SiamOrchids

Internet Connection

Does Vonage service work with my DSL Satellite Internet connection?

Yes, Vonage works with satellite Internet connections. Vonage service requires 90 kbps of consistent upload/download speed to make and receive calls. You can use our speed test to determine your upload/download speed.

Vonage says it works with satellite

"consistent 90 kbs up & 90 kbs down"

Thanks. That's not good news.

.

Works well in Kanchanaburi with TOT ADSL. Minor problems but I think they're TOT problems, not Vonage.

Our house is finished and we're switching to IP Star. I wonder how that's going to work out. Anybody with any experience ?

Vonage with a 1 mb IPstar ?

I have been in the horticultural industry for over 35 years so I speak from experience:

DO NOT use soil from a sugar cane field. Nothing will grow in it and everything will be prone to fungus.

River bottom soil is good topsoil. Or rebuild the soil yourself.

We paid about 850 per truck.

We raised 5 Rai about a metre, 1 Rai about 2 metres and we built a 600 foot 4 metre wide road.

Hundreds of truckloads and not one of them was full !!!

One time I got pissed and jumped on to the truck to check. The next day I inspected the quality of the soil. (We had ordered topsoil, not fill) When the seller realized that his game was up, he left the job, never to return. Never asked for his money either, but we paid him anyway. Didn't want to start off on the wrong foot in our town.

Look here for our photo gallery

Assuming that they were 10 wheelers, each containing about 12 cubic yards, you got a very good deal.

Even if you're in the middle of nowhere.

Make sure you let it settle for a rainy season before you build.

We're about 3 weeks away from completing our home in Kanchanaburi. Almost 300 m2 on a rai.

It was an excellent experience. We have pictures of the entire process online, if you'd like to see them, PM me for the URL.

Good Luck

sorry, didn't know.

I'm curious: I used search before I posted. There were plenty of threads regarding bittorent.

GB

Did that.

390 down

258 up

Bittorrent says "Port Open" on the IE toolbar

Installed Bittorrent client last week.

DID NOT make any modifications to the settings on my computer or ADSL modem.

No IP address or port forwarding changes yet. Just "off the rack" settings.

Downloaded the final 6 episodes of the Sopranos last week with no problems.

Today: 0 download speed, 6kb upload, slow as can be. Is it me ? Is it TOT Adsl ?

Help please

i have a electric skil saw from the US and want to use it in Thailand and would like to make an outlet in my house to be able to use 110 devices.

Easy. Home Pro sells a step down transformer: 220-110 in various sizes (watts)

Ouch, sounds like he tried to pull the old "farang price" thing. Check the place in Phuttamonthon too if you happen to pass by (which you will whenever you drive to BKK) - they didn't try "farang pricing" with me. B300 per sqm for 12"x2"x.75" grade A mai teng. 500 for makha mong in the same dimensions, although it is said to be not suitable for floors. (no idea why)

I thought so too. But we were looking at 4" wide not 2" wide.

So possibly he's only guilty of "faranging" me a little, not a lot.

We're going to see Cristina Aguilera next week and staying over in BKK. On the way back, we intent to stop and pick up the wood in Nonthaburi and hit Home Pro for hardware and Bonthawong for tile.

Pictures of our house are at http://www.coolthaihouse.com/cthpics/index.php?cat=10061

GB

We went to the floor factory in Tha Muang.

He only had "B" Grade in stock for 600 baht for .97 m2.

"Not very hard wood either". Like a reddish Rosewood lookalike. Every bundle had at least 6 with knotholes.

The store in Nonthaburi has the same "B" grade for 550 baht.

Thanks anyway for the tip.

That's great. Thanks. We're going to head over there in about an hour. I'll report back this evening.

Are you local ? Thai Muang ?

We're building a house in Kanchanaburi and we're using wood flooring in our bedroom.

We've done a tremendous amount of research and found what we think is the best place to buy wood flooring at a reasonable price.

Tongue & groove

14" X 4"

Available in about 5 or 6 different finishes

"B" Grade 550 baht per m2

"A" Grade 720 baht per m2

Probably negotiatable. It is on the road that another response mentioned. When my wife wakes up, I'll post the address and phone number.

