notrub

I have a friend who owns a very nice condo in Jomtien 2 minutes from the beach c/w big, clean swimming pool, is quiet etc..  It is 2 studios professionally made into one 2 BR apartment.  He relies on the local agent, in the building, to rent it for him and look after the property (sort of).  Would it be legal for him to list it with Airbnb and still rent it via the agent he already uses?  I don't know what effort the agent makes to find clients for him but rentals are few and far between.  My thoughts are that the agent could still hold the key and clean etc. but that there must be something that he can do to promote his property more than what is currently being done.  Any thoughts or suggestions?  BTW He lives near me in Bururam province and comes here from time to time.

I am interested for him but also am thinking about buying a unit for 2 or 3M THB as an investment.  If his experience is typical I would probably not invest here. 

I have been living in Chamonix, France for over 25 years and involved in holiday rentals during that time.  Both as an owner and as a contractor renovating properties owned by others.  Management of properties here is not carried out in the same way as I am used to.  Any thoughts on locating an efficient, honest agent?  Not that my friend intends to, just for my information.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

I don't have any TV except via the Samsung Plus feature but otherwise yes, what you ask is correct.  Thanks, B

Thanks,  It is with the TV sound connected via the optical cable only.  Thanks to your suggestion I now just use the BT on the PC and screen share to the samsung TV.  So it doesn't really matter in terms of usage, just an irritant when something that should work doesn't.  The other one works OK, however.  It is like trying to recode your car key following a dead battery.  You must do certain actions in a certain order or it doesn't work.  Switch the key 5 times, open the door, beep the horn and close the door, for example.  Except in the official instructions they forget to mention close the door...  Thanks again for the BT suggestion, saved me from a sense of humour loss getting some sound out.

Well, The suggestion from KittenKong worked a treat although I am not really very sure which combination of plugging and unplugging, turning off and on, changing various values in different sequential orders really did the trick.  So now the speakers work with the TV but the sound is stuttering, only with the optical cable connection.  Not with the TV sound on with a movie and not with the TV off and the sound directly via BT to the speakers on the PC.  Also not with the PC off and Youtube selected and playing through the TV speakers.  It does stutter with only the TV on and connected with the optical.  (If you think the description is confusing, you should have been here doing it to experience the action first hand!)

Any ideas about the stuttering by chance?

The suggestion to play movies with the BT connected from the computer and the picture on the TV works great and that is what I will do.  When I want to look at the smart programs on the TV, such as Youtube or Thai TV I will just use the TV speaker with no stutter.  Thank you very much for that one KittenKong.

For a smart TV these Samsungs are pretty stupid.  Although generally very happy with them.   

Thanks, will give it a try.  This is a problem suffered by many and it is a surprise that Samsung has not made an effort to provide a fix with their smart TV updates.  The TV sound is OK, just not as good as the Edifier speakers.  The Edifier R1280DB are not costly and consistently get rave reviews, by the way.  Any thoughts on plugging a BT dongle into a USB socket on the TV?  Thanks again.

I have 2 Samsung NU7300 55" TVs and 2 pairs of Edifier R1280DB speakers and 2 Asus PCs.  The TV and speakers both have optical audio connector sockets.  The optical output worked on the first one and then stopped months ago.  The new TV setup (in the gym room) did not work at first and I changed all values to PCM in both TVs.  Then I changed the HDMI connector to the second socket in the new one and the optical connection worked.  Tried the same thing on the older one with no luck.  The Edifier speakers work with bluetooth on the computer but bluetooth is not included on the NU7300 TVs.  The TV sound functions on both units and show up on the 2 PCs as the default player device.  Both TVs are connected to the PCs as an extension viewing screen. I tried putting a bluetooth dongle into the USB socket on the TV but had no luck with that either.  I have reset TV factory setting with no luck.  Any ideas please?  Thank you

Smearing poop around your bottom with a piece of paper held in your bare hand seems pretty primitive to me these days.  Japan even boast a toilet that has an auto spay cleaner that comes out to do the business when you have finished yours.  The bidet is a common (and essential) fixture in French WCs.  Toilet paper belongs in the kitchen for wiping up little spills without using quantities of kitchen roll to do that job.  I'll take a spray to clean my bum any and every day over TP, thanks very much.

In the Buriram immigration office there is a note posted that proof of income letters from various embassies are no longer acceptable.  I did not read past UK and US but there were a few more. I actually have an income and cash enough to meet their requirements and it is just figuring out how to present it to them in a way that they like to see it.  In Buriram one officer said he wanted to see the money on my account and that he wanted me to spend it, every month.  I have invested 3 or 4,000,000 in property here over the last few years and have a truck and just bought a new car in Thailand.  Not to mention all the junk like a/c units, tv's, fridges, fans and on and on, that has been money spent in Thailand.  I don't understand why this investment in the country counts for nothing when renewing my visa and having such a heavy look at my monthly spend.

