GarryP

Everything is going downhill for her from now on.

What's this crap really about?

Stars?

Only three for me. But then I was never a luxury or super deluxe type of guy. Give me a three star flop shop any day and I am as happy as a pig in sh*t.

This is bedlam isn't it.

There is a Golden Rule for farangs in Thailand... let Thais front for you whenever and wherever possible.

That applies especially to dealing with people in the building trades before you develop a good working relationship with them. After that, you can handle things yourself.

As for theft on the job, it's everywhere, and some countries are worse than Thailand.

Unfortunately, one glove does not fit all. I would say foreigners who are not sufficiently fluent in the Thai language should let the Thais (wives/gfs/etc) front for them. For those who are lucky enough to speak the language and know the subject matter, you would probably get a better deal than if you had Thais fronting for you so go for it.

"For those who are lucky enough to speak the language and know the subject matter"

That is just insulting the people who have worked hard to learn the language

LUCKY??!!

Sorry but I do not see how that is insulting. That would mean I am insulting myself. I used the word lucky as I did not want to appear to be blowing my own trumpet. Just for you, I have revised it "For those who speak the language and know the subject matter, you would probably get a better deal than if you had Thais fronting for you so go for it."

Only people who pay big deposits and regular payments suffer. Hold back the money,agree terms from the beginning.And stick to it.

If they insist on more tell them to leave knowing you retained enough money to finish the job.Fair play is fine but you are not a charity.

If someone turned up at my house with a brick for a hammer and a nail for a chisel they wouldn't last 30 seconds with me.Unless I previously knew they would and I was paying them extremely little.

You don't get it.

We bought a new house from a huge developer, they are still building thousands of houses here. A new house comes with 1 year warranty. We got cracks in the walls (all houses have them) and we let them fix that for warranty 3 times in a row and the cracks still come back because those guys don't know how to plaster. You don't do that in full sun and also not in layers of 4-5 cm thick.

Everywhere you can see them filling the cracks with filler and then they paint the house.

Those developers use local thai contractors to build and in case of warranty they will send their workers to fix the cracks.

We could have sent them home but then nothing would be fixed.

This is spot on. One year warranty for the walls and pilings, five for the roof. This is exactly what is happening in the development where I live. Luckily, I have been able to get free service well outside the one year warranty period as there are still one or two houses which have not yet been sold so the developer still has a presence. The developer used outside contractors, but has some workers who do the repairs. Once every house is sold and they establish a company to take care of the development, there will be no calling on the developer to make further repairs.

I just let my "Thai Fiancee'" handle it. She gives nothing. She refuses to tip or give anything more than yin nam. She pays at the end of each day, after a thorough inspection. Dang. She's tough -- has had many experiences --- and puts up with nothing. I just open the door and say: "Go Get 'Em, Honey."

There is a Golden Rule for farangs in Thailand... let Thais front for you whenever and wherever possible.

That applies especially to dealing with people in the building trades before you develop a good working relationship with them. After that, you can handle things yourself.

As for theft on the job, it's everywhere, and some countries are worse than Thailand.

Unfortunately, one glove does not fit all. I would say foreigners who are not sufficiently fluent in the Thai language should let the Thais (wives/gfs/etc) front for them. For those who are lucky enough to speak the language and know the subject matter, you would probably get a better deal than if you had Thais fronting for you so go for it.

The rules changed in 2008. I am talking about foreign men. 5 years seems to be the average whatever category you apply under but there are those who haven't taken so long and others that are still waiting after 10 years.

I have Thai Residency. You need to be able to stay on the same one year visa tied to a work permit with the same expiration date for 6 years. The requirements say 3 years which is misleeding because they only accept applications 2 weeks a year in December. So if you are a couple weeks short of the 3 years, you have to wait until next year to apply. Then you need to figure 3 years to process your application. If you lose your visa or work permit during this process, your application dies. You also may not change jobs during the process, or your application dies. Being married does not really help so they tell you. I always found that hard to believe and feel that it probably does. It shows your putting down roots. One thing being married does help with though. The government processing fee is halved if you are married. You do need to speak Thai and there is a test you have to pass. You do not need to be fluent, and in fact its better not to be. The reason is if your Thai language seems to be too good, they will pull your application out and ask you to come to immigration and the committee will want to grill you themselves in Thai to make sure your application is on the up and up. They also do like an interview with you in the Thai language and this is done on VDO.

