parallaxtech

Is it possible to open a brokerage account with local money without triggering a 1099 to the IRS for capital gains? I have looked at HSBC and etrade but suspect they report all capital gains to the US.

"I know the pc thing is to wai him and move"

U speak Thai, and u think its Thai way to wai a taxi driver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If there's any need for a wai, its from the taxi driver to you

I agree with you that a taxi driver should wai a farang. The reason for the post was that the taxi driver was commanding everyone and then threatening those who didn't obey. Everybody just parked and went inside Bondi. I got the manager, but by the time we went out the tires were slashed and one rental bike was smashed against the wall. This guy apparently felt he was above everyone including the law and was not about to wai anybody. Of course when we called the police they never came. Most farangs who are threatened by Thais; e.g, waverunner bandits, will usually wai them to avoid potential death. So, it's not a sign of respect, but just a way to possibly save your life.

They are taking over large sections of the beach road and yelling at anyone who parks near them. They have stabbed both the front and rear tires of three of my friends' motorcycles who parked near McDonalds, so be very careful parking anywhere near these bandits.

A buddy of mine told me that the taxi drivers took his motorcycle from in front of McDonalds and moved it way down the street. He said he complained to the manager who then went out and chased the taxi drivers away because he was losing business. I watched for a few minutes last night as they did the same and it was amusing watching some drunk people searching for their motorcycles and presuming they were stolen. The taxi drivers seemed to be courteous and sometimes helped to find the bikes, but I saw some fists waving and heard some choice words. With the number of people in Chaweng now at night, no police in sight, and taxi drivers taking over command and control, you will soon here about many cases of violence.

Lowlife criminal taxi driver?

Can you explain this comment please?

Edit: Sp.

Search "taxi" on TV and you will get thousands of pages of explanations. You'll see that I was paying them a compliment.

My understanding is that following the bombs that went off in Hadyai a while back that the police/land owner/and businesses agreed to make Soi Green Mango vehicle free after a particular time of evening. This was policed for a while but in time it became a little relaxed but I still believe this is the agreement all parties have. Perhaps the taxi driver was just trying to do the polite thing and warn you. Even if other bikes are parked there doesn't necessarily mean you can.

You will normally get a negative reaction by screaming at someone and waving your arms. A Thai will simply ignore you, but most will take a defensive posture. There are no markings or signs on that side of the street and I have parked there for a year along with others. How would you react if I ran at you screaming that you couldn't park in front of your house or your wife's restaurant? Exactly, I have no authority and neither does a lowlife criminal taxi driver.

Yes, it was midnight. Someone told me that the Soi Green Mango was a private road, but that still doesn't explain what a motorcycle taxi driver has to do with it. Anyway, I handled it the Thai way by ignoring him when he yelled at me.

I pick up my wife every night at Bondi Restaurant in the Green Mango and usually park along the Green Mango Soi adjacent to the restaurant. Last night I did the same and parked my motorcycle along with several others. A motorcycle taxi driver ran over screaming at me to get my motorcycle out of there. I know the pc thing is to wai him and move it, but I didn't and asked him in Thai if he owned the road or Bondi. He just walked away and I left the bike where it was. I understand that taxis park in a certain area, but this was not one of them, so my question is what right does a taxi driver have to tell you where you can park?

I have an internet company licensed in Florida and need someone to do my 1040 and subchapter s taxes. I had an accountant until 2008 but then started doing it myself. Now, I have some questions. If based or retired in Thailand please pm me.

Thanks.

