womble

80% in a single emerging market is just slightly too much risk than I can handle...........

True but the problem is when HRH goes, that could be just the start of the free fall. Political problems couls send the SET lower and lower.

However is Thaksin comes back I will be sure to buy shares in any company he is involved in.

The one thing that worries me deeply about investing in Thai stock is the age and health of HRH, when the inevitable happens the stock market will go into freefall, and who knows what else may happen politically to push the SET even lower.

I can fully well see the benefits of having high dividends paid in the currency of the country you live, but at this moment the risks in the share price seem to outweigh any gains made from dividends.

I admit to know little about Thai stocks so maybe somewhat bias, but it does seem fraught with dangers.

My monthly rent is 25k, electric, water, internet etc another 5k. So thats 30k already. I guess i'll have to limit my spending for a while, perhaps I could survive on 70k. Anyway it's looking like the 25m will infact be 30m, So perhaps 30m baht invested and an income of 70k + growth is just about possible.

Working is not an option, I don't feel like risking the capital in my own business at the moment, I feel like a break after working my ass off 16hr + days the last 7 years. With a new baby I feel like enjoying some of the time watching her grow up. Besides the mrs was also working in the business, infact still is working from home doing the figures with a new born, so she can't wait till business is sold.

Just wondering the liquidity of these Singaporean convertible bonds, convertible bonds outside the US often suffer from liquidity issues.......

Always been put off Thai stocks due to issues with transparency and manipulation, also insider trading is rife.......

Shoot..... It's starting to look like my 25m isn't enough to survive on. I defo don't wanna go back to work, i've been working my balls off in my own business for last 7 years, fancied a break.........

Also wondering which are the best online discount brokers,

Is there special versions for offshore to avoid tax, or can any platform be used.

thanks,

W.

I was thinking maybe some type of emerging markets bond funds. ETF's etc.

I'm from UK, lived here 8 years, have no intention of leaving Thailand at the moment, although u never know what the future holds as i've recently had a baby. I also want to avoid as many taxes and management fees as possible.

So obviously I know Thai Visa isn't the best place for economic advice, but it looks like i've sold my business, so have around 25m baht to invest somehow.

Being relatively young, 32, i'd rather have modest income and a higher capitol growth. I wish to stay in Thailand and already have several of my own ideas, but in these tricky economic times was just wondering what other members would do to achieve the goals i'm after with such a sum.

I do not wish to work, just invest it somehow that will bring in enough each month to live, maybe 100k or so, i'm mainly concerned with longterm growth of the original investment.

Grey area, not strictly legal, thats why it's not on display, and often kept out the back or in the own personal belongings, ie a handbag.

It is only supposed to be distributed by hospitals or clinics staffed by doctors, not pharmacists.

Here in samui it is available just about anywhere, on the mainland it is much harder to find.

I've got a 4x4 4 door Vigo on order......

my m8 has a landcruiser which has a fridge installed in the console between the two front seats, I have no idea if this came with the car or if it was an after market upgrade.

Does anyone know if there is something like this available for a vigo.

anyone have any links for cool interior modifications available for vigo.

cheers,

W.

Errr, have you thought about asking the Dealer ?

Toyota dealers give you nothing, not even the tray in the back of the truck!!!!

all <deleted>, all of it........

I've got a 4x4 4 door Vigo on order......

my m8 has a landcruiser which has a fridge installed in the console between the two front seats, I have no idea if this came with the car or if it was an after market upgrade.

Does anyone know if there is something like this available for a vigo.

anyone have any links for cool interior modifications available for vigo.

cheers,

W.

Not mentioning any names or companys, but several of those companies listed are complete cowboys, and a couple of them are run by farangs who think they are mafia and have used strong arm underhand tactics when things don't go their way........

Let me say one thing, stay away from slimy farang salesman who masquerade as builders. They spend little to no time on site, and you are basically just paying them to act as middle men. Most has no building background before coming to samui. They will promise the earth, and when things go wrong and it will cost them $ to fix, some of the less scrupulous ones will threaten you with mafia contacts.

Be warned!!!

Best way if you have the time is find a local Thai builder that has done many projects and been around for a long time. Check out their work and finishing from stuff done 7 years ago to stuff being built now. Talk to the owners, partiulary those of older houses, see what problems have appeared further down the line. Did the builders come to rectify expensive problems (very important).

I really think the biggest mistake is getting a "farang builder" most of them don't even speak Thai, they are salesman, not builders, in many cases you could use their construction team and a reduced cost if you go direct to the Thai.

Also these farang builders take on many subcontractors, particulary when they were busy, often without vetting just so they could bang things out as quick as possible. These subcontractors often came from the mainland and when finished on the job they were gone. If they messed up the farang builder couldn't get them back to fix problems so was left with the bill themselves, they din't want to be out of pocket so instead of fixing from their own funds they'd rather threaten and scare you into backing down and footing the bill yourself. These rotten apples took on as much work as they could with no concern of quality control, in the end they just wanted the cash and had no way with their lack of knowledge and experiance of making sure the quality was consistant.

Now is a great time to find a builder, things have slowed down, and some companies now have many projects behind them so quality can be checked back many years.

