SDM0712

Don't know what it's called but I always use the tyre shop opposite "Top Beef" on Patong Hill, Kathu side.

4 tyres for a MU-7 20,000,

SDM

The English program at Kajonkiet in Kathu. My boy started at 4 and speaks perfect English and Thai, not all gained from the school of course, but each class has a native English speaker and also a Thai.

SDM

We cover that area, but only you can decide if we are good !

SDM

PS sorry for the commercial .....I look at property details sheets all day !

Thanks for that, very good info

Cheers

No problem.

If you do move over I would also, as someone else here said, be interested on your view of Phuket compared to Pattaya. It would be nice to get opinion based on actual experience.

SDM

It's difficult to compare Rawai to Kathu, because they are such different towns. I see Rawai as more for the expat that wants to retain a bit of the holiday spirit, there's some nice beaches there, Nai Harn is close by. It's not great for schools or what I jokingly term civilization. Having said that in my work I spend a lot of time travelling from the North end of the island to the South and I will say that the weather seems to be better in Rawai, as crazy as that sounds. If it's raining in Paklok it will usually be dry in Rawai/Nai Harn. I heard that once on the radio and was amazed to find it is true!

Kathu is more for the expat, maybe with a family, wanting a regular life that they might enjoy at home, but with the beach nearby. All within a 20/25 minute drive of Kathu are Central Festival, Makro, Bangkok Hospital, Phuket International Hospital, Mission Hosptial, Jung Ceylon (with excellent cinemas in both malls), Kajonkiet Private school (English program and international), British International School, several other government and private schools, Tesco, several golf courses, a few marinas etc. The airport is between a 30 and 45 minute drive if you know the short cut behind BIS. To sum up I like Rawai a lot, it's a very relaxing place, but live in Kathu!

For surfing I'd recommend Nai Yang and Nai Thon beaches, windy and a strong current.

Stephen

PS sorry for the commercial .....I look at property details sheets all day !

Check HouseinPhuket.com she has a good range of rental properties

We have a decent spread also and organise our tenancies to UK standards with inventories and contracts based on ASTs.

Stephen

Hi

I sent you a PM, but your should consider Kathu. We have a big expat community, are close to everything being close to the centre of the island.

Regards

Stephen

Hi

I really don't have the time to read through all the replies so apologies in advance if I'm repeating what anyone else has said.

I think rather than advice this is more of a warning. Thailand is not like Australia, the Thais can be an extremely violent race, can be. I often tell my friends visiting from the UK that at home if two guys are having a fight outside a pub or club etc, they are just trying to hurt each other. Even if they say they are trying to kill each other, they're not really. Over here that is not the case. A potential love triangle involving a Thai man, his wife and you, could end in disaster. For him to lose face by his wife leaving him for a farang is a massive insult.

My advice, walk away, run away.

SDM

As Ezzra says don't sign anything. It is quite possible that if the bank find out that you are married and thus assume you are paying part of the mortgage they will want you to guarantee it. In terms of mortgages they are becoming very difficult to get in any case, even for Thais

SDM

7by7

What you have illustrated in your responses to me is that not only have you not read (or comprehended) my posts accurately, it seems that the same could be said for your own. So there is not point really to discuss this matter with you.

I am sure we will come across each other again, but on this matter thank you for your time, I have work to do.

Warm regards

SDM

1. I did not say an ILR was a visa.

Really?

Examples of visas where the IO at the border does not have the right to refuse entry are when a visa has been granted on the basis of marriage or a visa where the passport has an ILR stamp.

(7by7 emphasis)

2. I have no qualifications in this area, my comments are based upon experience and subsequent discussions with immigration officials. At the time, which is admittedly several years ago I did research the relevant immigration law which I had brought with me on my first return to the UK as a married man with his new wife, just in case I had any issues with Immigration. Of course there were no issues but I like to plan for the worst and if I was going to have a problem with Immigration I would rather speak from knowledge with evidence to back it up. I will admit though it is quite possible that the regulations have changed over the years, but I doubt it.

So your advice is based upon your experience several years ago; the regulations etc. have changed since then; for example the major changes to family immigration rules brought in with effect from 9th July 2012.

You must have missed those!

The advice I offer, which people are free to take or ignore, is based upon the current immigration rules, requirements, guidance etc. I endeavour to keep as up to date as possible with same; I believe it is the duty of anyone who offers advice on such an important subject to do so.

If you are going to offer such advice, maybe you should update your knowledge.

Immigration directorate instructions - Chapter 9: refusal of entry clearance, leave to enter or remain (immigration directorate instructions) would be a good place to start.

