Bulldozer Dawn

On 1/7/2017 at 10:29 AM, FritsSikkink said:

you can quite easily loose the lot too

Ill informed, doom and gloom, nonsense.

You can protect your position using a trailing stop:

How to Use Trailing Stops in Thailand

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have become very popular over the last decade all around the world.  In Australia last year alone funds under management by ETFs increased by 20%.  Some of the factors that contribute to the ongoing popularity of ETFs are that they have very low management fees compared to mutual funds, they are easy to buy and sell, and they are a good tool for adding diversification to your investment portfolio.

For anyone that is interested, there are currently 15 ETFs listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).

There is a recently published guide to investing in Thai ETFs here:

Guide to Exchange Traded Funds in Thailand

Live price quotes for all of the ETFs listed on the SET are available here:

Thai ETF Live Price Quotes

There is also a detailed discussion regarding the payment of Thai ETF dividends to farangs here:

Thai ETF Dividends

Just now, thaihome said:

 

In the 15 or so years I have been here it seems to me the biggest impact to the THB exchange rate has been supply and demand fluctuations driven by foreign investment in the SET and other investment devices. When foreign investors are buying baht it strengthens (to invest in cash instruments), when they are selling, it weakens.

 

Yes that is correct, and, in the wake of the "big event" the Stock Exchange of Thailad SET has been going gangbusters.  In the first two days of trade this year it is hitting new highs just under 1600.

Bloombergs, Sachs, Blackrock and others have identified the Emerging Markets as on of the best plays for 2017.

You can watch real time price quotes for currency, Thai ETFs and Shares, and world markets on the following page:

Live Price Quotes

If you think that the SET is already way ahead of itself, you can learn how to short sell it here:

How to Short Sell the Thai Stock Market

Yesterday morning I made just over 11,000 baht in 6 minutes trading a Thai derivative warrant.  My total investment amount  at risk was just 50,000 baht.  Trading warrants is not rocket science and you can make good profits if the market is going up or down.  My suggestion is that you open a online trading account for your girl and put a small amount of capital into it.  She can play with that and then as she learns and proves she can trade successfully you can then add a little more trading capital to her account.  Because warrants are leveraged she would only need a total bankroll of around 10,000 baht to successfully skim trade 3-500 baht per day in profits.  And that amount is equivalent to the average Thai daily wage (and above average if you are up in Nakon Nowhere).

You can also retain the details of her username and password to the trading account so you can log in while you are offshore to keep and eye on how she is going.

You can read more about trading Thai derivative warrants here:

How To Value Thai Call and Put Warrants

Just now, joeyg said:

Hardly metaphysics.  Read it in ,my senior year of high school.  Why the suspense what did he say.

Well if you read it you would already know wouldn't you?

Just now, joeyg said:

Just now, Anon999 said:

What is your definition of quality?

Now that is an excellent question!

 

My definition of quality is the same as that adumbrated by Robert. M. Pirsig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

However, I hold little hope of a sensible discussion of metaphysics on Thai Visa.

15 hours ago, taninthai said:

300,000 per Hong is quite expensive I paid 800,000 for 3 1/2 Hong in Krabi which turned out to 4 Hong really and I thought that was a little expensive,,,,a lot of Thais get the measurements wrong..

16 Hong=1 rai

Yes.  I agree 300,000 for 100 square meters is too expensive.  But the land i viewed was definitly bigger than that. 

Thanks for comments so far.

I hoped to resolve the meaning of Hong prior to requesting to view the chanote, because once you move to that next phase the Thais get overly excited that there is already a farang on the hook.  And if you then don't proceed to purchase they can throw the toys out of their pram.

Just now, sanemax said:

 

  Fir what its was worth, I thought that it was a vine idea , Oak a

 

Well this thread is still lumbering along on topic.  The efforts of the trolls have not born fruit and their digressions have not taken root.  Many of the farangs currently sleeping rough in Thailand are not out of the woods yet.  The issue of homelessness is always a tough nut to crack.  It is not just saps that fall victim.

