palm

agree with the above, would be a massive shame for you to leave Irene......

Your advice here is invaluable, and has helped make this part of the board one of the better places to find advice on matters such as these.

Yes, stay Irene. You are a refreshing change from all the plebs and hard-done-bys who post their moaning 'life's not fair' messages. They are just jealous of your success.

ONE-LEGGED FINN FATALLY STABBED ....................

............................. evidence included a one-foot long knife,

not wishing to make light of this horrible murder , but couldnt help noticing the irony of a one legged man being killed with a one foot knife.

Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.

Enough to make one hopping mad.

I got all excited there for a minute that something really useful to condo co-owners had been done - e.g: Educating Condo Juristic Persons, managements, and condo committees, that Section 43 means that quorum at a General Meeting is one third of the total eligible to vote and that if a quorum is not present that it is not a legitimate meeting.

That's correct and always has been so.......but a meeting can be reconvened after 15 days and those co-owners attending the reconvened meeting, irrespective of the number, will constitute a quorum

What if only one co-owner turns up for the reconvened meeting?

Your comment about reconvened meeting after 15 days applies ONLY to Section 48 of the Act and the resolutions mentioned therein.

A General Meeting must be attended by 1/3 of the votes to be a meeting at which legitimate business can take place.

The main problem with all of this is that, as you might expect, is that 'anything-goes' until someone decides to actually litigate. I know of several so-called committee members who did not know there was even a Condominium Act in the first place to abide by; not to mention some were not legally able to be on a juristic committee on the first place. This is a common situation in my experience worldwide, not just Thailand.

It would be great to get an update of the Act, that actually spelt-out, in plain English, all of the sections that are contentious, such as the voting rights and procedures etc and helped clarify the rights of 'co-owners'. I am sure that would be of great help to many condo owners. The Act as it stands does appear to be quite reasonable in offering legal protection for co-owners rights.

Actually my last post was a little incorrect when I said that the other benefits are a bit crappy, I don't play golf and I don't want to score points by eating in 6 star hotels that I cant afford, but another benefit of the card is the REAL member services. You are in a foreign country in a foreign land and sometimes you want to buy a car or get insurance or open a bank account or just need help to do something, That's when their member services comes to hand. As a member you can call them 24/7 and they will help you from the simplest things like changing a bank account to getting a Thai drivers license and that's all for your one off fee for your membership. You also get free medical check ups and 2 Million Baht house insurance and just lots of other things that people on here don't even know about.

Ah well, Again, That's my opinion from a real member and not something that I thought about in a bar.

Hopefully some people will find my comments of use to them.

I dropped by the Elite office on North Sathorn Rd a couple of days ago and met two reps from the company.

They were extremely polite and helpful, and clarified the following points to me:

- the membership is indeed lifetime. So in my case, that could mean another 50+ years. They did explain the benefit to Thailand of having members is considerable because of the spend many of those members inject into the economy. So the actual profit from the card itself is not the only factor for the existence of the service. She explained many members invest hundreds of millions into Thailand and the Elite card is there as a service to make them feel more comfortable living in Thailand.

- you do need to go to an immigration station to report every 90 days, but that is very quick and easy as I've experience anyway. There is no requirement to leave the country at all, ever.

- I asked her about lots of gossip about the card being canceled in the future, and she remarked what possible benefit would be that to the Govt? Not to mention the severe legal trouble it would start from high net worth investors, etc etc.

It seems Elite should post some more detailed facts on the Visa it offers on their site, so its very clear what the Visa actually is? A true 'lifetime', multi-entry Visa with no requirement to leave the country by a specific date, seems a good deal for 1.5mb to me in my own personal circumstances.

My son is Thai so now I want to spend most of my time in Thailand.

So can't you get a visa based on Marriage?

Or a visa based on being the parent of a Thai dependent?

I am not married, and no intention to.

