womble

Here's a clip of Roy Ayers at his best.........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJR6erZxsYY...ted&search=

Imagine having Roy Ayers live one day, then the next day for the younger crowd performing again with Guru. Two amazing shows and one hel_l of a lot cheaper than booking huge rock bands. Something like that would stand a chance of paying for itself

Like I said, I was in the tour business, met tourists everyday. They all had horror stories about the gangs of tourist cheats, lined up, telling them lies all day, cheating, scamming them from the minute they arrive till the moment they leave. Not an occasional tale of someone being cheated but a constand stream of people telling me about the scams they encounter.

They are at the Airport.

They are parked outside of EVERY hotel posing as Taxis driver. They are only there to scam. Legit drivers can't park there.

Swarms of these guys are surrounding the perimiter of every tourist spot trolling for a victim.

Do you think the TUK Tuk guys trolling Sukhumvit are there to give sightseeings rides? No. They are trolling for victims.

Smooth talking Con men at intersections striking up conversations.

I see it. Everybody knows it. It's everywhere.

The whole Country is practically in on it. Cheat the Farang is OK.

Thailand is getting a serious bad rap and the TAT does nothing but advertise for more schmucks to come to the Land of Smiling Ripoffs.

How about a warning or a move to clean up the scammers.

I see nothing done at all.

There was another thread not so laong ago, asking wether you would stop a farang from being ripped off by one of these conmen, and my great astonishment most of the morons on this board thought that it was completely Ok to rip off someone if they were gullible enough, and they wouldn't intervene even if it was OK to do so.

That's the calibre of person who posts here... no morals and no integrity.

You don't mess with someones rice bowl here in Thailand it's a dangerous game, and for that reason you wouldn't see me jump in to rescue a tourist paying 50 baht to much for a T shirt.

Gotta say Ian Brown would be amazing, he would do his solo stuff and loads of the old Stone Roses stuff.

How cool would it be to have him singing I Wanna Be Adored live in Samui.

Oh Yeah!!!

Tell you something aswell, he would be a lot cheaper than some of the other acts and better.

His music also appeals to loads of people young and old, there aint many that don't like stone Roses.

Imagine........

Stone Roses, Primal Scream and Happy Mondays, that would be off da hook!

I really think the three day option with different styles each day is worth some thought, it's a tried and tested formula, they use it at loads of festivals all over the world. I really think a week is so much work, and to do it properly the production costs a fortune.

Last time at lake view the production was spot on, world class infact, but you really don't need that much, it's overkill, huge expense for 7 days.

Trouble is the sponsors, they'll want you to do as many days as possible a week or more so they can get rid of as much stock as possble. To be honest though you don't have to listen to them unless they are giving proper $, which won't happen. They will not hand over $ to someone just like that, it takes months of negotiation and then they only wanna give u stock.

3 days is perfect, Fri/Sat/Sun. One headliner for each night, but they gotta have mass appeal, that doesn't mean they have to be cheesy though.

Morcheeba would be good one. And i'll tell you someone else who would be amazing and not that expensive (incomparison to other names you've mentioned) Roy Ayers................... He's one of those artists that appeals to the older crowd and the youngsters too. Just as happy at Montreal Jazz Festival as he is at Glastonbury.

You should do this party end Jan, Feb, maybe 3/4 days before or after full moon. That means start planning now for 2008. That means by summer you should have all your acts sorted and ready for advertising. Then you got a full six months to promote. If you don't promote properly you may aswell not bother. Loads of people mess up at the promotion stage, and it's crucial, poor promotion = poor turnout, simple as that. Time is the single most important factor here, you get it into peoples heads as early as possible and keep reminding them. As the time gets closer people will start to talk about it, and there comes the best possible form of advertising, word of mouth. You can't beat it.

I think i'll eigher opt for a pre nup.........

Or

A wedding Party with no official registration of the marriage.

All my investments are offshore, so I have no worries from the UK government making me hand those over.

A pre nup will protect me here, not something i'm excited about though, not exactly the sexiest thing to ask for before a wedding is it.