Maybe "som nam naa", but he'll never get his day in court to prove one way or another. The fine that was mentioned here, wasn't a fine as he wouldn't have been found guilty of anything. It would have been a payment to the accuser to stop it going further and to pay the police off too. As far as I understand, any Thai girl can go along to the police and accuse any farang of "tam anajan"... basically an indecent act.. The police by law have to take her statement or accusation seriously and then summon the accused to the police station. This of course suits them wonderfully if there's a farang involved. At the police station, although they have no right to take away your passport, if you don't pay them bail money, you will be locked up if you don't surrender it to them. The police will most likely get a lawyer for you, but who will act more as an agent for them. He will give you a choice that you can fight the case in court and possibly sue her for wrongful accusation....that will take maybe two years and if you are found guilty, you would have to leave Thailand.. or you can settle the Thai way and pay her and the police for your own personal nightmare to evaporate. Fear is their MO. Even if you know you are innocent, it is more than likely that you will settle the "Thai way".

If she is a bar girl complaining about you pinching her arse, I would imagine the police would take a different view, but if you pinched the bum of one of the Air Asia girls for example, you'd be in real trouble.

With normal Thai girls it is serious stuff to get involved in any way sexually without honourable intentions. You make a Thai girl lose face by having consensual sex, with her imagining that you have serious future plans, and then dump her... that can have serious repurcussions. To us farangs there is nothing illegal (indeed there isn't) so why can the police get involved, but even if you get your own lawyer, they will think that you should pay the girl for her "losing face". The Thai justice system is seldom about justice as we know it.

What this guy experienced seems to be happening more and more and with the Thai love of an easy buck, I think it will just get worse.

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Yes, this scam was tried on me in Koh Samui. The mother had been trying for one year to get me to take her 23-yr-old daughter w/baby. I kept telling her that I already had a girlfriend. So one day they went to the police dept and said I had attempted to rape her (difficult since I had never even dated her). I told them I would meet them at the Tourist Police, not the regular police. The fat mother was screaming that I had tried to rape her underage virgin. I told the police that she was 23, had a 3-yr-old daughter, and I had never touched her. One policeman came over to me and whispered that 100KB would settle things. I then called my lawyer who after he finished laughing told me not to fall for this scam #2,456, one of the oldest scams. My lawyer talked to the sergeant and told him that I would be filing a 10MB suit against the parents and the police dept if they pursued it. I left and never heard from them again. My advice is if you have done nothing wrong, don't pay anything. If you do pay, every parent in town will know about it and you will be paying them all off.

Whatever happened to the regulation in Phuket for all waverunners to be insured? I guess it was too expensive and they figured they wouldn't be competitive if they raised prices to cover the cost.

Some interesting reading Here. in particular have a look at post # 628

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Roo, thanks. According to that thread, the blue book is not enough. You have to take your blue book to SIO and get the letter. If anyone has gotten the license with the book and not with the letter, I would like to know.

I have the blue house book -- the house is in my name. Is this acceptable?

Last year in Koh Samui the hotels would attach a message to the check in sheet that warned guests not to rent jetskis. Because of that and media coverage I saw the jetski business drop at least 80% (I am on the beach every day and have seen too many scams.). I'm not sure if they still do it or if the mafia threatened them to stop. The hotels were sick of customers getting scammed and then telling the hotel manager that they should have been warned. Since they weren't they blamed the hotel and said they would never return. If any of you have friends who are hotel owners or managers, you might want to suggest this to them. All the managers know each other and if they all acted collectively perhaps this would slow this business down.

I have a 5-yr Thai Driving License that will expire early next year. I believe I have to go back to Nathon Immigration and get them to write a letter verifying my visa. Five years ago it was 200B, but people tell me they charge anything they want up to 1000B. Has anyone renewed their's recently and, if so, how much was the letter? Any way to get this letter from somewhere else?

I can see the adverts. "Boots - your one stop shop for a minty member!!!"

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Do they have one that smells like roses? "Have your member smell like a rose in September."

I agree with Crusty. Unless you are on the Chaweng Beach almost every day during the rough weather, you have no idea what you are talking about. Several people drown each season. If you are not there you are not aware of the ones that were rescued. It is not on the news or in the newspapers. Our little group would be more than happy to go back to reading, sleeping, and drooling over the women if they had a lifeguard nearby, but they don't and probably never will.

