Horace

21 hours ago, losworld said:

Perhaps a public employee creating a problem so he can give a solution $$$$$$$

Or a local employer making up some non-existent rule to get a concession.  The facts here are weird, but its not usual for local employers to simply make stuff up when dealing with foreign employees to deter them from pursuing their rights. 

2 hours ago, keith101 said:

They did the same in Australia and now its hard for young Aussies to be able to afford to buy their own home which will happen here very quickly as the Chinese don't care what they pay .

Thailand has pretty strict prohibitions on foreign ownership of land with very limited exceptions (e.g., a factory on an IEAT site).  I know various structures can be used to get around the prohibitions, but they are costly and increasingly subject to scrutiny.  In addition, the authorities have come down hard on Chinese tourist operators in the South.

The rules seemed pretty silly when applied to Europeans or Americans who want resort homes since I can't see that group "taking over Thailand".  Its too far away and there just isn't the demand.  But with the Chinese the story is different.  I wonder if Thailand will crackdown even harder on foreigners "owning" land through various structures in Thailand.  There are already very strict laws in place.  I wonder in they will be even more strictly enforced now.

17 hours ago, CGW said:

On 8/10/2018 at 5:19 PM, BritManToo said:

I disagree,

I think Thailands feudal elite have the Thai education system exactly as they want it, training a nation of serfs to obey and love those in power. Getting students to think for themselves leads to civil unrest and maybe even revolution. 

This is also part of the reason the government loves Chinese tourists and want white foreigners to keep away.

I would agree with most of what you say though I would call it the "Thai Indoctrination system" rather than an education system for obvious reasons ? 

It certainly has that appearance, but I would never accuse the Sino-Siamese elite of trying to deliberately disadvantage their countrymen. Perish the thought. 

On 8/12/2018 at 11:00 AM, sadinc said:

Point to keep in mind: if the co is not generating substantial revenues and claiming loss on bottom line,the revenue officer is within his rights to be suspicious. 

There are cases where salary is also PIPO monthly to keep the Visa alive.,

 

And I have seen the opposite.  Salary artificially low coupled with high payments to an offshore consulting company in a country with low taxes that doesn't really provide any services.  A good way for a foreigner (or Thai) to avoid paying Thai taxes on their income.  The Revenue Department will investigate and could prosecute if its shown evidence that the recipient of the "consulting fees" is actually an employee of the local Thai company.

I think the bottom line here is that any suspicious transaction is likely to attract the Revenue Department's attention.  They are not fools.

I am disappointed that you thought I was "preaching". I wasn't. Simply recounting an event where I learned a bit about Thailand some time back.  It's as simple as that.  Didn't realize this was a sensitive subject.

7 hours ago, BEngBKK said:

as anybody experienced this.

I ean 60000 /Month as a technical director and sw engineeri in a thai company in Bangkok.
(15 years experience from electronic production in EU/USA)

I do not require a high salery and I only work because I like to work, so 60000 is okay with me.....

Now RD in BKK complaim that my saley is to high compared to orther Thais (I am Farrang).

First, if they lower your salary, it could actually trigger Revenue Department scrutiny.  I have never heard  of the Revenue Department complaining about salaries being too high.  Salaries here are taxed at steep progressive rates. But the Revenue Department (or Immigration, etc.) could start poking around in the company's files if your salary is reduced.  That is what will trigger suspicion.

Second, unless you agree to the reduction, the reduction amounts to a termination and you are entitled to mandatory statutory severance.  We have employees at my company we would love to sack or reduce their salaries,  but the severance entitlement deters us from doing so.  I wouldn't agree to any pay reduction.

On 8/9/2018 at 2:17 PM, smotherb said:

Anyone can be bad. I can understand Khun A's predicament, she is a good girl in the eyes of her parents and wants to be married when she has the child. At least, she did a good thing by telling Joe it wasn't his kid. However, your girl--and so has Khun A, if she was involved in the threat of problems for you--has become a bad girl by telling you to tell a lie or else. 

 

If asked, I would tell the guy it was his decision, but I would not marry a girl carrying another man's child. I would tell your girl that I do not put up with threats and finish it.

