RemyDog

17 hours ago, 1FinickyOne said:

I would shop first and when you find a unit you like, then bring the correct amount of money over... it only takes a day or two for the transfer... it will take longer than that by a lot to get the contract and everything together after agreement... good luck and hope you get a bargain... good tome to negotiate like crazy

Also look into your muddy crystal ball and form a view on how you think the relative foreign exchange rates may move in the likely period between now and an estimated date of the property purchase contract settlement.

Depending on your expectation of the foreign exchange rate and transaction costs as between your source of currency and the THB, you can minimise your risks by bringing in some or all of the funds into THB ahead of the time of the purchase settlement. This may be as one or several transactions.

If you are not pro-active on choosing the timings of the currency conversions, you may be stuck with a bad rate on the day because by then you must have your clear funds in THB by a fast approaching known date for settlement.

I am not one  to incur unnecessary stress in my life, especially when it is quite avoidable - up to you and enjoy the ride!.    

On 1/20/2021 at 9:55 AM, Pilotman said:

do you have any trouble there from prickly burrs getting in the fur of the dogs when you go anywhere near grassy areas ? That a big issue around us.

No pricklies or burrs in the bushland areas that we use - and that is with a long haired Siberian Husky dog. She spends most of the time with her nose to the ground like a tracker dog with her nose working overtime! . 

If you can take a vehicle, there are wonderful areas near Lake Maprachan in the water storage reserve. They range from the well lit bike and walking asphalt roadways (no vehicles but lots of bike riders day and night), parklands, children's play areas, good vehicle parking areas, water side areas (people fishing), to both open scrub and timbered forestry.

I personally prefer the area where the entry point is a popular open gate roadway immediately after the overpass on 3240 as you head East and where 3240 goes over the new Motorway going to Rayong.  

We go in a timbered area with trail bike tracks and in the open scrub areas and also down towards the water side. Our dog loves it as she is off-leash and her nose is busy. I love it as that area has few people and it is clear of bikes (our dog has no road sense when her nose is to the ground and working overtime!) and the vegetation is very similar to that in parts of Australia. There are a number of resident dogs near the roadway itself but none of them have been a problem for us. 

We are very fortunate to have such a large recreational space and resource only 5km+/- from our place.

7 hours ago, papa al said:

500

50% for me and the boys, 30% for my big boss, 20% for you! 

5 hours ago, Dave246 said:

Guys,

 

I am British and have been married to my Thai wife for 10 years + to which she already had 3 young boys from her previous Thai marriage. Around 5 years ago I requested some advice on the subject of legally adopting the boys from the British Embassy (and to no surprise they couldn't offer zero advice) and told me to go directly to the Thai Adoption Agency in Bangkok. I took my wife and boys with me to this agency to find out the process and check if it was even possible. In summary the agency individual was very rude and not helpful indicating that the whole process could take over 2 years subject to my vetting and financial capability to support the boys!! "The Thai father hasn't paid a single baht towards the welfare of the children since I first met my wife over 13 years ago" yet they want to vet my commitment and financial standing - outrageous!! The key factor which put us off undertaking the adoption was that as soon as I filed the application and paperwork my wife would no longer have any parental control over the boys and this would be transferred to me as the Male in the relationship even though the process could take up to 2 years..... The whole system is totally biased to the male (father) having full control. My wife quite understandably wasn't very keen to sign over full custody which is completely understandable so we didn't proceed. My boys are now coming into their late teens and have simply decided to do a name change on their surnames so we are all a family unit carrying the same name. 

Thank you Mac for raising a good topic and I commend members on the good contributions to date. I will address some issues in relation to adoption and Dave246 has addressed some related matters. I am an Australian citizen and my wife (Pon) and I married in August 2014 after knowing each other for some 18 months. Pon has a birth son (born 21May2007) and in brief, the boy's father was a ratbag - Pon has Court papers and certificates granting her full legal custody and responsibility for their child. The father's name is on the birth certificate, he abandoned Pon within three months of the birth, happily consented to her having full custody and responsibility, has never contributed to the child's welfare since and went off to plant more seed.

Pon and I made extensive efforts in 2015 and 2016 for me to adopt her son and be the father by adoption. If I was Thai that would not have been a problem. 

