NorthernRyland

I'm doing this for the first time in the next 2 weeks (I'm under 50). Not sure what I'll have to do but I need a neighbor witness. At least they said it was only the first year (Chiang Mai). The fact they make you re-apply with a stack of papers (in duplicate!) every year is bad enough without them entering into your personal life.

That's intrusive. It would make me feel like a criminal to be honest.

What does education do if people don't care? Thai people know right and wrong but they don't care. Following the rules is inconvenient so why bother if there are no consequences?

That's hilarious and shows a better sense of humor than I see with most Thai's. I 100% support this. ????

That sounds like communist nonsense to me. No reciprocity between people with wealth disparities means the high and middle is dragged down the level of the bottom. When you go shopping do you adjust the prices to match the annual wage of the employee selling to you?

LOL. seriously what are they doing? Burning leaves and sitting outside playing loud karaoke perhaps?

Yeah I know of a project from Chinese around where I am also. They even put up Chinese language signs and it's clearly occupied territory now. Not a good vibe. My guess is that they want more of this though. 100% they are planning to sell out of the country.

As mentioned this may be to attract property developers from China or India etc... One rai is enough to build a large condo or small housing project. Property developers will absolutely have 40MB to get involved on this scheme and many Chinese are trying to move capital out of China now. IMO housing projects are really turning Chiang Mai into an American style s*hole with nothing but busy roads connected to cookie cutter housing projects and it's even worse because the houses have basically no lawn and are crammed together. If Chinese get involved in this it's going to get much worse.

Americans should learn a lesson from this (I sure have). In "my" country there are entire areas I can't go to unless I speak Spanish or prefer their particular culture (even if I was welcomed which is debatable). Often times the cheaper areas outside of towns are now occupied by foreign cultures and kids have no cheap alternative to move out of their parents house. All of America is totally ghettoized like this now and it's one of the reasons I like to live in Thailand. Here's a racial dot map of Chicago. This is how Thailand will look if they really opened the floodgates: Thai's have it even better. They can come into America, buy houses, speculate on land and then go back to their home country and discriminate against Americans and not have to worry about the American following them back and doing the same here. How is this good for Americans? So honestly they're right to limit foreign land ownership but our countries need to do the same to them. Maybe then we can come together and have some agreement to allowing land ownership but under some strict and equitable rules.

Land speculation is already rampant in Thailand. I see it all the time. "Investor" buys land while it's cheap, splits it up into smaller plots and then raises the price 2x. Adds no value to the economy and makes life difficult for poor and middle class people. Why don't they just make this illegal first and foremost?

Another person died on the road outside my house last week. I wish they would "monitor" that situation instead.

Well said. They wouldn't have it any other way.

"Why would I enforce laws when I could sit on my ass and get paid anyways" -- some Thai police officer.

It's always teenagers and anti-social types. Imagine when you were 15 if you could drive around like that annoying everyone you go past. Thai teenagers get to live that fantasy everyday and never will they get punished. Sucks to be us but it must be damn fun to be an <deleted> if you're living here.

During COVID while stuck back in the US I started watching travel vlogs and found out there's a lot of other places around the world that look nicer than where I found in Thailand. Less busy, cheaper, better weather etc... I bet many others did the same and won't be back anytime soon.

If I get involved with this she's banned from having credit cards. Full stop.

Thank you I'll show this to her.

Yes, I had this idea myself last night and I think it's the best option. As another user pointed out she can actually pay off her debt in just 2 years but she's just making minimum payments and treading water now. So foolish of her to get here and not ask for help or try to get out of it. I think what happened is when the business got into the red a few years they stopped giving bonuses and she was using that money to server the debt (like 100k/year I think she was getting). That means she's already payed back the full 1 million (or more) but it's gone mainly to interest. ????‍♂️ So anyways if we do that she'll need to keep on her same lifestyle of 90% of her income on debt but at least it will be going to principle. Use the Dave Ramsey debt snowball technique where you pay off the smaller cards first and go one by one. Then she can pay me back what I had to pay to service the interest but this time interest free. ????

That's smart. I brought this up and she said they would tell her workplace because she debt issued through them also (they notify her other creditors I guess) but this is 100% what she should be doing. Face getting in the way of doing that right as usual

Oh no, if she does that then I'm gone. I can accept bad choices when you're young but not when you're in your 40s.

omg when you put it that way. Utter stupidity. She's making minimum payments on cards that have like 20% interest + 10k deducted directly from her paycheck. The only thing reasonable is her car payment. Some % is principle but she'll never make progress in this current state. The fact she's managed to service this by rotating the cards amazes me since she's functionally bankrupt. What's even more amazing is she's gone on like this for so long and I had to bribe her to tell me. So foolish it's hard to understand.

that was basically what I was curious about and why I posted here.

It is but I'm just saying there are some reasons to have credit. People advise I get a credit card and buy things which I pay off at the end of the month so I have some credit history. I don't think I'll be doing that though. Getting a mortgage is more difficult also but I was told I you produce income proof for a few years they accept that all the same as any credit score. Seriously? that sucks. Thailand is great for rentals. Just pay cash and walk right in most the time.

Not that bad? I mean she has only 10% of her money left to for other bills. She would be technically bankrupt except she's paying the minimum payment and then using the credit from one card to pay off another. I still don't understand no matter how many times she's explained. I need a diagram or something.

Same as me. 100% agree. However, I did have a problem a couple years ago I went back to the US for a job and they wouldn't let me rent without my parents co-signing for me even though I was making 50k/year and renting a studio for $600/month.