Tofer

On 15 December 2017 at 10:39 PM, trogers said:

The meaning of nominees is that they are selling their names for use as shareholders, while the source of funds is from some other person(s).

 

You can set up a legitimate Thai company if you can find rich Thais who actually come out funds from their pockets to own the majority shares.

 

Still such a company would make no business sense just being set up to hold only a piece of land, or to build a building for the exclusive use of the minority foreign shareholder.

I agree it doesn't make business sense under those circumstances.

My point was that a Thai company can be established legally, without the use of nominee shareholders, with the right shareholders and in the right circumstances obviously.

For instance, my Thai wife jointly owns all our properties and assets in UK, legally and morally, and has the wherewithal, had I felt it necessary to form a company in Thailand.

On 15 December 2017 at 7:36 PM, Scouse123 said:

 

Because of the fact that the foreigner, as a rule, is terrified of being cheated out of his/her money as a minority shareholder and not without good reason!

Of course, but that depends upon whom your shareholders are. I was simply stating the facts, as I know them, in contradiction of thaidreams statement that Thai companies could not be legal.

It's perfectly feasible that a foreigner has a partner / wife who has the wherewithal to be an equal partner in the company (49%) each and perhaps a sibling who can find 2% thereby keeping it in the family with a reasonable expectation that their share is safe. The Thai contingent may have a majority shareholding but the foreigner legally owns his 49%.

7 hours ago, Thaidream said:

No foreigner can own land in Thailand......If a company is set up for the sole purpose of buying land ...it is illegal regardless of  whether one can actually do it. There are always lawyers and their minions who can get it done but if push comes to shove, the land can be seized at any time if declared illegal. Remember, all of this involves nominees who are normally provided by the 'lawyers'.  There was a recent thread about a person who used 'fake' nominees and was blacklisted.

Caveat Emptor -Let the buyer beware.

 

Why does the company have to "involve nominees"?

I was under the impression a foreigner could own 49% of a company that owned land with one more Thai than foreigner shareholders holding the remaining 51%. Also that such a company is perfectly legal providing the shareholder can prove their wherewithal to purchase said shareholding.

"Can get into places other cleaners cannot" - I don't think so! I didn't see it negotiating the beachfront rocks or any trees, projecting steps etc, and what about pebble beaches?

If ever a problem was over engineered in Thailand this is it....

The solution is glaringly simple, set up central collection points / trucks, issue area specific marked bags and pay ??baht/bag, the beaches / public spaces would be crawling with willing participants looking to make a days wage.

2 hours ago, Dan5 said:

Have you ever heard of a big bank failing? Which one? I haven't. And yes, if they are in the USA, they would certainly be bailed out by the government. "too big to fail"

Royal Bank of Scotland / National Westminster and Lloyds in UK, both had to be bailed out by the tax payers.

Bangkok Bank gave me a savings account with ATM card against a tourist visa only 3 years ago.

14 years ago they gave me a foreign currency account (US$) against a tourist visa, although I was told that I should have had a WP for that.

I opened a KTB account with ATM card 4 months ago with only a Thai drivers licence.

Get an injection of common sense, then apply it.......

Marty's Tailors opposite Soi 11, cross over footbridge landing infront of Bangkok Bank and turn towards Nana, about the third shop along.

I've been using him for 34 years.

4 hours ago, F4UCorsair said:

Of course it sounds reasonable, except for my post right above yours, and that says you can't have a stead 1 in 40 for any significant distance in every building, and in most cases it will be more.

 

What about falls between 1 in 40 and vertical, and they are everywhere in a building.

 

I'm out.

Not in any of my buildings, and my 4 storey, 11 flat block has many a long horizontal section internally above ceilings, all at 1:40, linked up with completely vertical pipes, and never a problem in 14 years, except on rare occasions some stupid tenant has put wet wipes and or sanitary napkins down the toilet.

4 hours ago, F4UCorsair said:

 

That may be the case in the UK, and I don't dispute that, only your logic, e.g., a pipe that drops at a  greater rate than what you stipulate won't take the solids with it??    A vertical pipe for example??  There are plenty of those in high rise buildings.   1 in 80 may be the absolute minimum, but it's certainly not the optimum, or desirable.

 

I live in Australia, incidentally, and the last time I did renovations, only a couple years ago, the minimum fall for sewer pipes was 1 in 10, and stormwater 1 in 100.

Sorry I mixed up your location. I'm surprised to hear your regs are different to ours in UK, particularly as it's a British penal colony established by POME's (prisoners of mother England) :) 

Obviously there are situations where vertical drains are incorporated, and I would be surprised to find any solids sticking in those sections, unless you had too sharp a bend at the bottom.

1:40 is the industry standard in UK as I was taught in college and as plumber friends have ratified, for the reasons I mentioned previously.

