millwall_fan

There seems to be some confusion about things like this at the moment, hopefully the junta will clarify things in the next few days.

I'm just interested, with the weekend coming up as to what will be open in Chiang Mai and what will be closed. Does anyone have any inside knowledge?

PTT have a loyalty card which we have been using for a couple of months now. We probably dont use it enough to accrue any useful freebies. PTT always seem clean and efficient to me, but that is purely anecdotal. As for car washes, I dont know of any zooped up ones for performance cars, but there are several down CM-Lamphun rd as mentioned above that do a range of packages from 120-200B. Hope that helps

With the obvious caveat that hotels give lousy rates, there is no more than a baht difference between the worst bank rate and the best exchange booth. So 10 Baht per $100. So it only becomes even remotely worth shopping around if you are changing $500-$1,000.

7 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

I'm no expert on this subject but Mrs CM tells me there are three levels, each with different levels of return at retirement age:

 

1 - employed full time, employer makes contributions as does employee

2 - unemployed BUT worked previously, essentially a continuous of payment by the ex-employee based on voluntary contributions (this is Mrs CM's case)

3 - unemployed AND never worked - an unknown for us.

 

I think this is a non starter, but thanks anyway. My wife has never been employed in the conventional sense, so it looks unlikely that she can pay in. Pretty grim situation for any Thai able to plan for the future. Maybe that's why most don't!

8 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Savings account.

What you're talking about is not a private pension but an investment, universal life style, that can amongst others be used for pensions.

Afaik this does not exist in Thailand.

And a bit more friendly would be nice.

I am not 'talking' about anything, I am asking questions, searching for answers. So you are telling me that a UK style pension plan does not exist in Thailand. Thank you for this information. I apologise if you think i was being unfriendly, I simply couldn't see any merit in your answers. As you sound very confident that you know what you are talking about, I will obviously have to search elsewhere. Thank you for your kind advice. 

5 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

You know that paying voluntary contributions to the Thai social security system will result in a small pension in later life, at THB 432 a month it's decent value?

 

I've been thinking/looking at this issue for some time but without success, perhaps if poster Fletchsmile sees this he can comment? I'll knock him up, as it were! :)

OK this is god info. My wife says that in order to pay the 432 Baht a month you have to be employed, whereas she is a housewife and that principally the  scheme you are talking about is a health scheme with a pension tacked onto the back. Can you comment on that?

1 minute ago, chiang mai said:

Well I understand what you're looking for and if you find it, please let me know because I've searched for the same thing without success.

 

What Kasikorn seems to have described to you is an insurance product (I think) although the part about keeping funds paid if you cease to contribute sounds dire and somewhat scam like!

 

I have looked at this issue from the UK perspective with the thought of perhaps using an onshore IFA to set up something similar - the non-availability of IFA's to expats, combined with UK taxation laws and now a currency exchange issue, makes the whole thing a non-starter

Thank you, CM. The only trouble with setting up something offshore is that they dont trend to be interested in the small amount I am able to invest: I want to put 2,000 to 3,000 Baht per month into a pension plan for the next 20 years, but who knows, our plans may change and I dont want a bl**dy bank taking stealing my hard earned contributions if we pay in for 15 years and then can't afford the sums involved. 

Just now, stevenl said:

I know more about this than you'll ever know.
Good luck, if you don't want to take on honest advice you're going to need it.

You are not giving me any advice, you are talking drivel. I want a UK style pension plan for my Thai wife, you have not offered me any useful advice whatsoever. If you can give me useful advice please do so, if not please butt out. 

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

AVC's are part of workplace pension schemes, not private pension.

PS, I'm talking about pensions, not universal life products.

Frankly, old chap, I think you'd better stick to diving. You clearly do not understand what I am looking for. 

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

I think you have a wrong view of UK private pension insurance. Also there, premiums paid will get you a pension later, provided you keep up with the insurance premiums.

Er? right?

I paid into an AVC in UK. When my circumstances changed, I stopped paying into it. The amount I had built up remains invested and when I choose to take it as a pension, I can. The woman from Kasikorn told my wife that if we agree to pay in to a pension for her for say, 10 years and we stop paying in after 5, the   5 years of contributions we had already made would be forfeit.

I can't see how you think that I have go a wrong view of UK private pensions. The two are fundamentally different.

2 hours ago, chiang mai said:

 

You say that BOT keeps the value of THB artificially high and that it does so by keeping interest rates high, I say that's rubbish - interest rates are, as stated, designed to stimulate a poorly performing economy and/or to manage inflation in an overheating economy, not to line the pockets of the so called ruling elite and history shows that is exactly how they have been used.
 

And THB value is determined by demand and unfortunately demand is strong hence the currency is strong, much to the chagrin of government who would perhaps like to see a weaker Baht at times. But just because the rice pledging scheme waned the opposite of what the economy needed is tough tit!

 

And frankly, looking at good sound economic practises and using them to make a case that they serve the interests of the elite is just ridiculous, it's people looking for smoke when there's not even any combustible material in sight.

 

If you bothered to read my post you would note that I said "The Bank of Thailand has the power to set interest rates as well as the ability to influence rates by other means. 

"Good sound economic practices" are fine as long as they benefit the whole of society. The 'combustible material you speak of include state pensions of 500 Baht a month, a school system that is broken both materially and educationally, a total lack of a decent public transport system outside Bangkok, water management systems designed purely to protect the needs of Bangkok etc etc. The long suffering patience of the Thai people means that these issues rarely combust - and in any event at the moment, any attempt at combustion would meet with a swift and dangerous visit to the army's extra-judicial justice. 

