Beachedwhale

Wouldn't you say that these same conditions exist everywhere in Thailand where one would want to open a bar? Why single out Samui as a den of corruption?

My understanding, at least from those in the know here on Koh P, is if you are running a bar without girls you won't be hit up for the monthly payment. If you are running anything remotely dodgy, then expect to pay.

No girls (prostitutes) working the bars I'm talking about, nor any dodgy things except live music in 2 of them. But agree, happens in other Thai tourist places, BUT, does that make it alright???

I have had a bar here for a few years and have never paid the police off and never even been approached - other than giving them a coffee one time when they came in to talk about a fight that happened between some customers which resulted in some damage to my place. They did ask me to include a slice / commission in the bill that I presented to the customer for the damage - to cover their services in getting him to pay up (but paying commission in Thailand is extremely common and I would suggest you latch on to it as an early way to make some extra cash as well)

The girl issue could be a reason and also live music could be a reason - as you are supposed to get a license for live music and that license is only allowed to be issued in certain areas - such as Chaweng and Bophut (not sure of the exact boundaries). Outside these areas you can only get a license for a PA. ... plus some people utilise musicians without work permits, which also could incur some fines ( I would recommend never doing this as it is potentially something to get you jail time, or even kicked out of the country)

Also, I believe that too many people are quick to bring out the wallet when it is not necessary. If I went up to a stranger and was asking him questions about his license and things just to see if he was legitimate and he pulls out his wallet to offer me some cash - would I take it? (probably yes.). My view is do not pay anyone unless you have exhausted all discussions - certainly do not pay any "instant fines" as there is no record of it and they will be back next month to collect more. The people you need to pay promptly are your staff and suppliers, because if you get on the wrong side of them, that is when trouble starts.

Sanphet supermarket in Nathon

At the moment they just have the ocean spray brand which is just about as good as drinking water. The Ligo brand is the best but is hard to find at the moment (must be getting ready to put the price up).

Most of the markets that supply the bars have one or the other available. JP in Bangrak as the Ligi one bt priced at 320 a bottle versus the 170 a bottle in Sanphet (when they have it). Lotus does have it, so does Saver Mart in and Samui Mart.

The hardest part is getting the staff to understand what you are asking for ... just make sure you emphasis the beeery in cranberry juice.

If you cannot find some PM me and I can tell you where to come to my bar and get some....

Samui Cocunut - thanks. I will try that. To be honest i have not asked at Grandmas this time as for the last 3/4 years they have had a permanent bright yellow 'house for rent' sign up.... but on the three or four different occasions i have asked, they always tell me full. Despite the sign. Ill try one more time but if they say full this time and still have the sign up, i will never return!

Jens - thanks. The houses next to the Italian restraunt dont have a phone line, i have enquired there before. If we are thinking of the same place (little lane adjacent to the restraunt, on the opposite side to the blues bar or whatever it is called, run of three/four houses)

I have plenty of experience in Samui house hunting, and i know the best way is just to jump on the bike and drive around asking. I dont have the time though.... im mostly on the mainland at the moment untill i find a place. I only have a day or two on Samui per week right now and dont have the time to drive around. From expereince, i know that driving around looking for a place with ADSL on Samui takes days or weeks. Its not easy. I was hoping someone may know of a place available now..... again, with adsl or minimum a phone line.

some of the houses in Bangrak between Mermaid and Sabai Thani are able to pick up wireless adsl via the Ichiwawa network .... might be an alternative as you can pay by the minute or by the month ... the actual transmitting antenae is located near BBC and covers that whole area, but would depend on what obstructions might be in front of you... there are other areas near bophut traffic lights covered by a similarly large antenae, so take your laptop with you when house hunting (assuming you have a laptop of course).

Or depending on how long you want to stay there, it would be possible to get CAT to some and install it within a week or so.

If I want to be within walking distance (let's say under 500m) of some shopping and a decent bar/pub/restaurant would I be limited to the high traffic tourist areas? I haven't had need of owning a car since 1994 and I don't plan to change now - especially with the famous driving skills I would encounter down there.

come and look for yourself as I believe only you will know what you want and Samui is small enough to get around it in a day, to really explore it in a week ... but then again I have been coming here for around 16 years and lived here around 8 years and still find new things and new areas.

your version of quiet versus busy might be different to mine. But I like the Northeast area ... Choeng mon, Plai Leam, Bangrak, Bophut ... I am not saying the other places are no good, but the North East just suits me and my lifestyle... cant see myself moving out in the short term (or the long term either)...

