ArranP

A lot of Thai people on't legaly marry and only hold a wedding ceremony, which is not a legal marriage. In that case the Thai mother has sole custody if a child is born, unless the child is legitimised (regocnised as his child) by the father. When legaly married both parents have custody by law.

When the marraige is carried out in the UK, is it recognised as a legal marraige by the Thai authorities also?

The situation of PPG is quite different from you Richard. You were married and asked for a divorce. He has NEVER been married.

Under Thai laws, even if you are on the birth certificate as the father, if you are NOT married with the mother, you don't have any "parental powers". It means that the mother has full custody and decides about everything on the child. (section 1546 of the Commercial and Civil Code of Thailand - CCCT). There are ways to change that: The mother can sign a document at the amphur making you a "legitimate father". It's called legitimization. (1548 CCCT). A subsequent marriage after the birth can also legitimazed the child (1547) and of course, you can go to Court and ask full custody and legitimization but you will need serious arguments. (see clause 1555)

Best way would be that the mother signs this paper at the Amphur. Going to Court will take a long time, will requires lawyer's fee and will be difficult to win if the mother contest. It's always better to get an agreement...

You should read article 1536 of CCCT and following, especially 1546, 1548 and 1555. I will try to put them today on our website in the section INFO and FAMILY. Not sure if I will be able!!

Good luck.

If the father (British) and mother (Thai) were married in the UK prior to the baby being born in the UK, but never married in Thailand. Do the Thai authoritees recognise this as a marrige and therefore the father has equal custodial rights to the child when remaining in Thailand?

Isn't tourism going to be on the downside due to this global recession ?

The crackdown on motorcyclists not wearing crash helmets seems to be continuing on a regular basis in Nakhonsawan. The police are out in force and stopping hundreds of offenders each week now and the offenders are getting tickets - so be careful with no helmet when riding here. The police are very good at pulling offenders near traffic lights.

For those driving cars late at night the police are also setting up road blocks, especially around the park area and near Big C. They do seem to be testing for alcohol too.

I've been stopped a few times in Nakhon Sawan, on the way to Nakhon Sawan, and in BKK. My wife always takes over the conversation, a small donation is sometimes made and were on our way.

FYI you can get mortgages on those houses.

What banks ? BKKB, SCB ? I guess the rates are about 7 or 8% ?

Hi, yes you can move teak, but make sure you have a permit from the Forestry Department, cause if the highway boys stop ya, you will have a mess of explaining to tell without that permit.

Teak wood is prized wood here in Thailand. And it is getting in the protective stages now.

Most foreigners rent homes here, and some of them are married and have their own houses too. Rent for a house is around 2,000 baht on the average. In some cases they might hit you up to 4,000 but that is rare. Same for townhouses if you want to be in one of those Sauna homes. You can find a nice spiffy small one for around 1,500 Baht a month too. Usually just on the outskirts of the city itself.

I think living in the outskirts is much better than being squashed like a sardine with the people in Town. This is my opinion. If you need to do a visa run, you can go on the highway and head north to Mae Sot. Total time to do this visa run tops out 6 to 7 hours depending on your driving round trip. Reason of the hours is just going thru 80 Kilometers of mountains takes me 1 hour one way. Doing the visa walk and stamping on both sides takes you another hour. So really the highway itself is only 3 to 4 hours tops round trip. Best time to do this run is leave here around 4 AM and you arrive in Mae Sot around 6:30 to 7 am, and then leave Mae Sot around 8 AM and arrive back here around 10:30 to 11 AM . Doing it this way you avoid most traffic both ways. My Honday City uses a full tank of gas on this run. The mountains burn up a lot of that fuel for the most part.

Oh by the way don't bring Pop cans with you thru those mountains. They automatically decompress (inverted) and swooooooosh comes out your pop!!!!!!!!!! Plastic bottles much better, but open them from time to time to equalize the pressure altitude.

The foreigners are scattered all around town here. I bring my two dachshunds out to Big C and do my shopping with them in the cart. So if you see a shopping cart with 2 Dachshunds, then you will be seeing me either right there or near by it.

Other than that, Nakhon Sawan is OK to stay in, but trust me BEWARE of those motorbikes. There is so many here it is literally soon going to be called Motorcycle City.