Also, Crusty is correct, Capt Narin, who I have known for years, does send his boys out to rescue. I can remember one rescue where we couldn't get the raft out through the waves and this French guy was about 1/2 km out, we yelled for the waverunner and they got him. As I said we coordinate our efforts with them usually when a group is drowning.

On the other hand I wouldn't rent a jetski from them!

Five years ago it was only farangs going out and rescuing people. When the jetski gang saw that 80% of the victims were Thais they began helping. It is very dangerous at times because you have rescuers with a raft and then here comes two jetskis roaring in at 60km/hr. Sometimes you have to deal with the devil to save a life. All our little group cares about is that nobody dies while we are there so anyone who can help is welcome. No money is involved. You might get a "thank you" if you are lucky. Most victims panic only after they have exhausted all their options so that means you only have seconds left to notice and get to them. The group has binoculars and is by now quite instinctive in knowing who is in trouble. One guy goes to the victim while another, if necessary, runs over to the jetski don. After hundreds of rescues this is all quite automatic. The Centara is a different area so I don't know how they coordinate their efforts. My point is that if you are not watching the water or in the water at the time of the incident, it might be too late to help. During rough days we have one guy with a raft usually already in the water most of the time.

Crusty: I offered to purchase a few of those lifesavers w/rope, but my buddies rightly said that you couldn't leave them on the beach as they would be for sale in Somchai's shop the next day. Nobody I know wants to haul them back and forth each day, either.

One curious thing about near drownings that you might not think about is that farangs usually are alone or with one friend when they get into trouble; however, Thais typically go out in packs. So, this device wouldn't be helpful when rescuing several people. That is why a raft with straps is more effective. Imagine for a moment struggling against a strong undertow while getting pummeled by 2m waves. Now add several frantic people trying to climb on top of your head. Once you reach the victims you better have something stable for everybody to stay afloat on or you will just be another victim. I have seen entire families of five or more people drowning at the same time. Thais go out in the water up to their waist and then get caught in the undertow. The majority of them don't know how to swim so they just waive their arms(80% of the rescues in the last five years on Chaweng Beach were Thai groups of three or more within 100m of shore). The farangs usually can swim, but just get tired trying to fight the current instead of swimming parallel to the beach.

Any lifesaving device is better than nothing and saving one life is better than none, but I recommend that you don't go out and attempt to rescue anyone without the proper equipment. Scream for help, try to get a jetski, or look for someone with a large raft. If you are on our stretch of Chaweng Beach, don't worry, because Chawengwatch has got you covered.

If you are in Thailand and rent a jetski there is a better than fifty percent chance that you will be scammed. I have lived on Koh Samui for five years and can't count all the jetski scams I have seen. I worked for the Tourist Police several years ago and we helped many tourists until we started getting death threats. Working for free is one thing, but dying for it? The only solution is to not rent jetskis. Take the banana boat, or waterski, or scuba, etc.

For the last five years a small group of farangs have organised a lifesaving service on Chaweng Beach about 200m north of the Centara Hotel. At least three of them are on the beach every day from about 2-6pm during the season (Nov-March) when the sea can swell up to two meters and produce a very strong undertow. They have a large raft, first aid kit, vinegar for jelly fish, and know cpr. They coordinate their efforts with the jetski cowboys when they are around. It might not sound like much, but those who have seen them in action can tell you that they rescue several hundred people each season. One day last year the water was incredibly dangerous and they pulled in approximately sixty people within just a few hours. Even with red flags flying and verbal warnings, people still go in the water.

They wish to remain anonymous, don't want or accept donations, and don't advertise or wish to be interviewed. The only way you will likely meet one of these guys is if you are drowning in their area. My suggestion is that anyone who frequents a particular beach, just take along a float or rescue ring with rope during the season.

As for the original op, we have seen plenty of swimmers go off into the horizon. Those guys are usually pretty experienced swimmers so I wouldn't worry too much about that particular one.