Thanks.  I understand Khun A's predicament.  But I wasn't that sympathetic.  Khun A should have told Joe in the US before arranging a marriage here, leading him on, etc.  I did't know him that well, but I wonder if he was relieved to have good excuse to get out of this.  Khun A was very high maintenance and just could not see how their relationship would work.  I am pretty sure Khun A wanted to marry the pre-med student and I am pretty sure he said "no".

The threat turned out to be as empty as it was vague. It did end the relationship, which is probably for the best.  Imagine if I gave in?  She would then think she could compel me to do as ordered based on empty threats.

I basically told Joe the facts and he decided to split.

1 hour ago, thaistocks said:

Scams happen everywhere! The big question is do they put these to jail!  Large investors considering a country these days increasingly look at how many went to jail for insider trading or other scum white color crimes, if the answer is few...they turn the page in discust.

True.  High risk countries, such as Thailand, require a higher return to justify an investment.  A bad score on the corruption indices deters investment.  https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/issues12/index.htm

Why are these sorts of scams so successful here in Thailand?  Let's look at the supply slide.

People pay large sums of money to fortune tellers for advice on their future.   And I am not just talking about the average Joe (Somchai?), but also highly placed politicians, business leaders, university professors and even medical doctors.  They'll pay vast sums for job promotions, business success, an advantage over a romantic rival - anything.  And the news media will report on this as if there is nothing unusual about any of it. Just speculating and certainly not suggesting anything?, but do you think there just might be a connection (a) this sort of superstitious nonsense and (b) Thailand's role as a major supply source of suckers for scams? 

What are the Japanese road safety requirements for motor cycle taxis and their passengers?

Nice thing about Thailand in these sorts of cases is that they don't have to bother with extradition.  When the US asks in these sorts of horrendous cases, Thailand typically quickly responds by deporting the American.  It makes sense.  Why would they want someone like that here?

And, of course, when terrorists are involved (even if non-US),  the Thai authorities simply stand back and let the US exercise extraordinary rendition.  Remember the Bai bomber case?  There have been several other, less reported cases involving militant Jihadists, over the years that were simply plucked from Thailand.   

The Thai motor cycle taxi driver waited until the German tourist was in the most vulnerable position possible to kick him hard in the face.  I don't see any provocation by the German tourist.  All I see is an aggravated assault by a Thai motorcycle taxi driver.  I see one Thai man put his hand out to stop the Thai taxi driver from attacking the German tourist again.

This is aggressive and aggravated assault. The taxi driver could have injured the tourist for life (e.g., concussion).  A simple fine is too small of a punishment.  The motorcycle driver should be held in jail for assault until trial and then serve at least six months in prison (yes, a fair trial, but there is video of the incident). 

If the authorities really want to stop these kinds of assaults, they need to really punish the thugs that perpetrate these sort of assaults.  A fine is not punishment enough. Unless and until this sort of thuggish behavior is punished, Pattaya will have a deserved reputation as a lawless and dangerous city.

Imagine what would have happened if this happened in the days when most people did not have smart phones with video cameras in their pockets?  

What you do if you knew a foreigner was about to marry a Thai girl who was carrying another foreigner's child?  What if you were told that you were required to tell him to go forward with the marriage?  Would you give that advice?

This story goes back about 15 years ago.  I was dating a Thai girl who had just returned with with BA from fairly well known university in the US (a "UC" if you know California).  She had a Thai friend (let's call her Khun A) who had attended the same university.  In other words, these were not bar girls and came from what I would presume are good families.

