way2muchcoffee

About 6 years ago I bought a house here in Bangkok in the name of my wife. I didn't have the full amount in cash, so we applied for a mortgage at Siam City Bank and they granted us a mortgage, no big problem. I had to give a written confirmation from my employer that I have a monthly income plus copies of 3 credit cards (don't ask). Since I was self-employed, that was not a real problem. Mortgage was granted in no time. And 2 years later I applied to pay back in full, which they agreed to.

Now we own the house 100% and no more mortgage. I can only recommend Siam City Bank.

And if you applied again today based on the above you most likely wouldnt be granted the mortgage, as typically the mimum time you can pay it back is 3 years....so in your case the bank made no money on the deal...

For the OP.....yes a mortgage can be had on a WP + 1 years payslips + a letter from your company.....but the key point point is that it is highly unlikely you will get the mortgage in your own name, it will need to be a Thai national, as described above, and you would co-sign on the loan, I did this for the GF (who is now the wife) about 6 years ago as well, through SCB (Siam Commerical Bank) and I had to promise the nice bank manager I wouldnt pay it back in less than 3 years....

Does Mrs. Soutpeel work? I can afford mortgage payments, am married to a Thai, but was under the impression that unless my wife was employed with a decent salary then we wouldn't qualify for a mortgage. I am employed in Thailand and am in the 20% tax bracket. My wife doesn't work.

BNH is, arguably, the best hospital in Thailand. Outstanding service. Attentive nursing staff. Every doctor speaks English and most are fluent. Facilities are clean. Equipment is modern and well-maintained. You will pay a price for this, so I will only use it for important hospital needs.

^No because murder was on thai soil, yanks have nowt to do with it.

As I said he will plead human rights issues and won't go anywhere. I hope I am wrong, but I know how soft things are in England.

True. Nevertheless, the US government could, if it chooses, take an active interest in the case and apply a little pressure on British and/or Thai authorities. It probably won't in this case as the victim was a regular citizen and not a person of significant influence.

Keeping the seat belt on would no doubt have prevented most of these injuries.

Probably half of those injured were either in the toilet, queuing for it, or possibly just stretching their legs. And then their are the air stewards and stewardesses.

To be sure there would be a planeload of freaked out passengers after hitting a nasty air pocket like that. Fortunately none of the injuries were fatal.

When a police officer says he saw you commit a crime that is not hearsay. Eyewitness accounts are not hearsay. I don't know what you are on about.

Now, you may have sent in your lawyer to make threats. You may have pulled an influence card. You should realize that this too is a form of corruption as it is an attempt to circumvent the law through influence. It is exactly what the wealthy and/or connected Thais will do, innocent or otherwise.

Yes, seriously. The reason why there's a virtually institutionalized racket by the traffic police is because people pay them bribes.

That's ridiculous as when you try this you end up paying a higher bribe at the station. You have also wasted several hours of valuable time. Yes, it is still a bribe as they are holding your license for a false citation and will not return it until you pay. Don't be daft.

Funny, where does anyone here say anything about the people that feed the corruption?

It's a two sided problem, and since corrupt officials are leeches that feed on society is the responsibility of the society as a whole to stop feeding them. You can't expect a crook to wake up one morning, look himself in the mirror and decide that it's time to stop being a crook. Either you jail them or never feed them bribes. And since by and large the people with the authority to investigate and prosecute corruption are just another brick in the wall so to speak, then it's left to a concerned society to try and fix the problem.

That of course leads to the answer of why corruption is so rampant and obscene here is because Thai society is OK with it, people pay up, condone and turn their eyes away from it. They may wail, they may tear their clothes and pull their hairs, but when push comes to shove they fold a few notes and pass them discretely under the table rather than bother with formalities or facing responsibilities for their infractions.

Foreigners in Thailand are also part of the problem (I mean, the ones that also feed the monster), traffic infraction, pay 200 Baht on tea money and get away. How many times have we read that in this forum? Koh Tao, a few months ago waiting for the ferry, I saw a tourist (Anglo as far as I could discern) trying to bribe a ferry employee with 200 baht to get his ticket without getting on the cue, insisted 3 or 4 times and my hat's off to the young man that refused.

