doublephil

My son has TOT fibre optic at his home - he has the cheapest package but still very fast and reliable and he's very pleased with it. It's only available in some areas in Chiang Mai - just like the 3BB fibre optic - so you really have to call in to one of their shops in the city and ask whether it's available in your location.

My son had a similar problem because his new Thai passport was issued whilst he was in Thailand using a UK passport. He tried to do an out/in at Maesai and swap passports but they insisted he re-enter on his UK passport. He took advice and flew to Vietnam for a short holiday leaving on his UK passport and then tried to re-enter at BKK with his Thai passport. He was still refused entry on his Thai passport and forced to use his UK passport again. Their computer system had the 2 passports linked - and their excuse was that they could not allow him to enter as a Thai national because he did not have an exit stamp in his (new) Thai passport. The Thai constitution guarantees the right of entry of any person of Thai nationality into the Kingdom - and he showed the IO a photocopy of the relevant section - but the IO was not interested and still refused. My son had a multiple Non-B visa so no problem to stay in Thailand - but the whole point of course is to get free of the immigration and working restrictions. Having failed twice he was reluctant to try again. Eventually, he was introduced to a "friendly" immigration officer and came to an arrangement. My son took the cheapest possible filght to Kuala Lumpur and when he arrived back at BKK he called the friiendly IO who met him inside the airport and stamped him in using his Thai passport. It is very difficult to understand why they make it so difficult in such cases even though the law "guarantees" the right of entry.

Just walking near the moat, the water still smells awful as usual this morning and considering that the moat has very large numbers of fish in it - and that there are not a large number of floating dead fish now - then either the chlorine was imaginary - or - it was put in the water that was checked after the water sample was taken from the moat. The stagnant water in the River Ping is just as bad or worse and stinks as usual this morning also.

I have a multiple entry Non-B visa and just changed my 1 year license for a 5 year license at Chiang Mai. Very simple - it only took a few minutes because I did it the day before the old license expired. If the previous license has already expired - they told me you have to do the colour blind eyesight + reaction tests again. All you need is your old license, passport with 1 year visa, medical letter from hospital and the confirmation of address document which is from immigration or your embassy/consulate.

What a lot of nonsense in reply to the OP. If you are buying shares in a limited company in Thailand - same as any company, anywhere - then you need to see the proper, published accounts of the company as submitted to the Thai Tax office by the company's accountants to see what "official" profit (or loss) was declared by the company over the past 2-3 years and you need to know the current shareholding details. In Thailand, limited companies must submit annual accounts and generally the accounting period is January 1st to December 31st. The accounts usually must be submitted before March 31st - but accountants can find creative ways of "extending" that on occasions. Examining the accounts will give you a picture as to how the company is performing - but remember there are many, many methods of "creative accounting" that may mean the real picture is not the same as the "official" version. - so beware. However, companies are are often performing better than what the official accounts show - because accounts are usually prepared to minimize tax liability.

It is the accounting information that is important from a financial investment point of view - not the percentage of shares - though that is important in other ways such as who legally controls the company. If you don't understand company accounts - find an independent accountant - not a lawyer - and who can give you a professional opinion as to what the shares are worth. Also you have not mentioned whether you will be a director of the company. This is also very important to consider - and it would be very sensible to be a director and a joint signatory on all official company matters - as that makes it more difficult for other people to cheat you by signing documents without your knowledge or consent - and if they do it will be illegal - and you will have a legal right to challenge any such action in a court.

Yes I know. They say "ignorance is bliss" - so you would expect there to be a lot of very happy people around on here - but there aren't - they're nearly all moaning and complaining about something or other

The news in the OP is not exactly how it was presented on Thai language TV news. According to my wife, the TV news report said that there are a number of wild fires burning in the Mae Hia district of Chiang Mai and in the adjacent Doi Suthep National Park. That is causing much increased smoke smog in Chiang Mai city today. The plane is being sent on a fire-fighting mission to try to contain the fires and prevent them from spreading further because the fires are in fairly remote areas which are inaccessible to conventional fire fighting vehicles. The authorities know it is only 1 plane - and can't do very much - but at least it's slightly better than doing nothing at all - and they want to show that they are actually trying to do something.

There is a huge and steadily increasing amount of real scientific information that shows that Glyphosate based agro-chemicals are extremely disruptive to life and are implicated in a wide range of serious and chronic human health problems. Virtually all scientific studies that conclude they are not harmful are those that have been funded by the big agro-chemical producers such as Monsanto. Independent research finds very strong reasons why we should all be verry afraid of Glyphosate based chemicals and their effect on the entire food chain in general and human health in particular. Have a look at some of the articles from the very well respected Dr Mercola website - here are a few links - but there are plenty more

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/15/glyphosate-health-effects.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/07/30/glyphosate-toxicity.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/14/glyphosate.aspx

My favorite "wild fire" a couple of days ago was the big bonfire burning at the front of the compound of the Amphur office at San Pa Thong throwing clouds of black smoke across the 108 Highway. With such blatant disregard by local officials of their own laws, how do they possibly expect anyone else to care?

My experience is that although - in theory - it is relatively easy to open a FCD account - in practice - finding a branch that is capable of opening one is difficult - and finding a branch where you can actually make a deposit or withdrawal is almost impossible. For example - Kasikorn website lists 3 branches in Chiang Mai with FCD facilities - but only 1 branch is actually capable - as my son found out recently - and he had to go to 5 of the listed branches in BKK to find one that was actually capable. I have similar experience with Bangkok Bank. The problem is staff ignorance and lack of training - as well as mis-information on the banks' websites

gopis 108 - I will send you a PM with my Architect's contact details. He does not speak much English - but he does understand quite a bit and can produce bi-lingual plans etc and seems to know a lot of technical words in English - so I hope you have someone who can speak Thai with him - I speak reasonable Thai - but I am not very familiar with various technical words so my wife needs to explain them to me in simpler language

We are currently building a 200 sq m 3 bedroom house in Chiang Mai. The architect has produced the full design and full building specifications with a very large number of detailed structural drawings, plans, elevations, etc for everything. He has made 2 revisions already and offers unlimited revisions and he also visits to inspect the construction on a regular basis and discuss any issues with the builder. Total cost 28,000 baht. Really pleased with him. Fantastic service.

