CMTourist

I personally would never buy a 600k car 2nd hand for 540k.

Me either, but that's the price here. People pay it. There have been many threads on why depreciation is so little. No real conclusion I think

This compulsion for car ownership in Thailand is crazy!

I was recently with a Thai lady in Rangsit and she said she had to go to the bank to pay her brothers monthly car payment on his pickup truck. He works as a sales clerk at Homemart -no managerial position or anything-just a regular sales clerk. His monthly payment on his pickup is 9000 baht !! but he still has to pay for accommodation and food.

He has to pay this every month for six years. I was totally shocked to find someone in this position is paying such a high proportion of his monthly salary just to own a b***dy car.

I really don't know how they do it!

Ever since that incident I have been wondering if anyone has an idea of how much a person like that would earn in salary every month? Okay let's say he also get's some commission from selling items, surely it still wouldn't add to more than a few extra thousand?

I've had many Thai staff that I've known their salary obviously and could not fathom how they were driving the cars they were. I had a secretary on 16,000 driving a brand new Passatt as just one example.

I think its a combination of living at home with their parents and thus able to spend a very high proportion of their salary on car payments as they have no other bills and parents and family members kicking in to help with down payment or monthly payments.

I also knew some Western educated Thai men in their 50s and 60s who were well off and had good jobs and bought more cars than they could afford and ended up having them repossessed. (And one for the Thai bashers who think they're all in a conspiracy against foreigners, one of the men lost his car so he could keep making payments on a car he bought for a young Thai girl in the provinces who had him twisted round her little finger and was bleeding him dry. No fool like an old fool and shows its not just foreigners who end up being bankrupted by young women)

Most people have bought these cars on credit and they can't sell the car within 5 years.

This scheme is going to put many of those greedy car buyers into trouble.

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This concerns me too. That in less than a year a lot of people, possibkly hundreds of thousands, will be struggling with debt repayments, will be facing repossession and at the very least be looking at an "asset" that due to there being a huge number of similar cars of similar age, will be depreciating rapidly and easily in excess of the 100k they "saved" by buying it.

It only benefits the Japanese car companies so far as I can tell.

Mind you, the US did the same thing with its "Cash for Clunkers" programs, which also seemed to be a direct transfer of funds straight to Japanese car companies.

/quote]

I assume many will be able to pay longer than a year as that's the time they get the rebate which should give them a bit more time. After that who knows?

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I don't know about the US scheme but I'd guess it's like the UK one which gave financial help if an old vehicle (over 10 years in the UK) was taken off the road. This had the advantage of not increasing vehicle numbers. I'm pretty sure it helped the car manufacturers which aren't all Japanese but of course the main reason was to stop mass redundancies. This worked at the time but unfortunately because the general economy hasn't picked up we're back where we started.

/quote]

I wouldn't be too sure. I've noticed that many Thais are admirably optimistic that something will just turn up when next month's payment is due, rather than planning out whether they can make more than the down payment on a new purchase. This is not just a Thai trait, but is common in the West as well among those with a poor education in math.

Part of the rationale for the UK and US programs was that older cars are less fuel efficient than newer ones so reducing the age of the national fleet is good for the carbon balance. What they fail to mention is the energy cost and carbon release of manufacturing a new car is vastly larger than the benefits of a few miles per gallon. The cost of mining the iron, refining it to steel, drilling the oil, turning it into plastics, shipping materials, parts and finally the car back and forth around the world consumes so much energy that unless you intend to drive hundreds of thousands of miles a year, driving an older car is vastly more friendly for the environment than buying a new one.

In a year's time all these rebated cars will be causing gridlock in the second hand car yards along with loss of face!

I just wonder how many bought these cars on finance and once the 100k rebate runs out won't be able to make the payments

Most people have bought these cars on credit and they can't sell the car within 5 years.

This scheme is going to put many of those greedy car buyers into trouble.

This concerns me too. That in less than a year a lot of people, possibkly hundreds of thousands, will be struggling with debt repayments, will be facing repossession and at the very least be looking at an "asset" that due to there being a huge number of similar cars of similar age, will be depreciating rapidly and easily in excess of the 100k they "saved" by buying it.

It only benefits the Japanese car companies so far as I can tell.

Mind you, the US did the same thing with its "Cash for Clunkers" programs, which also seemed to be a direct transfer of funds straight to Japanese car companies.

