Shazdeb

I came through Sadeo last night with visa company, all in the van had either non B, non O, ed or business visa's. I had asked about taking 20,000 with me before I left at the visa company office and was told " nonsense not needed they will not ask " well must say they didn't because we were all told to put 200 baht in passport, one girl tried not to, to see what happened, she was instructed to hand it over. We all sailed through with no problems except the girl who tried not to pay was stamped with the wrong date, lucky she noticed and the tour operator took her back and got it fixed. Also used the Banana Hotel, not impressed with there vans though really squeezey couldn't wait to transfer back to the Thai ones, much more comfy with better aircon

We will pick whomever we like, the world is not our father.

You cannot pick whoever you like and the world while not your father is most certainly part of your family. Your statement shows the typical Thai mentality which has stopped its progress in its own country and the rest of the world. If we adopted your mentality we would still be in the stone age which you are not far removed from.

Is there a need to be rude to a citizen of a country that has a God given right to have his opinion, you also have the right to yours but how about at least trying to be nice while doing it. I'm a permanent visitor to this beautiful country and agree with this person " Thailand has the right to pick whom ever they wish and it's none of the worlds business ". There are many instances world wide of Armed forces personnel moving into politics' and many very successfully, Where a person has spent his adult working years should have nothing to do with if he can serve his country in this capacity or not, it shouldn't matter if he was a street sweeper, a doctor, a sex worker even and defiantly not a member of the armed forces ... If he is the best man ( or woman for that matter ) for the job this is the one and only thing that matters. I for one love what General Prayuth has and is doing here and if I was able to would vote for him in a heartbeat and most Thai's I have discussed it with feel the same, and seeing it's their country .... You go ahead and do what ever you wish and If anyone doesn't like it just mention a few of the None Military leaders of the World and what a stuff up they have made of things.

There are so many old empty ugly billboards, these should be easy to remove so hoping the Army will get around to it. About the abandoned buildings, Its a shame, a waste and a disgrace ( mostly to those that just left it and walked ) Why don't the Government make a law that states basically " If you abandon a building and do no work on it for a set time ( I don't know how long, 6 mths 12mths ) that it is taken and sold with the monies raised from the sale going to country infrastructure to help the people of Thailand, such as fixing roads, fixing the electricity supply ( much needed ) supplying to schools etc ? and before you all say the obvious that is not within the law ... Change the laws It can be done for everything else why not for this. These buildings, and there is just so many of them, are ugly and bring down the look of this beautiful country, doing this can fax the problem and the money raised can help fix all the other problems !!! If the people that built and abandoned them loose out so what

My first house here had a spirit. We would hear noises that sounded like a party going on down stairs but no one was down there. The sound of glasses clinking was an almost nightly occurrence. My son, his girlfriend ( who was a total disbeliever at the time ) all saw people that didn't live there, there was 2 bedrooms downstairs and one of them no one would stay in it was just really uncomfortable, even the dog and cats wouldn't go in, would sit at the door and look in but wouldn't enter. My self and son's girlfriend heard voices very clearly right next to our heads while in bed and amongst other things while in the house alone I became very nervous due to weird sounds etc, I felt someone grab my leg and felt calm as though they were comforting me ( I must say what ever was there was never scary or disruptive ) didn't take much notice or get concerned as my bedroom was well and truly impregnable ( the doors were very think with excellent locks which were locked ) In the morning my leg was a little sore and when I looked at it there was a very obvious set of bruises depicting 5 fingers in a grab pattern, before you say I did it I couldn't even trying get my hands in the position to mimic the bruise as it was from the bottom of the bed I was grabbed, I got the photos to prove it. There was defiantly something there in that house

7 million key-money? So you are not buying this resort but renting it? How long is the rental term?

No not buying buildings just the business, should say " thinking of buying " If im not happy with everything not committing. Key money is now through lots talking 5 mil and the lease is 12 yrs

Rent is high due to the dreaded " sub lease " there is a reason we don't sublease in Australia its expensive and full of unknowns and pit falls

in either August or October the Army starting checks on Hotels to see if legal

If I were you I would not listen too much to rumours floating around.

Not listening too as gospel but need to take note off as they are fixing heaps. Always best to beware

To the OP, there is an oversupply of shophouse "hotels" and "guesthouses". These are the types of properties I've seen listed, and most of them aren't even available to purchase, merely a few year lease involving key money and rent. It's tough to be viable with low occupancy rates and 500 baht rooms. The only winners are those owning the land and the buildings that are renting out these "hotels". Original lessee then tries to make a go of it, find it's not worth it, then subleases, releases or abandons the property forfeiting his substantial deposit, then the cycle continues................

