MangoKorat

No I can't, I was told that it was the law when I tried to open a second account with Kasikorn - very strange seeing as I already have one. I could not provide a long term visa so no new account. Thai nationals working abroad will only be considered as non-resident for tax purposes. Nobody is likely to check their status if the can provide a Tabien Baan and ID card. The rules on residency are common to many countries - look at the reports on here from UK expats that their UK accounts are being closed down. However, I accept that its Thailand and things don't always follow the rules. I've seen people who've reported being given a Thai bank account when they've been on a 30 day exemption.

A very shallow attitude from someone who has no idea of this girl's life or the circumstances that brought her to this position. It is highly likely that this girl is actually an 'employee' of someone controlling several similar girls who they use to evade the law themselves. Please don't be so fast to condemn people when you have no knowedge of their circumstances.

Yes, those were also my thoughts. The 17 year old who was supposed to provide 'services' was probably getting less than half of the fee.

I am stating what should happen and in a way, asking you to give consideration before condemnation. The results from countries that have taken a more rehabilitative approach, prove that there is a better way that drastically reduces re-offending and therefore crime rates overall. The 'lock em up and throw away the key' attitude held by so many, and I used to be one of them, simply doesn't work. Do I think its likely to happen in Thailand? Not a hope. Forget changes to the rehabilitation of offenders - nothing ever changes in Thailand. Even an elected government is not allowed to take its place. They don't even feed prisoners a reasonable amount per day. The current total budget for food in Thai prisons which was I think, set at 30 baht per person per day was based on total prison populations many years ago. The current prison population has increased by I believe, several hundred thousand but the food budget remains the same. Malnutrition is rife. If you are interested in what awaits this 19 year old girl, if she's imprisoned, have a read of Amnesty's report - its sobering. https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asa390032002en.pdf

Not gets 'off the hook' - maybe an alternative form of punishment? Penal authorities the world over are realising that prison achieves very little other than punishment - in many cases it does nothing to stop offending behaviour and very often makes it worse. What use is that to society? For some crimes, such as extreme forms of violence, there can be no option other than prison but society needs to decide, do we just want to continue locking people up or do we want them to stop their behaviour? The evidence so far proves beyond doubt that you can't achieve both. In some cases, and this is possibly one, people's likelihood of committing crime can be greatly affected by their background - its often not simply badness or something that's in their DNA. Possibly the most studied and documented examples of this are those relating to sexual abuse. A very high percentage of those that are abused as children, go on to be abusers themselves. From what I've learned about Thai prisons, very little is done to address offending behaviour but the offender is very likely to have learned more about crime through mixing with hardened criminals. Take a look at the USA - the country with the highest rate of imprisonment per capita at 737 per 100,000. It also has the world's highest re-offending rate at 70%. Contrast that with Norway, a country known for its innovative rehabilitation measures and that is rated as the one that treats prisoners the best - their rates are 54 per 100,000 and a re-offending rate of 20%. Those results have been achieved through concentrating on restorative justice, rehabilitation and alternatives to prison. Thailand's imprisonment rates are unverified and appear to be very questionable at 460 people imprisoned per 100,000 with a claimed re-offending rate of just 24%. The rate is also skewed by the fact that Thailand gives out some of the longest sentences - especially in relation to drug crime. 100% of other countries that have low or significantly reduced re-offending rates report achieving that through concentrating on rehabilitation and alternatives to prison. Thailand does very little in terms of rehabilitation and has a relatively high rate of imprisonment. It is also a country where very little confidence can be placed in official figures of any kind. China likewise is known to 'manipulate' its figures by sending people to 'educational' facilities - their statistics are not then included in either the overall imprisonment rate per capita or the re-offending rates. Get re-offending rates down and you start to seriously reduce crime overall. Its really easy to say 'lock em up', I used to subscribe to that viewpoint. However my (very sceptical) eyes were opened after studying this subject at university. I now prefer to see results and live in a world where there is less crime. If that is best achieved by employing alternatives to prison and rehabilitation, which it clearly is - so be it. Some countries are experimenting with, in some cases, only imprisoning people during their 'free time' - if they have a job they are allowed to continue working. That way, their families are less affected and their finances don't collapse upon imprisonment which can lead to immediate re-offending on release. So far, for certain groups of offenders, that has been particularly successful. The questions are: Do we want to continue locking people up and seeing crime rates increase? Or do we want to actually reduce crime? Should we not take into account of the fact that many who commit crime come from a position of severe disadvantage? Should that not be taken into account? It should also not be forgotten that the cost of imprisonment is bourne by the taxpayer.

