gios50hk

''What can be done about all the rats in Thailand?''

-  do they mean the animal or human variety?

2 hours ago, kovaltech said:

 

Thailand IS great indeed, why else would we come here in the first place ?

To all those criticasters...;

If you think home or any other place is better... then take your hat and... get another beer...

As I asked in my original post - 'upon what basis can Thailand be considered as great'?

Your response is remarkable in that it barely answers the question (or offer examples) and then goes on to arrogantly state that it's great because you are here! You then simplistically challenge me to name somewhere else that is better - which is completely unrelated to my question.

To repeat (and I will say this slowly so you can understand) ON WHAT BASIS WOULD YOU DEFINE THAILAND HAS BEING GREAT? OK - GOT IT NOW?

Great 'again'? On what basis do you assert that Thailand has ever been 'great'?

Oh.....is it on the level of criminals that freely commit their ruthless crimes against decent law-abiding people? Is it is on the abysmal legal system that fails to protect victims of those crimes? Or is it on the corrupt government authorities, police and courts that not only allow criminals and criminal activity to exist in Thailand - but openly encourages and assists them?

In which case - Thailand already IS great and doesn't really need to change!!

On 10/30/2016 at 1:06 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

It's pretty clearly not working when Immigration often makes life difficult for ordinary, entirely law abiding residents but alleged terrorists are able to buy entry into and out of the country by paying off Immigration border staff, apparently with little backlash even when those kinds of things are publicly disclosed.

 

And when I say often makes life difficult for ordinary residents, I mean things like the mess that is CM Immigration, the varied offices that essentially are shaking down applicants for extra payments or essentially forcing them to use paid visa agents, running an online 90-day reporting system that is down as often as it works, having a comments/complaints link on the main Immigration website for BKK that never is functional, totally failing to have a clear and consistent set of rules/requirements among ALL the Immigration offices, etc etc.

 

My wife and I consider ourselves as normal, decent and hard-working people and moved to Thailand just over two years ago from China - a country (and nationality) that I thought it would be impossible to surpass it terms of overt and systemic racism. I was badly mistaken. Thailand sets new and unparalleled levels of 'anti-foreigner' sentiment that are nothing short of disgraceful. Their attitude towards foreigners living. working and actually surviving (ie visa requirements, work permits/SME business requirements etc) and the constant and continuously destructive malaise of corruption you have to deal with here have made our lives an utter nightmare.

On top of this, we have encountered some of the most despicable and ruthless criminals, scam-artists, con-men and total liars we have ever met in our lives! We have been defrauded out of our house and all our life savings by greedy, heartless (and convicted) crooks, openly aided by corrupt local government agencies, lawyers and the parlous legal system here.  

So with due respect to 'General Prat' and his cohorts exaltations about 'Good guys in, Bad Guys out' - what complete tosh! I am convinced that Thailand's powers that be warmly welcome the most undesirable scurrilous and evil people to Thailand as they know that it will be to their own mutual benefit. (they will make more in bribes, pay-offs and so on from all these crooks etc!) Meanwhile, good honest people continue to suffer and pay the price for trying to make a valuable contribution to Thai society.

If it weren't for the fact that we are virtually bankrupt and have no money to escape this total <removed> - my wife and I would have left the day after we arrived here!

My wife and I are relocating to from Pattaya to near Sriracha and are looking for a removal and storage company........can anyone recommend any to us please? Thanks!

To Jack Thompson - Thanks for your reply.

So I will still need to get a Work Permit? But can I set up and register my company in HK as opposed to going through this here in Thailand?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

To Jack Thompson - I was interested in your comments regarding this topic and wonder if you can offer me any advice?

I lived (and worked) in HK for 20 years and am therefore a 'HK resident' - although I am British. I also had my own business there and business and personal bank accounts. Regrettably, when I retired to Thailand just over two years ago, I closed my business and bank accounts thinking I would not need them any longer. However, I now wish to consider my consultancy business here - but have been told I need to establish a Thai company (and all the paraphernalia that involves!) as well as acquire a work permit.

I am considering re-registering my business in HK again and re-opening my bank accounts there also. From what I have read and if I have understood it correctly, can I then simply invoice my clients to pay me through my HK company? Also, would I still need a work permit as I am effectively working for a HK-based company?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

If your physically present in Thailand and working you would need a WP, where your getting paid is irrelevant in terms of the WP definitions

To Jack Thompson - I was interested in your comments regarding this topic and wonder if you can offer me any advice?

I lived (and worked) in HK for 20 years and am therefore a 'HK resident' - although I am British. I also had my own business there and business and personal bank accounts. Regrettably, when I retired to Thailand just over two years ago, I closed my business and bank accounts thinking I would not need them any longer. However, I now wish to consider my consultancy business here - but have been told I need to establish a Thai company (and all the paraphernalia that involves!) as well as acquire a work permit.