Yes its quite often the " subleasing " that makes it untenable

So many of these hotels are not licenced hotels, but do at least (I hope) have planning permission as a guesthouse or homestay. How they get upgraded to hotel status? Perhaps an inspection of their fire escape etc facilities and sewage treatment etc might help.

Operating a guest house still requires inspection and meeting a list of criteria.

Personaly I wouldn't be worried about buying a guest house that wasn't licenced as it's not a hard process to bring it up to the relevant standards and then arrange the inspection and sign off. If there was no hope of it meeting the guest house licencing requirements then it would have to be a deathtrap.

Not even close to being a death trap. run down yes but sound, has fire extinguishes, fire alarms etc just checking now to make sure he didn't ( as I have been advised is rather common ) apply for building permission to build house and build slightly ( lol ) more. Will know soon He seems rather pushy to get signed and done by August and in either August or October the Army starting checks on Hotels to see if legal, I know he isn't so ( although he says nonsense wont do it but taxi & illegal beach front thought this too ) think he wants out before he copes fines and fee's. OK by me as long as I can make it legal

and asked for building plans and he stated he didn't have any ???

I wouldn't touch this 'wonderful offer' with a 12 foot barge pole.

But for our enjoyment, please can you provide brief details of this business and how much he is asking for it.

LOL basically small Resort of 38 rms restaurant ( building there but not furnished in any way ) pool, various out building not utilized. Beautiful ( or potentially it is with cosmetic work done ) he has fairly well run it into the ground for years putting nothing back. He wanted 7 mil key ( so far down to 5 and what ever it will cost to fix license he paying for or I walk ) rent is too high ( I think, talking but he seems set ) 340,000 per mth. All buildings sound but needs a lot of cosmetic work to make it the beauty it should be. Associate spoke with Or Bor Tor yesterday to find out what he wont.

If Im not satisfied it's safe there is no way im going any further

Don't laugh too much Simon

Shazdeb, here is how it works re hotels - according to a little elf who told me all this.

First, you need to understand that there are different licencing requirements, depending on whether the business is a hotel, guesthouse or homestay. The classification is generally (but not excludsively) dependant on how many letting rooms you have.

For a 'hotel', one is required to complete an EIA (environmental impact assessment) and other stringent checks/inspections. For a major hotel chain, that is either not an issue (squeaky clean business), or there's enough $$$ in the kitty to pay off the government guy who signs off the planning permission in the local OrBorTor office.

But for smaller hotels, where $$$ bribes are not feasible, the OrBorTor does not like to put their signature to a planning approval, in case they are held accountable some years later. So they ask those new businesses to state that they are not hotels but guesthouses, by classifying some guest rooms as staff rooms or other buildings. The planning application gets signed off without the need for an EIA or on-site inspections etc.

This is all fine unless investigations are made. The OrBorTor will be unwilling to 'upgrade' the guesthouse to a hotel because their original 'collusion' will become evident. Yet this same OrBorTor guy is happy to demand and receive biannual business taxes (receipts given) for that same business.

So many of these hotels are not licenced hotels, but do at least (I hope) have planning permission as a guesthouse or homestay. How they get upgraded to hotel status? Perhaps an inspection of their fire escape etc facilities and sewage treatment etc might help.

Out of the 4 hotels/guesthouses that I have built, 1 has hotel status (due to the number of letting rooms), 2 are registered correctly as guesthouses and 1 is still to go 'live'.

so to add - if you are considering to buy a guesthouse or hotel, ask to see the original, approved planning permission documents and plans. Check if the planning permission was for a hotel, guesthouse, homestay or private house.

If approved plans do not exist, or have not been signed off by the OrBorTor, stay well away!

Thanks all for info so far. Very interesting and great leads as to what to look for. Met with him yesterday and asked for building plans and he stated he didn't have any ??? found this strange and told him so, he finally said he will look at home, thanks to these posts I am sure I know why he is being cagey

I have been looking for a small resort/hotel/guesthouse and from looking at a lot ( and I mean a lot ) of offerings one thing is clear a lot of them have been built and run poorly, in bad areas, in out of the way areas and Soi's where there is no way if I was a tourist, I would stay.

