Thai cities getting pricier for expats

Bangkok and Chiang Mai remain among the 30 most expensive cities for expats in Asia, with Ashgabat in Turkmenistan still on top of the global and Asian tables.

The Thai capital ranked 28th, one place above Chiang Mai, according to the latest ECA International survey on the cost of living for expatriates. In the global rankings, Bangkok was 60th and Chiang Mai 142nd, it added.

But Bangkok dropped out of the top 50 global ranking from the last survey released in December last year.

Bangkok has lost a considerable amount of its appeal for budget-conscious expatriates, having risen 64 places over the past five years, according to the survey.

ECA International said the growing economy and increased foreign investment — at least, prior to the corona-virus pandemic — had made Thailand more expensive, fuelled by the stronger baht.

“The baht has strengthened considerably — making the country more expensive for expatriates and tourists,” said Lee Quane, regional director for Asia at ECA International. “However, this trend has slowed over the past year, partly in response to government attempts to weaken the baht in order to keep the country competitive.”

The survey has been carried out in March and September every year since 2005. It is calculated based on a basket of items such as accommodation rental and utility fees. Car prices and school fees are not included.

Hong Kong was the second most expensive city in Asia after Ashgabat but ahead of Tokyo and Singapore. Singapore was also the most expensive place for expats in Southeast Asia.

The Chinese territory also remained sixth in the global standings, one place ahead of the Japanese capital. Singapore was 14th in Asia despite dropping two notches from the previous survey.

Ashgabat’s meteoric rise to the top of the ranking is largely attributable to the economic problems of the Turkmenistan government, according to ECA. The energy-rich Central Asian nation has faced severe inflation and a black market for foreign currencies has caused the cost of imports to rise, said Mr Quane. Both of these factors have sparked a large increase in the costs visitors pay in Ashgabat.

Mr Quane said Chinese cities fell across the board in the latest rankings due to signs of a weakening economy and poorly performing currency, even before Covid-19 started to take its toll.

Source - Pattaya One News

TRAVEL with GERRIT  (Main)

NEWS  & TRAVEL GURU

TRAVEL with PETER

PLANET ASIAN TRAVEL

BAR GIRLS

--------------------------------------

ASIAN BEST HOTELS  (Main)

BANGKOK BEST HOTELS

PATTAYA BEST HOTELS

THAILAND BEST HOTELS

CAMBODIAN BEST HOTELS

VIETNAM BEST HOTELS

MYANMAR BEST HOTELS

EUROPEAN BEST HOTELS

VIP BEST HOTELS

MY TRAVEL BUDDY

.

#Singapore has the world's fastest 4G Network

Singapore has the fastest 4G network followed by South Korea and Australia in the Asia-pacific.

Singapore is also the fastest 4G country in the world, according to a report by Open Signal, a UK-based wireless technology company. The report compares 4G performance across 88 countries worldwide.

South Korea is the second fastest network in Asia followed by Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, Vodafone has jumped ahead of Telstra in the 4G speed metric, averaging LTE downloads of 40 Mbps.

Taiwan's operators are quickly joining the global elite in 4G availability and it is the fifth fastest network speed in Asia.  

.

FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

.

 It is followed by Japan and Vietnam at 25.39 and 21.49 mbps respectively.  As per the report Japan 4G network speed is by no means slow, but it is still well away from matching the LTE speeds of the elite countries.

Brunei Darussalam has eighth fastest network in Asia with 17.48 mbps speed. It is followed by Myanmar and Malaysia. Other countries below 15mbps are Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Pakistan. Thailand ranked on the 9th place.

 .

India fares poorly in the report. Its operators are still focused on growing LTE's reach rather than injecting more speed into their 4G services, according to the report.

According to the report through improved smartphone technology and new spectrum, mobile operators have elevated average 4G speeds first beyond 20 Mbps, then beyond 30 Mbps, and in the last two years, beyond 40 Mbps.

However now the industry seems to have reached a limit to what current technology, spectral bandwidth and mobile economics can support on a nationwide level.

