Swelters

just wondering, thx.

You will barely get by with your car, maid, private schools, and import lifestyle. In this condition you will doubtless be exactly as happy as I am on thirty percent of that amount without the foregoing benefits/headaches.

Swelters

Can't help but think that eating frozen food you're missing 40 percent of the point of living here. Make salads, source some good bread, and learn how to stir fry, it's not much more work than cooking frozen food. Get the nannies to chop everything up for you if you want, that's the time consuming part.

Swelters

Depression is somewhat of modern American invention, it simply does not exist in the Thai framework of things. So in a way you could be inflicting a disease on him that only exists ( if it exists at all) in the context of your relationship with him. For example many years ago I worked closely with a Thai and as a result of this position he adopted my immunity from the usual hierarchical controls that ruled in the bureaucratic setting where we operated. His subsequent flaunting of these rules of Thai society invited revenge of the most serious kind leaving him sullen and "sick" with asthma.

So you might want to think whether trying to pull him into a fahlang world view is either very good for anyone or very effective in the long run. My friends "cure" was a job transfer that restored him to the Thai world. Keep in mind that as a Thai he may be averse to to telling you much that is on his mind so therefore not much of anything, which seems like....depression?

Swelters

Air conditioning is a somewhat effective but not especially good (comfortable, healthy or energy efficient) way to dehumidify air and since dehumidification is 80 percent of what is wanted here in Bangkok at this time of year, especially at night, I would like to team up a low-powered air conditioner with a dehumidifier to try to get a more optimum sleeping environment. (I'm convinced that the recent two episodes of 80+ percent humidity in Bangkok(starting May 28 and June 30 respectively) have caused some serious respiratory problems).

The Thai do not usually recognize "humidity" as a separate issue from "heat" and almost all advice on air conditioners leads to oversizing which is worse than no air conditioning at all at this time of year--if you live here you've probably noticed the recent episodes of "clammy" air in shopping centers and even the hospital.

So, where do they hide the dehumidifiers? Carfou and the usual big stores don't know what you are talking about. (kleung bplup ahgad). Whats needed is a nice Japanese or American model, maybe 40 pints, cost maybe 10,000 baht. Anyone know where to buy?

Swelters

Well the first thing is that under the scenario set forth the wife does not buy the land. A company of which she is the majority owner buys the land. So one issue would be whether the establishment and operation of the company was legal. This may be a good question if paper nominees set up the company. Is this an issue for the land department? I don't know. Presumably there is nothing illegal about foreign ownership of minority shares in a company that owns Thai land among other activities. Could it be that the perennial confusion on this topic arises from the fact that there are two Thai administrative agencies involved? This is not an unusual source of confusion in Thailand.

Swelters

My understanding is the issue would be when she goes to register the company (not the land) as majority stockholder she would be required to show proof the money is hers and not the husband's that has been given to her. If she cannot prove the funds are her's the commerce dept may refuse the registration.

I believe what the land dept director was trying to say when he started all this, was the land dept was going to start looking at the companies that have already been registered when they buy land to see if the setup was done legally.

Your point on two different agencies is well taken.

TH

I think we may be getting close to the heart of the confusion--the land department doesn't regulate companies. And I don't know how they can conveniently determine the source of investment funds, given that the company is set up by nominal Thai sponsors through a different agency . I question whether the corporation registrars dig into this at the time of company registration when there is no focus on land purchase.

Swelters

But I don't know the answers here, and I'm not trying to suggest that all this workaround is a good idea for anyone.

Yes, you got it completly wrong.

The Thai wife can buy land using money her husband gave her as long as he signs the letter of confirmation, the same process that has been going for a long time. Nothing has changed for that.

What I foriengner cannot do is setup a company with his wife holding the majority shares and give her the money to buy the land. That is using your wife as a nominee. Giving her money and saying the property she bought is not common property is not using her as a nominee. By signing the confirmation you are in fact saying she is not a nominee.

TH

I dpn't mean to be rude or combative, but this kind of post is to me has a vague validity but is to me unintelligible from the standpoint of Thai or any other kind of law.

Swelters

Other then using an "I" instead of an "a" in the first sentence of the second paragraph, which part do you find "unintelligible from the standpoint of Thai or any other kind of law" ?

TH

Well the first thing is that under the scenario set forth the wife does not buy the land. A company of which she is the majority owner buys the land. So one issue would be whether the establishment and operation of the company was legal. This may be a good question if paper nominees set up the company. Is this an issue for the land department? I don't know. Presumably there is nothing illegal about foreign ownership of minority shares in a company that owns Thai land among other activities. Could it be that the perennial confusion on this topic arises from the fact that there are two Thai administrative agencies involved? This is not an unusual source of confusion in Thailand.