Hi guys thank you all soooo much for your advise I really do mean it I taken it all on & will pm some of all very soon.

If any more advise will be great.

I do know we will never be rich from doing this out in Samui & I will never will be in UK but UK sucks,

so that is why we want the move to Samui as well its more about the life style & making money so we are not skint & can enjoy our self's & live a better life than this urban one in uk

One other question do you know how much thease bars do make????

Also many people keep saying to me samui is ona down hill slide is this true...

cheers again guys

I GUESS time will tell, but I would'nt bank on it.

The ten rules about buying a bar...

1. Give up drinking now, otherwise the 60 bottles a day needed to cover the rent will be made up mostly of your own purchases.

2. Only invest what you can afford to lose.

3. If you go in with a friend as a partner, have your farewell party before hand as inevitably the pressures of not doing as well as expected or the influence of a lady or the hours of work will end up breaking the friendship.

4. Learn to speak and read Thai.

5. Learn to put up with lazy staff, late staff, stupid staff, disrespectful staff, thieving staff, and the odd decent one - but don't think that they ever want to be your friend as they only see you as a farang owner who pays them money.

6. Don't expect to breakeven before the end of year 3 - if you do it before then you have been lucky, but too many have expectations of making a profit from day one.

7. Build in the ability to have a day off a week for yourself and even a holiday sometime.

8. Don't build up the clientelle out of your mates because friendships move on and therefore so do the customers, and sometimes you want to get away from the place and have a beer with your mates ... hard to do if your mates are only the guys drinking at your place.

9. Go into the business on the basis that you want to get out of it sometime. i.e. make sure your lease is long and open ended for you. The longer it is the better as it means you have a longer lease to sell on to someone else (but remember no lease over three yeaars is legal unless it is registered). Perhaps even build in a kickback for the landlord so they are encouraged to have a favourable lease.

10. Treat it as a business and not something to bide your time in between sunbathing and boozing. No body really makes a go of it if they treat it as "somethinthiing on the side, just to cover my day to day living". A business like this needs you to invest money and energy and brain power, not taking it seriously is very unlikely to result in a successful business.

and remember, many a farang has left Thailand with a small fortune

... having come here with a large fortune.

Theres a lot more rules and lots more ways of looking at it, but I have owned 3 bars and restaurants here and If I had someone telling me these 10 things (and I listened to them, which on hindsight I probably wouldnt have listened anyway) before I started, it would have saved me some headaches.

i didn't realize there were any free hotspots. hopefully people will start putting in more. there is ichiwawa who was trying to corner the market here, but they are very expensive and their service is unreliable.

What is this ichiwawa thing? I have a wireless computer in the Bang Rak area and I sometimes see the wireless ichiwawa network available but have never tried to connect to it. Is it an ISP or something? Are they the people that are trying to broadcast huge areas of wireless? Who/What exactly are they?

They are trying to set up a WIFI network across as much of Samui as possible. They have recently put a large antenae near to Big Buddha that projects out to much of the Bangrak area, primarily for a hotel somewhere along there but it seems to cover all the area from Sabai Thani to the Mermaid.

Depending on your particular location you might be able to get a good strong connection. You can buy a monthly subscription or buy cards for certain amount of minutes. More information can be found at www.ichiwawa.net.

I use them a lot as some of the connections have a good 2 Mb connection which is OK for skype or downloading large files ... some of the connections are not that strong though.

Hello everyone,

We (my husband, our 2.5 year old son and myself) are planning to relocate to Koi Samui from UK in a few months time. However I am really struggling to find a good English speaking pre school for our son. I have been given contact details for Greenhouse School which is located in Phuket and apparently has a branch in Koh Samui but I have been unable to contact them.