I am moving this to the Samui forum where you will probably get better advice.

I hope you have worked out the visa side of your lifestyle?

Thanks, we don't have enough in hear already.

Whilst I have a degree of sympathy for the deckhand, I would imagine though he still knows that any form of explosives are illegal, so he would still know they are up to know good, even if he doesn't perhaps know the ecological consequences of such short sighted and selfish actions.

Personally I think if every person who attempted to use explosives for fishing was blown up by their own actions, I think that'd be great, even better if they could suffer for a few hours or even days in extreme pain before they are finally extinguished.

What percentage of your portfolio is invested in Thailand?

Of my personal money in the market, 100%. Moved it in from NZ when the currency was a lot weaker than it is now. I have some in small biz ventures, and a bit in equity.

Of family trust combined with mine, maybe about 20%; rest in Singapore, NZ, Australia and a couple of worldwide funds. Mostly NOT in equities either, as this is the money for my mum to live on/travel/go to casino/look after her increasing health problems.

May invest in a start up biz in Canada, which a friend is doing.

Everything I touch goes ok.

Everything my mother touches turns to whatever the opposite of gold is. She has the sadim touch.

Well good luck, and i'm sure you've done well for quite a few years, do you not worry though having all your $ in one country? You could take a real hammering, and whilst you are certainly making some decent gains, there are good and even better gains to be had elsewhere.

wombel,

the thing is that when 2 people decide to wed or even just live together its all good intentions at the start.

now life being what it is sometimes things change after a few years and people go there own ways. theres's nothing wrong with this as its a fact.

another fact is that when you split up the male will have tp part with a substantial part of the wealth whether earned before or in the partnership.

i'll give you a EXAMPLE.

myself has never been married as i did not want the responsibility of children and never thought i would be in a relationship forever as im heading to live in los.

ive had 2 long term relationships (7 years each) and a few shorter ones.

when my long term ones fell over it cost me a <deleted> load of money and assets and we were not even married.

just the way it works mate and we did not even have to go to a lawyer.

lucky ive still got a fair bit of coin left and my only worry now is the same as yours.

what is going to happen as far as security on my assets go when i finally settle in los and find myself a nice women as that will happen for sure when i open myself up to this possibility.

look mate,

when you got the answer sorted out can you please let me know. ?

cheers

I will let you know, two friends of mine in Uk just went through extremely messy divorces, they lost a load and both of their money grabbing wives went into the marriage with nothing.

The way things are going in UK, woman will get every last penny the guy has. Heather Mills is an example, she claims her only fault was to fall in love, if thats the case she should drop the figure of her settlement to something acceptable like 1 or 2 million, not half! She's full of it and a prime example of why us men need to understand the law and protect ourselves.

Now listen, I have no problem with sharing $ we made in business together, or paying maintainance to my kids, but I will not hand over money I worked my arse of for before I even met her, why should I, and I willn not hand over money that I made on my own investments even though they would be offshore anyway so I guess not an issue.

When a marriage ends for whatever reason there are two ways woman often try to get back at the man, the kids and money.

Personally I'm a firm believer that kids should be with their Mother (ideally both parents), although in certain unfortunate circumstances the father is sometimes the best option.

I'll say this again, I do not think the marriage will end, and I certainly wouldn't moan about giving her a fair amount of money if it did for whatever reason but..................

The fact remains she is just as likely to end it as me and like anything in life that involves risk, it nice to know just exactly what those risks are.

If you don't want responsibility, don't get married.

Well said.

If you're that concerned, maybe this is the wrong thing for you to be doing in your life.

You say "I don't mind getting married to take the pressure off.... etc" but IMHO this is not what the motivation to marry is supposed to be all about!

No you are completly wrong and I will not entertain this suggestion. I have decided to stay with this girl the rest of my life, I am happy to marry but not if it could cost me. I don't think it's wrong to Marry after pressure from the parents, we live in Thailand and if i'm going to stay with her for life anyway it is not good to bring shame on her family by having her live in sin all her life.

I trust this girl but.....