I think I can see why you have written in excess of eleven thousand posts, but that’s another matter.

Thank you for the reading matter but I really have no time or inclination to go through this.

You say “If you are going to offer such advice, maybe you should update your knowledge.”

In fact I have not offered any advice; I have not even suggested which channel Pete should go through. I have merely offered an accurate description of the legal layout and relayed my own experiences.

However I read with interest when you state clearly that a settlement visa with or without an ILR stamp does not carry the right of entry to the UK if the holder has been absent for more than two years or if the IO believes that the holder is no longer a UK resident, but I also note with a smile that you then finish these words of wisdom with “they would be allowed in as a visitor on that occasion.“…………... So, they wouldn’t be refused entry even in that circumstance !

SDM

An ILR stamp is not a visa; it is LTR. There is a difference.

By a visa 'granted on the basis of marriage' I assume you mean a settlement visa or a family visit visa. The situations I described above apply.

As you are so scathing about those you call '"experts" on these forums with an incomplete knowledge' perhaps you will tell us your qualifications and experience in this area?

1. I did not say an ILR was a visa.

2. I have no qualifications in this area, my comments are based upon experience and subsequent discussions with immigration officials. At the time, which is admittedly several years ago I did research the relevant immigration law which I had brought with me on my first return to the UK as a married man with his new wife, just in case I had any issues with Immigration. Of course there were no issues but I like to plan for the worst and if I was going to have a problem with Immigration I would rather speak from knowledge with evidence to back it up. I will admit though it is quite possible that the regulations have changed over the years, but I doubt it.

SDM

<p>

Remember most visas will give the traveller the right to travel to the UK, but actual entry is down to the IO on the day.

All visas, not most..

Incorrect, and that is the problems with "experts" on these forums with an incomplete knowledge.

Examples of visas where the IO at the border does not have the right to refuse entry are when a visa has been granted on the basis of marriage or a visa where the passport has an ILR stamp.

SDM

I did have a women at heatrow tell me my wife had to go in the non eu cue, I told here she didn't know what she was talking about and joined the eu cue and when I got to the desk verified it with the woman at the desk and pointed out their staff needed training better.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I had this conversation with a client who worked at immigration a few years ago. It's amazing how much more reasonable we can be discussing this in the comfort of our own offices as opposed to just having got off a long haul flight.

As I remember in legal terms it makes no difference which channel is used and the EU/Non EU division is merely a convenient device to allow the entrants who can be speedily dealt with to do just this and have them on their way as quickly as possible. However we are obliged to follow IO instructions given in the same way that the Police may ask us to go a certain way outside the airport in normal life.

With regard to the question of if our wives and GF can accompany us through the EU channel this is decided locally and usually it is a question of whether or not the IO has the right to refuse entry to the UK. If they do not have this right there is clearly no point to send them through the non EU channel, although the IO has every right to insist that a non EU citizen heads through the non EU channel. Remember most visas will give the traveller the right to travel to the UK, but actual entry is down to the IO on the day.

The reality is however that an IO in the EU channel dealing with a tired Brit, who has just finished a 24 or so hour journey without sleep and in a mood to match the journey, who is with his partner (who has a visa and no no reason to refuse entry), will just let them through.

SDM

Depends by what she means "approved". It is likely someone at a bank has just looked at her salary and said she could probably get a loan for x baht. Normally they wouldn't know for sure until the mortgage process has been completed, which is ;

1. Apply for the loan by giving a contract to purchase and original size copy of the title doc to the bank to support the application.

2. The bank will send the surveyor around

3. The local branch manager will approve and send to the head office for them to also approve

I am finding this process is taking an usually long time, the longest case so far for my firm was 3 months from start to stop.

Looking at the way the OP has been written it sounds as if this lady may have gone to a new development site that has a deal with a bank to lend and the rep may have said that she would get approval for a loan to purchase one of their condos.

SDM

Why buy the rental investment property in CM ? You should consider one of the more popular tourists locations such as Pattaya or Phuket. Even consider one of the residential areas of BKK.

SDM

Before we were married I would always accompany my now wife through the non- EU channel and it always used to astound me just how rude the Immigration Officers were. My wife spoke perfect English but listening to the other " desks" the quite frankly ignorant officers use the old English method of communicating with people from other countries who cannot speak English, ie to repeat the same question in ever increasing volume again and again. They don't have to speak English to visit as holiday makers !

SDM

no there not all lazy!!!!!!

Oh dear Jake. I think you mean 'they are not all lazy'. 'There' has a totally different meaning!

