patongphil

That is what my son was told prior to applying to the British Embassy , and when you look at the web site it's like a minefield . It's probably for ensuring he is legally entitled when the parents are not British citizens by birth, but when he applied he simply submitted the form as I said before and the citizenship was automatic and they issued the passport with no problems. The only difficulty was I (the grandfather ) had to apply for a copy of my birth certificate to prove my parents names, which wasn't really difficult just time consuming.

Anyway providing all papers are in order then he should have no trouble.

HL

Op is an Australian and as such has to go through the citizenship route first - believe me- been there done that.

My son got the grandson a British passport last year. Lots of worries about how to do and also costs and yet when it came to doing it, it was easy as pie. Literally just applying for a first passport with the application form and birth certificate and the mothers ok, etc.etc. but no problems whatsoever.

I imagine that so long as you are on the child's birth certificate as the father then OZ would be the same. As MeMock said get the OZ passport first because I think it will ask whether the child has any other passports to his name and it will be easier to just answer no rather than going into details about when and where's.

Then when you travel he leaves on his Thai passport and enters and leaves OZ on his OZ passport, no visa worries then.

HL

My daughter has both Thai and Aussie passports. We got the Thai passport first and the Aussie later. Thai passport is very easy. To get the Aussie passport you first have to go through the citizenship route which does require a visit to the Embassy.

Only advice I can give is avoid Phi Phi. This stunningly beautiful area is now inhabited by some of the lowest forms of human life imagineable.

I think if I told you 4 years ago not to move I would have been talking to a brick wall also.

I do not feel that I will be isolated as I said i have a group of young friends mid 20s same interests living an hours drive away, if and when I feel the need to socialize ill pop in the car. that's when the in-laws come in handy to babysit. its not like we are tied to the village if me want a holiday in Thailand no problem for a few weeks.

as well as being in the uk for a few months each year.

I do not plan to spend £65k no need to spend 1million on a car. and a modest clean house will do.

I to feel I am being sensible the house is for the family now and my child long term even if he/she wants to live or sell the land in the future after we are in the ground.

I have read all the comments and taken on board the many helpful posts, but a few my way or the highway post are not helpful to me as I was always moving to the village just wanted to here readers experiences.

I have to agree with Mat on this. Although some can make the change and live in a village most cannot. I am one of those who cannot. We have a house in the village which we visit for a few months every year and that is enough for us all. There are a few farangs aorund and about our area with fairly regular "meetings" in various places but all require a few miles on the bike or in car and with the beer, rural roads etc etc not too good an idea.

By the way I know Nong Song Hong a bit and it is defintely not a village, such as most posters here are referring to, but also a fair flog up to KKC or down to Korat to see friends.

There are quite a few westerners in Ban Phai who meet up twice a week but definitely not in your age group

Hub of Rubber Dubba Doo.

But.... but.... but there will be no floods so all is well.

golf sucks. a tepid "sport" for old farts who are past it.

matt - kudos on your decision to bring your kids to the UK. a difficult one but i think you've made the right decision. it grieves me to say but having been a teacher in thailand, the standard of education remains poor, even compared to cambodia, laos and vietnam. cheating and plagiarism are so rife, even at the highest level

. If they don't speak Thai they shouldn't been able to teach English.

what an utterly bizarre comment. well done, as you've just summed up in a nut shell why the standard of english is so poor in thailand. i've met countless Thai teachers who conduct their english classes mainly in thai. often their own english converational english is abysmal. i knew an american teacher who was fluent in thai are in order to show off would teach his "english" lesson mainly in thai. any school worth their salt would have a teaching assistant to translate when necessary.

I personally know Thai English teachers who cannot converse with me, just bits and pieces.

I personally know many native English speakers who cannot converse with me.

If you have retirement visa and stay in Thailand would you have departure card?

Apologize if i got this wrong and this is a stupid question.

Yes Jocko, the departure card is the one usually stapled in by immigration when they remove the entry card you have filled in.

On copies for 90 day in my experience it is not consistent, time before last at Phuket town office no copies required, last time at

Patong office no copies required, but sometimes in the last 6 years copies required and copies not required I don't offer them now

but that does not mean they will not ask. As for copies of passport I strike two lines through them and write copy before I sign them,

not entirely sure if this would stop any fraud from taking place but never had anyone in immigration object.

You strike 2 lines through them and write copy on the COPY of your passport - for what reason exactly?

If you have retirement visa and stay in Thailand would you have departure card?

Apologize if i got this wrong and this is a stupid question.

Yes and yes.

Hey you lot take a look at my boots - cool stuff hey.

The Taxi-Meter company price for a pre-booked taxi from the airport to Krabi Town or Ao Nang is 2,000 baht.

But if your hotel will do it for 2,500 baht, that sounds like a reasonable offer.

Simon

Ha Ha the family connection raises it's head again.

Malaria etc aren't a concern at all.

Motor vehicle accidents are a concern but they would be in NZ as well. Here more so, but definitely not enough to make me move.

Education is roughly equal, once you factor in home schooling/tutoring. One of my co-workers here helps his son with maths/science/English in addition to the school curriculum. I think he does an awesome job of it and hope that I'll likewise have the time to do the same with my kids, as I think it more than makes up for the deficiencies of the Thai education system.

Particularly as my father never had much time to spend with my brother and I when we were young, because he was always working. As a result I never really knew my father, he passed away when I when I was 8, many family friends etc see it as a result of stress/working too hard. I have always told myself that I'm not going to follow the same path, that I want to spend time with my children, as you never know how much time you have left.