I will be greatful for any info about schools in Koh Samui

Also it will be nice to hear from families with kids who are the same age as our son (as we would really love him to have friends when we move to the island)

thanks

Anna

Anna

I have a 3 year old and a 5 year old going to different schols here in Samui. They are half Thai and half NZ and I actually am extremely proud of how they both understand and talk Thai as well as English / Kiwi. While it initially sounds like it would be better to have your son in an English speaking school because he only understands English now, it might actually be better to have him in a Thai speaking pre-school because for a 2.5 year old, they would pick up Thai extremely fast. For that age group there are quite a few on the Island and it depends on where you live as to which might be best. With 2 English speakers at home, the boy will pick up a lot of English, and having 6 hours at a Thai speaking pre-school would mean he would learn a lot of Thai in a year.

My boy goes to a pre-school run by the Catholic nuns (he has only just turned 3 and will go to a different school when the term starts in January). They speak mostly Thai. Have quite a few toys etc to play with, have an air-conditioned room for the kids to sleep in, provide food, shower them 2 - 3 times a day, teach them to clean their teeth, seem to be very good with the kids and basically let them do what 2 and 3 year olds should be doing - play mostly with a little bit of learning thrown in. All for a monthly cost of THB2,500.

You will aslo find at these pre-schools a good mix of Samui society. There will be pure Thais, mixes and pure farangs - again a great education for a kid.

To me the best option for you is to decide where you are going to live and then look around nearby, and don't be put off by the language as it might be a good thing. I certainly wish I had the opportunity to learn Thai at a young age, the tones are so much harder for adults but a youngster seems to take to them with ease.

Cheers

[

another great retort, what ever happened to manners

Ken

Don't take it personally but its just that there has been a lot of talk for a long time and for whatever reason, a marina has not emerged on Samui yet. We tend to get cynical after a while, not because of the current project which may very well bear fruit soon, but because a lot of people have spent a lot of money and effort and got nowhere - even very rich peope with very high level contacts.

It is hard and whoever gets through it all first deserves a good pat on the back, and I would certainly be willing to buy them a beer or two. The issue that you face right now is that you sound as though it is still not 100% there (in terms of the full approvals and designs etc)... and we know that in Samui, not being 100% there means that sometimes you are nowhere... getting that last little piece of paper can be impossible. That is why so many developments start too early thinking that they are nearly there, only to find that becasue they have started building things slow down and money needs to be handed over to get it moving again and sometimes fines come in because things are started without full permits etc etc ... it is unfortunately one of the ways of administrations making money here.

I think therefore that if you have not got all of your approvals signed off in triplicate etc, it is better to stay quiet ... or else you will generate comments from cynics (me included) which may upset you, you may also generate jealosuy that will then transform into someone trying to block that last approval etc. Get your ducks in a row and then start making noises. If they are in a row already - let us all see them as it will actually be a fabulous thing for Samui to have a marina at last.

Maybe then I can get off the beach and go to sea again...

beached whale...

thanks, but it was not me that did the work I am just fortunate enough to be involved. And yes this has been done. The local fisherman will have their place within the marina at the end of the klong which will add to the character of the development. Fresh seafood every morning.....

Ok the fisherman are supposedly Ok, what about the rest? My understanding is that there are at least 13 different interested parties that can veto it for various reasons.

Just to let you know that my company is now taking deposits for expressions of interest in the new life style marina on koh samui. It does not have a dry dock facility but you can berth your boats outside your villa and there is a large pen to facilitate quite large vessels. Any further information please contact my office beside coco blues chaweng beach

And you sell the villas as well,Ken?

Problem is my villa is inland.

sorry, I am sole agent for 5 high end developments only. If you would like to stop in at my office beside coco blues bar I can put you on to someone who can help you as far as moving your property who are actually nice people to deal with. These are the people I bought my land through and now have become good friends over the years. kind regards

Ken

Within these 5 high end developments, how many standalone marina berths are there? i.e. berths that I could rent long term or short term but not have to buy or rent a house or apartment first.

There are already a number of boat owners on Samui that have a house and don't want another one, just somewhere to securely locate their vessel.

Are you selling a marina or are you selling a house with a berth?

yes there are 33 available for lease as well as another 15 set aside for villa owners so in answer to your question yes you can just lease a birth

I assume the have all been approved by thetreasury as custodian of the Kings beaches and seabed, the marine department, Samui / Surat Harbourboard as well as all of the local poo yais and local fishing people etc.