Just examples, but small examples, every day, everywhere, from little more than pocket change to fortunes shoved down the beast's throat. People living and visiting Thailand, before getting outraged about this or that corrupt official should take a look at themselves and see if they are not also part of the problem.

I may well cast as many stones as I wish for in 4 years living here I haven't paid one single satang of tea money to anyone, so I don't think it should be that difficult to do.

Are you seriously suggesting that when pulled over for a bogus infraction and exploited by the police on scene it is better to waste 4 hours going to the police station to retrieve your license, and pay a higher fine, all for a moving violation that never existed in the first place?

Nearly. I think AleG's suggesting that it is better to spend 4 hours at the police stations and retrieve your license, refuse to pay a fine at all, and suggest to the official in question that they explain their action to your lawyer, their superiors or the public prosecutor. I use the word "spend" instead of "waste" because the experience will put you on a better standing for the future and the experience will make officials, one by one, realize that Abhisit is serious about getting the ball rolling regarding reform. In my opinion, not a waste.

Have you gone to the station? I have. They do not care for your story. The police officer issued a citation. You are guilty. Period. If you were not guilty you would never have been cited. There is no proof one way or the other and the desk officers will side with the traffic officer in a case of your word against his. The only way you will get satisfaction at the station is by either sweet-talking them or by pulling an influence card. And that too is corruption. It is a lose-lose situation all around.

Funny, where does anyone here say anything about the people that feed the corruption?

It's a two sided problem, and since corrupt officials are leeches that feed on society is the responsibility of the society as a whole to stop feeding them. You can't expect a crook to wake up one morning, look himself in the mirror and decide that it's time to stop being a crook. Either you jail them or never feed them bribes. And since by and large the people with the authority to investigate and prosecute corruption are just another brick in the wall so to speak, then it's left to a concerned society to try and fix the problem.

That of course leads to the answer of why corruption is so rampant and obscene here is because Thai society is OK with it, people pay up, condone and turn their eyes away from it. They may wail, they may tear their clothes and pull their hairs, but when push comes to shove they fold a few notes and pass them discretely under the table rather than bother with formalities or facing responsibilities for their infractions.

Foreigners in Thailand are also part of the problem (I mean, the ones that also feed the monster), traffic infraction, pay 200 Baht on tea money and get away. How many times have we read that in this forum? Koh Tao, a few months ago waiting for the ferry, I saw a tourist (Anglo as far as I could discern) trying to bribe a ferry employee with 200 baht to get his ticket without getting on the cue, insisted 3 or 4 times and my hat's off to the young man that refused.

Just examples, but small examples, every day, everywhere, from little more than pocket change to fortunes shoved down the beast's throat. People living and visiting Thailand, before getting outraged about this or that corrupt official should take a look at themselves and see if they are not also part of the problem.

I may well cast as many stones as I wish for in 4 years living here I haven't paid one single satang of tea money to anyone, so I don't think it should be that difficult to do.

Are you seriously suggesting that when pulled over for a bogus infraction and exploited by the police on scene it is better to waste 4 hours going to the police station to retrieve your license, and pay a higher fine, all for a moving violation that never existed in the first place?

Well they were elected as individual politicians (well not all of them, kasit, suthep et al),

Correct. Not all ministers are MPs. Same in all Thai governments.

it would be wrong to say there were elected as the government because that would be wrong, as individual members of that party they won seats, not enough to form a government and not enough to persuade smaller parties to form a coalition. They were allowed to remain a party despite being guilty of vote buying, then were put into power via a parliamentary vote after buying smaller parties (yes buying, this fact was never disputed) and after the current government was disbanded for vote buying. Don't let facts get in the way of your anti red bias though.

<snip>

There is no difference with how the PPP came to power and how the Democrats came to power. The only difference was the timing.

The PPP didn't win enough seats to form government. They came to power after a parliamentary vote (the only way a government can be formed). They were able to "persuade" smaller parties to support them in the parliamentary vote in electing Samak as PM (the only way someone can become a PM).

Please provide a link for the Democrats "being found guilty of vote buying".

Please explain the difference between the Democrats "buying smaller parties" and the PPP "persuading smaller parties", and actually, of the Australian and British governments of forming minority governments.

But lets not let facts get in the way of your lies.

