TroyT

If you really focus on that interview then the question 'Is Thailand even a Developing Country' .... whilst such a person is their leader ... must surely come to mind.

I have little time for politicians: Yingluck however in that interview comes over as someone who would strive to be a legitimately democratically-elected leader anywhere ... even Somaliland ... which is merely a joke and a non sequitur as [allegedly] Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared de facto sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia..

What?

Is your real name Yingluck or do you both use the same scriptwriter?

Read it again and this time pay attention

No good, tried it in Google translate and my laptop blew up.

Thankfully ... hopefully the nearest internet cafe is a long way off.

Google translate ... ??? ... how yesterday!

If you really focus on that interview then the question 'Is Thailand even a Developing Country' .... whilst such a person is their leader ... must surely come to mind.

I have little time for politicians: Yingluck however in that interview comes over as someone who would strive to be a legitimately democratically-elected leader anywhere ... even Somaliland ... which is merely a joke and a non sequitur as [allegedly] Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared de facto sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia..

What?

Is your real name Yingluck or do you both use the same scriptwriter?

Read it again and this time pay attention

If you really focus on that interview then the question 'Is Thailand even a Developing Country' .... whilst such a person is their leader ... must surely come to mind.

I have little time for politicians: Yingluck however in that interview comes over as someone who would strive to be a legitimately democratically-elected leader anywhere ... even Somaliland ... which is merely a joke and a non sequitur as [allegedly] Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared de facto sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia..

here we go!...once the income stops flowing they will finally wake up

You think?

.

Retirement Visa ?

I thought there is no such thing. I learnt here that it is only an extention of stay.

Correct...there is not such thing as a "Retirement Visa" or a "Marriage Visa"

It is an Extension of Stay based on retirement or marriage to a Thai national.

Someone go to Chiang Mai immigration and put them right please.

On my last annual renewal they stamped in red on the top (for some reason) 'Retirement Visa'

I wish these semantics would stop.....extension, renewal, visa......who the heck really cares what it is called, as long as it's for another year and we all know what the person means, so why the need to pick them up?

As I said if it really bothers you, pop along to CMI and give them a mouthful.

Someone must have picked up the wrong stamp!

Just looked at my retirement extensions for the last few years from CM Imm. The stamp mark [just in English] at the top for the last two years states 'Retirement' ------------- no 'visa' and no 'extension' Prior to that it was just in Thai.

Just trying to make the water fractionally less muddy for others

The rapaciouness of the Thai government never ceases to amaze me.

Long words are most effective when spelt correctly

For the people of LOS to recognise what is really going on would truly be a fairytale ending

Haha lots of cynical peeps here while you cannot buy a house legally in Thailand you can buy one for your LONG TERM partner and protect yourself 100% its just takes a bit of research but I personally know many guys here that live happily in their houses with their wives and kids without even an iota of fear they will be homeless any time soon or lose their home even if they were to split up.

99% of the posters here have no clue and are just spouting regurgitated crap and it just takes a little proper research to show you can control a property 100%

"It has only recently been discovered that ketamine can cause very serious bladder problems with severe pain and difficulty passing urine, and can even result in surgical removal of the bladder."

http://www.talktofrank.com/drug/ketamine

Allegedly - toilets in prison are dangerous places and best avoided anyway!

1. 1.

   informal

   criticize (someone or something) severely.

   "the movie was panned by the critics"

Jaysus, the f***ing Google generation, if it's not on Google they have no capability to think for themselves.

Google is turning the whole world dumb.

As an alternative to taking the instruction manual out of the wrapping, watch this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWKq39BS5yE

Of course this makes the assumption that you have connected your TV to your network.

"Generally we admire the thing that we are not" http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/thinking-smart-understanding-intelligence.html

Hopefully Sterling will also rise. Not much as of now, but perhaps there is sunshine and happiness ahead for those of us with UK money.

It's been a long and painful time for those of us that were here in the days of 70 baht to the pound.

Someone always has to piss on your parade. I arrived here for good [?] in May 2007 during those relative halcyon days.