4 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Maybe install only a second guest  normal toilet a real one  but only that it is to be used for to pee.

That might avoid lot of smell and blockage furture problems. And only keep the first toilet in the main bathroom for both functions. Its still better then only one toilet. The new toilet would be more for visitors they then not need to go the master bathroom for to urinate.

I think you'll struggle to ensure guests only pee in your toilet, but it makes no difference if you're connecting to the main bathroom drainage anyway, smells will come up from the sewers / septic tank even if the developers put a proper vent pipe at high level - unlikely....

34 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

It needs a very skilled person for such job. Lots of things can go wrong.

wonder if anyone fitted yet a second toilet in his Thailand condo. Abroad this might be easier to do then here.

Good luck with that, Even our current Thai landlord advised us to do our own plumbing and drainage on our current building project. Instead I designed it all, gave them detailed drawings and frequently watch over them to make sure they are doing it properly, and still I worry!!!

I'm not saying there aren't capable tradesmen in Thailand, just be very careful who you choose.

21 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

In that case it might be wise to also attaching mine existing shower waist water pipe to the new extended toilet drain pipe and also like u said included the waste water pipes from the sink to enhance flow?

Absolutely, put everything down there you can physically connect. The Thais separate their solid waste from their cleaner waste, I believe because they are too mean to empty the septic tank frequently, although this is also a misconception as the solids are the only waste that fills the septic tank needing periodic removal, and even this degrades / decomposes to some degree. There is, should always be, an overflow from the sceptic tank to a soak away pit / slotted drains in gravel to carry away the water that fills the septic tank.

It always makes me laugh when I see signs in bathrooms telling you not to put toilet paper down the toilet....... A clear indication the drainage is poorly designed, or they are trying to avoid emptying septic tanks.

Just make sure you have proper traps to the whb and the shower to avoid those unpleasant aromas frequently found in hotel bathrooms. Pay particular attention to where you fit these 'P' traps, try to ensure the whb waste goes into the in-line 'P' trap as well (if possible) just in case you have a shower or floor drain that gets little use, as their traps will eventually dry out. As long as the bathroom is being used and hands are washed then there will always be water in the trap.

The toilet in the en-suite also has a concealed cistern built in behind the loft wall. If you want to conceal anything, just remember to design in some way of accessing everything as there is always the possibility of leaks, particularly in water supply pipes and connections, plus the cistern may need maintenance to fix the flushing mechanism inside.

PS. Everything you see was done by my own fair hands, and I'm a pen pusher by profession (architect), so don't be afraid of getting stuck in yourself.

59 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

So how much slope would a 4 meter toilet pipe needs that probably even has 2 curves in those 4 meters of pipe seems there are different opinions about this.

i somewhat think it could easily lead to blocking and or smelling problems.

100mm regardless of the bends. Ensure you run the hand basin waste pipe into the 4" toilet drain which provides additional water to the flushing to ensure everything is washed away.

19 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

U refer to the Macerators? connecting just to the sinc pipe and an electrical outlet is it? Those toilets look sonewhat plastic or do they also come in the same material as ordinary toilets?

I just wanted to give you the full choice of options. I personally would not go down that route, as you've noted you also need an electrical connection. However, you can connect any (rear outlet - unless you want to go under the floor) wc (toilet) as far as I am aware but the macerator is a plastic unit, and not particularly attractive. I'm sure they have improved over the years but I don't believe they will be totally silent. They work on the principle that you macerate the solids and can run a smaller, more easily concealed, drain pipe to a suitable branch connection and they can run uphill as they pump as well as macerate. This unit would have to be accessible for maintenance.

The images are a couple of styles we used on one of our apartments. The vanity unit in the en-suite photo is against a loft wall where all the pipework runs concealed and is accessible. The boxing in the other is designed to conceal all pipework and the toilet cistern, fully accessible with concealed removable front panels cut to suit the decorative plastic tile grid, both under the whb and above the wc.

Hope this gives you plenty of ideas.

2 hours ago, Srikcir said:

But was a toilet and toilet room added?

If so, it would be helpful to know the administrative process for approval.

If not, what's the relevance?

Forget the admin process and forget the idea of accessing ceiling voids or constructing raised floors, either concrete or timber. Far too much upheaval, expense and legal issues with condo officialdom.

Refer to my earlier post for above ground / floor installation, far simpler, cheaper and permanently accessible, modern and attractive if the boxing is integrated into the bathroom design properly.

8 hours ago, F4UCorsair said:

The building regulations In my state require 1:10 fall for sewerage pipes, so 100 mm every meter.  Stormwater pipes require only 1:100.

20-30 mm per meter Is not nearly enoigh for sewerage pipes.