Are you really not aware that the dems were found guilty of vote buying, however the executive were allowed to carry on and there was no party disbandment as it was believed that the executive had no knowledge of the buying, but the dems then went out and paid for coalitions, yes the paid, this is admitted, or rather not denied by the dems. Provide a link? I would have thought you would have at least had basic facts before embarking on the conversation.

Do you really not know the difference between persuading and buying? when you go to tesco today try and persuade them to let you take the stuff out of the store.

Do you really not know that the PTP made huge cash offers to BJT ministers to persuade them to remain in the coalition?

It is clip tow showing the Pasit and the Dem chatting which is the most damaging. The first one could be about anything and 3-5 are in as at least one of them covers some of th same subject matter as in 2. However there is no reason to assume a connection and apart from 2 the other 4 seem to be there to create a context that those releasing them want. Tapes 1,3,4,5 may be totally unconnected and from a different time. Tape 2 on its own is damning on the MP and court official but it isnt political dynamite in the stir the masses up kind of way that an overall conspiracy is though so one needed to be created by context and one was. Standard political play to maximise your advantage through a little embellishment is what it looks like.

No disolution followed by a Dem-PTP government is being suggested today. With PTP making themselves difficult it is a possibility

Interesting times.

While I agree that this analysis is probably accurate for Western countries, I don't think it applies here.

The red spin doctors are hard at work. This incident will be spun so ferociously that the rank and file ptp/udd supporters will likely resort to extreme violence if the Dems are not found guilty and dissolved.

On top of all this, the influence of Typhoon MEGI, now over the South China Sea, coming from the Philippines and heading for China's main coast in the Hong Kong region, will be felt also.

Lots of more rain to come.

It's time Thailand should invest more and work harder on Water Management, otherwise the disaster will be immense and beyond everybodies imagination.

And, what's more: you won't be able anymore to read the news here on Thaivisa since everything will not be functioning anymore.

Total failure and collapse of the infrastructure.

The biggest threat -one day- is coming from a very serious flooding, like there is now, coming from the North and Central, in combination with an exceptional storm, blowing the water in the gulf of Thailand, pushing it to the Bangkok shores.

Both flows will meet in the Bangkok region and the disaster will be complete, forcing Thailand into the greatest misery of it's existence.

It's not a question IF, but WHEN !

LaoPo

The perfect storm.

Yikes! Why am I surprised?

Makes you wonder what percentage of the produce in local markets and restaurants is contaminated and unhealthy.

If the Thai government not wake up asap we will see how the north and many other areas become just deserts....but right, what do the rich Thais care about, they will always have enough for watering their golf greens

Right. So many many wealthy and influential people do not have a stake in agriculture?

Or is it ok for the locals to steal from others, but not the foreigners to steal from Thai's?

Yes.

For whatever the reasons why the videos were released, whether it is a setup as allege, we must NOT be detracted from the facts that the Democrats illegally manipulated the witnesses and the Thai legal system.

Did they?

The point I was making is that the Abhisit supporters writing on Thai Visa sounded like he was the solution to the country's problems and of course he isn't its just the same old Thailand ,money, corruption and greed at the centre keeping it well and truly as a third world country or (speaking politically correctly) as a developing country both now and for the foreseeable future. Sorry if he has been a dissapointment to those that thought anything would change but the way it has worked out was all very predictable, wasn't it?

The prime minister's office has never been cleaner. This cabinet has seen several ministers resign due to allegations of corruption prior to any court forcing them to. This is almost unheard of in Thailand's history.

So I'm not really sure what you are on about. Nobody expected Abhisit to be able to eradicate corruption in the Royal Thai Police or in the country in general.

Thai police have been heavily corrupted by Thaksin, and Thasksin alone. It is like a kind of illness.

It will take a while after Thaksin death for the corrupted police to recover.

This is now Abhisit's problem and we haven't seen it improve under his leadership, I wonder why?

Because the majority of police are red supporters and reject any measures from the government meant to help them clean up their act and improve their image?

I don't know about the political support from police officers for the red shirts and I guess you don't either but what I do know is that

whoever is in power in Thai politics appears to be impotent on all major issues probably because too much money is at stake, that I am sure is not likely to change not now or in the forseeable future.

If this is your belief then why did you rhetorically ask why there has been little improvement under the Abhisit government?

