Phuketboy

What is it with these <removed> slashing and stabbing people. Why is it that there is always a knife or gun involved and it is always a group? Even when there is a incident, it is never one on one, it is always a group of thai's against one other.

I have a bachelor of education and had 7 years of teaching experience before leaving the profession to go back into business. I'm now running both a company here and a company in Australia plus studying for my MBA. There is no way in hell I would ever work for less than 120,000 per month. That is a starting wage for most graduates in other countries and certainly anyone mid career should be asking much more than this. People don't get higher education to earn less than retail assistants in their own country, so I can't understand why people settle for crap money here? The minimum wage for a foreign worker is dependant on the region your from, however for most of Europe, Australia, America etc it's 50,000. I can't believe people have taken jobs for less than this.

Great info!

with one of the Thai shareholders signing over to you at the same time.

Can you explain more about this point, "signing over to you" is like he or she is giving their rights to you? I didn't know about that.

At the time of setting up the company or after company is set up, get the Thai with the ordinary shares to sign/transfer their 49% over to you. It is easier to do at the same time they sign the shares section when setting up the company. The lawyer will hold onto the signed transfer form until the company setup is complete and then submit it one month later. If your lawyer is already in the process of setting your company up, get them to get this ready and make sure they split the shares as described. If you don't the thai's can get together and oust you out of the company. Your lawyer should know all about this setup/protection process. Where abouts are you located? If in Phuket, I can provide details of my lawyer.

I am not sure if this help you but this was my experience.

we are trying to open a limited company with my thai girlfriend, I worked in IT several years and she too, we have a real online business purpose, and to operate internationally we need to use gateway payments and other things that only work with non personal business, limited company is ok.

In Thailand for open limited company she need 2 partners more, the owners that can be friends or family with a percentage of investment, she need 1M to show in some way, but with the advice of accounting and business thai people she can do it as a temporal loan and just pay 15k to do all the paperwork registration and finally the 1M baht is not needed (ok this seems illegal but apparently for thai people is just a paperwork to be done)

Work Visa part

She asked about what she need get me a visa, the Non B and a work permit can be done but as a worker, I can't be one of the owners probably because the complexity and the upper amount of investment (I think was 2M but now after the crackdown the amount is bigger from 3M to 10M) still not sure, but to get the work permit they will do all the paperwork for 30k

But you need to count that for 1 farang worker you need to add 4 thai people worker so in the case of the limited company we have 3 owners, 1 farang 4 thai people workers

you need to pay the medical stuff to the government (sorry don't not how to call it) that is the percentage of the income is around 5-10%

I don't know the minimum salary for thai people (at this point I just reject the offer) but should be 6 or 8 k per month

The amount was 3,6k per month for the 4 thai people (probably there is a law about the minimum when a farang is on the team)

and for the farang more

the minimum income for a farang based in the actual thai rule is depending from your nationality

Europe and North America 50k per month

Japan, Korea, Singapore etc 45k

Russia, Eastern Europe, South America and South Africa 35k

Africa, Asia 25k

At this point we are just starting and really no way to contract Thai people, I usually work by projects and subcontract from my income, impossible to contract 4 thai to get them idle in a small office, but for she is pretty good since she can operate from any country remotely while we traveling, not need to contract more people in that terms.

You could have set your company up without showing any money (1m or 2m etc). To set the company up, you need 3 shareholders/partners. Do this in 3 Thai persons name with the following shares 49%, 49% and 2% with one of the Thai shareholders signing over to you at the same time. By doing this the Thai people don't have to explain or show where they got the money from at all. When the shares are split, make sure that the Thai's only have preference shares (10 shares=1 vote) and you hold all normal shares (1 share = 1 vote). This not only protects you it also means that even though you own 49% you still maintain full control of the company. My lawyer set my company up this way with my partner 49% (9800 shares = 980 votes), her mother 2% (400 shares = 40 votes) and myself with 49% (9800 shares = 9800 votes). This means that even if they get together and try to do anything it will not happen unless I agree, because their 1020 votes against my 9800 means I remain in full control. If your lawyer has not done this, get a new lawyer and change the structure.

For a work permit, yes you are correct 4 Thai workers = 1 foreigner. Social security needs to be paid for a min 4 Thai workers which is 9% (4.5% thai, 4.5% company). I pay the 9% out of the company to keep the staff happy. On top of this you will also have to pay personal tax on top.

Minimum salary is suppose to be 9000 baht per month for Thai workers and for the foreigner it totally depends on what region you come from. For me it was 50000 min per month. Only pay yourself the minimum on the books otherwise you will pay more tax (this is self explanatory). Thailand basically runs on a cash society so you will obviously be making much more than this. Your accountant will help you out here, so make sure you have a good one.

 “I am still doing my job and following the law which [requires] restaurants [and bars] to start closing at 2 am. So what if the bar takes another 3 hours to actually close..... I love the way these guys word stuff.

