Kenny202

I looked into this sometime ago and I think there is no law covering BB guns and thats not to say they are legal either. We have a BB gun shop near our home and I see them for sale in markets and on Lazada. I think one thing is illegal is carrying them or displaying them in public. They look great but even the gas powered ones are pretty weak and inaccurate. I would love a .17 rifled (air rifle pellet) one. I reckon they would be much better

I thought they were in some trouble before Covid, but as you say there is only a thin glossy film covering the massive economic problems here atm and looks like worse to come. The average household debt well into the 90% of GDP is unheard off. The banks with so many unsecured loans must be shetting bricks. Be interesting to see if teflon Thailand can come out of this without going backward 40 years.

Funny you say that.....cream here has always been expensive at around 100 baht for a 250ml container. That was near $5 AUD in my money. Last 3 months NZ cream in Makro 50 baht. Same as Aussie beef was a ridiculous price back home and cheaper than it has ever been here. Like I said I would understand if the price of exported stuff had risen but it doesn't seem to be the case with the stuff I buy. Local everyday stuff homegrown stuff I find very hard to understand.

It is a disgrace. I have found imported foods have stayed the same price and many have decreased. It is the local stuff that has gone up for no reason unchecked. Eggs 60% increase in 3 years? Did covid / Ukraine effect the chickens or the price of chicken feed here? I feel strongly for the Thai people who were struggling already and the cost of living gone up 20-30%

How true that is! In my country LPG is very expensive. Its a great cheap alternative to electricity here which has become increasingly expensive. Would be 15% of our monthly budget

Makro have frozen peaches 2kg bag for about 80 baht. They are awesome. Cut up slices, put in a pot semi covered with water and about 4 desert spoons of sugar or to taste. Simmer for about 15 minutes and result exactly the same as tin peaches in syrup. You will not be sorry

I can tell you from mine, and it is very clear and consistent. 3 years ago she was making profit of around 50% of sales. Sounds a lot but small turnover. Now its more like 25% of sales and sales decreased considerably as well. From others we talk to about the same. She has kept her sell prices consistent throughout. We were only talking today re the need to put her prices up.

We were looking at stuff today and as you say the big price hikes on oil, pork, chicken....veges still pretty much the same but I think even the small stuff everything gone up around 20%. You don't notice it too much as only usually pennies but when it is pennies on everything it makes a huge difference. Makro / Tesco ? CP are masters of this. Like they are continually testing their price points. Look at eggs! I can remember when they were 80 baht at Tesco for a tray of 30 eggs. Now 130 and increasing every month. How do they justify the increase in eggs? Covid? Ukraine? I see though most of the Thais rather than put their prices up seem to be giving much smaller portions. Seems to be the magic number for soup or a basic Thai dish between 35-45 baht. They hate putting prices up

Someone should tell the person who commissioned the huge "Pattaya city" sign you can see from almost anywhere in the ermmm town

CCTV pointed at the counter straightens them up lol

I don't think so mate. I was actually a business coach / auditor / operations manager in my last life. Most takeaway / food / small businesses profit in Australia work on at least 30-50% of turnover. Starting out I would advise to shoot for 50% to begin with. That gives you time to play around with your price points and get everything right. If you shoot for the stars you may or may not miss. If you shoot for the mud you will hit it. Bigger business / turnover / corporation a different story. Wholesaling company I worked for huge turnover in the millions per month more like 10-15% nett. I think going off your own example, (even though you say your wife was making much more profit)...10% profit of a 100 baht pizza is 10 baht. Not sure how much she would want to make but at 10% net profit she would need to make / sell 1000 pizzas a month. That doesn't sound feasible to me. That would be a lot of hard work requiring staff, gas, electricity etc to make 10k a month profit. May be reading your figures wrong.