A great many people here have been taken in and most of those trusted their wife. Thing is the wife was out to get them from the start, they couldn't know that because they were taken in.

So i'm basically out to protect myself. I'm happy to help out her family, set her up in business, and if we had a business together I would be happy to give her half of that.

But I have fairly substantial investments and would not be happy to lose half of this wealth and I do not think this is being unfair.

I'm not thinking of trading in for a sportier model in future years, but it's kind of expected that somone may suggest that on this forum.

Perhaps some others will come out and have more digs at what they think are my intensions.

The fact remains a great many people here are duped into marriage or giving money and then being ripped off.

I am 99.9 percent sure this will not happen. I want to protect myself for the 0.1 percent chance I do.

It's just as likley her feelings may change for me in the future, is it not right that I should want to know the consequences if that were to happen years down the road.

If I was poor I wouldn't give a toss, i'd have nothing to lose. This is not the case though, I have worked hard at building my wealth and would like to keep it thanks.

Some of you may have nothing to lose, fine. I think those who have more to lose though would like to know the consequences.

Like I said only a fool walks into anything blind.

There are some fools on this forum.

My biggest hates on the roads here are racing lorries and buses.

Could someone please tell me how a coach load of people racing around at break neck speeds and overtaking on a bend going up a hill is allowed to continue doing this? all the while beeping their horn to cars infront.

It's crazy, downright dangerous and I can't believe people on the bus don't tell them to slow down.

Every week you see horrific accidents on the news involving multiple deaths. I've seen two in the last week, one was a bus of worker near kanchanaburi and one a coach load of students.

Still the government does nothing. They moan about the social cost of alcohol what about bad driving habits?

I think it is significantly worse to drive badly and risk other peoples lives than to drink alcohol of your own choice and only hurt yourself, proving you do not drive home ofcourse.

otherwise easier to just invest in the share market and make a lazy 10%-15% p.a.

*****

in what far away galaxis is that "share market" located where one can make a "lazy 10-15% p.a."?

Said very very tongue in cheek; my money is lazy, it doesn't want to work for me. So I just let it sit around

not a financial advisor; no such thing as a 10-15% guaranteed return year in year out, but here in Thailand (and prior to that in NZ and Australia) I have NEVER had a year of less than 10% return. Several stellar years of far beyond that such as the first TRT year with I think it was 60% (I underperformed the market, too light in property). My mother on the other hand lost about 60% in three months or so, when she decided to invest in the NZSE right before a crash. So I am acutely aware that this is not a constant thing. Share market is volatile, no question.

I'm not going to dig out a whole lot of graphs to say you can make 10-15% consistently in the sharemarket (countless ones exist everywhere). Let's just say that a risk premium above the risk free rate for most share portfolios would be expected to be in the region of somewhere around 5% in most developed markets, and a bit more in the less developed ones. If not....why bother????

Shares have no guarantees, but a market like Thailand rewards people willing to do homework on small to mid caps, and with the amount of money I am investing (piddling) the lack of liquidity is not a big deal, and in fact a bonus as people far smarter than me usually don't analyse these stocks. I know a lot about the companies I invest in, far more than some analyst sitting in Singapore usually, as I personally know the heads of the companies in many cases, or someone else senior. The market here has a lot of off the record information and that's why it is a bad bet for some people who think that it is going to behave like NZSE or Aussie market. I don't have a diversified portfolio, and i am very subject to certain risks in the shipping industry; that said my brother, father and grandfather are all from the shipping industry and so I have access to real time information and can make decisions based on that. my old boss's business model is entirely based on this strategy of small/mid cap stocks in Thailand (he is a fund manager now) and his fund is diong more than double the numbers I've dug out (at the moment....who knows if he can keep doing it?)

Incidentally, choosing high div stocks consistently in a developing market, it would not be hard to hit over 10% in dividends alone; although whether one could do that long term is questionable; who can predict the future?

