digbeth

For what it's worth, I know a lawyer who does the notarization for free in Bangkok

For house sale /mortgage 'back home' I had a friend that need a signature from his Thai wife on the Bank's form notarized, upon lengthy conversation with his bank back in the US and his lawyers, the US bank ended up accepting that the signature be witnessed by the Thai wife's local bank teller....

"For what it's worth, I know a lawyer who does the notarization for free in Bangkok."

That's worth absolutely nothing unless you let us know some details of that lawyer! Do you have any contact details?

Your last paragraph confirms what I said, if there is any doubt about what is required just ask, you may be pleasantly surprised.

http://www.tanaiwirat.com/index.php?mo=24

Tell them to try and take as large denomination as possible

And do another attempt to convince them to use a better method

Whats their paranoia about ATM or cash?

Did they read too many reports about skimming?

How much cash do they need?

ATM: 30k THB for a fee of 200 Baht with a good rate.

Actually I have seen many case where bad ATMs in Thailand, from power failure and what not eat up the card and most of the time looks like some bank's policy is not to return the card but ask the customer to get a new card instead, a nice earner for the bank... massive inconvenience of travelers if that's the only source of cash they have

The only case in Thai law/bureaucracy that use similar mechanism of confirming identity is in case of renewing lost ID card without other documents like house book or other government ID or correcting mistake with the ID system like misreporting death/birth or identity theft is that the person proving their identity need to bring a notable government official, usually village head, tambon or amphur chief officer to confirm the identity

No such thing in Thailand. If for a home country requirement, get your embassy/consulate to do it; if for Thai use, ask your counterparty what would be acceptable.

Excuse me??!!

Maybe try to resist the urge to answer so definitively if you actually don't know what you're talking about.

Suwat Law, 9th Floor, Glashaus Building, Sukhumvit 25

1,000 -1,500 baht each document

For the thousandth time...there is no concept of a "notary public" in Thailand as there is in most Western legal/commercial systems. In the West, a notary public is a quasi-judicial officer, who can take an oath and certify documents and signatures. They are usually governed by the civil law code in the jurisdiction where they operate, and must also be members of professional societies and keep an official record of their acts. The Thai Civil Code makes no provision for nor contemplates any person performing these acts. Therefore, there are no notary publics in Thailand as we think of them in the West. I

Now, Thai lawyers, who are members of the Law Society of Thailand, may obtain a certification from that Society, which allows them to witness or attest to the authenticity of documents and signatures on them (and put their pretty little stamps on them) but only in their private capacity as a lawyer. Such a "notarization" would not be of any legal significance in Thailand, for as I said, there is no provision for it under Thai law. They would also be virtually useless outside of Thailand if anyone wanted to challenge them for some reason. In addition, Thailand is not a signatory to the Hague Convention on Legalization of Foreign Public Documents, which makes these "notarizations" even more suspect.

In Thailand, if a document or signature needs to be witnessed/authenticated, the witness (anybody who is handy...but usually an adult) will sign and date the document and usually affix a copy of their ID card to it. If the authenticity of the document or signature is ever questioned, the witness will be located and produced to testify about it. There is no need to have a specialized person perform this function. So these lawyers are basically doing what any Thai person could do and charging you a fancy price for it. As to paying these "notaries" you mention 1000-1500 baht for a more or less useless service that anyone could perform...well as P.T. Barnum once said...there's one born every minute (Also, the cost should be no more than a few hundred baht a document.)

Now, if an expat needs to have a signature on a document notarized for use in a commercial transaction or court proceeding in their home country, there are embassy legal or consular officers who are empowered to perform this function. The legal validity of these acts is the same as if they were performed in the home country and these documents may then be returned to a court, government agency, or other third-party without the necessity for the expatriate having to return to their home jurisdiction.

If the parties are in a mutually beneficial commercial or real estate transaction and they just need an "official looking notarized" document to close the transaction, then yes, you may sometimes be able to use one of these Thai lawyer notaries and their stamp as there is no one who would have an interest in challenging its validity. However, if the proceeding is adversarial, any lawyer who passed his first year exams could easily have any such "notarized" documents thrown out of court and if the documents have to be filed or recorded by a public official, they may refuse to accept them.

Confirming that this view is correct that there is no legal framework for notarization in Thailand (and the notarized document is useless for any use in Thailand anyway)

also that although notary public lawyers are approved by their bar association equivalent in Thailand, looking at the training and approval process, it's only a 1-day course/seminar in a hotel or resort somewhere... probably a nice little earner for them (both the association and the lawyer)

For what it's worth, I know a lawyer who does the notarization for free in Bangkok

For house sale /mortgage 'back home' I had a friend that need a signature from his Thai wife on the Bank's form notarized, upon lengthy conversation with his bank back in the US and his lawyers, the US bank ended up accepting that the signature be witnessed by the Thai wife's local bank teller....