Typica bad TV rhetorical advice from someone who doesn't know the answer but wants to chime in with a generic reply that says nothing but seemingly looks like oneself is in the "know". There is cheap and there is rip off. It is only cheap if they are quoting you ridiculously under the reasonable market rate...and the starting price for a custody case will be between 25-50k if you were Thai .....and the case was clear cut and not contested. If your starting price is 200k god knows what the final price will be if she contests it. My experience ....first filing a paternity case, to legally state you are the father.......(which you will need to do first if you aren't married) was the lawyer initially told us 80k. When we challenged him on this he then dropped the price to 15k. His reasoning was 80-100k was the going rate for foreigners in our city but he'll do for 15k but don't tell anyone! Fairly simple process....a couple of interviews and a brief court appearance. Recently engaged a different lawyer to start a full custody case. They asked us what we paid for the paternity case and we told them, and they said as we paid 15k for the paternity case they would have to also do the custody case for 15k as it was nearly an identical process, "but don't tell anyone" lol. Again it would have only been that price if it were clear cut and no contest or no show. A few things you need to consider.....based a little on what the lawyer tells you and a lot on your own assessment is what do you think your chances of her not contesting it and also if she did contest it what are your chances of winning and how deep are your pockets. Many lawyers (not all) here in my experience will always tell you to proceed irrespective of what your chances are. For example you start the ball rolling, she does contest it and all of a sudden you are going to be up for a long and protracted court case and 200-500k that you may not have. Not fully sure how that would play out but should you pull out you may actually put her in a position where she gets custody and everything backfire on you. You have to assess what she may do (as if assessing anything logically with a Thai woman is possible). I believe what they do is send her a letter of notification to the address on her Tabien Baan....if she doesn't respond or attend the court date you will automatically be awarded custody. not sure if you mentioned in your OP how old the children are and if you are legally married ....and if you are not legally married you are not the legal father, even if your name is on the birth certificate. Also depending on the age of the children they will be interviewed by child services and their wishes / comments will have a large bearing on the outcome of the case. If at all possible, you are much better getting her onside and onboard.....maybe put it to her in a way where custody to you is somehow to her benefit. Maybe she doesn't actually want to get stuck with the kids and may change her attitude if she thinks you are going to bail and leave the country and kids to her. I had a very similar experience where the mother of my child didn't really want the child but was using him to manipulate me. Once I called her bluff the whole situation changed. I was told by one lawyer though that if you are going to claim custody you need some rock solid proof of neglect / abuse etc and a bit of hearsay or a few messages etc wont cut it, or perhaps she has been away a long period of time (years) and the kids have been in your care 100%. You will probably need one or two witnesses from your actual Moo Baan to vouch for you and confirm your story re length of absence of your wife etc. You of course will also have to prove yourself fit to have children in your care....ie no past criminal record, proof of financial position....and not sure how old you are but if you are elderly may be a mark against you. I do agree the family courts here seem to be fair and act in the interests of the kids usually but at the end of the day will be up to the judge. Best of luck to you!

Not sure about the 10% profit rule. I think a lot of Thais make that mistake. Depends on how much you want to earn I guess. For the amount of effort and investment in a business I would assume a person with even a small business owner here would want to make at least circa 30k THB (profit) a month. Mean she would be needing to turn over 300k a month....and that's a lot of pizzas! Thais don't want expensive toppings, salami, Mozzarella etc. Cover it with a bit of cheese, tons of mayonnaise and 3 baht hot dogs cut up. Erk but they seem to like them. You are spot on re being a Landlord as opposed to a business owner. Have noticed that last few years. Most new businesses here, particularly small food sellers fail within the first three months. Either people who are expecting to make a living income / wage from the business from day one with no capital in reserve. Or they spend the sales money on living day to day and don't replace stock or do any basic accounting. See also people working for the government with the money to buy one of these ridiculous franchises for 100-200k and get a few carboard cut outs, bit of marketing stuff and 10k of start up product and little else. Again usually lose interest and shut up shop after a few months. What I do see though is a never ending queue of prospective business owners wanting to open restaurants. As soon as one fails another starts up. I reckon a great investment (far better than an actual business) would be a little row of 4 - 6 shop houses to rent out. Steady income as well as an appreciating asset. I must say though I wouldn't want the chore of trying to extract the money from the tenants every month :-(

Yeah funny that. They seem to never learn or grow. Never seem to be able to join the dots. Just keep repeating the same usually bad behavior, entitled ness, laziness etc over and over again and wonder why they cant maintain a relationship for very long. And when they do get a decent feller they take the pess. Reason always ....man no good, get udder lady. When I hear that (over and over again) I always reply...."oh what's wrong with you ?" lol. In their mind of course nothing....they just never lucky lol

I think you hit the nail on the head there. In my experience Thais don't seem to have a middle setting. It is either zero or 500%.

Happens everywhere sometimes, and probably worse in other countries, even our own. Boys will be boys. Not something you here with regularity here.