Just now, thedemon said:

 

Just from memory so no link sorry.

 

I have heard the term used several times in Had Yai/Songkhla only when describing inner-city plots because 25 sqw is about the minimum size to build a small house.

 

Come to think of it, I don't recall ever hearing it in BKK so perhaps it is a Southern term. Not sure though.

Yes, I only bumped into it here in the south, but my girl is from up north and she knew/recognised the term...but of course she did not know how many meters.

So we have 2 votes for 100 square metres.  I am sure that the land I viewed was larger than this.  I will have to check the chanote.

Interestingly, there was a full rai with chanote in the same area on offer for sale earlier this year for 950K.  I was slow off the mark and someone else bought it.  But it would seem that it was a screaming bargain if a hong is in fact 100 sqm.

Just now, thedemon said:

1 hong equals 25 tarang wah. There are 4 hong per ngan and 4 ngan per rai.

 

So a 2 hong plot is equivalent to 200 square metres.

Hey, thanks very much for your reply. 

The hongs I have walked over (both the sor bor kor and chanote) appeared a good deal larger than 100 square meters.  Any chance you could provide a link to where you sourced this information.

I have noticed here in rural areas of Phang Nga province that blocks of land are often divided into parcels that the locals refer to as "hongs".  Each hong is marked with the concrete fence posts either side of the boundary fronting a road.  The term is used whether the land in question is sor bor kor or full chanote.  I had a look at some land before that was 2 hongs.  It appeared about 400 or 500 square meters in size.  But because it was sor bor kor I was not interested in buying.  The land is always priced per hong.

I have this evening been shown some nice land that was previously a rubber farm but has been cut into hongs for sale by the owner.  The land has full chanote but I have not yet had access to a deed to check the actual dimensions of the land. 

Has anyone else come across this "hong" term and if so can you shed any light on what size it is and whether it also fits in the talang wah, ngan and rai scheme of things?

The land is priced at 300K per hong and is about 5 minutes ride from a beautiful beach, and given it is purported to have full chanote, warrants further investigation.

Black Cab, you are very good at this stuff, any idea?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Just now, mcfish said:

Yes! The army is freaking amazing. They have done more in a few years than the thieving democratically elected governments have done in the last 100,that's an undeniable fact!

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk
 

Yes, the Army will need to be truly amazing, in fact god like, to immediately replace clear felled old growth rainforest trees that were the last remaining habitat for the critically endangered KP hornbills.

Too little, and way too late.

Shame that the OP has English as a second language, but what he posts is very true.

Koh Phayam has been totally destroyed in just a few short years.

I first went to KP about 10 years ago.  It was paradise.  Like Koh Phi Phi Lay was 30 years ago.

It was easy to spot the giant black and white horn bills as they hopped and flew across the rainforest canopy.

Most visitors arrived by the timber ferry that was just 150THB.  A pleasant two hour ride out from Ranong with a vista of Burma on the right and the mountains and waterfalls behind Ranong on the left.

Then the army cleared the beaches in Phuket.  The displaced mafia element moved to KP.  First thing they started to do was fence off land so that you couldn't get access to the beach unless you paid (sound familiar?).  Then came the illegal buildings.  And then speed boats out to the island filled with Chinese hoards.

I went last year and will never go back.  The rainforest where the horn bills once lived has been clear felled and the land thereunder fenced off so one must pay to walk to the beach.  The vibe on the island has change from warm and bucolic locals to Patong style scam and hustle.  The sounds of the jungle have been replaced by the scream of chain saws.

The secondary dune forests at both Ao Yai and Ao Kwai have been clear felled.  Every inch of the internal concrete roadways has been sided by new massage parlors and restaurants.

Koh Phayam is a quintessential example of the destruction of a unique natural resource by Thai greed and corruption.

On 11/11/2016 at 3:05 AM, F4UCorsair said:

 

And all along, they were w*****s!!

You guys are morons.  One friend of mine works here from home as a programmer for SAP he makes over 300,000 USD per year.

