taxin

Some harsh assumptions here naka et al. Age is irrelevant, in fact I would bet the younger are duped more often. Who are we to be judgemental.

I believe age is very relevant here. A young woman who hangs out with a

man old enough to be her grandfather is only in the relationship for one

reason ... money.

Hardly surprising she would seek other 'company' when sugar daddy is not about.

Naka.

Im with Naka on this one ! All you 50+ plus guys with Thai birds less than half your age, your gal does not love you, and please dont try to convince us otherwise !!

So Taxin what you are saying is that at 50 years of age that`s it...over...sex life finished...thrown on the scrap heap.....can`t provide or perform like a younger man....... You are joking surely....or you don`t have a clue. Probably the latter.

For your information many Thai ladies prefer to make their lives with older men for a number of reasons.....not the least being security, stability and experience.... unfortunately it seems in this case if what we read is true this lady took him for a ride.

So stop telling all the gentlemen on here that because they have a partner much younger that they are not loved......or is it that you are unable to pull a decent lady.....or is it that you bat from the other side??

Life after 50 over ??... Absolutely not (at least I hope not) !

But thinking that a Thai bird less than half your age loves you ?.... Well I stand firm your honor, not a chance !

Is it just me or are farangs getting out of hand in Thailand. I mean really check this guy out this guy ibsears, who posted this on the main topic forum:

" Therefore, I don't think he deserves to rot in a Thai prison. It wasn't premeditated and should be considered a crime of passion. A punishment should be applied with a jail term but nothing to long."

Crime of Passion? Ok I could see that if he just stabed her once saw the knife in her chest, felt her tender flesh give way under the blade and suddenly snaped out of it like "OMG what have I done". But no this filthy, old, pasty, deviant, scum bag POS, Stabbed her 3 times once in the arm, no doubt as she struggled to protect her self, then twice in the chest assureing her demise. Throw his A$$ under the Jail. Obviously had no sence to begin with investing money with some bar girl to open a bar...

Like Grandad used to say "Ain't no fool like a Old fool"

So cheating people out of their hard earned money is O.K.is it? Is there nothing in your life you are ashamed of and will take to your grave? I think most of us have.

I asked a Thai bar girl once before how she felt about leading the falang on in such a way as they do. Her reply was basically "You gotta have it to lose it" !

What she basically meant was this.... "To be able to give so easy surely you will be able to handle the loss with the same ammount of ease ?"

You can see the logic in her reply really.... In a Thai way.....

Some harsh assumptions here naka et al. Age is irrelevant, in fact I would bet the younger are duped more often. Who are we to be judgemental.

I believe age is very relevant here. A young woman who hangs out with a

man old enough to be her grandfather is only in the relationship for one

reason ... money.

Hardly surprising she would seek other 'company' when sugar daddy is not about.

Naka.

Im with Naka on this one ! All you 50+ plus guys with Thai birds less than half your age, your gal does not love you, and please dont try to convince us otherwise !!

Yes, checks from Thailand as well as various other countries all have been no problem. But one thing you may want to watch for is if the check is payable in Thai Baht, you may get a very bad exchange rate in another country. So if possible you should have the check made payable in US Dollars, Euros, or whatever the currency is in the country you want to cash it in.

I think the check will certainly be payable in Thai baht. Im not so much worried about the exchange rate, my concern is if the banks will accept them at all !

I suppose it depends on the bank and maybe the banking regulations in the country where you're depositing the check. I've deposited checks to my bank in Korea and the only thing is that I have to wait for about a month for the check to clear before I can access the money. The same deal in every country where I've tried to deposit a foreign check. You may also have to pay some service charge and they may also charge you a percent of the check amount. If you want to actually cash it, meaning get immediate cash, I think you'll likely have a problem wherever you go outside of Thailand.

Thanks Soju, was it a Thai check that you deposited into your Korea bank ?

Reference the waiting this wont be problem, its not for immediate cash. If its a month then so be it.

Does anyone know if a Thai bank cheque (i.e. Krung Thai Bank) can be cashed abroad ?

What is required to set up a merchant account with the Bangkok Bank? If customer are in another country and send/tell you their card numbers do you ever have problems with the card issuer thinking it may be fraud?

What you need 1st is to open a business account with them, which of course requires a Thai registered company. It took me a while to get the wired machine and BKK bank had to check me out by visiting my premises etc to see if I was a legit company. So if you work from home then I would say forget it.

Im not sure really if it could be called a merchant account, the machine is linked directly to the business account and does not come to me via someone else.

I do get a lot of knock backs where the card issuer blocks the transaction, what I do is call the customer and they inform there card issuer that im legit. Its normally just precautionary stuff.