 

Too much. In UK the required fall is 1:40 (1" or 25mm / m run). The principle being that too steep a fall causes the water to run off too fast leaving the solids behind.

With all due respect the US bldg. regs. are written by insurance companies.

10 hours ago, Elkski said:

I have always thought it odd how USA toilet plumbing locations need to be accurately placed.  But I rarely see then not centered or located to close or 2 far for m the wall.  I guess plumbers here can use a tape measure and calculator.   But I admit much is wood frame so only the ground floor slab locations need to be installed before the walls are in place.   

I stayed in a hotel in San Diego last year where the toilet cistern was at least 6" off the wall just floating around in the bathroom.

In UK all the wc's I've ever come across have rear / horizontal outlets and there's a comprehensive range of flexible connectors(McAlpine) that take up the tolerances between wc and drain pipe, are extremely easy to fit and never, in my experience, give a bad seal or allow odours through. I don't believe these are available in Thailand though.

I have seen some rear outlet wc's in HomePro with connectors included.

Don't even consider accessing ceiling voids from below, it won't happen unless it's unoccupied.

The macerator idea is ok, try googling 'Saniflow' to see how it works, but can be noisy and you have to accommodate the unit.

I would keep it simple, purchase rear outlet wc's, even shower trays on raised plinths if required, and whb's of course can drain above floor level anyway. Run all the pipe work in a duct which can be built to either simply conceal the pipe work above floor level or to create a shelf with semi / fully recessed or surface mounted whb and even a concealed wc cistern if a designer bathroom finish is required. Connect it all into the existing 4" drain, this Thai style nonsense of separating the drains for the wc and the other waste water is why they block - not enough water flushing the solids and toilet paper away.

Why the majority of wc's in Thailand are floor connected is a mystery to me, relying on accurate positioning of the drain pipes in the floor, inThailand.... Probably another poor design idea imported from USA along with the crappy electrical system. 

Hi MF,

If from overseas, we had very good and professional service from UK with 'SEVEN SEAS WORLDWIDE', they even have a 'box' service for smaller consignments. We then used a Bangkok transport company, sorry can't remember the contact details, who moved our box to Koh Lanta Yai, Krabi, again without drama.

Our box was never opened from UK door to KLY door. Nothing damaged and nothing missing.

Good luck and try not to stress too much!

Is there a problem if the car is registered in the wife's (Thai) name and I cross on my own?

On 12 November 2017 at 7:46 AM, nchuckle said:

I wholeheartedly endorse this comment on Ko Lanta having gone last February. We had own transport so able to explore really nice beaches and island trips (I’m a keen snorkeller) and it has a much nicer atmosphere than Phuket if you’re not after thumping nightlife. If it had a bit more infrastructure (like even a decent size supermarket or Makro ) I’d seriously consider moving there.

I'm going to drive down there again with the wife end of Jan so if your Appartments are on West coast let me have details. I stayed at Ananda Lanta hotel last time which wasn’t bad .

Koh Chang was ok but beaches not a patch on Lanta and Samui is horrible!

Sorry, we're on the East coast, more tranquil and better views, but no sandy beaches. 

Obviously, as we live here, we're somewhat biased, but I believe you can do far worse than Lanta. One of the attractions is the lack of rampant commercialism, but if you need the shopping fix Krabi is only 1.5 - 2hrs drive away including ferry, Phuket about 4hrs, Trang 2.5hrs, so plenty of choice for a day or 2 trip off the island.

PM me if you would like to call in on your upcoming visit, we can show you the good life!

Koh Lanta has a good cross section of your requirements for hotels, beautiful beaches, quiet East coastline, plenty of restaurants to choose from, and not only in hotels as one post suggested.

You need to indicate a budget and time of year for more specific advice.

As suggested, Pimalai on Kantiang Beach is beautiful, but you'll need very deep pockets, peak season around 25,000 THB/night. 

The best sandy beaches are Klong Nin and South of there on the West coast, the quietest area with choice of restaurants is Old Town on the East coast, no sandy beaches but great views and not busy. We may have our apartments finished by then, exclusive location, very quiet, direct access to a red pebble beach, amazing views, boat trips available to nearby islands if not we could recommend a couple of neighbours.

1 hour ago, pumpjack said:

why ?

please explain 

im very interested in vietnam, the junk boat tour off halong bay is on the bucket list.

 

by the way i find 80 % of phils woman are ....lets say not very attractive, yet to see a stunner  but here in thailand i see stunners all the time

Halong Bay is hugely overrated IMO. If you really want to go and are taking the tour from Hanoi make it an overnight on the boat as it's a long journey from Hanoi by road, especially with the ubiquitous shopping stops.

I would suggest Danang and particularly Hoi An should be on your bucket list instead, or at least as well as.

Sorry, off topic again!