Daveyo

Where can you rent for 4,000 baht per month in Nakhon Sawan, my wife is from Nakhon Sawan we return there in a few months, when I mentioned these prices to her she was surprised how cheap.

Are there any rental agencies, or is it just a case of driving around looking for the "to-rent" signs ?

Regards

Arran.

I tend to lean toward the positive story, and am in the process of moving my capital from USD into GBP.

Merry Christmas all

:D Are you being bloody serious or pulling a few hundred legs here ?

You might as well start bringing water into the Pacific Ocean...

LaoPo

I guess everyone choses their own particular brand of poison Lao, mine is a good Merlot or Cabernet though I do concurr with your sentiments however, anyone moving their Dollars or Euros into Sterling at this time, definately are in need of some serious financial counseling

Another reason statigists on Bloomberg give for commodities to rise during 2009 are inventories, at the momemt manufacturers have stopped producing, sometime next year as inventories bottom, they are expected to re-start manufacturing again, thus purchasing commodities.

I moved my capital from GBP into USD at 1.97 in June 2007, I'm moving my capital into GBP from USD December 2008/January 2009 at approx 1.48, so I'm locking-in what is already a substantial gain.

Lets comg back to this at the end of 2009, maybe I will be wrong and need conselling :-) but will hold off on making my appointment for now. :-) always keen to learn and thanks for your input :-)

At the moment from my perspective I have your goodself and maybe a few other people on this forum in the USD strength camp with many stratigists on Bloomberg in the USD weakness camp for end of 2009.

I think the main difference between you and these stratigists on Bloomberg is they believe the economic will pick up toward the end of 2009, ie a recession of approx 4 qtrs but not a depression, whilst I think you believe it will take longer?

With money down what is the going interest rate on the credit portion ?

Are the prices of the cars inflated to accomodate the financing ?

I wouldn't like to transfer GBP into THB in this climate, but would like a car.

I see a great deal of wishful thinking here about how much the Pound will rise vs. the Dollar in 2009, but then again I guess if I were a Brit (especially an expat brit) I would be hoping and praying for the same thing! The reality might be a little different though. The world economies are about to enter the greatest period of deflationary pressure since the great depression, and those closet goldbugs here wishing for large scale investment into commodities in 2009 will likely be extremely dissapointed The Pound and Euro will be at par at some point during Q1, but the exchange rate with the Dollar will be closer to $1.30 than $1.65 Most of The hedge funds and investment banks that were flush with cash and using 40-1 leverage to push oil, gold, copper and a host of other commodities to all time highs are no longer around, so the pipe dream that commodities will be making a comeback in 2009 may fall just a wee bit short!!! As for Mr. Mobius he has specialized in investment opportunities outside of the U.S. for the better part of the past 40 years, and was widely regarded until he got caught in the Chinese market crash and then more recently in the Russian market colapse. I am not sure what Mr Mobius is pushing these days, but I would take what he has to say with a grain of salt as his recent track record has been a little rough Merry Christmass to all and to all a good night

Merry Christmas Vic,

I agree with you, without a rise commodities/equities I see/here no reason why the dollar would weaken from 1.30/140 to the pound.

However, most stratigists on Bloomberg are forecasting either

1) "better" or "not as bad" economic figures toward the end of 2009, they know the stock market tends to pick up two quarters prior to the econimic, therefore they are forecasting equities starting to pick up from Q3 onwards.

2) commodities recovering through 2009, I think this would be caused by the availability of near 0% cheap money, like the JPY or USD.

What we have seen in 2008 is the selling of commodities and equities causing the USD to strengthen.

If in 2009 we see the buying of commodities and equities this would inturn cause the USD to reverse trend and weaken.

I don't know if equities/commodities will rise, I only know they are expecting "Not as bad" econmic figures toward the end of 2009, and funding in USD and JPY is currently very cheap.

I tend to lean toward the positive story, and am in the process of moving my capital from USD into GBP.

Merry Christmas all

USD/JPY JPY reported to weaken against the USD in the near term from Japanese authorities interveening to weaken its currency (reported on Bloomberg)

EUR/USD EUR reported to weaken against USD due to the ECB being behind on rate cuts, and germany apparently about to fall the cliff (reported by currency stratigists on Bloomberg)

GBP/EUR EUR due to weaken against GBP for the same reasons given in EUR/USD.

