Kenny202

I think that's the go here, do something the Thais like but do it well. She probably wont make a million bucks but should be a good little consistent business. Even milk teas, or soup..... there is a shop on every corner but most of them awful made cheaply with few low quality ingredient. Even soup. If you do a product right with good ingredients it will sell. A lot will depend on your girls commitment too. She will be looking at least 6 months to 2 years before she works it all out and is making money. There is a woman has a shop across from my Mrs restaurant sells milk teas but she also does fresh fruit juice and juice smoothies in the blender...she asks a premium price too but its good so many people come. Mind you depends on the area to, for eg she is in the Uni area so it is a bit of a more progressive demographic and uni kids have money to spend

If I were you Id be looking for something on FB marketplace second hand. You are not the first farang husband here who's wife wanted a coffee shop and there is a ton of used stuff for sale. Usual scenario wife takes selfies for the first week as the new business owner then loses interest as Thais generally aren't willing to pay 40 baht plus for a coffee, and in reality to cover overheads, rent etc in a mall or busy area you will need to be selling for 60 baht plus and have a lot of add on product (Cakes, snacks etc). Coffee machines are one of those things. 2 categories, good and useless. Forget the machines that grind and make the coffee, they are toys. You need something with a brass boiler, quality components and it needs to heat for at least 30 minutes before use. 100 cups a day is fairly high turnover for Thailand...to be honest (respectfully) Id say she's dreaming. If it were me Id be going for something low tech but good construction. Find something suits your budget and check the reviews. A proper burr grinder is as important if not more important than the machine and will set you back at least 20000 baht. Again secondhand is ur friend. If you get a decent machine it will be robust and generally easy to repair. Make sure it is a known machine in Thailand for spares, service etc. Other thing you need to consider is how many head machine you are going to need. If she is thinking 50-100 cups an hour she will be getting several customers at once (they don't come one at a time in a timely manner) and making coffee one serve a time will make the process difficult and annoying to the customers. A single group head dispenser wont be enough. I would say two at the least and a new machine like this, even low tech is not going to be available for 35k. There is quite a lot to making decent coffee and it goes far and beyond a good machine and grinder. If you are investing in this you need to make sure she has some training. Grinder and grind control to suit your machine is imperative. Tamping...Good quality beans. Minimizing wastage. I would definitely be looking for an Italian quality built simple machine that was well reviewed. There is no such thing as a semi commercial set up. Coffee is either good or <deleted>, there is no in between unfortunately. Forget any domestic style machines (Breville etc). You may as well use Nescafe. They look nice but that's as far as it goes. Really mate I have NEVER seen a coffee shop here doing those sorts of numbers, not unless she was in a busy mall with great coffee. Apart from some decent shops in Bangkok I would say I have never had a decent cup of store coffee here that was better than a 14 baht 7/11 3 in one. Usually bitter and awful. I would say have a real think about what her real usage is going to be. And forgive me if she has some experience at this and you do know for a fact the turnover is going to be as she says. If not, and she will only be doing a few random cups here and there you may be better off with a decent 6 cup Moka (Stovetop) pot, a decent grinder and a milk frother. Will be a much better result than a so so machine with a so so grinder which is only being used a few times a day. One other way to consider is a Nespresso machine with the little pods. It is an expensive way to make coffee for a shop (10-15 baht a pod) but will be easy for her and a guaranteed decent shot every time. Easy storage, no waste, electricity usage way lower and no need to grind. She will need to be selling for 65 baht or so a shot though.

Breville wont cut it

I use Lazada every other day and yeah since covid has been a free for all. Stuff sitting in "packed" status for a week or more. No replies from sellers. Late deliveries although I kind of accept that due to covid and increased demands for deliveries. A lot of mis advertised stuff too. Usually not even about the money more the waste of time waiting, particularly when after a week or two they tell you they don't have it. I suspect a lot of these local Bangkok sellers are actually delivering from China or Chinese sellers themselves. As far as I can see Lazada take no corrective action against these sorts of sellers. Not their promprem. I read yesterday whatever the Thai govt department for fraud is stated online sales complaints up 50%

Makro spuds are good and fresh these days, for mash and general eating....They do seem very sweet to my taste but still nice.....but for fries I find they just don't crisp up.

I think they are Dutch creams, really nice. I'm pretty sure that's what they used to sell in the small Tesco / Lotus shops. get about 3 or 4 in a mesh bag

Got the Rye flour and some Caraway seed today. Made my normal loaf which is normally a kilo bread flour (2 x big loaves) but instead used 700 grams flour and 300 grams Rye flour. 2 tablespoons of cocoa and the same of Caraway seeds and a couple of cups of whole meal flour. Normally use 3 1/4 cups water but added a bit more. Very pleased with the results. Nice and moist but dense. The way I made it certainly not a light loaf but very tasty.

I wouldn't either after reading how Jamie Oliver took them to court and just won the case. Meat "product" they use is so rank and unidentifiable initially as beef, they need to add all these horrible chemicals to it to make it edible....the chemicals them selves being highly toxic. Turned me off for life ????

You didn't read my op? Have used old and new oil and we got plenty of frozen fries in the freezer. Homemade cut potatoes are different...not necessarily better but different

No I don't find that at all. Maybe a long time ago. Pretty damn fresh these days. I actually find Tesco potatoes the best, when most of their other fresh vegetables I find are awful.