I went to Singapore last week for a non-immigrant "O", One Year, Multiple Entry, Cost: $220.00 SG Dollars

Had all the required documentation:

Bankbooks -One showing a 400,000 + Thai Baht balance, One showing adequate monthly income

Recent Passport Photo

Copy of Marriage License

Copy of Wife's Passport

Arrived about 8:30 to 8:40, was first in line, Embassy opened, picked up Visa Application, I was number 1, gave in my paperwork, paid the fee. Done, fast, efficient, no problems. Next day, 2 PM, picked up my passport.

Hope this helps.

I guess a few of the people posting regarding this topic are slow in the spelling and reading comprehension department.

"My questions are very simple:

If we want to sell the approved deal to the eventual operator, in other words, we develop it and presell the completed project, what's it worth ? Do we assume an ROI from a proforma and work backwards ?

Do we look for investors ? It's about a 1 million US$ project. That is too small for the big boys. But perfect for about 3 or 4 individuals with deep pockets.

We do not want to own the project or run it. We put the package together, we want to develop it and then we want to turn it over to a management group that is responsible for the day to day operations".

I'm not looking for investors, nor do I need any.

I was looking for some intelligent feedback. I did get some helpful information. Thanks to those people.

I figured that maybe there were some upper level hotel executives that could offer some advice or some well travelled affluent people who had some helpful observations, but what I got was a few really stupid comments, a lot of mis-spelled words and some people who had nothing to say but said it anyway.

Actually after reading some of the ridiculous responses, I'm sorry that I ever posted this.

30 and 30 is allowed. BUT you can only register 30 years at a time at the Land Office. Then you re-register again at the time of renewal and we had the owners heirs sign the lease now to avoid any problems later.

I figured 1 mill based on 30 rooms: 33,000 per room, the 60 number came up later because we found that we may be able to recover some property that the owner gave to the Orbator for drainage. Actually, I'm much more inclined to keep it at the original 30 rooms right on the river.

I don't feel that $100 per night is very high. It is on the high end for the middle of nowhere, I agree. But If a visitor is staying at a 5 star hotel in Bangkok, paying $200 to $2000 per night which many people do, then $100 a night for a good quality boutique hotel is not a bad price. Also, the affluent traveller that I'm looking for is not going to visit Kan because they are NOT going to spend 6-8 hours on a bus travelling and sightseeing, so maybe, if they can come up, look around, stay in a nice place and then go back to BKK the next day, it may increase the visitors to Kan.

Listen, I don't know. I'm the first to admit that I'm not in the hotel or travel business but as I think about it, it makes sense. A good hotel in Kan may bring people up to visit that wouldn't come up here, otherwise.

Wow, just wow! Someone takes the time to write a thoughtful reply that contains information that is not what you want to hear and you dismiss it as condescending and 'not worth my time'. You seem to know the answers to the questions you posed already, so why did you post in the first place? Do you want someone to rubber stamp your ideas, and if they don't do that you are not interested? Sounds to me like the answer hit pretty close to the bone.

By the way, when the person who wrote this reply wrote that 'You would enter into those meetings looking professional' he clearly wasn't referring to the way you would be dressed. He means you would enter the meeting looking professional because you did your homework. Nothing at all to do with whether or not you wore a suit or jeans and a clean shirt. If you don't understand that I wonder if you even understood the rest of the post?

If I was out of line, I apologize. But I still think the whole direction of that response was condescending. I happen to be an astute businessman and I've done 2 years of research into this project. I've got a signed 60 year lease with favorable terms, a site plan in process and once the site plan is complete, an approval from the orbator, I'm just trying to see what it's worth if I want to sell that package.

A 30 room or 60 room hotel is not a "Holiday Inn" or Ramada type of project. It's too small. This is a good retirement business for someone to run or a passive investor.

I asked a couple of simple questions:

If we want to sell the approved deal to the eventual operator, in other words, we develop it and presell the completed project, what's it worth ? Do we assume an ROI from a proforma and work backwards ?

Do we look for investors ? It's about a 1 million US$ project. That is too small for the big boys. But perfect for about 3 or 4 individuals with deep pockets.

Let me come at this from someone who runs small businesses in and around Pattaya.

That's the type of response that I can respect. From someone who is in business, not some guy pushing a mouse over business plan software who thinks he's Donald Trump because he flipped a condo or two in a strong market.

