MangoKorat

Not arguing with anyone and I'm not an anti vaxxer - just stating facts. I have had every vaccine offered and it hasn't stopped me getting Covid 4 times and each time its been worse. I spent the entire New Year holiday this year in bed at my Thai home (the worst I've ever had it) but I almost certainly picked it up from my daughter in the UK before I left. When discussing the fact that I'd had it again with friends in Thailand, many commented that a family member or friend had also had the virus recently so this 'resurgence' doesn't appear to be new.

Sorry but its entirely about landlords and tenants - read the title. A poster suggested decent references were required in the US and I stated that references are a waste of time because landlords (and others) often give out references just to get rid of a problem tenant - I would too rather than losing ££££'s as I have before. I've had bad tenants with impeccable references. The only thing that's checkable about a reference is whether or not it was actually given. There is no way of holding somebody to account if a reference is inaccurate and you'd have a hell of a job proving it was. As for me 'not liking it' - twoddle, I don't give two hoots what you think. I'm just pointing out what happens in the real world - one that I have experience of whereas you do not.

Quite a few of the major rental companies in the UK won't accept a debit card and even they won't rent one of their 'premium' vehicles to you if you don't have a credit card. Some that do in the UK such as Hertz for example - don't in Thailand.

Can I just butt in here and ask a question? I don't have any credit cards and don't really want one but on the odd occasion not having one has caused me problems in renting a car when I travel etc. Just about all of the major rental companies require the renter to have a credit card. How do I go about obtaining one? Is it a simple process in Thailand? I've been with Kasikorn for around 10 years. Surely a credit check is required? How do they credit check a foreigner?

If you were to speak to my current tenats they would tell you that I am a decent and fair landlord. Nowhere did I say that I didn't care about 'fairness and justice'. I suspected that you have no experience of such matters - I'd love to see how long your honesty and integrity would last if you did. Faced with a non paying tenant, who'd trashed your property and was refusing to leave without an eviction notice - you of course would continue to rack up losses wouldn't you? There is no way on this planet that you'd give them a reference to get them out - even if it cost you £ thousands - yeah right, of course you wouldn't because your so upright and honest a real pillar of the community. We are of course talking about Thailand here and I have no idea how the law is weighted regarding landlords and tenants but in the UK its becoming bloody ridiculous. Someone can rent your property, totally trash it and not pay you any rent after their initial payment. You're probably a month out of pocket before you give them notice. They have until the last day of that month to move out and if they don't, only then can you apply to the court for an eviction notice. That takes 2 months minimum so if you are very very lucky you will be 3 months out of pocket less the usual 1 month's deposit plus court fees. And that's if you are very lucky. The process is to issue a section 21 notice - 2 months and only then, if the tenant refuses to leave, can you apply to the courts for a possession order. If the tenants still refuse to leave you have to apply to the court and ask for bailiffs to forcibly evict them. The cost of a possession order for non rent arrears is £404 and considerably higher for non rent arrears. If its ignored you then have to apply for a 'Warrant For Possession' - £148 + the bailiffs fees and on and on. Then, when you finally get your property back you will almost certainly have repairs to do. As I said before, I live in the real world - the last bad tenant I had - it took 5 months to evict them. The court costs were around £800 and they had let their kids draw all over just about every wall in the house. The place was filthy, electric sockets had been pulled out of the walls etc. etc. I ended up over £8000 out of pocket. Would I have given them a reference to get out before they racked up 5 months rent? Damn right I would - and so would you. The difference is that I'm prepared to say I would.

Never heard of the being required for a Thai Visa. British one yes.

Not getting better for me? Do you think I care what you 'do gooders' think? I live in the real world, I've had tenants trash properties, fail to pay rent and refuse to leave until I get a court order. I've been told to fix a failed boiler for a tenant that only ever paid their deposit and one month's rent and when I eventually got them out, found that I had to completely redecorate almost every room in the house. Don't tell me I could have taken them to court - that's a complete waste of time - they claim they are broke and the court allows them to pay £1 per week which they then fail to pay and you would need to pay the court upwards of £200 for them to send in the bailifs. When the bailifs do go in, the tenants are already forearmed with letters from friends and relatives stating that the 55 inch TV and state of the art Hifi system are theirs and they have lent them to the tenant etc. Some of these people are 'professionals' at it and know exacty how to work the system. The laws are different in the UK and very much biased towards the tenant, the UK government seem to forget who owns the property. A landlord is not even allowed to enter a property to carry out an inspection if the tenant refuses to let them in. I wonder how many of you 'holier than thou' types would not give a reference for a bad tenant if it got them out of their property? Its very easy to pass judgment if you have never been in a similar situation. I no longer use agents to find tenants for my properties nor do I take references - I rely on my own judgment and its served me well. A girl asked if she could rent an apartment I had and was up front about getting into debt previously. She seemed fine to me and I appreciated her honesty. She's been in her apartment for 9 years now, takes good care of it and hasn't missed her rent once. I suggest you go buy a few properties, rent them out for a while then come back and tell us your experiences. I guarantee you won't think as you do now. Not getting better for you here either is it?