No such thing in Thailand. If for a home country requirement, get your embassy/consulate to do it; if for Thai use, ask your counterparty what would be acceptable.

Used to be the case, but the Thai bar association equivalent (The Lawyers council Of Thailand) has updated their rules and now has guidlines and approvals for lawyers that conduct notarial sevice since 2003

Any lawyers worth his salt should be able to perform the notarial task for you

This is nothing new, three years ago I wanted to buy a Honda but all the dealers said that it would take 6 months for delivery, bought a Toyota and was driving it within three weeks

My opinion was that if Honda can't keep cars in inventory why should I assume that they will have an adequate stock of parts when I need them

This is very true, a couple of months ago there was furor in the various Thais forum that Honda was revamping their parts ordering system, the result being that Honda had made it harder for parts dealer and garages to buy and stock parts for certain age of new-ish cars, (probably intending to force Honda drivers to visit official dealers instead)

They're only hurting themselves if it becomes harder to service their cars out-of warranty, the resale value would only drop.

Back to the topic, last week I walked into a Ford dealer to inquire about getting either a Ranger or Everest, the sale rep were still reciting lines from last year of 'no deliveries until next year' it's only January <deleted>! I'd already suffered through Ford's service with one car already yet I am happy to get another.... I must be a masochist.

If I had walked through Toyota or Isuzu's dealer I could be driving away with a new car in the afternoon or next day.

Being where all the factories are, you'd expect stock to be of little issue, but Thailand has very little choice when it comes to trim, body colour and factory fitted option... most brands try to keep colour and trim options to a minimum for simplified stockeeping purposes,

yet stocking seem to be a problem at most dealer, often sales reps would have to ring around and barter for cars from another dealer to sell to you...

For imported cars like MINI you could could have specced a car colour and trim and other options, essentially having a 'custom' build specced and shipped from the UK in less time to wait around for one of the Thai cars with standard options and colour to get built.

I understand the factories schedule are probably not flexible enough, having to produce for export as well and the dealers get their allocated cars early.... but it's so boring with all the silver, white and black cars only

get someone that knows thai and facebook to post for help in

https://th-th.facebook.com/welovepattaya58/

a lot of local people read that page and lost things from motorbikes to cars got found by members

Buy from the farmers selling direct from their trucks at the side of the road.

Always cheaper and fresher.

I've known a few of the guys selling from their truck on the side of the road, some just drive up to the big wholesale market north of Bangkok to get their load and set up their truck instead of a stall in the market.... it's definitely cheaper and probably fresh, but it doesn't mean they're local produce and could even be from China even

I made an inquiry about getting replacement at a true shop once, the staff there told me that had I brought the old remote over they would replace it right there and then, but I didn't so they made a booking/service/repair order for a technician to come over and swap it for me... it's all free of charge. I'm on the gold package, don't know if that's a factor

They should really limit the number of buses, make a concession system or something, the mafias will be really happy if they can gouge the drivers for the right to drive their trucks too, win-win for all

Shame they don't prefab a few more metal ones

and install them all around town where needed.

Very dangerous place pattaya has become for pedestrians.

Come on city hall take care of your tourists and residents.

The way the traffic lights at pedestrian crossing is operated and enforced... looks like the only thing city hall cares about is ways to spend their budget

Rule change needs 75% of all co-owner to cast their votes or gave power of attorney to someone that attended the meeting, normally the juristic person manager will canvass around for power of attorney forms to be filled otherwise the agenda cannot go forward, so no, you can't just have five people turn up and have the majority decision in that meeting be binding

Don't know how true this is but read heard this from Thai social medias that one accident victim, minor wound etc.. went to the Soi Buakao hospital A&E only to were told they don't have supplies like bandages and gauze, had to have relative walk out and buy the necessary supplies from a pharmacy and went back to the doctor to get operated on.

Looks like the hospital (or parts of it) is being run/staffed by a private hospital from Bangkok, not the usual health ministry though. Maybe something to do with that it falls under the supervision of Pattaya City Hall instead of the health Ministry?

(entirely my speculation, no fact)

Even government hospital proper like Banglamung which is pretty dire, looks more consistent in their level of care than this.

Government hospital can be good, Queen Sawang in Sriracha is good, has decent doctors but is oversubscribed.

Incompetent looking doctors you see around, especially in upcountry hospitals are probably interns serving their first few years' in government hospitals, which they are contractually obligated to as a condition of their education, once their term is up, most would leave for private hospitals where conditions and pay are far better.