I don't think its fair to make that statement without knowing the girl's situation. Granted, some people are just plain bad and deserve what they get but for the vast majority, prison is likely to be the last thing they need. The chances of rehabilitation in a Western style prison are low - in a Thai prison they must be just about zero. It is much more likely that she will actually learn how to carry out even worse things in 'The University of Crime'. This girl, like so many kids in Thailand may have very few 'life chances' and is very likely to have come from a situation where she has been abused in the past (and could possibly still be being abused). Set that against a background of living in a country where prostitution in all its forms is absolutley rife and in some cases almost considered 'normal' and its not too difficult to imagine that she may have considered what she was doing (pimping) is not so bad. It is also highly likely that she is also a prostitute - or has been. When I say rife - I discover more and more on a regular basis. Thai's don't like talking about it but I pick up stuff quite often. Wives who disappear for an hour now and then to pay for their gambling addiction. Office girls who freelance occasionally, university girls with secret sugar daddies - the list goes on and on. She may have learned (possibly the hard way) that there is a high demand for underage girls and I don't mean from tourists. The point is that against such a background, its not such a big bridge to cross. Morally, whilst we may consider pimping a 17 year old girl horrific, I have no doubt that both the 17 & 19 year olds think of themselves as adults. This girl may well just be bad through and through but its highly likely that there is a 'back story'. With counselling and encouragement, with a chance of getting a decent job, this young lady could be turned around and lead a useful and happy life. From what I know of Thailand, that seems very unlikley though. She's much more likely to return to her previous occupation upon release but by then will have learned how not to get caught.

Don't be an a s s - its not big and its not clever. I can assure you that the problems I have experienced with VFS have been genuine. They've been OK on some occasions and absoutely useless on others - mainly problems with their webitse refusing to accept documents. On each occasion I have eventually received an apology but at the time, the call centre customer service staff were unaware of the problems. One called me back and said he would 'walk me through the process' - I knew what the result would be but went along with him - as I suspected, the site refused to accept the documents to which the staffer said he'd have to get back to me and never did. If you want to score points, I've made over 30 (yes 30) UK Visa applications mainly visitor visas but 2 settlement - all successful although one, on the old system needed an e-mail to the embassy first. At least 15 of those have been through VFS and I'd guess I had problems with around 5 of them, all with VFS. Problems can occur in any situation and with any company, what matters is the ability of a company to deal with those problems. Sorry but employing call centre staff that have no idea what they are doing and fail to call you back is not dealing with a problem at all.

Thank you for that, I've done a little reading and LFP batteries do in fact sound much more environmentally sound than other types of battery.

What is even more sad is that in the 21st Century a great many people who post on online forums can't reply to other members in a polite and reasonable way. They quite often speak to people in a way they probably wouldn't dare to in person. Not that I want to be accused of hijacking the thread again but instead of simply stating that I am ignorant, please tell me exactly why and back it up with evidence. Your rude reply fails to take account of my overall and completely reasonable assertion that people may wish to look further into the claims made about EV's before determining whether they fit with their reasons for buying one.

For me, the biggest concerns about buying an electric car anywhere is the environmental costs, real world carbon foot print, the future value, taking account of battery replacement costs and battery warranty worries. It may well be that even after taking account of the issues I've raised below, an EV is the better choice for you - especially if you are producing your own electricity to charge it with (as I know the OP does). I'm simply saying that there are things to consider in Thailand as there are in any country, that you may not be aware of. Environmental Costs - there's growing evidence that the mining of rare earth metals used in battery production are causing environmental 'disasters' in parts of Africa and elsewhere. In Congo, apparently thousands of acres of Rain Forrest and natural habitat have been destroyed by such mining. In some cases, the chemicals used/produced are also poisoning water sources and the soil in general. Remember, Rain Forrests are natural carbon sinks and they are not limited to Brazil! As usual, it seems that profit over environment has taken over - we seem to have learned very little and are possibly trading one environmental disaster for another - albeit - tucked away out of sight in Africa and China etc. https://earth.org/cobalt-mining-in-congo/ https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rare-earth-mining-renewable-energy-future Carbon Footprint - I'll try to find the article I read where an EV's real world environmental costs were compared with a combustion engined car over the long term and including everything - production costs, mining of battery materials etc. etc. I seem to remember that the EV didn't fare much better than a conventional car. Future Value/Battery Replacement - I have serious concerns regarding the cost of battery replacement and even if you decide to sell before they need replacing, people will be aware of the cost and the value will fall accordingly. I've seen various cost comparisons between combustion engined cars and EV's and none of them included battery replacement costs. When comparing costs (real world) you need to take account of this. Battery Warranties. I'd like to study some battery waranties and look for any potential 'get out clauses'. Some manufacturers are offering 10 year warranties on batteries now. Having acted as an expert witness for a guy who got caught out by the scandalous behaviour of BMW over their notoriuos 2.0L diesel cam chain fault - I know how slippery car manufacturers can be. Be aware also that Thailand's consumer laws may not be as robust as those in your home country. I'd be very wary that any manufacturer will behave properly 9 years from now. Remember also that if for example you get 9 years out of a set and they go faulty with a 10 year warranty - the manufacturer is unlikely to fit a new set of batteries - they'll most likely just cover the year that's left and that will take account of replacements AT THEIR PRICE. In the BMW case I mentioned above, many owners were offered a % of the repair costs which could only be carried out at a BMW dealer at BMW PRICES. Many found that they could actually get a better deal by paying 100% of the costs at an independent repairer.