I have been to the head police station where you apply for citizenship. The work requirements were the same, and in fact the requirements are not as much as getting PR. Who knows why, don't ask me. As far as I know you will never get citizenship in this country based on the fact your married to a Thai girl, ain't gonna happen. I would think the Thai language requirement would be the same, but I don't remember this as it has been years ago since I did this. One thing for sure is you have to sing the Thai National Athem over a microphone to a whole room full of people. That pretty well did it for me and I stopped at Permanent Residency.

I have had PR for some years now and everything is subject to change.

But this is talking about an application based on PR, not based on marriage to a Thai. If you apply based on PR then you must sing all those songs to a room full of people. If you apply based on marriage to a Thai, you do not need to sing those songs.

I know of several people who have received Thai citizenship based on marriage.

i believe it's residency that can be applied for after 3 years of visa extensions (don't think multiple entry visas apply) then after a certain number of years can go through the long process of applying of Thai citizenship

Think Residency is still a pain and only 100 people from each nationality are approved each year

here is link about applying for citizenship

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/121353-story-of-my-thai-citizenship-application/

This is not correct anymore. In 2008 the law changed allowing foreign husbands of Thais to apply for Thai citizenship without the need for permanent residency. You need to have been married for a minimum of 3 years.

You should look at the thread Story Of My Thai Citizenship Application. There is a lot of good information. While technically speaking you do not need to be able to speak Thai, the whole process is done in Thai and you are interviewed in Thai language. Qualification is based on a points system with 15 points for being able to speak, read and write Thai. There is also general knowledge test on Thailand which is written in Thai language with a maximum of 10 points. So if you have no Thai language skills at all you have automatically lost 25 points. You also have a preliminary interview at which a maximum of 5 points are awarded as to your personality by the interviewer. No Thai language skills are unlikely to get you many, if any, of the the points available here. So there goes 30 points. PR, no, then there goes another lump of points. It would be really difficulat to get the minimum 50 points to qualify without any Thai language skills and padding of the PR. You would pretty much need to pick up the maximum points on each of the remaining categories to qualify.

Read the other thread if you are serious about this subject as it will save you a lot of bother in the long run.

I had labourers working in my house with crappy tools, an old nail and a brick to hammer broken plaster off the walls, it would be fixed for free, warranty.

I gave them a real hammer, chissel and pizza, cold pepsi, cigarettes..

When they were gone the tools were missing as well. Later they had to work at another house in the street, i went there and of course they used my tools (which even had our house# in it marked).

Another company, for steel bars had done our whole house for 60k baht. 6 months later my wife called them to build a carport and some small roofs from stainless steel. (total job for 100k baht). The guy made an appointment but didn't show up. We made a new appointment with him but after 2 hours waiting we just went out without seeing him.

Had some workers at my house over the weekend and loaned them a few tools, a decent spirit level, a sharp saw, cement trowel, etc. Each day before they left, they made a point of separating my tools from theirs and pointing them out to me. They even returned a pencil. I was quite suprised as like you I have loaned tools to workers before only for the tools to disappear.

Where on Pattarnakan is that JD?

Patarnakhan 30

They have a FB page

Very good burgers and much more!

Thanks I will check it out!

Don't click the map in the FB page as it takes you to the wrong place. Better off simply typing Pattanakarn Soi 30 in Google maps. You do not go very far into the soi from Pattanakarn Road. I think I will try out this place soon. The burgers look interesting.

As is often the case with former child actors, he was totally wasted.

Can't handle their pseudo-fame??

Stereotyping?? Maybe just a little!!

True (stereotyping), but funny all the same.

Just to update I went to a bunch of lawyers 4 or 5 in Patong who had never heard of permanent residency. I eventually found a lady who knew what i was talking about but had never done it so referred me to a guy who has processed them before. He quoted 300,000 - 400,000 baht for everything including his fees. However he was unsure that me being a chef and not a business owner would be eligible. Can anyone tell what sort of fees they paid as a comparison becuase this is a lot. Also I asked some questions about it at patojg immigration ajd they too had no idea what i was talking about.

Hopefully I will be prepeared next year anyway.

The fees quoted are ridiculously high unless they also include the official fees, but even then 400k would still be on the high side.

You do not need to have your own business. As long as you are employed under a work permit, that should suffice, provided you meet all other criteria.

...will there ever be justice........

No. Nothing will change.

I have had no problem with getting into position to do the job, but what always screws me up is being able to pour the dish of water down your crack in such a way that you are able to wash your bum without getting water everywhere and ending up with soaking nether regions.