I think you have to be over 50yrs old to use the Thai-dependent option, but wouldn't I HAVE to fly the the UK every year to renew the non-O visa? That's a yearly 100,000 baht cost just for a single business class ticket. What's the cost of a business class air ticket to Europe going to be in 10 years time? 250,000 baht? Then there are hotels, care hire etc to arrange to go and visit some backwater provincial town in the UK. Life is too short

I looked into the Elite thing more, and realised the one-off fee is a "lifetime membership" - so for me to reach the retirement visa age of 50, that's 13 years of membership for just 1.5mb baht. Or possibly 30 or 40 years of no visa hassles. Giving complete freedom to move in and out of Thailand at anytime.

I don't see air fares dropping anytime soon, so in 5 years, or 10 years time, the purchase of the Elite card could have been even more of a bargain - (that is of course if the service still exists). However with all of the government fighting, the coup etc, the card is still operating. Plus the list of other benefits on their web site is actually quite extensive.

The Elite card is clearly not designed for every foreigner; it seems to be designed for people who could do with the luxury of non-hassle it provides for living in Thailand. Its good to see comments from people who actually own the card about their good experiences in having one.

Currently, I have the Investment Visa, but that is not renewable (if you don't renew it or forget to have a valid multi-entry stamp when returning to Thailand); so for non-married people under 50, there are few options left.

This has to be the cheesiest thread on ThaiVisa for some time.

It sure would be nice to have more cheese-choice than I can find in Villa, so if there is a company who can supply, please let us know.

A guy that I know that has an Elite Card tells me he dosn't have to do the 90 day reporting, he just calls up Thailand Elite and they come collect his passport and do it all for him.

Now if that's the case, the Elite card seems an even better deal for hassle-free long term stay in Thailand for anyone under 50yrs.

Also, not having to go to 'Hull' in England is surely worth the 1.5m baht price alone

Palm I am bewildered why you consider 1.5 million for TE to represent a " better deal " ?

For example I have and APEC Travel Card which covers 17 other economies at a cost of only $160 for three years !

Ok admittedly we don't have our own immigration desk at the airport but we can still use the diplomatic channel

in most of these other 17 countries. Anywhere in the USA we can now use the flight crew channel

to get through immigration quickly.

But one of the best parts is you can obtain this three-year visa without needing to have any contact

with the Thai authorities personally. I simply applied to the Australian government and presto

I have all these privileges throughout the Asia-Pacific region and APEC now is far more

reliable and risk-free organisation than Thailand Elite at a fraction of the cost!

Why I regard TE as poor value is because it's restricted to 1 country only. We can also save a fortune

in Visa fees ( and avoid the bureaucracy of visa applications ) in countries like PR of China and Vietnam.

All the other so-called benefits of TE look to me to be not worth the money and anyway

there is no guarantee the TE organisation can continue to survive indefinitely.

Yes, but don't you have to be born in an APEC country to get this option? I hold dual passports, Belize (British Honduras where I was born) and a British passport.

If the APEC card means you must leave the country every 90 days, then that's a hassle I would rather do without.

My son is Thai so now I want to spend most of my time in Thailand. I don't spend more than two weeks in other Asian countries but I am regularly in HK and Singapore. I have a few properties here now worth around 35m baht (none rented or bought as 'investments') , so 1.5m baht seems like a small amount for the Elite card and the Visa it provides?

As this is ThaiVisa, it sure would be great to find somewhere on this site with some hard facts and side-by-side comparisons of all these 'exotic' Visa options such as Elite, Apec and BOI schemes.

Is there a web site for this APEC Travel Card? Can holders of UK passports get one?

A guy that I know that has an Elite Card tells me he dosn't have to do the 90 day reporting, he just calls up Thailand Elite and they come collect his passport and do it all for him.

Now if that's the case, the Elite card seems an even better deal for hassle-free long term stay in Thailand for anyone under 50yrs.

Also, not having to go to 'Hull' in England is surely worth the 1.5m baht price alone

I see a few references to an Investors Visa via BOI with a THB10 million investment in government bonds or bank. Is this still an option?

If not, how do "retired" guys with no pension under 50 with plenty of available cash married to Thais get a visa long term?