I suggest a day trip to Doi Mae Salong - lots of beautiful mountain scenery, cool weather, great Chinese food, spend some time tasting (free) good Chinese tea in the tea shops (can buy some tea to take home), very interesting hilltribe markets selling exotic fruits and veg as well as hand-made jewellery, etc. It's a great day out for tourists - and usually not very busy except sometimes on weekends

For sure - there are good and bad people everywhere. 33 years of experience in Thailand tells me that the further away you are from tourist areas the more likely you are to find genuine, sincerely friendly and welcoming Thai people. I must agree with other contributors in saying that the overwelming majority of people in the North are very tolerant and friendly towards foreigners - maybe it is because there is such a diverse mix of different ethnic groups here already speaking all kinds of different languages - eg Kon Meuang, Tai Yai (Shan), Myanmar, Chinese, Central Thai, Hill Tribes, etc - so other types of foreigner such as Western just add a bit more to the mix - and you are generally treated exactly the same as anyone else. I love it here.

I don't think there is any real issue here. You have a legitimate foreign registered company and a legitimate multi-Non B visa and you are therefore legally able to conduct any work - as necessary - here in Thailand - for your foreign registered company - which is a permitted activity for anyone with a Non-B visa . A Work Permit is only for those who work for a Thai registered company. My situation is very similar, The Thai Embassy in London has explicitly told me I can work as much as I want in Thailand - as long as I am working for my UK company, paying UK tax, etc - and not working for a Thai company. Just get on with whatever you want to do - but as others have said - keep quiet - don't tell anyone who doesn't need to know about what you are doing - because lots of people , including (or maybe especially) government officials really don't know what is or is not actually permitted.

Local people in Chiang Mai tell me that declaring an "emergency" for cold weather allows local officials to get money from central government to provide assistance to those who need it - but, of course, very little of it, if any, actually goes to the people who really need help - I will leave it up to the reader to guess what happens to the money

I went to the dam mentioned a few days ago with my wife. I was shocked at how low the water level has dropped. Normally there are restaurants built out over the water where you sit on mats on the floor and eat in Lanna style - it's a very popular place to eat for local Thais. The eating areas are now high and dry about 30 feet (10 metres) above the water level - can't be good for business.

The drought is quite serious and lots of local farmers are very concerned. Our local river - which supplies a lot of irrigation water - just about manages to run throughout the dry season - though barely a trickle by March/April. At this time of year it should still be flowing well with run-off from the mountains - but it is already down to a trickle and local people predict it will dry up soon - for the first time in living memory - and local agriculture will grind to a halt for lack of water - which will be very serious indeed for a lot of people

Type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle choice. Eat enough unhealthy food and you can be assured of success at getting diabetes. The modern western diet almost guarantees that most people will get Type 2 diabetes at some point sooner or later. Processed "sugar-free" foods are of little or no help as they contain all kinds of artificial sweeteners, un-natural oils and other chemicals that increase appetite and sugar cravings. Pharmaceutical medications are not designed to "cure" diabetes - they just mask the real problem with temporary and partial relief of symptoms. It's a multi-billion dollar industry keeping people alive with continuing diabetes - they don't want anyone to get "cured" and lose all that income.

Type 2 diabetes can be easily prevented - and existing illness can be cured - by eating the right kinds of natural foods which significantly reduce the amount of sugar produced by the body and reduce insulin resistance so that the body can recover and achieve a natural balance. There are various herbs that are proven to help with this, e.g Cinnamon, Jiaogulan, etc. The scientific evidence for this is abundant - it is only denied by those who have a vested interest in allowing diabetes to continue. If you don't believe what others know to be true - then it's time to educate yourself - everyone must take responsibility for their own life.

The sun needs to be at an angle of at least 45 degrees or higher to have enough strength for the body to start making Vit D. That is no problem here in Thailand - except very early morning or very late afternoon. The higher the angle - the stronger the sun's rays and the less time required in the sun. Minimum time for high angle sun should be 10-15 minutes - if not wearing a shirt - but you need at least 30 minutes if only your face, arms, lower legs are exposed. The body auto-regulates Vit D production so it shuts down production once it has made enough - that's the wonder of nature. Vit D is essential for life and good health - and most Western people are deficient - which is a major factor in many chronic illnesses.

Limited exposure to sunlight for 10-30 minutes a day - and it doesn't need to be all at the same time - it can be a few minutes here and a few minutes there - will provide adequate Vit D - and carries almost zero risk of getting skin cancer - its simply not enough UV to cause such problems. There is far too much scaremongering by the medical profession + pharmaceutical industry - because sales of sun blocks, creams, lotions, etc is a multi-billion dollar business - from which lots of people rake in loads of money - so they perpetuate the myth about skin cancer

The herb normally used in traditional Thai medicine for hangovers and for both alcohol and drug detox in general is calld " Raang Jeud" - the scientific name is " Thunbergia laurifolia" - it is widely available as capsules at many pharmacy shops or anywhere else that sells food supplements or herbs

Locals here in Chiang Mai think they were trying to make - and sell - home-made fireworks for Loy Krathong - but must have been too clumsy mixing the chemicals