If so congratulations and reserve me a berth.

OK, whats the deal........Im told from some thai's that I can get an account in a bank just from showing my passport........but here on Thaivisa......its sounds not that easy....

I do have a Company in Thailand, but I only have tourist Visa.......what do I need to do ???

Thanks

A friend of mine went to open a savings account at SCB Chaweng yesterday and was told he needed to have at least 3 months validity on his visa. He was a bit annoyed as he already had a joint account and was wanting to get one in his own name (because immigration had told him it was better for him and his wife to have separae bank accounts as they are both applying for retirement visas - he did not get a longterm visa because he knew he intended to go and apply for a retirement one as soon as he got to Samui). The bank manager said it was a new rule that just came in and showed him an official looking thai document which he took a copy of but has not yet got translated.

SCB are normally very good so not sure what is happening.

Just to let you know that my company is now taking deposits for expressions of interest in the new life style marina on koh samui. It does not have a dry dock facility but you can berth your boats outside your villa and there is a large pen to facilitate quite large vessels.

And you sell the villas as well,Ken?

Problem is my villa is inland.

sorry, I am sole agent for 5 high end developments only. If you would like to stop in at my office beside coco blues bar I can put you on to someone who can help you as far as moving your property who are actually nice people to deal with. These are the people I bought my land through and now have become good friends over the years. kind regards

Ken

Within these 5 high end developments, how many standalone marina berths are there? i.e. berths that I could rent long term or short term but not have to buy or rent a house or apartment first.

There are already a number of boat owners on Samui that have a house and don't want another one, just somewhere to securely locate their vessel.

Are you selling a marina or are you selling a house with a berth?

I never get the impression the property agents are really interested in the Marina, the services on offer or The Yachties etc, they like marinas more as a prop for pushing there overpriced "lifestyle" properties.

I for one would love to see a decent marina, geared up for sailors, free from glitz, which can provide services for boats at a realistic cost and not some marketing agents dream which will end up with boat owners paying exorbitant prices, for non existant services.

MM

I agree 100% with this - the majority of people to date have been looking at it from the perspsective of selling realestate attached to the marina as opposed to looking at it from the perspective of a boatie (and even the community which often gets lot from a well designed marina).

The second issue is really just the fact that Thailand is inexperienced in marinas and boating leading to many issues. There is not a clear proces for getting approvals, the many different parties all want to believe they hold the power and therefore get the kudos (and some cash), the general population and the administrators can not visualise what a good marina can do for Samui and therefore just think that it is a way that one person is going to make heaps of money and therefore want to stop it or ensure that they get their piece of it. etc

I understand that one of the better locations for a marina is between the Big Buddha and the new Pier (subject to a lot of dredging). It is sheltered, is close to the airport, chaweng, bophut and a lot of the existing houses on Samui, plus it is a good location from which to go to Phangnan, Koh Tao etc. The major issue with it is that there is not much land on which to build marina residences. All other marina related aspects could be catered for with the land that is available plus some well engineered bridges etc (and perhaps even some reclaiming using the sand being dredged up), but the two major reasons above have prevented it getting off the ground (well thats what I am assuming as I have not heard anything about it for a while... maybe it is secretly underway - anyone know anymore??)

Maybe it wil take one of the residence based marinas to get going and break the ice and then it will be easier to get other more boatie related ones through the process.

Hi

I would like your opinion on investing a 2 bedrooms apartment in this mega resort. it will cost US $300,000. and they will build around 400 units if them . the facilities are world class. Iam thinking to buy 1 and hopefully make good returns.

I do not want to criticise this particular developer or development, but my personal view is buy something already built and start getting returns immediately. Samui has a way of slowing down construction, reducing the projected returns etc. This development may in fact achieve everything they state, but I would say that if they can get it 100% then they would be the first development to do so. It will take them at least 2 years, they will encounter problems, they will encounter delays, there will be other mitigating factors (in the past few years we have had SARS, Bird flue, Bad monsoon season, military rule, changes to visa laws, etc etc - who knows what will happen in the near future).