GBP/USD GBP may weaken further in the near term from further BOE rate cuts, but strengthening to 1.80/1.90 by end of 2009 (reported by Barclays Capital)

http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/307...ains-debt.thtml

MJP, I was about to comment on the last line of Arrans post regarding the Pound getting to $1.80 by the end of 2009 until I read your link to the spectator article, I think that the spectator made the UK's dilema far more clear more than I could One of my oldest friends on Wall Street told me a couple months ago that things will be getting bad very soon then they will get worse, but as bad as the situation may seem here in the U.S. he told me the situation in the UK (where much of his business was) will be worse by a factor of 2 or perhaps 3 times. He thought back then that the FED would have to go to 0% on the FED funds rate and that eventually the BOE will have to do the same, however he said that there was a big difference between the U.S. and the U.K., as he put it the U.S. had more outs! As a former poker player I knew what the term meant, but until I read this article by the spectator I didn't know exactly just how bad the situation was in the U.K. was. In the first 90 days of the new year I think you will see the Pound and Euro at par and the BOE cutting their interest rate to 0%, the ECB will also be forced to cut their rates substantially so the Dollar will hit new 52 week highs against both of them. As far as Barclays predicting the Pound to be at $1.80-$1.90 by years end, well lets just say that Barclays has a better chance of no longer being a going concern by the end of 2009 than the Pound has of being back in the $1.80-$1.90 range.

The artical certainly lends itself for good reading and one to note about UK Debt level.

I think the currency speculators at Barclays are saying USD currency is going to weaken thru 2009. I don't think they're inferring UK economic strength.

I think they (and some other stratigists) believe commodities will rise (and maybe equities a little) thru 2009, and it is this that will cause the USD to weaken, something to do with money-flow.

Historically as equities and commodities rise the inverse happens in the dollar, the USD falls against other currencies.

With near 0% funding currencies available like the USD and YEN, Institions and retail investors will get little return whist remaining in cash.

The concept of a falling USD at some point in 2009, probably sooner rather than later, seems widely accepted, as does a falling GBP - question is, where does that leave GBP/THB or should I say USD/THB and GBP/USD?

Which is the greater force?

1. Re-investment into comodities and equities thru 2009 causes the dollar to weaken.

2. UK bad economic in excess to its peers (ie. US / Europe / Japan) causing GBP weakness.

I wouldn't be too confident on the bad UK economic getting in the way of global re-investment into equities and commodities. I think this is the reasoning behind the USD dollar weakness against most currencies including the pound.

I'm not too sure what will happen with the Thai baht, maybe it will also stengthen against the dollar, maybe Thai authorities will interveen to weaken its currency (like Japan is starting to do now), it is a tourist nation?

USD/JPY JPY reported to weaken against the USD in the near term from Japanese authorities interveening to weaken its currency (reported on Bloomberg)

EUR/USD EUR reported to weaken against USD due to the ECB being behind on rate cuts, and germany apparently about to fall the cliff (reported by currency stratigists on Bloomberg)

GBP/EUR EUR due to weaken against GBP for the same reasons given in EUR/USD.

GBP/USD GBP may weaken further in the near term from further BOE rate cuts, but strengthening to 1.80/1.90 by end of 2009 (reported by Barclays Capital)

http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/307...ains-debt.thtml

MJP, I was about to comment on the last line of Arrans post regarding the Pound getting to $1.80 by the end of 2009 until I read your link to the spectator article, I think that the spectator made the UK's dilema far more clear more than I could One of my oldest friends on Wall Street told me a couple months ago that things will be getting bad very soon then they will get worse, but as bad as the situation may seem here in the U.S. he told me the situation in the UK (where much of his business was) will be worse by a factor of 2 or perhaps 3 times. He thought back then that the FED would have to go to 0% on the FED funds rate and that eventually the BOE will have to do the same, however he said that there was a big difference between the U.S. and the U.K., as he put it the U.S. had more outs! As a former poker player I knew what the term meant, but until I read this article by the spectator I didn't know exactly just how bad the situation was in the U.K. was. In the first 90 days of the new year I think you will see the Pound and Euro at par and the BOE cutting their interest rate to 0%, the ECB will also be forced to cut their rates substantially so the Dollar will hit new 52 week highs against both of them. As far as Barclays predicting the Pound to be at $1.80-$1.90 by years end, well lets just say that Barclays has a better chance of no longer being a going concern by the end of 2009 than the Pound has of being back in the $1.80-$1.90 range.

