tamaique

In America, it is not uncommon to see the Bean Burrito & hamburger on the menu. I don't mind that. What I do mind, is if I call a bank, and I get a recorded message, and the first language on the message is in.... Spanish! When that happens, I question if I dialed Mexico or something????

Can you guess why the first language on the message at the bank was in Spanish? I wonder which customers they treasure most and why.

In any case, Bean Burritos are not Mexican, they're a tex-mex invention... and, Mexico is in America, and so is the USA.

Oh, and pretty much half the USA used to be Mexico, I hope it doesn't bother you that cities and states have ... Spanish! names, such as: Colorado, California, Boca Raton, Cabo Cañaveral, El Paso, Florida, Fresno, Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Gatos, Montana (from Montaña), San Antonio, Nevada, San Francisco, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Santa Fe, Texas, and the list goes on... But hey, those dirty Mexicans are taking over your country; better build a wall fast!

Hasta la vista...

I wish I had saved the Thai newspaper I was reading a couple of days ago. In the jobs section the first large posting for a Thai airline looking for flight attendants specifically requested:

Gender: Female.

Marital Status: Single.

Age: 24-29 (I believe).

I should have checked at the time, it might have even asked for "Stewardess" and not "Flight Attendant."

The next job posting was for the UN; "Statistics Assistant" I believe. Although it was worded in a different way from the first, there was a section in bold stating: <<Women are encouraged to apply>>. Although not exactly the same as "Only women need apply," it does sound like a discouragement for men. Oh, just for reference, NET salary 76,000 baht per month

Anyway, specifically limiting job applicants based on gender, marital status or age is usually against the law in many countries. Not racism per se but definitely discrimination.

Does anyone know what happened with the Chinese New Year celebrations in Bangkok? Supposedly the Chinese government had sent over some amazing performers, fireworks, etc. (even the largest dragon ever in Bangkok for the parade). We were there from around 7 to 12 and not much happened. The streets were packed and eventually the princess walked down chinatown. Weren't the celebrations supposed to start after her appearance?

Sawadii pi ghoon!

Has anyone seen this? We were driving back from dinner (12:30am) and 20 or 30 military hummers and a few military helicopters are all parked outside the palace, all facing Sri Ayutthaya Road. Seem to be setup for a military display but you never know anymore

Thanks for your reply Arkady. I think you're right I talked to my lawyers and was told things wouldn't change for me. Must be for the big fish then

I've actually switched to Pall Mall lights for now, so there's still other lights around. My father smokes LM Menthol and those are also still available.

Malboro lights are more expensive (60 or 65 Baht per pack instead of 46). Anyway, I started hating Malboro after spending time in other Asian countries, such as India, and getting old terrible tasting Malboro's. I also don't see why I should spend more money on them if I can't notice any difference. It's not like they're Nat Shermans.

It's happened in Thailand too. Wonder also has some very inconsistent quality in my experience, once I smoked one that was so bad I stopped smoking for the rest of the day (I'm a heavy smoker)

Someone told me the other day that there was a shortage of Malboro lights about a year ago. It lasted for a few months apparently. I don't remember since I never smoked those.

edit:

Oh and then there's the tragic ending of the Malboro man (from the ads), who died of cancer. Very dark humor.

In this morning's Post, a representative of a large foreign firm said that this is 'an attempt to punish Taksin'. Which of course is no secret- but it does beg the question- does this government have any vision at all- aside from vindictiveness? And how much are they prepared to sacrifice in that quest?

(OK_ it's not vindictiveness- perhaps reflects a desparate need to justify the coup: it must be shown that Taksin broke laws- even if the laws have to be interpreted (invented?) after the fact.)

I wouldn't throw away everyone's interpretation that the reasoning for these ammendments may be stupid. However, it seems to me that this is always a simplistic way of looking at things.

I would rather try to understand if there are deeper implications to the change in laws. Let me paint a scenario. Please understand I'm INVENTING all of this as I go along and have no proof of anything. I just want to give a somewhat viable scenario of how the ammendments could have deeper rooted concerns at stake than harming small foreign company owners....

After Taksin was ousted lets imagine two different possibilities:

1) He said "such is life", accepted his loss of power, and is now enjoying himself elsewhere in the world, in complete disregard for Thailand.

2) He immediately started a "war" to regain power in Thailand because of his vested interests in the country.

I assume possibility #2. Then, none of us know exactly how he is waging this power war. He has many allies in Thailand (many powerful people) and elsewhere in the world. He has more than enough money to finance his schemes. Perhaps he has been doing better in this "war" than anyone suspects.

