AngryParent

No. Everything is good! Thailand good, the people good, we love farang, we don't like to murder farang, come buy land it is OK, you can become Thai citizen and live here easy, we are not racist, we are not xenophobic. No corruption, no crime, your money is safe here, we follow human rights law.

See all good!

Just like the above, I have heard lot's of hot air before.

Hitler salute? Who is claiming this? Even my Thai wife said that he is motioning to speak or wishes to keep speaking, because they shut-off his mic.; trying to incite something here?...

Did you hear him shout at 3:08 heil hitler a number of times (watch the video link with the story)?

I think it would be a huge culture shock.

As some have already said English language skills to communicate, OH&S requirements in the Australian workforce. Add the fact that a lot of the jobs are in remote places with no Thai soap operas on TV, and few Thai food options.

Yes! No som tam and cannot drive like a lunatic. They will return home in a week.

Hope they have to do 90 day reporting in Aussie.

On a serioous note, the Aussies must be desperate, there are NO standards in this country. Thousands will die in Australia from collapsing buildings, bad electrical installation etc.

Funny thing is Pattaya always gets bashed, yet its jammed packed every weekend.

Pattaya in fact does have more to offer if one bothers to look.

Of course if you travel here and stay near Walking St or Soi Buakhao, all you see is the red light district, HOWEVER

Pattaya DOES have everything for everyone, just need to open your eyes and move away from the certain areas

"everything for everyone"??????????????????????????

Does it have an opera house or a symphony orchestra?

(Mind you, in fairness, you could ask that question of the whole of Thailand. And, btw, how come Japan, Korea and China manage to supply some of the best classical (western) musicians in the whole world, while Thailand has scarcely even heard of Beethoven (or Hitler for that matter)?

No, they have heard of Hitler. Many school children like to dress up like nazis and they have his image around on sports days etc in schools.

Their racism and xenophobia is based on their past "colonization" by the Axis.

The Miracle Year of Amazing Thailand is a year long tourism campaign focusing on the tradition, culture and unique aspects of Thailand and ‘Thainess'.

Thainess?

"Me wan Dolla"

"Me wan Dolla" + "Me no like farang"

Isn't it more important to recognised as the parent of the child then the husband of the Thai woman?

If one is married at the time of the birth the husband is recognized as the father. To go backwards and try and be recognized after the birth is complicated and invlolves legal action.

Aren't many solutions and plans in this country along the lines of: smile, then say Mai Penrai when ?

"If the Thai government does not solve the problem to our satisfaction, we will sue it according to international law," the statement said.

Good luck! The hub of darkness is good at not following international law.

Mmmm good point, I'm intending to get dual nationality by registering the birth at the UK embassey, not sure how that will affect things in the future!!

Dual nationality is 100% certain as it will be the child of a Thai (irrespective of birth in the UK or Thailand). Just bear in mind my last post as there are 2 kinds of UK citizenships. For Thailand make sure you are MARRIED before birth.

All I will say is that for your child's sake, if he/she is not born in the UK, providing you are a UK citizen by birth/naturalization ("otherwise than by descent"), your child will automatically be a UK citizen too if born outside the UK.

However, if not born in the UK, he/she will not be able to automatically pass on citizenship to his/her child in 20+ years. This is something that needs to be seriously considered.

Do pay attention to the housing requirement. That is a big stumbling block for me right now.

No pre-arranged house, that meets all the UKBA specifications, will result in no visa and a loss of 40,000 Baht.

Apols to all.

#2 - In addition to above, as an expat living in Thailand with a Thai wife, life is a whole lot more complicated. Here are some among many of the other things to think of:

7) Look after your wife. Consider your wife's ability to manage money when you're dead. You might be comfortable with your investment portfolio and understand it all. Would your wife? In addition you're probably sensible enough to manage pressures and demands on you for cash from others. With you not around your wife could be financially vulnerable. Sure $600k sounds a nice pot particularly for many Thais in Thailand, and Chiang Mai isn't expensive. Even if she takes say $20k a year that's 30 years regardless of growth and sounds easy. There's a hell of a lot of things that could go wrong, eg: That could well be like winning the lottery for someone with no idea on money (many lottery winners end up bankrupt); being encouraged by financial advisors to do the wrong thing, family and friends suddenly popping up and being too kind-hearted to say no, fraud, financial crisis, marrying again to someone who p###es it away and so on. Suggestion 7 in my view: Buy an annuity with part of your money, for a minimum amount she would need to get buy. That's guaranteed income for life, no-one else can touch the source/capital on it no matter what happens as it's already been exchanged for an income flow. BTW I assume you've also made sure she always has a roof. So whatever happens to the rest of your portfolio she has a roof over her head and some money coming in.

8) Foreign currency risk. You don't seem to have considered this above. 7% return sounds OK (6% more realistic), but 7% on what? If your AUD and western currencies depreciate over the decades that could be 7% return on not very much. Sure it could go in your favour, but you should plan for the worst. I've watched posters give advice of saying GBP 150k yielding 7% cash is enough to retire on. Then the 7% return falls and their currency is also worth half or 2/3 of what it was, plus cost of living has gone up. Ignore the people who chant the mantra of don't invest in Thailand. Build some Thai assets. That's assuming you're living here. If you're a western pensioner in the west, fine, but in Thailand what counts is your worth in THB. Suggestion 8: think about investing some of your money in equity funds into Thai equity funds in Thailand. Another option is a Thailand country funds held overseas.

