Valjean

I have a Kindle and love it. Bought in the US, shipped to my mailbox then to Thailand. Download books to PC. Yeah there are bookstores here but it's so fantastics to hear about book and just get it. Fast, simple and no trip to a mall or store.

Kindle versus ipad - the readability of the Kindle is very nice. But there's another factor for me. I want to read books. I spend all day on computers and heaven knows I don't need any more time checking email, browsing the web and visiting social media sites. I'm happy to not have the temptation and distraction and just read a book.

I might by an ipad someday - there are scenarios where it might be nice. Today the Kindle is one of the very few electronic things I've bought in a long, long time that I love and use everyday. It's brought reading back into my busy life. Thankful for that.

Did I say I love my Kindle?

Oh yeah the location. We're in Bangkok. Saphan Khwai area on Pradipat.

Possible someone could do this without coming in the office I supposes, not sure if we'd set up a VPN or just send the configuration info and do the things they tell us. But I assume it's better for someone to come in and be hands on.

Thanks.

I have a small business with about 12 people totally dependent on our Internet connection. Bad connection = lost productivity = lost money.

We had a Loxinfo dedicated line, for around 20,000 a month but that was bad bandwidth. We downgraded the dedicated line to a lower priced one, I think around 7,000 + a True 3MB line. We have a router that is load-balances between them. That's the theory anyway.

Meanwhile our performance is poor, especially having to reload pages all the time. And I can't seem to use Skype anymore due to poor quality so I use my mobile to call clients overseas - I just got a 11,000 AIS bill, that means saving on my Internet access was a great idea that cost me 10,000 more on my mobile bill. Very smart move :-(

I have a do-it-yourself IT guy here but I've pretty tired of fooling around and wonder if there's someone who *really* knows this stuff, knows how to configure the two lines the load balancing, getting Skype working and such. VoIP experience would be helpful also - perhaps Skype isn't what I should be using.

If you are such a person or know someone I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks

Hi,

My mate's production company is using Kasikorn. Absolutely flawless personal service from their Padipat Branch so I would highly recommend them. Overdraft facilities are available for Thai companies too. If you have a stable business which has been in operation for a few years, no problem in getting funds for expansion.

Cheers

I've tried both UOB and SCB and have not been happy. So some extent it depends on the branch. My SCB branch staff, Aree Saphan Business Center, was useless and clueless - and lacking in smiles to boot. The stories I could tell...

I just signed the paperwork to open an account on the Pradipat Branch of Kasikorn so happy to hear this report - so far I like them. Opened a personal account the other day for my payroll and it was fast and they were super nice.

A friend with a a lot of SME experice here has good things to say about Kasikorn as well. Hopefully this is my last change. Heaven knows I've signed enough paper to open three accounts - I shudder to think how many trees were cut down for each change. :-)

I need to find a picture or poster of King Naresuan on a horse - ideally in battle. And not from the recent movie.

I looked in a few poster and second-hand book stores in Chatuchak today but no luck. Any ideas where to look in Bangkok or online?

Thanks,

Thanks - likewise I'll be on the lookout.

Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives) won the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival and I'd like to see it - with English subtitles. Anyone know if it's showing in Bangkok? Or out on video?

Might add that to all the frustrations and trouble you can encounter setting up a business in Thailand, it is far outweighed by the plus side of it.

As Faljean mentioned, business in Thailand once you have things more or less started and under control, is fun. The advantages of cheap labor, low startup cost, the many opportunities, the variety of people, it's fun working here and see your company grow.

Yep I'd agree with this.

And also with your other comment about being loyal. My team works hard and stays late when needed. But the office also has a nice snook feel. I really like working with Thai, it suits me just fine.

Good idea about sending the staff to the bank and calling me when things are ready! I'll use that next time.

I started a company here 20 months ago after working for a multinational here for 3+ years. Our turnover is only about 10M now but we're growing fast. We're also a services business so don't have really any costs here except for people and office (rent, internet, etc). We'll get to 20M+ next year and more beyond...