Again, I'm just making this all up, but...imagine when he sold Shin corporation somewhere in the sale contracts there was a clause stating that something in the deal could change if the Thai laws changed and foreigners could no longer control a company, such as a penalty, etc.

Just an example. What I'm trying to say is that I don't believe that this is either just a vindictive act or a xenophobic policy or just something one of the generals thought of while drinking his morning coffee. In fact, I imagine it will have little effect on small foreign controlled companies as there is bound to be another loophole or another way to keep controlling these companies.

The political struggles at the highest places of power are not obvious to those who look at them from the outside, but there is generally much more than meets the eye. I'm guessing we're only able to see the tip of the iceberg here.

Just an idea.

Watch the baht in the coming days and months............

It is about time that the Thai politics, do a little more to weaken the Baht. The loss of around 7 per cent since April 2005 is a shame for the country. Lets go back to 50 Baht per Euro. That is even easier to calculate for everybody and a little "Thank you" for those farangs who permanently spending their money in Thailand.

Would suit me too, BUT it would make millions of Thai Nationals who are much poorer than most Farangs in Thailand POORER as many items would be more expensive. If more expensive then firms may lay off employees if they cannot sell so well in Thailand or overseas.

I hope the Baht does weaken for a day or two for my sake when I finally manage to sell my Spanish house and wish to move the money here to buy a car and house for me and my family BUT I am under no illusion that I and most Farangs here can afford to deal with a strong Baht than most Thais can.

Dave

An overvalued Baht such as it stands does more to damage Thailand and Thais than an undervalued currency.

Why do you think China is holding on with all it's might to its undervalued currency?

It makes them more competitive therefore increasing exports. Also, foreign articles become more expensive if the baht devalues (i.e. imports), therefore poorer Thais will switch most imports to local brands, INCREASING consumption (and therefore production) of products made in Thailand, by Thais, so they wouldn't lose their jobs.

So lets hope the Baht weakens for everyone's sake.

P.S. If you know of anyone who is interested in exploring an export market in Mexico and the USA for rubber, particularly STR20 (perhaps smoked sheet #3 and #5)...please let me know.

Cheers

OK, I'm not an expert but I'll try to address a few things that might be useful:

1) Rubber is a commodity. Prices are dictated by the market. And the market is as perfect as can be expected for any commodity. I see somebody already provided a few websites. Rubber prices are dictated by supply and demand. You can check the physical prices here. There might be a section on futures as well...

http://www2.lgm.gov.my/Mre/daily.aspx (this is for the Malaysian exchange...I have a Thai site somewhere...I'll look for it, or just google natural rubber futures thailand, or NR futures thailand or STR20 futures thailand, etc.).

2) Rubber trees take around 7 years to grow before you can start "milking them". During this time you have to keep investing to keep them healthy and to weed out other plants, etc. (I'm no farmer so no specifics to tell you here).

3) Size is definitely an issue. 1000 trees doesn't sound too promising. Provided you can get a much larger extension, you can plant in phases (one section per year) so that when you do start producing your trees don't ALL age at the same time

4) IMHO if you don't have a factory you'll be screwed. You'll need to sell your product to factories and you'll get much less profit. So, you need to have enough land to justify the factory.

5) Once you have the factory you can also purchase from other farmers who don't have factories.

6) Your finished product (" natural rubber") isn't just generic. There are different kinds of NR such as:

Latex: You'll notice the prices for latex seem low in comparison, this is because latex contains more water. If you take into account density, Latex is most expensive (I believe).

Smoked Sheets #1, #3, #5: #1 being the most expensive because it is washed best. Usually used for products where color matters, plus having less dirt gives it better properties. Next #3...cheapest #5 (prices for that should be similar to STR20).

Next you have STR CV, STR L, STR 5, STR 10, STR 20: These also have to do with how "clean" the rubber is...think dirt content and Mooney viscosity as guideliness for the products. STR 20 is preferred for most automotive products (especially products where color doesn't matter), since the price is most competitive.

STR means Standard Thai Rubber (the Malaysian variety is SMR, SIR for Indonesia, etc.).

7) For smoked sheets, rubber is first set into "slabs". There's a washing process. Once it is dry enough they hang it and blow smoke into it (the unsophisticated factory setting is to build a fire and have a fan blowing the smoke towards the sheets...dunno about higher technology). The hot smoke and fan action helps dry the rubber faster. The smoke adds some properties to the rubber so it won't rot, etc. (important for export to far away markets for example). The STR, etc. come in thicker "blocks" which i believe are compressed, but I'm not possitive.

