egeefay

Always keep your door open for customers

You will not sell to everyone that inquires. Not everyone qualifies.

You need to talk to the ones that are not qualified in order to find the one who is.

If you try to prequalify everyone before you spend a lot of time talking to them you might miss the opportunity to find the one person who will buy

I can't count the number of times I've walked into a store with cash in pocket ready to spend only to walk out emptyhanded because the shopkeeper didn't want to spend the time to answer all my questions. He probably thought I was wasting his time

I got amebic dysentery 37 years ago in Songkla , Thailand.

I think that I got it from a food cart vendor.

I ended up in the hospital for a few days. It was an experience I'll never forget

Ever since then I have tried to be careful what I eat.

I try to avoid food stalls because they generally don't have access to runnning water or refrigeration. I dislike eating from other peoples dishes that haven't been washed and rinsed. I don't like eating meat that's been sitting under hot sun...for who knows how long. And I don't like eating food prepared by someone who doesn't have access to running water to wash their hands.

I avoid fresh leafy vegetables that haven't been cooked...even in nicer restaurants

In fact I avoid everything that hasn't been cooked.

The safest thing for me is fruits , vegetables and nuts that I can peel myself.

I don't think restaurants are any cleaner than food stalls.

Thailand has few of the sanitary rules that govern food handling and preparation in the west.

So you are at the mercy of a food handler whose goal is to make as quick a profit as possible.

Food safety is not something high on the Thai governments "to do" list.

Why do I say that the 60s, 70s, and 80s were better for the Thai people, in general? During the periods I mentioned above, the average Thai actually enjoyed life and were always happy. 'Free' roaming movies right to the doorstep of the village, 'free' health care, no fear of being robbed, 'free' county fairs, 'free' rice if you were poor and had none, 'free' transportation to the market, etc.

And for my final 'tirade'. You people that have only negative 'one liners' are the undereducated or uneducated 'foreigners' that I tried to get the message to in my original post. If all you have is 'one liners' then you may need some further education. And, if you have 'never lived' in Thailand, again, you do not no what you are talking about - in other words, you 'have no opinion'.

Sounds like the 60's, 70's and 80's in Thailand were magical years when everything from movies, to heathcare to food , to transportation was free. I lived in Thailand in the 60's and 70's and must have missed out on all those freebies. Was I the only one that was paying, back then?

Oh, and sounds like there was no crime back then.. So I guess the folks who broke into my house and stole all our stuff in l969 on Soi Aree Saam...must have been a farang visiting Thailand.

As I recall, life back then was just as tough and unforgiving in Thailand as it is now. There was poverty and unemployment, wages were low, heathcare was for those that could afford it, and Thais had to pay to see a movie and buy a bag of rice. And look at the old flats and houses in Bangkok. They all had bars on their windows.

The writer seems to be upset that land and condo prices ($75,000) in Thailand are exhorbitant.

It's true, they've gone up in recent years. But they've gone up everywhere, not just Thailand.

In California, where I live, the days of a $75,000 condo are long gone...about 10 years long gone.

If you are living in Thailand, consider yourself lucky.

Of course, if prices in Thailand are too outrageous, you can hope on a flight home and see if you can get a better deal there.

Let me know if you find anything cheap.

At the risk of pissing off the very friendly group of people who populate this board, I want to say that this policy strikes me as reasonably fair. Foreigners from wealthier nations should pay more, even if they are paying taxes. It's not really about race or nationality. It's about the assets that make it possible for wealthy Westerners (and some wealthy Easterners) to set up a life here.

So if we base entry fees on "assets", we should make rich Thais pay more and poor farang pensioners pay less. Right?

What are the laws in Thailand regarding carrying handguns?

Do a lot of private citizens own them to protect their homes.

From one posting, sounds like they are legal as long as they are not carried in a public place??

Does Thailand need stricter handgun controls?

If Thailand prohibited the ownership of handguns perhaps this ugly incident would have ended up in a ugly fist fight, the two men would be alive and the incident would never have made the pages of the papers.

Here's a some good tips on safeguarding your house against thieves

http://www.thaiproperty.com/security.htm#P...rity%20features

Someone else has done this before, so I''ll try to do a real short version of this argument. It is in your best interests to rent - not buy - in Thailand.

Here's why. A condo of around 100 m2 in BKK at present in an A grade building sells for an average of 85,000 Baht/M2 so that's around 8.5 million baht. To rent the same place would probably be 45,000 in a popular area (say 2 bdroom).

If you were to live there for 20 years, and pay 3,000 B per month in maintenance fees it would be another 720,000 over that period (but would almost certainly rise over the years - so let's say an even 1 Million) Now the cost of buying is 9.5 million. Divide by 240 months (in 20 years) and you have a monthly 'rent' of roughly 40,000 baht.