I applaud anyone's good intentions to right a wrong no matter where it happens. However, there are several guidelines we must all adhere to, not the least of which are the rules of international law. Thailand is a sovereign nation, not an oulaw state like North Korea or Myanmar and, therefore, no other state or its citizens can interfere in their legislative or judicial system. We are here as guests only, just as our embassies with its diplomats, and must follow all laws. One can only report an injustice to local authorities and/or their respective embassy. The embassy can then through official channels voice a concern, but in no way can intervene in any action carried out by the local government or its representatives.

On a smaller scale nobody would take kindly to a neighbor who was invited to dinner who then began dictating how one should govern their own children. I wonder how the Aussies would react if the Blue/White Men from Thailand went to Australia and began rescuing underage children who were working in brothels. This is a worldwide problem and there is plenty of rescuing that can be done in one's own state where you are a citizen and have the rights provided to you by your native state.

When I first arrived in Thailand I was given good advice by a Thai: "You will live happily here if you don't interfere with our laws and our politics." Later when I worked for the Thai police as a volunteer medical adviser and was involved in a pedophile case, I was warned by a Thai policemen to cease and desist in my investigation if I wanted to stay alive. The only reason I can fathom that the Thai police have put up with these "good samaritans' is that they would lose face on an international level if they killed or arrested them. It's probably easier just to let them grab a few kids and write about how they were assisted by the Thai police.

This is a Thai problem, so let the Thais handle it. Those of us who have lived here for a long time know the real story about who profits from these children and how powerful and unstoppable they are. If you want to do something for the poor children, raise funds to build a small school. This won't make the headlines or give you a medal, but it will make a difference. Just like the last "politically correct" movement to rescue the underage children who were working in the factories for 50B per day, those women returned to their spoiled lives in the west, and the children returned to the factories, wondering who those crazy farang women were.

SamuiJimmy: Sent a PM to you. If you didn't get it I will find out from TV what is going on.

I would certainly agree with the first builder! At that weight it might momentarily slow down the rocks/boulders and smash up the wall.... and then???

With out seeing this it is hard to say, but my thought is that a trench dug out by a large excavator might better catch anything coming down.... or even digging out holes on the downward side...(of the larger boulders) and or using smaller boulders, worked in front of the larger ones. .... but a 45 degree slope is pretty steep for a excavator to work on....even if it could access the area involved.

Alternatively building a wall with smaller rocks/ boulders that are stacked up... the base would need to be in the ground.... another excavator job...

Might that be a feasible option to consider?

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SJ: Thanks, I agree with you. What about huge concrete planters every 5m with boulders in between? I believe that most of the large boulders have already fallen. Most of them now look under 200kilo. The problem is if they roll down my hill and then bounce and go down the street right through a window. If you know where I can get a tractor w/driver let me know.

All farangs be very careful out there as this is becoming a major cash cow for the police.

This is probably the most important point made on this thread so far. If you're a foreigner, be careful. This is all just a scam to con farangs out of cash. So many thai adult males are having sex with underage girls in Thailand and nobody seems to care. It's part of the culture. Travel outside of the big cities and you'll see this in brothels and such. Nobody give a f***! The only people who care are the police who can extort cash and the holier than thou westerners who like to label anything that looks young(even if it's 18+)as underage and then ostracizing an older man for liking a perfectly legal(18+) girl.

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Exactly! I am constantly amazed at all the westerners who claim to be lilywhite in of all places, Thailand. Some have even said to me that a man should be arrested for even looking at any girl under 18 -- I have met 14-yr-olds that would give a playboy foldout a run for her money! Basically, we are all animals with instincts and it is sometimes difficult for the moral conscience to fight pure animal lust. I live in a guarded farang development and have given the guards specific instructions not to let any Thai girl under 18 into the area w/o a parent; otherwise, we would be swamped with them. You guys living in a community of young Thai girls, I wish you the best of luck. They are relentless to land a farang, and now with the parents and police delivering them to you like a pizza, you have to be much stronger than the average man that I know. Just always bear in mind that the police are watching and hoping that you will take the bait -- children are expendable in Thai society, but money isn't.