The only problem is clawbacks, without a signature the consumer can request a refund, even if they have already used the product or service. Which is annoying ! Kind of like going into a bar and drinking 6 bottles of beer, then saying you have changed your mind and want your money back !! Unfortunately the head office in Bangkok simply refused to see the logic in it.

I had some second hand dealings with Surasak.. He struck me as very unprofessional, missed appointments, blew out dates and didnt follow up on time critical things that he claimed he was on top of. Would have totally blown a legal case and failed in what he was contracted to do if the person involved in the case hadnt happed to follow up outside of the channel of information from Surasak and discovered that hearings were happening in days and none of the appeals etc had been lodged.

I dont know about Khun Joy only wanting gullible farangs can only say shes held in high regard for book keeping / clerical type legal service by people I know. Her prices seemed fair and in line with other local service.

Unprofessional, missed appointments... sounds a bit like Joy ! Sorry, not nice but true !

Belmont Limcharoen, way over the top expensive, typical western lawyers charging western prices, only interested in property. Will charge you 80,000 baht to answer a question, as they tried to do with me. Think they call it "research".....

Dont know Tillek & Gibbons so cant comment on that one.

Any recommendations for 'decent' hotels close enough to be in the action but far enough away not to be noisy? Looking for a hotel with pool that is not carry a ethical stance or try to fleece you for bringing a guest home. Any recommendations people?

Thanks a lot - do appreciate your advice.

Take a look at this site. They have plenty of listings for hotels that are guest friendly.

http://www.barladies.com/

Take care.

Ha ha ! Just got this msge while trying to log onto barladies.com...

......Sorry! the web site you are accessing has been blocked by ministry of information and communication technology....

Maybe its because of all the hotels on there that encourage prostitution !!

My existing (and good) lawyer is in BKK, where I lived for a few years. Now that I live in Phuket I want to find good local lawyer who can assist with company and visa matters.

Can anyone recommend a good lawyer? I'm British, so I prefer to find a lawyer who is also reasonably familiar with the relevant rules/regulations/processes of the UK embassy. (eg as per exporting from the UK to Thailand, visitor visas to the UK, etc etc).

Thanks - Simon

PS - I live near the airport but a lawyer in Phuket town or Patong is ok.

My advice is to steer clear of Khun Joy !

She does help out a lot of the farangs but is only interested in the gullible sort, if you already have a business (i.e. know a bit about Thai law already) it is likely that she will not be interested in working with you.

The best one is Siam Legal who are also in Patong, they have an office in the Andatel Hotel on Rath-U-Thid Road. 076 345277. www.siam-legal.com

The owner is an American guy, mainly works out of the Bangkok office but regularly visits Phuket. I think he also has an British guy working for/with him. Staff there are pretty good.

Thanks for all your replies - even if they aren't terribly positive. And, I'm afraid to say, after 10 days of solid searching down all avenues, neither is my conclusion.

So, drumroll, please...

The most reliable way I've found to take cc payments in Thailand from overseas?

By FAX Old-fashioned, quite a lot of paperwork, but it works (or will do when our bank finally approves our application). No chargebacks and instant access to funds. Of course, you need a Thai company to do this, and it makes you liable to declare earnings, but if you're legit it's ok.

We'll still use Thai EPAY as the first line, but switch immediately to fax authorisation when the card (as happens so often) gets randomly rejected, rather than getting the customer to try again repeatedly, getting more and more pissed off and wondering if the company he is dealing with is even reputable.

Apart from the Mastercard issue, the main worry I have about Thai EPAY is that they use the UOB online payment system. Rather than going through the middleman, I originally applied direct to UOB (lower commission, but must maintain deposit of 100,000 in bank account), but a very apologetic customer rep told me that higher management were questioning the whole service after the takeover (i.e. whether they were going to continue providing it) and so they weren't taking on any new customers at the moment. That was 3 months ago. So not sure for how much longer Thai Epay will exist? I mean even the Mastercard problem comes from UOB's refusal, not theirs.

Some avenues I've tried (FYI, FWIW):

1. Paypal - ok if you have UK bank account, but doesn't look professional

2. About 100 American based companies - no international coverage

3. Ditto Australian / Singapore / HK companies

4. 2checkout - had flat refusal from them for ANY 'travel-related services'

5. Worldpay - still no response after auto-reply more than a week ago

6. Bangkok Bank - absurdly high fees

7. Siam Commercial - no reply after a week = rubbish customer service

8. So-called 'high risk' 3rd party processors (apparently travel is on the same level as porn in this world), they charge commission at nearly 20%!!

9. Other UK solutions require a merchant account at a UK bank, impossible unless you are registered in UK.

Anyway, there's not just a niche, but a great yawning chasm in this market if anyone wants to set up a new business

Harry, when you say BKK Bank have absurdly high fees how absurd are we talking ?