Probably more likely he intended to write " They're not all lazy", using the lazy combination of "They" and "are", and in reality it's a fair statement, the entire population cannot possible all be lazy can they ?

Incidentally, on a tangent, I have found the most common words and phrases I have heard are "mai pen rai" closely followed by, and sometimes in the same sentence, " mai dai" and " mai mee".

S

PS, I'm also hearing with more frequency the word " kaput". I'd love to know how this possibly found its way into the Thai language.

Actually if rather than a land transfer ever happening it is just a repeated transfer of the company owning the land presumably transfer fees or capital gains tax may be avoided in perpetuity.........?

Quite so, until the land is actually sold no profit is actually realized. Also the "changing of Director" route to alter control of a company is favored in this kind of instance since it is done without involving the Land Department so financially it is very efficient.

SDM

To set up a company for the sole purpose of owning land/property is not technically legal. Also since at least 51% of the company must be in Thai hands you may need nominee shareholders, which is also technically illegal. Having said all of that I have never known a case where the company has been challenged and I know many people that own/control property and land in this way.

The best way is to change the directors of the existing company that owns the land to you and yours, that's the way it's normally done, so you are not buying the existing company, it is just substituting directors. There is a bit of a spotlight at the moment on new company formations also.

Lawyers in Thailand are not quite the same as you may have been used to at home.

Do a search this subject it has been flogged to death on this forum.

SDM

I have searched & the sheer volume of comment gives no clarity at all.

If I just change directors then I will inherit the tax liabilty that will be attached to the uplift in price (value) of the land from it's original purchase to now.

I what to avoid this.

Hi Sid

The reason there is little clarity on the various threads is that the Forum has so many “experts” with differing opinions.

I am in this business and deal with this kind of thing every day.

What I have said is factually correct, although as with many things in Thailand, the Law is not enforced as much as it might be somewhere else.

I deal with many people that have set up brand new companies in order to use them as an “ownership” structure and as far as I know none have had any problem at all. The reason that different lawyers are given you different opinions is it depends on their contacts and confidence of whether the rules on company ownership can be ignored for their client, i.e. you. But if it all goes wrong it will be your problem and not theirs.

A new company is hard to set up for this purpose now because there is a spotlight on foreign ownership of businesses, an old company has already been set up and is very unlikely to be looked at, particularly one of this kind of age.

In terms of the tax liability I would assess it and knock it off what you pay the seller.

SDM

To set up a company for the sole purpose of owning land/property is not technically legal. Also since at least 51% of the company must be in Thai hands you may need nominee shareholders, which is also technically illegal. Having said all of that I have never known a case where the company has been challenged and I know many people that own/control property and land in this way.

The best way is to change the directors of the existing company that owns the land to you and yours, that's the way it's normally done, so you are not buying the existing company, it is just substituting directors. There is a bit of a spotlight at the moment on new company formations also.

Lawyers in Thailand are not quite the same as you may have been used to at home.

Do a search this subject it has been flogged to death on this forum.

SDM

The Boxster and Coxster Cayman could have been better than the 911 at any time if Porsche wanted them to be................

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Better is subjective and a matter of opinion, but faster definitely. But in this age of easy modifications anything can be made faster. I remember being flashed out of the way by an oik on the M4 in an Impreza. I booted my 996 thinking he would disappear over the horizon in my back window. But in reality he over took me in the next lane and I couldn't even match it's acceleration let alone catch it! If it's just about speed there is always faster.

SDM

The 911 will always be the 911...the rest will be what they are.

Sure thing, but there's one thing the 991 911's are that previous generations aren't....... drivable in rain

I normally keep my cars for three years and have had a 964 C2 tip, 993 C4 man, 996 C2 tip, and then threw the towel, wanted a bit of comfort and got a Cayenne. Whilst these were being serviced I was lent either a Boxter S or Boxter 2.7.

In my opinion the Boxter S had everything, speed and the most incredible road holding. But, and possibly only Porsche drivers will appreciate this, the 911s have a certain something, an X factor that nothing else in the range can match. A Boxter will take care of you, even if you overstep your driving skill it will say " there there, never mind, no harm done". A 911 will say " think you can control me ? We'll see about that "!!

In terms of road holding although admittedly the 964 was on a daily mission to try and kill me, the 993 and 996 were much better behaved as long as the "PSM" stays on !

The Cayenne was a weird one, at three tonnes it handled like a sports car, burnt petrol at a rate that made me feel the 911s were economical, but driving it I felt completely indestructible. Still, a very ugly beast.

SDM

The latent racism appalls me! In truth and certainly in Phuket if we could personality profile public vehicle drivers and stop giving licences to would be fighter pilots and racing drivers!