THAIJAMES

Is being on the committee actually "work"?

If the 'juristic person manager' is connected to someone at immigration, it is.

You have to remember that skimming and scamming is an integral part of Thai society and few Thais view it negatively.

I used to be a member of our condo's committee for a few years. The key is to make it as accountable as possible but at the same time leave some kind of avenue so that they (managers) can generate some extra income. In our case it was letting them keep a commission for finding persons to rent owner's condos and to manage them. I think it was around 1000 for commission to find a renter and 100 a month to collect payment from the renter.

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I don't think it has anything to do with moisture as my garden is fully watered with sprinklers, but they are still coming out by the hundreds to what it looks is committing suicide.

We've got 'em popping up around here as well. I keep scooping them out of our mini garden pond and throwing them in the flower bed. I just figured because the rains have stopped and the ground is drying up that they're coming up in search of moisture. My guess.

I went inquire about citizenship in Chiang Mai about 2 weeks ago, they had received over 100 applications in the last 5 years, but according to the officer in charge, not one application had been approved and they are all waiting for action from the ministry of Interior.

Is the situation the same in Bangkok?

I was informed by Special Branch in Bangkok that about 10 applications were approved last year which has been about average for the last few years. I was recently shown a freshly printed naturalization certificate as an example of what I would one day get, if I made a successful application. So at least one must have been approved this year. I assume the 10 referred to were applicants from Bangkok, not the whole country, as Special Branch at Police National HQ only handles applications from Bangkok.

10 persons for bangkok, compared to about 150,000-200,000 new citizens in the USA each year, that has to say something!

I went inquire about citizenship in Chiang Mai about 2 weeks ago, they had received over 100 applications in the last 5 years, but according to the officer in charge, not one application had been approved and they are all waiting for action from the ministry of Interior.

Is the situation the same in Bangkok?

That is not correct, I just opened a Thai company bank account at HSBC Singapore last week. No problem, however all documents must be translated in English and certified. Contact them by email and they will send you a list of required documents, then you need to physically to there to open the account.

Just been doing a research for a corporate USD account in Thailand. The conditions were ridiculous to say the least! We will do that in Singapore instead, internet banking works from any place in the world

My personal experience and everything I have read says you must have a Singapore address to open and account there. For corporate accounts the company must be registered in Singapore.

TH

Personal account - dont need a Singapore address

Corporate account - Company Registered in Singapore and paying tax there

The Massage area is legitimate with old ladies providing good massages depending on who you get.

Another scammy operation to het a lot of dough of Farangs and Thais who wannabe middle class.

I have been a member ever since they opened here in Chiang Mai. They have been overly aggressive trying to sign up new members, but overall the machines work. One or two machines broken out of a hundred is not really a problem. The cost is very reasonable once you become a lifetime member. Only 200 baht a year. So besides their marketing techniques which I don't like, I am satisfied.

There is definitely a large inflow of new members trying the services and then not sticking around. But in a way having new faces all the time is better than seeing the same faces over and over again year after year.

This type of inexplicable delay will cost them income as many will not bother to go to the trouble of applying as a result of hearing horror stories from those waiting.

Depends how you look at it. waiting for PR to be approved, I have been able to stay in the Kingdom, without the hassles of yearly renewals and the massive paper work, without having to pay the 210,000 baht fee. Pretty good deal to me. I don't care if it takes them 20 more years to process my application, except for the fact that one day I might want to apply for citizenship.

Have been using the lantern type electric mosquito killer, it has a blue colored fluorescent light that attracts mosquito and kills them when they go through the electrically charged wire. You can actually see dozens of mosquitos killed. There is no chemical and no loud fan. Tried the Black hole ones and did not seem to get as good result as the cheap ones that don't use fans that are used here in Thailand. They go for about 600 baht at all major stores. I leave it on all the time, just make sure that there is total darkness at some part of the day as it will be more effective then.

Not approved yet, still waiting for approval from foreign ministry. Applied in 07. Some have applied in 06 and still have not gotten any reply.

name='THAIJAMES' date='2009-01-10 08:58:17' post='2457678']

Incidentally Thaijames, I'm assuming from your post that your own application was approved.Do you mind adsvising when? I have a mate who was in the same batch as you but hasn't heard anything yet.

They won't even accept your application if you don't have a strong chance of getting PR. The officers there are too worried about making mistakes and accepting applications from people that do not qualify.

Before they accept you they will scrutinize your paper work to the letter to make sure that it qualifies and that is complete. If it is not, they will not accept your application.

You are still allowed to provide a few documents at a later date, if they think you will be able to get these documents without problems, for example police clearance from home country or DNA tests.

For the next few months they will ask you for more documents, and if you have no problem providing these, then you are almost there.

It is down to the interview and your Thai speaking skills. However I noticed that quite a few farangs were allowed to read from a pre-written paper, Karaoke style and were actually helped by Immigration.

I noticed that most of the applicants were people that had families and brought their cute look-krung kids with them, which helped in the process. The other large part was high powered executives that were being helped by their company with paid lawyers to help them with the process.

I was one of the few single applicants doing the whole process on my own.

Overall I would say that the hard part is getting the documents ready to make an application. If you really qualify you should have most of these documents on hand already.

Go to immigration room 301 a few months early and talk to them and show them the documents that you already have. They will give you a good idea if you qualify or not and what is needed.

Once they accept your application, I think you have a very good chance of getting PR if they cannot find any subsequent mistakes or problems with your application.