However: Every cloud has a silver lining for those who are willing [able?] to bide their time.

Certainly not in the least wishing ill on our hosts. Wishing ill on those who manipulate our world for their personal gain, when they already have more than enough, is a very different story.

I can only answer

The sales office at the end of my road currently has a sign outside offering 110% home loans on new houses.

I'll take a photo and post it, if it's out next time I drive by.

A friend of mine is currently buying a second-hand property for 1.5Mbht, the bank official suggested he upped his loan application to 1.8Mbht to give him a little extra to spend on refurbishing. This was last week.

I can only answer

The sales office at the end of my road currently has a sign outside offering 110% home loans on new houses.

I'll take a photo and post it, if it's out next time I drive by.

A friend of mine is currently buying a second-hand property for 1.5Mbht, the bank official suggested he upped his loan application to 1.8Mbht to give him a little extra to spend on refurbishing. This was last week.

That's concerning for the future - very concerning as it appears to be a familiar path to oblivion.

However, anyone aware of such offerings prior to the '97 problem?

Do you know? Indeed does anyone really know? The total inventory that the banks still have on their books [written at totally unrealistic 'values'] from the '97 problem? I haven't been to an auction since the first farce I attended a couple of years back. Out of 315 lots only 10 sold. The reason only ten sold was predominantly due to shills from the banks concerned who 'bid' against genuine buyers or simply waved lots through; preventing anyone from bidding. If they sell then their 'assets' have to be written down in their books to their true value - ouch!.

Banks in Thailand aren't allowed (by law) to sell repossessions for less than the outstanding loan.

This is not a 'shill', they are just pointing out the outstanding loan amount which gives the minimum sale price for the property.

Do you know? Indeed does anyone really know? The total inventory that the banks still have on their books [written at totally unrealistic 'values'] from the '97 problem? I haven't been to an auction since the first farce I attended a couple of years back. Out of 315 lots only 10 sold. The reason only ten sold was predominantly due to shills from the banks concerned who 'bid' against genuine buyers or simply waved lots through; preventing anyone from bidding. If they sell then their 'assets' have to be written down in their books to their true value - ouch!.

Banks in Thailand aren't allowed (by law) to sell repossessions for less than the outstanding loan.

This is not a 'shill', they are just pointing out the outstanding loan amount which gives the minimum sale price for the property.

"Banks in Thailand aren't allowed (by law) to sell repossessions for less than the outstanding loan."

Correct - but to my knowledge Thai banks never handed out 100[+?]% [true market value] loans; prior or post 1997. Not to the peons anyway!

"This is not a 'shill'"

Not being there and being party to the facts how could you possibly know?

Most recently with GBP dropping the wails reached a crescendo with the

"we will never see 45 baht again! I wished I had changed all my money!

Woe is me!..." and so on. Well now that sterling has returned to 45

baht, they will be quietly saying to themselves " I'll just wait until

it reaches 47" and then when it reaches 47, wait to 48 and when it hits

48, let's hang on till 50... And then it drops below 45 and the wailing

kicks off again. This goes on for ever.

A public announcement sponsored by Leo. Cheers!

Currently 46 on XE.

I am waiting until it reaches at least 70 baht - £ before i transfer any of my money

Of course there is another sing-song karaoke specially written for Sterling when it going through one of its lurches downwards. ' The pound is f****d, the UK is f*****d, its all the fault of the socialists/evil Etonian Cameron/the EU/immigrants/My Aunt Fannie and the Pope'. When, to their surprise sterling goes up, chests are pumped up and the song slips into 'if only we weren't in the EU sterling would be strong again. Bastard EU/Frogs/Krauts/Romanians/Polish plumbers stealing our jobs..' This karaoke refrain is synchronised in all Thailand bars with the names Dog and Duck, Duck and Dog, Dogs <deleted>, Queen Victoria, and The Unhappy Teacher.

Some hurt obviously lurking deep in your psyche ... bless

12 Thai bashing, respectively irrelevant and/or ridiculous layman's postings. more please

Naam you are as blind as a bat while pompously leading people astray. Who appointed you the guru of finances for the financial forums, when you know nothing of macroeconomics?

