LozinLOS

Hi there,

does anyone know where I can purchase Organic Coconut Oil (the solid kind) or Coconut flour in Thailand.

I'm starting to eat Paleo and I find some good recipes online only to find I can't seem to find the ingredients here. I'd have thought coconut oil and flour would be easy to come by here but it seems not.

I recently purchased some coconut oil online from a health store in Thailand and it's fine but its the liquid kind and I really want the more solid type.

Also does anyone know if it's possible to send coconut oil/ flour by post from the UK? If so I may just ask someone to send it to me that way if I can't find any here.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I have the same problem....I love all the yummy thai food but it's not too good for my waistline.

I've found eating the following seems to stop me from gaining too much weight:

Breakfast: Porridge or Poached eggs on wholewheat toast

Lunch: Chicken or Tuna salad that I make at home, if I'm really rushed for time I have chicken noodle soup

Dinner: A Thai stir fry, like chicken w/ cashew nuts or chicken and ginger and I cook veggies at home to go with it rather than have white rice late in the evening

For snacks I have a protein shake twice a day. I try and avoid fruit as it's carb heavy and full of sugars which doesn't help if you want to lose weight.

A good place to buy whey protein powder online is phuket health shop - they have reasonable prices (well for Thailand, anyway), they have free delivery on all orders and they deliver quickly!

Thanks so much for the advice.

I've just emailed the consulate in Perth so fingers crossed they can help me :-)

Hi,

I've posted a few topics before asking for advice and got a some good advice so I'm hoping someone can help me with this...

I'm flying back to Thailand in just over 5 weeks to stay with my boyfriend and we are going to get married when I arrive back in Thailand. But, I need advice on which visa I should be applying for?

As I understand it, once we are married I can apply for an extension of stay based on marriage, however, I'm confused as to which visa I should have to get into Thailand as I've been given lots of different advice and need someone to help clear things up.

I'm British and I'm currently in Sydney working. I asked the Thai consulate in Perth for advice and they said I could get a Non Immigrant O visa as long as I had a letter from my boyfriend supporting my application and a copy of his ID Card. But the Thai consulate in Perth require you to stay overnight there to get the visa and my flights are already booked out of Sydney, so I contacted the consulate here and they have told me I can't apply for a non O visa unless I am already married? So they have told me I can get a tourist visa. Ideally I dont want to have to leave Thailand once I'm married to change my visa to a non o ( not sure if thats what you have to do?) so can I change my tourist visa to an extension of stay?? The consulate here aren't being very clear and are just replying to my emails with one word answers so I dont feel like I am getting anywhere!

I thought that I needed to be on a non immigrant visa to be able to change this to an extension of stay based on marriage and eventually to apply for a work permit as I will be helping my husband to be with his business.

Please if anyonce can clear up this confusion I'd be really grateful as I need to apply for this visa soon.Thanks!!

Well the business will be all in his name anyway as it's his, not mine, I'm not putting any money into it at all. He just wants me to help with it and he'll pay me - I just want to know if it's easier to get a WP once we're married or if it's just as difficult as it usually is

Please do not take this as being mean, but the type of shop business you describe is a on practically ever soi corner. It's going to be a tough haul, Before you take on a bar, please spend a lot of time observing and watching. Watch the peaks and ebbs of customers. Try and come up with a budget and business plan if you don't have one. There are multiple entries on the subject in the forums and I urge you to go and look around.

Fortunately, you won't be providing the seed money, but unless your husband to be has all of the money, he's going to have to borrow. Once the pressures of making the instalments, payroll and tax/bribes get rolling, your man is going to take on alot of stress and unfortunately, that stress can be a nightmare for the spouse. There may very well come a day when you will be expected to bail him out and love can make a person throw good money after bad. Whatever you do, make sure he understands that you cannot and will not invest until such time as the business turns a steady profit over a period of time, not just high season. If something goes bad, whatever money you have will be your life raft.

If I sound weighted to the doom and gloom, it's because for every internet shop and bar that makes a go of it, I reckon 9 fail. It can be awfully tough on a woman that's all alone, without her friends and support network. I don't know what your background is and whether or not your are fluent in Thai, but before you start a business you might want to spend more time on learning the language to keep from getting screwed and also for dealing with the various government departments love affair for paperwork.

Congratulations on the nuptials, and I wish you all the best, but always make sure you have emergency funds should the need arise.

Hey, you asked for advice.

Hi,

thanks for your advice...even though its not technically what I asked for.

I do understand it's not all going to be plain sailing, but I've made the choice to spend my life with my boyfriend in Thailand so I'm preparing myself for whatever it may throw at me.

I'm currently working in Australia so that I can save money, this money will be mine to fall back on if anything happens and I decide to leave Thailand - it won't be for my boyfriends business. I'm also learning Thai so that I have a better understanding of the language for when I return...I don't think it's right if you plan to settle in a country and not have any grasp of the language - which is my reason for learning.