Thai police have been heavily corrupted by Thaksin, and Thasksin alone. It is like a kind of illness.

It will take a while after Thaksin death for the corrupted police to recover.

This is now Abhisit's problem and we haven't seen it improve under his leadership, I wonder why?

Because the majority of police are red supporters, have no interest in following or enforcing the law, and reject any institutional measures or honest police chiefs/leaders appointed by the government that would help them clean up their act and improve their image?

With all the theft of Thailand assets both cash and hard form during Thaksins party reign, is it that everyone here has short term memory loss? Or is it selective memory?

The Dems right or wrong were appointed after the coup and removal of the thief, who was later convicted in one of many cases yet to come to light and endorsement of the new leader/PM came from the top. Enough said.

Let this 'case' takes its course and should it be found in the negative then the country goes into more strife. Should they remain, the country will go into more strife! Win-Win? I don't think so. Thai politics and the constant wasted efforts and time, surely this all could be put to better use? Bloody boring but essential I guess. Thai way!!!

It seems they could have avoided a lot of problems if they called for elections after the Dem party was appointed. The appointment could have been temporary until after elections. Then everyone is happy or at least could not complain..

"Appointed"??

The PTP (ex-PPP) MPs had a chance to call an election as they were still in government after the PPP were disbanded. They instead chose to go on with a vote for a new PM, as they did when Somchai was elected PM.

It's just that this time they had lost the support of some of the smaller parties. So instead of a new Thaksin proxy being elected PM, Abhisit was elected, which brought the Democrats and other minor parties into government.

Precisely. The present government was elected. There is a huge difference between being appointed and being elected. Stick to facts please.

What happened to the armies training and mobilising in Cambodia, have they just disappeared in a puff of smoke or was it just all smoke to begin with?

The DSI was given a gag order with respect to incidents that may relate to foreign nations. Do you not follow the news?

Contrived, and with a distinct oder of decay to the whole proceedings.

Just another last minute bid to sink the Dems by hook or crook... mostly crook.

PTP has tried dozens of mis-leading documentary evidence based attacks,

uniformly later proved false and lamely contrived, over the last few years.

Why anyone at this late stage could imagine they have suddenly upped their game,

I can't imagine. This whole TPI Poline / poster size error charges embroglio has seemed contrived, and I suspect the specter of 'losing the game entirely' is dawning on PTP, and they are clutching at straws again, to close the deal and win the jackpot. And being careless in the doing.

Interesting that the secretary in question flew out of Thailand bound for Hong Kong on the 13th of this month. Very convenient. Hong Kong is a rather expensive destination for most mid-level functionaries.

OK so they've sacked the messenger. That does not detract from the major implication that the democrats were trying to influence the judicial system. Whether this is the case or not, maybe we will find out. After all the Constitution Court has taken it seriously enough to "to pursue a criminal investigation against anyone involved in the alleged lobbying". In addition "an internal investigation will be carried out". When, or even if, the results of these actions are made known, it will make for interesting reading. We shall see, maybe.

http://www.nationmul...d-30140301.html

Actually it does detract from the implication that the Democrats were attempting to lobby the court. Here are the facts as known today.

1) Secretary to Court conceals cameras in judges chambers and videotapes their deliberations.

2) Secretary to Court arranges a meeting with a Democrat Minister.

3) Secretary to Court leads Democrat MP into a conversation about the case.

4) Secretary to Court films this conversation as well.

5) Secretary to Court provides all video footage to PTP Ministers.

6) These videos are posted on youtube with inaccurate and misleading captions.

7) PTP/UDD have a history of making public doctored videos in an attempt to smear the Democrat Party.

Smells like a carefully orchestrated set-up to me.

Hmmmm..........

They just can't help themselves can they.

If you read the entire BP piece on this you will see that the youtube captions are highly inflammatory and in some cases misrepresent what took place. Matichon has their summary which is softer and less inflammatory. BP blows the first video out of the water completely and reserves judgment on the rest.

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The lottery is just a replacement for personal income tax, which most Thais don't pay. And you get a change to win something too.

Cynical, but partially true. Most people I know who buy lottery tickets buy the underground tickets where the chances of winning are higher. The payouts are smaller of course. No revenues go to the government coffers unfortunately.