Things in Thailand you are WRONG about -Bangkok Jack



Things in Thailand you are WRONG about

January 1, 2021

#Thailand calls itself the #LandofSmiles, but it can also be the land of misunderstanding, misconception, fake and fraud.

Whilst it is true that not everybody in Thailand is determined to scam and rob you. It is also not true that everything is cheap, friendly and relaxed.

In fact, as a wise man once said, the only way to tell if it is getting cold in Thailand, is when the Thais have their hands in their own pockets.

Here are a few other things you are wrong about in Thailand;

Giving money to street kids is helping them

It is very tempting to give money to grubby street urchins and beggars, especially young kids selling flowers or candy. But it is always a bad idea.

Usually they are victims of human trafficking and are not the poor offspring of the scruffy, pleading adult who has them firmly by the neck.

They are often imported from Cambodia, Laos or even northern Thailand, to roam the southern cities pleading for cash from the caring tourist.

They don't see this cash, or the benefits of it. They are forced to hand it over to their 'Fagin' as soon as you are out of sight.

That's if they are lucky. Often they have the crap beaten out of them by older, stronger street boys and the money is stolen anyway. Which earns them another beating when Fagin returns.

Just don't do it, you are not helping anybody here except the traffickers.

Harsh as it sounds, without your small change the so-called industry dries up and kids around South East Asia will stop going missing.

The ice will kill you

People in Thailand do not drink the tap water. And nor do they make ice with it. So there is no need to spend your holiday drinking warm whiskey or gin.

Even if you are in a small, family shop house, they do not use tap water for their ice.

Because their own families use that same ice bucket too.

But if you are still concerned about your ice then make sure you only use the cubes with the holes in the middle.

These come from the ice making factory, and not the nearest freezer box. And the factory only use filtered water, obviously.

Otherwise everybody would be in hospital.

Everyone is out to scam you

Thailand has its scam artists. And when the latest Bangkok tuk-tuk driver has tried to get you into a suit shop or tells you the Grand Palace is closed, it certainly can feel like their sole intention is to rob you bandy.

But if you head out of the major tourist zones and arm yourself with some research on the most popular scams to avoid, (see below) you'll find most Thais are a incredibly decent people.

This is particularly true in less-traveled regions such as Isaan, in Thailand's northeast

There are even many decent people in towns like Pattaya and Phuket although, to be fair, they can be hard to find sometimes.

 

All solo male travelers are sex tourists

If you are a man and traveling alone, then don't be surprised if people assume you are only in Thailand for the cheap and easy sex.

Even if you stay away from the Entertainment Zones, you will still find yourself being propositioned by prostitutes and ladyboys.

But the truth is that western men come to Thailand for a wide range of reasons and most of those reasons have nothing to do with the hookers.

You can always buy your way out of trouble

It is often said that Thai police officers will accept a hand full of cash to look the other way.

But the Keystone Cops are always on the lookout for foreigners involved in the drugs trade.

It's not so easy to buy your way out of that sort of problem.

Mainly because the cops know the confiscated drugs are worth more to them than the cash you have in your pocket anyway.

Everybody knows drugs are illegal in Thailand and the penalties for any involvement at all are severe.

So, get involved in drugs and expect a very long time in the Bangkok Hilton, whilst somebody else enjoys the profits of all your hard work and risk.

As they say in Thailand – Som Nam Na – It's serves you right.

Just don't do it. Everybody is a police informer unless they are very well paid. (By you)

So you can buy you way out of trouble in Thailand, but that does depend on how much the trouble you are in is worth.

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Thailand reports 279 new COVID-19 cases - 2 more deaths - Thai Visa

Thailand reports 279 new COVID-19 cases - 2 more deaths

 

 

Thailand confirmed 279 new coronavirus cases on Friday, and two additional deaths.

 

Of the new cases, 273 were local transmissions and 6 were imported cases from people on repatriation flights and in state quarantine centers.

 

Samut Sakhon (89) and Chonburi (51) reported the most new cases.

 

Cases have now been reported in 53 Thai provinces.

 

There were 2 new deaths reported, while a further 33 people have been discharged from hospital.

 

2,827 people remain in hospital or held in a migrant worker quarantine centre.

 

Thursday's cases bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in Thailand to 7,163.