9) Living funds and liquidity. As in the above post. Hold some money in cash. Suggestion 9: For me as I'm in Thailand I hold about 3 years THB cash, plus other currency cash + Thai bonds on top. That way I can ride out any financial crises in the investment markets and am not worrying about exchange rates. Part of that cash can alos fit nicely with the fact you have to keep THB 400k or 800k in an account for Visa requirements anyway

10) Don't underestimate the psychological side to living off investments. Your investment portfolio is not risk free. No-one's is. You don't want to be worrying about money and watching it all the time. Suggestions 10: Before you take the plunge "stress test" your scenarios by saying what happens if? eg stock-market drops, you become disabled, unable to do that extra work, returns available move etc. Look for your weak points and have an action plan. Also if you're worried you don't have enough then there's a good chance you don't and should leave it a few more years and work a bit longer. Even if you do end up having enough, having enough and worrying isn't a great combination. Also find yourself a good hobby to give yourself something else to think about

11) Make a will and get your wife to make one at the same time. Are you aware for example that if she dies if before you, there's no will a hefty chunk goes to parents or children or brothers and sisters all the way thru to more distant relatives just so you don't get 100%. Ball park think 50% but check it out, and be particularly careful if the place you live is in her name as this forms part of her estate assets

12) Tip No.12: Consider a Vasectomy Kids are f****g expensive in Thailand Best investment you could ever make and covers a lot of unforeseen surprises. Cost about THB 15,000 at Bumrungrad's finest, and pays for itself at least 20 times over a year if you're putting a kid thru international school. So 1st year ROI over 2,000% and payback period less than a month - you can't get better than that for purely financial investments.

Then again life is about much more than money, and Thailand is a good place to realise that. You can cut your cloth according to your measure, and kids are definitely worth cutting your cloth for if you decide not to cut your little best friend.

People + Happiness First. Money Second...

Cheers

Fletch

Reasonably good advice from the socio-cultural side. And given free!

Everything is easy if you are willing to pay a price. In this case you will probably lose 1-2% of every transaction in transfer fees and a bit more in exchange rates.

You send 100,000 expect to lose 2-5,000 Baht.

Naam,

Your strategies are above my current level of investing expertise - but I will keep trying to learn how to get more out of my money.

I know you don't have a crystal ball - but do you think that 50% global bond / 50% emerging market shares can realistcally return 7% or more in the coming 3 to 5 years?

This is the optimal retirement mix for conservative types from what I read.

You want to spend 4% of your savings per year till you are 65 i.e 10 years. Why don't you just play safe and put it in a bank with 2-4% i.e. limited loss per year from grand sum (ignoring inflation)? I do realize that this will not wet the appatite of many, but, hey all your other options have inherent EXTREAM risks that could end with you losing 100% of your capital.

......as spoken by perhaps the most disgruntled member of Thai Visa.

YAWN! I don't want to hurt your ego, but, your pathetic stalking of my posts is an indication of ____.

Get over it, even you know the dark side of the land of your citizenship.

Reality check?

Well, ignoring the fiscal viability of your plan, I think a loose attitude will be a bit more dangerous.

Do watch your figures in public. And figures are not the same as a lady's.

Stated with all the best.

What?????

If you state who you are, where you are and what you have in this small place called Thailand (and a forum), then quite simply the asset plans have limited value in a land of sharks. Just a reality check from another perspective.

A picture and this says it all.

Yingluck also thanked the Japanese government for its pledge for six billion yen (Bt2.26 billion) over a three-year period beginning next year.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said yesterday that Japan would provide five Asian countries in the Mekong sub-region with 600 billion yen in official development assistance over the next three years to help build up infrastructure.

So, 1% of the of the 600 given to Thailand. These Japanese really know how to say it directly to one's face!

Reality check?

Well, ignoring the fiscal viability of your plan, I think a loose attitude will be a bit more dangerous.

Do watch your figures in public. And figures are not the same as a lady's.

Stated with all the best.

Charter change debate takes on an eerie calm

I sure do like the calm side of this, means I don't have to read too much "nonsense"!

Also, Thai workers were assumed to be bad guys by society despite the fact that they had nothing to do with the separatist movements," he said.

Thais viewed as bad guys in ASEAN?

In a case where land was illegally acquired and sold to foreigners,

I was wondering where the rabid, racist and xenophobic mob were.

The news on here is almost predictable. Out of any 7 days: 2 days kill/expel/confiscate/steal anything to do with foreigners, 4 days complete BS conflicting political "news", 1 day news that has no relevance to anything (even the gutter press in Zimbabwe would not consider it news worthy) and then somewhere in those 7 days, one or two OK stories.

320 in 7 days. That is a lot. Even 1 is too much.

This has been going on for years. How many deaths does it take to change a fxxxx system?

I guess all the BS about how there will be prohibition on drinks and driving was just such; a photo shoot for the top of the elite.

Never mind, relax, TI_AMAZING_T.

Not really a big deal with re-incarnation. You are trying to apply Western concepts to the East. What does death matter when you get an instant rebirth? Perhaps a better birth. This is probably whey they don't really care if they live or die and neither does the government. We can't tell them how to do things. We must respect their culture. Anything else is neo-colonialism. We must accept some cultures think life is incredibly important and for others its just another chance for re-birth. We in the West think their is only one life. This is why will never understand their perspective.

If I may, a logical concept, but fatally flawed

On a serious note, if such was the case, in terms of how deeply they believe in such, then the news would be written along the lines of another good brother has departed and has become the next great ____.

No, Thais, like all, value life and don't want to lose it. The problem is being part of a third world country they are a bit more reckless and suicidal as there is not much to go home to.