jayrockwell

Amazing Thailand!

Sorry John, can't help with your question, just wanted to wish you good luck, keep trying you'll get there in the end!

James

P.S. Surely you can just put the middle names as initials?

I'd say get a new company, it's really not that expensive. And you know there are no skeletons in the cupboard.

And as for getting a work permit, you need to show balance sheet plus Annual Tax & VAT forms. And if the off the shelf company had no or low trading levels they are not going to help your visa/work permit application. Atleast if it's a new company you haven't got the balance sheets or tax forms to give so there's no issue.

You can easily capitalise the company upto 1 million+ if you've got (or can borrow) a few hundred thousand baht, just move it around a little, in>out, in>out, in>out etc...

James

Working without a work permit is illegal in Thailand. 'one of the more reputable companies', rubbish, reputable companies don't operate in this way. Wake-up before you end-up in the Immigration Detention Centre.

James

Pantip Plaza is the obvious place. If you are in Bangkok?

Your notebook will no doubt take a number of different hard drives (a 2.5" IDE drive). The best bet is to take everything along to Pantip there is a reliable notebook shop on the ground floor (on the right side in the back), they will fit it, install software and test it. I bought a 5GB for my Toshiba and everything cost me 5000 (but that was nearly 2 years ago).

James

Q:“Isn’t this going to have an immediate effect on native teachers of English? If they have to leave in large numbers, will not the teaching of English suffer here?”

A:“No, because most of them are employees rather than proprietors of businesses.”

We have all been aware of the proposed new minimum salaries for foreigners for sometime. As far as I know there has been no mention of the new salaries only being for 'proprietors'. Does anybody (does he) know what he is talking about?

I'm quite happy to become only an employee.

James

I know the reason there’s been no feedback about the ThaiVisa.com phonecard…

Because it does exactly what it says it does, pay your money, pick up the phone, dial the access number, dial the destination number, talk, put the phone down. Good call quality with no delay, easy access & I can save the price of a few beers with every card!

How boring, what? no crossed lines, no repeating yourself, no re-dialing busy access numbers, no more searching for a Lenso phone that hasn’t been vandalized. Stress free calling, maybe my hair will stop falling out!

Admittedly, I’ve only tried the giveaway card but it looks good. Not quite as cheap as net2phone (ideally you need broadband), or getting somebody to call you back from the UK. But I’m sure I’ll be ordering one to keep for use when I’m out and about.

Thanks

James

The ThaiVisa.com Phonecard, helps stop baldness, now with free beer**

Thanks George, here's a little something to get them started...

Dear AsiaDebit.com,

I've looked at your website, there are a few important topics not discussed:

1. Charge Details, Initial Setup Costs, Transaction Fees and any other ongoing costs?

2. A brief overview of the criteria for acceptance as an AsiaDebit.com merchant. Are start-ups, Sole Traders, low capital ventures acceptable?

3. Policy and procedure of 'chargebacks'. Are any guarantees required to cover chargebacks? Or do you withhold a percentage  of monies to cover for chargebacks?

James

We are constantly hearing about the growing potential of online businesses and the riches that can be earned from the ever-increasing number of eager Internet shoppers. One difficulty for Thai entrepreneurs is that many of the Internets established card processors will not offer services to Thai companies. And those that do make it nearly impossible to get a facility if it’s a startup, sole trader or low capital venture.

I’m sure some of the Forum members are involved in online businesses and that many a member has at sometime had what might be a viable idea, maybe some are seriously considering getting involved.

Can anybody recommend companies offering Merchant Services to Thai Businesses?

I see that many of the Thai Banks are now offering services, has anybody been able to setup a facility and what have been your experiences?

If you've used a 'worldwide' provider have you had any experiences you can share with the forum?

No feedback about the new Thaivisa.com Phonecard?

Following the generous 50-card giveaway in the Forum I have been waiting to see the feedback about using the new service. I noticed that George opened this special ‘post your comments here’ message, but nothing, not one response. George, what happened?

Obviously if you’d like to send me a free card I will post my instant response in the Forum.

Just wondering.

James

Farm land, generally flat, needs tidying, non prominent position, with a NorSor3 title. You can make a Chanote with a bit of work. There's land available if you keep your ear to the ground and can come up with the cash when people need it.

Land is not expensive in the sticks, it's probably the same up north (is it?)

If you want some, let me know.

James

kwiz, why not share your advice with the forum? If you can give some options/savings on small shipments I'd love to hear about it. As you can tell from my advice above we currently use LCL (Less than Container Load) for our shipments.

CIF=(Cost,Insurance&Freight)

Thanks

James

Actually once you know the procedure and you have a good frieght forwarder it's all pretty straight forward.

Costs total about 250 quid for a 1 cubic metre shipment, which on 1000 items is 25p each or 5000 items is 5p an item, plus the VAT of course! So the costs shouldn't be forbidding.

The hardest part in my experience is finding good suppliers and then selling the stuff in the UK, there are LOADS of people doing exactly what we are talking about, from every country in Asia. So make sure you do your market research!

Good luck.

jayrock

500,000 is more than enough to build a weekend home.

And land in Ranong can be bought for as little as 30,000 a Rai.

Let me know if your serious about doing it, I know some good quality builders who work south of Ranong (near the airport).

I have land in this area myself.

James

When the lease is registered at the Land Office another entry is added to the Nor Sor 3 or Chanote document, and you pay fees for registration, just as if the land had been sold.

You can't register the lease without the Land Document, if the owner has borrowed money on the land then the Land Document will be in the bank.

It is VITAL that a lease be registered at the Land Office, a lease is almost worthless if it isn't registered.