They only have to stop taking drink orders and playing music at 2am, patrons and tourists can sit there talking and drinking what they have already purchased until the venue is ready to close.  Normally the bars will close at 4am in Patong, but if you have customers still drinking, they can remain doing so, but the bar can't serve them anymore alcohol.  If they change the closing time to 2am in line with the law, the same principle applies.  

I don't know where these tourists are cause nothing much has changed except more chinese around. These are mainly made up of tour groups and certainly don't spend much money in local businesses.

He never said the closing time was 2am and according to him the law is venues need to stop taking orders and playing music at 2am but people can sit there and continue until the venue closes.  So if you want, you can open a bottle and mixers just before 2am and sit there and drink until the venue is ready to close even if it's 6am.  This is what was reported in the Phuket Gazette  “There is no new order. We are continuing to follow the law. Nightlife entertainment venues do need to stop taking [drink] orders and playing music after 2am, but tourists are free to continue chatting and sitting in the area until the venue is ready to close,” Col Suthichai said.

- See more at: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Police-deny-rumor-order-strict-enforcement-closing/33544#sthash.IjzdOPCO.dpuf

Personally I am happy here, born and lived in the UK when younger, then Australia for 20 odd years.  I had a good job, owned my own company, made a lot of money and lost a lot as well, but happiness and wealth is not money, it's happiness within.  My friends back home are all doing the same thing day in day out, just like they were 10 years ago.  I remember the first time I took my partner back to Australia and she asked why everyone looked so miserable, doesn't smile and not friendly like they are when they come on holidays?  She then said they are lucky to have nice houses and cars and make good money.  My response was simply yet straight forward.  Yes they have those things, but a lot of people are not happy cause they are caught in the system.  They are going to be working their arses off for the next 30 years to repay the debt they owe the bank.  More people are losing jobs, government is making it harder and harder to make money and get ahead.  When they come on holidays they are happy, cause it's time they have away from the stress. The truth is there are great things in every country and wherever you live will always have pros and cons.  I like living here and enjoy what is here, so at the moment I am extremely happy and can't think of anywhere I would rather be right now.  However,  yes I do miss some things back home, mostly friends.  I find that most of my friends here are not like back home where they will call you up and say hey what you doing lets go to the beach or lets go catch a movie etc.  Does anyone else find that friends is one of the biggest differences?  Does anyone here have any real Thai friends they could put on the same level as back home?  I would be interested in finding this out.  You never know what will happen around the corner, do what makes you happy.

I would say that most of the foreigners who have businesses in the entertainment areas would have the appropriate licences as these are checked from time to time anyway.  It's more so the Thai's that scatter when these checks are being done because they are the ones setting up businesses without permits or licences (maybe due to them not affording them).  There are certainly less Thai's on the Bangla Road Patong when the checks are being done. Maybe they should get their own people in order before cracking down on foreign owned businesses and companies. 

"We have been trying (in Australia) to make sure first that Pipah is safe and no one can take her away from us," he said, explaining that as she was born in Thailand she was not yet legally Australian.

"When we know 100 percent that she is safe with us, we can go and try to get our boy back."

Even if the child was born in Australia it doesn't make them an automatic Australian citizen.  The same as if a couple came to Thailand and their child was born here, it doesn't make them a Thai citizen.  At least one parent must be a citizen of that country and they still need to apply for citizenship.  

At the end of the day, (this has been said time and time again about the visa situation) get the correct visa for your purpose.  Good on them for enforcing this as you wouldn't get away with it in your own countries.  So while those who have done the wrong thing, are here on the wrong visas and now getting all stressed about what they should do.  The rest of us who did the right thing and are here on correct visas are now relaxed and enjoying the beaches and lifestyle.  To those who have done the wrong thing.... suck sh$t.  

wow, surely a team of say 10 people is all that would be needed to claim the remains and take them home. I feel sorry for the families of those who were lost and agree that a team needs to be sent to aid in recovery. But 190, that is just a little overboard, and typical of Australia to waste money like that.

I am not a Buddhist. Does this rule affect me too?

Yes, It's pathetic. It's religious discrimination.

Come to their country, respect their rules and holidays. Some places in the west close Christmas day, good friday etc, the same could be said in those places as well.

Why people keep wanting to go there is beyond me. A lot of the people I speak to and friends as well want to get the hell out. If only they were told the truth about how expensive it is to live there and how much the government rip you off, they may quickly change their minds. At least corruption here is out in the open and you know what you're getting before you arrive.

Geez, for a minute there phuketboy I thought you were talking about Phuket. Or are you?

No Clutch, I wasn't referring to any one place. I was just saying at least you know about the corruption here. There are far more places to go than Australia. Yes is nice, but look deeper. I'm here cause I like it and have a family here, but if I was to move I would go somewhere else. It's so hard for my thai wife and daughter to stay in Australia, the application was incredible and the way they try and treat them almost like a prisoner is not fair at all. But that is a different story and maybe others may have experienced something better.