I am considering re-registering my business in HK again and re-opening my bank accounts there also. From what I have read and if I have understood it correctly, can I then simply invoice my clients to pay me through my HK company? Also, would I still need a work permit as I am effectively working for a HK-based company?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

You must like paying tax a lot.. Why not set up a HK co, invoice with that and legally enjoy 100% tax free income - no personal or corp tax except for income derived from HK clients. Just a thought.

Why even bother setting up a HK company.

Just get a personal bank account in HK and issue invoices on a fictitious company, with a fake or partial HK address.

As an American, this would not work, because one's overseas income is taxable, even if one does not spend a day in the USA. Payments to a personal account are personal-income. Most/all foreign banks report your income to the USA-tax authorities.

OTOH, if an overseas business receives income, one is only taxed on income one takes out of the business (withdrawls of equity, dividends, etc), so a legitimate business entity is a must. If that business is in the USA, the business must pay taxes - but not so in HK (on non HK-income)

If anyone would please post 1st-hand info about setting up a legit HK company via a legit-firm or solo, so that I and others may avoid the possible-scam 'agents' offering such services, this would be appreciated.

taxout - my commnent about HK having little to see/do was tongue-in-cheek. (clearly, my attempt at sarcasm sailed over your head by a million miles?!?)

Having said that, you seem to have focused entirely on this sentence and ignored some of the attractions I mentioned in my original post. (eg, Ocean Park, Disney Land, Stanley market & Repulse Bay, Victoria Peak, Lantau & Lamma Islands - including the Big Buddha - Chungking Mansions, Temple & Lady Street Night markets, 'sneakers' street in Mongkok and endless shopping malls - such as Times Square). Outdoors activities are also quite plentiful - Cheung Sha & Shek O beaches, to name but two, countless trails, waterfalls and country parks.

Despite that - HK is quite a small country and even with all the above sights to see, you would be hard pushed to get more than a month out of the place and certainly not a year as Franky Bear stated.

I don't know if you ever lived in HK - but I did, for 20 years. So I think I am qualified to speak on the subject. Incidentally, my bother came visit me from UK and after 4 days he had seen ALL he wanted to see!

" . . . but you can see EVERYTHING there is to see in HK in less than a week! (not sure what you will do for the remaining 55 weeks!)"

I could not disagree more with that sentiment.

Especially if you're into the outdoors, Hong Kong offers amazing opportunities for hiking and picnics and boating and just lazing on the beach. All right there at hand, easily reached by a great public transport system, including ferries to a whole series of Outlying Islands you can explore.

And if you want some urban experience, Hong Kong is one of the best cities on earth to explore on foot: walk the streets and you'll find there's always something new just right ahead.

Downsides are few. As mentioned above, the hassles of daily life are minimal, consisting mostly of noise and pollution. It's not a good place to live cheap. Taxi drivers can be a problem sometimes. And it takes time to get used to the crowds and the summer humidity.

Most importantly, in a completely different fashion than Thailand, overseas residents are an accepted part of the landscape, and have been since Hong Kong's founding. You'll never have a visit from the police just because you're a foreigner in the neighbourhood. You simply won't feel like an alien in Hong Kong, so long as you make some effort to fit in.

Make that effort, and you'll never want to leave.

Thanks mate. I've been a few times before. I can't wait to get there. My Visa application went in two weeks ago today. They told me it will take 6 weeks so roughly a month to go. The comoany i'm working for would have me start tomorrow if they could (their words not mine)

I've been in Thailand 10 years. I've had a great time and got a great family that are coming with me. At 42 it's the right time to leave. I want normality and an honest place to live now. I am so glad my daughter at 8 years old is getting this opportunity too. The Thai way of life is not what i want for her.

I should have said this in the initial post. We haven't got any plans to go to the UK any time soon. It was just a general question for the time we decide to go on holiday. I'd imagine for the first year my time off i'll spend doing the touristy things in HK anyway.

LOL - ''I'd imagine for the first year my time off I'll spend doing the touristy things in HK anyway''

Sorry to laugh Frank - but you can see EVERYTHING there is to see in HK in less than a week! (not sure what you will do for the remaining 55 weeks!)

HK really has only one purpose - work! (and especially in the financial markets). So even if you throw in trips to Ocean Park, Disney World, Stanley market, Repulse Bay, Lantau Island (Big Buddha) and Lamma Island - or spend days trolling around the endless identical shopping malls, you still won't be able to fill anywhere near that amount of time!