So you've saved 5,000 per month right? Wrong. You've lost out on the investment growth of your original 8.5 million Baht unless of course the building appreciates in value. You've seen what they look after 10 years never mind 20 years. Will your condo be worth more in 20 years than what you could have made in other investments? Maybe.

The above only takes into account the fact that you paid CASH.

Look what happens if you need a mortgage from one of the two banks in Singapore that are lending for condo purchase in Thailand. Say 7 % annual interest on 70 % of the purchase price (so 70% of 8.5 million is around 6 million), your 20 year mortgage would cost you 46,200 Baht per month (Using the North American mortgage calculator - if they use simple interest it's way more). That's a total of more than 11,000,000 baht - or 2.5 million in interest. Divide the downpayment you made (the 30% - 2.55 mil into 240 months) and it's another 10,625 Baht per month that it has cost you. Total: nearly 57,000 Baht per month.

Unless the property really increases in value and/or Thailand changes the law to allow an open market to foreigners, it's silly to buy. Double-check the math, I may have made a mistake. But the principal remains the same..Wait..rent..jai yen!

I may be wrong but one thing it looks like you are assuming in your calculations is that rents will stay fixed at 45,000 baht over 20 years. It's hard to say what your hypothetical renter would be paying in rent in 20 years but my guess it would be a lot higher than 45,000 baht.

Also, past performance is no guarantee of future returns but real estate prices generally trend upwards over the years. Condos in Bangkok cost a lot more now per square meter than they did 5 years ago. Raw materials, labor and energy costs just keep getting more expensive year after year

It's true, if you buy a condo for cash, you will lose out on the investment income that money could bring in if it were parked in a bank or...invested in the stock market. But it takes a lot of discipline to keep cash sitting untouched in a bank for 20 years. And after 20 years the purchasing power of your 8.5 million baht (plus interest) sitting in the bank will most certainly be battered by inflation.

In the end, it's a gamble any way you look at it. But for me, the houses I bought 15 years ago were the best investments I ever made. When I lived in them, they gave me the pride and freedom that comes with ownership and when I moved out of them they became rental properties that brought in enough to cover the payments...and some

I talked to my Thai cousin about burglaries in Thailand.

He says the problem is rampant and that one of the best ways to secure your house is with a mean looking dog.

Sounds like thieves aren't afraid to break in while someone is actually home so my idea of a full time maid for security won't work.

A dog

Bars on the windows

Cameras

Alarm system.

Sounds more like a prision than a home.

When I was a teenager I lived in Hong Kong.

The natives didn't understand the concept of waiting in line.

So the British constructed narrow metal fences at taxi and bus stops that made it impossible to "cut in front" on anyone.

It worked really well.

I'm a big supporter of cuing in line. However, I realize that it is cultural concept that not everyone shares.

I went to Thailand along with about 50 other college grads in 1969.

We were all Peace Corps volunteers signed up for two years of English teaching in Thailand

Back then the population of Bangkok was only about 3 million

The beaches in Phuket were beautiful...and deserted.

Houses didn't have air condition

There was no hot water

and teachers got paid 1200 baht a month

Here's some of the pictures we took of our lives back then

http://www.thai27.com/thai27/gallery/album03

There's little left of the Thailand we used to know.

Many don't realize 75% of money held in Thai banks is actually held by the rich ethnic Chinese moguls like Thaksin. They didn't accumulate this wealth by fair and ethical business practices.

Many of the Thai Rak Thai party are ethnic Chinese and it costs a minimum 15 million baht just to join the party elite.

The Thai is no more than a serf under his Chinese lord in many places.

Some of your remarks about ethnic Chinese sound very much like the anti Semitic accusations some European directed at Jews shortly before the Holocaust . First, Jews were identified with political subversion and Communism in particular. And Second, the Nazis associated Jews with super capitalism and economic exploitation.

You seem to make similar claims that the Chinese are subverting the Thai political system and capturing all of the wealth in Thailand

You are entitled to your opinions but don’t forget that the ethnic Chinese in Thailand have blended in well. Most ethnic Chinese speak Thai as their first language. They have intermarried with Thais , and they have dropped their Chinese names in favor of Thai surnames. The children of these marriages identify themselves as Thai and no longer speak Chinese. They consider themselves to be Thai. They dress and act like Thais. And most of them are middle class citizens and not “super rich” as you make them out to be.

I have many friends of Chinese Thai heritage and I’ve never had one that spoke of the insidious plot to take over of Thailand’s wealth and political system that you seem to fear.

Over the next 20 years almost 1 billion retirees from developed nations will be deciding where to spend the sunset years of their lives.