I see many many people each year who make this trip. Most do so on day trips as that is how most agents portray the place. They do not sell the location, they sell the "River Kwai" experience. So from that side, I think you have to get involved in the marketing before you plough on with construction. You cannot operate on a "if we build it, they will come" principle.

After I sold my business and moved here in 1994, I got involved with an idea that eventually became a "dot com". I raised about 2 million in VC money and I was the CEO until I sold that business to an investment group in Singapore a few months before the bubble burst. The reason that I'm saying this is because marketing today is a piece of cake. There is so much that can be done via the Internet, especially in a business like travel.

I note your comments about Amex Platinum. Perhaps you should speak to Amex Centurian. Have you worked out what the market will bear for short stays ? Will they stay longer, perhaps a week ? Is there sufficient infrastructure in the locality ?

Not much going on there. I see it as a one or two night stay.

Have you asked yourselves the question why no upmarket developer or management company has developed the idea with a boutique hotel, spa etc. ?

The Kanchanaburi Muang near the river and bridge is loaded with hotels, none very good. I know, I've stayed at what they consider to be the best. But 30 or 60 rooms is a different animal, with a different market than a 300 room hotel on 50 rai. There are some new ones going up and there are also a couple for sale. The ones that are for sale are priced very high because of the land involved but that also precludes foreigners from buying them. This project, on land leased for 60 years makes it do-able for a foreigner.

I like the idea but I don't get your reasons for doing it. If it is to make money, then secure the rights, cost the construction and sell the idea at that stage with minimal risk or at least bring in professional partners who know the hotel business.

The lease is signed, the engineer is creating the site plan and when it's done (next week) we will submit it to the orbitor to sign off. At that point the project is going up for sale. That's my original question, what's it worth ?

Notwithstanding the other business plans and maths crunching which we could get into here, tell me how much you want to charge, what percentage occupancy you envisage projected down 5 years and when do you anticipate breakeven point ?

I've already done the business plan and had it critiqued by a friend in America who does financing deals in the hundreds of millions of dollars, I've also done all of the spreadsheets and actually I'm just waiting now for the final room count so I can fine tune all of the numbers. By the way, I used $100 per night and a 50% occupancy rate for my calculations.

Hope you stick with the replies and post some additional information.

Again, thanks for your post. You showed me that I am on the right track.

I am a CPA whom happens to specialize in business plans for the purpose of raising capital. I am also a successful real estate investor in Pattaya presently. You really don’t supply enough information to give a detailed answer. But, I will try to answer some of your questions very quickly.

In the US or Europe if you were entering into an agreement with say “Holiday Inn” to run your hotel there would be extensive research done before starting the project. Some of this would include traffic counts of potential customers, growth of the area, competition comparisons, determining what your market is, etc. It does not seem you have done this market research required to ensure the success of the project.

So what’s it worth, it is worth nothing now. Just an idea from your personal observations of the market, which if you’re an astute businessman are often the important factors in business development. But, for an investor they would need to see the research, business plan, marketing plan and financials.

What is worth in the future will be determined by what you’re making or what you will be making in the future. All you have now is an idea and from your post it does not seem you have the capital or knowledge in the industry to carry out the idea. If you are truly sincere in building this business you are going to need to hire professional market researchers that are experienced in the hotel industry and conduct the necessary feasibility study to determine in you concept has validly.

If their response is positive the next step is to develop a comprehensive business plan. Then and only then if you have the capital to build the project yourself can you approach selective hotel chains and ask them about some type of management agreement if you were to build the project. You would enter into those meetings looking professional and would be well received as somebody that has done their homework, regardless of their decision.

If you don’t have the funds to build the project the next step would be to contact venture capital groups and show them the information you have collected and attempt to gain their interest.

Sorry if that was not what you wanted to hear, but the fact of the matter right now you have nothing but an idea. It might be a very good one, but you will need to do quite a bit of work and research to accomplish your goal. Good Luck!

Pretty condescending non-response. Not worth my time.

When I sold my business in the US for $8,000,000 I didn't go to the closing "looking professional". I wore jeans and a clean shirt.

Keep writing business plans.

I know that there are many successful intelligent members of Thaivisa and we're looking for ON TOPIC feedback, comments and advice. We are not looking for information about Thai Law, that's what lawyers are for. We've already done the appropriate research on ownership, etc. So please limit your comments to the topic.

