jbaldwin

If earning less than 35k baht per month the only option is a multiple entry non-b visa.

The employer would have to make a false statement in order to pay the additional taxes to prove the income. An individual cannot just pay additional taxes on income only a company or business can do that.

Thanks. Is it easy to yet a multiple entry non-b visa? Where can they be obtained? Penang? Loas?

It is possible to get a single entry non-b based on a job offer (ie before a work permit is issued) right?

What are the options for a Filipina with a work permit but earning less than the 35,000 baht required for a 1 year non-imm "B" extension?

I have been told it might be possible to just pay tax on a 35,000 baht salary even if she earn less. Is this correct?

Is it possible to get a single entry "B" anywhere.

Can you work on an ED visa.

Any option other than border run every 15 days?

Yes they can legally shut off utilities here quite easily. Potential buyers take note.

In my building the management can turn off the water (which is provided and billed for by them) but not the electricity (which is billed directly by the PEA). They could prevent access to the common areas but I have never heard of them doing so. And of course all this applies as much to tenants as to owners.

Yeah, mine too. They shut off water when justified. They can do so totally legally. A condo without water is useless.

In our condo the management MUST disconnect water supplies to anyone 6 month overdue in payment. If they feel there is some reason to make an exception there must obtain the Committee's approval in advance.

We currently have 1 out of 144 units where 2013 common fee is still outstanding and this unit is empty and for sale. Over 90% of owners received a 15% discount on 2014 common fee by paying before the end of last year.

....But isn't this exactly what many hotels do every year. Increase staffing in Nov and Dec to cover high season and gradually reduce numbers back to normal often by deciding staff have failed probation. It seems entirely normal that very new few staff will be recruited at the end of Jan or in Feb

If you do a search on this site, you will find several recent threads on the difficulties she will face just trying to exit the Philippines; not at all easy even if she has a valid passport. Also, most Philippinos working here are faced with constant visa runs...long term visas are very hard to get.

Yes. I am aware of the issue. Filipinos cannot leave their country to work overseas without registering as an overseas worker and make arrangements though an approved agency in the Philippines. immigration may not allow them to leave if they suspect they are traveling to work. There is no problem if they are going on holiday and finding work while they are overseas. I am planning to travel with her which should mean that there will be no problem.

Although easier to obtin they still require a WP so options are limited. Teaching and nannying spring to mind but that is hardly progress, more a climbdown from call center work.

Yes. Both are options in Pattaya but not really want see is looking for. I also know Filipinas are working in Pattaya as hotel receptionists and doing customer relations work in Bangkok Pattaya Hospital.

I think she would be able to find work, many expat companies who would pay a premium and accept legal hoops to jump through to get well educated, good English and self motivated employees who would appreciate the work.

Pm me her cv if you wish, I can forward to a few companies who are looking for English speakers.

Thank. I will arrange this soon.

What is wrong with the call center job?

Your friend needs to get a foot in the door

No one starts at the top ... unless connected

If you friend can speak Thai ... then why not?

Everyone has to start somewhere, if your friend works hard then most call centers offer chance to move up

No she cannot speak any Thai. You are right there is nothing wrong with call centre work as a start. That is what she is doing now in the Philippines but nearly all Philippine call centre are US facing so only operate at night. The company she work for only has US clients and has no daytime opertunities...but speaking to Americans 8 hours a day is a really good way of improving English language skills. For most people there is a limit to how long you want to work in a call centre and after 9 months she has now reached that limit.

The labour markets in Thailand and the Philippines are totally different. Thailand has staff shortages at nearly every level and virtually no unemployment. The Philippines on the other hand has very high unemployment and it is very difficult to find work.

But unskilled labor is still unskilled labor.

Pattaya is well known for it's bars, so she could try that. Although, at the moment, it seems like Russian girls are in vogue.

Not sure how well you know the current labour market in Thailand. What is very clear is that there is great demand for graduates with good English Language skills. If she had the same background and was Thai it would be very easy to find work. My real question is how much would the fact the she could not speak Thai and that an employer would need to arrange a work permit limit opportunities. Very greatly or totally?

sorry, this might be a bit sarcastic,

but, firstly, she has a collage degree, and who graduated with her work low paying retail, or even the better paying call center?

it is probably equal to one of those worthless/useless degree, that all too many hold from "well known" thai universities here.

if your friend wants to leave Phils for greener pasture, she would be lot better of looking for those greener pastures somewhere else than Thailand, if considering the cost to fly here, cost of expat life, chances to find a "high" paying job without any particularly appealing skill/degree what the locals dont have in abundance, and without local language knowledge are very limited.

why Thailand?

She might has option to find a housekeeper/babysitter job with a farang family...or there is always the road to freelancers in to the "entertainment" industry, though that involves usually night shifts as well.

seriously, i dont think there is a lot more that Thailand could offer to her than her own country do, they arent all that different.

The labour markets in Thailand and the Philippines are totally different. Thailand has staff shortages at nearly every level and virtually no unemployment. The Philippines on the other hand has very high unemployment and it is very difficult to find work.

Interested to know what would be the job opportunities in Pattaya for my friend.

She graduated last year in business administration. Has been working for the last 9 months in a call centre. The client company is a major US financial firm....but this means work night shift in the Phillippines.

She has much better English than most Thai graduates but cannot speak any Thai.

The jobs situation is very different to Thailand. Many of those who graduated with her are working in minimum wage retail jobs. Working nights in a call centre pays about 40% more than a typical graduate sharing salary in the Philippines but is not really a long term option.

She will be visiting Pattaya in mid-march. What are the job opportunities there?

