ThailandInvestmentGuide

First a general observation ... boy there a lot of aggressive assertions (mostly based on misinformation) and personal attacks in this thread .. calm down folks.. the chiang mai sub-forum is the helpful chilled-out one, remember

folang bring this sort of thing onto themselves by bringing their bigoted forang ways here and being stupid enough to believe that the same rules apply here as in their own country. <snip>The issue is not if its illegal which if your doing it with intention of renting out it clearly is unless you have a WP but the fact that no one or virtually no one obeys that law and no one or almost no one pays tax on their rentals.

I don't fully get the basis for your seemingly overblown comments so excuse me if I have misunderstood ... so foreigners expect thai people to act in accordance with thai law ... that might be naive but hardly "bigoted"? And receiving rental income without holding a work permit is NOT "clearly" illegal. Foreigners may receive income from passive investments without the need for a work permit. It is only when foreigners are actively involved, e.g. take bookings, liaising with tenants, serving on the condo committee, maintaining the property etc that you move to a situation where a work permit might be required (according to thai law, rather than general practice).

This issue was discussed in more detail in one or more older Thaivisa threads dealing with a US guy who was in hot water with the immigration ppl in Phuket. He owned several condos and was actively involved on the condo committee. I can probably dig out a reference/link if anyone is interested.

Hi, you might find this page helpful: http://www.bot.or.th/english/statistics/financialmarkets/interestrate/_layouts/application/interest_rate/IN_Rate.aspx

There was a recent long-running thread on the topic of 'best interest rates' in the banking & investment sub-forum ... scroll back through the last few pages of threads and you should be able to find it. Failing that do a forum search on using "interest rates" and see what pops up

Hi. In answer to your queries:

Q: Are there any large differences between North, East, West, South areas of Chiang Mai? Is there a section of the city to avoid?

A: In general, no. Those streets that are a little shadey should be obvious to you once you are here.

Q: I'm aware that it is probably best to stay at a hotel until we find a place to rent, but are there any apartment rental websites I may have missed that'd be good to get an idea of prices from?

A: The web sites will only give you an idea of what prices people ask for in English language real estate web sites, not out on the street reality.

Q: What is the BEST internet company?

A: Depends on the specific street/location you are living in

Q: Is there any tips in terms of etiquette as far as interacting with the locals? What should and shouldn't you do in your experiences?

A: This sort of general stuff is available in any guide book or tourist web site. Additionally, be open to new ways of doing things and don't continually make assumptions & judgments based on how things are back home.

Q: Is there any villages around Chiang Mai that have internet? The reason I ask is that we would like to be very immersed in the culture but we absolutely must have a decent internet connection.

A: Almost all have net access, but the range of available providers and account options will be more limited in some areas

Q: How much would it cost for classes to learn the Thai language?

A: As an example google on AUA Chiang Mai ... but there are many language schools and individual tutors.

Q: Which flight company would be best to go with?

A: Depends where you are coming from and obviously deals vary from one week to the next

Hi PG

You are unlikely to get specific 'tips' of value to you in threads like this. People's investment needs are determined in large part by their specific individual circumstances. This is why the first thing a good financial advisor will do is sit you down and get a very clear and detailed understanding of you and your particular investment needs. The more you read about investment and listen to others experiences, then the more you will you will understand exactly what I mean by this.

The only universally applicable tip is "don't rush - do your homework". As Yoshi has already suggested do not invest in anything that you do not understand. Sure you can use professional advisors - but only after you have ramped up your level of financial general knowledge to the point that you will be able to tell whether or not they are 'having a lend of you'.

I'm not a lawyer. I'm a nice guy. But here's my two bahts worth anyway

"My and a ex thai partner opened a business a while ago, he got in an argue with the landlord and was not allowed to sign a new contract, i signed a new contract but a few month after the landlord decided to sell the lease so i was basiclly kicked out a swell."