I am also concerned with the reports that in August/October there is to be a tightening of regulations for hotels, most of them here are un-licensed and after this time is your not licensed you will be found and fined.

Im wondering if this is the reason a lot are selling ?? The thing im having trouble finding out is this ... If you buy an unlicensed hotel ( and I would get it licensed but it's a long processes ) do any fines and problems stay with the hotel and become the new owners problem while the real instigator walks away clean ?

I cant get an answer because every owner I ask repeats the same " wont happen no problem don't need license buy my hotel " Im afraid I think they are wrong, just don't know if they also think this and just want to get out of a coming problem

Can anyone help. have been coming here for 3 1/2 yrs staying most of the year on a TR 60 day double entry, with 2 30 day extensions it gave me 6 mths here and then forced me to go home ( Australia ) and catch up with family for a month or so, wrong thing to do apparently but in all the times I applied for these visas NO ONE ever pointed out that this was wrong. Yes before you say it I could have applied for a retirement visa but doing it this way suited me as It made me go home, with out the need I doubt I would ever leave this beautiful country and see my ageing parents, I never at any time meant to do the wrong thing. Any way I am now buying a small hotel so have started the process to get my work permit needed to own the company my problem stems from the fact that my son and his long time girlfriend live here with me also, not for as long periods as me they have spend a lot more time in Australia than me, I will get a work permit for my son as he will help me but don't really want to do one for his girlfriend as she is a dependent of his and will not work with us, what do I do about her ?? I like to do things lawfully, even though apparently I wasn't do so but just didn't realize. Any ideas would be appreciated

You might want to rethink buying the hotel at this time. Thai tourism should be in the dumps for as long as they keep blocking so many farang from entering and staying in the country. If Thailand loses 30000 baht per month each from thousands of farang at some point it will hurt the economy and add up to some real losses for those in the hotel/restaurant business.

I disagree. If it is true, as they say, that the vast majority of western tourists come here only for a few days on visa exempt entry, and do not return ( ie on a HOLIDAY ), it should theoretically make no difference at all. However, if the western media cotton onto this story, it could result in a major downturn of western tourists.

I doubt it will affect Chinese and other Asian tourists at all, so perhaps Shazdeb should angle to cater for the Asian market.

I must admit I am concerned about the Tourist situation I cant believe that I finally found a hotel I love and everything is so unclear at this time, Typical. At the moment the Resort caters to only Russians and is very run down, I really think ( hope ) apone fixing it up and catering to a different clientele It can be saved, I actually was planning to go the Asian countries route in 12 mths when the work is done. However although the paper report that Tourism will and is recovering I am concerned as the rent on the Resort is rather high I consider. I have done my sums and am sure I can turn it around IF Tourism either stays stable or increases, How many others feel that Tourism will dip and/or fall ??

Can anyone help. have been coming here for 3 1/2 yrs staying most of the year on a TR 60 day double entry, with 2 30 day extensions it gave me 6 mths here and then forced me to go home ( Australia ) and catch up with family for a month or so, wrong thing to do apparently but in all the times I applied for these visas NO ONE ever pointed out that this was wrong. Yes before you say it I could have applied for a retirement visa but doing it this way suited me as It made me go home, with out the need I doubt I would ever leave this beautiful country and see my ageing parents, I never at any time meant to do the wrong thing. Any way I am now buying a small hotel so have started the process to get my work permit needed to own the company my problem stems from the fact that my son and his long time girlfriend live here with me also, not for as long periods as me they have spend a lot more time in Australia than me, I will get a work permit for my son as he will help me but don't really want to do one for his girlfriend as she is a dependent of his and will not work with us, what do I do about her ?? I like to do things lawfully, even though apparently I wasn't do so but just didn't realize. Any ideas would be appreciated

You might want to rethink buying the hotel at this time. Thai tourism should be in the dumps for as long as they keep blocking so many farang from entering and staying in the country. If Thailand loses 30000 baht per month each from thousands of farang at some point it will hurt the economy and add up to some real losses for those in the hotel/restaurant business.

I disagree. If it is true, as they say, that the vast majority of western tourists come here only for a few days on visa exempt entry, and do not return ( ie on a HOLIDAY ), it should theoretically make no difference at all. However, if the western media cotton onto this story, it could result in a major downturn of western tourists.

I doubt it will affect Chinese and other Asian tourists at all, so perhaps Shazdeb should angle to cater for the Asian market.