I am not a property developer or an agent but since I have lived on Samui for around 8 years I know quite a few. PM me if you want me to put you in touch with someone who has a property you can feel and touch and buy right now. ( I hope this is not against the rules - please feel free to delete it if you need to)

i just figured the cards would be nice for bike rental because they have insurance for that, so just in case anything went wrong. thanks

Insurance is a totally different matter and it is unlikely that it would apply anyway whether you paid cash or card. Just make sure you get good medical insurance before you come to cover that side of it if you unfortunately have an accident (which based on the quality of our roads, the huge amount of traffic and dust and the bad driving is very highly likely). If you use a motorbike and are in an accident you will more than likely have to pay out some cash to whoever you hit or the owner of what you hit, the police, plus the motorbike rental company plus any medical. It normally does not matter whether you are in the wrong or not, but you just happen to be a tourist here so you are the one that pays. I always try to encourage tourist to rent a jeep or something, just because it is much safer for all. Even if you ride a bike at home the conditions here are dangerous - the bike is unlikely to be well maintained, there are huge holes in the roads and on the sides of roads, there is a lot of dust ... and then there is all of the rest of the traffic

I can only speak for personal opinion here (ie. not experience, but I have seen a friends credit card statement after being in the middle east), but I would never pay using a credit card when on holiday as the chances, I suspect, are quite high at getting ripped off and you wont discover it until you get home

This is a bit misleading. Credit cards are generally very safe for the consumer and while it might be an administrative hassle to get the bank / card company to credit you back the fraudulent spending, the majority of fraud falls back on the merchant to prove. Visa and M/C have about .08% of the turnover as fraudulent transactions. It is common in some countries in Asia to have higher fraud levels but generally it is never near 1%.

The main issue in Thailand is generally that the merchants do not want to pay the bank fees and therefore will not accept the cards (or only accept them while adding a procesing fee). I believe you wil have problems in trying to get the budget providers to accept cards, it will normally be the high end providers that accept cards.

thats ok lite beer, I see what you mean I only mind drunken, obscene postings

I think Boltd confuses people with including the phrase "up to" and then ++ after the amount. either you are willing to pay a maximum of 4000 baht (which is what "up to" means) or you are willing to pay a minimum of 4000 baht (which is what "++" means)

I thought "up to 4000 ++" meant up to 4000 plus service charge plus VAT i.e. THB4700 approx.

Just another day in politics, examples can be seen in almost every country.

I am sure if the ex-Premier of Queensland "Sir" Joh had a list like this compiled, it would be longer and uglier.

Sorry, slightly off topic .. but

Sir Joh was New Zealands greatest export according to an ex prime minister and his move from NZ to Australia increased the average IQ of both countries ... do you think this could also be said about Mr T?

Someone should inform the Thai coast guard, as they are in charge of marine inspections. Perhaps an anonymous phone call or letter would suffice. Enclose those photo's as well.

Incorrect, the port authority is in charge of marine inspections at the pier.

Mosquitoman, take your picture into their office and make an official complaint. The port authority office is the small building on the new pier opposite the seatrans/catamaran offices. If you are looking out to the sea, it is on the left.

You might also mention the overcrowded boats to them, they are in charge of inspecting the boats on full moon night.

You will have to excuse my lack of local knowledge here......but can this be correct? What happens to a vessel when it travels to different ports? Do local port authority's then take over inspections? As an employee of one of the largest marine transportation autorities in the U.S , and a licenced captain, I am very familiar with the inspection process here. The authority has to answer to the coast guard here......are you absolutely sure that inspections/ certifications are performed by the local authority ? If this is the case....then there is your problem, no checks and balances.

I recall speaking with the captain of the ferry to Samui about the similarities in determining tonnage with Thai and U.S vessels, he seemed to have to adhere to a set of international standards, as I do. This would seem counter your claim.

I cant seem to find any info on the net.....tbk.....where did you get your info? I am intrigued.

I know the Farang owner of a local samui boat charter operation and discussed this with him. He told me that the process of getting the annual paperwork is done through the local samui harbourboard who undertake the survey which must be done before the vessel can be licensed and used for charter. The insurance requirement is that the vessel must have this survey and license for the insurance to be valid.

He told me that the last 2 surveys were done in a local restaurant over a few coffees and lunch etc. Now he was not sure whether this is the usual process or whether it was because it is well known that his vessels are up to standard, have all of the required safety equipment etc and therefore no need to do much checking.