In the age of online booking for both flights and accommodation can be very cheap, I suppose this is how travel agents in high streets 'back home' earn their money

My mistake, looks like the road closure when they are going to demolish/remove the old bridge is on Thursday 21st night not Friday 22nd

Got you reading didn't I?

On either Thurday or Friday morning(My memory is hazy), on Sukhumvit just after Klang Junction between School 5 and the Bangchak Petrol Station, a scaffolding serving as pedestrian bridge across the road was erected on the northbound side to the middle of the underpass construction site... traffic was stopped when the cross section was lifted into place, but only for around 10 minutes and they were able to divert traffic into the petrol station so there was minimum disruption.

Looks like they will be completing the bits on the southbound (dark) side of Sukhumvit tomorrow (Monday 11th January)

Why they decide to this during the morning, on Monday nonetheless?

Doesn't look like on that side of the road has any room for traffic to divert into, hopefully it'll only take about 10 minutes like the one on this side, so if you're stuck in traffic on Suk tomorrow, you'll know why (seeing the mess of cables on poles on that side of the road, there is a possibility that the crane will hit something and make one hell of botched job, This time last year when they were first doing the construction a crane lifting something hit a powerline and caught fire and cause traffic chaos for half a day)

Oh, they're doing this because the old pedestrian bridge is in the way of the tunnel/underpass construction, that will be demolished/removed during the night of Friday 22nd, possibly blocking both sides of traffic, possibly the whole night, details are still sketchy

A pillar for a permanent new pedestrian bridge across is already constructed not far from the old one, when will that be finished and how it will affect the already horrible traffic I do not know.

Ars powder/pellet in the green box is best, but the ants seem to give them a miss after a few months, Sometime the green/yellow container don't seem to do anything in encouraging the ants to eat them up so I just pour the pellets directly on the floor behind cupboards and under the sofas sometime. For fun I mix the pellets with a little bit of sugar and watch the ants carry them off extra quick.

There are also other brand's similar pellets to Ars, these come in big bottles, but the don't seem to be as effective as Ars's

Another, more expensive options is from Bayer, called quantum or somethin it's a poison that's probably in syrup of some sort, it is clear liquid in white tube like a small tube of toothpaste, you squeeze some in droplets along the ants' path and they gather around to suck it all up and go back and distribute among their colony and a couple of days later they're gone, the liquid is sticky so you can squeeze them onto walls and into wall cracks as well, there are two kinds, one for ants and another one for cockroaches.

All these solutions aren't probably pets or infant safe.

The chalk only keeps the ant's path away, they work in some case like tables if you draw a circle across all the legs then you have an ant proof table, trying to contain ants that crawls on the wall and you ended up with a wall like kindergarten

View Talay Condo 1 have a sign by the pool that says visitors pay 100 baht to use the pool. Not sure where you pay or if you have to be signed in by a resident ? Maybe a TV reader that stays there could confirm this for you.

By the way...its the "Machanu Statue"...I keep telling everyone this, it even has a sign next to it telling everyone this...Hanuman does not have a fish tail.

It's a lost cause on the Majchanu statue, to most that knows what Hanuman is in passing, mythical monkey is all Hanuman

120 is only for Highway 7 and 9

(even that, for some people they feel that the law is not quite clear if legally the limit is only 90 and there's a moratorium to not prosecute anyone going under 120)

Other highway like 331 or the 4 going south is only 90 all the way, at the regular checkpoints on these routes you'll hear the protest of 'I though the limit was 120' when the police has pulled speeders in

Expressways in Bangkok... 80-90 depending on sections, speed cameras set to 110-120,

In any case going 121+ kph anywhere means you'll likely be exceeding most speed limits by a margin wide enough that in western countries, court appearance is likely

Can you say where this comes from or give us a reference for these statements - IE how do you know?

........ and there's a moratorium to not prosecute anyone going under 120)

.......... speed cameras set to 110-120,

The one about Highway 7 and 9, the law from 1979 doesn't directly say the speed limit, but that it is to be set by ministerial regulation, which had been get updated a few times since then, but I have gotten into argument with people who believed that the national speed limit is 90 and nothing above, hence "some people feel" qualifier in my statement...

I hadn't found the exact ministerial regulation published online but it is quoted by the traffic police here , seem the latest ministerial regulation was updated in 1992

as for expressways cameras set at either at 110 or 120 I've got pulled over at the toll gates on The Don Mueang Tollway going north and the cops say the limit is 90, but 110 or 120 is hearsay, so take it with a grain of salt

Where are you headed for in Pattaya? That may be a factor given the works on Sukhumvit Road.