Swelters

Yes, you got it completly wrong.

The Thai wife can buy land using money her husband gave her as long as he signs the letter of confirmation, the same process that has been going for a long time. Nothing has changed for that.

What I foriengner cannot do is setup a company with his wife holding the majority shares and give her the money to buy the land. That is using your wife as a nominee. Giving her money and saying the property she bought is not common property is not using her as a nominee. By signing the confirmation you are in fact saying she is not a nominee.

TH

I dpn't mean to be rude or combative, but this kind of post is to me has a vague validity but is to me unintelligible from the standpoint of Thai or any other kind of law.

Swelters

samuisole - if you go the company route a lot of people have and had no problems. however there are pitfals. You need to file accounts, hold meetings, etc. etc. you need to have an accountant who you can rely on to run this company. Also a company needs 7 directors and 51% ownership is Thai. it is not a perfect solution, although plently of people have done it and not suffered a problem.

If you want to be safe, buy a Condo, You can own the freehold as long as no more the 49% of the entire Condo block is foreign owned.

If you want a house on land you can buy a lease for 30 years. Anymore than that is nonsense. the 30+30+30 is not legal in thailand

If you are not happy with 30 years then just rent. Your advantage is you can walk away!!!!!

Good advice. The setup is tiresome and fees for a company are increasing, I pay 3000 baht a month and now it's another 40,000 every year not to speak of the constant suspicion by auditors about a company that doesn't really do any business or pay taxes on profits. I have my own reasons but for most there is no nirvana in being a Thai property holder, buy a REIT if you love real estate.

Swelters

I don't understand anything you guys are talking about...seems like a big hassle to me. Why not just switch banks? With Citibank, I can do such transfers online (no telephone charges) and the international wire fee ranges from free to US$ 20 depending the the value of your bank balance. Citi instituted additional security a couple years ago for wire-transfers too...you have to request that a code be sent to your email address (from the wire-transfer page) and then when received (usually a couple seconds) input that code to complete your wire-transfer request. Simple.

I think some people like to make small say weekly transfers and resist paying wire fees which I thought were in the $50 plus range. maybe Citibank rates are much better, worth investigating.

Regarding your current company set up...Even with you having a share(49%) I assume your wife is the director and signatory, she's at the helm and has total control over everything.

You could consider 'usufruct' which will give you rights over the premises.

Seek good legal advice, is the best next step.

Regards Bojo

The legal advice I received a few years ago was that a company with majority share ownership by the Thai may have in its charter that the foreigner has majority operational management control or that the Thai and foreigner have equal say in management. This was said to give the foreigner a means of maintaining their rights as shareholder. Don't know if this advice still holds or not.

One thing to keep in mind is that the biggest hazard may be impulsive or even secret borrowing by the Thai partner using the title deed as security. I think this is regretably common, family pressures and all, and a real relationship buster. The company structure helps here, but I think a usufruct may block this as well since it is recorded on the title deed and a bank would not loan on a deed thus encumbered. The usufruct is so simple that you can almost do it yourself, though it may be a good idea to get legal advice so the whole thing can be clearly explained to the both partners and the Thai partner is not later made to feel that she or he has been "cheated" out of her "ownership" rights.

Another idea if the deed is granted over to the Thai wife is to agree to borrow on the property and then use that money for other useful purposes, maybe build a house or buy a condo in the foreigners name.

Swelters

If it's a normal SecureID card, it will work anywhere. It basically is a small high-accuracy clock running on internal battery, and produces psuedo-random numbers based on the clock and a unique key assigned to the user and installed in the card. The bank will run the same psuedo-random generator using their own high-accuracy clock (and their record of your unique key) so they can they see that you're providing the correct key for "you" at the time of the transaction request.

That's a big help, thanks. Interesting technology, I guess you have two random number generators that mimic each other. Does it have a time limit on it? For can you get a code from the card then use it a week later?

The problem with the safepass is it appears it will only send the code to a US phone and not to an international number. There is an option to get a safepass card for $20 that will generat the PIN. I assume that will work overseas.

TH

Yes, my concern is for those of us who have been using the $3 online transfer operation to BB New York which has offered good albeit very erratic service. Needless to say, Safepass mobile will not text to overseas phone numbers (7 digits only) and I can hardly imagine that the $20 safepass gizmo is going to work overseas so it seems to me that we are out of business. Hard to believe BofA, stupid as they seem to be, would dump all their international business this way.

I wonder if there is a way to set up skype with a dummy US telephone number so that text messages are forwarded to skype, or....??? I suppose you could have them text a friend's number and then retrieve the code but they probably put a short expiration time on it.