Today I have 12 full-time employees including me. We have 3 expats so I've had to capitalize and hire people to meet the Work Permit bar (hiring now).

I'm American so I was able to use the Treaty of Amity provisions and have 100% ownership

I speak some conversational Thai but not functional business Thai. In our line, internet services to companies outside of Thailand, I really hire people with English skills only. All college grads. I have one person who really has less English than I do Thai - it's OK but all things being equal I take the time to find at least basic English speakers. The point before of school English versus actual ability is on point. But they are out there. I just hired a really bright Thai-Indian who was sent to India to study. Fluent Thai, English and Hindi. Green but she'll learn fast. You can find them. Patience.

There is about a 50% fail to show up for interview appointments. Send in a resume, schedule an appointment, then don't come. I haven't figured this one out yet.

I tend to favor younger, go getters over experience. You can shape them to your company work culture faster. All things being equal I'd hire a Thai woman before a man. That's another long post...

People are always a challenge. That's the same everywhere. Workers from each culture have + & - to them. You need to understand both and work with it. That's leadership and management 101 as far as I'm concerned. Complaining is for complainers. Read every book you can on Thai culture, things can be learned and you'll be happier and understand what's happening around you better.

This is true in my start-up or the multi-national. You need some Thai's you can really trust, and that your team knows have the inside track to you. My wife's cousin fills this role for me now. Trust her more than my wife in many ways. But she's the one that staff go to with problems, when they want a raise, when they want to sit at a different desk - big to small they don't always feel comfortable coming to me. I'm easy going (OK not every moment of every day) and we all work in one big room but the Thai (Asian) way is indirect. Make sure your indirect channels are working. There are important things you need to know.

The Thai love for paperwork can drive me nuts but that's a fact of life. Get used to signing your name a lot :-) If you have to go to the bank bring a good book or your laptop - you'll be there for awhile if there's anything to set up or change with your account. Just relax.

Get a good attorney and accountant. It's good to have them represent you to the government when needed. My accountant deals with revenue department and others like that. I costs a little but it's not just the language, they know their way around the system and people. As noted before your point of contacts must be fluent in English. You can't mess around here - you need to have 100% understanding with them. I use Libra Accounting (aka MSNA) and Siri Manop and happy with both.

I'm starting to look into Board of Investment status. Some good tax advantages.

Overall I'm having a lot of fun and growing a fantastic company. You have to be a smart businessperson like anywhere and have the know-how and money to make a run at it.

Happy to chat if you want to contact me and get the details.

Best of luck,

I have one I'm happy with. They do a lot of expat companies, chamber of commerce, etc. and do work permits as well. There are times when you need an interface with the Thai government agencies they have been very effective at problem solving. Let me know if you want contact info.

I'm happy with our attorney also. Frankly I wasn't impressed with Sunbelt for this. We use Seri, Manop - a bit more expensive but much more professional. Michael Doyle wrote the book on doing business in Thailand, literary.

We are doing load balancing using a Linksys 10/100 4-port VPN Router. I can't say 100% we have this set up optimally but it should be doing load balancing between the two lines. Beyond that we're a standard Windows AD network. Just basic file share on the network.

We had the business ADSL with Loxinfo, and paid the 20,000 a month but it wasn't any better and maybe worse. It's just as I recall a 1MB line, you're paying for the fixed IP address more I think.

Applications

We update and maintain WordPress sites; our dedicated server for that is in the UK with Rackspace. This is most critical - both doing the updates via the CMS and reviewing sites.

We use a number of SaaS apps such as Zendesk, Capsule CRM, FreshBooks, DropBox, Google Apps - all Web 2.0 style apps. No VPN, nothing like SharePoint or remote hosted apps.

We are looking at, updating, reviewing, migrating websites all day long so just basic slow load times really costs is in productivity.

We don't allow any torrent data or P2P during normal work hours. I'll check and make sure we don't have any traffic.