As a fellow female expat I can relate to some of what you say, although thankfully much of it is not applicable to my company, nor most of those that other female expat friends work in.

To pick up on your specific points:

- I've not found networking to occur in girlie bars, etc. at MNC's or with large Thai/Asian companies. With clients it is centred round going for a nice meal, very occasionally a drink after (but never a girlie bar), or golf. And yes, this is where I feel somewhat left out as a significant amount of business and networking both with clients and internally happens on the golf course and the expat guys will go and play golf at the weekend with each other. It creates a bit of a barrier as you have this expat golfing management clique. That said I do not think it's too dissimilar to the West as a lot of business gets conducted on the golf course there too! The doing business in girlie bars, in my experience (and also that of my dad and uncle who do a lot of business in the Asia), seems to be limited to Thai based SMEs dealing with other SMEs or low level 'management' in a bigger corporation. It sounds like you have been unfortunate and ended up working with a bunch of folk that have been here too long and lost touch with reality, or they are working with clients/customers of a similarly low standing.

- The sexual harassment thing absolutely doesn't happen in my office, nor does talking badly about women, Thai, Asian, Western or otherwise. I work in a very male dominated profession and find Thailand quite refreshing. Whereas the gender balance in our London and NYC office is 25% female:75% male amongst professional staff here in BK (our Asian HQ) it's 80% female:20% male! I reiterate: you're working with a bunch of wanke_rs.

- The 'he'll leave you' comments and 'you won't last here'. Ignore them: sour grapes. The muppets spouting this nonsense were warped individuals before they even set foot in the Kingdom. The myths that perpetuate this nonsense arise from when folks mix in very narrow social circles and start to believe 'their world' to be the only reality. Thailand attracts a diverse range of people, alas the most vocal minority tends to be the elderly male keyboard warrior or sexpat. For everyone of them there are several more folks here in happy stable relationships leading very normal lives, often with families, and too busy getting on with life to feel the need to troll here or make insidious comments whilst out and about

My advice: if you're working for a MNC and have been transferred here then speak to your HR department from where you came and address the inconsistencies in global policy, but do so professionally. If you have an appraisal process then also use this to raise these issues in a constructive manner.

I hate to say it though but it sounds like you have ended up in a crappy workplace/company and if there is no recourse available from an overseas HQ then I would find something else: life is too short to deal with idiots like you describe when there are plenty of other opportunities around. And on the bright side it is still far easier for a professional expat woman to find work here than it is for a man as there are never any questions marks about what your real motivations are for being here and generally you're treated with a lot more respect.

As someone who has worked for a while in Thailand as well as in the US and UK I can agree that in Thailand I have found that the only networking that takes place in girlie bars is with foreign visitors who want to be taken out to experience the night life. The locals do not visit girlie bars and all socialising takes place in "respectable" establishments.

There is no more sexual discrimination here than I saw in the West. On the contrary, if you look at the number of women on Board positions in public companies it is far higher here in Thailand than in the US or UK. A fact many should look at before they put Thai women down or dismiss them as soft or submissive. (Or decry Thai men as sexist)

There is no more sexual harassment here than I saw in the West. Its not infrequent that someone is a dick, but there are as many here as there were in offices in the UK, and actually not many in either place and I've never seen the kind of behaviour, innapropriate touching etc., that is routinely trotted out as harassment, more like clumsy flirting. What I do find is that some Thai women, especially the young and attractive ones, will be very flirty and giggly until they realise it doesn't work on me, then they settle down.

To be frank, you sound like who is quick to find offense and wanting everything your own way. Throwing around loaded terms such as harrassment, discrimination, sexism, etc., I'd probably be wary of letting my guard down around you as well.

In any work environment you have to go along to get along to a large degree and the key skill of a leader/manager is getting people to follow you and agree with you. In the West you could use the enormous threat of crying sexism to get people to do what you want, you don't have that crutch here and now its time to find out whether you really are any good at working with people without that support or whether you actually don't have the skills.

he is in his 60's ? Eye problems and Balance,,,,,,,, classic symptoms of diabetics

Has he been tested ? many 1000's of people have it and until something happens have no idea....