I'm not thankful at all, I don't ever accept any of these bright corporate assurances that "it's all for the customer's good" Just look at the sneaky way they introduced this "service" made you re-sign their security agreement before letting you on the site--without telling you what was up.

Swelters

As of June 16 new chapter seems to have opened: bank America has now instituted a gismo called safepass needed for all transfers over $1000. This appears to block most useful international use of transfers via computer....or is there a workaround?

For example can transfers be done by phone?

Swelters

Don't care for the one I bought new last year, though it's my first bike and I can't compare. Certainly has plenty of power. But I find it hard to start and don't like the shifting. I wish I had got an electric start and fully auto and may trade it in the future or get a pickup. I'm getting a little old and don't really like machines much so my comments won't apply to everyone.

Swelters

Someone I know ;-)… Will Marry in the near future.

The girl is from a rather wealthy background, Father a wealthy businessman with an honorary position as adviser to someone high up in the government (I’m not sure exactly what this means, but it means he has some level of influence which ever government is in power).

Sin Sod is expected to be 1 MB – Will the western son in law get it back, it’s completely unknown.

Sinsod is not called for in this case, in fact the request as stated is in bad taste. Why not 10 million?

It could be that the father is trying to discourage the marriage out of disappointment at losing the daughter as a piece for use in family and political matters.

Swelters

"Peak Oil" is an apparently growing line of thinking in the US and UK and perhaps elsewhere with medium term global scenarios varying from Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" to major disruption of economies. (Check out Wikipedia) Has any discussion of the implications for Thailand and living in Thailand emerged on this point in Thaivisa or elsewhere? Seems to me that Thailand is an interesting laboratory for considering this subject. For example, what kind of expanded village economy "refugee" population (housing, transport, food supply, social problems) might emerge in such a scenario? To what degree does the general happiness seen throughout notwithstanding amazingly little money hold out some for the perhaps less resilient developed world? To what degree does the yellow shirt movement represent a caring concern with these matters (as claimed by a Thai friend.)

Big subject, but maybe there is already active discussion?

Swelters

Sorry, but I have no sympathy for fools and you deserve all the crap that will be coming your way, soon.

Rx: A week in the monastery and you'll feel much better.

Swelters

If your girl is worrying about losing face to others… over making you happy,

….then obviously her and her family value their faces more than you, and obviously any able body farang who can put down the set amount will do, not just you.

See?… how much love they have for you?

Well I'm sure that this logic will appeal to some people. After all, it's what makes the West what it is and where it will likely be fifty years from now.

If a person truly believes that they are simply being scammed cynically then by all means they shouldn't pay anything. For that matter, just skip the wedding, which after all is arguably just a silly old custom anyway.

But I'm surprised that the underlying historical rationale for the whole business has never been mentioned here. That is, that the sinsod is a performance bond required of those who marry carefully protected virgins which are a major social and economic asset in the traditional village economy. Absent the sinsod the risk of abandonment and the cost thereof is too high to be allowable. Where the preconditions are not met the rationale for sinsod is weakened.

But absent pension plans and personal savings the obligation to support the aging remains. This is the rationale for my advice to dress up future parental support in purple cellophane.

Thai culture is still partially local and as such does not participate in "Enlightenment" precepts such as "do what you wish was done universally". This isolates it from the "principles" trumpeted by the west and embraced by young "enlightened" Thai like the correspondent above who would like to enjoy the fruits of western individualism.. But there is another more applicable rule, the literal translation is something like "When you go place everyone squints, squint too."

Swelters

He wants to know the right thing to do, so I will tell him.

He should give them a million baht, on display in purple cellophane with a ribbon at the wedding. Then he should have his wife take back 900,000 and they should put it in a dollar fund for future assistance and emergencies for her family.

Swelters

I should add a couple of footnotes to this advice.

First if you are not too familiar with Thailand be very careful about how you handle large amounts of money. You probably need some very trusted person to guard you and it.

Second, when I say put it in a fund I mean one that is jointly owned with strict joint assent (you and your wife) on withdrawals and no possibility of an unexpected individual withdrawal based on impulse or family pressure. The best explanation for this essential arrrangement is "It is foreign law and custom."

Also an excellent point is made by one correspondent on the matter of negotiation with family. In Thai, as well as Chinese culture the negotiation and request for hand is usually made as a matter of form by a "father" or surrogate thereof. But this is a matter of form, do not rely on this for financial issues, possibilities for misunderstanding are great.