 

 

 The number of new infections and total cases in Thailand since 14 Dec is as follows:

 

14 Dec: +28 (4,237)

15 Dec: +9 (4,246)

16 Dec: +15 (4,261)

17 Dec: +20 (4,281)

18 Dec: +16 (4,297)

19 Dec: +34 (4,331)

20 Dec: +576 (4,907)

21 Dec: +382 (5,289)

22 Dec: +427 (5,716)

23 Dec: +46 (5,762)

24 Dec: +67 (5,829)

25 Dec: +81 (5,910)

26 Dec: +110 (6,020)

27 Dec: +121 (6,141)

28 Dec: +144 (6,285)

29 Dec: +155 (6,440)

30 Dec: +250 (6,690)

31 Dec: +194 (6,884)

1 Jan: +279 (7,163)
 

Har ingenting med Covid19 att göra för en gång skull

Intressanta teorier om bilförsäkringar och thailändare...😂😡😂😡😂😡😂😡

Why should you consider to buy policy with excess?

 

 

The Thai car insurance market is unique compared to other Asian market and worldwide. That's because most of the car insurance policies sold in Thailand are without excess. 

 

Based on our experience at Roojai.com, this is one of the reasons for the high number of road accidents in Thailand. Contrary to common belief, no-excess policies do not benefit the customer, the insurer or the overall society.  

The only winners in this context are the agents and brokers earning higher commissions on inflated insurance premiums.

 

What is the Insurance Excess?

The excess is the maximum amount that a driver will payout for an accident when they are at fault, or there is no third-party involved. It is, in simple words, the amount of risk that the driver retains before the insurer takes over the rest of the bill.

If the driver is not at fault in a car accident, they don't have to worry about the policy excess. The insurer will recover the damage from the third-party at fault, and the excess will not need to apply.

 

Here is an example.

Let's say a driver hits a pillar in a car park. They have a 5,000 THB excess on the car insurance policy, and the car repair bill is 12,000 THB. It means that the insurer will pay 7,000 THB, and the driver will pay 5,000 THB. It is pretty straightforward. If the car repair cost is 3,000 THB, the driver can repair the car, without submitting an insurance claim. In this way, the insurance premium and the No Claim Bonus will not be affected.

 

Here is why no-excess insurance is worse.

Most drivers believe it is better to have an insurance policy without excess. You have nothing to worry about, and the insurance company pays for everything in case of a car accident. It sounds great.

Not if you look a bit deeper on how car insurance prices work.

 

When there is no excess, every little damage becomes an insurance claim which requires the insurance company to intervene. For example, when someone reports a 3,000 THB claim for a small dent, the car insurance company will open a file and have a claim handler to send a surveyor to review the damage. Then they will discuss with the garage to approve the car repair. Afterwards, they will receive a quotation from the garage, authorize it, receive an invoice and pay the invoice. That is a lot of people managing a lot of paperwork for a 3,000 THB insurance claim. The cost of handling an insurance claim is on average, about 2,000 THB, without including the actual repair. While customers may think they do not have to pay, the insurance premium calculation includes all these expenses, and they impact everybody.

 

Statistically, one accident out of two is for an insurance claim below 5,000 THB. These claims generate very high costs for insurance companies. The companies, of course, include these costs in the car insurance premiums.

 

Why are so many no-excess car insurance policies sold in Thailand?

If it is a lose/lose situation for both driver and insurer, why is no-excess insurance so common? The simple answer is because there is one big winner in the transaction: the intermediaries.

 

Agents' and brokers' remuneration is a percentage of the car insurance premium. They usually get paid 18% of the premium so the higher the insurance premium, the better for them. For this reason, they tend to promote insurance policies without excess with the simple message: 'It is much better for you. You don't have to pay for anything, and the insurer will pay every cost'. 

 

It is indeed a great simple message. But one that does not stand scrutiny because you are paying much more upfront than you should.

 

Let's have another example.

 

 

 

The average car repair cost is 10,000 THB per year.

An insurance company needs to manage all insurance claims, including small claims : 

On average, 3000 THB for the whole servicing of policy (issue policy, send documents, offices, etc.)

Out of the 3000, 1000 THB is for managing insurance claims, out of which 500 to manage small claims below 5000 THB.

Then the agents take 18% of the total car insurance premium.

So the total insurance premium is:

 

16,000 = 

10,000 (car repair cost) 

+ 

2,000 (insurance company expenses, non-claims) 

+ 

500 (manage claims of more than 5,000) 

+ 

500 (manage small car accidents) 

+ 

3,000 (broker agent commission % of insurance premium) 

 

 

 

Now, continuing with our example, let's assume the customer choose excess insurance of 5,000.

On average, it will reduce the repair cost carried by the insurer to 5,000. 

It will also reduce the cost of managing insurance claims by 500 by removing the small claims. 

The cost without commission becomes 

5,000+2,000+500 = 7,500.