The artical certainly lends itself for good reading and one to note about UK Debt level.

I think the currency speculators at Barclays are saying USD currency is going to weaken thru 2009. I don't think they're inferring UK economic strength.

I think they (and some other stratigists) believe commodities will rise (and maybe equities a little) thru 2009, and it is this that will cause the USD to weaken, something to do with money-flow.

Historically as equities and commodities rise the inverse happens in the dollar, the USD falls against other currencies.

With near 0% funding currencies available like the USD and YEN, Institions and retail investors will get little return whist remaining in cash.

My apologies in advance to some people.

I find this averts my own frustration, trying to tip-toe around the issue however well intentioned for me frequently leads to the situation bubbling up and does more damage than the following:

I present it in the following easiest way for my wife; If a mans car breaksdown/is off the road, then what is a man to do ? he will either take the buss or rent a car. Then leave it upto her to decide when or if she is ready and continue to support her in all other areas.

USD/JPY JPY reported to weaken against the USD in the near term from Japanese authorities interveening to weaken its currency (reported on Bloomberg)

EUR/USD EUR reported to weaken against USD due to the ECB being behind on rate cuts, and germany apparently about to fall the cliff (reported by currency stratigists on Bloomberg)

GBP/EUR EUR due to weaken against GBP for the same reasons given in EUR/USD.

GBP/USD GBP may weaken further in the near term from further BOE rate cuts, but strengthening to 1.80/1.90 by end of 2009 (reported by Barclays Capital)

I just finished reading currency forecasts from two different banks and guess what, they forecast GBP/USD to be 1.35 by the end of 1Q09 and by the end 4Q10 it is forecast to be 1.17. As a guide it currently sits at 1.4950 - this seems to support the longer term strategy of some others on this forum and annoyingly means that Britmaveric may yet be right after all.

Hi Chiang Mai,

I'm interested to read these forecasts, please can these sources be shared ?

Thanks

Regards

Arran.

......

I would like to look into typical running costs, costs of producing vs revenue generated from sales, ie is it worh while venture.

Due to the enormous variety of crops and livestock species it is impossible to suggest typical costs, revenue and profits. Even for one specific enterprise, e.g. dairy cattle, you will find considerable variation with some people making losses while others make profits (due to differences in skills, location, scale, capital intensity, amount of value added to the product, etc).

I do not intend this to provide myself with an income immediatley, but rather an investment for my families future, I worry about my daughter having a job when she grows up..... I like the idea of the home being a place of hussle and bussle of organising employing people to come and farm the land.... I like the idea of my wife becoming involved with this business and making it a family business... I lke the idea of building a home in the middle of farming land...

Nothing wrong with your ideas and many of us here in this forum have similar ideas, but I hope you have already checked with your wife and daughter to see if they share your ideas.

Best regards,

JB.

Thank you Jungle Biker, some good information from which will help me form a base understanding.

Hi Arran

Your question would take a book to reply to in terms of its scope. I farm 200 rai and have done so for many years here in Nakhon Sawan. I’m Scottish, BTW. I’d be happy to answer any and all your questions over a couple of beers at my home/farm. I’ll PM the details if you wish to visit.

Cheers

Khonwan

Yes, I would like that. I'm Welsh :-).... Lets exchange email addresses, I come to Nakhon Sawan for a month in February then we move to Thailand from May onwards, closer to the time I can get in touch.

Many Thanks Khonwan.

I'm moving my capital from USD to GBP, on the presumption the USD/GBP will be at approx 1.90 end of 2009, which means if the USD/THB remains at 35, then GBP/THB will be 66.5

I'll probably delay buying any substantial assets until the GBP/THB improves towards the end of 2009, and just withdraw month on month living expenses.

Keep an option open on working maybe 6 months UK/Europe each year, then 6 months back in Thailand.

I'm invested in Tulip Trend fund, its a Managed Futures fund, historically its done well in down-turns, its performance can be seen at www.trend.ky

Also, I'm invested in Brandeaux Dollar Fund, but want to switch to their Student Accomodation Fund Sterling, these funds return approx 7 to 10% per anum, you can pull up the performance of these funds on www.bloomberg.com

After the dollar weakens, and you get more baht for your pound, then I may consider large asset purchases.