On Song Kran, the Thai girl I was dating and I went to Chiang Mai.  She said Khun A would be joining us with her US fiancee.  Khun A is stunning and I had seen Khun A with a young good looking med student and figured that he was the fiancee.  He wasn't.  Her fiance was a rather average looking white guy with a rather average job and education.  I thought he was a decent guy, but he didn't seem like Khun A's "type".  Saying she was ambitious is a major understatement.  This all seemed a bit odd, but I knew Khun A wanted to live in the US.  Oh, and Khun A was a few months pregnant,

I figured the average looking guy with the average education (let's call him "Joe") was the father.  I didn't know Joe from Adam, but he seemed like a decent enough guy.  And then I was taken aside by the girl I was dating and Khun A told the following:   Joe had proposed to Khun A after being told by Khun A that she was carrying his child.  Khun A had convinced him to come back to Thailand to get married. But Khun A was not really carrying Joe's baby.  Arrangements had already been made for a wedding in Thailand.  Joe had just learned that Khun A was not carrying his child.  Joe was confused and hurt and would likely seek my advice even though he didn't know me. (I was the only Farang he knew in Thailand; this was his first trip). I was told, or rather, ordered to reassure him, tell him it wasn't a big deal and that he must go forward with wedding.  If I didn't give this advice and convince him to do as ordered, there would be "problems".

Needless to say, this was a real shocker.  What you do?  Joe is going to ask you for advice; he's confused and hurt and you are about the only person he can talk to.  But although he appears like a decent enough guy, he's not really a friend.  And you have been blind-sided with all of this. 

What would you do?   If I get at least five responses, I will tell you what I did. 

On 2/27/2018 at 4:33 AM, gk10002000 said:

On 2/24/2018 at 11:29 AM, Maverell said:

It is a good idea for farang wanting to marry to have a background check, but it should also happen in reverse ?

yeah. I have read some people try to hire a Private Eye to check on the wife to be.  Not so sure how good the databases, reports, etc. would be, especially as many provinces don't seem to centralize records, and births, marriages, arrests, etc.. seem to not necessarily be centralized

Agree, but there is some stuff that will not appear in a background check.  I will see if I know how to start a new story because it is interesting.

Death and taxes are inevitable so this is an issue all of us face.  For  example, what if a parent dies in the U.S. and leaves, say US$2 million, to a son or daughter (or anyone else for that matter) who is Thai resident for tax purposes and lives in Thailand legally on a permanent basis (PR status, Thai national or dual national).  No expert of US probate law, but I don't think there is any probate tax on an inheritance of that amount in the US. 

Are the inherited funds subject to Thai tax when the funds are remitted into Thailand?  If it is subject to Thai tax, can that tax be avoided by remitting the funds into Thailand a year after the funds are "inherited"?  (And, as a bonus, question, when is Thai tax resident deemed to have "earned" or acquired the foreign funds?  When there is a right to the funds or when the funds are actually distributed to the Thai tax resident?) 

Anyone living in Thailand with parents in the US or Europe that are reasonably comfortable faces this issue.  A US$2 million inheritance is not really a large amount of money and I can imagine that its not unusual for Thai tax residents to inherit money from relatives abroad.  Anyone know? 

On 5/21/2018 at 3:42 AM, mstevens said:

That's not how it works.  The Tax Department gets tipped off about someone not paying tax.  They send a letter and request that person visit them at the Tax Department.  Fail to turn up and they can pursue an investigation in which they can check the activity in any bank account in Thailand.  Depending on what they find, who knows what could happen.  Odds of it happening are not great, but it's tip-offs that lead to this sort of thing - and these tip-offs often come from relationships gone bad, be they work, personal or whatever.

This is correct.  For example, imagine getting a windfall from a selling a company in Europe or the US, and then bringing the funds into Thailand the same year as the sale.  And then a tip-off from a disgruntled girlfriend, business partner, competitor, jealous neighbor.  Odds are not great, but the sort of jealousy that leads to those kind of tip-offs is not uncommon here.  

OK without getting into the red shirts vs. yellow shirts debate (other than to highlight the inconvenient fact that the most ardent and shrill yellow shirts supporters now were the biggest and most lavish supporters of Thaskin when he first ran for PM),  you have to wonder if and how will this end?  Will Thais most meekly accept the status quo?  Will they support the Junta's PM?  Will they rebel and, if they do, what will that look like?

I have lived here for several decades, which certainly does not make my an expert, other giving me the ability to make the obvious observation that Thai politics are very unpredictable.  Everything seems fine and everyone seems to be willing to put up with all sorts of harassment and discrimination, until the aren't. 