In the shipping industry the dividend stream is strong enough to match a lot of bond coupons, and they still don't have a payout ratio anywhere near 100%. I guess with P/Es in the 4-6 range, and div yields (depending how you calculate it) as high as 11% that it is hard for a bond to keep up. I guess i could buy the bonds that they are both probably going to issue shortly to fund their fleet upgrades.

Almost all conventional wisdom states a investing in bonds cannot outperform investing in shares long term so long as an investor can eliminate the non-systematic risk (I think I got that around the right way). If it cannot, then there is a major market problem as bonds have less risk than shares and should be rewarded less return as a result. And in particular, small cap stocks tend to have the highest average return in excess of the risk free rate and ALSO tend to have the highest return in excess of the CAPM; the so called small firm effect (Banz I think came up with this one). The risk premium for illiquid stocks is around 5% supposedly according to research by Amihud/Mendelson.

A wise investor diversifies, and govt bonds are great because of the guaranteed income plus liquidity of the market to flick them. Not in Thailand of course, where the bond market is pretty illequid AFAIK. But for other markets...great.

But that said it is all about matching financial goals and requirements to appropriate investments. The reason I named shares is the guy wants to do something; well if he isn't going to be making decent money, might as well be a part owner of some company where he doesn't have to do anything.

Bonds are another option, with even less risk (in some cases) or more risk (in others).

my point was actually, under 25% and for me anyway it isn't worth getting out of bed to do a small high risk business like this. That's my POV for what it is worth.

What percentage of your portfolio is invested in Thailand?

I thought thai women had no rights here......

So I could lose half of everything????

Is a prenup legal in Thailand?

If we do not register the marriage at British embassey can she still get me in UK? All my $ is offshore anyway so wouldn't really matter, more worried about what's here.

I didn't realise Thai woman could get your money here aswell!!

Perhaps having the ceremony at the parents house without signing official documents would be an answer?

I'm not risking being being fleeced sometime in the future thats for sure.

No not worried but.....

we've been together over 3 years now and her family have started to ask. I'm happy to marry and take the pressure off providing I don't stand to lose too much. As far as i'm concerned i'm sure it will last, and I know in Thailand it's rare for the woman to ask for divorce.

I'm pretty comfortably off and the same age as her (laet 20's) and provide well for her, so not a bad catch I guess, she works too and has a good family, normal middle class family. Anyway I know people around her town are wondering when there will be a wedding and I don't want them to lose face by letting us go on living together for too long.

Like anything I get into long term I always like to know the possible consequences.

I know my questions may imply that i'm worried, but really i'm not at all.

I just think..........

You should never walk blind into anything.

I would like to ask if anyone knows what rights woman have here when a marriage ends. If the marriage is registered at the Amphur, what does this gain? The family name is changed I know this, but what else changes.

If things go wrong does she have any claim to my money? If I die would my estate in Thailand be left to her?

If the marriage is registered in Thailand but not in UK does she have a claim to any money I have outside Thailand?

If we register the marriage at the British embassey do I have any benefits or does this just mean she gets a chance at grabbing some cash if it all goes tits up.

Obviously you don't get married thinking it will go wrong, but it does make sense to know what your getting yourself into.

I don't want replies about sin sot etc, there are enough threads on that and I have no problem with it.

It's legal and financial issues that i'm after.

thanks.

We are also looking at holding next years Festival in high season - August.

Please keep the comments on the bands coming as it all helps us to go in the right direction.

August is high season for Italians. End Jan would be better, much better. More people and better weather.

Good way of doing festivals is three days. Dance day for younger crowd, rock day for rockers and maybe blues day as thats your thing. Each day will appeal to different groups and if you get the artists right there will be some crossover keeping those who came for a specific day going to the next day.

Ok look, instead of just going to an agent and being told the ones they have on their books, why don't you try finding people who are touring this way and may fancy a few days break.

You go to an agent you will pay $, u need to deal direct with management.

Book them 6 months in advance, promotion you need minimum 3 months or it just aint worth it, and if you can't get discount, don't book. Book bands that don't have too much equipment, or equipment u can source locally. And definatley don't book bands with an army of musicians.

It'll cost too much, you will find it too hard to get the $ back, and the amount you need to charge will put people off.

