THAIJAMES

Thanks folks!

So wow, no ED or retirement visa people allowed to apply.

And people are still waiting five or six years later to know if they have been accepted?!?!

Seems a bit bizarre...

This is Thailand, just have to go with the flow. Applied in 2007 and still waiting. I found out 3 years ago that they forgot to submit my application to the Interior ministry because it was lost in a pile somewhere. Now waiting for the next round of approvals. Actually in a way, waiting for approval has given me 7 years of free and very easy extensions so I am not complaining. In fact if and when I get approved I will need to pay 200K for very marginal benefits which I could easily lose if I forget or in an emergency cannot follow the proper reentry process.

Actually the local dealers don't like foreign coins or gold bars and will give you less money for them. So if you plan on reselling in Thailand best to buy local gold from a reputable shop.

Ordered one from China for a friend, The phone is very comparable to the Note3, which I have. The only major differences is that the onePlus runs CyngenMod , the Screen on the Note 3 has definitely better colors and sharpness, but for half the price, the note3 is too overpriced compared to the OnePlus. Overall I think the best phone considering the price, about 2 weeks to be shipped from China.

Well if Immigration is following ThaiVisa, I have a message for Immigration: "How about giving longtime married expat residents of Thailand, who have demonstrated good citizenship, a reasonable pathway to permanent residency at a reasonable cost?"

A 100,000 baht non-refundable application fee is not reasonable; it is gambling. Also, selling a five year permit to stay for a 2 million baht fee via the new Elite Card is not reasonable. Other countries have a reasonable road to permanent residency; why not Thailand?

The fee is 7000 Baht,

You pay the 100,000 only after you have been approved!

My bike already slipped and turned over unexpectedly 2 weeks ago because of the slippery surface. luckily I was not hurt and minimal damage on the bike. But be careful in that parking lot!

My moto has always been:

Don't take work away from Thais or compete with them.

Give Thais a job

Sell products or services produced in Thailand overseas or to international organizations.

You will get more money and avoid the pitfalls of having to deal with Thai businesses

You will also avoid Thais getting back at you or getting in your way.

I bought high quality tent cover from this place.

Even though I bought the best quality after 2 years it is starting to mold and will probably last another 2 years.

Not the fault of the shop just the very harsh conditions here in Thailand.

Tent and Awning Maker. GPS 18.8412344493, 98.979641942

Tent Maker.jpg

Global sells all the parts, been using for 6 years without a problem

Thats the reason for these forums we are all happy to help

Here is some more info:

I am not sure about Netflix without using a VPN. I tried the free 7 day trial (without VPN 2 years ago) and it didn't work.

But many many of the other applications on the apple TV do work.

I use the Hola unblocker to stream free TV and movies to the apple TV from my mac laptop.

You don't need to use a cable if you are using an IPAD, iphone or mac. You can select send to apple TV and it will do it wirelessly.

I use it as a second monitor for my mac laptop works great!

The quality of youtube videos is incredible when you stream them from ipad to apple TV. You can also play games, but not all applications support native mirroring on apple TV.

Your TV MUST have an hdmi connector so that you can plugin the apple tv to it.

Keep in mind that your wireless should be high speed for it to be very smooth. Ideally, you should plug the apple tv using the network cable to the back of the wireless router.

I have connected the 7.1 Digital output from the apple TV to a sound system. So you can play all the music or videos from an itunes library with great sound quality!

I have a dedicated itunes computer (actually just a virtual machine) that I store all my movies and music, which I access from my apple TV.

The only drawback to the apple TV is that it only plays the video and audio formats supported by Itunes.

If you have an ipad, iphone or mac you can also mirror what ever is on your screen to the apple TV. I have an itunes server and the apple TV connects to it and plays all my downloaded movies.

Yes you are correct, what I meant is that the land department does not look at past sales price on a property to set the minimum amount of tax that must be paid.

In reference to money laundering

The Land department does not keep a register of past sales. What it does do is set a minimum value price for each land area. When you transfer land, you must pay taxes equal to or higher than this minimum price.

This minimum price is raised every few years but is usually well bellow the real price.

Even so, what matters is not what taxes you pay but the transaction that is made in the contract and what you declare.

Also keep in mind that I was referring to real estate investments and not the purchase and sale of bare land, and hence the boom in building.

Most real estate transactions don't actually require any movement through the land department. An investment can simply be made by buying company shares. So the money launderer can buy the shares at a low price and then sell high.

If he is not really worried about the source of his funds being investigated, he can just pay the regular price and eventually the funds get co-mingled and it is easy for them to show that funds came from other "successful" real estate investments.

That is only partially correct although the LO also keep a record of past sales which is used as a reference for future sales, case in point is condominium sales where land value is not a factor. The last time I sold a condo here in CM I was told what the value would be for tax purposes, based on the previous sales transaction, the LO figure was about 40% of the actual sales value and at that time.

Also any person in a position of higher authority in Thailand will likely be earning an illegal income. In order to live a good lifestyle and in order not to be seen living "beyond their means" They usually need to have side businesses to show that their money comes from there and not from them doing anything illegal.

Real estate is just one of these businesses, better businesses are businesses that generate a lot of cash, so that the illegal cash can easily be co mingled with legal cash and declared as a legal profit.

In reference to money laundering

The Land department does not keep a register of past sales. What it does do is set a minimum value price for each land area. When you transfer land, you must pay taxes equal to or higher than this minimum price.

This minimum price is raised every few years but is usually well bellow the real price.

Even so, what matters is not what taxes you pay but the transaction that is made in the contract and what you declare.