Just LOOK at your posts. They are smart ass remarks, not real information backed by facts. You think you are the master of the one-liner, but you actually say nothing beyond attempting to make yourself sound important.

You are also dead wrong. You should go hide somewhere before you cost some poor blokes their life savings.

How about some facts instead of pompous one-liners?

Link March 9, 2013 Emphasis mine.

"...Thai state controlled banks are in trouble. The SME Bank and IslamBank have combined bad debt of nearly Bt80 billion. If privately owned they would already be bust! Krung Thai Bank’s lending portfolio has high exposure to government-related projects, The government Housing Bank is lending to subprime homeowners, similar to the US subprime home market.

But the real story is the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC). The debt incurred by the rice and other crop intervention schemes now stands at a whopping Bt601,072 billion – and that’s not a typing error. Equal to 0.5% of Thailand’s GDP!

In the end the government will have to fiscalise the debt of the state-owned banks. Fresh figures indicate Bt700 billion already.

Unfortunately the monetary policy is focusing on boosting growth rather than safeguarding price stability. Incredibly, the government sees little risk in asset price bubbles?

In the “Keeping an eye on Excesses” report (27.02.12) asset prices in Thailand are growing to create financial imbalances. The BOT still keeps the interst rate below inflation, yielding a negative rate of 0.85%. Between 2005 and present the BOT has maintained, on average, a negative interest rate of 0.35%. This reflects the governments pro-growth policy and has forced money into speculative investments.The Thai rate is already one of the lowest in the region and asset price bubbles are forming, yet FInance Minister Kittiratt Na Ranong still favours further rate cuts.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has twice doubled since 2009, rising from 400 in 2009 at the height of the US financial crisis, to 800 in mid-2011. Now it has almost doubled itself again by passing the 1,500 mark. Jarumporn Chotkiasathira has come out to warn of at least 120 stocks whose prices and valuations indicate a ‘bubble’.

Banking authorities are ignoring this and doing nothing to stem inflows into the market.

Important to note for foreign investors is that the Real Estate market is showing signs of price bubbles. Since 2009 real estate prices have surged 36% – ahead of a cumulative inflation rate of 15% over the same period. The middle classes and low income families will have a more difficult time owning homes if land and real estate prices continue this trend.

Bank loans to individuals have been jumping sharply from 15% in 2005 to almost 25% presently. As a result, Thai household debt is rising at an alarming rate. The National Economic and Social Development Board has come up with an outstanding household debt figure of Bt2.9 trillion:

21% Car loans

33% Motorcycle loans

29% Personal loans

The asset price bubbles and financial imbalances in the private and public sectors are worrying signs that should be dealt with early. Global economic recovery is slim, as evidenced by negative growth rates in the US, EU and Japan int he last quarter of 2012.

The Thai government should cut its populist and mega-project spending. The BOT must take the punch bowl away instead of waiting for the party to be over.

These inflated prices cannot be maintained. Better investment value can be found easily in other parts of Asia."

A post based on facts and realities ... or as near as such a thing exists.

Do you know? Indeed does anyone really know? The total inventory that the banks still have on their books [written at totally unrealistic 'values'] from the '97 problem? I haven't been to an auction since the first farce I attended a couple of years back. Out of 315 lots only 10 sold. The reason only ten sold was predominantly due to shills from the banks concerned who 'bid' against genuine buyers or simply waved lots through; preventing anyone from bidding. If they sell then their 'assets' have to be written down in their books to their true value - ouch!.

Smoke and Mirrors ... time for a light-hearted [?] aside.

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

Carl Sagan

A delusion is something that people believe in despite a total lack of evidence.

Richard Dawkins

No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities.

Christian Nestell Bovee

When all else fails there's always delusion.

Conan O'Brien

Getting rid of a delusion makes us wiser than getting hold of a truth.

Ludwig Borne

Money, again, has often been a cause of the delusion of the multitudes. Sober
nations have all at once become desperate gamblers, and risked almost
their existence upon the turn of a piece of paper.

Charles Mackay