However, for me being an Australian and you being a Canadian, it comes under Thai international adoptions and the rules are totally different and horribly difficult (conceptually, to prevent child trafficking). In summary, the dealbreaker is that neither the Australian Federal bureaucracy or the Thai Social Welfare Department bureaucracy were prepared to cut a bit of slack or concede some ground in order to achieve a result most beneficial for the mother and the child. Thailand's requirement is for a clear irrevocable certificate from the foreign adoptive parent's home government that the adopted child has full and free access to live in that foreign country. Australia's response is that Australia's process is for the Australian citizen to apply for a Partner Visa for the spouse plus dependent child. I do not know about Canada, but Partner visas to Australia are a two-stage process that take 5 to 6 years in total and cost in the order of AUD $12,000 to $15,000 with most of that as upfront fees at the start of the Stage I provisional Visa step. In line with the Australian government's money hungry approach, fees paid are non-refundable should you cancel the application partway through. As we have now successfully completed the 6 year process started in 2014, my wife and our son now have PR (permanent resident) status for Australia which means they can come and go from Australia without other visas, they can work, study and live in Australia until 2024 at which time they can get a 5 year renewal (subject to conditions ) and ultimately lead onto Australian citizenship should they so desire.

In my opinion, Canada is a more caring and compassionate country than Australia (I am in Canada every year for 3-6 weeks as my daughter married a Canadian in 2000, has been a medical doctor in Vancouver since 2003, plus has dual Australian Canadian citizenship as do their two children.)

 In summary, the child adoption option will not get off the ground unless Canada would be prepared to issue a clear certificate that the adopted child would be allowed to live in Canada on a long-term or permanent resident basis. This clearance from Canada would be part of the prerequisite paperwork for lodgement through the Thai Social Welfare Department.

Perhaps a cleaner and easier option would be to provide financial support to the child's mother and the child stay with her biological mother in Thailand.

I wish you well in your decision-making, cheers for now.

23 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

This seems like an excessive and unneeded "benefit" that has been added on just to jack up the price. I realize that the pandemic has probably caused disruptions in air cargo operations, but the coverage amount for this looks to be more than ten times as high as what these services would have cost in normal times - and I have yet to meet a tourist who asks prior to a holiday, "but how will I pay for my funeral?" 

A person travelling overseas (on holidays or for any other reason) and not taking out travel insurance at the time of buying the tickets or making other bookings, is foolish and inexperienced.

All travel insurance policies I have read/considered include a death benefit cash payment plus cover for the cost of "repatriation of the bodily remains" to the nominated country.

A principle of indemnity insurance is that you cannot be paid twice for the same loss or incident - for example, insure your house or vehicle with 3 different companies, the house or vehicle is a total loss, then you only get the value paid once with the pay out cost shared by the 3 insurance companies.

The approved Thai Covid19 policies on offer should have the "death benefit" as an option with a separate pricing of that extra cover option. While this is logical, the counter argument is why pass up an opportunity to cream some extra cash from foreigners when you have them in a captive market??

On 6/6/2020 at 3:41 PM, Peter Denis said:

Hi,

No problem sending you the info, I actually sent it just now > so look in your PM-messages.

The main reason I prefer sending all of the Guideline documents I compiled PM is that it allows me to integrate any user-feedback when updating the document.  Having sent the info PM, it is then easy to contact me when users have questions or suggestions for improvement, and so when interested TVF-members contact me first time they always get the latest version of the document.

Top idea and process you are using, Peter.

Please drop me a PM of the TH30/TM28 notes that you have compiled.

Cheers and thanks, Richard.

On 5/31/2020 at 9:54 AM, 4MyEgo said:

From the research I have looked at this is what it says, word for word.

 

"You can us a notary public to witness your statutory declaration even if they are called something different under another country's legislation". For example, they may be called a notary or a public notary.

 

"Before using a notary public overseas, you should check the person has been appointed by a government to witness documents.

 

I believe when I weigh everything up including going to the Australian embassy, the only choice I have is to get a notary or public notary to sign the stat dec, as for the cost I think it's about 1,500 baht, unless anyone knows of a JP floating around my way in Udon Thani/Sakon Nakhon who would be prepared to witness my wife's signature.

I am a fair way down the road from you at Pattaya. I am a Queensland JP(Qual) and I am current with my JP and other registrations. I am very happy to assist if you and the document can take a trip to Pattaya or come up with other options. 

A little away from Central Pattaya is "Rabbit Place Restaurant" on the eastern side of the Pattaya By-pass Rd that has the railway line in the middle. It is down towards Route 36 end. It re-opened on the 17 May and is a lovely spacious outdoor restaurant (with private rooms with Karaoke facilities off to one side), water features, fans at each dining table set, good food (Thai & international) and good value. We were there again on Thursday night (21 May) for our son's 13th birthday, and it was great to come out for dinner for the first time for ages (and ages!). Phone number is 09 4432 1313. Give it a shot. 

21 hours ago, n00dle said:

Truly ridiculous post, befitting an oddly phrased question.

 

It is safe to assume that no one with direct experience will be popping by the thread to answer.

It was a great post - would have to make the Qualifying Finals for "Post of The Year 2020".  Cheers and have fun.

17 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The reason your wife needs to be with you is part of the proof needed to prove you are living together as husband and wife.