If it is diabetics then not expensive to get medication, see a Dr, even 2 days in Hospital here on a drip and injections + medication after for a year would be a lot cheaper that a flight back to UK

Many Thai Pharmacies have a test kit, something like 30 baht will do a test,,,,,, you can go from there......... around where I live a number are run by Drs, or Sons, 2 that I know the Drs are retired and always somewhere within calling distance, one by a Drs wife, he the Dr is always there after 6 pm... = can get the correct medication without paying Hospitals...

Just an idea, maybe nothing like that but could be something simple and not expensive to fix here.

Edit: do a Google search.......... Balance + diabetics and a search........ Eyes + diabetics......

Yes I have diabetics and until I had the test some years ago, believe I was living with it for some years before the test.

Personnally I would consult with your medical collegue "CMtourist" he says its a simple imflamation of the brain which needs a "shot of steriods"...!!!...you both cant be right...

That's not what I said at all.

I believe its against forum policy to deliberately alter a poster's quote. Deliberately misquoting them in a misleading manner must be against that policy in spirit if not the letter.

What I actually said was, "Imagine if he has a simple inflamation in the brain . . ."

This is not a troll board. And this topic is a serious discussion on the options available to a real person in an awful situation. If you want to be inflammatory please do so elsewhere

its not the remaining rent that is the problem, it is i dont know where i can find another place to rent at reasonable rent like this (12000 bht p/m) everything is booked out because of peak season. and if i mentioned the word police to him that im sure would send him over the top. he is not going to work tonight even tho he does not realise i know he is back at the bar working. and he does see that i am online but does not know this site , he cant read very much english. and even if i did manage to escape it would mean i could never go to any boy bar here again as he has so many friends doing the same work in bars all over boyztown and jomtein, i dont know about sunee plaza ive never been there and it has never been mentioned all the time i have known this guy

Ahh, I didn't realise you needed a solution that allowed you to go look for another male prostitute to repeat the same mistake with.

Never seen, just have to check the individual airport Duty Free shops out.

Surprising found that just before Immigration when returning to BKK that one of the shops there had a sale on and the prices were a heck of a lot cheaper than Duty Free at CDG and also at SVO and DUS, so the wife just had to buy another "Longchamps" bag.

hahahaha..... My gf just had to have another Longchamp at the duty free in SIN last week.... It was on sale!!!!

I have also noticed duty free prices range from location to location but the airports are always cheaper than what you can buy on the plane from the DF magazines.

I find the opposite. Its almost always much cheaper on the plane. A recent example, one of those multiplug adaptors, 1790 in airport duty free, 1190 on the plane.

If someone is extorting money from you through threats of violence, tell the police. If you fear tellng them to move out because they may react with violence, tell the police. The police aren't as bad as many on this forum make out. They'll expect a little something for their trouble of course, but not much.

And if the extortioner is really making big and easy money in the bar he'll move back there rather than try and persist in what has become a difficult situation when they have an easier one available.

And another thing, this person hates you, so don't think for a second the relationship can be rekindled. Get it finished with as soon as possible

Thanks for the replies so far. To answer a couple of queries, he never served in the military. He is not yet of pensionable age. It's a bit alarming that he would still be fined for a visa overstay, and since he has no money, the alternative would be to stick him in the immigration jail. And there he'd stay.

It looks as if his best option is to lie low until the end. The thought of dumping him at the embassy gates did occur, but I reckon he'd be picked up by the BIB and finish up in the immigration lock-up.

If you left him the Embassy would suggest he goes to the IDC, so I would let him lie low till his time is up, or it will be a costly trip for his family and himself.

Only once you know what's wrong with him can you really make decisions or plans. Imagine if he has a simple inflamation in the brain and a cheap dose of steroid would make him completely healthy and it wasn't done to save a few hundred baht, or alternatively people stump up 100,000 Baht to send him to England only to find he has an untreatable tumor and dies a few weeks later on his own in a hostel

I had a Fortuner and Chevrolet pick up. The Chevrolet had really cheap materials that quickly degraded. Within 2 years it looked ten years old inside and out. Engine and mechanicals perfectly fine though.

The Fortuner looked as good at 4 years old as it did new and of course it had Toyota quality for the mechanicals.

The only negative with the Fortuner was that the huge cabin space was hard to cool with aircon.

When I sold the Fortuner it was snapped up straight away. Incredible interest. The Chevvy pick up there wasn't nearly the interest

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-popular-place-in-the-world-to-take-a-photo-with-instagram-2012-12?op=1

Amazing the top two are both in Thailand.