Can anyone help. have been coming here for 3 1/2 yrs staying most of the year on a TR 60 day double entry, with 2 30 day extensions it gave me 6 mths here and then forced me to go home ( Australia ) and catch up with family for a month or so, wrong thing to do apparently but in all the times I applied for these visas NO ONE ever pointed out that this was wrong. Yes before you say it I could have applied for a retirement visa but doing it this way suited me as It made me go home, with out the need I doubt I would ever leave this beautiful country and see my ageing parents, I never at any time meant to do the wrong thing. Any way I am now buying a small hotel so have started the process to get my work permit needed to own the company my problem stems from the fact that my son and his long time girlfriend live here with me also, not for as long periods as me they have spend a lot more time in Australia than me, I will get a work permit for my son as he will help me but don't really want to do one for his girlfriend as she is a dependent of his and will not work with us, what do I do about her ?? I like to do things lawfully, even though apparently I wasn't do so but just didn't realize. Any ideas would be appreciated

I don't have problems so much with Landlords, except for my first here and he was Falang and an utter pig to all. My problem is with finding a house, I have discovered that you need to pick an area and drive around looking for signs on properties ( not easy as I don't drive but it is what it is ) the Real Estate agents and the various people that do it with no office as a side line drive me nuts. You give them specific details of what you want and they show you everything but, and if you don't just pick a house from there first offerings you don't see or hear from them again. It's all interesting funny at times stressful at others, drives me mad, yes, but this is Thailand either go with the flow or just go

my son is here on a double entry 60 day TR visa and he did his 30 day extension the other day and only been her a couple of weeks so I don't think it matters when you do it

I heard that the Embassy in Hong Kong is easy and quick, any one tried it ??

I have been in Thailand for coming on 4 yrs doing just TR Visa and going back to Australia every 6 mths to see family and redo visa, up to now never been asked any thing at Immigration. Due to go again next mth , am a bit concerned with the crack down but we will see what happens

I booked 2 weeks ago to go to Ranong for stamp out, rang 3 companies all told me closed cant go. We had to go to Satun which was pretty but defiantly longer to get to than Ranong

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just register on the thai health service.....everything 30 bht......I get my blood pressure tabs every 2 months 30 baht........my friend on the scheme fell off ladders in January.,.smashed his ankle to pieces....4 operations...pins in his ankle etc.........went to leave the hospital a bill for 58000 bht....his wife presented his thai health service card...,..,the bill came down to 30 bht.......simple if you are married to a thai national and have a yellow house book, just go to your local hospital, have a blood test, urine test and a chest x ray.....pay 2800 bht and you are on the thai health service rate......simple...........you will find bupa and the likes will let you down in the long run, I have friends who have paid out 1000s in bupa cover.......not worth the paper its wrote on when push comes to shove.....

Lucky you but if not married to a Thai ???? Can you still join under no marriage conditions ??

im not a soccer person but except for the first 10 min .... which I put down to a mix of nerves and hero worship/awe on behalf of a very young inexperienced side ... I think we may not have got the win but the match was ours. Well done our boys , the ref's though ?? geeeeze can we be more transparent about our motives of just keeping the big boys in this !!!! Same every time and seriously they need to cut the dramatics and acting, it's ruining the game. The need to make some of these serial " faking injury on a nothing contact " boys play some Aussie rules, Toughen them up a bit

I have used them extensively both economy and flat bed. Even with paying for anything you want it's still way cheaper, you can get cheap up grades which others don't do, the staff I think are actually more friendly and now they have moved position at KL they have removed the only thing I didn't like ... the long walk from the plane. I don't know why people are complaining about the leg room ( maybe they haven't actually flown them ) but I don't see a difference with AirAsia X or most of the others, I fly mostly Phuket/Australia and really it's a short flight any way how much can a person need, Im happy to stick with them now I have tried them.

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Basically ''a load of old cobblers.''

Below is the definition for those who may ask about the opening line.

The use of cobblers meaning "nonsense" is so mild that hardly anyone these days is likely to be offended by it. Most people are probably unaware of its rhyming-slang association with ``balls'', and therefore take it at its face value as a more colourful synonym for ``nonsense''. The classic formulation "a load of (old) cobblers" seems to be particularly popular in the tabloid press

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/

You do not need an insurance policy to open a bank account.

Snake oil marketing techniques nothing more nothing less.

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I can show you the signed paper work to prove they insisted I open it. Maybe " snake oil " but no way would they open it with out purchase and as I had to open one that day for a transfer I had no choice