PATTAYA, Thailand – Pattaya has always had lots of unregistered business activity: cash transactions outside of government control. But the trend seems to have got bigger of late. You see some cafes, short of regular customers, promoting piles shoes-for-sale as a sideline. You see parked vehicles with hand-written notices offering to collect your trash or move house. The informal economy here is apparently booming.
The war of words about retiree foreigners needing to pay more tax on previously-taxed pensions, or at least report them to Thai Revenue, continues unabated. It’s an odd business. Whilst foreign-based tax consultants invariably take the negative view, Thai lawyers often say there isn’t much for pensioners to worry about, especially those from the 61 countries with double taxation treaties with Bangkok. I tend to think that the main issues are in the future, not least a debate about negative income tax and its ramifications.
I was very disappointed with the domestic animal show and exhibition at Terminal 21 earlier this month. Virtually all the groundfloor space was taken up with retail and wholesale pet food in huge quantities. Apart from a small area devoted to a dog competition which involved a lot of shouting in Thai and the measuring of tails, there was nothing to see. The only cat I saw was soundly asleep on top of a loudspeaker blaring away.
A word of appreciation to the Sawangboriboon ambulance teams whose responsibility it is to clean up after accidents. A foreigner was injured this week on Beach Road after being hit by a motor cyclist and received on the spot treatment by the volunteers. He was then sped to the Memorial Hospital, a private sector provider, where he was patched up without being required to show funds before being touched. Not sure how typical that is, but a good show all round.
The five-year Destination Thailand Visa was launched with pomp and ceremony in July 2024 with the personal endorsement of the then prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Nobody at the time said you couldn’t open or maintain a Thai bank account with this particular visa. But that’s at has happened, presumably on the grounds that this is a “tourist” permit. Meanwhile, Thai embassies abroad are getting much stricter about approving applications. The DTV needs a review under the new government. Either reform it or cancel it.
I took my first stroll down Walking Street for the first time in two years. It’s certainly glitzy with all the latest neon enhancements. But the old magic has gone. There are for sale and for rent signs a-plenty and you get the impression the target customers are specific: Indians further down the street and the Asian nouveau riche men in the professional go go clubs. The lady in the 7/11 told me she rarely serves a British customer these days. She thinks they have all fled to Cambodia and Vietnam. Or to Soi Buakhao.