They cannot legally ride a bike over 110cc until they reach 18 and pass a test. I'm not sure if the test for bikes under 110cc counts or whether they have to take a new test. Knowing Thailand, the previous test probably counts.

Read the get out clauses. If you get a bad tenant, its lose lose until you finally get them out. In the UK you even have to continue carrying out repairs for tenants who are not paying their rent!

What would you do smart**s? As it happens, I haven't done it but I would - most landlords I know do.

Nope, its 18.

At 15 he can ride a bike up to 110cc until he is 18 when he can ride unlimited cc's - all subject to passing a test. There was talk of a 'big bike' licence being introduced for over 400cc with, I think a 21 year old requirement but that seems to have been shelved.

As a landlord, I can tell you that is a complete waste of time. I'd be happy to provide a reference for a problem tenant if it helped me get them out of my property.

Agree with most of what you say - I think it may have been you that recommended me to Boonma. So, as someone who is going through exactly the same process as the OP at the moment but a little bit further down the line, I'll share my thoughts and experiences so far - for the OP: As you will have seen, many people here say sell your stuff and buy new in Thailand. That may be the right thing for some but its far from the best way for others. I'm making a permanent move to Thailand - as most of us have, I've collected various items over my lifetime that are in some ways, part of me. I have things ranging from tools that would cost a fortune to replace (with the same quality) in Thailand to personal items that have been handed down through generations of my family. What am I supposed to do with those things? Secondhand tools are very hard to sell and usually worth far more to the owner than any potential buyer and there's no way I'm throwing away items left to me by my grandmother - just two examples. So what to do? Well in my particular case, I had, repeat had, whittled my list of must have's down to the minimum and then set about getting prices to ship only those items. I spent quite a lot of time getting prices from so called specialist movers and was gobsmacked at the costs. However, what I did learn is that it is not much more expensive to ship a 20ft container full of items than it is to ship less in a container shared with others. Its also far safer and less likely that any of your items will actually be scutinised by customs on arrival. After being quoted between £3500 to £7000 by several specialist movers, I called a basic shipping agent (I'm in the UK by the way) who quoted me £1100 to ship a full 20ft container. This particular company does not have an agent in Thailand that deals with domestic items as most of their business is commercial so I had to find my own - which I have thanks to being recommended to Boonma. Using this method a 20ft container is delivered to my home and left with me for 3 hours whilst I pack it. Its then picked up and sent on its way to Thailand by the UK agents who notify their counterparts in Thailand. The packing and safety of the items inside is down to me. When I contacted Boonma I couldn't really understand what all the various charges that may or may not apply were so as I was due to visit Thailand, I called to see them in Bangkok - their guy spoke perfect English. The rules for importing personal items and furniture (as a foreigner) are basically that most things can be imported tax free provided that you have either a Non O or a Work Permit. However, from what Boonma told me, customs apply their own rules and they only allow the tax free status for those with a Work Permit. You can fight that and you may be successful but all the time that you are fighting, your container is incurring storage charges - in reality its better to just pay it. The OP's circumstances are different to mine in that I will have a Work Permit but I will have to pay duty on the non personal items (tools etc.) that I bring in. What I gleaned from my meeting with Boonma is that basically, in my circumstances, customs are looking for 20k baht per container to keep them happy - provide a list of the major items, pay the 20k and its unlikely that your container will even be opened. Refuse to pay any 'duty' because your items are all household and you risk your container being put in a queue and once again subject to storage charges. I can't advise you on the Thai agent's fees and import costs yet as I have to finalise my list and decide if I want Boonma to deliver them to my home or not. All I can say is that its currently looking like the total cost of shipping, agent's fees and duties is likely to be £2000 - £2500. To replace everything would be around £8000 - my compressor and MIG welder alone would cost around £1200 to replace. Yes, I'd have new items but I neither need or want those sort of costs at the moment. If I was going to use things like that commercially, there might be some benefit in having new items but I'm not. Its a 'no brainer' for me but I can well imagine that the opposite applies to some people. To simply say get rid of your stuff and buy new in Thailand is just plain wrong. Work out your own circumstances and check the costs - only you can decide. Boonma Shipping Bangkok: 106 Ramkhamhaeng Road, Soi 8, Hua-mak, Bangkapi, Bangkok 10240, Thailand Office hour: Monday to Friday 08:00 - 17:00, Saturday 08:00 - 12:00. Phone: +66 2 314 5021 Fax: +66 2 318 2447 E-mail: boonma(at)boonma.com