Have you tried the Thai Elite card? Gives you a 5 year renewable visa. http://www.thailandelite.com/ - it has lots of detractors from people who can't afford it, but at 1.5m its still fairly good value IMHO.

The 3m baht Investment Visa was canceled in late 2006, and I believe the 10m baht option was too? I am not 100% sure about that though.

No palm i feel the need to correct you ! I am sure there are many people out there

who can afford ot just as much as you ! But in my case i made my money by making shrewd business

decision ( maybe you just inherited yours ? ! so you need to think ! )

The Elite card is not for those who are shrewd in buisness because it simply doesnt make for

cost effective solution......................

Again 1.5m baht is not a lot to ask to get a renewable 5 year visa. For people like me who are under 50, and not married, the Elite card is a relatively painless way to be assured of staying 'long-term' in Thailand.

I make my own money, and would not be concerned about saving a couple of weeks of income in return for a 5 year Visa; if there are problems in the future with my Investment Visa not being renewed, the Elite card is what I'd buy.

Heard some disturbing news regarding a traffic accident, involving the owner of La Opera.

Any info appreciated.

Apparently he was in a fatal motorcycle crash on Sukhumvit last week. I was told he was riding quite fast when someone ran out across the main road, and he swerved to miss them and slammed into one of the BTS pillars. I think his gf was on the back but I can't remember all the details.

My friend who knew him quite well told me this weekend.

"The new Book Lounge @Amarin is a great example of our new lifestyle-oriented approach," Mr Rungyos said. "We want to develop a traditional English library with a lifestyle-theme bookstore to become the third place for customers after their house and office."

Where do they find these marketing plebs? Amarin Plaza is a ghost-mall, despite being in a great location near Gaysorn and the Hyatt Erawan.

Any new big bookstore in Bangkok is welcome, especially if it sells a different range of books than I can find at Kino. in Paragon.

I was recently back home in the UK and discovered just how much I miss a good Indian Ruby Murry on a weekend.

I have tried 3 or 4 in bangkok and found nothing worth eating. The best of the bad bunch was Mrs Bilbars.

So if any Brits can reccomend a curry house, I'll let you crack your finger through the middle of the popadoms.

Try The Face on Soi 38. The quality of their Indian food there is superb recently, as is the house it sits in.

Bawarchi (sp?) in Suk. soi 11 is also quite good. They are next to Villa Market.

Where I live the father of one of the owners appears to run the Committee. He is non-resident, not an owner, and is not eligible in any legal capacity e.g. Site Manager. for a few of us residents he is a pain, but the Thai residents are too Kreng Jai to oppose him.

1. Does he have the right to serve on the Committee purely as a representative of his son?

2. Does his role, if legal, remove all voting (and probably other) rights from his son?

BTW, this guy is well connected and his son is 50 years old.

Thanks...

The Condominium Act specifically does NOT allow this. We had the same problem recently with someone on the committee who was not legally allowed to be on it. It was very quickly sorted out with the threat of legal action against the entire committee for breaking the law. You will find all sorts of fun and games going on with these committees, many of whom have zero management experience, and many don't even know a Condominium Act law exists.

Only the owner or the spouse of the condo owner can be on the committee (i.e. their name on the chanoot). A proxy cannot be used by a relative. Go see a lawyer for confirmation, or get hold of a book that lists the Act in Thai and English. I saw one in the bookstore recently that was more of a rant by a pissed-off owner living in Pattaya; funny and covering law at the same time which is quite a rarity.

The only case a proxy can be used is for normal voting at AGMs and EGMs etc.

Hope this helps.

I see a few references to an Investors Visa via BOI with a THB10 million investment in government bonds or bank. Is this still an option?

If not, how do "retired" guys with no pension under 50 with plenty of available cash married to Thais get a visa long term?

Have you tried the Thai Elite card? Gives you a 5 year renewable visa. http://www.thailandelite.com/ - it has lots of detractors from people who can't afford it, but at 1.5m its still fairly good value IMHO.