Bloomberg: Today the Japanese authorities have announced their intention to intervene in the currency markets to weaken the Yen.

Currently at 89 to the dollar, traditionally they have liked to stay above 100. If currency traders know this is a one way bet, this could incourage using the Yen as a funding currency, as the BOJ is at near 0%, to buy commodities (priced in dollars).

The price of oil, gold and other commodities will rise as speculators re-enter the market.

The start of re-establishing positions in commodities and later perhaps equities, has in-turn eventually lead to the weakening of the dollar.... and therefore the strengthening of the pound, more baht for your pound!!

In the near term however, the pound may have further to weaken from the remaining BOE rate cuts over the next 6 months.

I think the Recession is global, therefore the Macro is dire everywhere...

I looked at a Qualified Retirement Offshore Pension Scheme. Basically the QROPS itself is just wrapper, the underlying investments may or may not differ from your current pension scheme.

The QROPS may offer significant tax advantages depending on your circumstance, I think basically it allows you to change the tax-duristiction where the withdrawls are submitted ie offshore. Best bet is to contact a financial advisor, many can be found on the internet.

Don't quote me on any of these as I am not an expert and this is from memory, but I remember the following points

5 years after pension has been moved into a QROP, the provider is no longer obligated to report withdrawls to the HMRC.

Withdrawls can commence from age 50 onwards.

I think according to the GAD rules (which are also applied in the UK) upto 9 or 10% can be withdrawn each year for income purposes.

QROPS is a tax efficient wrapper around an investment product(s)

There were some QROPS schemes based out of Singapore closed down by the HMRC in june 2008 as (if I remember correctly) the providers allowed the QROPS holder(s) to withdraw ALL the funds straight away!

The financial needs of my family and myself are seperate to this farming project. The farming project does not need to provide an income, quite the reverse I can see myself funding the farming project until sufficient lessons are learnt that it can eventually (maybe after many years) turn a profit.

Its and idea for the next generation, whilst in 20 or 30 years I may (or may not) have finances to pass onto my children, I thought it could be something they could choose to apply themselves to if they so wished. At least giving the the choice would be my driver.

From a discipline perspective... in my thoughts I can see the gathering of skilled and knowledgeble employees over the years to carry out the labour itself, with the family owning the land, managing the finances, contacts, orders and sales.

The few types of farmings I know so far, are chicken, rice...

My wifes extended family already are in the business of slaughtering chickens, so growing chickens may be an appropriate avenue to go down. But I'm not sure, what are the better areas of farming from a profit perspective? Maybe this in itself is a hard question to answer as things will change over the years, I am interested in learning the various details and lessons learnt already.

Will be arriving in NS by train on Friday, how far to the Pimarn please?

Do I go into town as Arran mentioned or ask the driver of a truck cab to drop me at the hotel?

Pimarn is probably about 5 to 10 mins walk from BigC or 2 minutes by truck-cab, and maybe 5 to 10 mins by truck-cab from fairyland, I would take the truck-cab to the pimarn, its very hot outside!!

The pimarm does not have internet, but just across the way there is a small coffee shop called "I am coffee", it has internet.

Pimarm normally charges about 850 baht per night.

It has always been my understanding that only Thais could own land in Thailand. Pardon me for asking, but do you qualify?

Yes, the business is for my wife and child who both have Thai citizenship.

It has always been my understanding that only Thais could own land in Thailand. Pardon me for asking, but do you qualify?

Yes, the business is for my wife and child who both have Thai citizenship.

oh I forgot to mention this would be in and around the Nakhon Sawan area.

Hello people,

I would like to touch on the subject of agricultural farming in Thailand, and can it be a profitable business ?

Does anybody have any knowledge on this subject ?

I thought growing food for sale would be a good business in both good and hard-up times, people always need to eat!

I would like to learn about the different varieties of farming in Thailand, rice, potatoe etc....

I would like to look into typical running costs, costs of producing vs revenue generated from sales, ie is it worh while venture.

I do not intend this to provide myself with an income immediatley, but rather an investment for my families future, I worry about my daughter having a job when she grows up..... I like the idea of the home being a place of hussle and bussle of organising employing people to come and farm the land.... I like the idea of my wife becoming involved with this business and making it a family business... I lke the idea of building a home in the middle of farming land...

Regards

Arran.