They have never asked me to show where the monthly deposit comes from.  It is legal income but they have never asked.  Is that just a quirk of my local office and should I be prepared to provide proof of the source of the deposits in the future?

I have been refused a visa in the past because the bank letter stated that I had 1,430,862 baht on deposit and my bank book update was 1,430,826, both dated the same day.  I am prepared to jump through all the hoops that they want me to, I just would like them to be the same ones as posted on their official web site without little added 'extras' that the local office deems worthwhile.  (not talking about money, just rules).

So the balance sheet Edited Monday at 06:29 AM by elviajero is very useful post but I cannot imagine my local office making any sense of it.  It seems like the easiest way will be to put 1,000,000 in the bank and top it up when spending causes it to drop to 800,050.  Also to put in a lump sum to cover larger spends for a car or something.  Always keeping that account active and with a balance in excess of 800,000.

It is difficult here sometimes but don't forget that the government in the UK has announced that migrant workers will not be given work permits if the are to earn less than £30,000 a year.  How many nurses will qualify for that?  How empty of professional workers the hospitals will be.

Any comments please on weak Euro and poor exchange rates.  Not so long ago the THB - Euro rate was in the mid 40's.  Today's rate is about 36 on the EX site.  I am very aware of what brexit is doing to the £.  I have mostly Euros and have lost quite a lot by keeping them in a Thai Euro account.  I look at the graphs and see the Euro plunging generally and it was about 39 only 6 months ago.  Any comments on where the Euro rate is going and why?   Please?  Will I be better off waiting a few months to exchange 100,000 Euros because of an annual rise in mid summer rates, or something other than the UK imploding at the moment?  On that general subject, does the Super rich outfit really make a difference on that relatively small sum?  And yes, I do have a calculator but I am not as smart as some of you guys and hope for a bit of guidance from the more smart group.

Does the money on deposit need to be in a THB bank account?  I have a Euro account at BKK bank.  The amount, in Euros, far exceeds the 800,000 or 1,250,000, THB liquidity requirement.  Does the money have to be in my THB account in Thailand?  Also, are we expected, in Buriram, to actually spend 65,000 per month?  If yes, on what?  Do we have to prove spending beyond simply withdrawing this amount every month? 

Thank you very very much.  just what I was hoping to find out.  Really helpful, thanks again.

Kind regards, Burton

Thanks for all the comments.  We have brought in nearly 300m3 of fill and the area is looking good.  

Thanks.  I bought a couple of HOCO 4 socket usb hubs from Lazada for less than 200 baht and they have been working well.  Their cables work too and are equally inexpensive.  

My GF's younger sister would like to study to become a qualified nurse.  She has the grades to be accepted at Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University as a first year student so it is just a matter of financing her studies to completion and graduation.  This university is government funded and she is a Thai national, resident in the area and does not come from a wealthy family.  Could anyone provide me with a rough idea of what this would cost per month or annually please?  A breakdown by section would be great, even a rough guess.  such as

Tuition

cost of living on or near campus at the university (not at home with parents)

general overheads including clothes and other needs that a young woman might require (not high end stuff)

cost of any special equipment required other than a computer and telephone

One off memberships or other costs that could come as a surprise.

I have no idea of what I might be letting myself in for and I do not have unlimited funds.  It is a worthwhile undertaking and she is a serious young woman and I am sure she would make the effort to succeed.

As many of us are aware, a university education in some countries can leave the student impoverished for many decades following graduation.  Or not, if they are lucky enough to live in Scotland or other forward thinking country, for example.

Can anyone take a stab at coming up with a figure that I could build on please?  I could come up with an idea of what I could be letting myself in for. Also to figure out if I can even hope to afford it at all.

Any comments will be welcome and thank you in advance.

After trying a number of hubs including a couple of powered ones that do not work I bought a plain Hoco 4 socket usb hub for less than 200 baht delivered and it works.  

I am looking for a tutorial  site that clearly explains accounts and passwords please.  I keep a written record of passwords BTW.  My main accounts are google, microsoft, FB and a host of others such as Skype, calibre ebook mngr etc.  When I sign in to skype, for example, they do not recognise my password and I am invited to change it.  When I do that it seems to also change my microsoft account.  To access some areas of my computer I need a computer device password, although I normally sign in with a pin number.  Then they go on and ask for my windows password and if I try to use the microsoft one they invite me to reset it which then seems to reset other accounts that are linked but not identified.  They use instruction like 'enter your account password'.  Account for what?!  Then identify yourself with your computer password!  I have 4 computers plus a tablet and a phone and they are all supposed to be synced so why do they not know that the HP has a new Microsoft password when I try to access something in the bedroom on the Asus (used for movies)?  And mixed up in all of this are the glinches in their systems that do not allow me to reset a password because my email is already used, for example.  Any sites like passwords and accounts for dummies or something?  Thanks for your help.