These retirees will be highly sought after residents. They won’t need jobs and they don’t have children that need to be educated. They have a lifetime of savings in the bank and often a regular pension check . What they need is a nice place to spend it all

High taxes, high cost of living and cold weather are going to drive many to seek tropical Asian countries where the cost of living can afford them a more comfortable lifestyle.

Smart countries are making plans to woo these retirees and their money by relaxing rules on foreign ownership of property.

But some countries seem to be restricting foreign ownership and making it harder for retirees to feel welcomed. Thailand seems to be moving in that direction.

Thailand needs to realize that it’s not possible accept the foreigner’s money without accepting the foreigner. No one wants to put down roots in a country where they are only allowed visitors status.

Buying a house and land is a deeply rooted right in developed nations. To lose that right for the privileged of retiring in Thailand may work for the moment. But as neighboring countries relax their foreign ownership rules , Thailand may find itself being bypassed by foreign retirees looking for a place to spend all their retirement savings.

"It bothers me when people think Westerners are the only people who have ever controlled foreign lands. To me it seems that much of Asia has been taken over(colonized) by others who aren't Westerners."

For the most part the Europeans colonized America,Asia and Africa at the point of a gun to grab the areas natural resources: gold , rubber, oil even slaves. That's a lot different from the Chinese who immigrated to Thailand , adopted Thai customs and culture , intermarried and have became an contributing part of Thai society. They came seeking a better life...not to take something that didn't belong to them back to China

Interesting that all the other major English online newspapers have seemed to picked up on this story...all except the Bangkok post onlline. They must not work on weekends.

When discussing with my students some of the differences between the Thai culture, and the American culture, the topic was manners. Thai people do not seem to say please, they certainly do not say thank you. A man does not hold a door for a woman, nor let her on the elevator first or anything remotely like it. Rarely am i given a seat on the bus or train by a Thai man, and often a young man will take a seat almost right out from under me. My tone must have seemed bitter, for on the BTS ride home, I sat with one of my students where she asked me, or rather stated it seemed I didn't like Thai people. I do like Thai people. Some of them are just wonderful, friendly, helpful, warm, inclusive with their activities and show that they want to involve me, and seem genuinely excited when I show up somewhere a foreigner is just not expected to show up. This made me rethink about my projected demeanor and attitude about the Thai people and remember why I am here, to do something for the Thai people I really like. I would like people around the world to think of the Thai people as polite and wonderful people. I have to remember they are who they are and we can only lead by example. What i see here seems to be people that don't really think much of the Thai, which leads me to wonder why they are here. Is living in Thailand really all about warm weather, cheap services and easy girlfriends? I see bandwagon mentallity of Thai people bashing and wonder what good it does. There is truth behind everything we say. There is no such thing as just kidding. I think the Thai people have to work with whatever they have, which in the past, and to a real extent still, isn't much. I give them credit for being a happy bunch of people considering the available resources offered to them. Remember, the minimum wage is 184 baht a day, having some education would certainly pay more, but they work with what they have, I give them credit for that. Just a thought.

It is the conflict in the individual mind that manifests as war. When individuals change, the society will automatically change.

— Amma

So does anyone have an opionion on the safest , fastest and a comfortable way to get from Hua Hin to Bangkok?

I've heard the buses are fine...but slow.

The train is even slower and never at a decent hour.

Do they have any of those big double deck buses that make the trip?

We've taken EVA air to and from Thailand to San Francisco several times. The delux class is the way to go...a lot more leg room.

We've always stopped in Taiwan but only for a few hours. Never left the airport.

I think their price is pretty competitive although I've never taken other carriers so I don't have a way to compare.

They shoot themselves in the foot. Not allowing them full updates (what already was the case by the way) means more ways for hackers to exploit windows machines. What undermines their credibility. Besides MS is greedy. Why is Apple charging 129 $ for a license and foir a family pack of 5 licenses 199$ while the inferior windows will cost for an professional version at least double. You can't ask an Asian laborer to pay up two or three salaries for a genuine version and the stripped down version is not working. Ahh well in the end it will prove the governments of China, Korea and Japan right. Watch out when they assault MS in a few years time with an open source OS.

I have often heard Thais say the reason they buy illegal copies of DVD's and Software is "They can't afford it." However, that reason never seems to stop them from buying a new car that cost them the equivalent of 10 years of income.

I think it's rather that they know it is illegal but since there are no penalty in Thailand for buying bootlegged copies (despite the official policy), why not. Everyone else is doing it.

I'm sure all lost revenue from bootlegged DVD's and software makes the the United States feel a little like the Thais did back in 2001 when the United States began genetically copying Thai Jasmine rice.

