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I am glad you added the “in theory”. A lot of crypto proponents will point out some problem/nuisance with regular finance, and then say “see, that is why we need crypto” without actually explaining how crypto solves the problem. And as for finance without a middleman, that means without regulation and laws? So back to wildcat banking (like Tether), bucket shops (like Binance), no consumer protection/insurance (like when Mark Cuban got “rug pulled” and lost all that he had put into TITAN after hyping it via his twitter feed) etc.? The reason we have so much regulation around finance is because if there is a way to scam other people, someone will do it, and there are unfortunately no lack of potential victims. Also, unregulated markets tend to favor the incumbents. Imagine owner’s of the New York Stock Exchange were allowed to use customer trading data for their own trades, front run their customers, do wash trades, etc.? Or that companies could trade their own stock without the current SEC oversight controls, etc.

My understanding is that anyone who wants to join the committee will be accepted *unless* there are more than 9 candidates, in that case, a vote will have to be held, to find out which 9 of the candidates will be elected. That said, I have heard (second hand) about a condominium which changed their bylaws to allow a smaller amount in the committee, which initially did give them a few problems with the Land Office, but was eventually accepted.

This is appeal to authority, but none of these people are really authorities about this, and if you dig into these people, for some you will find skeletons in the closet, some already got scammed in the crypto space and are now calling for regulation, some are just riding the hype, etc. Twenty years ago, when people were skeptical about Madoff, you could also argue with A-list celebrities who had fallen for his con, that doesn’t change the fundamentals. What benefit is DeFi / crypto providing?

Because it is a negative sum game. I am familiar with both MicroStrategy, El Salvador (and the dumpster fire from their bitcoin law), and most other things happening in this space. I have been following it since the beginning. Initially based on interest in the concepts, but these days all the fraud is far more interesting, all the problems that happen in an unregulated space, all the mistakes made costing double digit millions in accidentally entered gas fees, or bugs in smart contracts paying out millions, hacks, all the libertarians that haven’t gotten a clue about how the real monetary system works, Tether printing $70 billion worth of stable coins, and repeatedly caught lying about how this is backed, refusing to do any audits, yet the peg continues to hold, Etherium keep saying they will retire proof of work in 18 months, the lightning network which require solving the Canadian traveller problem to work, etc. The only actual use of this “technology” seems to be avoiding regulation on money transfers (in a highly inefficient way) and various forms of frauds (ponzi/pyramid schemes, pump & dumps, etc.). And the energy waste is very real!

It is quite common in Thailand to put the fee on the customer, as mentioned in my previous comment, I have often had merchants tell me there is a 3% credit card fee, and if you buy air tickets via e.g. AirAsia, you get several payment options, and the fee for each various, e.g. doing netbank payment is often the cheapest. You might be outraged by the visibility of merchant fees, but I actually wish the cost of using payment cards were transparent to the consumer, because different cards have different rates: 1.3%-3.5% for credit cards + a flat fee, and many debit cards have zero fees (but maybe a small flat fee, or monthly fee). Often the issuing bank will get a cut of the fee, so your bank (if you are American) may try to lure you to get and use an American Express card (highest fees) by giving you a 1% cash back, or other rewards, so that means the merchant gets 3.5% less when you use this card, instead of your debit card, but you will be incentivized to use it, because for you, it is an advantage. Notice how Apple introduced their own credit card and they give you 3% cash back when using that card to buy from Apple. You can basically see this as instead of adding 3% to the price of everyone who pays with a credit card, they give a 3% discount to people who use the Apple Card (where Apple presumably do not have to pay the credit card fee). Other big merchants also have their own cards with benefits, which I assume is also to avoid the merchant fees. Because the fee is not paid by the consumer, there is no natural competition occurring, bringing down the fees. I.e. if I had to pay 0% when using my debit card, but 2.5% when using my VISA card, you could be sure as hell, I would always use my debit card, even though VIISA may give me miles. But because it is instead the vendor who pays the 2.5%, I opt for the VISA card, where I get miles (hypothetically).

In the past it was common for Thai merchants to require 3% extra, if paying with foreign credit card, to cover their fee. This made me think that the rate was 3% in Thailand, so I wonder why you got quoted 4%. I say in the past, mainly because I have not tried to pay for anything with a foreign card in ages. I am curious about your setup though, if you mainly cater to people abroad who pay you large amounts in USD, would it not make sense to incorporate in e.g. Delaware and setup card processing for this subsidiary? The rate you can get via a U.S. merchant account is probably closer to 2%, but it has been years since I last worked with credit card processing, and it all depends on your revenue, whether this is really worth the trouble and added expenses of having a U.S. subsidiary.

They might be worried about how it will impact the economy when the music stops, as many people have invested more than they can afford to lose in crypto, but nothing of value has been generated, their money has just made someone else richer, or contributed to covering the cost of the enormous amount of energy wasted by the miners. It’s effectively a giant spreadsheet with numbers assigned to people, that people think can be converted to real money, and through hype, complex interactions, and downright manipulation, the numbers go up, but eventually people will learn that the fiat money is not there.

They would have to pay transfer fee and stamp duty, right? So it is not without cost, and the condo act allows up to 9 people in the committee, so they would have to transfer 4 units to ensure a majority, plus another 9 units, if they want to stay in power beyond the two consecutive terms allowed. I don’t know if something like this has actually happened, but to me it doesn’t seem rational for a developer to spend money on basically being in opposition with co-owners of a building where they still have units they want to sell.

Apparently this Facebook group is supposed to be updated, once the rules are available: https://www.facebook.com/ChiangMaiCharming But it appears that first phase will be with a 7 day stayover in Phuket to stimulate domestic tourism…

You need majority of attending votes at the AGM to vote for your budget and other proposals, but at the AGM, a committee is elected (every 2nd year), the developer can only get one person elected into this committee (and only be in the committee for at most two consecutive terms), the rest will be co-owners, and it is the committee which will oversee management. So in theory, the day after the AGM, the new committee could fire the existing management team/company and hire a new one, as long as they stay within the passed budget, and as long as the AGM has not explicitly voted for a specific management company to run the building (which they normally wouldn’t do).

I have an account with Krungthai, also opened on tourist visa, and also from the EU. Never had a problem transferring large amounts, but as @gamb00ler says, if the amount exceeds ฿2M (I was told it was 50,000 USD, but it comes to about the same), then there is an extra check. For me, that meant going to the bank and signing a document and giving them a copy of my passport, no questions asked about purpose. Also, when I bought my condo, I needed FET form *or* letter from the bank. Since I never bothered with the former, I went to the bank and asked them for this letter, and they went though two years worth of transactions, for two different accounts I had with them, and then listed everything that was “from abroad” in this letter that they signed, and I could show at the Land Office. Never tried to transfer money out of Thailand, but all my interactions with Thai banks so far have been positive, and if it is clear the money are from abroad, it should not be a problem to transfer them out again. But I would go to your bank and ask for a currency account, if you are unsure whether or not the money should stay in Thailand, and then delay exchanging them to THB, otherwise you stand to lose a noticeable amount due to bank’s exchange rate cut and possible depreciation of the Thai baht.