I am somewhat surprised though by the lack of comment about the implications for businesses.

I manage a 49:51 "foreign" owned, well-established company here in Thailand. The company comprises all Thai nationals except for three essential senior management positions that are currently held by expats.

This year this company will generate income for Thailand both direct and indirect to the tune of around US$7 million (Bt257 million) and has performed somewhat similarly for the past 10 years.

To fund an expansion some years ago a loan was obtained from the foreign shareholders and significant additional assets were procured. Due entirely to the depreciation of these assets and the shareholders' loan, the company will have negative equity on its balance sheet for some years. We make an operating profit and we have a good cash flow situation.

However, one of the new requirements for an extension of a business visa is that the sponsoring company must have Bt1 million positive equity in the audited accounts. In our case, we will not have positive equity until the new assets are depreciated and/or the loans are repaid. (Under Thai auditing standards, you cannot change the depreciation term to alleviate the situation).

This company complies with all the other immigration requirements in terms of registered capital and Thai staff and has cash in hand for all of next year's foreign salaries, etc.

This week we applied for an extension to one of the expat's visas, only for it to be declined due to the equity issue. (They've given this individual a 30-day extension whilst they review his case.) The immigration Department's answer was for the company to recapitalise to overcome the problem.

To be frank, this just is not going to happen, neither with this company nor do I suspect with any other company that finds itself in this position.

Thailand already has lost most of its competitive advantages. Corporation tax is amongst the highest in the region. Corruption and inefficiency within Customs costs all companies dearly and let us not even go near the freight problems at Suvarnabhumi. This past year interest rates and the unbelievably strong baht have just about made Thailand nonviable. Local costs and inflation are still rising and the Land of Smiles has lost the smile.

To now have to advise foreign shareholders that the only way they can maintain their operations is to inject additional funds into the company, with no guarantees that the rules will not be further changed in the future, is a non-starter.

Now I do not know whether the new government inherited this problem without understanding the full implications for businesses but, if our case is typical, there will be many companies in the same dilemma in which we now find ourselves.

Our realistic choices are limited, as recapitalisation is not an option. Relocate to a more business friendly environment within the region or just shut down? Either way, Thailand loses the income and my Thai staff will lose their livelihoods.

Unfortunately, I suspect the shareholders will throw in the towel and adopt the latter.

Is this really what Thailand wants or even needs? This past four years or so have seen an anti-foreign sentiment creep into everyday life. Up until the Thai Rak Thai era, it was virtually unheard of for resident expats to experience anything other than civility, kindness and genuine warmth. Of course, residents in turn knew how to be respectful and behave in a correct manner and even the less respectful tourists were better tolerated by the Thais than the resident expats!

Talk to just about any resident expat now and most have experienced crime, sometimes with violence and a dramatic change in everyday attitude. Is this visa issue an extension of this changing attitude?

Eighteen years ago when I initially came here, this country truly deserved the Land of Smiles label. Sadly today that's just not so. Intolerance and a rip-off culture are the overriding impressions a first-time visitor now gets.

From a business perspective, I believe that too much damage has been done. This visa issue is the proverbial straw that finally broke that poor camel's back and overseas investors will walk with their wallets to more accommodating climates.

A (soon to be unemployed) expat

Bangkok

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Two policy suggestions to ensure a lasting legacy

 The interim government could endear itself to Thai history by introducing two reforms:

1. Education and testing of would-be drivers, to ensure they can actually drive, before awarding them a licence. Education on drink-driving would be especially welcome. Forget the border areas and the brothels: currently roads are by far the most dangerous places in Thailand. The flower of Thai youth is being slaughtered.

2. Stop the dumping of rubbish off the coast and in rivers. I've just returned from a tour of the Andaman Sea beaches: they are awash with plastic and broken glass. Nearly all of it comes from offshore and riverine dumping. In Phuket there was more plastic visible than sand. In Lanta walking along the beach was impossible: it was littered with smashed beer bottles brought in on the tide. Even remoter islands like Muk and Sukorn had their fair share of beach garbage.

John Macgregor

Chiang Mai

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Carrying people in the back of pickups is dangerous

 On a recent trip to the Middle East I found a great deal of interest in the media on the dangers of transporting workers in the back of open pickup trucks. Some countries there, including the UAE, have passed laws against this practice.

Here in Cha-am, every workday around 5pm many pickup trucks speed wantonly down Phetkasem Highway with tired labourers crammed into the back like cattle. Having once seen a very tragic spillage of this precious human cargo on this very same highway, I wonder if Thailand should be paying attention to what they are doing out there in the UAE.

Cha-am Jamal

Petchaburi

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Nothing wrong with airport's design - it's the management

 Many of your contributors seem to mistakenly believe that one of the main causes of the many problems at Suvarnabhumi Airport is its design. I contend that they are quite wrong. The building is an iconic, functional and beautifully designed airport by the award-winning architectural firm Murphy/Jahn. They have already built other airports around the world including the marvellous Munich airport and are currently remodelling Chicago's O'Hare airport, the worlds busiest.

No, the real problem is caused by the bureaucratic management style of the local airport regime. To solve the many remaining problems they need to be more sensitive to the needs of their customers. If they really were customer-focused they would put an immediate stop to four of the following unprofessional practices:

1. The ambushing of arriving passengers by groups of illegal taxi and limo touts. Get security to only allow arriving passengers to enter the arrivals area.

2. The collection of airport tax in cash from departing passengers. Instead make the airlines collect the tax on their behalf when the tickets are purchased

3. Having a website that is a total embarrassment. Revamp the official website so that it matches the international standards of excellence shown by competing airports in the region.

4. The necessity for arriving passengers to make a two-kilometre transit in a beat-up bus prior to hiring a taxi. Reorganise the chaotic arrivals area so that transit from the airport to taxis is seamless, as can be seen at other airports.

None of these four suggestions would involve significant expenditure but they do involve a very significant mind shift away from the current bureaucratic managerial style towards a more customer-focused orientation. If the current airport operators are unable to do this then serious consideration should be given to outsourcing the entire operation to an international service company with proven experience in operating international airports.

Dr Andy Lowe

Bangkok

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Bt2 million is a lot to be splashing out on a toilet

 Re: "Airport to be flush with new toilets", News, October 26.

I was intrigued to read that the 200 new toilets to be installed at Suvarnabhumi Airport will cost a mere Bt2 million apiece.

What are they made of - diamonds?

Constance Beasley (Mrs)

Bangkok

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Suvarnabhumi once, but not likely again

 My recent return to Thailand gave me an opportunity to try out the new airport and services at Suvarnabhumi.

Shortly after landing I realised things were going to be a little bit different when the captain announced that there wasn't a vacant parking space for the plane. On eventually entering the terminal, I could not help thinking that it looked like a cross between an old Soviet shipyard and the dreadful Paris CDG. After a longer than usual 40-minute wait at immigration due to what appeared to be a mixture of technical failure and incompetence, I went through to the toilets to find the taps almost falling off and no paper towels. I eventually reached my baggage, exited into the throng of touts at the entrance and escaped in a metered taxi.

From landing to getting to Bangkok centre took two hours - almost double what it usual takes.

Teething problems aside, one would have thought that a massive showcase project like this would have set out to impress rather than confuse and expose its shortcomings and inadequacies.

I'm afraid I will try to avoid Bangkok when passing through Asia again, the same way I avoid passage through desperate airports in Europe.

Norman Castle

Bangkok