And the change from complacency to riots in the streets happens quickly, much too quickly, for me to pretend that I can recognize the warning signs.  I can't, and I doubt the claims of those who claim they can.  

Remember Siam Bangkok and Issan really are two different places with essentially different languages and cultures, and the former does look down upon and exploit the latter.  Even within Siam Bangkok, Sakdina, which is is still alive, ensures that privileged elite lives off the labour of the many, and the many are very resentful.  Something will eventually give, but I can't don't when and how.  

2 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Never a smart move to not know when your passport is about to expire.

Had it not been a Thai passport he would have needed 6 months validity to get in.

I sympathise with their predicament, but you have to say, they do only have themselves to blame, though I hope the authorities can speed things up, for what is after all not a complicated thing to do.

Agree.  But I am surprised that the airline they took to Thailand at the beginning of their four week vacation did not point out at the passport would expire during their trip.  Not blaming that airline; simply surprised they didn't catch this.  T

Again, agree that you do need to keep track of when your passport expires.

3 hours ago, shady86 said:

What happens if the trains are jammed pack until passengers need to stand near the doors. Especially doors opposite platform which are not supposed to open at all the whole journey since most of the platforms are located at the left side of the train.

Excellent point. 

I usually catch the BTS at Asoke heading towards Bearing at the end of the business day (between, say, 5:30 to 6:30 pm, depending).  Asoke station is packed at that time.  And there is only one train every 10 minutes instead of the normal three minute interval, meaning you might need to wait for several trains before you can actually board a train. (No idea why the frequency of trains decreases during rush hour).  They'll even block the escalators to the platform at that time intermittently to prevent the platform from getting too crowded.  Not only is this a major inconvenience, but every train is naturally packed because passengers are understandably squeezing to get onto a train.  If they don't do this, they won't catch a train.  

Every train on a weekday around these hours heading in the Bearing/Samrong direction down to at least Thonglor or Ekkamai is packed full.  Passengers are unavoidably crammed up against the doors.  If the doors unexpectedly opened during this time, passengers will very likely fall out of the train.

This is is an obvious danger, and the operators of the BTS must know about it.  People will die. You can argue take alternative transportation, but at this time of the day there is no viable alternative transportation.  Traffic is at standstill and taxis won't take passengers far.

The MRT does not have these sorts of problems.  So, why does the BTS have these problems?  Its obvious that these problems are going to lead to deaths.  I am amazed the authorities have not stepped in and forced BTS to fix this problem.  Wait a minute...I am in Thailand...I guess I should not be surprised that the the authorities are ignoring the problem. 

When a few passengers die from BTS's negligence, I am sure they will express surprise that this happened and launch an "investigation".  Maybe a committee will be formed to study the problem.  But its obvious now that unless this problem is fixed, BTS passengers will  die.

47 minutes ago, AsiaHand said:

Many of times it is the police and other authorities that are themselves found to be involved in the trade 

Or just happen to "borrow" large sums of money from people in the trade.  See linked article and imagine if a loan of this sort was made to a police chief in LA, London, Paris, New York, etc.  The punishment would involve more than movement to an "inactive post".  Notice also how we don't hear much about this case anymore.  I wonder why?  http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/ex-police-chief-admits-borrowing-300-million-baht-fugitive-owner-victoria-secret-massage-parlour/

On 7/29/2018 at 12:17 PM, lovelomsak said:

Your post leaves me with a nagging question that I cannot answer may be you can.

  I f the foreigners would not have helped   would the Thai's been able to save the boys? If they were left to their own resources would have they succeeded

 Think about it.

Good question.  Face not facts are important in Thailand, and you are seeing a slow revision of history. 

Its no accident that the Thai government wants control over any film or documentary about the rescue.  While its true the story could be filmed outside of Thailand, the Thai government can still largely control the version shown in Thailand, Already in my office, people are complaining that the "contribution" of the foreigners to the rescue has been vastly over-rated and that this was a primarily a Thai effort.

Pause and think about other major events in Thai history, and how the Thai media has re-written history to serve the interests of the elite and military.  Think about how anyone who deviates from the official line risks prison time or worse.  There is a reason for all of this.