Important point often not understood.I would just add the obvious corollary that there is not the slightest compulsion for Immigration/Interior to make anywhere near the full 100 quota for each nationality.In the year I got PR I recall about 16 Brits got it.My lawyer told me many were rejected.

Understood that there is no requirement to fill the quota.

So if 16 Brits got PR the year you applied, but "many" were rejected we should be able to find more people who have been rejected.

The problem is you seldom hear from anyone who was rejected and why... just rumors of "many" applicants rejected.

The key to understanding the process and requirements clearly, both official/unofficial, is to find out from people who were rejected.

Phone number, address or directions of dealer please.

Hmmmm.....while Thailand does nothing when it comes to stopping the pirating of items outside this country they do seem to frown on it for businesses in Thailand. I think I would have to know a person personally before I introduce him to my satellite dealer. I would never post it online. Sorry.

However, I suspect, that if you see a satellite dealer in Chiang Mai, stop by and ask for the Dreambox. If they have it, they probably can help you obtain services to fully utilize your purchase.

Fair enough, any chance of giving me a PM?

If not, I know where to get the dreambox from China, would it be fairly easy to setup if I were to get a local satelite dealer to install a moving dish?

Thanks in advance.

Phone number, address or directions of dealer please.

On the same subject, I need a full time maid, six days a week but not live in, any one can recommend what the salary should be?

Anyone with experience flying China airlines out of Chiang Mai?

Large or small plane?

Plenty of empty seats or packed?

Are the seats very crampted or adequate for economy?

Will be flying in early September

Used to flying Eva Delux, however not having to stop in BKK seems like a big plus.

Thanks for your advice.

I applied for PR in December 2006, and have done all the necessary paperwork, interviews, Thai test etc.. I am still waiting for the result, as are other friends who applied at the same time . . . . . .

Since then I have six-monthly extensions from Room 301 with no problem at all. Nothing else required, it doesn't cost any money, just fill in the application and they stamp you another six months.

Wish they'd announce the list though.

G

Very surprised that they have not yet announced the results from 2006.!

how early can you go before the extension expires to renew it. Would 2 weeks be too much?

Yep read it already. I am just unsure if Thai language is a must have? And how good do I need to be?

Also, Once you have resisdency, do you have to work in order to stay? At the moment i work for the permit and visa but would really love to just stay here and do voluntary work? Can I do this with reisdency?

80K monthly salary for the last two years is the minimum to apply for PR!

I am applying for PR this year and noticed that quite a few Farangs could not speak any Thai at all. They were allowed to use place cards karaoke style in order to answer questions on video, However the personal interview was much more tough and I am not sure how some of these people will score, however my impression is that if you can speak some Thai then this should be good enough.

After you get your PR, you there is no requirement to make a certain amount of money, although you still need a work permit to do any kind of work.

Also you might.

Also when you do get your PR, it is to your advantage to keep up your salary so that you can apply for citizenship, as the requirements are basically the same as PR.

you're paranoid, simply sign the paper, the officials will not appear from the wall while you're holding the pen ready to sign the papers....

Probably no need to be paranoid, however if there is a signature, there is a name, which means that this will be around as an official record for years....

Regarding the yellow book, the degree of difficulty might have to do with which Tambon you apply.

I applied at my Tambon wich is Changpuak and the officials there were very friendly and helpful. I did have to provide them with quite a few documents for example, building permits, work permits, immigration visa, etc.

They asked for a person to be a character reference.

I used my ex-girlfriend, which they interviewed.

After one week I got the yellow book, which they told me if photocopied you can't tell appart from a blue book, with my name on it as the head of the household.

They also told me that now I can easily add any one I like to my yellow book, as I am the head of the household.

Hi Everyone,

I have accepted a job in a garments company but they are having problems with the WP3 application. They said I should go out to the Kingdom so they can apply for it.As they said according to the labour department "the alien has not yet entered Thailand the employer should apply for the workpermit in his behalf". I told them I think they can apply eventhough I'm already here. But still they want me to go out to Laos, then have my passport stamp and send them a copy of my passport then they can apply for the WP3. This means I have to stay in Laos until the WP3 has been approved and only after that I can apply for a NOn-B visa in Laos as this is one of the requirement.

Anyone has experience on this, Please help as I'm very confused right now.

Thanks,

BM

Probably not correct. If you are on a tourist visa you need to leave the country and apply for a Non-o visa, which can be used to apply for a work permit.

However it might be possible to change a tourist to a non-o visa...

Building Costs have gone up about 25-30% in the last few months. Anywhere from 10-15k per sq meter.+

I can understand how different firms have different prices for the same service, but how is it possible that Siam Legal charges 1,400% more? I am trying to come up with a third law firm to see what is a realistic fee for good service.

Why don't you contact them and see what the charge is inclusive of. Still sounds like they are folding in the government fees into the total.

I had contacted them last year and the fee does not include the PR fee. It is only for helping you through the process.

I suspect the Siam-Legal price included the application fee (191,400 if not married to a Thai)?

No it does not... The sunbelt fee seems way too low are you sure that is the correct price for PR?

I was asked what I thought of the Prime Minister. I kind of fudged the question by saying that he was experienced, had only been in office three months and I should be asked the same question again in about six months. I was then asked what I thought about Thaksin. I told them that this was a sensitive matter and that I did not want to answer questions about politics. I managed to get them to laugh several times during the process so I don't think that it went against me.

They were very pleasant, although a very formal environment. It did feel like a grilling, but a language griling more than anything else. Such an interview may seem intimidating for some.

Thanks for the feedback, glad to hear I was not the only one that got grilled. Looks like you answered those political questions pretty well.