I remember when I first came here to live about 8 years ago the potatoes were mostly awful. Spongy rubbery things, like they were grade C, green and old imported cheaply from another country. Well happy to say these days potatoes are generally lovely and fresh, look like they may be grown locally now. One problem I do come across is they don't seem to fry well as chips. I have tried everything....doing them in the microwave a bit first.....par boiling and drying off 100%. They never seem to go crispy and brown very very quickly. I suspect this maybe due to the high sugar content they seem to have in the spuds here. Often they're unusually sweet, particularly Makro potatoes. Spuds from the markets don't seem to be near as bad. Just seem to cook differently here....never usually proper crispy and seem to really hang onto and absorb the oil. We use Soy oil mostly and not new oil. Tried cooking lower / higher temperature oil. We always have packet pre cooked french fries at home as my wife has a restaurant, and they're pretty damn good these days but still like a fresh cooked home made chip now and then. Anyone have any ideas?

We got 2 really good bakery shops here but no rye. They would probably order it for me, but 100 baht per kg off Lazada sounds ok. I got my standard white loaf recipe Ive perfected. From what Ive read normal ration 70/30 white / rye flour. Do you find you need a bit more or less water than a standard white flour loaf? Do you use caroway seeds?

I think they darken it with cocoa or other additives. I ordered 2kg of the cheaper one. Has a lot of good reviews so can't be too bad ???? Thanks for the advice guys.

Thanks bro. Will check that out for sure. Is it like whole wheat where u add a cup or two to your normal mix or a complete flour?

Yeah looking for something at a realistic price. Buying bread flour and additives from Tops would cost you 200 baht to make a loaf of bread. But thanks for the info ????

I think the world is starting to realise lock downs etc are only prolonging this thing and giving it a chance to grow and adapt. Even the WHO is advising countries not to close borders and not to stop travel. Only my spin on it. Like everyone else I have no real clue. Strangest thing Ive ever witnessed in my life time

Its not just people coming directly from Africa. There would be people got off planes in international airport hubs like Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong mixing with infected people. To name a few. People in other countries who may have had it. Its here and everywhere else already unfortunately

The smart car on full auto, sniffing them out like truffle pigs. How would you like one of those "hi tec" (USB outlet and cctv camera) on your a$$? Be worse than an abbo black tracker ????????

I switched to Roojai must be three years ago when they first came out. Was pretty efficient sign up etc. Only thing really annoys me is how they start trying to collect their premium every year about 3 months before due, bombarding you with claims. Other thing I find odd about them my vehicle getting old (now 2014 model Isuzu 4wd) but the cover is still the same at 500k baht, and the premiums creeping up every year? has anyone made a claim on them? How was the experience? Any problems?

Been making my own bread here for 5 years and every now and then try something different. I can buy wholewheat where I live, but been craving a darker denser loaf lately. Rye perhaps? I'm not even sure how you make Rye bread, When I do whole wheat I normally chuck in a cup or two of wholewheat and a little more water to my normal tried and true mix. Anyone see Rye around or any tips on a darker healthier loaf?

Thanks so much for all your help and time mate. You're a champion ????

Thanks so much man You don't think me being a non resident for tax purposes will make any difference? Or only if I am actually taxed? By the way, does the super fund withdraw tax before sending to you or is it payable at the end of the financial year when you do your tax?

That is really great info thanks so much, Still a lot of smoke and mirrors. Sando will pay 0% tax on the taxable component – taxed element of his lump sum up to the low-rate cap (in 2021–22 the first $225,000 of his benefit). However, he will pay 17% on the remaining $75,000 of the taxable component – taxed element of his super, as this amount is over the low rate cap Does this bare out what I was saying? I think last time I checked maybe a couple of years ago, you could draw out up to 200k if you were over preservation age but under 60....From what I understand I shouldn't have a taxable component at preservation age providing I only withdraw up to the cap. Would there likely be a taxable component on a bog standard employer super fund such as mine?

Sounds easy don't it? Why didn't I think of that ???? Apart from the 2 hour wait on what would probably be a long distance call, they wont tell you anything. I have tried twice. Superannuation is made up of many different components, and it's quite complicated...In my case I believe there is no taxable component or extras but you don't know 100% until you finalize it all basically. The Super fund people wont give you a guestimate or go to the trouble of calculating it all out unless you are actually finalizing it. They don't design it to be easy to get your money. I was hoping someone will come along has done it recently, in my situation and get their experience.

Just wondering if anyone has been in a similar position over the last few years and withdrew their super while living here. I have been living here 7 years and last year at 57 I became eligible to withdraw up to $200k of my super should I wish per m birth year. I think I can withdraw all at 60yo providing I don't plan to work in Australia again. One thing that has constantly gnawed at me is because I have been out of the country for over 2 years and own no property in Australia, I am a non resident for tax purposes person, which means I pay full whack tax on interest, income, investments in Australia. I have been assured by the super company that there will be no tax payable on my super when I withdraw it but they took a lot of prodding and didn't seem to be very confident of their reply and kept referring me to my accountant who was in turn referring me back to them. My Super is bog standard employer contributions by the way. No salary sacrifice or anything unusual. Apart from fees etc has anyone in my position withdrawn their super recently? Was there any taxes etc or your payout was pretty much what was in the fund less some sort of processing fees I imagine? Time comes to withdraw can it be done from Thailand? Hoping I wont need a trip back to Australia to get it transferred. Any advice or help appreciated.