He also stated that now and again the local samui marine police do come aboard just to check that the paperwork is in order, but they certainly do not check any of the equipment.

After the speed boat accident where a large number of people died, all boat operators were called to a meeting with the main message being that the skippers should not be drunk when driving and should not be speeding at night and should not overload ... and that there should be enough orange coloured lifejackets on board for the passengers. My friend said this last one could have been a nuisance to him as all of his lifejackets were a mixture of flourescent colours depending on the size of the jacket, but he has not ever had any or the survey team or marine police ake him to task over it.

nope, looks like we need the ubc people round. Tried everything now.

oh I forgot to mention, I had 2 receivers blown out by lightning in 2 days last year and just took them back to UBC and they replaced them no problems .. and when I asked if they would do it again a third time they said yes ... it was just one of the dangers of having a satellite based system in a stormy place, nothing anyone could do about it - not as if they can hide the dish under a shield or something...

so maybe just needs a new box...

Are prenuptials available/legal in Thailand? If so it would protect a lot of guys from getting ripped off.

I am not sure a prenuptual would protect you from a knife etc ...

I am not sure they are legal, but I have been through a divorce in Thailand and found that the Thai law is quite sexist and favours the man in general (doesnt matter if farang or Thai). The female may make claim to a lot of things but in the end I found that legally pre marriage assets are certainly not considered to be something she can lay claim to no matter how long together and how many children etc. Post marraige income and assets are divided on the basis of whatever is considered "fair" by the husband (I have no knowledge of a divorce situation in Thailand where the wife has been the major asset holder / earner so not sure how that would work) and I have heard of situations where fair ranges from quite unfair through to being very generous.

The process can all be done out of court (usually the best option here too), and is based on a written agreement that both parties sign at the divorce registry office (the same registry office where people get married), witnessed by the government officials and then attached to the divorce papers with a copy being filed away in the registry.

In my case I ended up getting the children (I actually wanted them) and my exwife got a reasonable share of the income generated while we were together.

Maybe if it went so far as getting to court it would be a different situation, but I certainly felt the situation favoured me out of court and managed to walk away thinking that it was fair.

My UBC has been bugging out for last hour or so, totally unwatchable, anyone else getting the same?

All Ok at our place too. But sometimes I find it necessary to either trim the trees around the dish as the wind blows the leaves in front and cause disruption and at other times I find it necessary to do a full reboot of the receiver box by unpluging it, taking out the card and then plugging it in again and replacing the card. It then goes and tests all its settings etc and makes things much clearer. The key is to take out the power cord, not just turn it off.

I think I can trust her and keep her.

Belgrath

I hope you can too and live happily ever after .. and if not together, that you seperate in an amicable manner and continue to live happy but seperate lives.

However, I do believe it is similar to investing in the stock market - no matter how good it looks, there is always an element of risk, so just like the stockmarket, be prepared to invest (money and heart) what you are prepared to lose, and always be diligent and manage the investment.

I have been married twice to Thai ladies including 5 years with my existing wife and I like to think that my current relationship will be longlasting and be beneficial for all parties (including the children), but I am always wary of what I do, what I say, how I reply to innocent comments etc ... just to be sure that nothing triggers that inner bomb that I suspect to be inside my wife even though she tells me she could never kill like that woman in Lamai, she would just walk away from our relationship. (she does often add the following comment which to me confirms the extent of our relationship - "why would I want to go to Jail for you?"

I believe that is just the way it is here, for better or worse...

I see from this website http://www.samuipropertysolutions.com/index.php that the name has changed to Himmapan Beach Gardens and more information can be found at:

http://www.top-invest.com/relisting_e_79_120273.php

I liked the comment:

"Himmapan is the mystical forest of Thai mythology, populated by an array of mythical creatures and located close to paradise. Himmapan Beach Gardens have been created to take you into a World of pleasure on the Paradise island of Koh Samui."

mystical forest - is that some reference to the alleged illegal deforestation

Still seems to be rolling along.

I have found a copy of the paper .. shown below and his namews Stefan (cannot translate the surname into something that sounds right)..

Apologies if it offends anyone, but it is just a scan of the newspaper picture so hopefully does not break any TV rules...