We have entered into a 30 year lease with a 30 year option to develop a piece of property in Ban Mai, right on the River, about 20 kms from Kanchanaburi Muang. The rent is 20,000 baht per month, with a 5% increase every 10 years. The actual space is about one rai, but all river frontage.

We live up here and we have a business here so we know the pros and cons of the idea, as far as the location's relationship to the Kanchanaburi Tourist sites, the traffic pattern from Bangkok, the competition, etc, etc.

Our intention is to build a small exclusive hotel. By small, I mean 30 to 60 rooms, depending on the results of the survey and engineering report. There are no "good" hotels in a 25 km radius. The Felix is the best in the area but if you have a Platinum Amex card, you know the Felix is "adequate". We want to build about 4 or 5 steps above adequate.

We have local connections so we're getting actual rights to the riverfront and the Orbator is going to sign off on a Master Plan for the site which shows the buildings, boat docks and possibly a floating restaurant and sand beach.

We just completed construction of a nursery, (we're brokers, exporters and growers of plants and orchids for the past 35 years) and we're in the process of building our home. We're lucky, the nursery builder was a dishonest disaster of a contractor, but since I knew more than he did, we didn't get screwed too badly and we were able to find a really good builder for our house and that project is a pleasure. It's going along quickly and efficiently and so far, way under budget. My wifes uncle is a C-11 Engineer for Egat, in charge of one of the provinces and he is acting as a construction manager for our project as well. He comes up once a week, looks around, busts their balls, and leaves. Any questions, when he's not here, we call and get an immediate answer. So, so far so good.

We're pretty confident as to this next project. I've done some RE development in the US and this is not foreign to me.

My questions are very simple:

If we want to sell the approved deal to the eventual operator, in other words, we develop it and presell the completed project, what's it worth ? Do we assume an ROI from a proforma and work backwards ?

Do we look for investors ? It's about a 1 million US$ project. That is too small for the big boys. But perfect for about 3 or 4 individuals with deep pockets.

We do not want to own the project or run it. We put the package together, we want to develop it and then we want to turn it over to a management group that is responsible for the day to day operations.

I'm thinking that upcountry Thailand can handle a small chain of US/EU quality hotels. I've travelled around the country and most hotels outside of the big cities are not even close to those standards. There are a few secondary cities in Thailand that will support 30 or 40 rooms with a pretty high occupancy rate thanks to the Internet, ie: marketing, reservations, deposits, website etc. Do we try to obtain funding for the eventual development of a small chain of 3.5 - 4 star hotels catering to semi-affluent travelers?

Comments, advice, feedback please.

I'm sure there are some people out there involved with Real Estate, Hotel Management, Finance, etc. No consultants, please. Unless you have a tremendous track record and will take equity in lieu of any fee. PM's are welcome.

Thanks

So if I see a satellite on Lyngsat that has an interesting line up of shows and we are in its footprint, what do I do at that point?.

Do I buy a set top box that can be programmed to receive the signal from that satellite ?

I assume that access is not free either, correct ? Cards are for sale from Lyngsat ?

If you have any experience with this whole process, can you please bring me up to speed?

Thanks

The whole Sat TV idea is very confusing to me.

We're in Kanchanaburi.

I use TOT ADSL for my internet and I'm afraid that since the service is so spotty, Slingbox may be a frustrating experience.

We are willing to install a dish, size and cost is not a factor but I want what I want or I'll continue with UBC and continue to curse Thai TV.

If I can get a Dish Network from the US set up over here with a DVR, will a large dish pick up their signal ?

I think that my bottom line question is this:

Will a big dish and the right set top box get me access to satellites not normally available here in LOS ?

HELP !!!

Thanks

We're in Kanchanaburi, Muang District, with TOT ADSL and access to hotmail is impossible for the past couple of days here too. But I can access it through Outlook express. Some other US sites are a problem too.

Since many of the this forum members seem to be quite knowledgable, I have a question:

We're building a home in Tha Muang (Kanchanaburi) and I'd like to install a satellite dish.

Do the satellite boxes offer Internet access too ?

Can I get a top of the line system with good television and broadband internet speed ?

I assume it's all in the set top box.

Thanks

Glenn