Just now, chiang mai said:

 

Interest rates serve more than just as a tool to stimulate rice sales!, They're useful in stimulating the economy or for reigning in inflation when borrowings become too high. The MPC was right to hold rates steady rather than to provide support for a malfunctioning and largely corrupt rice sales scheme. And if BOT really wanted to influence the value of THB it has ways of doing that apart from interest rates manipulation, albeit lessening demand for THB is very difficult to do with a tourist industry that is experiencing year on year record growth. In fact, BOT has, over the past five years, spent considerable sums from foreign currency reserves in trying to weaken THB which for the large part has not been successful.

 

And, just for clarity:

 

In fact unemployment is not rising, it's actually still very low and lower than previous months:

 

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/thailand/employed-persons

 

Public debt is rising but is still remarkably low as a percentage of GDP, compared to other countries, it is of course expected to rise as government initiates infrastructure spending designed to stimulate the economy.

 

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/thailand/government-debt-to-gdp

I don't deny any of that, but I don't see that it invalidates my argument in the rather dismissive way you did. 

Incidentally one of the reasons why public debt, whilst rising is low compared to many other countries is that Thailand spends precious little on providing a safety net for the poor like many countries with higher debts do. 

29 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

Rubbish! Humour us all and tell us how BOT did that, I dare you?

The Bank of Thailand, as with many central banks, has the power to set interest rates as well as the ability to influence rates by other means. When Kittirat Na Ranong, the then finance minister asked, indeed begged the BoT to reduce interest rates in order to devalue the Baht to make Thai rice exports more competitive, the bank refused (presumably after interventions from high in the amart). The strong Baht was just as influential in the failure of the rice pledging scheme as the corruption that was doubtless involved. 

As to subsequent events: why when the Thai economy is performing at a fraction of the rate it was in 2012, unemployment is rising, public debt is rising and exports are falling, is the Baht still riding so high, unless it is to support the activities of the Elite and their military backers.

I'm hoping someone can advise on this here. I know pensions are not strictly insurance, but this forum seems the best fit.

I went to Kasikorn Bank yesterday to inquire about a small Thai pension for my wife. The woman gave us a plausible option, but them told my wife that if we stopped paying the monthly premiums the bank would take all the contributions made so far. This is outrageous and amount to theft in my view. What I want to know is, does anyone have any experience with any institution in Thailand that would permit us to start a small pension and where, if our circumstances change, the money paid already will be actively invested to provide a pension when she is 60- i.e much as a pension operates in UK.

On 07/10/2016 at 2:42 PM, Sparkles said:

Nice to see some other people sharing the pain. The Aussie $ was a while ago 32 baht to the $A it went as low as 23 baht to the $A and is now back up to 26 baht to the $A.The Brixit issue was always going to affect the English pound.

 

Of course the Thai baht could devalue to help exports , but dont hold your breath,considerable loss of face involved.

 

 

The strong Baht is not just lack of face, Sparkles, it was a deliberate policy on behalf of the Bank of Thailand to scupper the rice scheme and as it also served to further the interests of the Ruling Elite who could buy cheap real estate and stocks and shares around the world and go on cheap holidays to Japan, the policy has continued.  

On 07/10/2016 at 0:36 AM, cyberfarang said:

A Farang still cannot open a small business hiding behind his Thai wife`s name and be an equal partner in that business. He has to register it as a company with all the rules that go with it.

I thought that was implicit in my post - but yes, as you say, such a business would have to be in your wife's sole name and she would then be allowed to employ you. 

1 hour ago, dave2 said:

 

or two :)

 

dave2

Good to see we are singing from the same hymn sheet, Dave2.

You wouldn't be allowed to open a small business yourself, you'd have to put in a Thais name. If you are married to a Thai that's no problem, other than that it would have to be someone you really trust. I very much doubt you'll find anyone to consign stock, its CoD all the way here. Also there may not be an organic shop or a Western shop in your neighbourhood, but there are plenty of outlets around town and most people have cars. Sorry to sound negative, but that's the way it is!

This dual pricing is a thorny issue for those of us who live here and pay taxes here. On the one hand there are many Thais who earn more than I do so why should I pay more than them to visit an attraction; on the other hand I am a foreigner and will always be a foreigner here so if I dont like it I can clear off right? As I almost always visit parks and attractions with my wife and son I always show my driving licence: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If it doesn't, I add up my Farang price and wife and child's Thai prices and then divide by three. If the resultant price seems reasonable we go in, if not we don't.  

Incidentally, the driving licence worked on Tuesday at the Fish Cave, Pangmapha. It was a quiet day and they needed the business!

There is a shop around the middle of  Thapae rd, roughly opposite the Bangkok Bank that sells Santa dresses from around November onward for a couple of hundred baht a chuck. Who needs a fat old bloke when you can have a pretty little Santa instead?

Anyone who has dealt with the British immigration system in Croydon and the costs they charge would not whinge at the Thai system. If you don't want to wait in a long line, get a visa agent, its really as simple as that!

13 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

Thats is very decent…poor thais need this…hope its not just lip service.

Poor Thais aren't going to get it. This is all froth just before the referendum. Only 70,000 people have apparently qualified for an increase so far.  The gap between rich and poor is immense.

I notice 'electricity workers' have been added. As electricity generation is a government monopoly this is a blatant attempt to add another group of loyalists to the Regime.

19 hours ago, johng said:

From the "informational"  booklet that was sent to every household.

This clearly states that thumbprints are required to be affixed on the actual ballot paper, meaning that the referendum is not a secret ballot and therefore stands outside what most of us would describe as a democratic process.