The intermediaries are taking 18% of the premium, but now the car insurance premium is 

5,000 + 2,000 + 500 + 1,600 = 9,100 

 

 

 

 

 

The customer would have to pay the excess when they have a car accident at fault or without a third-party, which is on average an additional 5000. 

That makes the total cost on average 9,100 + 5,000 = 14,100, which is a saving of 1,900 THB.

This saving comes mainly from the broker remuneration, reduced from 3000THB to 1600THB. Also, there is a 500THB in cost-saving from the insurance company since they don't have to manage small claims.

 

 

 

One can easily understand that the main losers in this equation are the intermediaries, and that's why most intermediaries will advise you to buy a no-excess insurance policy.

 

Another benefit of excess insurance is that small insurance claims won't be reported. So, they won't impact the driving record of the insured driver with his insurance company. At the time of renewal, the driver can benefit from an improvement in its No Claim Bonus. 

 

Why would it benefit customers and society if more drivers used insurance policies with excess?

Another benefit of policies with excess is that drivers with an excess drive better. On average, people with insurance excess do fewer road accidents. If a driver knows that a car accident will generate a cost, he/she will take fewer risks. With a no excess insurance policy, the driver bears no consequences in a car accident. It would not be a big deal if that caused implications only for the driver and its car. Unfortunately, reckless driving has an obvious consequence which often can lead to injuries or death of other people. There is a correlation between the high number of road accidents in Thailand and the preponderance of zero excess insurance policies.

 

In conclusion, we strongly advocate for buying an insurance policy with excess to save money, for yourself and others, and to reduce the risk of road accidents.

 

Roojai.com online car insurance Expect more, save more

Restaurants in Pattaya allowed to re-open - Thai Visa

 Restaurants in Pattaya allowed to re-open

 

In a sudden u-turn on the restrictions put in place in Pattaya on Wednesday, restaurants in the town have now been given the green light to re-open.

Several restaurateurs on Thursday confirmed to Thaivisa that the authorities have said they can reopen.

However, strict social distancing measures must be in place and alcohol served but only when dining. All restaurants must also close by 10pm.

Update - 16.55, now confirmed:

 

 

Outbreak still spreading in Kingdom, says CCSA - Bangkok Post

Outbreak still spreading in Kingdom, says CCSA

People are boarding trains at the Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok on Wednesday. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)

Six provinces, including the capital, have been designated "maximum control zones" in the wake of the fresh Covid-19 outbreak that has spread to 51 provinces, forcing people to scale down their New Year celebrations or watch live broadcasts of year-end events at home.

Bangkok, Chon Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Rayong and Samut Sakhon were declared "maximum control zones" as each has registered more than 50 Covid-19 cases, with special measures in place to curb the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, eight provinces -- Chachoengsao, Chanthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phetchaburi, Ratchaburi, Samut Prakan, Saraburi and Tak -- were named "control zones", as each has logged between 11–50 confirmed Covid-19 infections.

In lieu of a nationwide lockdown, a Covid-19 zoning system is currently in place, with provinces falling into different zone category depending on the number of new cases and the rate of spread. Provinces with no more than 10 cases are categorised as "high surveillance zones", with disease control measures possible, while "surveillance zones" are provinces with no cases and little likelihood of an outbreak.

Thirty-seven provinces are classified as high surveillance zones, while 26 provinces see no infections and are thus considered surveillance zones.

Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), said on Thursday the situation isn't yet fully under control, even though the number of new cases is dropping.

The CCSA reported 194 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday -- 181 local transmissions and 13 among quarantined arrivals -- raising the country's total to 6,884. On Wednesday, 250 new cases were recorded.

Of the new cases, 11 were linked to the Samut Sakhon cluster, 32 were close contacts of confirmed patients, were in crowded places and/or worked risky jobs, while one was linked to the cluster in Rayong. The remaining cases were still under investigation.

"Even though the cases dropped from Thursday, the situation is not yet reassuring. We still have to verify the information before going public with it," he said.

"The infections are now scattered in 51 provinces with Kanchanaburi, Maha Sarakham and Nong Khai being the latest additions."

Kanchanaburi governor, Jirakiat Poomsawat, said the patient there is a student from Rayong studying at Mahidol University's Sai Yok campus, whose mother was among the confirmed cases in Rayong.

Sai Yok district is a high surveillance zone, and the campus has switched to online classes and meetings until further notice.

Maha Sarakham governor Kiattisak Trongsiri said the patient there is a vendor in Samut Sakhon's Muang district, who returned to the province on Dec 20.

In Nong Khai, the patient is a vendor from Bangkok with travel history to the seafood market in Samut Sakhon between Dec 1–18. She was found to be infected on Dec 30.