MangoKorat

That is almost certainly from a police roadside camera. Fines from the overhead/fixed cameras normally come from the Land Transport Office through the post and with all the details printed on them. I got one of those photos once but I was stopped near Korat at a regular place for checkpoints (ker ching!) - apparently the camera was 5km back. As per yours, no details whatsoever. I confirmed that I accepted the photo was of my car but that I was not speeding. I was told that I'd have to go and speak to the camera guys 5km back - I suspect as a ploy - them thinking I wouldn't bother. I said OK but I didn't go back and never heard from them. You're not going to be so lucky and it'll cost you more than the fine to go back

Maybe he thought he was at home?

I'm not at all criticising George here - it certainly is a very helpful post. However I'm not at all sure that Code 120 is correct in terms of being the correct insurance type. That number appears in the Vehicle Particulars section - is 120 possibly similar to the Insurance Group number for UK policies? I think the most important thing about the above policy copy is that it clearly states 'For Commercial Use, Hire or Rental Purposes.'

There are a hell of a lot of people, especially in the Pattaya area that are renting cars - most likely 'under the table' - I'd take a bet that many of them do not have the correct insurance for renting. I went to pick up one such car once and the guy said 'its insured for any driver but if you get stopped, you're my mate and I've lent you it OK?' I didn't go any further with that deal. Such things might seem like a good deal at the time because you're never going to have an accident are you? Until you do and then you can be in a world of $hit. Mind you, it seems rental insurance is mega expensive - Ok its for a nice car but 27K? and that's 8 years ago!

Why is Mr. Somebody confused about my previous post? Do you need further explanation Somebody?

On this subject, there was a BBC Radio report broadcast this week. The reporter interviewed a doctor from the area who stated that the number of deaths from lung cancer where the deceased had never been a smoker was up 40% and he put the blame squarely on local burning of agricultural waste/forest fires. Another couple of interesting points from the programme was that farmers can legally burn their crop waste but they have to apply to do so on a special app. The story went that farmers can apply to burn but will only be given permission when air quality is not bad. One farmer they visited whilst he was burning said he had permission - this was recently when the air quality was really bad. Either he was lying or that system isn't working And........ apparently a lot of the smoke and thus, poor air quality is caused by forest fires in what the local officials called 'revenge burning' - done by locals who unhappy with being stopped from burning crop waste.

Not recent experience but in their reply to me, Savannakhet stated that If I didn't have 400,000 in a Thai bank account, I could apply for a single entry. However, you can usually get a single entry by application to your home country.

Documents also here. Go to the thread - I tried posting them here but it won't work. Second reply. https://aseannow.com/topic/1147974-power-of-attorney-to-sell-car/

That can all be done in 1 day - I did it. The only time it needs to take longer is if the vehicle comes from a different province and needs new plates - that can take another 2 or 3 days waiting for the plates. Insurance can be done online in around 10 minutes. By the way, 'getting the book transferred' and 'registering it under his name' are one and the same. OP: If the registered owner will not be present at the Land Transport Office to sign the transfer documents - don't forget that your mate will need a power of attorney form specific to a car sale, signed copy of the registered owner's ID card and Tabien Baan. The power of attorney can be obtained online or from a dealer.

Same reaction to this as I had to the first post of his I read..........what a load of bollo x

Why do you think you should do any of that? Short answer to your problem - get out, you're being used. Don't wait another few years to realise that - cut your losses and run. Seen this many times and almost bought the T shirt myself. None of those marriages lasted - yours will be no different.

You own something that you can sell. If you buy sensibly and the building is well taken care of, that should mean that you get more than your money back at some point in the future. Pay rent and every penny is lost. Apart from the Thai Land Law that prevents a foreigner from owning land, structures that contain more than one unit with shared spaces are very difficult to convey and maintain if they are freehold. Who owns the roof? Who's responsible for replacing the main entrance door? All sorts of problems exist. That's why, even in the UK, many such properties are leasehold rather than freehold.

To say nothing of the fact that its illegal.

One thing that has just occurred to me relates to the position in these cases regarding wills and transfer/inheritance taxes. To the best of my knowledge, if a wife leaves a property to her husband in a will, there is no transfer tax payable, partly because the property is not in fact transferred and partly because there is no transfer tax on inherited property in most cases. If that husband is a foreigner, he is not able to become the registered owner of the property and must arrange for it to be sold within 12 months. That sale would be liable for transfer tax. If that foreigner relies on a Usufruct agreement to protect their tenure, that agreement would almost certainly either severely reduce the value of the property or make it unsaleable. Therefore, if all the foreigner wants is to be able to stay in the property after the death of their Thai wife and not have to sell it - it may be better to protect that position by way of a Usufruct Agreement and for the wife to leave the property to a relative. As far as I know there is no transfer tax or inheritance tax payable on a property that is inherited by certain members of the deceased's family. The Usufruct remains in place no matter who the property is transferred to - the relative would have to respect that. However, if the foreigner, tries to transfer it to one of his wife's relatives after her death, not only would there be transfer taxes to pay, the relative may be due to some form of capital gains/gift tax. OK, so maybe they're getting a valuable property given to them but they may not too happy with having to (or indeed be able to) pay tax on it and will probably look to the foreigner to do that. If you want to cut and run with cash following your wife's death then just agree to end your Usufruct and sell the property. If the money doesn't bother you and you just want to be able to continue living in your home - sort out the will/tax issues. I'm not sure on any of the above and there may be some complex tax issues. Taxes are not the same in Thailand as they are in the West and I am aware that inheritance/gift taxes are rare but it may be sensible for anyone in this position to check this out before the couple decide on the content of any will. There will almost certainly be differences in the liability for transfer tax depending on which route is taken.