Maybe the tourist figures aren't inflated.

Or maybe Thais are the most prolific Instagram picture takers in the world by a huge margin!

Here's your dilema.

Both are aware, even if it isn't explicitly discussed, that this is, at least in the early stages, primarily a transactional relationship, and that he is the senior/ patron/ sponsor and she is the junior/ service provider.

Having bought a 'service' you set parrameters for the extent of the 'relationship' but accept that the 'relationship' will change.

You bought a physical transaction but know that you will wind up with an emotional relationship.

Hence my suggestion at above that you revisit the ethical questions surrounding the initial transaction.

Very good point.

The OP is predicting an emotional relationship but is attempting to control the ramifications of that by establishing rules based on a physical relatioship only. In effect he wants the benefits of a genuine relationship while still having the freedom and fliexibility of a purely physical one.

He isn't the first guy in history who's wanted this and the ethical aspects (at least from a woman's point of view) are pretty well decided.

After readying the first post my first question is whether ethics dictate that the OP pays for the girl to have a lawyer to ensure she understands all the terms and conditions of entering a relationship with the OP?

The second is whether you are absolutely nuts or have simply never been with a woman of any nationality? You can set whatever rules you want and she'll agree with them right up to the point that she doesn't any more. Then she'll ignore them and you'll be the bad guy if you try to get her to follow them.

How can it have been vacant years if its a new development or opening soon?

I don't understand. I already have 3G and even HSPA on my phone. What is this they're introducing now?

My suspicion is that its just like labor shortages in the West that supposedly require the importation of labor, the shortage is one of people willing to do the work at the wages the owners want to pay to maintain their profit margins.

Countries that have high levels of immigration also have corporate profits as a percentage of GDP at record high levels and salaries at a record low percentage

I drink on average once a week. "First drink of the day"!?!?!

If you're drinking every single day don't you feel you have a problem?

I personally can't drink more than once a week or I start to feel unhealthy. I can't imagine how run down your body must be adding alcohol to it every single day and not allowing it any time to recover

So two very drunk men in a car managed to escape from the police (many on motorbikes) in an urban area? Only in a movie or Thailand can that happen

Fantastic effort, I'm so lazy I would have paid them to do it so champion effort.

First of all i'd like to say, well done to the OP.

The problem is, if you pay them, they would expect payment everytime. When no payment came, they wouldn't do it anymore. Then your back to square one.

Or they'd deliberately make a mess just to be able to make more money to clean it up!

Is it true that most of the well paid expat jobs have gone? I would have thought that would have happened after 1998 rather than 2008 as Thailand weathered the global financial crisis reasonably well, so companies should have kept their operations up in one of the few strong markets.

Although I hadn't been to Soi 33 for years and took a trip recently and its a pathetic shadow of its former self. What a shame. It made a nice change to have a polite, nicely dressed girl pour your drink rather than some tatooed foul mouthed drunken pro demand one

Working remotely online means the chances of you being caught are zero.

The people who get in to trouble are working in public without a work permit such as in a restaurant or bar.

The issue is going to be renewing the visa after a couple of years as you'll have to stay on tourist visas.

(BTW everything here is not legal advice but merely my own poorly informed opinion)

Biggest mistake I ever made introducing my ex to lamb.

First time I bought it and she cooked it for me she brought the plate through with her face all screwed up at how much it stank and then she watched me it with the same look of disgust and disbelief we have when we first see the Thais eat insects.

I was making ecstatic yum yum noises as I ate it and she looked at me like a dog eating its poop.

Then I made the mistake of forcing her to try a bit.

BIG MISTAKE!

She loved it! She wanted it at every meal after that. My grocery bills tripled as she bought lamb every time. Every restaurant we went to she wanted the lamb, which was usually the most expensive thing on the menu.

So let your Thai GF wallow in ignorance as to how wonderful lamb is. Your bank account will thank you!

My ex took a bunch of pictures, including a plate from DreamWorld where they take a picture of you when you come in and then put it on a plate and sell the plate to you when you leave. The plate showed both of us walking together and it had a year baked in to the plate a few years before she applied.

She said they laughed at her when she showed it to them. But they didn't ask to see any more pictures!

So DreamWorld souvenir photo plates seem to be good evidence of a relationship!