Returning to your main topic (you and your Thai wife re-locating to HK) as 'animal' mentioned, there is not a very large Thai community in HK (possibly 20,000 at most?) and many of these congregate around the old 'Kai Tak' airport in Kowloon City. There you will find many Thai food stores, restaurants and shops etc.

VMOMMO suggested a quick trip to Macau as a way to extend your wife's tourist visa - and this is a possibility but I would urge you go together and limit this to only ONE trip!. (HK has 'clamped down' in recent years on Thais, Filipinas, Indonesian etc females popping over to Macau to extend their visas and have now restricted this to a maximum of 3 trips).

Let me know if you any more advice ok.

No worries Frank - glad to be of help.

Do you mind if I ask what sort of work you will be doing in HK? (you say you worked in the oil/gas industry here - and to my knowledge there aren't similar industries in HK!)

Otherwise (and if you have never been to HK before) you will find it massively different to Thailand. Firstly, the levels of efficiency, technology, infrastructure, education (qualifications, credentials etc) transportation and so on are simply light years ahead of Thailand. It is extremely safe (consistently no 2 in the world - behind Singapore - in the league of safest countries) relatively clean and very well organized. The downsides are numerous too though. Incredibly expensive (particularly property - although this is improving apparently?) MUCH faster pace of life and very poor work/life balance (especially if you choose to live some distance from your work) and utterly unacceptable levels of pollution.

Gold Coast is a very nice area - there is quite a large 'ex-pat' community there, with a good choice of restaurants, bars, supermarkets and shops etc. It is well-connected by road ('motorway' standard roads) and I believe when we left in 2014 the HK Govt & MTR were talking about extending the rail links there. (and unlike here in Thailand - things happen - and very fast in HK!!) It is a bit pricey in GC (as its mainly for 'ex-pats') and if it's not too far away from your work, you might want to also consider Yuen Long in NT as also very affordable with good amenities etc.

To repeat, I really envy you - we moved to Thailand 2 years ago and have pretty much hated every minute of it! HK is not great by any stretch but at least it's not as overtly corrupt, full of bull-shitters, scam-artists and out and out criminals as Pattaya!

Let me know if you need any more help - and if you want to let me have your direct contact details (phone or email) am happy to chat and answer of your questions. Cheers!

I lived and worked in HK for 20 years - and my wife is also Asian (though not Thai) - so am fairly familiar with the topic you seek help with.

HK immigration is notoriously racist and particularly towards what it considers as 'poorer, less-developed' Asian countries (including Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines etc - and even mainland China!) Having said that, the fact that your wife is married to a ''Gweilo'' (farang) carries a lot of weight there. So I don't really foresee you having any difficulties acquiring a 'dependent' visa for your wife.

With respect to applying for a visa to travel to the UK from HK - this may be a little more tricky but again shouldn't be a problem providing you can support her application with all the relevant documents. (marriage certificate, proof of address, bank statements, up to date travel documents - including relevant visa, HK ID card and so on). In fact, I recommend you take as many documents as you possibly can when you visit the British Embassy in Admiralty. (my wife had to go three separate times when she applied as they kept asking her to supply additional paperwork!) You are also required to write a 'letter of recommendation' (a kind of character reference) on behalf of your wife stating how long you have known her, been married, that she is a good decent person etc etc.

Like here in Thailand, the British Embassy in HK are not the most helpful or cooperative of people. If you personally go along with your wife when she applies - it may help a great deal! Good luck - I certainly envy you getting a posting in HK - but let me know if you need any more help!

I don't foresee a problem her getting a "dependent visa", it is all very straightforward in HK, especially since the company is applying on your behalf.

I know she will get th HK VISA. I am asking about applying for a UK visa in HK so we can go to the uk mate.

Ok .... thanks!

I recently read an article about a talk given to an invited audience in BKK (including employment and immigration officials from the Thai government) by an expert on SME's / Business start-ups and small companies - in particular, the most effective method of obtaining appropriate work visas.

The article stated that in the opening of his talk the expert apologized to the Thai government officials present but then went on to say that Thai employment/immigration laws were amongst the most prohibitive he had ever encountered! (courtesy probably prevented him from saying that the Thai govt clearly operates a system of restrictive practices). Indeed, his advice was that it was much simpler (and cheaper - due to better tax dispensations) to establish a business in Singapore, then apply for it to be recognized here in Thailand?

Sadly, despite saving the article to my PC - I am now unable to recover it due to the dreadful Windows 10 Operating System I have. I wondered if anyone else had seen/read this article or could offer me further advice on the topic? In particular. is it possible to establish a business in Hong Kong (instead of Singapore) and where/who do I need go/speak to regarding getting the appropriate documentation so that I can be granted a work visa?

Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks!!

Corruption - and the ruthless evil criminals and greedy uncaring authorities that facilitate and exploit the situation