The fastest countries average LTE download speeds have stalled at just over 45 Mbps, as per the report.  Speeds, however, remained stagnant, but that could soon change as the wave of consolidation clears the way for new high-capacity networks".

Source - TheNation 

 

A summit of hope for peace

Experts believe the Trump Kim meeting in Singapore tomorrow may see some commitment on denuclearizing Korean peninsula.

A HISTORIC summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was expected to be a success, according to experts, as Kim was likely to offer a vague promise on denuclearisation when they meet in Singapore tomorrow, leaving tough negotiations over implementation for later.

“Kim’s most urgent need is to alleviate the threat of a US preventive military strike and to get at least some of the economic sanctions lifted,” Hawaii-based East West Centre’s senior fellow of research programme Denney Roy told The Nation in an interview via e-mail.

North Korea’s nuclear programme and missile tests over the past few years have brought the secretive communist regime to the brink of a nuclear state, which has given it strong bargaining powers with Washington.

.

FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

.

A summit with the US president is critical for the Pyongyang leader to make his regime secure.

“He also wants to gain international prestige, establish a normal relationship with the US where he is treated as an equal, and make progress towards weakening the US-South Korea security cooperation,” Roy said.

Kim likely wants to get North Korea into a position where both Beijing and Washington are competing with each other to gain influence in Pyongyang by granting favours, he said.

While denuclearisation is the ultimate goal to stabilise the Korean Peninsula, President Trump is likely to hold his cards close to his chest.

“I think that very quickly I’ll know whether or not something good is going to happen,” Trump told reporters in Quebec over the weekend.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has met Kim Jong-un twice, said earlier that the reclusive North Korean leader had indicated the regime was prepared to denuclearise. The top US diplomat refrained from talking about the plan, saying the two leaders would discuss the issue during their summit.

An expert on Korean affairs, Roy said the summit could be called a success if there were any commitment on denuclearisation, with the hard bargaining over implementation left for later negotiations.

However the key to the success of the summit also depends on the diplomatic style and negotiating skills of the two leaders. While Trump is unpredictable, Kim is virtually unknown. His first appearance in the diplomatic world was only when he was on camera with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in at Panmunjom in late April.

“At that time, he managed to not look like a monster, which is not very difficult. We don’t know how he might perform one-on-one with Trump. I would expect he will be well-prepared and wily,” Roy said.

,

Read Continue ...

#Singapore - Female President Elected without an election. What a joke.

Singapore - An establishment stalwart was named Singapore's first female president Wednesday but the milestone was overshadowed by criticism her selection was undemocratic after she was handed the job without a vote.

    Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament from the Muslim Malay minority, did not have to face an election for the largely ceremonial post originally due this month after authorities decided her rivals did not meet strict eligibility criteria.

    It was not the first time in the affluent city-state -- which is tightly controlled and has been ruled by the same party for decades -- that the government has disqualified candidates for the presidency, making an election unnecessary.

    But there was already unease about the process as it was the first time that the presidency had been reserved for a particular ethnic group, in this case the Malay community, and the decision to hand her the job without a vote added to anger.

    Social media was abuzz with criticism as Halimah, a bespectacled 63-year-old who wears a headscarf, was formally announced as the president-elect, with Facebook user Pat Eng writing: "Elected without an election. What a joke."

    "I will call her President Select from now on," said Joel Kong on the networking site, while some posts were marked with the hashtag #NotMyPresident -- echoing the message used by upset Americans after the election of President Donald Trump.

FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

Halimah, a member of parliament for the ruling People's Action Party for nearly two decades before resigning to contest the presidency, tackled the doubts about the selection process in a speech to a cheering crowd after she was named president-elect.

 

    "I'm a president for everyone. Although there's no election, my commitment to serve you remains the same," she said.

    Authorities had decided to allow only candidates from the Malay community to put themselves forward for the presidency, a bid to foster harmony in the city-state of 5.5 million people which is dominated by ethnic Chinese.

    Singapore's head of state has limited powers, including vetoing senior official appointments, but an establishment figure has always held the role and there are rarely tensions with the government. //AFP