23 minutes ago, BritTim said:

 

Wow! This is something new even for Poipet. Worryingly, it ties up with a report from someone who did an out/in on Non Imm O in Ranong and was told this would apply to all land borders starting January 1st. According to that report, in/out by air is unaffected.

 

I think maybe Thaivisa needs to ask for clarification on this.

Yep.  Ranong is now also asking for a teamoney to stamp someone out who already has a valid multi entry visa and just wants to activate the next leg.

14 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

Your link suggests Bangkok Bank is the largest in terms of assets but really asset size alone means very little. If the list is viewed in terms of "safest bank" then UOB wins hands down being consistently regarded as one of the top twenty safest banks in the world.

 

And really, if asset size is your thing, Krungsri (BAY) is almost certainly the largest, it being owned by Bank Mitsubishi Japan which has assets of over USD 2.5 Trillion.

 

I think that the webpage I linked to just uses total assets as a way to order the list of banks (as opposed to ordering alphabetically).  I don't think there is any intention to suggest which of the banks is safest.  For the record, I have my 800K with Krungsri, safety aside, they provide me with the best rate of return, in a flexible savings account, and good customer service.

I am with KhonKaenKowboy on this one.  The best bank is the the yellow one Krungsri.  I have their Mee Tae Dai account also.  It pays about the same rate that other banks offer on terms deposits but you can still get to your money.

If you want to check out and compare rates, here is a very handy page that provides links to the websites for all Thai banks:

Full List of Banks in Thailand

After nine years in Thailand, I'm moving to Zijuatanejo (Remember "The Shawshank Redemption?). Three reasons:

1. Tourist Visa is ~$25 U.S. Good for six months. No visa runs, no 90 reporting to immigration, unlimited (thought that may change in the future).

2. NO work permit needed to jam with the local musicians in the bars/clubs.

3. Jomtien beach is a sewer. Looks beautiful from a 5th floor condo, but I tried swimming in it recently and thought I might need to get some shots after, just filthy!

I'll be there in six weeks, I'll keep y'all posted on the progress.

Good Luck!

Public health warning closes Mexican beach made famous by Shawshank Redemption

By SARAH GORDON

PUBLISHED: 09:41, 9 April 2014 | UPDATED: 09:42, 9 April 2014

The beach that Tim Robbins dreamed of escaping to in the 1994 film Shawshank Redemption has been closed to the public due to contamination.

The Mexican beach of Zihuatanejo, on the Pacific Coast, is where Robbins' character, wrongly-convicted Andy Dufresne, dreams of seeing out his days, fixing up a boat and taking tourists out for trips.

But anyone hoping to follow in his footsteps is advised to stay out of the water, due to high levels of pollution in the water which are causing health problems among the locals.

A sign has been placed on the sand, reading: 'Dear tourists, the quality of the water is not suitable for recreational swimming. Please avoid swimming in this area.'

Levels of the enterococci bacteria equal 399 per 100ml of water on the beach, significantly higher than the 200 per 100ml limit imposed by the Mexican authorities.

Zihuatanejo is in Guerrero state, about 150 miles north of Acapulco, and is where Dufresne talks to veteran inmate Red (played by Morgan Freeman) about escaping to in Shawshank Redemption.

Local authorities claim that each year contamination levels soar, before dropping back to normal levels again, but there are claims that the beach is worse this year - just ahead of the peak Easter holidays.

Local fishermen who use the beach frequently complain of skin problems and wounds getting infected due to the polluted water, while one dive instructor claims it's easy to tell each evening who has been swimming in the waters as they have red, blood-shot eyes

Wow, talk about straight-to-the-point bodyslam. You've quashed Mr. quandow's dream of paradise. Wonder what he's going to do now?

I have friends living in Peru. They like it.

Stupid Mexicans. Why don't they just follow Phuket's lead. Test the water and then never release the analysis report to the public.

The only person I can possibly images using this visa is some one under 50.

If you are already 50 why would you risk having 10 million baht of your money here when you only have to risk 800K for the retirement extension.