He has been saving to start his own business and his parents are giving (and lending) him money to start the business up. Should he need to borrow any more money his family are more than willing to help me out if need be.

well, yeah u should ask in the visa section;

however, what i can say is good luck in getting your thai man willing to deal with beurocracy. what most of us women with thai partners have found out is that thai men for the most part dont seem to deal to well with beurocracy of any sort... also, they dont seem to beleive when u tell them about htese rules and regs... try to find the info in thai to show him (that system works well for me, that way its not me that made it up but gov't officials) and even then, depending on where your husband is from (educated or not, deep country or city)he will assume that it is a -they say that but dont mean it really - type thing... but since they dont read the forum here, they usually dont have a clue and depend on hearsay...

of course the farther away from city and officials the less problematic it is to 'work' but marriage doenst allow u to get a work permit , only a job gets u a work permit regardless of marital status... and somehow i dont think a internet cafe will make the amount that allows him to get u as a salaried employee.. but others have done it, rue fang , i think, (now back in oz/aussi or whichever, she recently re posted but i think she had some internet cafe thing, or maybe im mixing her up with some one else?);

im still trying to work out how i would live in thailand due to this very problem of legal employment (and i cannot teach english, and dairy chef and hotel reception and goat farming are not on the permitted visa list for foreigners; maybe an 'advisor' to a goat farm/hotel/something?....

regardless, good luck, and welcome to the forum

bina/anon

israel

Ha this made me laugh...this is exactly what my boyfriend is like - telling me that I don't need a work permit because I'll be his wife etc etc!! I understand most Thais don't know what is required - but then why would they? They are born in the country and don't really have many dealings with immigration etc! I'm slowly getting my boyfriend round to my way of thinking as he seems to think its all going to be simple...he's slowly starting to realise me working and living in Thailand is going to cause us lots iof headaches!

If he's a Thai citizen it would be much simpler to have the business in his name and maybe you not part of it at all officially to avoid needing to hire and needing a certain amount. I would never do this of course, I dont trust anyone, but this is your soon to be husband whom you love and trust completely so....

Well the business will be all in his name anyway as it's his, not mine, I'm not putting any money into it at all. He just wants me to help with it and he'll pay me - I just want to know if it's easier to get a WP once we're married or if it's just as difficult as it usually is

Hi,

I'm a British girl and I'm going to be marrying my Thai boyfriend later this year. I'm going to be coming to Thailand on a Non O visa which I will then change to a marriage visa extension once we're actually married.

He is going to be starting his own small business (Internet Cafe/ Travel bookings). Next year we hope to take on a lease on a beach bar/ restaurant. Ideally we'd like to run this together, which is where we seem to be having problems.

I understand I need a work permit but that I can only work for a company which already has a minimum of 4 Thai employees and 2 million baht capital - however his business isn't going to have that. I also know that certain jobs like Tourism and 'selling' jobs are restricted for foreigners. If we are married would that mean we could run the business together or does the marriage have nothing to do with it? He seems to think because I'm his wife I can work with him but I've tried telling him I don't think it's that simple - unfortunately!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...just not sure how we're going to make things work if I can't actually work in the country!

Thanks!

So, just thinking if we were to get married does that mean I could get a work permit and work with my boyfriend in his business - or would it still need to have 4 thai employees and 2 million baht capital before he can employ me?

I'm beginning to think this is going to be impossible.......

Thanks for your help!

So, looks like the best thing for me to do is get the Non Immigrant O Visa - just wondered though, is it possible to get a work permit whilst in Thailand on this visa or would I need to change my visa to a type 'B'? And if I do need to change it to a type 'B' would I need to leave Thailand to get it?

Also is there anywhere I can find a list of jobs that I would be entitled to do as a foreigner? As you say that I can't be a 'seller'??

And can anyone recommend a good lawyer I could use, preferably one thats not too expensive? I'm a backpacker and so haven't got access to lots of funds!

Hi there,

I would like some advice about getting a Thai non immigrant visa.

I'm a British citizen, currently in Sydney on a working holiday visa. I am planning on returning to Thailand in November.

My boyfriend is Thai and when I return he is starting a small business (Just an internet cafe also doing travel stuff like booking tickets) which we both hope to run together.

Previously, I have just traveled to Thailand on Tourist visas but understand I need a non immigrant visa and work permit to be able to work in Thailand. The problem is that because his business is going to be small (i.e just us two working there) then from what i have read it won't be recognised as a large enough business for him to be able to employ a foreigner? I've read on a few websites that the company needs to employ at least 4 or 7 Thai nationals...which obviously isn't something that he will be able to do.

His cousin however owns a diving resort and employs westerners and we were thinking of asking him to help us out and put me on his books so to speak, but after doing more research it would seem that if I'm not working at the same business as what is noted on my visa/work permit then I run the risk of being arrested/deported - obviously something I don't want to do. Also if I was able to get a non immigrant B visa, after they run out are they simple to renew for another year? Do you have to leave the country and apply all over again?

So we're a bit stuck and unsure what to do. My boyfriend has suggested that we get married and then I could apply for the non immigrant 'o' visa - I just wondered what the entitlements of that are? Am I automatically entitled to work in Thailand with that and how long does the visa last? Do you have to leave the country every year and apply for a new one? Also if I was to arrive in Thailand on a tourist visa and then get married is it possible to change the tourist visa into a marriage visa or do I have to leave the country again? It's all very confusing so any advice you have as to what would be the best thing to do, would be greatly appreciated.

I just don't really know where to start but ideally want to get it sorted out whilst I'm in Australia as from what I've heard its easier to get a visa here than it is in Asia?

Thanks!

Hi there,

I'm an English girl (well I'm 25, so not really a girl!) currently in KPN staying with my Thai boyfriend.

I'm interested in meeting up with some expats as am getting a bit lonely here and missing my friends from back home. I've been traveling for 9 months and am off to Australia next month then will be returning here more permanantly after that.

Would just really appreciate meeting some new people to meet up for chats and drinks?? My Thai language skills aren't very good at all and I'm trying to learn but would just be nice to meet up with some English speaking people. As KPN tends to have an influx of people just for FM its hard to make any real friends!

Hope to hear from some people soon!