keestha

Labour offices will be much more interested in diplomas than in practical skills such as speaking various languages.

Letting the boy talk to a psychologist maybe wouldn't help much. I would try to get hold of somebody who has done jailtime in Thailand (but who has bettered his ways) who can make it very clear to him what he is heading for, assuming he doesn't get shot.

Don't forget the old holiday destinations in Europe have become prohibitively expensive. Greece for instance has a higher price level than Germany.

Personally I wouldn't go through great lengths to keep the kid entertained. If the boy really gets bored, your friend will leave soon enough. It would be nice if you could provide a bicycle for him to ride around on. Oh well, maybe he'll be sitting in a corner the whole day, playing video games on some kind of portable device. Good luck.

It was Chiang Mai, then Phuket, then Krabi...and now Ao Nang. I'm looking for a place that has beautiful beaches, fewer tourists (than Phukets main areas), cheap rentals (less than 10,000THB/month for a decent place), and moderate nightlife (pubs and a couple of small clubs). Gotta find a place in Thailand to stay for 5 months, from October 08 till March 09....wanna relax a lot but not get bored while doing it. My idea was Nai Harn/Rawai/Kata Noi in Phuket...but all are too expensive.. Is Ao Nang the perfect place for me?

You could go and have a look at Khao Lak. It might be exactly what you are looking for. Lots of beautiful beaches, definitely less tourists then Patong, and yes there is moderate nightlife.......we have pubs, and I'm not sure what you mean by "small clubs", but there are drinking places anyway.

As far as accomodation is concerned, since you are staying 5 months it might be worth considering renting an unfurnished house, and buying some basic furniture yourself, that you might be able to sell when you leave. Would work out a lot cheaper than staying in a hotel or bungalow resort for 5 months.

It might be easier to make a border run than you think. Buy a Phuket Gazette, and in the classifieds section you will see many ads of companies organizing border runs from Phuket to Ranong. It could turn out to be a nice family outing.

Angsamarine and Wassana are beautiful Thai girl's names, and easy to pronounce for westerners. But probably your wife (assuming she is Thai) will give your daughter a nickname like Lek, Nit or Noi anyway.

Here in Phuket we own a 10-room guesthouse. It is not classified as a hotel since it has less than 12 guest rooms.

The local OrBorTor has now visited us to advise (for the 1st time in 2 years), that we have to pay a tax to them based upon the number of guest-rooms we have, the nightly rate per room, the fact that we have a restaurant and that we also have a swimming pool.

Does anyone have more details about this tax?, what legislation is relevant concerning this tax etc??

The actual tax is called rongreun (โรงเรือนที่ดิน)

Thanks

Simon

I have a 14 room resort in Khao Lak (Phangnga), and I have to pay the rongruen tax to the OrBorTor every year in February. This year it was 16104 Baht. It is calculated according to the number of rooms and the nightly rates. When I go to the OrBorTor to pay this tax, they only ask about the rooms and not about other facilities such as the restaurant.

By the way the tax for your signposts (I think it is simply called phasee paai) you also have to pay to the OrBorTor.

Not sure if I am posting this in the right forum, but I think there are a few posters here who are active in real estate development, and one of them might be able to answer my question.

Suppose parcel of land B is only accessible through parcel of land A, does this put the owner of parcel A under the obligation to provide right of way?

I would reckon yes, but suppose the owner of parcel B starts a business on his land like a guesthouse, bar or restaurant, would the owner of parcel A also be obliged to tolerate the passing through of customers of parcel B’s owner?

According to the law of my native country, right of way has to be provided by the neighbour if there is no access through a public road, but the inconvenience has to be limited to a minimum.

Small chance to find out something this way (posting in a webforum). When Thai authorities, after having been requested to do so by the French embassy, go looking for him, most likely they will first see if he left a paper trail in the form of credit card use or cashing in of travellers cheques, or mobile phone use. Calling the hospitals/clinics in Krabi would also make sense. But right now I don't think they would start doing this already, the guy has only been missing for 2 weeks.

When I still had a bit of a drinking habit, I wasted quite a bit of time late at night reading senseless threads to the bottom. I knew that what I was reading made no sense, but somehow my eyes stayed glued to the screen.

Nowadays I skim through the threads quickly, and often discard a thread after reading the first few posts.

In my beginning days in Thailand once I was staying in a beach resort in the South. I was chatting with the waitress, who at some moment said she was going to sleep. I wanted to say I was also going to sleep, but instead of that I informed her that I was going to sleep with her. (Phom ja pai nawn douay, mispronouncing douay).

Later I worked in an office in Bkk. Once the housekeeper asked if she could take away my coffeecup. I wanted to answer affirmatively, but instead of that I surprised her with a vulgar expression for sexual intercourse. ( said au dai instead of kep dai).

Talking with a colleague about a woman who was working in the same office, I wanted to say that she had two children. Instead of that I said something which was interpreted as me saying she had two balls. (said khao mee sawng look, should have been khao mee look sawng khun).

