bradleythebuyer

Stumbled upon this thread for 4 months ago, wasn't even planning on quitting, but it has worked so far (4 months). Plus, I am extremely cynical and never buy into any of these types of schemes, so don't think it is just for the weakwilled dreamer types. Just wanted to say thanks to the OP. If anyone wants the .pdf, let me know.

It makes more sense now. Maybe if Thailand keeps putting up 4-7% annual gdp growth numbers (unlikely), they might ease up on the protectionism. The collective pot for them will get bigger if more people feel sale investing in their country, and eventually globalization will catch up to them and their kids or grandkids will realize that.

This may be a foolish question, but is there a market to purchase bars instead of leasing or renting them? Are the property taxes or maintainance fees high?

From what I understood, the taxi, tuk-tuks and motorbike taxis in Samui aren't a free market system though right?. Aren't they all run by some kind of mafia that prohibits them from going below a certain price? The taxi drivers were always very eager to put me on a tuk tuk when I tried haggling over chump change.

The fish spa example is pretty weird too because it costs the establishment nothing to accomidate an extra customer. The only downside for them is that word will quickly spread and would-be full price payers will also demand a discount. A couple of massueses told me that many shops work together to regulate prices, pool staff and refer clients to each other so they can collectively reap the most money from the tourists instead of each of them trying to outcompete one another. This sounds plausable to me.

I guess you are right about tourists catching the Thailand addiction and buying a bar on a whim, but with the recession there must have been less and less of these types of people.

Don't you guys think that market forces will eventually defeat this faulty thai business logic and the prices will come back down and prospective bar owners will be able to contract around these key price increases and unfavorable conditions? Goodbye Deustchland seemed to have prime real estate and a decent cult following but everytime i went there, the owners seemed like they were doing me a favor by taking my order and seemed annoyed that I wanted to order dinner instead of just getting a drink. A friend told me that they were part of some German TV show or something, but it seemed extremely inefficient that they were closed for lunch and for weeks at a time.

i thought this was intended to be in the "10 things you will never hear in thailand" thread.

I spent about 3 months on Lamai and loved it. Some of the old-timers were telling me how the airport and commercialization killed the paradise island they loved; how everyone was prancing around topless and getting high, and now everything is expensive and touristy. I don't know how it was back then, but I think its still pretty great right now. I really enjoyed how laid back and slow Lamai was. Really nice locals and expats, not too much arrogant exploitative people, good balance of western amenities and remoteness.

The cab situation does suck, but that is the price you have to pay for not renting a motorbike. All things considered, it isn't that bad if you plan your stay wisely.

procrastinating on thaivisa while studying for my fed tax final. just thought i would let you guys know that unlike alot of the stuff congress or the president do, tax is constitutional.

Article 1, Section. 8.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

16th Amendment

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

And the specious argument goes that the definition of the word "incomes" as based on other articles of law only applies to federal salaries and not private wages. Whether they have a valid argument or not is irrelevant. The point is the courts have ruled over and over that they aren't going to listen to this argument, so like it or not, income is what the courts and the IRS say it is and civil disobedience is not going to change that.

In other words, bend over, because you have no recourse. The PTB are going to continue killing defenseless Arab babies and bombing innocent wedding guests, and you are going to continue to pay for it whether you like it or not. Gotta love the USA.

That is an interesting argument I guess, but pretty much every country has some form of income tax. I guess they can replace it with a consumption tax, but that will only hurt people who "work to live". Our corporate taxes might be high, but our income taxes aren't that bad compared to most western European countries, so i don't really know what all the whining is about. I am not trying to be contrarian, I just really don't understand where these people live that they don't have to pay income tax. It's not like if you own a pizzaria in the US that the IRS estimates how much pizza you sold, unless you are charged with tax evasion and the burden of proof is on them to show that you sold more pizza than you claimed.

the scary part is you dont have to actually owe the taxes. IRS has a really bad system, when they think you might owe them, they give you a big bill and you have to prove you dont. They dont have to prove you do. Very scary if you are about to come to thailand and find out you have a big tax bill waiting.

Isn't this always true though? A cop says i'm speeding (let's say i'm not), and now I have to somehow miraculously prove I wasn't. Great, except for this whole innocent until proven guilty mantra. It is funny how us Americans feel about our society, the realities are different. I have never understood why it's not "guilty until you prove yourself otherwise", that is the truth, as it is with taxes as you say.

traffic violations are non-criminal and the standard is probably "innocent unless proven guilty by a preponderance of the evidence". I guess we could force the cop to print out the radar speed showing, but that would just increase our already huge state and municipal taxes (NYC). You are right that when the irs takes you to court, the irs's calculations are presumed to be correct, but you are free to introduce evidence to disprove it. I dunno man, i don't really see our legal process as being that bad in most aspects. Unless you are black or on the no-fly list....

procrastinating on thaivisa while studying for my fed tax final. just thought i would let you guys know that unlike alot of the stuff congress or the president do, tax is constitutional.

Article 1, Section. 8.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

16th Amendment

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.