Mind the gap
When talking about dividend yields on stocks, it's always important to look at the so-called "yield gap".
This is the difference between the average dividend yields of stocks and the yields of bank savings accounts in that country.
For example, in the US, average stock dividend yields are barely 2-3% with US Bank saving account yields around 4-4.5%.
While this is not mentioned in this article by Manishi Raychaudhuri, Thailand has many reputable companies yielding 5-7 or an even higher annual percentage, while Thai bank savings accounts yield only around 0.3%.
This "yield gap" is at record levels at present and to my knowledge no country is close to this yield gap, anywhere.
TDAC glee
Re: "New online arrival cards target crime: Immigration touts system's convenience", (BP, April 27).
I have used the online Thai Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) three times since it was introduced in May and I have found it easy to complete, with almost instantaneous delivery via email of a QR code for the TDAC.
But curiously, not once have immigration police looked at my iPhone or opened the QR page; they simply proceeded to check my passport with my retirement visa and multiple re-entry permit, before putting in a re-entry stamp.
A word of caution to people using the system for the first time. Make sure you use the government website to apply. If you Google TDAC, the first four or five entries that pop up are agencies wanting to charge you something like 2,000 baht, or even more if you want a rush job. This is a scam, because the TDAC is free and, as I said, delivery is almost instantaneous once you have completed and submitted the online form.
David Brown
Set in stone
Re: "S112 fit for purpose", (PostBag, July 13).
While I fully agree with everything that Burin Kantabutra writes, it perhaps glosses over the more serious problem.
The Paul Chambers example, whilst apt, is really too easy, although apparently not easy enough to have stopped those who brought the charge under S112, yet again bringing Section 112 of the Criminal Code into global disrepute.
On Jan 30, the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights noted the Thai lèse-majesté law is "both harsh and vague", while calling for it to be abolished. Contrary to Burin's concerns, the real problem is perhaps not the abuse of the law as written, but with the law itself exactly as it is written.
Felix Qui
Holiday hazards
Re: "Not about safety", (PostBag, July 12) & "Safer tourism needed now", (Editorial, July 11).
This July 11 editorial is correct. A recent study by the life insurance company Everly Life found that Thailand, unfortunately, makes the list of the top 10 dangerous countries in the world to visit.
The study measured "dangerous" using such variables as crime and traffic fatality rates, sexual assaults, and human trafficking.
It ranked Thailand as the 9th-most dangerous country in the world.
This should give AM, the author of this PostBag letter, pause for thought the next time he dismisses Chinese visitors' concerns over safety in Thailand.
There are many rich people in China, considering its population of over 1 billion, so his argument that the main reason why the Chinese are no longer coming here is that Thailand is too expensive is patently ridiculous!
If anything, having visited China before, I find that it's China which is expensive, and not Thailand.
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