prism

13 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Do not be afraid of the factory reset. I still have my S5. Do this yearly. Backup to laptop, reset, replace contact list.

Fone easily twice as fast, all garbage added with "updates" removed.

Only bad side - some apps will not work without an update - GMaps for one, but you only download the latest update, not the 47 that have happened in the past year.

Samsung's back up and restore works quite well. It'll restore nearly all of your data after a reset. Unfortunately, it'll not restore your conversations on your messaging apps like the line app. That has to be done separately.

I've had good service at the Samsung service center by the moat.  One time I bricked my phone. The tech served my right away, plugged my phone into a device and it came to life.  

9 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

My Thai lawyer told me I have to pay 1.5% of the valuation price to the land office and not to the lawyer. If what you said is true, then I would be very happy.

 

I tried going to land office to ask but none of them can speak English well and the officer in charge was quite rude and told me (in Thai) to hire a lawyer to speak to them instead. But lawyers might not be honest.....

 

Thanks for all the answers.

 

Seems like something is getting lost in translation with your lawyer. I'd suggest you go to the samuiforsale website and read their information on the various property rights agreements. 

Also, some land offices are reluctant to register a usufruct unless you are married to the landowner. 

5 minutes ago, JohnnyBKK said:

Ok, will close it then. I sent an email to the lawyer already.

You or your lawyer may find a buyer since the company is already set up and has shareholders, but the price would be a lot lower than what you're asking IMO.

A few years ago, I opened a 2 million baht Thai company for under 30,000 baht as Blackcab mentioned. I've since closed it and it took a few weeks to finalize the closing. That company had no assets or debt and was finished engaging in any business activities. I don't see how you can sell yours for 60,000 baht. 

Barcelona Motor is the BMW dealer here. They sell Automobiles and Motorcycles. BMW bikes are rare here and parts for them will be expensive since it's all imported. You might want to inquire on the GT Rider forum.  

4 hours ago, ehs818 said:

I just returned form a holiday in China on Saturday. Took a high speed train from Guangzhou to Guilin, about a 90 ride, price unknown as my friend paid for it and would not tell me. But it had to be about 150 RMB, or 750 baht. Cheaper than a plane, but much more than a bus. Can't see that many Thai ppl will opt for it. You don't  have to sit down while it takes off or lands, you can't eat on the train, but there are places to charge your phones. Overall quite nice, but for everyday Thais I'm not so sure it'll succeed. Hope it does.

The motorway between Bangkok and Korat is very congested and getting worse. On weekends and holidays , the commute by car or bus can take several hours. Korat has an airport, but it's inconveniently located and nobody flies there last time I checked. I think the Thais will use it if it's priced right, say around 300 - 400 baht. It's a lot further than 3.5 kilometers though.    

10 minutes ago, cheeryble said:

Agree completely Ian

Just like to check whether I can ask for help at the LO if I'm not on any title myself and not a Thai.
I think I'd rather talk to the organ grinder than listen to wife's opinions


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I would be employing a competent solicitor that is familiar with your local land office.  The information is available but you want to know what your options are regarding the other land owners. 

1 hour ago, JAFO said:

The winnings are considered income. He will be liable for all Fed and State taxes. In California he will lose nearly 40 to 50% of that $5mil (Roughly). Good Tax adviser might be able to mitigate some of the tax penalties

 

He then will be required to file quarterly taxes on the remaining amount most likely due to his income increase.

 

Its not so glamorous but still he might end up with about $2 mil when all said and done. Not bad for a scratcher ticket

 

Congrats to him

 

 

There is no California state tax and the Fed tax will be withheld from his winnings.  Not sure if this is an annuitized prize or cash. Still a good idea to find a good tax adviser.   

You might also look at Varee international school. Fees and curriculum are similar to LIST. LIST has better accreditation but they might have a wait list. 

Had mine done at CM Ram about 3 years ago. Both sides by laparoscopic surgery. Unfortunately, one side has herniated again last year and there was considerable bruising after the surgery. Hard for me to recommend them. Bangkok Hospital CM does them by laparoscopic surgery for 100K for one side. Since laparoscopic surgery requires general anesthesia, I opted to spend a night in the hospital, not much more in costs. If it's just one side, I might follow electrified's example and save considerable money.  