Reading this thread http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Internet-Lea...nd-t245703.html makes me think a leased line is too expensive. And I'm of the opinion that the problem is out of Thailand so matter what the bandwidth it seems to some extent once you get on the line up to Singapore or where ever you connect up to the backbone that's going to throttle you. I guess the question might be who has the best QoS or lines to the backbone.

Perhaps this is just a fact of life for working here and I should quit moaning :-( But I will look at CAT.

Hi,

I've got a company here, with around 12 of us who 100% depend on the Internet to get work done. We had a LoxInfo business ASDL line (20000 thb / month) but didn't need the dedicated IT and the bandwidth sucked. So switched to having 2 3MB ASDL lines, LoxInfo (6000 thb / month) and True (799 thb / month) and it's still bad.

Overall I haven't been impressed with LoxInfo.

What's the solution for great Internet for an Internet-based business. Everything we need to access is out of Thailand including our servers. The lost productivity costs me every day. I'd pay more if it made a difference.

Thanks for any ideas,

There is absolutely no doubt you should get a prenup. A marriage is every bit a financial contract as much as it is a romantic one. If your to be bride finds this insulting then she prob is not in it just for love. When I got married to a TG I got a prenup. I had to hire a Thai and an American lawyer to write it up and to read it to my wife, it also is written in both languages. My prenup is very fair and my wife understood that it was not meant to be mean spirited but to make sure everyone's motives for marriage are clear. What I did was exempt all assets I had already obtained going into the marriage from consideration as joint assets, I also protected any future inheritances I may get. I wrote a clause that if we divorce there will be no alimony. If either one of us racks up credit card debt or other debts it is our sole responsibility to resolve. I then wrote any monies or properties obtained from the day we are married on will be split 50/50 should we divorce. I felt this is fair because though I am the breadwinner she is very much my partner and I feel if she is investing in our marriage with her time and support she should get her fair share if we split, but at least I won't end up penniless nor will have to be locked into some type of endless ongoing support.

By the way this is not a dig against Thai women. I just feel historically men have a lot to lose going into a marriage without some type of contractual alterations.

I took a similar approach. My gf, now wife, didn't want to feel that I could just walk out and she has nothing. So we agreed on an amount for every year we were married should we break up and a after a period it's 50-50. And like above things we invest in together, like the home, are 50-50.

I say in a really good relationship, one that can last, you can have this discussion and have understanding. I don't see it as a weakness in the relationship - for us its a strength of being able to talk about things, see both sides and come to agreements. We're both practical, and easy going, so money, sex, family - we are very open and honest with each other and for us that's been a great foundation in a very happy, very, very trusting marriage. I was hard to bring up but the positive way my to-be wife reacted, and fairly negotiated in a her interests, made me feel all the more I'd was marrying the right woman. She's got a good head on her shoulders (and pretty as well).

I've got a Bangkok-based start-up, about 18 months old, soon to be 14 people, that's growing like gangbusters. I've got the fundamentals in place of business finance - bookkeepers, audits, etc. for both my Thai and Hong Kong businesses but I could really use a freelance CFO for two functions;

Look at our business processes and make sure we're buttoned up. For instance I'm never 100% sure all clients are being billed ever month and payments are all properly recorded. As the number of clients on recurring billing climbs past a few hundred this is going to be critical. We're maturing our systems but they could use sharp eye watching out and helping the Thai staff.

Meet with me once a month for a review of the financial statements from both companies. It would be a good discipline to have an outsider look at what we're doing, suggest improvements, point out problems. If we did this once a month over lunch for an hour or two it would be really useful.

I don't have a WP for this position. I'm thinking this might only be 10 hours a month - maybe the first month a little more to "audit" things and understand our business. Perhaps a retired CPA would be nice who wouldn't mind having some fun with a small start-up. Or maybe you're just under-utilized in your day job and want more do to and some extra money. Or maybe this is your business - consulting.

You could be Thai or ex-pat. If you're ex-pat some Thai would be nice but not required.