The distance from the airport to the Sukhumvit Road is 117 km and should take about an hour and a quarter.

Beware - the speed limit for most of the road should be 120 km/ph but sections (notably around Chachoengsao have restrictions of 90 km/ph and they do have cameras.

HW7 would be my preferred route from Suvarnabhumi to Pattaya.

As for the speed limit, my take on the flashing 90 km/h signs are that they are the “recommended maximum speed”, kind of a warning as they are around areas where the humps are quite bad and also along one of the sharper bends of the road. I always cruise in these “90 zones” at around 120 km/h and so far never got a speeding ticket mailed to me, even though they have cameras. If they were actual speed limit signs, when would in that case the official speed of 120 be legal again, the big boards that list the speeds for different type of vehicles are quite sparse along the road, so no obvious marker on when you could resume 120 km/h, or is there a set distance from the last sign of how far the speed is in effect? Well that's my take on it and I could be wrong here, but haven't read or heard anything to the contrary. If anyone actually have received an official speeding ticket in these "90 zones" I'd love to hear about it.

It is NOT advisory, it is the limit. The Thai Highway Code says such road are 120 km/h UNLESS otherwise indicated. Same happens on the tollway in Bangkok.

Cost me 500 Baht to find that out when a very clear picture of my car arrived in the post one day!

That said, I am sure the cameras are not permanently on.

120 is only for Highway 7 and 9

(even that, for some people they feel that the law is not quite clear if legally the limit is only 90 and there's a moratorium to not prosecute anyone going under 120)

Other highway like 331 or the 4 going south is only 90 all the way, at the regular checkpoints on these routes you'll hear the protest of 'I though the limit was 120' when the police has pulled speeders in

Expressways in Bangkok... 80-90 depending on sections, speed cameras set to 110-120,

In any case going 121+ kph anywhere means you'll likely be exceeding most speed limits by a margin wide enough that in western countries, court appearance is likely

Looks like where the new control building, a service area and (supposedly) half completed toll gates are, there will be a junction going down all the way to Ban Chang

So as it turns out I could be wrong about the rest of the toll gates being completed at later dates, and the toll gates are only for the new Pattaya-Mabtaphut/Ban Chang route.... but if that's the case they have built it too early as the lands along the route hasn't even been bought/expropriated yet

Given how car, truck and bus drivers just have no lane discipline and continually erratically cross all four lanes as it suits them.......far better no bikes on the motorway.

I'm going to assume you are trying to wind someone up with that statement but either way you are talking nonsense

Hard enough to keep an eye on all the idiots on that motorway without adding motorcycles to the mix. Rightly so no bikes allowed on the motorway. IMO of course!

I use that motorway on a regular basis on a motorbike and have yet to encounter an issue or witness one, in fact it is a much safer route than riding on the 3 , perhaps proper enforcement of traffic law and taking the people who cannot drive off the roads might be a better idea, and I have travelled some 90,000km on Thai roads over the years and the worst driving I have seen is almost always farangs - go figure

The motorways/expressways are the safest roads in Thailand

The way some idiots (nationalities/race has nothing with this) do weave left and right across all lanes of traffic, this is fact, having high powered motorcycles doing the same at 200+kph on your left where you least expect to encounter them would only lead to trouble

But the Thai traffic law were written when motorcycle are just moped and going over 60 or over bridges/flyover was a struggle, in Bangkok it is illegal for motorcycles to go over most flyover still, a traffic law reform in Thailand is badly needed, but it must come with improved education/testing

The strange thing is that if you drive direction Bangkok, then the first toll booth you will encounter is at Laem Chabang.

I'm sure the one at Chaipornwithi/Soi waterworks that exit to Nong Prue will extend to cover the whole two sides once it's in operation

Please explain how a building on the right side of the highway can be extended to the left side of the highway, when there are no toll booths at that side of the road..

Further on, all traffic direction Bangkok that enters highway 7 at the Nong Plalai intersection also doesn't pass any toll booths, and for those Laem Chabang is also the first toll booth to encounter.

The toll booth on the other side of the road will appear through the magic that place them on the right side.... construction

You can apply for a brew-pub licence and the tax office will happily tax you from the meter connected to your vat, but you can't bottle the brew, cap it and sell it legally (yet).

Such is the red tape that some of the Thai craft brewers have found that it's easier to set up a brewery in Cambodia and export the bottle back to Thailand... hence you'll see some 'Thai' beers (like Phuket or Pattaya is the easy one to find, there are many more craft brews about) coming from brewery in Cambodia.

But for homebrew... go right ahead, there are many selling supplies too,

Technically it's only illegal if you bottle and distribute it