I assume by "contract" you mean lease. You either have a lease or you don't. If the landlord sells the property he can't legally kick you out (unless there was provision made in the lease that gave him this right)

"Ex partner is know asking me for XXX amout of money, if not he will go to the court. I lost about twice as much as him so obviously wont give him a single bath!!!"

On what basis is he making this claim? civil or criminal or both?

"Question is: Planning to visit a friend in cambodia, will there be any problems to exit thailand cos of this?"

My response would be probably "no problem" but that is subject to the fact that you have only provided a few pieces of what might well be a much bigger picture. Clearly if you have cause for serious concern then consult a lawyer asap

<snip>the following book is being released this week and should prove quite valuable to those considering a Thai investment. The book will not be available outside Asia until about March 2010, but can be ordered directly from the publisher.<snip>

Just a quick update on my earlier post. "Your Investment Guide to Thailand" has since had a further hard-copy edition and many further e=book editions. If you visit the web site (or the page in amazon.com) you can view the Table of Contents to get a better understanding of the broad range of topics addressed

I have just finished a book called "Your Investment Guide to Thailand" and it's really really awesome

But on a serious note I read a book called "How to Start Up and Stay Up in Thailand" by Roy Tomizawa (published by Alpha Research) which I liked although its quite a few years old now. Lots of interviews with foreigners in business in Thailand with interesting insights to be had

I have not heard of YOMA before seeing this article & just posting this for the general interest of forum readers

http://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmontlake/2012/05/29/myanmar-burma-property-stock-soars-in-singapore/-

Contact the Chiang Mai rep for this company - nice guy and they have a good unit on offer

http://www.bbqthai.com/

I would suggest that you look at opening two accounts:

* an account with a Thai broker for trading in Thai shares

* an account with an international group like Interactive for other shares

Only a few of the international groups allow access to the SET (e.g. Schwab) and you would be hammered with much higher commission rates for your Thai trading - in comparison to those offered by a Thai broker

Thank you

Thanks to those TV members who have taken the opportunity to obtain a copy of the e-book version of Your Investment Guide to Thailand at a very special price this weekend.

I look forward to receiving your feedback about the Guide over coming days/weeks. I have made many amendments to the manuscript based on the comments I've received, sometimes (for example) adding discussion about new topics. As you can imagine, with so many potential topics and such a diverse readership, it's quite a challenging undertaking.

For any other folks who might be interested, just a quick reminder that the normal price will be re-applied at amazon.com later this evening.

1. Once you open your list of old messages, is there are way to search for any messages from a particular member (other than scrolling through them all)?

2. Scrolling towards the end of my pages of messages I see that many are marked "deleted". I don't recall deleting them, and when you click on them you can still read them (well, I have only tried this with a few anyway). What is this about? Do I need to save old messages on my computer to retain them long-term?

Thanks TIG - been around, just don't post much. I enjoyed the original edition, and am interested to see your updates. Can I buy it in paperback at Asia Books?

Well there was a updated hard-copy version released May 2011 but I would definitely recommend the e-book. It's much more up-to date and you can click through on hyperlinks. You can download the free Kindle for PC software and then just read it on your laptop.

While you're at it, send me a free copy and I'll gladly tell you if it was worth the amount I paid for it.

You're dreaming. That's two of your posts I've replied to now. Where do I send the invoice?

Investment in Thailand is the same as anywhere else in the world....regulations/laws different but its the same the world over

Profound. And to think I babbled on for 270 pages while you've managed to compress your knowledge into one sentence

If the author was so rich through his tried and tested investments he woulndt need to try and make money from publishing a book!

* Make the effort to at least read the entry page of my web site

* With but a few limited exceptions, no-one would write a book with the intention of making money from it

If job advertisements were being placed in a UK, US or Austrialian local newspaper....who would we be assume these job where targeted at ?....Expats, illegal immigrants or citizens/PR of the UK, US or Aussieland ? so why should Thailand be any different in this regard, why should all ad's state whether an expat can apply.