And the answer to your question, if you have a registered lease the new owners are bound by this lease. Except possibly if a court ruled that a lease was made by the company knowing it was in an insolvent position, or if they made an under value lease to 'secure' the property from bank actions. A difficult one to prove in Thailand and there aren't the same provisions in law as there are in the UK.

James

I've forgotten:

UK port costs for 1cubic metre come out around 150 pounds in my experience.

Thailand costs detailed: (Actually 3000 Baht!)

Bill of Lading: 500 Baht.

Port Entrance fee: Pickup=80 Baht, Truck=400 Baht.

Customs Clearance: 1500 Baht per shipment.

Port Handling: 1000 Baht per shipment.

Further reading:

The Department of Export Promotion: http://www.thaitrade.com/

The Thai Customs Department: http://www.customs.go.th/eng/index_e.html

http://www.thailand.com/ lists products for export and a list of freight forwarders!

http://www.ethailand.com/ has some relevant information

I take it you will want to do it with the 'I'm just a tourist, honest' type of setup.

Find your 'gear' box it up securely (your shipment will be no doubt 'consolidated' in Singapore).

You will need a company to make you an Invoice/Packing List, your supplier ideally or if not then your freight forwarder should be able to 'do' you an invoice.

Get a Bangkok shipping company (anybody have any recommendations?) they will charge you approx. US$60 per cubic metre to the UK.

You will need to pay port handling, customs clearance, bill of lading charge, Export Smartcard fee, everything no more than 1500 baht.

Allow about 30-40 days in all for Thai clearance/shipping/UK clearance, allow yourself extra time if your trying to import for Christmas etc..

In the UK you'll need to pay VAT @17.5% of the value of the goods+shipping+handling, if your not VAT registered in the UK then you can't get the VAT back (it's a cost).

It's possible there will be some import duty, there are UK Customs & Excise websites that give guidance (don't have them to hand right now), but the UK agent should be able to confirm also.

Also bear in mind:

Insurance, what if the container drops in the sea? Up to you, the forwarder should be able to offer you insurance for between 1&3% of the shipment value.

Confiscation, Is it legal to Export the product? (i.e. Budda Images, Various woods). Is it legal to Import the product to the UK/Europe (i.e safety standards, infestation, banned woods, fake goods) if you use commonsense you should be ok, but get some advice. You can always ask on the boards again.

Anyway, that's off the top of my head, I've no doubt forgotten something, I will give it some thought and post something more soon.

Good luck.

James

I read a while back that the CAT was looking into blocking VoIP (they mentioned blocking specific 'ports') because of falling revenues from International calls. Anybody heard anything more?

I know that some South American countries have implemented blocks, has it been possible to stop VoIP?

Thanks

James

I've got a Business visa which expires shortly, I've never got around to making a work permit, as the business has never really got off the ground.

However it looks like the orders we've been waiting for are going to happen, And now I will be wanting that work permit

Will an extension be possible to enable me to now get the work permit? What should I do?

Or am I faced with another trip to the Thai Consulate to get another B visa (who no doubt will not be impressed that I haven't applied for a work permit to go with the visa they gave me last time.)

Thanks

James

It is very unlikely there is any regular reporting of Farang business affairs. You will only be an employee of a Thai company anyway.

From what I gather the DTI will let you earn 4-500 pounds a week before they want you to make any contribution. And again 'technically' you are obliged to advise the Insolvency Service of your employment.

Also, as you probably know you are not allowed to be a Director of a UK company whilst bankrupt OR a company that does more than 50% of it's business in the UK. Again, not sure how they would/could enforce the latter, but that's the official word.

James

Technically you can't put anything in your name until you are discharged. If the shares in the Thai company were in your name, the UK DTI 'could' go to court in Thailand and seize them, although would they go to all this hassle, unlikely.

Also bear in mind, you are legally obliged to advise the UK Insolvency Service of any assets that you acquire whilst bankrupt. Failure to do so will no doubt result in some UK court/police action, if they know you've lied!

All this is by the book and how you play it is upto you, but if it was me I would put the shares in somebody elses name. (i.e. the person holding your assets). They can sign a undated/blank share transfer form and you can transfer the shares to your name/whoevers name anytime.

Also, have you tried getting your gf a UK visa? You will be on the UK bankruptcy listing, i.e. you don't have any money, any job, any bank accounts. It maybe a problem if you are considering a visa. But no doubt the forum will have lots of good advice for you when the time comes.

James

Looked at Airline-Network, I think they only offer flights from the UK. I'm doing some searching for ex-BKK now, I'll let you know if I find anything. But I think only a Thai travel agent can sell ex-BKK flights?

I checked around in BKK last week and from what I could see the prices were the same or less than a few months ago.

You can still get the Kuwait (Small Plane, Six hour stopover in a v.boring airport) for around 22k or go direct with Thai/EVA for 32k inc. all taxes. Personally I like Emirates (New planes, great service/food, stopover in gorgeous Dubai airport) they should have a flight for 25-28k). If you haven't tried Emirates before, have a go, I know some people will be scared by the whole 'Arab' thing but it's always been a good experience for me.

These flights go to LHR.

James

OK, so I've opened up the old can of worms, it's always good to see honest debating.

However, still looking for real information on Prenuptial Agreements, anyone?

James

Does anybody have any experience?

Secure for both UK & Thailand Laws.

Can they also cover future inheritance?

Thanks

James

Thanks for your replies, yes I was serious. Maybe the guy who told me liked to spin yarns, or had one too many.

Anyway, according to y'all 'we' are in the clear.

Or are we?

James