8) If you have no market you'll need a broker or distributor (this is essential I think, unless you already have potential clients lined up...even then I'd say you have to go through a broker) and they will buy rubber at the "spot price" (the current price for the commodity at a current place and time). Your goal is to sell when the market is up, their goal is to buy when the market is down.

9) Most large tyre companies have their own plantations and won't buy from you (I noticed someone mentioned tires). There's not many tyre companies (not sure about China) in the world since tyres are extremely high tech products.

10) 35% of the world production of rubber comes from Thailand, around 90% comes from Asia in general.

11) A plantation in Indonesia (no factory) can make around 15,000 Baht net income per hectare in peak conditions (i.e. mature clonal trees...I believe that means older than 10 years but I don't know younger than how many years). I also don't know if figures are similar to Thailand and what the difference would be if you have a factory (since this income is for selling slabs, which contain like 50% dirt and water). (I found this information on a website since I wanted some indication of net income per hectare so you could get a better idea regarding plantation size...I can't vouch for the authenticity of the figures...I do urge you to research this though).

12) Once the trees become too old and the production drops to a certain level, the trees are cut down (I believe it's something like 25 or 30 years) and the wood is sold (parawood). The plantations are replanted with young saplings (which makes me wonder how much a good clonal sapling would cost? As your profit will depend on this. Rubber is not planted from seeds...clones are grown and sold (the saplings). These used to be highly protected from each country that produced rubber (including Brazil and Malaysia...Brazil I believe was almost wipped out by a plague, but I'm not certain)

My family used to have some plantations a long time ago and I don't remember much good coming out of them. Of course, the owners weren't there to keep an eye since the plantations were far away from home and no one took them seriously enough (as far as I remember. I was young. they were setup during a rubber shortage to supply a rubber factory if it ever happened again).

The above is EXTREMELY basic and maybe not even completely accurate. I'm sure I missed many important aspects. I would urge you to research very well before undertaking your project. Most failed businesses stem from shitty planning. Develop a good business plan first. See what the investment is like, whether you can wait enough for the trees to start producing, etc. You can buy business plan pro at pantip plaza or something similar to guide you through the process somewhat.

OK I'm spent. I hope this helps.

Good luck!

I posted a link to the ammendments here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=100535

Go to page 5 and you can read the lists...

I'm also quite curious about what will happen.

Strong opinions for both sides. Was a fun argument but I don't think it's going to go anywhere from here.

Tada

Some interesting posts surely to come in the next few days after the ammendments to foreign investment in Thailand.

By the way, while we were debating the 10 dollar park fee issue, the US and the world decided to shit on Somalia...

After all, all is not bad in the LoS

I've been trying to make sense of the amendments to the foreign business act which can be found at:

http://asialaw.tripod.com/database/foreign.html

Anyway, in the lists of permited business, List 3...

The business which Thai national are not yet ready to complete with foreigners:

.....(11) Broker or agent business, except:

...© Being broker or agent for trading, purchasing or distributing or seeking both domestic and foreign markets for selling domestically manufactured or imported goods in the manner of international business operations having the foreigners' minimum capital 100 million Baht or more.

1) As I understand this, if I am an agent promoting the export of Thai products and wish to own a majority of stock in my company after the amendment comes into place, I would need to increase the registered capital of my business to 100 million Baht or more?

2) If increased to 100 million Baht, what percentage of that amount needs to actually be invested? (20%, 0%)? I'm sure the tax implications of increasing registed capital to 100 million will be disastrous anyway if that's the case.

3) Doesn't it sound rather stupid that a foreign controlled company promoting Thai exports be punished under the amendments? It seems to me that the government is trying to devaluate the Baht to make exports more competitive, that is to increase Thailand's exports. Doesn't the above example seem contrary to those intentions??

Especially regarding a Trading company or Agent who can just as easily continue with business based on a different country.

Ok, if the GDP argument doesn't convince you, cast it out. It was my way of seeing a justification. But you're right, it's not equal for all.

The fact is, as far as I can tell, Thais are making a distinction for the national park fees based on CITIZENS vs FOREIGNERS.

So, following your line of thought, it is unfair that foreigners cannot vote? It is unfair that we need to apply for visas and Thais don't? It is unfair that we can't just come to their country and work legally and they can? I'm sorry but foreigners do have different rights than citizens (everywhere), and it's fair.

All of us not Thai are GUESTS here. We are visitors at someone else's house, if we wish to remain here we have to follow their rules, and it seems quite fair to me.

All Arabs are GUESTS in [insert your home country]. They are visitors in someone else's house. If they wish to remain here they have to follow our rules, and it seems fair to me.