For me they are the cheapest at 2.75% ...... I have a telephone wired swipe machine which also allows me to manually type in customers card details, they gave me this for free, no deposit, no silly retainer to leave in an account. It can be a pain at times but at least the money is in my bank account instantly.

So being a "travel related" business, on top of my reluctance in waiting upto 6 weeks it looks like I will be staying with BKK bank !

I use Thaiepay simply beacuse there is no other option.

Farily good system - but many bad points:

1. Extortionate exchange rates, especially on the USD

2. Have to wait up to six weeks to get paid

3. Many transactions rejected with no reason given (many customers therefore lost as they got pissed off with trying again and again)

4. They say they take MasterCard but don't

5. For some currencies, like GBP and EUR, some of my customers have been charged in Thai Baht and it has come out on their statement over what it should have

Thinking about moving to Bangkok Bank....

Im actually trying to move away from Bangkok Bank because they are an absolute nightmare !!

To take a CC payment you have to have allsorts such as photo copies of there passport and copies of the actual card, so unless the customer is in front of you you really up against it !

I was considering moving over to ThaiEpay but im not sure now, one poster says its good and the other says its not ! One says they pay on time the other says 6 weeks ? Who do we believe ?

Have also tried Asiapay but my e mails are being returned…

So anyone else with any other suggestions ?

Maybe us expats should create a "society" that has it's own security.

Say, we hire some robust, highly-trained Israeli commandos as they backpack around SE Asia, and give them a chance to resolve our disputes in a calculated, disciplined, professional style.

Maybe hire the front-man Thai negotiator, who tries to make peace with the Thai businessman, while the two Israeli commandos stand behind him with all of their military toys to protect the negotiator.

If all of us expats throw in 2000 Baht for the year, we'd have plenty to run the program without additional costs per incidence.

Maybe call it "Scores R Us." (I just bought the domain name scoresrus.com). So, whose in?

If it is a successful program, I know expats in many countries would love to buy franchise rights for such an endeavor (expats in India have been begging for such a program!).

Count me in !! I also have another 47 people who are interested with at least 26 more to follow, could you please send me your bank details so I can submit the cash ? That is 2,000 each yeah ?

Bangkok air

Air Asia

Nok Air

12Go ??

I also agree that Thai has really jumped in price lately.. my mother has needed some flights around and Thai was the convienient times and reliability.. 4400 one way and 3300 back.. 7700 for a BKK return is more than I can fly to bali on 2 flights via singapore (tiger then jetstar).. Seems kind of mad.

Providing you book in advance (at least 3 days) you will find that Air Asia and Nok Air should be around the 1,600 to 2,000 mark.

If you want to pay a bit more then Bangkok Air is good, you get a small meal on the plane with them and they have there own lounges in both Bangkok and Phuket Airports, free snacks and free internet.

Nok Air & Air Asia are not the most reliable as Bangkok Air have a much better rack rate. For the extra 300/400 baht Bangkok Air wins it for me.

If you are an early waker you can do the morning flight with Bkk Air (dep 07.40 Bangkok, 09.40 from PKT), promotion price is 1,600 which is great value. But my guess is this wont last long.

12Go, forget it !!

It never seizes to amaze me how many times I see posts that start with "A friend of mine would like to know"... Its so obvious, particularly when its of a sensitive nature that the poster is seeking the information for himself. Unless you are well known personally on here I don’t see why you need to do this.

But then again I can see why people would, there’s nothing more annoying in getting replies by people who tell you that you shouldn’t have allowed yourself to get in the position your in, like you want to here this ?! The question wasn’t if he was a good boy or a bad boy, the question was can he be prevented from leaving !

No, the question was could his 'colleague' be prevented from leaving.

The fact that the wannabe defaulter slipped up and stated the obvious is quite relevant, IMHO.

The OP clearly has the integrity of someone who shaves twice each morning; he appears to have two faces.

The ethics of an estate agent or 'realtor' spring to mind...

What I meant was it was obvious on his 1st post, long before he slipped up !

Also a friend of mine wants to know what you have against estate agents ?

Very droll...!

I have a suggestion. Lets start a "My friend/colleague wants to know" thread, for all those people out there who run around gathering information for there friends or colleagues, coz they are too lazy to do it for themselves !

It never seizes to amaze me how many times I see posts that start with "A friend of mine would like to know"... Its so obvious, particularly when its of a sensitive nature that the poster is seeking the information for himself. Unless you are well known personally on here I don’t see why you need to do this.

But then again I can see why people would, there’s nothing more annoying in getting replies by people who tell you that you shouldn’t have allowed yourself to get in the position your in, like you want to here this ?! The question wasn’t if he was a good boy or a bad boy, the question was can he be prevented from leaving !