My sentiments exactly, provided they are going to be responsible (aka pay) for their mistakes/carelessness/ lack of planning. Not often seen in Isaan. Always seems to be someone else's problem though...and farang money can make all of their problems go away. I have lived in / visited a few Thai peoples homes. They usually have more broken appliances / stuff than things that are working. Just don't seem to take care of or look after anything

Must have changed, admittedly 5 years or so I was last there. Soi dogs near the beach where horrid! You know when there is a pack of them and you have one in front trying to get your attention and 4 coming from behind to take a lump out of you? Packs of them everywhere near the beach. I actually googled Bang Saen and amongst the results were people with chunks taken out of their calves / legs, bleeding and lots of mention of the issue. Maybe they sorted it out. It struck me as a normal Thai small town, no attempt to be a tourist resort and that's fine, obviously how the locals like it. Not many restaurants but there was a cracker....Thai seafood place in what looked like a converted house. The food was excellent. Other issue for me on the beach....or the one I was swimming at very shallow. You would need to walk 500m to get wet

Yeah it's exceedingly frustrating for us with different values, but it is generally how they are. You only have to go on the road to see there is very little thought for outcomes or consequences. Cutting corners and turning blind into a street on the wrong side of the road is common. Doing u turns or pulling out without looking and lets not get started on financial planning! I sometimes think Thais like to live with uncertainty and calamity

I dunno, been coming here 10 years....lived here for 8. Have never encountered one public incident of violence or theft, not from Thais anyway. Very safe place to live. Never even considered possible safety issues going out. Seen plenty of bad behavior from foreigners in the tourist areas though.....a couple of psycho girlfriends at home maybe lol.

Went there once, bizarre place. Apparently a local mine or factory there were the locals are well paid and have plenty ot work so no one it seemed worried about tourists. Boring would be an understatement. I don't know about thugs but it was impossible to go to the beach. Most savage soi dogs I have ever encountered...everywhere

I put mine straight on the gas burner...sits on the top of the actual burner. Put the flame on low so it doesn't come up around the handle etc. I will also say the proper Bialetti Moka pots are well worth the extra money. The cheap generic ones work ok but the Italian one so much better, even get some crema extraction. Usually on sale Central / Robinsons online. I got a 3 cup one which I do in the morning and does me for a few cups through the day. I only have a small cup....about 1/2" in the bottom and rest milk. Heat it up in the microwave 50 seconds

You shouldn't be dishing out negative advice like that particularly when your experience is 19 years old. Kids welfare at stake here and based on your post the guy could possibly just give up. I agree re lawyer will tell you anything hence best to get a first hand recommendation. I also believe the Thai family courts a lot fairer now and rule in the nest interests of the child.

Was, still am in a nearly identical situation to you. That bar always seems to be pulling them back. I guess they are always weighing up if they are better off with you or their previous life. I think they go through moments of wanting to live the straight life but IMO once they have been in the sex trade they are to be avoided unless only renting. Definitely feel your pain. Does the mother actually want the child? You might want to test that out or it is possible she hasn't even considered it herself. Mine was playing me like a dancing monkey using our child as leverage. They can be absolutely vile heartless creatures. She left of her own accord for about the 15th time, even rented another place.... and that last time I locked the gate and refused to let her back. Her violence and psychotic episodes were just becoming too dangerous. Drove me insane for around 3 months and was always in despair for my sons welfare. She was fronting up at my place all hours of the day and night insisting I give him to her, then 30 minutes later demanding I come and pick him up. Finally I had enough and said ok, I understand legally you can take him whenever you want, but works both ways.....you can't make me come and get him. So you look after him, Ill start making arrangements to go back home. Was all a bluff but she straightened up pretty quick then. I was also not married to my child's mother and the first thing you will need to do (as I did) is apply to the courts through a lawyer to get legal paternity. About 2 months...a bit of paperwork but not the end of the world. If you can provide lots of evidence of being with your wife before and after the pregnancy (photos, documents perhaps her visiting your country...those sorts of things) It can make things a bit easier. I was lucky in that my son is nearly identical to me and very clearly foreign and already had Australian citizenship by decent which I arranged for him when he was born. My sons mother did support it and come to child services for an interview so not sure if you will be that lucky and get your girls support. You will need a lawyer, from memory cost around 25k but I remember being quoted a lot more than that. Up to 100k. Anyway the lawyer will advise best way to proceed. If all else fails the judge may ask for DNA testing which is no big deal but a bit more expense. Once you get the court order you have to lodge it at the Amphur. I believe if the child is 7yrs plus you can simply go to the Amphur...the child points at you and says you are their father and that's it. Not sure how easy it would be without the mothers consent though. Again a lawyer will guide you. If you can rather than find a lawyer cold better off getting a recommendation off someone. Maybe if you are on Facebook a local expat group? This is only the first step by the way. Applying for custody is next and that will depend on if she supports it or fights it. Anything you have messages, photos, proof of her non fitness of a parent will be required. I went down the custody route a few months back, started the process with a lawyer. Quoted me a price and a couple of weeks later tripled it which I figured wasn't a good sign and I told her to forget about it. Anyway enough for tonight. Feel free to PM me if you need more information or you just need someone to talk to.

Anyone notice Lazada search on their website not working last 2 days? Working ok on my phone app. I thought maybe I have VPN on or something but nope.