I went to school with a lot of kids from Asian countries. Their parents primarily wanted them to have a western education to learn English (since their parents aren't native English speakers). These kids with their international schools and private tutors usually arrived at my school and blitz'd us in math/science, only their English let them down (and only for the first few years, then they beat us on that too). Deans honors was almost exclusively (maybe 80%) a list of Asian names, particularly when you consider only around 1/4 of the students at my school were Asian. The attitude towards hard work and study was simply ingrained in them from a young age, where studying, doing homework and having a tutor were all "normal", whereas kiwi kids worry about being called a geek or a nerd, since its not part of our culture to study that hard. As such, yes I think tutoring etc can make up for the failings of the Thai education system.

The OP is close enough to Khon Kaen to send their kids to better schools than I'll be able to, so he is fortunate and will be able to put his kids in a good position education wise.

Something surprised me about education comparisons between Thailand and the west. Met a couple the other day who had just returned from the

UK with a 9 year old daughter. Placed her here in a private school in Phuket and found she was way behind her peers who had only been schooled in Thailand.

The daughter by the way is in an EP class doing the standard Thai curriculum and is not in an international school.

You only hear rumours of the bad things about education standards here so good to actually hear something the other way for a change.

I have a great interest in all of this as we have a 2 year old and another on the way so read up and study all I can on the education options open to our family.

Good for you matt,while your in the uk raising your kids,i'll be here with mine.

Raising them in the bottom ranked in education of the 8 ASEAN countries.

Good call Jo, hope all that golf is worth it in the end.

There will be no mohammeds is my kids classes and no dole to prop them up when they fail.

Motorbike taxi operators???

Hey mister OP how many people have to tell you how many times that you will be wasting your time at any govt. offices.

The new, giant Tesco Lotus is going up fast in Chalong.

Anyone know when they will open for business?

I read somewhere that it was going to be early 2015, though the rate at which it's going up, that seems highly pessimistic.

Will put the big squeeze on Villa Mart once it ooens that is for sure.

It sounds as if you would be buying into an existing business rather than buying the business itself right?

In which case, specialist knowledge of the business itself is not essential, but you should "know" the present owner/manager and believe them to be straight and honest people (or at least know of no specific reason that they couldn't be trusted) plus you need to assure yourself of the legitimacy of any stated reason for the required investment (be it a need to take money out for personal use or to invest in something related to the business).

Then it comes down to common sense and the ability to do simple maths involving the following numbers.

1. The amount you need to invest

2. What that investment is secured upon (ie percent of "business" shares in a limited company etc)

3. What your expected returns are

4. What your recourse is if the expected returns don't materialise etc.

If you are satisfied that your return is reasonable and that the business can afford to pay you what it is supposed to pay you when it is supposed to pay you and most importantly you have a way to get your money out if it can't then it could be a goer but ALWAYS factor in that you could lose all of your investment due to an unforeseen reason, with any business anywhere but more so here.

Thanks for that. You are correct in that I am looking at buying into an existing business which is looking to raise some capital for an expansion.

All the numbers are fairly robust and I have been involved from the outside for a number of years.

I am only looking for advise on a basic tool to evaluate the actual worth of the company in order to assess the percentage I can expect for the baht invested.

I wonder how many of the posters in this thread are even remotley as successful in their businesses as the owner of WC.

The mind boggles - jet skis in the Similans wow.

Could this be the worlds biggest Choke coming up?

I have the oppurtunity to buy into a small business here in Thailand. It is a Day Care come Nursery school which has been operating for a number of years and shows strong profits.

What I need to know is how to put a value on such an enterprise?

Internet searches lead me to evaluate the "Goodwill" part at 3 times Weighted Annual Profit.

Then add this to the value of capital invested. to get the Full value.

Is this a real and acceptable way to evaluate the business?

A business generating a profit of 50,000 baht a month is fairly valued at 50,000 X 12X 3 equals 1.8 million in any REAL evaluation. If you can sell it for 12 million then do so and then run becaause the new owner will be after you big time.

Thanks much for those posts, OK so the Land Dept will give out this info, then ?

to further the question Do I go to the city hall, the District building or the Land Dept in Phuket town? The land area I want to inquire about is in a city.

.

Mate you will really be wasting your time trying to find out land sale prices from the land office. Everybody, and I mean everybody, grossly understates the sale values so as to reduce the tax payments.

You are only supposed to wear white if you are actively vegetarian at the time. And NO BOOM BOOM either.

From Kata towards Chalong about 20-30m before the circle on the right side (next to a green Pharmacy sign), the chicken rice.

Through the circle towards Phuket Town on Chaofa East, Hua Soi thai kitchen next to the Chalong poilce station.

A bit past the police station next to the purple Siam Commercial bank, the duck noodles.

Down the road past the yellow Ayuthaya bank next to gold shop (big red signs), the prawn/ pork noodles (Chinese-y style; full of Koreans).

Further down the road opposite the Flints-one bakery is the kanom jeen shop (their 'haw mok' to die for).

If you are on Chaofa West road, opposite the Honda showroom (where to road leads towards Kathu/ Wichit Police Station), there is a pork noodle/ rice shop; they serve satay as well.

I agree about the chicken rice shop just by the circle being tatsy but they really take the piss with their prices. Just todaythey tried to charge me 100 baht for a chicken and rice special plus a coke. Eventually paid them 70 baht and will not be back. Another case of farang pricing means they have lost a customer who was good for a few visits a week. Som Nom Na as far as I am concerned.

And this is the burning question: can we take frogs overseas?

Something I`ve always wanted to know, but were afraid to ask.

How do you think the French get home?