Firstly, "Arabs" does not state a nationality. There are Thai Arabs, Lebanese Arabs, British Arabs, etc. I'm sure ethnically Indian, Arab, Chinese, etc. Thais pay citizen park fees.

It has been stated before in this thread that they require foreigner park fees from other Asians (so definitely not based on race. It's just easier to slip in if you look similar, but that holds true everywhere).

You are still a guest at their house. Deal with that.

It is crap.Therefore when wealthy Thais visit my country, we should charge them 20x what the normal rate is because they are rich buggers??How to screw up tourism in one easy lesson.

The world is an imperfect place. That's why some people starve and others are billionaires. I don't like it any more than you.

There are plenty of farangs here that are not making millions and support families.

I agree. 10 dollar park fee is still not a matter of millions.

And, to some people it does matter "whether they have to pay 1 or 10 dollars for a park fee entrance. Does it really make a difference in the quality of life you can live here".Not everybody is wealthy pal.

You're not being forced to go to the national parks that charge 10 dollars. I've never been to one and and I consider the quality of my life to be quite good.

There are many free places in Thailand (if you really can't afford to pay 10 dollars), many cheap places, many fun things to do. I tend to ignore small issues like this. It makes the quality of my life THAT much better. No one's life is at stake, no one is being seriously harmed. Smile.

that's crap.just because other countries do it, does not make it right.

So by going by your scale of GDP, a more fair system would be having prices per nationality?

It's not "crap", it's fact. Granted, some GDP's are crap.

Pricing by income would be even better, but both systems more complicated. The main point is that this is their country and they are entitled to subsidise their citizens as they see fit. All of us not Thai are GUESTS here. We are visitors at someone else's house, if we wish to remain here we have to follow their rules, and it seems quite fair to me.

My point is (to those who oppose the double pricing in Thailand), you are here. For whatever reasons you have chosen Thailand over your own country (for many it has to do with the fact that it's cheaper to live here).

It's just annoying to hear people complain about whether they have to pay 1 or 10 dollars for a park fee entrance. Does it really make a difference in the quality of life you can live here (does it make a difference for the OP who drives a Fortruner)?

Many other issues may seem unfair. I was never able to get a VOA because of my nationality, I now get 30 days on a tourist visa instead of 60. Unfair? Sure. Such is life. Every country has its nuances.

So??? Thailand is not the only place in the world. The OP situation can happen in any country. The difference is, some countries are more humane than others. In the US, a foreigner who is supporting a US citizen can be petitioned to have right to stay. And who said that we are THAIs?

I wouldn't go there. The US isn't necessarily a good example. Quite a few Mexicans have been shot by US border land owners while trying to cross the border. I don't know if you recall the brief time a few years ago when supermarkets in the US used to sell "Mexican Killing Kits" (night vision, etc.). Could go on and on...

Thailand, after all, isn't nearly that bad. I knew a guy who overstayed his VOA for ONE YEAR in Thailand. He went to the airport, paid 20,000 Baht, was made to feel scared for a few minutes, and then sent on his way. He has since returned to Thailand on a new VOA.

If the racist components were removed from the state-sanctioned system, it'd be a lot easier to stop blaming racism.

Racism is a tautological issue and it exists everywhere.

I'm afraid we'll get nowhere discussing racism. It can be viewed both ways.

Usually though, racism is most important where prevalant in a stronger group against a weaker group.

Although western foreigners are a minority in Asia, in the grand scheme of things we (and our countries) still constitute the stronger oppresive group.

Quoting Edward Said:

""My contention is that Orientalism is fundamentally a political doctrine willed over the Orient because the Orient was weaker than the West, which elided the Orient’s difference with its weakness. . . . As a cultural apparatus Orientalism is all aggression, activity, judgment, will-to-truth, and knowledge" (Orientalism, p. 204).

What you call racism may actually be the counter-balance achieved by Asians (i.e. Occidentalism).

This position may very well change within our lifetimes.

GDP

GDP per capita in Thailand: US$8,600

GDP per capita in Bermuda: US$69,900

GDP per capita in the USA: US$41,600

Australia: US$31,600, UK: US$30,100

Source: CIA World Factbook, 2004-2005.

Annual Minimum Wage

Thailand: US$899-1,170 (depending on province)

USA: US$10,712

UK: US$19,098

Australia: US$20,315

Luxemburg: US$20,938/US$25,131 (Number 1. Skilled/Unskilled workers)

Source: Wikipedia.

So, that's why there is one price for tourists and one price for locals.

I get the feeling that most of those opposing double pricing are citizens of 1st world countries. Try to understand that you are not being ripped off, but rather that locals are being subsidized by their own government in their own country.