This from clause 2.18 for the police order. "(3) In the case of spouse, the relationship must be de jure and de facto:"

If divorce your extension ends on the day it is finalized.

If your wife dies your extension would be valid until it expires and you would need a different reason to apply for it.

Thanks, Joe. my wife and I both have Thai Wills. My Australian Will recognises my Thai Will, which is an attachment to my Australian Will, and my Australian Will covers everything excluding my assets etc in Thailand or in THB. Under my wife's Thai Will, her residence where we live (funded by me and mortgaged to me before we were married in 2014) and all her other assets are then held by me in Trust for her now 13 year old birth son until he is 26 years of age. If I die while in that Trustee role, her younger sister (who is mid 30's in age and lives with her family in the next suburb) becomes the Trustee of my wife's assets until her nephew (my step-Son) is 26 years of age. 

My questions are, if my wife pre-deceases me,

1. How does my Visa extension, currently based on Marriage, then stand at that time as I would be living here in Thailand as the appointed guardian and Trustee for the birth-Son of my deceased wife and the Son is still a minor in legal terms. Our plan was for full adoption of her birth Son but that was derailed by conflicting requirements between the relevant bureaucracies in each of Thailand and Australia with neither prepared to cut some slack in recognition of requirements in the other jurisdiction.

2. I am on a "Non-Immig O visa" granted in early 2014. Would rolling over to a retirement based visa extension be the only option? To keep clean with possible voluntary activities, I would strongly prefer to be in a position to apply for a work permit if a combination of circumstances were to eventuate. 

3. To my understanding, an advantage of the marriage based extension is that one can potentially be eligible for a work permit, whereas work permits are prohibited for holders of retirement based visa extensions. Please confirm. 

Thank you, Joe and others, for your knowledge and contributions over time. 

I am in a similar but different situation to the OP. In late July, I am due to go from BKK to Canada (Vancouver BC) in late July to visit family for a month during their school holidays. All travel has been booked and paid in full with Philippine Airlines (BKK-MNL-YVR) and returning in late August to Manilla & then down to Brisbane Australia for 10 days and back to home to Thailand (YVR-MNL-BNE-MNL-BKK). I do this trip every year since 2015.

Two days ago, speaking with my daughter, who is a specialist frontline medical doctor at a large hospital in YVR, she is not optimistic that the trip will happen in those time frames. The original Covid19 virus "D" has already mutated into the more virulent and "improved" virus "G614" - so the second wave is not only coming, it is already in place, waiting to spread whether we are ready or not!! (Domestic or global political objectives and posturing are irrelevant).

I expect I will be rolling over those travel bookings as a voucher to be used in the 12 months after the original travel dates.

As they say in the classics "up to you".  

I understand from Universal Gym (Pattaya) that from May 1 only open air gyms (= ? non-air con) may resume at reduced operating levels plus Covid19 social distancing and wearing of a mask. Their current expectation is that as an air conditioned gym, it will be mid-June before they will be allowed to operate. Life is tough in small business as well as for the population at large.

I had THAI flights BKK-Oz for our family of 3 on 23 March returning from Brisbane (Oz) on 12 April. These were booked directly with THAI Sales Centre in person on 27 January 2020 and paid for in full on Visa card at the time direct to THAI (no booking platform or travel agent involved).

Five days before travel (18 March) THAI cancelled the outbound flight and a few days later cancelled the return flights.

What is very damaging to THAI's reputation is that in an email to me on 9 April THAI (replying to my email of 18 March after they had cancelled the flight) said "the refund to the Visa card will be credited within at least 6 months" (amazing!!)

They can put through a charge to your card for many thousands of Baht in less than a minute while you stand there, BUT to reverse the same transaction will take them "at least 6 months" more than the 3 weeks after they already known that they had cancelled the flights.

 My concern is that THAI may well be bankrupt before they get to do the refund and down the black hole goes my cash paid to them in January for services in both directions that they cancelled in March.

The business principle I quoted to THAI in my reply email of 9 April is "do the right or good thing by your customers and you build a good reputation; do the wrong thing by one customer and letting that fester, means they will tell the world their story and that causes immense damage to your reputation".

It is now three weeks since my reply of 9 April with no acknowledgement OR refund - THAI have let the matter fester and effectively elected to incur damage to their reputation.

Moral of the story - BEWARE OF THAI AIRWAYS AND DEAL AT YOUR OWN RISK.    (In years past, they were quite good.) 

.  

Thanks, johng - excellent content and very timely for me. My plan is to swap over to an extension by marriage rather than my existing extension based on retirement.

 The compliance generally here in Pattaya with shutdowns, social distancing and stay at home, certainly seems at a higher level than from what I hear from my Australian contacts.