If you're interested let me know and give me some background, references and rates.

thanks,

Hey man, Tawandang is the BOMB! I love this place, all Isaan rock bands and some shows too

I think http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_2a6cMiGhc...feature=related is this place. It's a great place and I know how to get there but I always forget the name of the street. Out at the end of New Petburi. Love this place

484 Pattanakarn Road Suanluang Suanluang

Bangkok, Thailand 10250

Contact : 662-7172320 662-7172323

Fax : 662-7172320

True has some very nice i-cafes; Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Tonglor. You can buy a True Wi-Fi unlimited account for I think 500 baht a month. There are True hotspots all over

Here is their hotspot map - I couldn't get English working for this. http://www.truewifi.net/th/02hotspots/search.jsp

It's more expense but a real office you can check out http://www.regus.co.th - they have by the hour and day

Also many big hotel chains have business centers, again not free but you have a desk, good chair, quiet.

You know I've wondered if this is a business for some one. Real desk and chair, wi-fi, basic office, rent by the hour, week, month, but not in high price locations and posh like Regis. Could be an open plan room. Close to BTS.

For what it's worth here's the one I had an attorney write. Within this there were some particulars to my assets and our agreement but the main thing is to describe them in detail in the Exhibits. It's pretty straightforward.

Clearly I'm not an attorney and you must decide what legal review or advice you need. If you have a complicated situation then you for sure need advice. Caveat emptor!!!

The process is simple. Complete this document (or the one you do with the attorney) and when you go register your marriage bring this along and it gets filed and is on record with all the legal documents. It's my understanding that this step is essential for it to be binding.

Good luck.

Derek

Prenuptial_Agreement.pdf

Prenuptial_Agreement.doc

also depends on what you want. I think Thursday is a big plant day. Or was it Tuesday...

Okay, here's the story. SHE did something very wrong to me about six months ago, violent, bordering on criminal and, yes, painful.

Back on good terms I have asked her if Thais know what 'apologizing' means, blank stare. On a scale of 10, being great good, and 1, being very bad, how she ranked that incident. Her answer was always, "Don't say." Her answer, finally, was to point a 'concession' concerning finances she had then made, which, up to now, had been a mystery to me that she had finally, and thankfully, complied with this long time request of mine.

AHA!

So, not make a conscious admission of wrong doing, but compensate with a separate good act of equal proportion!?

Gain face, in lieu of losing face? I was supposed to 'guess' this was the make up? If i was Thai would I have 'got it'?

Is this a rare look into the complicated Thai mind, or any woman in the World, or just HER? If a Thai does you wrong, just set a net downstream for 'compensation', nothing said? Has anybody had this experience of 'quiet pay back'?

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I think recidivism is an important aspect of a sincere apology! [decreasing the likelihood of repeat performances]

Silly me, I still want her say, SAWY.

In my experience you won't get "I'm sorry" for this situation. Her feeling might be that what done is done and words don't change that. Watch her actions and that will be the measure of her feeling for you and the situation.

I just asked my wife why and she said "if you are quiet they can see you are sorry so you don't have to say anything.

That made me realize that words aren't the only way to say sorry. And the problem is that we, based on culture, can't see what is an obvious non-verbal sorry.

What fun!

Would it be stereotypical to think they have different attitudes about the mistakes they, like the rest of us, make?

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I don't think it's stereotypical - Thai (Buddhist Asian) and Western (Christian) are different cultures. At an individual level the generalizations don't always apply of course. But there are clear differences.

Thai's are less likely to offer an apology (in the western style) than a westerner. And a westerner might be very likely to give an insincere apology just to smooth over things as well. I've know Thai's who find some of the apologies rude because they know they aren't sincere - so why say them?

We have very different ways of approaching mistakes, disagreements and making amends. One isn't better than the other - they are just different. I've had Thai's at work, when I think I need to apologize for something with someone tell me straight out not to do it. "Face" is tossed around here as a catch-all (as if we don't have any concept of honor or self-respect in the west) but it is something like that, or maybe even in a work setting about power. It's hard for us to understand when it's so natural to say "I'm sorry".

