samtam

OP, the duties and responsibilities of the JPM are outlined in section 36 of the Condominium Act.

In well run Condominium's the Juristic Person Manager has no day to day job in running the Condominium, they are simply the legal signatory that carry out the resolutions passed by the elected Committee. i.e signing of a new security company.

The Condominium on a day to day basis will be run by a property management company like Savills, who will carry out the requests and wishes of the Committee. In most higher end condominiums, there will be two contracts, often with the same company. A property management contract, which will be for a management fee, and will typically include a cost for all the onsite management staff, and a second contract which will be a Juristic Person Management Contract. I would say it is very rare that a company like Savills would have an individual person as the JPM- it is more likely that Savills the comapny will be the JPM and they will assign one person to be the signatory on the companies behalf.

Delight, companies can be the JPM- there is no disqualification against this, in fact in 90% of new condo's i would say now the JPM is a company. It will get increasignly rare for individuals to be JPM's as there is simply no benefit and a lot of headache and potential legal problems with it.

The role of the Chairman is exactly the same as any other member of the Committee, other than he may get a casting vote in the event of the tie, and he has extra duties such as calling meetings. Look at Section 38 of the Act. Actually look at Section 38 (1) which basically says that it is the Committee who run the management of the Condominium.

Thanks. This is what I understood to be the case. Unfortunately our new situation is all a bit too cosy. The JPM was formerly an employee of Savills. He has succeeded in having Savills removed as the management company, (the committee voted for their removal because of his - the JPM's - close ties to the chairman of the committee). The new management company is run by another ex-Savills employee, the former boss of the JPM when they were at Savills together. The company is called First Pacific Harrison, but I don't think it has any affiliation with First Pacific. Has anyone ever heard of it?

Happy to report that the "no information available" tags have gone and the situation seems to be OK now. Maybe someone from True reads TV?!

From a couple of days ago "No information Available" is posted on the so-called TV Guide. Tried calling them, and there is a recorded message saying there may be problems due to their recent "upgrade" (!), but to just unplug the decoder and replug. Doesn't work, nor is anyone picking up the technical support line. SNAFU.

The JPM is not the Management company. The JPM is a person elected by the condo as Juristic Person Manager. The Management Company, Savills is not the JPM. Savills provide management of the building through a building manager and other staff.

Thanks. Yes, I did suggest that to him, but I thought someone might possibly have had some experience of transiting in Bangkok from international to domestic.

Thanks for your response Delight, but your answer surprises me. We also have a management company - Savills. Are you saying they report to the JPM? Surely the maanagement company run thec day-to-day operations of the building?

A friend who is visiting Thailand soon has asked whether:

If you fly into Bangkok international airport do you have to collect your luggage and then go to the domestic terminal to get flights to Koh Samoi ?

I am so out of touch with the procedure, but I suggested if he through booked his luggage, he would not have to transfer it himself. Can anyone with experience of this transfer procedure please advise?

Can anyone advise whether the roles of the JPM are clearly set out in a document, or provide a synopsis. Ours seems to be very involved in the day to day operations of our building, interfering, (along with the chairman of the committee), with the day to day running of the condo.

Similarly, are there any guidelines for the role of a committee chairman?

No. There is nothing like this.

The quality of bananas in Bangkok has been pretty poor lately - either overripe or green. In CFH they used to supply Dole bananas, but now seems to be a local supplier.

My virus control system ESET NOD will not allow me to open Bangkok Post website either, as of yesterday...('m in Bangkok)...

Seems to be some problem downloading from KAT today, but maybe because of the power outage in the USA. Anyone having the same...(not dowloading). Other sites are OK.

At least it's a polite request..."please be excused".

He could try The Samaritans

Thanks Mario. That's good to know. I might renew the passport in UK, (which I think only takes a few days, or in Hong Kong. Not quite sure how long for the latter location, but I presume it's not as long as sending it from Bangkok.