All of my e-mails have been copied to consular.complaint AT mfa.go.th

Interesting - not something I've heard of before - although it sounds very much like a Usufruct. In most cases, a Usufruct would convey the same rights. Whatever it is, if you haven't already, I'd recommend you get it checked over by a good Thai lawyer before you put your trust in it. The Thai courts have been known to overule other types of contract, even though they are registered at the Land Office. The bottom line is, if a contract doesn't comply with Thai law it can be challenged and is likely to be deemed invalid if it is. The Land Office may well tell you it complies but they are not either lawyers or judges.

I give up, you clearly haven't understood a word I've said.

I guess it doesn't really matter what Bob's nationality is - there's to$$ers in every country.

No, Tim nice but dim.

Hey, leave the North of England out of this, we don't have people like him. Maybe a Southerner but most likely a yank - seeing as how he counts his supposed 'wealth' in US dollars.

I'm not a fan, one day maybe fun but after that it just gets annoying. Its very hard to avoid Songkran in any part of Thailand to the best of my knowledge. I'm no longer in Thailand full time but what I used to do was go onto the budget airline websites and see what promotions are on. I know that flight prices have changed but there may still be some bargains available. Singapore used to be good for a few days out. Vietnam is the next place I want to check out more following a short visit in 2020 for a visa. Several airlines serving both those destinations must surely lead to some healthy competition?

If you actually knew anything about the country, you'd understand that those of us who've been around for a while are used to all the blather that comes out of the Thai government. I've never known any of it to make the slightest bit of difference to a foreigner's life in Thailand - even though we moan about it every time a new announcement is made. On a different note, I find it very amusing that you seem to find it necessay to regularly refer to your wealth. Yesterday it was attending a very expensive gym - not just a gym like anyone else would have said, with you it has to be an expensive gym. Today you state the total of your wealth. Maybe that makes you feel good but it shouldn't - most of us know that people with wealth don't normally talk about it and laugh at your outbursts Mr. Loadsamoney. The chances that you are actually a broke guy who's heading home because his money's run out are pretty high.

Its also very dangerous - containers (often condoms) have been known to burst. Just one of those 'bags' bursting would mean certain death. The sad part in this is that the guy is almost certainly just a mule that will have been paid a small fraction of what those at the top of the chain get. Apparently a certain number of 'losses' is expected and allowed for in the price.

Agreed. When I was married to a Thai I entered a couple of times using the 30 day exempt route rather than my usual 12 month Multi Entry Non O. On the second 30 day entry I was asked why I didn't have a Non O and asked if I was visiting my wife - I replied that I was. I was told that visiting my wife was not considered as tourism and I should not be entering visa exempt as that was for tourists. I was allowed in but warned that I would not be allowed in again without the correct visa. I would guess that plenty of people who are married to a Thai enter every day on 30 day exempts - simply because the I.O. either doesn't notice their previous visas or doesn't really give a damn. However, if the recent reports that Immigration are going to tighten up on regulations and make sure that foreigners have complied with all the requirements, they might well clamp down on married people entering on exempts. Best not to risk it, get a Non O and in the light of the recent announcements, I would also make sure that you have the required 20,000 baht (or equivalent) on you in cash.

The Thai property market is very difficult to understand, it does not follow the trends many of us are used to in the West. One example is the one that I have experienced - my homes in both the UK and Thailand are in rural areas. If a new motorway was announced near my UK home, property values would plummet. When the M6 was announced near my home in Khao Yai, land prices doubled, virtually overnight. What we are talking about here is the potential for a foreigner to sell their home within the 12 month period allowed after inheritance. The foreigner may well have paid more for the land than a Thai would be prepared to and is likely to have built a house of higher spec than is normal for the area. It would not be so unusual for a foreigner in that postion to place a higher value on their property than its actually worth. The likelihood is that they may well struggle to sell their property in those circumstances. However, peculiarities in the Thai property market overall mean that it is not at all unusual for a reasonably priced property to take more than 12 months to sell. That does not mean the property is necessarily over-priced - its just Thailand. In the 9 years that I've lived near Khao Yai, I've seen several properties take well over 12 months to sell. The price of at least one of those was actually increased due to local property values increasing. Property values in Thailand often confound the maxim that the value of a property is what it will sell for. You just cannot apply that in the country.