If the ads were placed in Thai language publications I would agree with you. But we are talking about ads in English-language papers mainly read by expats. Ads that also often stipulate high level English-language skills. In this situation one might reasonably assume - unless stipulated otherwise - that applications would be welcomed from expats. Companies that place such ads & who won't consider expats - but don't state "Thai nationals only" - are just being thoughtless and slack.

in fact where an expat is required it does actually say so in the English language newspapers in Thailand... ....is this another case I am a Farang in Thailand and i demand to be treated differently.. ?

In fact, where only expats are wanted for a role then advertisers do tend to say so. Generally though it is 'hit and miss' - sometimes advertisers say "expats welcome to apply", sometimes "thai nationals only", often nothing stated at all.

No, it's a case of expecting professionals seeking professionals to conduct themselves in a professional manner

I would tend to agree with Yoshiwara on this, especially as it sounds like you are in the early-mid stage of your career/s.

You note also the issue of whether the ads are directed to expats. An irritating habit of not - in most cases - specifying whether expats can apply and/or what degree of Thai language skill is required. So ppl then send an email to check and rarely will they get a response. But generally there are very few jobs open to foreigners in the finance sector. If you have strong Thai language skills and appropriate license/s (the courses needed to obtain the licenses are only provided in Thai), then your situation is improved somewhat.

Investment Guide to Thailand? Selling T-shirts maybe?

Why Y? Don't be like that. Check it out. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Not being a real man, I purchased a paperback version years ago. Cheers!

Hi Misty. Haven't seen you round for a while. For the purposes of this exercise, real women such as yourself are more than welcome to join the party.

I think you have the original 2010 edition, and I have made a lot of changes and updates since then - doubly so in the case of the e-book edition. Worth having a look at it, and I would certainly welcome your feedback.

Sales not going so well, huh?

Next you'll understand the average demographic of expats in Thailand and offer a free bar fine with every sale. It might work better.

Bendix, you're a genius man. I'm on to it. I've already tried paying the girls to wear sandwich boards, but they kept banging against the poles.

This coming weekend is one of special significance to real men:

26 May marks the day on which John Wayne was born

(Gen-Y: Refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne)

27 May is the day on which ‘Chips’ Rafferty passed away

(Gen-Y and non-Australians: Refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chips_Rafferty and http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/goffage-john-william-pilbean-10317)

‘Chips’ embodied what most Australian men once wanted to be like ... right up until they started wearing tracksuit pants and slippers around the house, and obsessing about the size of their TV screens

These two guys were legends - seriously

To celebrate the occasion I am offering a man-size discount on the e-book version of “Your Investment Guide to Thailand”

http://www.amazon.com/Investment-Guide-Thailand-Bruce-Bickerstaff/dp/9749511867

Less than half price. Two days only.

Enjoy quiche? Don’t even think about it

Jack,

Yes from a land dept perspective property can be held by a minor, so perhaps you are asking more from the bank's perspective? If so, what are they telling you at the moment?

You might need to post some more info to get the answer you want ... You say you have already bought a condo for your son, but want to know if he can be the owner. So I assume it is currently in someone else's name (?) You say he is a Thai citizen so can we assume that the condo is currently in a Thai person's name (i.e. the condo is not in the foreigner allocation within the building)?

<snip> Kind of a tricky situation maybe...

Kind of a tricky situation definitely. I'm (sort of) amazed that with a program running this long, that someone in the Thailand Elite organisation has not sat down with someone from the Immigration Bureau and written out a very clear statement about what exactly this "special visa" is (or isn't) and how it relates to the framework of regulations that exist around it.

Hi GH. Do a forum search on bai rap rong. It's mentioned in this thread for example:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/498502-deposit-of-funds-foreign-origin-certification-letter/page__p__4700395__hl__+rap%20+rong#entry4700395