Here's a new cooking school that just opened up in Bangkok

http://www.thaikitchen.com/cookingschool.html

Bicycle lanes in many parts of the United States are no more than painted while lines on major surface streets and neighborhoods. Problem is , even the United States where drivers are a bit more cautious, cyclist don't feel save riding so close to fast moving traffic or along streets where people are likely to step out of their cars and smack into you.

The only bicyle lane that works here are separate dedicated bike paths that can only be accessed by bicycles. These lanes do not necessarily parallel surfaces streets and they only get used by bikes and pedestrians.

I think that building a bike path right alongside major streets in Thailand will only get used by motorist looking for an extra lane or a place to park...or businesses looking for a place to set up a noodle stand or place signage.

I spoke to several different Citibank people today just to double check the information I was being given. Here's what I found out.

First off, A Citibank account in the US cannot be serviced from Thailand. I guess US banks and Thai banks are separate entities...even if they are owned by the same company. You can use the ATM machine to get money if you need small amounts but if you need big sums of money for a car or condo you can WIRE TRANSFER from a Citibank in US to any bank in Thailand and NOT have to be present to make the wire transfer

WIRE TRANSFERS online

You can go to Citibank online in Thailand and have Citibank wire transfers money to any bank in Thailand

AMOUNTS; You can wire up to $50,000 per day from your Citibank account to any bank in Thailand.

(If both you and your wife open separate ATM accounts with separate pins you can transfer up to $100000 per day (2x$50000). OR If you have a "CitiGold Account" there is no limit to the amount you can transfer per day)

COST :$30 ($20 if you have a CitiGold Account. There may be some free options but talk to Citibank about that)

HOW:

Funds must be in a US Citibank account either in a CHECKING ACCOUNT or MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT

Go to the Citibank in the US and get an ATM account ( in order to obtain a pin number.)

Fly to Thailand , open up a bank account at any Thai bank

Then get online.

When you transfer funds you can designate not only what bank you want to have it deposited in but whether you want to have the money transferred in dollars or converted to Baht. If it's in Dollars you can keep it that way until the exchange rate is in your favor

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE: Citibank says it usually takes under two days to make the transfer as long as the transfer is initiated in Thailand before 5:30 pm east coast time (US time) on business days only.

(It's been known to take up to 2 weeks for wire transfers in certain countries due to that countries banking system)

WIRE TRANSFERS by phone

If for some reason you think you might not have access to a internet connection or you are leery of online banking you can also make wire transfers in Thailand by phone or fax.

In order to use this service you should go to your US Citibank branch and sign a "funds transfer agreement" first.

When you get to Thailand I'm not sure how to do it but I assume you will have to fax or email your US Citibank with instructions on what you want done...then you'll have to fax them some sort of document with your signatures authorizing them to make the transfer...and to which account and which bank.

Any questions call Citibank's online bank information center at 1-800-374-9700.

https://web.da-us.citibank.com/cgi-bin/citi...UseBVCookie=yes

My brother in law is 65 and is moving to Thailand to live.

He says it's too expensive to retire in the United States.

He says Medicare won't cover him if he lives outside of the United States so he's going to stop making his medicare payments and disinroll. He says he'll either find new private insurance in Thailand or just pay cash for his medical needs.

He says once he is dropped from medicare he won't be able to get back in (should he decide to return to the US later.)

Does anyone know if this is true?

I asked him what he would do if he decided to return to the US , say, for a visit. He said he didn't know but perhaps could find some sort of travellers insurance...probably very expensive?

Does anyone out there have any knowledge about the ins and outs of Medicare for people living abroad more or less permanently?

I know this doesn't excuse your soon-to-be ex wife but in the United States the police treat assaults by spouses differently than they do other assaults. They tend to look about complaints by married people as "family squabbles" and don't take it seriously.

I also would guess that the security guard at your building isn't trained to provide much in the way of protection. They probably make 3000-4000 baht a month, aren't educated, receive no training, prefer not to get involved in violent situationd. They are there just for show. So the building management can say they have "security"

Sounds like your soon-to-be ex wife came from a poor family and my guess is that they are not well educated. Most Thais I know wouldn't involve themselves in a physical altercation like the one you describe

Trying to make a decent woman out of a bar girl or maid or a poor uneducated Thai woman is to an uphill battle. Cinderella stories are just that...stories.

I think anyone looking for a Thai mate would do better courting a Thai woman that has an education and a decent job. Chances are she will come from a good family and be on the same social level as you.

My Thai wife of 29 years was a college graduate. Her family was better off than I was when we met. She had a good job. She wasn't after my money (I didn't have any at the time). Over the years she has been a great helpmate and, though we've had our differences, we've always settled them by "talking" not fighting.

That's my personal experience. I am sure there are a lot of people who would disagree with me but I think its a mistake to associate with people who think you are a ticket to a better life.

A new world class hospital is now being built in Hua Hin, I am told

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=66107