I also suggest you beware of bum guns. When using a bum gun in a privy of which you have no prior experience, always test the pressure first before using it on your body. This advice is given from the experience of a misdirected nozzle which resulted in excruciating pain and what, I can only assume, non-surgical castration must feel like.

I would never kiss my wife or girlfriend in the BTS. Really the wrong place. No matter if lesbian, gay or straight....

If your wife was a lesbian, she probably wouldn't let you anyway.

How about hypnotism? There are a number of downloads available and they are not expensive. They are supposed to target the specific area of your life you wish to change/improve, etc. I wouldn't normally suggest something like this, but I quit smoking using hypnosis so I know it works for some people. It is also very relaxing listening to the recording.

Yep, ask friends, who indeed are in long term relationships....

A friend of mine did that and still ended up gettin screwed. I went so far as to warn him from the beginning but he did not want to listen. Sad but true. He was in his fifties too.

And I have a degree in mediocrity.

I agree with the 'security' answer. While the requirements to get PR have changed a bit over the years, once its granted that's it, nothing else needed ever, apart from the re-entry permit if you travel.

As far as citizenship goes, I understand that one of the requirements for citizenship now is that you provide a letter stating your intention to renounce your existing citizenship once you have been granted Thai citizenship. That sounds a lot to me like a step at least on the road to no dual citizenships for naturalized Thais, and certainly is a show stopper for me.

The statement that you will give up your other nationality is not enforced and is certainly not binding. It is was something the interior ministry bureaucrats put in the ministerial regulation and is not supported by any law.

A number of people have said its not binding, but I'll be very interested to hear if anybody has actually got to the granting of citizenship stage yet that has had to sign this letter, and if so, what happened?

You submit the declaration of intent during the application phase, not upon being granted citizenship. If you do not provide such a declaration, your application does not get processed.

As they kick people out of the forrest reserves who have been living there for generations, in some cases before the forrests became national parks.

the street vendors still need to make a living, where will they go now to earn a crust, cant exactly sighn on unemployment benifit can they

They've bloody well moved into Saladaeng. Now that soi is a mess and even more cramped than when they were selling on the footpath on Silom. Did the authorities really think this through?

The rules have changed now. When I obtained PR, you had to wait 10 years to apply for citizenship.

Why would I want citizenship? I can do now all I need to. No interest in working or voting. No social security benefits to obtain (unlike immigrants in my home country) PR does me fine.

Not correct for all cases. You would qualify for the universal health care card if you are not a social security paying card carrier and a monthly allowance for the aged when you reach 60 or 65 (depending on age I believe it goes up to Baht 1,000 ). Not much I know but it is definitely something. For many people, universal health care could become a big benefit if they are unable to get health insurance due to age or a pre-existing condition.

If you are a member of the social security fund and have been paying in for enough years (the current maximum monthly deduction is Baht 750), you will have the choice of recieving your pension as a lump sum or a monthly payment (as a foreigner you only have the choice of the lump some).

I am sure there are other things too.

I agree with the 'security' answer. While the requirements to get PR have changed a bit over the years, once its granted that's it, nothing else needed ever, apart from the re-entry permit if you travel.

As far as citizenship goes, I understand that one of the requirements for citizenship now is that you provide a letter stating your intention to renounce your existing citizenship once you have been granted Thai citizenship. That sounds a lot to me like a step at least on the road to no dual citizenships for naturalized Thais, and certainly is a show stopper for me.

The statement that you will give up your other nationality is not enforced and is certainly not binding. It is was something the interior ministry bureaucrats put in the ministerial regulation and is not supported by any law.

More than that, it seems to be a face saving procedure for the one nationality only hardliners at MOI, but as UJ says is unenforceable given it is only an intention to renounce, and we know intentions can change.

Similar to language is the nationality act which states that a Thai child of a foreign parent 'if they wish to retain their foreign nationality' have to make and choice between ages 20 and 21, the intention to renounce overlooks that Thailand has no power to make another government revoke the citizenship of one of its nationals.

The only thing Thailand can do is not issue permanent citizenship until it is confirmed that the former citizenship has been renounced. But that isn't in the rules. It can't even make someone renounce their original citizenship before they get Thailand nationality, as the home country will refuse the persons request on the basis that they will become stateless.

Having said that, the question is often asked in the formal interview sessions at MOI whether you would be prepared to give up your own citizenship in order to get Thai citizenship. I think it would be fair to say that if you responded in the negative, your application would stop there and get binned. This is despite the fact that, as you say, the law does not bar dual ccitizenship.