No, the question was could his 'colleague' be prevented from leaving.

The fact that the wannabe defaulter slipped up and stated the obvious is quite relevant, IMHO.

The OP clearly has the integrity of someone who shaves twice each morning; he appears to have two faces.

The ethics of an estate agent or 'realtor' spring to mind...

What I meant was it was obvious on his 1st post, long before he slipped up !

Also a friend of mine wants to know what you have against estate agents ?

Living overseas, where you don't have a job (or if you do have a job it's not secure and finding another job would be difficult if not impossible), in a country where the immigration laws as such that you can be denied residence on a myriad accounts (including the immigration officer not liking you for some spurious reason) and in a country where there is no welfare or free medical care.

Now it strikes me, that is not the place and the personal circumstance under which anyone, short of an idiot, would want to risk loosing access to credit.

My friend is in a terrible situation and needs advice. She's Thai, 27 and has a good accounting job. Last Autumn, her older stepsister (who has a good job and her husband is some higher ranking officer in the Thai Army) talked her into guranteeing a car loan for THB 200k.

The sister failed to make any monthly THB 5k payments. Instead, she has been pressurizing my frind. ** I told her to get the car returned, but it appears that the sister's husband used it as collateral in some gambling den (whatever - they refuse to return the car).

Getting my friend to inform the rest of the family about all this was tough; she cried a lot and her evil sister is playing the family card ruthlessly. But time is running out and to me it looks like 1.) my friend will have to bear the cost and ultimately repay all debt. Her salary is THB 16,000 net. 2.) Worse, she will get blacklisted and be unable to get a mortgage etc. and she will lose her AMEX and credit cards. 3.) Maybe she might also lose her job as she is dealing with $ millions, doing the accounting for a multinational corporation. // Where can this girl turn to for help and advice?

My idea is to threaten the sister with the Police. Getting the car returned would wipe out ~ 1/3 of the debt. ** Does anyone know how such cases are handled by the courts?

I suggest 1 of only 2 things ....

a) Tell her no problem and give he 200K to pay it off.

or...

Tell her you dont have 200K to help her out.

Sounds to me this may well be where it is leading. Otherwise, why would she turn to a farang for help, knowing he has zero knowledge of the Thai law ?

Wouldnt be the 1st story of its kind.

I hope he didn't make any fraudulent statements on his application.

No not the case, I was employed with good job and work permit now, have the opportunity to work in another country, curious whether if coming back into Thailand will be a problem ?

AsiaMB, do I understand this right? It was you, after all, not a colleague of yours, you were talking about in your original post of this thread.

I am not sure what your “not the case” is about. Are you outside Thailand at the moment?

---------------

Maestro

It never seizes to amaze me how many times I see posts that start with "A friend of mine would like to know"... Its so obvious, particularly when its of a sensitive nature that the poster is seeking the information for himself. Unless you are well known personally on here I don’t see why you need to do this.

But then again I can see why people would, there’s nothing more annoying in getting replies by people who tell you that you shouldn’t have allowed yourself to get in the position your in, like you want to here this ?! The question wasn’t if he was a good boy or a bad boy, the question was can he be prevented from leaving !

As for the Americans I couldn’t agree more, nearly every reply is “But in the states....” Well guess what, the query is not related about the states, so why bring it up ?

We know you love your country so much which is fine, we wont take that way from you but why does is have to come into EVERY subject ?

Thank you, my rant of the day over with

Metro Apartments on Soi L.K. Metro, 500b a night, nice rooms free ADSL wi-fi

The Metro looks like great value ! Looking to spend a little bit more than 500 baht.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Royal Cliff is very good and have decent internet connection in the room.

I've also seen some guesthouses in Soi Buakao announce free wifi in rooms.

What's your budget?

Budget is 2,000 - 2,500 baht. Which takes Royal Cliff out the frame !!

Anybody know a good hotel with a decent internet connection in the rooms ?

I want to know if there are any high rise office buildings in Pattaya / Jomtien with offices for rent?

With security guards in the lobby?

What price range?

Thanks

Surprised to see the zero reply to Barrelheads query ? (not)

Is it me or does this Pattaya thread only seem to have discussions about girly bars and people being killed ?

Im also looking for a serviced office in Pattaya, if anyone knows ? Barrelhead, any joy ?

Does anyone know any decent companies in Phuket who can build websites ?

One which doesnt try to baffle me with all the techno science in order to try and charge me extortionate amounts of baht !

Hi, im looking for Thai sales staff to work in Bangkok for a recently established company, does anyone know of any good companies I can contact ? Websites ?

Agencies are OK as im not actually in Bangkok, I only plan to be there for interviews.