Why people keep wanting to go there is beyond me. A lot of the people I speak to and friends as well want to get the hell out. If only they were told the truth about how expensive it is to live there and how much the government rip you off, they may quickly change their minds. At least corruption here is out in the open and you know what you're getting before you arrive.

These views, whole heartedly, I did share almost 10 years ago but not entirely now because Thailand has not moved forward in the last 10 years and still remains uncertain and unstable.

In particular, Thailand has not improved in the areas of health, education, public transport, trade & labor, law and order just to name a few.

Most of these problems can be blamed on the previous government but not entirely.

Sure the cost of energy in Australia maybe horrendous however the projected models of people moving into total solar power due to the now short term benefit return on your investment leaves Thailand behind in the dark ages still.

In comparison to Australia, any capital investment in Thailand is at 100% risk where as you're almost assured of capital growth in OZ. Also another measure is not too many people seeking economic asylum to Thailand. Most Burmese and Cambodians are heading back to their own countries because of the real prospect of economic change and development. Thailand now has a real problem filing the void of the labor shortage gap.

I agree with you in many ways, however forget about the solar scheme, Australia is way to expensive period. Australia is a beautiful country and has a lot to see and do but try running a business and making profit like you could years ago, health and safety has gone stupid, taxes are ridiculous (not just income tax but the the indirect tax you pay on everything). Freedom has gone, you can't even go down the park for a bbq or picnic with friends and open a bottle of wine cause it's illegal. Can't go for a ride with more than 3 people on a weekend cause that is illegal now as well. Way too many rules and and regulations plus everything is geared to suit the rip off government. Yes I made some good money, but I lost a lot of money as well (in property). People are going there looking for a better life only to find out it is not what they were told or what they thought it would be and turning around and heading back home to their own countries cause they are better off there. There is no way in hell I would ever live there again.

i had almost forgot about her and all the other politicians. The military are doing such a good job, there is really no need for any of them to ever return.

It's not just second hand cars, it's new cars as well. Cars are just very expensive here. However, like it's already been stated, when you sell, you get a high price also, more than what you would in other countries, so your overall loss is less. It's not a great market for options either. By this i mean if your looking for something spectacular, powerful or something that looks great forget it. Unless you're into your pickups or high end cars (high end are at least 3 times more expensive than anywhere else) you will have to settle for a girls car like a honda or toyota with no power what so ever.

It is really very quite in Pataya, also never seen before. The few tourisis are mainly Chinese, they fill walking street a little bit in the evening but for them it is just an attraction, bars are empty. Doesn't look good at all!

The Chinese don't like spending money period. There may be a hundred of them walking around, but try and get them to spend 100 baht on anything and you are doing well. It's always the same, year after year.

I would just forget KL. They even want a letter from your employer. It appears from reports I have read that they only want to issue tourist visas to citizens or residents of Malaysia.

Jakarta's website has no info about their requirements. All they have is a link to the generic visa info on the MFA website.

From 2. on this page: http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/123/15398-Issuance-of-Visa.html

Evidence of adequate finance (20,000 Baht per person and 40,000 Baht per family)

I suggest you contact them for info: http://www.thaiembassy.org/jakarta/en/organize/17506-Address.html

Never in my life have I ever been asked for a bank statement or a letter for a tourist visa via KL. It was always straight forward there and even last month when 2 friends did visa run (via plane) to there. On my Non B, I have to show more, but that is only the normal required documents for a Non B. I have never even been questioned down there and highly recommend people go there.

The military has done more for this country in the past 4 weeks than the government did the entire term they were in power. I say Thailand is much better off and the military are getting things done. Pity it wasn't this simple for the government or they just might still be in now (then again they had no idea what the hell they were doing except lining their pockets). Lets hope things continue to get better and this encourages tourism to again flourish.

Cleaning up of illegal activity on Phuket........ mmmmm. Ok start with Tuk Tuks, then landlords and key money on premises then take your pick at the rest.

Bring the General to Phuket to clean up the Shit scum... I mean the so called taxi/tuk tuk mafia here. These guys all need a good kick in the arse or an m16 rammed down their throat. I personally don't get intimidated by the mafia (tuk tuk) because I don't consider them to be. They are basically bunches of uneducated want-to-bes trying to be tough and overpowering but in reality are a bunch of pussies. But if the army clean them out, it will be a much better place to for the tourists who come here as well as for those of us who live here.

The number does not supprise me- all the building sites are staffed with foreign workers, at least for the unskilled manual labor. I've also noticed many of the staff in Thai style restaurants are not Thai.

Same in the USA, when I was a kid, I cut grass for spending money. Now people hire lawn maintenance firms, staffed by Mexicans. I would wager that not one single "American" picks fruit or vegetables in the USA...

I think some would have to have some skill in construction. Being a qualified builder and looking at the quality of work, I don't believe there are qualified tradesmen here in Thailand. They basically look at it and think they can do it. Don't get me wrong, they give it a very good crack, but the quality of the finish product fails to demonstrate any qualification or experience.