The Bangkok-Korat high speed track seems to be coming along nicely now. Mind you, so was the Bangkok - Korat motorway (M6) at first, its now just passed the 4 years late marker.

Well I'm not in Thailand so I can say what I really think. Having dealt with VFS for many years - (since the UK stopped handling their own visa applications) all I can say is THEY ARE THE MOST USELESS OUTFIT I'VE EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO DEAL WITH. To be fair, with UK visa applications they have got better now but that's only if everything is straighforward. The slightest glitch and everything goes to pot and trying to actually speak to them is impossible. As a company that handles ousourced work, they actually outsource their customer service function and you end up in phone calls and e-mails to India where the staff know even less that VFS do. Their website used to crash when you were uploading documents or simply refuse to upload them.

If VFS's handing of UK Visa applications is anything to go by, it will take them a lot longer than 1 year to get it working correctly.

555 555 555 Even better.

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Thanks for that info. I'm guessing that the people who gave the information actually live in Thailand? - otherwise they wouldn't be using a visa run outfit. So there is a possibility that they may not have pressed the consulate staff on the Thai bank account as they most likely have one, therefore not a problem. If its true, it could be a big problem for those who are using the visa correctly, some of whom I know, don't have Thai bank accounts. Its not an official requirement for that type of visa - how could it be? You are supposed to be visiting your wife, not living with her and officially, a non resident cannot hold a Thai bank account. I'll wait for them to answer my e-mail but on the basis that the information you've been given is correct - the consulate is well out of order.

Done the same myself to an outbuilding but if I'm building a new house from scratch, I'll use the correct cable. Considering the total cost of the build, its not worth the saving. I also have to find out if 3 phase is available nearby - doubtful as that will affect things, including the underground cable. As I said in a previous post, I will be installing a car lift. They are available in single phase but there's far more availability in 3 phase. Pretty sure I'll end up with single phase though.

Just looked up NYY cable. I wouldn't use that for an underground supply cable. The UK regs specify armoured for underground work, I'd take a stab that the Thai regs do too @Crossy??? The annoying thing is I have about 30m of twin core armoured here + 50m of 3 phase cable. I've brought a lot of stuff into Thailand before but the weight of that cable is way too much.

NYY Cable? I take it you mean armoured? I know its expensive but my house (consumer unit) will be no further than 20 - 25m from the lane at the rear so not mega bucks. Although the PEA's cable doesn't come as far as my site at the moment, they will most almost certainly continue their current cable - nearest pole is currently around 100m away. I just hope they don't start talking about transformers or I may have to be totally off grid.

Obviously not but see my edit above. I know the PEA guy quite well now and have his phone number. He's agreed to draw up a wiring diagram for me and check it over once done. That was not including the solar system though - I was hoping to get that info here. When I say. that would be me - in no way am I any sort of electrician but I'm a reasonable labourer and can follow a drawing. Correction, I'm actually a grade 1 electrician thinking about some of the electrical work I've seen in Thailand.

That would be me 😁. The PEA are quite funny actually. One time, after telling them I would be out of the country for 10 weeks, they took my meter away for none payment - believe it or not whilst I was in their office paying the bill!! (I'd only been in the country for 3 hours!! When I got back and found it gone, I called them, they said that's what they do when people don't pay their bill - they'd send their guy out very quickly as they accepted that I'd told them I was going to be away but as it was afternoon, he wouldn't be able to come until first thing the next day. I wanted to go out that night and didn't even have any water with no electric (pump). I cobbled together some insulation and a pair of mole grips and 'reconnected' myself - jumping the wires with a few pieces of 4.0mm cable I had laying around. I planned on getting up very early the next day and removing my illegal connection. Who was I kidding,? Away for 10 weeks living like a hermit, going out on the town and expecting to be up early???? When I woke up around 10am with a severe headache, I found my 4.0mm cable and mole grips next to the gate and my meter in its correct place!!! Nothing was ever said. My Thai isn't good enough to know exactly but when they came out at a later date to attend to a fault when I was at home - the same guy who re-fitted the meter was either there or the story had gone around the PEA office. This guy kept saying something that I couldn't work out but he'd taken a pair of mole grips out of his box and was pointing at the meter, making twisting movements with his grips and laughing.😁

The figure that I had in mind was £10,000 at the outset - 440,000 baht at current exchange rates. Sounds like I can get the system I'm looking for within that budget. The battery issue is going to take some deciding on though.

No problem then, I had assumed that they were the same as the UK - responsible up to the meter. That explains why I had to pay for some cable + fitting when my current house was upgraded. My supply is at the other side of the road and they said the cable from the meter to the house would need upgrading. PEA guy did it as a moonlight. I wasn't there at the time.

The insurers acted properly - the girl was a minor. Not a hope of going after the insurers.

The money might not be an issue for most folks - especially if they will accept the income method. The issue for some may be - if they require it to be in a Thai bank account.