Guilt is a whole other subject but it seems to me guilt is much more deeply embedded in the western culture. The idea of judgment and guilt runs deep in our Christian culture. It seems to me the Buddhist-based culture is lighter on this. It's your karma, not your fault I guess would be a simplistic view. I see both of these foundations have good and bad ways they play out.

My Thai wifey has says some funny stuff and I'm sure in a farang on farang relationship I would have walked out...but here i just laugh and do not get worked up but I do wonder if its generally Thai/her sense of humour or something else..

Here goes.

Me. Do you love me?

Her. Not sure! deadpan face!

Me. Why did you marry me?

Her. Mai loo......(pause for thought).....Visa! Smiles laughs and looks away!

Her. I love your bum more than your face!

Do you think there are any issues here?

Reading between the lines, I would say that your wife feels it`s necessary for her to stay with you for financial security reasons, but inside she is a long-suffering victim of circumstance.

I wonder if you are a lot older than she is and given the choice, if you offered to financially support her, that your wife would prefer to be living somewhere else, with a guy she really loves and respects.

Nahh it's not even that serious man. My money is on she loves ya and she's just joking with you because she likes to play.

Mine asked me last week "When can we drop the birth control? I want you to give me some fat Nigglets, a girl and a boy with curly hair and see dum duay!, naraaak na?"

I laughed so hard I almost pissed myself, because I knew from whence it came. Yet had a girl asked me that in the States 10 years ago it would have been a different story

Thai women are great, don't take there sense of humor to personally our you will miss out on allot of fun.

You are spot on!

I once read that part of the tradition of Thai nickname; Frog, Shrimp, Little, Black – you know the lists, is that people didn’t want to call attention to their babies to the spirits. So someone could say “This is my new baby Frog” and the friend could answer “He’s very dark and has an ugly nose” and both would know that was a nice things to say. No spirit would be interested in an ugly child named Frog.

The Thai humor and affection can be a backhanded compliment. It took some getting used to but I’ve learned that all her teasing is how she says “I love you”. And her sense would be that you never have to say “I love you” because it should be obvious in the way she treats you – which includes calling you fat, ugly, smelly, stupid and all sorts of things. Some thoughts on this; http://derekbrn.typepad.com/bangkok/2009/0...i-love-you.html

I’ve joined in the fun. I tell my wife in this life she is unlucky to have me but if she takes good care of me maybe in the next life she can have one of the Thunderbird pilots (the current rage in our house). She agrees I am the worst thing that could happen and everyone feels sorry for her (while asking how they can find another). It's love to be sure!

If you know a little Thai you’ll understand my standard joke:

When I tell my wife she’s pretty (in Thai) she says “I know I married you”.

I have a Work Permit and one year visa which requires the 90 day visits to the Immigration Office. Someone once told me that if you check-in your paperwork a week or two weeks before the deadline you don't have to go in person, someone could go on your behalf with the paperwork. The firm that manages my WP & Visa process says I must go in person.

Does anyone know the answer? And if you think I don't need to go where it's documented?

thanks,

I'll take a man if he knows what he's doing.

I have both men and women at my company and I'd say the problems have been about equal. And in a prior job was about the same with a team of 25 or so. I've got a few young men who are very solid. I think it would be fair to say that the longer someone has worked in organizations that set low expectations for work and attendance the harder it is going to be to change that person. It's just a human nature thing called habit.

I hire mostly young people, under 30 for the most part, for sure under 40 - that may be a similar typecast view in the end but the younger the more you can shape them to how work goes (and communication). All that BS said, all things being equal; I'd hire a woman. They are the backbone in this culture.

If kisses are what you're looking for I'll give you the French triple cheek kiss, shaved or not, if you fine me that electrician!

Sheryl - if you find someone please PM me and I will do likewise.

now if I could only find one...