keestha

Go to the website of the Phuket Gazette, check the yellow pages.

Going about my daily routine I never carry my passport, also when I have to drive longer distances, like to one of the neighbouring provinces. But on longer trips, involving one or more nights away from home, I always take my passport with me. Granted, there is always a small risk if you don't carry your passport with you at all times like you are legally obliged to.

A far bigger risk than eating at a street stall is eating in a seafood restaurant in a touristy place, at a time of the year when there are not so many tourists around.

Not a very complicated matter I would think. You will need a licence to sell Thai alcoholic beverages, and another one to sell imported liquor. If you are selling cigarettes you also need a licence for that, and some but not all municipalities also require a licence to sell food. At the different upcountry locations where I have operated restaurants, I always obtained these licences without any trouble at the ampher (municipality).

In Bangkok, or more specifically Thonglor, I wouldnt know where to go, but why don't you just ask in a Thonglor restaurant or bar where they have these licences displayed behind the counter, as they are legally obliged to?

The first half of 1993 I was travelling around in southern Thailand, with the idea of starting a business somewhere. At one point somebody told me there was a French guy running an establishment called Queen Melinda in Patong, who knew a lot about hotel/restaurant/bar business in Thailand.

So I took the bus from Krabi to Phuket town, took a room in the On On Hotel, and the next day I was off to Patong Beach. Patong back then was just a few hundred meters of Beach Road, and maybe 7 or 8 sois leading inland. Continuously enquiring about Queen Melinda, I walked up and down the beach road and all the sois, and after about two hours I was definitely sure there was no place called Queen Melinda, nobody had heard of it.

Imagine how it would be now walking around looking for Jimmy's bar, Wolfgang's bierstube or Giovanni's pizzeria. You could spend two weeks walking around in Patong, and still not be sure if there was really no place bearing that name. It could be somewhere tucked away in a small soi behind a hotel, or wherever.

My general impression is that beach resorts grow in explosions. If you take the number of bars as a yardstick, for a long time there are only 2 bars, then suddenly there are 8, you blink your eye and then it has become 23, soon after which another growth spurt takes place which brings the number up to 60+.

Wentworth,

I was a full time forex trader for a bit more than a year, it was about 15 years ago. Initially I won nicely. and I thought myself to be very clever, taking hundreds of dollars out of thin air. Later I lost.

You are seriously researching the subject, and I assume you know already that the vast majority of forex traders is losing money. The 10% or so who are winning, will they still be winning one year down the road?

My experience is that there are simply too many factors influencing currency movements, it is like predicting next month's wheather.

Why don't you look at alternatives, such as trading commodities, or buying stocks of promising upstart companies? Then you might have better chances of accurately predicting which way the market will move.

Probably people participating in internetforums like this one, are a bit more internet savvy than many other computer users.

People falling for phishing scams and so on, do so not because they are stupid, but because they don't know.

Many times acquaintances forwarded me fake virus warnings, and every time I felt obliged to mail back explaining that the person who started it, urging receivers to forward it to everybody they know, only did so in order to enjoy the snowball effect.

Most extreme example I have come across: A Dutch guy walked into the establishment I was running at the time, accompanied by his Thai wife. He requested my help to translate something his wife was trying to tell him. I briefly spoke to her in Thai, and it appeared that her ID card was about to expire, she had to go to Nongkai to renew it. The guy told me they had been married for 3 years.

It left me wondering how a marriage can function if communication is so limited.

If I understood correctly, it is the OP who wanted the truck, and decided to have it put in his girlfriend's name. It wouldn't be fair to just walk away and leave her with a debt. I would try to make a clean break, which could mean continuing the monthly payments till the truck has been sold. I would also enquire with the finance company, if any money still would be owed after repossession.

Obviously the OP has to discuss this with his girlfriend, but breaking up a household means that things have to be discussed anyway.

Just to make sure I would have the copy of the birth certificate authorized at the office where it was issued. If you are still on speaking terms with your ex wife, ask her to write a letter inviting you to come to Thailand to visit your child. The letter should be accompanied by a signed copy of her ID card. At the consulate/embassy you could ask for a multiple entry, but don't be surprised if you are only given a single entry.

The website of the Thai ministry of foreign affairs has this to say about this type of visum:

Foreign citizen who wishes to visit Thailand for business purpose may apply for a three-year Non-Immigrant Visa “B”. This type of visa may be issued to businessmen for multiple-entries and is valid for 3 years. It allows holder to visit Thailand as often as required for as long as the visa remains valid and allows holder to stay in Thailand for a period of not exceeding 90 days during each visit. Employment of any kind is strictly prohibited for holder of such visa.

Once I discussed this subject, in a theoretical way, with Thai people. What I understood is that for (many) Thais, if two people are living as husband and wife (also if not legally married), if one of the partners has debts incurred before she/he started living together with the present partner, then also the present partner is obliged to pay for these debts, maybe even if he/she didn't know about it.

Not every Thai might have the same sense of justice, but be aware that here the clock might tick differently then in the west, where nobody in his right mind would bother you personally about old debts of your live in girlfriend.

Be careful, and I hope you and your girlfriend will find a way out of this predicament.

Being financially dependent on tourism, I don't exactly loose sleep over the fact that the Baht has weakened to 52 to the Euro. It could at least partially offset the effects of flights having become more expensive, and prices having risen in Thailand. Also exporters probably still feel good at the moment.

