawit.
Police rescue 3 women & 2 kids held captive for 3 years in a Bangkok condo
Police rescued three women and two children from a condominium in Bangkok
after being held captive for three years by their unscrupulous bosses. The two
suspects were arrested yesterday.
Police raided the luxury condominium on Arun Amarin Road in the Bang Phlat
district of Bangkok and rescued the five victims being held by a transwoman and
her employee after being notified by a victim’s relative.
The victims were reported to be 46 year old Pairin, 34 year old Ploy, 48 year old
Khaimook, 10 year old Ya, and 6 year old Chay. The two children were Pairin’s
son and daughter.
The victims were forced to get their hair cropped short and the boy was forced to
dress like a girl. Pirin and Khaimook revealed they were scaled by their employers
regularly and revealed hot water burns on their bodies. The two children also had
several wounds and bruises on their faces and eyes.
Pairin, Ploy, and Khaimook informed the police that they were former nurses at a
well-known hospital in Bangkok but quit to work for the transwoman, 39 year old
Haru Hawangsiri, aka Park Seohyun, in a collagen supplementary business.
Haru told the women she was a half-Japanese, half-Korean investor, could speak
six languages and formerly worked for the US Embassy. Convinced by her
seeming authenticity, they resigned from the hospital and invested more than five
million baht into her business.
Soon after the women began working for Haru, she hit them with a 140 million
baht fine. The transwoman said they made clients angry and they wanted their
money back. Unable to pay, Haru locked the women and children in a room and
forced them to work off the debt.
The victims said Haru’s employee, 20 year old man Triphetcharat Noppachon,
controlled and did most of the punishment.
Pairin added that Triphetcharat poured boiling water over them and that she was
forced to hit her children. If she refused to do so the young man would pour hot
water over her children.
Khaosod reported yesterday that Haru and Triphetcharat were arrested and initially
charged with two sections of criminal law.
Firstly, they were charged under Section 259 of the Criminal Law related to an
offence against life and body: causing injury to the body or mind of others. They
will be punished by imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to 4,000 baht, or
both.
Secondly, they were charged under Section 309 of the Criminal Law related to an
offence against liberty and reputation: extorting another person to do or not to do
any act, putting the fear of injury to life, body, liberty, reputation or property to
make another person suffer, or committing violence to force another person to do
or not to do any act. They will face imprisonment for up to three years, a fine of up
to 6,000 baht, or both.
Thairath reported that Haru has form for this type of behaviour. In the past, the
transwoman was charged with attacking former patients and fraud but escaped
court prosecution because she changed names nine times to hide her real identity.
The report did not confirm whether Haru was half-Japanese or half-Korean.
Police reported that the two suspects are still under questioning to discover their
intention and motive to imprison and abuse the victims.
The victims were sent to a Police General Hospital for a health check and
treatment.
And that’s a wrap for today’s show, for daily updates please don’t forget to like
and subscribe to our channel. See you again tomorrow with more headlines around
Thailand. SWK.