Got caught in that back up Saturday. What was much worse was traffic was jammed heading out for Isaan from Bangkok on highway 2 for at least 90 kilometers. 

That looks like the section with the speed cameras. Hope at least the driver that hit you got a ticket. 

On 6/23/2017 at 3:26 PM, NancyL said:

I went to immigration Prom this morning to file 90 day reports for Hubby and me.  I arrived around 8:15 and by 8:30 am there were 10 people in the retirement extension queue.  Why people think they have to arrive at zero-dark-stupid is beyond me.  I imagine all 10 were seen by lunchtime.

 

As for me, I was given queue tickets 20 and 21 for our 90 day reports and was done by 9:15 am.  The two ladies handling 90 day reports really have a nice, quick system going of handling three applicants at once.  Watching them work the documents side-by-side is like watching two people play a four-handed piano piece.  They seem to be having a good time, too.  

 

Definitely a better atmosphere there these days for routine services.  I guess Imm. Prom. has decided the 1600 baht fines for TM30s and pushing newly arrived retirees into using agents for visa conversions gives them enough extra.  No need to create misery for EVERY transaction.

I arrived around 9:15 am for my retirement extension last Wednesday. After having all my documents checked including the TM 30 form , I was given queue number 16. Told to return after lunch. Upon returning after lunch, I was processed in about 45 minutes. The moral around the office seems better these days. 

Not going to get much of a house for 10K in town, a bit out of town, yes. Are you going to have transportation? Maybe Mee Chok area or towards Hang Dong.

The pre-school/nursery I sent my kids to has since changed hands so I can't make a recommendation but don't cheap out.  I'd try one that has monthly rates first and see how your child enjoys it. Here's a few: Tonkla (clean campus), Little Stars,  Super Kids,  Kiddy Bear, Genius nursery (cheap), Kiddie Daycare (Expensive but has monthly rates). 

Parks and sidewalks are scarce in CM. Plenty for a family to do here though. Lots of good restaurants. 

Healthcare is good here. For our kids we've been going to Dr. Saipin  at Chiang Mai Ram and have been happy with her. 

It's smoky around here in around March but the rest of the time the Air quality is reasonable. We've had to keep our kids indoors on a few days with the air filter on or take a trip down to the coast.  

5 minutes ago, RandG said:

If you were evicted (very, very unlikely), you would get yr money back from Airbnb. They cannot afford the hit on their reputation for customers of Airbnb to be losing money.

Make sure you book and pay through AirBNB's website to qualify for their refund policy. I would ask the host to report your stay at immigration, it's their responsibility.  

I can speak as a parent and my feelings are not as harsh as your friend. Even though Varee has Thai, EP and International programs, I find that the International program is quite independent from the rest of the school and the curriculum is all English except for the other language classes. There are quite a few half Thai kids along with Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Thai. Very few western students though. I agree that this does result in that my kids English language skills not being challenged as much by the other students as would be in an exclusively international school. My kids love going there and they are motivated to learn. That's important to me. Their Thai mother likes it because she feels like she's not being totally left out of the kids education process. My communications with the school has been good.  

I haven't heard of any students switching to Lanna, it's hard to find openings at Lanna anyway. I do agree that Lanna would be preferable choice. Other International Schools in CM are considerably more expensive.  

This is only for Varee's new primary level international program and I'm generally happy with it. I do have some real concerns on their secondary program, university placements etc.         

As you can see on post #26 it's 80 km/h on the downhill part and the last one after the road straightens out, it's 90 km/h. On the downhill part you usually get stuck behind someone going well below 80 km/h but the last one is much easier to get nabbed since you now have two lanes. 

Pizza Hut should be fine for 10yr olds. Pepperoni and/or Hawaiian seems to be their favorites, they'll eat a lot. My wife says they'll deliver to the school, just make sure you notify the security guard at the gate.  

10 hours ago, elektrified said:

Went to Dukes this evening as my kid has been asking for days now to go there for pizza. We ordered a 1/2 Italian sausage and mushrooms and 1/2 BBQ chicken pizza. Have to say it really was superb. I noticed a distinct change for the better in the crust. It was thicker and firmer and cooked more than usual on the bottom and was piping hot. Just from what I saw and read on FB, I'll take a guess there may have been a shake up in the kitchen. And as usual, it was cut square. I will agree at this point with NancyL that on orders to eat at the restaurant it is cut square and on "glaab baan" orders they cut it the traditional style. That makes sense now - I think.