On the other hand, inflation is spiralling out of control, and minimum wages don't rise much......which spells trouble. Imports are affected, and so on.

Who has a better idea of the bigger picture?

Hi,

This is my first post, however I have been reading posts on this forum for a while.

I am 36 years old, married to a Thai lady, we have 2 kids, and we currently live in the UK.

We are planning to open a resort in Krabi in the future.

We currently have about 40 Million Baht, which is not enough to buy the land and build what I have in mind.

For what I have in mind I estimate we will need 65 Million Baht.

Currently I have two plans, and was looking for some feedback / advise.

Plan 1.

Buy the land I need, at todays price this would be about 20 Million Baht.

(Would it be possible to buy the land in one of my childrens names?)

Continue working & saving / investing for another 5 or 6 years, then move to Thailand to build the resort.

Plan 2.

Buy the land for 20 Milion Baht, and use the spare 20 Million + a 25 Million Baht bank loan to build the resort.

(Would a Thai bank even lend us the money?)

All feedback is welcome.

OP,

The land could be put on the name of one of your kids, if he/she has Thai nationality. The alternatives would be establishing a company limited who then buys the land, or putting the land in your wife's name.

Yes Thai banks do lend money to build resorts, the land plus what is built on it will function as collateral. Banks are much more willing to consider a loan if you have started building already, plus of course they will want to see the building plan.

Hi All. We are currently saving to go back to live in Thailand (upcountry). We plan to bouild a bar/small restaurant on land we already own. I have the following questions:

1. Do we need any sort of planning permission (it's a village, and the land is adjacent to shops etc)

2. Do we need permits/licenses ?

3. Is it better to set up a comany or operate as individuals re tax ?

My wife is a Thai national and I am British. Any advice or useful neggets of information/experience gratefully received

OP,

In case you are still here, I'll simply answer your questions one by one:

1. Technically you would need a building permit from the local orbortor. Let your wife enquire.

2. You need a permit to sell Thai liquor, a permit to sell imported liquor, and a permit to sell cigarettes. Some municipalities also require a permit to sell food, let your wife enquire at the ampher (municipality)

3 . As far as taxes and bookkeeping costs are concerned, it is much cheaper if the business is in your wife's name. But it also has the consequence you might loose your investment if your marriage would break up.

That's it. Oh and aren't you delighted that well meaning people are showering you with advice you didn't ask for?

At one point my old avator just disappeared, and instead of it this one came. I kind of grew attached to it though, maybe I'll have it printed on a T shirt.

The story didn't surprise me. Tucked away in villages and non touristy small towns there are probably many similar cases. Local authorities know little about immigration rules, and as long as the person doesn't make waves and never leaves the area, his status will never be checked.

Rodders,

Most likely when you are in Thailand you will find out soon enough that your money won't last four years, especially if you have all day to spend it. Sure the cost of living here is far lower than in the UK, but nevertheless it is a place where it is easy to spend a lot of money. If I were you, I would get some kind of a teaching certificate (?TEFL), and work as an English teacher, maybe till you see a more interesting opportunity.

Cheers, Kees.

Take no chances! If you fancy a Thai lady, first have her checked by a private investigator. If the result is satisfactory, make it a condition that before the first date she has to submit to an interrogation by a competent professional such as a psychologist.

You cant be careful enough out there.

a little fact, it seems from my experiance that only the husbands name can go on th b/c. i was the father/am and the thai authorities would not allow my name on the b/c unless we married. i checked this fact in korat and pattaya. now married and name on b/c. stay away from another mans problem. or adopt mother and child, i suspect thats the long term aim here.

Egg, how long ago was that? Last year in Phuket I didn't have any problem to get my name on the b/c, though I am not married with the child's mother.

People soliciting donations for whatever cause are legally obliged to have some kind of an ID card stating for instance that they are authorized to raise money for the so and so foundation. I think I would ask to see a "bat pra jam tua", it is like a general expression for other ID cards than the normal ID card every Thai citizen has.

You have to go to an office which is called panit changwat , there is one in every provincial capital. They can supply you with a list of documents you need for establishing a company ltd. The list will be in Thai. If you cannot speak Thai, take somebody with you who can.

If you don't speak Thai and your contacts with Thais are limited to men/women who speak English well and like to "befriend" foreigners, chances are you will have disappointments both in love and in attempts to do business.

I'm wondering how many foreigners have had bad experiences with English speaking Thai women they met through the internet. For the gullible male, the internet might be a more dangerous environment than the often villified bar.

Social Security entitles you to free treatment at a government hospital. When I register staff for the SS I have to list 3 government hospitals they can go to. You can also list a hospital in another province, so besides 2 hospitals in the province where I reside, I also list one government hospital in a neighbouring province which is much better staffed and equipped. If you have contributed to the SS fund long enough, you are entitled to a pension which is 15% of your salary. And if you get a child, no matter if you are male or female, you receive 15.000 Baht, also if you are not married.

Spitfire,

Be aware also the marriage party can become pretty expensive. The marriage party, like the dowry (sin sod), is a way for the Thai family to show off . Inviting 10 people to the local noodleshop and ordering 2 bottles of Saengsom with soda and ice won't do the trick. Discuss beforehand with your wife how much money you are willing to spend on the party.