I find it quite shocking how many of you eigher live here or at least visit regulary and have no clue about how things work here.

As a westerner I have no problem with people going topless in their own country or anywhere else where it is accepted.

If you saw a Thai girl going topless it would almost certainly be bargirl. These girls are already looked down on by most mainstream Thai's and are somewhat rebellious. This is why they get tatoos, toungue piercings etc.

Many Thai girls will not even wear a bikini in public, choosing to swim fully clothed instead.

I think you'll find nearly all guide books say in the opening chapter that this is one of the things you shouldn't do here. I don't like these guide books and they are often wrong about many things.

On this particular thing though they are right.

PS. The Avatar is staying, Borat is quality!!!!

If you go topless in Thailand , you are doing something that is deeply offensive to the culture.

Unless you are a complete ###### do not go topless please

If its so foul why is it quietly tolerated in Soi Cowboy?

Annnnnd. You say 'culture', but about a hundred years ago, they had them out all the time. So its a recent innovation then?

Ok look I could really rip into you here but I won't.

Let me just say Soi Cowboy is slightly different to the rest of Thailand.

and.........

100 years ago it was legal to shoot red indians in USA.

By the way 100 years ago you would have been lynched for going topless.

try 200 years!

I really think there is no other way of putting this.......

Yes you can go topless in Thailand, and most probobally no one will say anything.

but.............

They will think you are rude and culturaly insensitive.

That will really endear you with the locals!

I just asked the mrs............

According to her it doesn't matter what beach or where you are, in her opinion girls should not go top less anywhere. It is against Thai culture and even on chaweng beach the best possible situation is that it is tolerated.

They do not like it.

They will put up with it beacause they are to polite to say anything, but mostly because you are spending $ here.

When you spend $ some things can be overlooked in Thailand.

It doesn't matter tho how you look at this...........

it's not about being a spoilsport.

If you go topless in Thailand , you are doing something that is deeply offensive to the culture.

In resorts they put up with it as they have seen it so much they are desensitized.

That does not mean it's ok.

So............

Unless you are a complete ###### do not go topless please

Investigating corruption is a huge task

The proverbial garbage is being swept from under the rug after the Sept 19 coup against the Thaksin government. The interim government of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has ordered investigations into several corruption scandals. We wonder whether the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) and the Assets Investigation Committee (AIC) are fully equipped for this gigantic task. Great effort is needed to unearth alleged corruption linked to the construction of the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport, the rubber-planting projects in the North and Northeast, the longan mortgage scheme, the Ua-Arthorn cheap housing projects for the poor and the purchase of land plots by the wife of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. More manpower will also be spent to find the abductors of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit. These corruption cases prove that political power can be abused for personal gain if the checks-and-balance mechanisms do not function effectively. If people cast their votes in a national election without looking closely into the backgrounds of candidates, it will create a vicious cycle of money politics, power abuse and corruption. There will be no change if civil servants and independent organisations are dominated by politicians. We will have to wait for corrupt politicians to lose their power and then look for the skeletons in their cupboards. The writers of the new constitution must impose harsh penalties against civil servants who turn a blind eye to political corruption.

- Thai Rath Editorial

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/16Nov2006_news25.php

It won't create it, that is what it is.

There are very few Thai politicians who are in it purely for the good of the country.

For people supposed to be so patriotic it is actually laughable just how unpatriotic there actions really are.

Thaksin will be made to pay tax and that will be the end of it.

Speaking of crossing lines, is that you in your avatar womble?

Borat.

Pure genious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT3s_TpfTFY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rVohkpMqC0

The next step will be to clearly define what the mean my pornographic.........

One man's art is another man/woman's porn.

While I fully agree with your comments, ICT Minister Prof. Sitthichai said that even the most avid freedom of speech advocates would change their minds if they saw doctored pictures of their daughter's head on a naked body posted on the internet.

I have a daughter and he does have a point.

i hope the guy that did that goes to prison.

I'm sure that's what has brought about this new law.