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Hello again,  Here we are in rural Isaan, land of the endless rice fields.  A bit like the flat praires in Canada but here they have left more trees in place.  Better.

My inlaws live in the village in a fairly substantial house, Thai style but OK.  It was built in stages by grand dad, who is no longer with us, and some of it is very good.  An area of about 5x5 meters was simply covered with a layer of tin onto a wood frame, however.  Is it ever hot in that area of the house.  So, I would like to recover the roof with a view to lowering the temperatures in there a bit.  I have built many new roofs of all description and re roofed plenty of houses and buildings too.  But where I worked we were concerned about the inclement weather although keeping out the sun heat was a consideration too.  I know what I would do there but I am not aware of what options are available here.

What I am after are some light weight panels that have an ok looking effective robust heat barrier coating on the underside.  As it stands now I will just rip off the old tin and re cover with a new insulated product and also incorporate a couple of translucent panels too.   The panels could be metal or a  cementitious product or another type of product that I am unaware of.

Who knows what that panels are and who makes it please?  I have found that good, knowledgeable advice can be hard to come by and have been told 'facts' that I happen to know are not true.  Things as simple as the sun rising in the west and water does not naturally flow uphill, for example.

I am a bit familiar with Diamond roofing and siporex blocks and an obvious direction would be to seek their help.  They would not, of course, inform me about an innovative  product that they do not produce.

Any ideas?  Thanks in advance for your help.  I looked up the list of on line suppliers and the advice to do so was good.  Thanks. 

Notrub

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Thanks, they don't it,  I am looking for a low cost 55" TCL tv with android.  They are less than 20k.  Lazada had them but are out of stock.

A person (some time ago) was kind enough to put together a list of sites he knew to be reputable and/or he had successfully dealt with.  This has been reposted at least once on my request for a reprint but I cannot find where I saved it.  If someone remembers this post and could direct me to it I would be most grateful.  Thank you.  Also aside from Lazada, where is a good site to buy a tv on line please?

Here we are in Isaan with about 2 rai of land just outside the village and sister has maybe 1/2 rai or a bit more adjacent to us.  We have a small house, a guest house and a covered parking all near the top part.  I would like to build sister and family a small house of about 100m2 on the bottom part (all level, just relative to the road) but her land is only about 12 meters across and it will be a squeeze to get a house into the area.  She does not want to build onto our land because who knows what could happen in the future.  Can we cede forever a small strip 5 meters by say 10 meters to  her without getting the surveyors in and changing deeds etc.?  Thanks in advance for any comments.

Buriram immigration are pretty easy to deal with and now that I know what a TM 8 is I will get one from there long b4 departure.  I am about to renew my UK passport and the officer at this office said that when I get my new passport I can just bring it in with the old one and he will transfer my existing retirement visa over to the new one.  We'll see how that goes.  Thanks very much for all the useful information.

Yes, I have a hard won retirement visa.  My third as the earlier two were annulled on exit.  I have never ever heard a reference to a TM8 before and it is exactly what I was looking for.  Thank you very very much from a person who has spent many hours of stress about visa compliance in Thailand..  It could be worse.  In the UK they deport 90 year old grannies to countries they had not been to for 89 years.  I will take a moment to comment generally how there is little to grumble about in Thailand and learning the rules makes life easy peasy  (as Liam Fox might say).  thanks again.  B 

I am an expert at losing my retirement visa on leaving the country and now know I must ask for a re-entry permit at the airport.  I have never done this and could you explain simply and exactly  what must be done and by whom for this temporary suspension (?) of a retirement visa and what happens on re-entry please.  A friend was actually told at the immigration office not to worry about leaving the country and just go back in to the office and they would look after it.  Also he was told at the AP immigration information counter on departure just to go and all would be well.  In fact his retirement visa was annulled without a re-entry stamp or registration (or something)  on exit and he had no visa to come back in with.  He is off to Buriram immigration tomorrow to sort this out.  I think he will have to go through a long reapplication process including changing his 30 day airport visa to an 'o' type, if he can.  I am about to go through this process of exiting and coming back and do not know what to do.  If someone could also post a picture of what this (elusive) re-entry stamp/permit looks like that would be great.  Thank you.

My dentist suggested 2 implants maybe with bone graft for the upper.  Aside from 5 months of discomfort the cost will be about 120 k THB.    This dentist is very good and confident he could do what he says.  I am not insured for dental work but could pay, only the months of travel to Buriram etc..  he has just done 4 lower implants and they are good.

Thank you.  Is that Prime Asia?  Primasia seems to be a financial consulting firm or something - not windows.  I have just (5 min) sent an email to prime Asia and will see how that goes.  Thanks again