Also keep in mind that I was referring to real estate investments and not the purchase and sale of bare land, and hence the boom in building.

Most real estate transactions don't actually require any movement through the land department. An investment can simply be made by buying company shares. So the money launderer can buy the shares at a low price and then sell high.

If he is not really worried about the source of his funds being investigated, he can just pay the regular price and eventually the funds get co-mingled and it is easy for them to show that funds came from other "successful" real estate investments.

Illegal gotten cash is invested in the real estate business.

There is an absolute frenzy of shop house construction going on,everywhere. There are literally 1000's of old shop houses vacant and an equal number under construction or ready to rent/buy. Due to their size, you are very limited on how you can utilise the space. How can there possibly be a financial return now, or in the future? Money laundering is a distinct possibility for some.

Would love to see official figures if there are such a thing.

I have a friend who knows some thing about money laundering. He figures there is an awful lot of it going on here in Thailand.

I thought the states were getting on Thailand's case about that a while back.

Uhmm...what? I admit I'm not an expert on money laundering, but what little I learned from my time in Central America is that basic money laundering involves cash businesses--casinos, movie theaters, bars, laundromats, etc. Property purchases usually leave a paper trail, which money launderers hate.

But, as stated, I'm not an expert. Did your friend explain how the restrictive process for foreigner's owning property in Thailand was used in money laundering?

One of the main reasons that there has been a building frenzy (besides easy money) is because permits to build higher than 12 meters are about to expire this month. You must have started construction this month or you will not be allowed to build anything higher than 12 meters. So for land owners, it is better to build now with no tenants and wait a few years until there is demand, then being limited to less than 12 meters or 3 floors, which will not be commercially viable long term.

although I think there are way too many buildings now. I remember I thought the same thing 7 years ago, when there was a building frenzy of apartments when easy money was available.

Contacted the permanent residence section for updates, there has been no movement on the interior minister signing applications and none is expected i the coming month(s). My application is still with the minister waiting to be signed. Can anyone collaborate that?

Very unlikely as the caretaker interior minister is not likely to sign anything. It would be great if it was true though. Please let us know.

I applied in 2007 and still waiting.

CNX... to be able to get PR you need to have 3 years of consecutive stay in Thailand. You also need a company to sponsor you. The PR file is about 6 inches thick. If you are married to a Thai the fee you mentioned is correct. The single status fee you mentioned is also correct. But you need to add several other costs for translations, facilitation, start up fee of almost 8.000 etc... hence it cost me about 250 k.

Advantage: you can buy a condo with money that does not need to come from abroad.

NO you can not buy land.

YES you still need a work permit and the jobs available are only those as authorized to foreigners.

You need an endorsement/multiple entry visa at currently 3900 per year if you plan to travel abroad.

Save yourself all the trouble of all interviews, language tests, multiple documents, fingerprinting, stress, high fees and no guarantee etc... (Due to changes in government it took me 5 years and I was decently sponsored).

I would not do it again and if I would have known I would not have done it. Simply Too expensive for what you get compared to other options.

This is just my opinion after having gone through it, living and working here.

I agree it was a lot of stress and probably not worth the effort, I applied in 2007 and still waiting for the interior minister to sign my application. With the current turmoil that could be another 6 years!

On the other hand I enjoy free automatic renewal of my visa while waiting for approval. I guess another 6 years of free visas would make up for all the time and effort.

All the above is true, unless you look at it from the point of view of big business. Just like in the USA and other countries, the government no longer cares about the general population and is doing what is best for big business. In that sense, Thai businesses want access to other markets and their labor.

in some cases High fences will attract curiosity and helpful neighbors can't see what happening in your house. Best to have wrought iron fence and install security cameras and burglar alarm. Will cost a bit but worth it. No one can escape motion sensor detection.

I agree, I would also go further that I don't use curtains on the principle that if a burglar can see inside the house and there is nothing to steal he won't break in.

Psychologically, half the motivation is hoping to get something valuable and run fast. If they can't see what they are looking for it lowers the motivation to break in. (The owner has nothing to hide)

Further more, the motion detection systems will turn on when someone is looking in and this will scare them before they have broken in. Finally having cameras some of them fake outside the home (and inside) plus lights that turn on automatically (infra red) when motion is detected outside I think is the best way to prevent problems.

Finally, I use an alarm system connected to a mobile phone so that if the power is cut by the burglar (not hard to do by shorting out an outside plug) I still get a phone call when there is a breach.

Its staying as a hotel, it will be renovated and opened up under another hotel brand.

In 1997 there were shop houses being built everywhere for what reason I do not know there definitely was not a demand for them. Now in 2013 there are short time hotels being built everywhere again I see no demand for them. Also there are many many big box stores being built such as global house you walk into them and there are always more employees than customers how can these stores survive? All these stores and short time hotels are being built with borrowed money. To add to this the government is borrowing 2 trillion baht. I think the Thai economy is going to crash and the baht with it.

Funny thats what I thought. But when I enquired in thai about why all the employees. It turns out that very few of the people standing around are actual employees. This goes for Glabal, home pro, and most other department stores. (the only employees may be the cashiers and people behind the desks)

What they are is representatives from their respective companies, for example phillips, toshiba, etc. Those companies pay for salespersons to push their products. In other words when you ask a person for a recommendation or advice about a product. They will only show you their product. So you have a situation where you have competing sales persons and you can't trust anyone for advice. Look closely they will usually have a logo somewhere on their uniform even though it may say home pro, they will only push their own company's. Very deceiving.

Actually I should start a thread about it.