Whilst i'm against the rise in price by bkk air, there are many other things that I think are for more damaging to the island than this.

Unfortuantley as foriegners in Thailand there is little we can do, the Thai's have to take the initiative.

Most of them do not realise the effect the miriad of problems has on samui. Most probobally due to lack of eductation they can only link obvious financial things as something that will have a negative effect on their rice bowl.

Dear Womble

First allow me to congretulate you on your firm stand.

As per our discussion on the last post regarding this issue . I am glad to see that you are allso concerned with other problems that I have posted.

As to the matter at hand i still claim that this whole issue was made to gain political power...

Saynee Phoowasatethaworn, chairman of Ko Samui's Tourism Promotion, said both Thai and foreign tourists are now heading to Phuket because of lower air prices. He said letters of protest complaining about the hikes had been submitted to relevant ministries.

So he said.. so what no one is takingf him seriousley apart from news papers who like to post this type of decleratrions

Saynee said there would be around 10,000 joining the rally on Wednesday if the airline did not announce what it would do by today. The hikes have also badly affected tourism activities in other areas, including many nearby islands.

yes Rigth 10,000 protestors. they could not get that amount of people to come and vote in the last election. but it sound good to the press

Ramnate Jaikwang, a member of the Surat Thani Provincial Administrative Organisation representing Koh Samui district, said Bangkok Airways violated its declaration document signed on March 26, 2004 that it would not raise ticket prices higher than Bt3,000 for high season and Bt2,500 low season.

yes and the price of gaoline has gone up 45% since then so they should loose money because of a local politician???

Bangkok airways has done excatly as expected and stepped down to "save face" from them and from the protestors. but this is thailand and they are a private buisness and we will be paying later and then we will pay more to cover the loses now.

When Taksin threatened Dr Prasat about 3 years ago Prasat responded in much the same way and avoided making the prime minister loose face.

Taksin then vowed to open a new airport in Samui. We all know what happened to the new airport and to Taksin.

At the end of the day it will be Dr prasat who has the last lough all the way to the bank.

I belive that all the local politicians who are trying to make headlines should realy dedicte the time to improve the tourist services on the island mainly taxies. But they will never do that as it is easier toi get headlines on the expanse of bangkok airways then to risk getting shot by a furuious taxi driver.

I really think it's time to galvanize support and try to make change..........

The island that I once loved and was proud to call my home is reaching the point of no return.

It is self destructing.

Why don't we (thai visa members) write a serious letter to Saynee Phoowasatethaworn we can say that if we do not see changes quickly then we will write to all the tabloids in all western countries and tell them the truth about the island. We should take photo's to back up our story and include this in the letter.

I think a good way would be for us to write a petition. http://www.petitiononline.com

We can then get as many people as possible to sign up, business owner, tourists everyone we know.

We can then each fax the petition to relevant people and departments that should be taking action. If they start getting 100's of faxes on their desks mayeb they will do something.

Email doesn't work in Thailand, maybe by faxing we can get some attention.

It should be written in English and Thai.

Look in the property forum for more info about this 'program'. All services that are provided by this VIP program are easily obtainable.

They are acting as an agent and that is illegal.

When everything is promoted in 'Thai' you can assume it is targeted to Thai as a way of making money with services that don't offer anything worth paying for.

A 1 year visa -> go to the immigration office.

A signature on the back of the landpaper -> Go to the landoffice and sign a 'usefruct' or lease longer than 3 years.

Perpetual does not exist in Thai law. They try to sell something that is not available. It is not more than a promise. A promise that wil not be kept! The promise for extending even when the promise is kept is not interesting. Pay 10 Million baht now for 30 years, in 2036 it will be at least 40 Million baht for the next 30 years, in 2066 it will be 100 million baht. Good luck with the available extensions. It is just throwing money away. A lease is good for short term or for business purposes when enough money can be made to cover the deprecation of the lease, and not the full 30 years have to be paid in advance.

Tourist police is available 24 hours already, if they are helpfull has to be evaluated on every single case.

Every wonder WHY they choose Samui for the introduction?

Well said!