 

I happened to notice an order of about 25 (or more) large pizzas being carried out by staff, so obviously they are still very popular. I'll definitely try the bar that scored 1st place on the FB pizza competition, but most of the places recommended on forums, to me, are not as good as the Dukes. There are a couple of places that do a nice Margherita pizza, but for American style pizza with a variety of choices as toppings Dukes is No.1.

We had the Combo pizza at Dukes Promonada two days ago and we noticed the change. Before we liked the pizza but it was a bit greasy that tended to get slightly soggy in the middle. This time it was actually a bit dry, lacking in sauce but they were very generous with condiments though. We noted it to the waitress and she very kindly had another one made and that one was perfect.

Great service, great pizza, two thumbs up from us. 

Le Crystal has it on their menu. http://www.lecrystalrestaurant.com/en/info-4/ 

I've had it there before and it was delicious. I'm not an expert so I can't tell if it was "real" Kobe beef but it was much better than your average steak.  

Yes, you'll need a Residence Certificate if you don't have a yellow house book or WP and you'll need your passport with valid visa/extension. It's best to go to the DLT with the buyer to make sure the bike is registered in their name. I've done it before and it took a couple of hours at the DLT.

Here's a thread from a couple of years ago that should be of help.  

It seems the above link to another TV thread is not working. I found it by google though.  

I've been to several orphanages in this area and I will bet that the kids in any of them will jump at the chance to go to a Pizza Party at a nice air conditioned restaurant where the Pizza is oven fresh. It'll be a special event for them. Great idea from the Dukes.

The costs seem very high. Several years ago, I closed a company and the total costs came to around 28,000 baht. Note the company had sold it's assets before being closed.

I recently changed my old Be1st card to a chip card. The branch didn't have any the Visa ones so they issued me a Union Pay one with the 6 digit PIN. It wouldn't work at the local PTT station so I found a BBL branch that had the Visa ones and I swapped it. Works fine now and it's also working on non BBL ATMs. Haven't tried it overseas yet but the old one worked in the U.S. mostly.

MY EXTENSION OF STAY (RETIREMENT) & RE-ENTRY EXPERIENCE WED, 18MAY...

Arrived at the Retirement/Medical que at 0440. Took seat #5.

By 0515 13 people in the que; by 0600 approx 30 people.

At 0840 personnel handed out que cards; I got #6- some guy had rolled up in a wheelchair at 0700 and set himself at the front & got #3. I asked him later if he had someone holding his spot and he said “no” but thought he was entitled because his “kids were sick” at home. He was not feeble-bodied and if I see him next year I’ll have him take his place in line just like the rest of us.

At 1000 I was called. A single IO was processing the applicants. I presented my passport, extension of stay form, bank book and letter. No tm30 or residency data was asked for. By 1015 the IO had completed her reviews, asked if I had an extra copy of my departure card which I provided. She took my photo and said to return at 1500 to pick up my passport.

Prior to my turn, I observed one person having to go next door to obtain new passport photos with a blue background as his application had a photo with a white background; and the person before me had the wrong color passport photo as well and his passbook date was 5 days prior to his bank letter- that the deposit amount was the same was immaterial (of course). He had to go out to correct these errors.

I arrived at 1500 and at 1520 the passports arrived and I was called 10 min later. I went next door to make a copy of the passport page with the updated extension of stay date and reported with the application form to the outside desk to obtain a que ## for a re-entry stamp. My number was called 10 minutes later and I received my single re-entry stamp. I observed that at the retirement desk due #25 was called and serviced.

I left at 1630.

All told, 20 minutes of face time with the immigration officers over the 12-hour day.

The IO’s were polite at all times.

Has anyone doing extension at Prom had a problem with the bank book not being updated same day as the application? Is there access to a bank ( Bkk bank in my case ) machine to update bank book before banks open- first in line can't go to the bank after it opens.

There is no requirement for the bank book being updated the same day as applying for the extension.

The requirement is that the date of the bank book update & the bank letter "certifying" the fund amount in that account ARE the same date.

I obtain my bank book and letter anywhere from 3-5 days before applying for the extension and there has never been a problem.

You may need to make a transaction on that account to make the update date shown in your bankbook more current.