Well then, you are mistaken. I do regularly watch BBC News and I am aware that most conspiracy theory types like to slag off the BBC because they don't like the fact that BBC news stories are verified. However, I have no access to CNN and neither would I want any - there is far too much USA related news in the UK already. Believe it or not, I actually have a brain that has earned me 2 degrees, a first and a 2.1. I am also able to discern the facts that a lad in my class at school had calipers on his legs because he had contracted Polio early in his life - he was unvaccinated because his parents were living abroad when he was born.very young. I am also able to discern that my kids and my grandchildren have not witnessed anyone at their schools who contracted Polio ans that 'Sir' is 100% down to the fact that almost all school age children in their age group were vaccinated against Polio. Much the same goes for Measles. I would also point you in the direction of recent measles outbreaks in the USA but you'd probably say that I heard those on the BBC and they simply 'picked on' those stories. Doctors in the UK are highly educated people - usually taking 10 years to become a GP. I trust in what they tell me just as I would expect them to trust my judgement in matters where I have expertise I am not an 'amchair expert'. You didn't think I would reply because I told you I wouldn't. Anti vaxxers are quite often also conspiracy theorists. Be honest with yourself - I and other members here could spend hours providing with you with evidence as to the efficacy of vaccines and you would still say we are wrong. I have a friend who is an anti vaxxer and interestingly, he also slags off the BBC although he's never provided any evidence as to any bias or false stories that the BBC are guilty of. As a parallel - Trump made claims that the 2020 election was 'stolen' - millions believed him it seems yet to date, he has failed to provide any evidence to support his claims. I can tell you one thing though, should he provide any, the BBC would be one of the first to report it. So I've given you my reasons and just as you are, I am entilted to form my own opinions but I do so based on evidence from experts - each to his own. I object to what I believe are ridiculous sories that claim all vaccines are dangerous when its such stories themselves that are actually dangerous. I would suggest though, that you do a little research into life expectancy rates levels over the last 200 years and ask that you consider what part vaccines might have played in those levels more than doubling in developed countries, particularly in the UK. What I'm not about to do is debate the matter further with you or anyone else - I've aleady explained why - I would quite simply be wasting my time because no amount of evidence will change your mind. There will be no further posts from me on this matter.

Nothing tough about it, I'm proud of my roots and who I am.

I wonder where most, if not all his comments come from. Just about every time he talks he makes claims about one thing or another - often outlandish and never substantiates anything. Cases in point - the eating cats and dogs statement, the foreign criminals and mentally ill illegal immigrants pouring over the border and more recently at a meeting with coal miners he stated that his tariffs were netting $2 billion per day - he'd only just introduced them (and most likely paused them the next day) so I very much doubt he actually had that information. Then there is the biggy, that is still oft repeated by his MAGA fans - that the 2020 election was 'stolen'. I listen to all his claims with a large dose of scepticism - especially those regarding stopping the Russian war in Ukraine in his first day in office. I think we should all consider that this lunatic is in charge of the world's largest economy, considerable military power and has varying degrees of political influence worldwide. In addition, it beggars belief that the man in charge of the world's secong biggest polluter took the USA out of the Paris Accord. In much the same way, everyday folk seem to think they are also empowered to exagerate matters regading illegal immigrants committing crimes. I'm in no way saying they don't commit crime but I'd suggest the 'Trump' unsubstantiation factor is applied to many of these claims.

Yes well, I'm both.

Quick, lock up your cats & dogs.

Damn! I thought I hid it so well.

Careful!

Yes, as your great leader says - 'there's muderers and mental patients pouring over the borders' and apparently Congo has emptied all its prisons and sent them to the UISA. Jeez, the USA must be a very dangerous place to live these days. It must be awful for the population who used to enjoy such a peaceful life because as we all know - US citzens are totally law abiding, well, those that are not already in the country's prisons. All these illegals running around committing crime and eating people's pets, it really must be awful over there at the moment. I bet its the illegal immigrants that are also responsible for carrying out all the school shootings if the truth be known? Get that wall built - Mexico will pay! Make America Peaceful Again.

Nice try but a failure I'm afraid. To rational people the answer is obvious, if you think I'm getting drawn into this ridiculous thread, you're very wrong.

They could cut through all this if they simply introduced a licence up to 70 years old followed by 3 yearly renewals subject to a health declaration - as per the UK system.

And?