Best thing to do is find a company that has been around many years that is based locally, hire an independant site manager, ideally a highly skilled Thai engineer. He will be worth his weight in gold as he can be on site daily to check everything is being done properly, he will also help with language barriers. The ideal candidate for this job would be someone who has worked abroad and has english skills.

Also try to make your own payment plans, most builders want payments weighted so they have all their $ on the second to last payment, do not agree to this. Have it weighted so they are out of pocket until the job is entirely finished, that way any problems and you can hold back a decent amount of $. Many builders will walk away after getting the second to last payment if they are going to go over budget.

Be wary in this economic climate of any builder that can't agree to these terms, he is eigher afraid of his quality or has very poor cashflow, any builder that has been successful on this island for more than 5 years should have bags of cash, if not something is wrong........

I got a real craving for fish and chips, UK style.......

Can anybody suggest somewhere in the Chaweng, Bophut, Bang Rak area that does really good fish and chips............

cheers,

W.

I've don't 100k in my 7 year old hilux

Not being funny, but after all those miles and years, how is it you don't know the name of your vehicle?

Yeah I know.....reading it back I can't believe I put sport rider, it's a sport cruiser.....Dur.......never post after a drink.............

I have a friend that has done 100.000 miles driving both, he says the triton is "more agricultural "..

I'm looking at the pickup truck version, not the suv, I like to go fishin' and it's best to keep the smelly stuff out the back.......

I've don't 100k in my 7 year old hilux that I have now, never had a single problem. When I test drove the new vigo version it seemed very similar but maybe just a little better, it was a smoother ride and a little faster acceleration.

i'm looking for a new car, currently have sport rider, toyota hilux 4 door 4wd automatic. I'm looking at getting the new vigo version of the same car, just wondering how it matches up against the competition.

If anyone has driven different makes of the same 4wd 4 door autos I would be interested in their take on which is better.

I test drove the vigo and really liked it, havn't compared it to any of the other makes so far tho.

I was told the vigo holds value much better than the triton, can anyone confirm.

Can anyone tell me the best place to have a hi end stereo system installed in thailand. I had one done in phuket once and I was not happy with the result, so I guess Bangkok must have somewhere that knows what they are doing.

Interesting and well done this show is.

I think all else aside, the most important lesson here is: understand the nature of intimidation.

In the jet ski incident, the Thai man is clearly adept at being the bully as tourists are not used to being in this position. Foreigners would do well to remember that there is no timer running; if you know you are in the right, there is no hurry to resolve the issue -- hopefully in your favor. If you have to concede, do so after all other options have been tried and exhausted.

One thing that really jumps out at me is the fact that these are supposed to be British fighting forces? What a bunch of sissies. And stupid under pressure. That guy first knew that he didn't do anything but was ready to flee (it appears that the definition of "run away" is in question here, but there is no doubt that he intended to flee if he could have), and subsequently caved in almost instantly to the Thai's outrageous demand for money. I'm here thinking, "Shit, I thought marines were supposed to be tough. So much for that idea...."

I think you're forgetting something, to someone on holiday there is a hurry. They have limited time to enjoy themselves, every hour lost is $$$ to them as they have to make the most of their stay, some may only have a few days, so an afternoon lost is a significant part of their holiday.

Sure for those of us that live here with connections there is no hurry, we can take all day getting everything right so we come out on top, or at the least able to negotiate a face saving way out for everyone.

It's not even that loud, was up there the other night, and the system is small considering what it could be. I'm sure they are aware they have neighbours which is why they havn't bought a large system. So when people such as concerned say they don't care about anyone around them, I think that it very wrong, if they wanted too they could have a much louder system, but for some reason choose not to.

I can think of no other reason other than they don't want to piss off those that are in close proximity to them.

To Mark's defence - Perhaps the Jet ski"s in Lamai are not run in the same criminal way as in Chaweng ? Mark ?

Unlikely, seems everywhere in Thailand Jet ski's are run by mafia, reason being I suppose is being the beach you are not supposed to make business there, so naturally it will involve paying off the authorities, be it BIB, Tessaban, etc etc.

However I do know a farang operates jet skis in Lamai, an Ausi fellow whom i've met and he seems a nice chap, not a mafia type, you never know tho..................

I know a Thai girl who bought some jet ski's and tried to rent out on Chaweng beach, she didn't last more than 1 month before she was threatened and had to shut up shop. She was from Bangkok, defo not the mafia type.......

Just wondering what would happen if a resort wanted to rent out their own jet ski's........ Do you think they would get hassle?

I heard the accident was extremely serious, severe head injuries, caused by a collision with a dog.

Incidently this is the second serious accident that has happened to people I know involving dogs this month.

Does anyone have more info on Jeffries condition?

All three got LIFE.

Great......

But are they free to appeal or do they stay inside whilst on appeal?

Personally I always shop Big C, Tesco far too crowded and too much walking for me.

Too much walking?

I park up near Fuji, which means a long walk, don't like parking at front as been hassled by taxi drivers before and also there's often no spaces there or you get blocked in by dodgy looking locals (probobally off duty taxi drivers).

Friend of mine sold two houses this week, prices greatly reduced, by over 30%, basically to the price it cost to build. People do still want property here. My prediction is the samui property market will slowly bounce back, I doubt it will ever be as mad as it was, but i'm sure a recovery is on the horizon.

I hope most of these greedy developers lose their shirts, a horrible breed most of them are..........