1 hour 23 minutes and 17 seconds

I have never been with a Latino woman. However I would like to tick it off my bucket list. Can we discuss here, politely please, the pros and cons between Latino and Thai girls?

After nine years in Thailand, I'm moving to Zijuatanejo (Remember "The Shawshank Redemption?). Three reasons:

1. Tourist Visa is ~$25 U.S. Good for six months. No visa runs, no 90 reporting to immigration, unlimited (thought that may change in the future).

2. NO work permit needed to jam with the local musicians in the bars/clubs.

3. Jomtien beach is a sewer. Looks beautiful from a 5th floor condo, but I tried swimming in it recently and thought I might need to get some shots after, just filthy!

I'll be there in six weeks, I'll keep y'all posted on the progress.

Yes Jomtien is a sewer.

Ever hear of a place called Phuket? I can't imagine ever leaving here.

I could imagine leaving Phuket, and did. Best decision I ever made. My ongoing ENT infections have now cleared up completely.

The fecal colliform count on the bulk of Phuket's west coast beaches is way above any acceptable limit.

I imagine if the water toxicity levels from Patong beach were compared to Jomtien beach one would find similiar results.

But that is not going to happen anytime soon because in the past those in charge in Phuket failed to disseminate the results of their sea water quality tests.

The limo transport is a nice bennie, but not necessary. Even without the limo and the hotel/restaurant/spa/golf discounts, I would again gladly pay the 500k for the ease, security and benefits of a hassle-free 5-year visa with unlimited entries.

The inclusive Limo (& Airport transfers), The Spa, The Golf all mean that membership will pay for itself at some point, if you are a fairly heavy user.

For me the break even point calculates out at roughly 12 years (I've played less golf this last few years)

1 Million Baht lifetime Membership (9 years ago)

- 12 times per year Golf (at approx 3000 baht green fees - some courses such as Mung Keaw ar 4600 baht green fee)

- 8 Return Airport Trx per year (1200 baht per trip AOT Camry)

- 25 Massage per year (at 1000 baht per time)

Thus: For the 5 year / 500k membership members could perhaps evaluate how much they use the services and calculate the true cost.

1 million Baht invested in Aberdeen's growth fund over the same 9 period would now be worth over 20 million baht.

I joined 1 year ago. I'm happy about the 5-year visa, but so far I'm not impressed with the service.

My first year of the visa was up and I asked Phuket Immigration if I could activate my second year of the visa at their office. No can do, I was told - they had never seen a 5-year Elite visa before and the officers took photos of it with their mobile phone. They told me to either go out and back from Malaysia on a visa run, or go to Chaeng Wattana.

I called the Elite help line to arrange to visit Chaeng Wattana. No can do they told me. You should reactivate it at Phuket Immigration. Even if you were living in BKK, we need 1 week's notice to reactive your visa for the second year.

Frustrated, I decided to do a visa run to KL, and arranged for the Elite rep to meet me on my return to Phuket Airport with the limo to take me back to my home.

The limo turned out to be a minibus......

So... not impressed at all with the service and lack of knowledge of the reps.

My suggestions for Elite:

- Provide a 90-day report service for members. I still have to travel an hour in Phuket traffic every 90 days to do a 90-day report. Because of the queues at immigration, this takes at least half a day or more, (because the immigration guys like a long lunch). The online reporting system that they announced seems not to work....

- If you are going to provide a limo, then do not bait and switch for a minibus

- Provide the annual visa extension service at Phuket Immigration office. Better still, come to my home, collect my passport and do the annual extension for me.

Thanks for your candid report. And at least we know you are a real member and not some paid shill pushing the Thai elite here on TV.

You are over 50, why did you go the elite route rather than just adding another 300K to the 500K purchase price and then getting a retirement visa extension?

I have seen one issued at Phuket immigration for an Australian guy on a tourist visa (who was staying in Hua Hin)on the basis of him pointing to the area where he lived, on a google map, on a smartphone held by the immigration officer.

Anyone want to call me a liar?