Swelters

I read the pined post of: Pinned: Sin Sod - An Explanation "PLEASE READ THIS FIRST”

And Now, I am more confused than ever. I understand the terms, and I know the cultural significance of it, but I still don’t know what is appropriate, there are two posts in that thread , one say you always get it back , the other one say you don’t get it back, which one is correct?? I love my fiancé, and I love her family, they are decent people and I want to do the right thing for her and her family. Personally I think that my fiancé getting married to me (I don’t have such a high opinion of my self , just considering the opportunities available to her as a US citizen) is of greater value, than sinsod ,but I understand the need of her family to comply to their cultural norms. After all they have to live in their village and they need to be respected.

I know that this subject has being disclosed many times, I have read countless of posts on the subject, but there are so many conflicting opinions, I am now more confused than ever. Can some one once and for all tell me what is appropriate. Not your opinion on the matter, we all have one, not what you would do, or have done, that is anecdotal, and your particular situation. but what is appropriate.

Thank you

PS. My finance is a beautiful 25 year old, with a University degree, from a poor family in Isaan .

He wants to know the right thing to do, so I will tell him.

He should give them a million baht, on display in purple cellophane with a ribbon at the wedding. Then he should have his wife take back 900,000 and they should put it in a dollar fund for future assistance and emergencies for her family.

Swelters

Regular screens?

BR>Jack

Not cheap, but easy to work with. Home Pro.

Having lived in a traditional Thai house for some time we became discouraged at the prospect of ever eliminating night mosquito attacks. Commercial traps appear to attract as many or more of them as they catch, sprays or repellent and effective for only a few hours, mosquito nets block needed overhead fan ventilation, one resorts to wandering to toilet ever swinging an electric mosquito racquet. Nonetheless, several maddening bites a night has been the norm.

My Thai wife's theory was that they were deftly entering our screened bedroom every time we opened the door, so that we should screen the auxiliary space outside the bedroom, see illustration. I refused to believe, thought the project infeasible, but bought several rolls of black fiberglass netting for about 1200 baht at her insistence. It took a local guy a few hours of work to cut an staple over all openings, maybe another 300 baht.

It works absolutely. What was clearly happening is company-sized troops were entering and hiding in the veranda area (perhaps atracted by cooking CO2?), at least two or three following any entry into the bedroom, even when effort was made to enter quickly.

Sorry to confess that it took me more than two years to solve this problem, maybe of use to someone else trying to live the simple life.

Well, we have decided that for the sake of .....Well, too many issues to mention. Why will I miss Thailand? Too many issues to mention.

So, anyone else feeling the same? Or is everything to your liking and as you initially expected. Do you see the changes?

Hmmmmmmm too many questions, sorry… I think you get the point!

I’m interested to in the general opinion and ……..generally bloody nosey!!

Thanks Guys!

You are sure seeking a lot of sympathy for a guy who is too lazy to make your case.

Ha Ha......Seeking sympathy and lazy ....have you actually read my post or do you just "click and pick a fight" Someone mentioned previously about the moaners and groaners on this site. I assume they also meant those who wish to brighten up their days by turning a perfectly innocent and respectable post into a battleground. I am curious as to people’s views of Thailand recently and as to their thoughts for their future. Your post isn’t worth the response I’ve just given.

Overreaction. My point is that you are soliciting thoughtful answers but offer no discussion of substance about your concerns or your situation in either place, so any answer you get is going to be the usual vacuous generalization about Thailand pro or con that makes much of the advice on this site of little use. Moreover it reflects the common Brit habit of thinking (speaking of moaning and groaning) that institutions (esp government) and environment are the principle determinants of human success.

Well, we have decided that for the sake of our two children’s safety, education and support we shall make a return to the UK. I shall miss Thailand for many reasons and my Wife will obviously miss her homeland. I’m a UK national and my wife spent 2 years there with me prior to our residing in Thailand so we both understand where we are going and the downsides attached to our move. It just feels that the pro’s outweigh the con’s and believe me …….we have deliberated for many months now.

Thailand has changed and is still on the move…….. and maybe into a beast that I don’t want my children to be a part of until they are old enough to make that decision for themselves.

Why the change of heart? Well, too many issues to mention. Why will I miss Thailand? Too many issues to mention.

So, anyone else feeling the same? Or is everything to your liking and as you initially expected. Do you see the changes?

Hmmmmmmm too many questions, sorry… I think you get the point!

I’m interested to in the general opinion and ……..generally bloody nosey!!

Thanks Guys!

You are sure seeking a lot of sympathy for a guy who is too lazy to make your case.

Does anyone know of a comprehensive list or even better major retail seller of english fiction translated into Thai?

I'm thinking specifically of Jhumpa Lahiri's writing but the subject comes up now and then.

Thanks much,

Swelters