Withdrawal of these amounts has not stopped at all. What has changed are the procedures for withdrawal.

Some people want their cake and eat it too. They criticise the banks for not taking care in how accounts are used for nefarious purposes and then complaining about the blowback.

And this is only for cash transactions not cheques or bank transfers. How many people withdraw more than GBP5,000 in cash from a UK bank? I never have. Why not use a cashiers cheque or a bank transfer? HSBC got big fines in the USA for not preventing money laundering by its customers and now are trying to verify that that are valid reasons for customers in the UK making large cash transactions. It seems an entirely reasonable reaction.

Well, of course a home is an asset. Hopefully over time it is an appreciating asset. My car is an asset as well, albeit a depreciating asset. Both are factored into the equation when I calculate my net worth. The difference in classifying them as use assets is that, for me at least, they are not a part of my investment equation.

assuming your home appreciates... what then? you sell it and build/buy a cheaper one? or move to a cheaper area and acquire an equivalent home?

my questions are not rhetorical. i am really interested why people long for appreciation of the real estate they use for living.

When I retired, I sold a house in London and spent 18% of the proceeds on a condo in Pattaya. The appreciation of my London house makes a large difference to my current standard of living and was a key reason why I was able to retire at 37.

The proportion of my assets in Equities is always 100% less my age - plus or minus 2%.

The basis for this is that a feel that I can time purchase/sale decisions.

Over time, as a get older, should sell equities and take less risk.

When equities go up I sell some - if they go down a lot a buy some.

land and houses bank as its called for me its like a building society has a fair deal on 3.5% fixed for 15months interest paid monthly,so yesterday when the wife told them she wouldn't be touching the interest till the end of term.as you need a separate acc.they told her to open a current acc.with 5,000bht and have the interest paid into it,as long as the balance doesn't go below 5k interest is paid at 2% as we normally have around 500,000bht in an account for living exs.the rate goes up to 2.70% this seems a fair deal getting interest on the interest.but hurry the 3.5%ends 31st.jan.

Yes you are right LH is like a building society and they fall quicker than a deck of card's.

Do you know of another similar bank that has ever failed in Thailand?

Box office in the West Indies, about says it all....

and a contact telephone number with a country code that does not match the address.

I remember that many TV channels were blocked so I could not watch BBC news.....but otherwise I saw nothing that would suggest that there had been a coup.

I think there must be a committee under the act. Of course if no-one except the jps friends nominate and attend the meeting that is the committee.

This is not the advice of the Land Office. If no Committee can be formed the condo will continue to operate but checks and balances over the way the JPM acts.

Our condo for the last 10 years or so has been run really well, the security, garden maintenance, pool...etc,etc have all been kept up to a very good standard.

The strict rules means that the standards are kept up and everyone's been happy, the committee has an annual AGM, the members are voted in for the year, they

decide where the budget will be spent and direct the Thai office staff.

Yesterday however the chairman sends out an e-mail to all the owners saying that someone has spoken to him (another owner) and said he's going to report him to immigration as he hasn't got a work permit, and insist they get him deported !! (dont know the full details).

The chairman has then spoken to all the other committee members and they have all resigned.

Without the owners committee the place will fall to ruin, imaging the Thai office staff looking after our annual budget ......it will probably be gone in the first week on one new lawnmower, which they would have a receipt for 5 million thb.

My question is does anyone have any views to this type of thing being classed as working, which would require a work permit, there's no salary involved all voluntary. It must be going on all over Thailand, on the condo complexes.

Thanks for your help

I think I know which condo you are talking about.

I have received very clear legal advice that no work permit is required for the activities I undertake as Committee Chairman.

In addition, the Juristic Person Manager, used her contacts to make an appointment to meet a senior official of the Land Office. He also confirmed that no work permit was required.

Equally as importantly we received advice on the circumstances under which immigration is likely to start an investigation and the type of evidence that would be required to take an investigation forward.

Although it was important to confirm our understanding of the legal position, concerns about this were not the main reason for the resignation of the Committee. The behaviour of the co-owner was much more important.

Until there are volunteers to form a new committee, the Condo will now be run entirely at the discretion of the Juristic Person Manager, who still owns a substantial number of units. Actually, I would be more concerned that there will be great reluctance for her to approve any major item of future expenditure which, over time, may lead to a deterioration in the appearance and condition of the condo.

The charge is 150b in the condo where I live. I think unprogrammed disks cost about 120b in Tukcom. So 30 baht added from purchasing and coding

Swedish Laws - No Condom = Rape - Consensual or Not - Just ask Assange.

Just a matter of time before the law reaches these shores. Just like the drug laws, drinking and driving, smoking in public etc.

How do you make babies in Sweden ?

This is a terrible situation and hopefully the musician will get his just deserts

I believe that in the Assange case the allegation was that the woman had consented to sex with a condom. He was aware the that Condom had broken and continued. That is he had unprotected sex without consent.

I am the Chairman of a condo in Pattaya. For the reasons already set out we think that it is important that owners have there own insurance. We therefore spoke to our building insurance firm and subject to getting a minimum number of owners involved they agreed to offer cover to our owners at a cost of 650 baht for 500,000 baht of cover or 1,300 baht for 1 million. I believe that these are much better rates than could be obtained individually.

30 December was made an additional Public Holiday. I think that decision was made in November.

There is no legal requirement that the management company is not connected with the developer. Who is the management company is a decision for the Committee. If the Committee decides the it is appropriate for the developer to act as management company then that is fine. If theCommittee decides that the management company should be replaced then it will replace them.

There are foreign exchange control in Thailand.....but basically if you are show that you have brought money into the country then you can send up to that amount out again.