Argentina does the same thing (including airfare), so does India, Nepal, Malaysia....

Also, most locals will never even dream of visiting your home countries, setting up their own business there, or retiring there, because in the grand scheme of things, foreigners in Thailand are WEALTHY and most locals are POOR.

Learn to deal with it. The world is not a fair place (take a look at the data posted above). So, even if you think double pricing in Thailand is unfair, park fees are not the most important unfairness that needs correcting, here or anywhere else in the world. Try an average GDP of US$600 per year in the Gaza strip for example.

I believe that they do monitor this site from time to time. Question is.....are they on now?

I learn a little from those who agree with me. I learn more from those who disagree. I learn the most from those who hate me. Teach me, please.

A very Christian quote but...

Why am I getting the feeling that the only purpose behind your responses is to incite a bunch of follow-up, so your post will remain at the top and the "government officials that spy on thaivisa.com" will read the letter??

Your apparent extreme honesty (i.e. Working for coorporations is yucky, owning your own business is yucky, etc. etc.) seems to me to be a purposeful string of baits to keep us arguing out your topic.

There are two kinds of problems, those that have a solution and those that don't. If your problem has a solution, don't worry, solve it. If your problem doesn't have a solution, why worry?

YOUR visa problem HAS a solution.

As Rainman said, this is a solution. A solution is better than no solution.

Smile, there's light at the end of the tunnel!

Also, I don't know if it's been said before but: Many nationalities never had the VOA option, including my own. I'm sure I'm not the only one who managed.

For the record my parents had a triple entry tourist visa, used twice before it expired. Just got a new single entry in December. No questions asked, no notes made on passport...

I don't know what to make of this one, but unless I'm missing on a cultural nuance it ranks as one of the worst:

WORST

"expensive sushi buffet restaurant in bangkok": We were invited by a friend (which is why I didn't leave)....

We enter the restaurant and sit down. The waitress comes over and tells us the bill is 3000 Baht (1000 each). I tell her we just arrived. She looks at me in disdain and tells me, "you pay before eat", then stands there until my friend forked out the cash. I would have left immediately.

My friend and I actually got sick from the food. I took antibiotics as soon as it started. She didn't. My phone rang one day at 5am, all I could hear on the other line was a very weak voice saying "heeelp...I can't stop throwing up...it's been going on for more than 8 hours." Rushed her to the hospital where she stayed for 3 nights.

So many!

Something that particularly impressed me lately though:

Around the 3rd of the month I went to the manager to tell him I was leaving on vacations in a couple of days and needed the "rent due" slip (including electric and telephone) so I could pay him before I left (rent due on the 10th). He asked me when I was coming back. Told him around the 25th. He smiled and said "ooh nevermind. You pay when you come back, no problem." First time this ever happened to me anywhere in the world that I've rented, especially somewhere where they collect from over 50 different tenants every month.

Oh and another one...

Went bowling with my gf and the woman at the next lane started talking with us. She was a professional, training for a tournament. Very friendly. After a few minutes she asked me how many games we would play, I told her a couple each. She took out a booklet and gave me 10 tickets, one free game for each (each game was 170 baht I think). I said I couldn't accept. She said they were so cheap for her and she had so many anyway, so it didn't matter. She was Indonesian by the way, but it happened in BKK We exchanged e-mails, every few months we exchange a one liner hehe.

Perhaps some version of Rainman's post should be pinned so that everyone can read it, unless there's some law I'm not taking into consideration.

I didn't know you couldn't get more than 2 or 3 tourist visas, I'm still not sure that there's any restriction there. To the best of my knowledge you could keep getting tourist visas indefinitely. Four 60+30 visas in a year (well every 360 days) doesn't sound like such a bad solution. Plus you can always live on 1 year passports so no one complains about the number of stamps on your passport (if that were the case).

Either way, the VOA, tourist visa combination sounds like a perfect solution.

I would meanwhile try to find a more permanent solution in case they change things again, but for those of you that really want to stay, the price difference will not make that much of a difference.

By the way, if anyone is interested to know the new validity of tourist visas for your specific nationality, check out the attachment I posted a few days ago (for me it went from 60 days to 30 days) but still able to extend by 1 month at immigration.

Does anyone know what happened to LM Light (blue) cigarettes? (at least in Bangkok, but actually can anybody tell me if they've disappeared everywhere in Thailand?)

It's obviously one of the least important puzzles of my life in Thailand. Perhaps I feel that if I can make sense of these trivial details, other more important questions might lose importance (momentarily at least)