The 3m baht Investment Visa was canceled in late 2006, and I believe the 10m baht option was too? I am not 100% sure about that though.

Another reason not to be legally married.

Amen to that!

Sorry, but that "debacle" has everything to do with politics (with a high dose of How long it takes will be the $64,000 question...

At this rate, the USA may start changing the phrase to the $30,000 question.

I'd like to hear more from the posters on ThaiVisa who said the dollar would now be near 40 or even 50 baht to the dollar.

ALL FARANGS PLEASE READ!!

I'm an American who has read and heard about the Thai girls and to not buy anything unless consulting a lawyer and wait a while first, like a year or more. Well I took a girl out of the bar.....

Sheeeesh, not another one.

With a condo you are stuck with whatever the majority of owners decide to do....this could easily be swayed by one rich person owning a large number of units....

If you read The Condominium Act Law of Thailand, you will see that this is simply not true. There are strict limits on voting rights in such situations.

Rule number one NEVER BUY A HOUSE IN SOMBODY'S NAME IN THAILAND.

It sounds like loosing a single house in Thailand would be a financial disaster for you? Are your finances really that low?

Excellent posts so far! Would appreciate above posters comments on a theory that I have hatched up regarding a weak dollar policy coupled with, as one poster said, a "wink and a nod".

Assume that non-U.S. governments would very much like to help the U.S. in the war on terror but cannot due it publicly for political reasons. What better way to help than to allow a weak dollar to exists without retaliatory policies. When the G7-8 meet, I have wondered if they don't do a lot of "winking and nodding" and agree "under the table" to help the U.S. financially by allowing a U.S. cheap export policy to exist without taking aggressive policies against that phenomenon, in other words "take it on the chin" currency wise, thus helping the U.S. financially.

Am I loony on this?

Have you thought about sending her by sea freight?

This from another thread but I have seen the same Windows message myself.

"Hopefully nobody can get into my computer now that wireless is secured - though sometimes when I am closing down I get the message that other people are using. Please tell me not possible?"

If your Router can also secure using MAC filtering - a very good security method.

http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wireles.../macaddress.htm

My experience in plumbing has been with systems that connected to the municipal sewer lines only, so I'm a rookie when it comes to septic systems. The house I’m building has septic tanks for toilet waste lines only, and gray water drain systems with soak outs for everything else. The kitchen one also has a grease trap. The contractor is just starting the plumbing, and I noticed that the floor drains don’t have traps. Are traps unnecessary in a gray water system?

Thai plumbers I've met here call U-bends a 'phee-tap'. Definitely worth installing on any waste water pipe to avoid bad smells.

Hi Irene

Enjoyed reading your post. I like your frank and sensible explanation, especially concerning investing in the USA where one can be bitten/beaten too. You are an astute investor who puts her/his money where the mouth is. Thanks.

Hi ya5702,

Thank you for the kind words. You don't know what it means to me in this sea of cynics. I sometimes doubt my thought as well.

Irene, you are doing very well here.

The cynics can't even afford to buy even one condo here, let alone multiples like you. Hence their bitterness.

Yes I am sick of hearing about Sunrise Tacos too - having read all these glowing reports a while back I suggested a visit there to a Thai ladyfriend in the knowledge that she really likes Mexican food . The net result was she refused to enter the place and I am now referred to as a Cheap Charlie !

Cheers BB

One idea would be to take her to our upscale places at the Emporium on the fifth floor or at the Siam Paragon on the ground floor. ( Opening on the 28th of Jan.) Plenty of Hi- So Thais eating our tacos at the Emporium. We have on average over 150 Thais eating on a Sat or Sunday at the Emporium location.

www.sunrisetacos.com

Blimey, at this rate your tacos may get to be featured on the cover of Tatler!

I am sure your tacos are the most delicious in Bangkok and all the others are rancid.

It is always nice to hear of foreigners doing well in Thailand. Congratulations!

To boost promotion further, have you considered renaming ThaiVisa to ThaiTaco?