What about getting a new passport (in UK) with your Extension of Stay and Re-Entry permit in the old one. Can you do the transfers after re-entering Thailand?

I suspect this is more about proletariat people coming to Thailand, who have absolutely no experience of managing domestic help.

A maid should be treated as an extended member of the family, who needs just as much leadership as one's children.

Well, yes on the second part, a lot of communication is necessary. But a member of an extended family.. no. They're an employee. And indeed employees need leadership, respect, training, consistency in how they're tasked, etc.

Agree. Unfortunately it is very difficult to find a maid who has knowledge of basic housekeeping and all the aspects you would expect of a good employee. If they do have those, it is important to teach them the personal requirements of how you want the job to be carried out. If they can't incorporate those requirements after a reasonable time, then they are not capable of learning, or are unwilling to do so, and should be let go.

I am lucky to be blessed with one of the best maids I have ever employed. How excellent she is was brought home to me very vividly when she had to be absent for 2 months to look after her ailing father. For the first month we managed on our own, and the second we employed our neighbour's. I think the former experience was preferable to the latter. I showed the temp how I liked the beds made many times. She just couldn't get it. Happily my saint returned after 2 months, and my life was able to resume its normal pace.

Whilst I like my maid on a personal basis, and I dare say she might like us, I treat her with respect and as an employee. To treat her as a member of my family is asking for trouble. You wouldn't treat an employee in an office environment as a member of the family, so the same applies in this workplace situation. I've been lucky enough to have staff all my life, (growing up in Asia), and the golden rule is as I have expressed it, with the relationship clearly defined. The employee wants that definition too.

You're only allowed one bottle DF

For old computers and related IT items you might consider donating them to Human Development Foundation, a charity that supports:

orphanages, slum pre-schools, an AIDS hospice, and housing and home repairs for the indigent etc. Vide their website: mercycentre.org

They take other household goods too, but in the case of computers they have a team which re-uses old parts and sells on the repaired and usable computers, or uses them in schools etc.

It based in Klong Toei, but they will pick up. Check the website or give them a call: 0-2671 5313. (It's run by Father Joe Maier.)

Also, I use the nlink True router which is a pain in the derriere, (cuts out, and sometimes reloads with True's on web page, which makes me lose info I've had on the last page etc). Any recommended router models, (to run three computers) by wifi.

Any suggestions/recommendations?

THB53k

Well thanks everyone. In the end I bought the HP Pavilion dv7-6b06TX, more for the screen size (17.3") vs. the dv6. It has Intel Core i7 and 8GB. About to set it up, so doubtless I shall be lost in that twilight zone for a few hours. None of the items on the HP Laptop website were available (with AMD Dual Core), but I think what I bought should be more than adequate. I wanted the bigger screen because I'm used to 21" with my desktop. All the Macs are nice, but lower Intel Cores, (i5? max), and of course they're pricier.

Thanks. I did look at this site.

It reminds me of when I went to buy an iron on Monday. The salesperson told me that a) was the smallest and d) was the largest.

I'll chuck a dart, as obviously for my requirements it doesn't much matter.

It's perhaps a question of too much choice and the difference so small between each.

(Sorry, I'm not trying to diminish your assistance, and perhaps my lack of knowledge for these things, irons, washing machines, and all ther household paraphenalia is beyond help.) Funnily enough there's quite an interesting programme on BBC Knowledge about selling mobile phones in UK by Mary Portas. As in that case too, no one really knows what they want from a phone, unless they're a tecky.

Just email and web surfin' and typing an occasional Document

and downloading torrents, which seems to stuff up my current HP Pavillion Desktop

I'm planning on buying a new HP laptop 15 3/4" screen. Any recommendation of model. What are the key elements I should be looking for, (for speed and memory sizes)? Please excuse the virginal questions.

Also, I use the nlink True router which is a pain in the derriere, (cuts out, and sometimes reloads with True's on web page, which makes me lose info I've had on the last page etc). Any recommended router models, (to run three computers) by wifi.

Thanks.