I admire the perseverence shown by both CarlBkk and the GOM. They should unite to fight for a cause which is worth it.

Interesting to note how easy it would be to use the internet to make a lot of people gang up against somebody they don't know and have never heard of before. They will just take for granted what is being written by somebody they also don't know. You don't know the real story untill you have seen the real thing. and maybe heard the story from both sides.

Mind you I am not talking about this particular case. Just philosophizing about what could theoretically happen.

Wife is looking into opening some sort of mini market on her own. Now the idea interests me as it could be a way of some small income for her. Anyway I found quit some info on what or how to open a 7Eleven but hardly no info on the Family Market side.

Which of the 2 would be the most interesting and profitable or easy to work with?

Thanks for the help

I'm wondering why you don't mention other similar chains than just these two? There are V shop and lemon green, and maybe there are more that I can't think of now. AM/PM I haven't seen in a while, not sure if it still exists.

In a beach resort town, the combination of cheap food, hotels and so on AND a sophisticated public is impossible. For those who have a problem with that, may I suggest moving to Aruba, the French Riviera or Florida.

Bratski,

Just to make sure: the title of your post reads "non immigrant multiple entry 4X90 days".......Are you aware of the fact that you can still make a new 90 days entry on the last day the visa is valid, so that it is in fact 5X90 days? I am asuming you hold a multiple entry visa which is valid for 1 year.

Back in 2002 I left Thailand through Phuket Airport. The immigration officer didn't recognize my last entry stamp (Myanmar/Ranong), all he saw was a Don Meuang entry stamp which would have resulted in a heavy overstay if it would have been the last entry stamp. I kept on pointing at the Ranong entry stamp, imploring him to look at it in order to verify I didn't have overstay. He couldn't be convinced though, and I was taken out of the line and told to sit down and wait. I couldn't repress the thought that the other people waiting in line were looking at me thinking I was some kind of a criminal. A higher up had to come who checked the computer, and soon I was given the all clear. Maybe it is just that all they see at Phuket Airport are regualr fly in fly out tourists.

I experienced it is extremely complicated to get a TAT licence in the name of a company limited. The TAT branch I dealt with also told me a company which does not have a Thai director who is authorized to sign on behalf of the company, cannot be given a licence. To get a licence on the name of a Thai national is fairly simple. He/she will have to register the business at the appropriate provincial office (obatoh changwat). You will need photos of the travel agency or the tour counter. The required deposit is only 10.000 Baht if you are only retailing tours which are organized by other persons or companies. Two persons/companies whose tours you are selling, will also have to sign and stamp a paper stating that you are selling their tours. Just consult your local TAT office, their requirements might be different than those applied by the office I was dealing with. Good luck.

Bagwain,

Does page number 5 of your work permit say that you have been granted permission to work for the duration of 1 year? ("work period") It is at the bottom of the page.The word "year" is written in Thai, just one letter with a small sign above it.

Normal wells made of concrete rings can run dry sometimes, especially after a dry spell in the high season when many big hotels are pulling for water. If the well is almost empty, the water won't be so clean anymore. A deep well is obviously the better solution. For a fixed price, they drill into the ground till they hit a layer of rock. In my case: 19 meters. The neighbour was luckier, 40 meters. Then a PVC pipe and the pump are installed. I also have an emergency backup system, consisting of a second smaller pump that can be temporarily used in case the main pump has a problem. Using a deep well, you are sure to have water the whole year round.

A work permit for a Myanmar national is a plastic card that gives him/her the right to work in the province where the work permit is issued, for the duration of 1 year. Every year a (brief) time window is opened to apply for work permits for Myanmar nationals. Contact the labour office (leng ngaan) in Phuket for more detailed information.

Note: it could be that the information supplied above is already outdated. Contact the labour office, and please let us know the outcome.

David,

I would not rely exclusively on a consulate for information. They might be not so sure about what exactly the rules are. Consider contacting also the ministry of foreign affairs, office of passport division, head office,

address:

Department of Consular Affairs

Thanon Chaengwattana

Laksi BANGKOK

Tel. 0-2981-7171

When friends come visiting in the low season, I always take them to Khao Sok for a day. There are 2 walking trails that you can negotiate without a guide, both of them start at the park headquarters. One trail simply follows the river going up, and the other one goes straight north from the headquarters, you will see when you get there. Take swimming gear with you. The boattrip on the lake is also very nice, you will have to go to the dam which is about 70 KM east of the headquarters, turnoff to the left at the town Tha Khun.

2 Years ago we were in the market for a new car, so we went to dealerships of all the makes in Phuket. I know very little about cars, so we didn't have any preference for a specific make or brand. Bizarrely enough at quite a few of these dealerships they seemed hardly interested in us. We finally settled on purchasing a Ford, and their service was fully satisfying.