scorecard

Some of the charges have been heard/decided in absentia, found guilty and sentenced to big fines and jail terms. Other charges; lots of details of the evidence already published (years ago) and not looking good. Do I have evidence? NO!

Hi-So girls/ladies .... can you cope? Most come from a lifestyle of wealth, overspending by their parents, often the girl owns a house and 3 condos and 2 or 3 expensive cars, regular trips to Europe, Japan, Sth. Korea (probably flying business class) all paid for by daddy/mummy. And an expectation of regular expensive jewellery etc., from the bf and an expectation of instant attention. And maids, drivers, cooks, etc. And do you have an expensive car? Why all the above? Simple answer; 'to keep up with the Joneses', which in this society is extremely important. Can you cope? Do you want to cope with the above? Your choice of course.

'landslide' ---- this seems to remind of 'vote buying'. Perhaps not/perhaps unfair, after all he's so sweet and honest and sincere.

Promenada did announce (when it had to close because the electricity bill was unpaid and therefore the electricity was disconnected), that it was permanent closure. If you drive past now you can see that the buildings and the outside mall areas are disintegrating.

Same, but note that the pink ID card 13 digit number starts with 8. The national ID number for Thai folks starts with a different number.

My village is in the Thasala sub-district. Drive down the Superhighway passing BIG C Don Chan on the left side. Continue down the Superhighway about nearly 2 km on the left side of the highway Urbana 3 village. Continue a little further on the Superhighway, Urbana 1 on the right side - my village. From Urbana 1 about 8 to 10 minutes to Promenada using the underpass which comes up just outside Big C Don Jarn.

My speculation is not supported at all, just wild speculation and guess work, nothing more. You mention: "If current debt is greater than equity there are nothing to return to owners." I don't disagree. What could be 'strange' is why investors did invest at all or supposedly increase their exposure in a 'second round' of raising more capital/cash, especially given the supposed earlier performance of the principals. Seems there's no plan B (just wild guesswork) and so it will just rot to the ground. Not exactly a good business model.

Clearly it was poorly designed, especially in terms of ensuring a good revenue stream for shop owners and for the developers. The developers are from Europe and it's been mentioned before: - Promenada Chiang Mai is to some extent a copy of a similar property in Poland also had many financial issues. - Promenada Chiang Mai management refused to listen to local business operators, who, apparently tried to suggest several business models to possibly adopt to gain more revenues etc. Deaf ears. - Several years back the developers brought in more capital, mostly from Holland, but ultimately the finance issues were not fully resolved. - Some months after the most recent close down several local syndicates* apparently made offers to buy the whole thing but all instantly/totally rejected. (*This is gossip, seems that a major player was Rimping, and others, with plans to do a major rework of the inside layout to bring a lot more shops into the centre, but all ignored.) Ultimately I wonder why the original backers in Europe don't seem to be making a lot of noise for the place to be sold to refund some of their initial investment. If this was happening I would be surprised if it wasn't being reported in the media. Another point, the place is still incurring many costs: - On going electric bills - Various state and local government taxes and administrative charges - Some on going internal salaries and internal costs. All very strange.

It can work. I've had Thai PR for over 25 years. At about year 15 of holding PR I bought a condo on Petchaburi Road (near Pantip Plaza) in Bkk, I used cash in a K Bank account. Among other documents we showed my PR book and police registration RED book at the Land Titles office, they proceeded with no further discussion or requirements to change the name on the back of the chanut to my name. But as well known some LTO offices (and other gov't agencies) have different attitudes to such matters. Good luck.

My guess ... nothing. The cops concerned will just create delays so that nothing is resolved for 20 days. Probably not difficult, 'delays' seem to regularly mentioned.

Happened to a naive e.mail work colleague / friend from the US. First flight ever, therefore first international flight. Travelling with his US fiancee, equally as naive. They pay up without questioning the 50/500 item.

Fresh off a flight, first time to Thailand. here's an example: - Taxi leaves the swampy airport with passengers. Driver speaks OK English asks 'is this your first trip to Thailand?' Response 'YES'. Driver shows the card he and passengers received at the airport which mentions 50Baht airport service fee payable to driver on top of meter charges. Driver says 'actually it's a printing mistake, it's really 500Baht on top of meter, not 50Baht. On arrival at hotel driver makes sure luggage out quickly, payment (meter + 500Baht) received quickly and he's gone quickly.

The daily loud speaker announcements keep the headman in control.

Plus, it's obvious he has no idea what to do about corruption and nobody is helping, because 'why kill the golden goose?'

And check if the company has a suitably qualified engineer who will be on site. And perhaps the renter should check the credentials/experiences of the crane company and operator. WHY? Because there been many accidents/deaths/injuries in Thailand with such vehicles.

Stainless or whatever, who cares, Anything that looks OK and provides some help if there's a fire.

Reissued, car and bike, on the plastic cards with the words 'lifetime' in English on both. No points system.

Well fitted stainless pipes, nicely installed better than nothing.

They've had several years to investigate and fix all of these problems. Nothing has been fixed, and especially the taxi problems. Not surprised.

Thanks. Son's buddy says about 1,800Baht for OK quality battery. Is that a reasonable price? A different question, are fully sealed batteries/cannot top up the water popular and worthwhile, or a past novelty?

I suspect there are special provisions re WP for Myanmar staff because our maid is from Myanmar, and she does have a WP. We live in Chiang Mai, my Thai son asked her if she's employed by a Thai company then allocated to our house or similar. Her answer 'NO.' She says she went to a labour office in CM with her Myanmar passport and she got a Thai WP. She had done this before so knew where to go, what documents etc. She says she's aware there's some special situation re WPs for Myanmar people but doesn't know the full details.

Where is Patts?

Don't have any concerns, passport officers on arrival handle this easily, no issues, every day.

Changed my old paper based lifetime licenses to plastic cards at DLT in Bkk, in and out within 15 minutes, great service/focused/polite/helpful/plenty of English.