Awk

Does anyone have recommendations for quiet buildings that have larger one bedroom apartments with cooking possibilities for rent?

Price range is up to around 10,000 and furniture is a bonus, but not necessary.  Preferable within 10-15km of the city.

4 hours ago, NancyL said:

You could start working your way through this list complied by the U.S. Consulate Chiang Mai.  They have developed this list based on recommendations from U.S. citizen's positive experience:

 

https://th.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulate/chiang-mai/u-s-citizenship-services/professional-services-cm/legal-service-providers-chiang-mai/

Thanks for the tip.  I had no idea it was based on recommendations from people and thought it was just a list of whatever lawyer or wannabe-lawyer contacted the consulate and asked to be added to the list.

On 12/8/2016 at 1:59 PM, michemit said:

The nearest i got to finding a good recommended English speaking family lawyer in Chiang Mai was a Thewin Ketwong but sadly he is in hospital very ill. Now this does not help your cause in anyway and obviously is of no use to you at all but what it does say is that you are not on your own looking for a lawyer so if i do happen to fall on one i will certainly take the time to let you know and i am rather hoping you will consider doing the same for me please.

Thank you, I will do that.  I have met two lawyers, both mentioned and recommended here, but neither inspired confidence.

One, having his office in a moo baan named after a city in California, seemed competent, though very money hungry and required a substantial fee just for the initial meeting.  Unfortunately I believe he answered me wrongly on what I thought was a pretty simple question.  His answer surprised me enough for me to ask the same question two-three times, to make sure we understood each other.  A friend later confirmed with a judge that his answer was nonsense.

Another, a younger woman having studied in Australia, I feel doubtful about, though she did answer that same question correctly.  I might still go with her and her "team" if no other option, but am still looking. 

Suggestions for a decent lawyer are welcome.

On 12/28/2016 at 9:50 AM, BernieOnTour said:

Does anybody know, where to buy N95 masks in Chiang Mai?

Home Pro.

If a small jacuzzi-like pool to relax in is what the op is looking for, the "hot spring" in san kamphaeng also has a small pool that was quite hot if I recall correctly.   Big enough to swim a little back and forth also.  

Hello, I have searched through the forum, but are left with still looking for advice on a good family lawyer.

Some people have recommend a particular lawyer at 29Tanin.  I have met her a couple of times, and are now looking for another lawyer.

I am thankful for any recommendations.

Such a sad story.  Such bad luck for the celebrities and their guards/bouncers/thugs.   My heart bleeds for them.  

The young man looks like just any other young man, no?  How were they to know this was one man they could not give the usual four on one beating to after he persisted in entering the bathroom to take a piss?

I think we can hardly blame these thugs for breaking his nose and jaw, can we?  Surely they did not know who the young man was.  In their defense he looks just the same as any of the many other young men they have probably given a good beating to for no reason, never giving it a second thought afterwards.  Surely their plea of "we did not know who he is" must be accepted and they must be acquitted of any charges, valid or not.

Some other poster here  indicated the young man is of good stature and not the flashy/braggy kind.  It makes me wonder if he indeed did not attempt to pull any "do you know who my father is?" line.  If he did pull such a line, I'd think the celebrities and their thugs would at least have given things a second thought before ganging up and commencing the beating of this lone young man.

Just such terribly bad luck.  

On 11/25/2016 at 0:45 PM, Dipterocarp said:

These kinds of beds pose known dangers for children. Resulting even in deaths every year. Should be banned.

What is the danger you are thinking off? 

3 hours ago, starky said:

So this silly git who as far as I know has never had an amateur fight, at 44 years old after training with Buakaw for a couple of months is suddenly transformed into a "professional" Muay Thai fighter? Give me a f..... break. If they can find a Thai at that age who is still fighting he would have a ring career of upwards of 200 fights. Bloke that trains me is only 28 and has had a career 270 fights. So it's either he gets his arse deservedly handed to him or he fights some patsy for the sake of his 3 episode doco on his journey to becoming a " professional " fighter. Gee I wonder which one and how many fights he will have in his career after the show has finished airing.... Fycks sake.

He's quoted as saying

 “It has been a lifelong ambition of mine to fight professionally. Entering the ring to further test myself as a human being is a challenge I have been looking to take on for quite some time.” 

Where's the insult or disrespect?   He's training and intending to enter the ring for  a professional fight, his first one.

For sure, no-one having his first fight would be facing a champion, or even a currently ranked boxer.  He'd be facing Somchai with at most a handful of fights, so why should this guy expect to face Buakaw or similar who would knock out you, me, and anyone else in the first minute if he wanted?

Assuming he enters the ring under regular professional boxing rules (be they kickboxing or muay thai) he certainly has more balls than almost anyone posting here.  

Hello, has anyone seen a shop here that offers printing a photo onto a computer mouse mat?

19 hours ago, jednakropka said:

Best club in London Shootfighters with different martial arts where there are many champions, many guys who fight/fought for UFC and other good organisations offer a training below 6GBP  (about 270baht)

or for 90 GBP (4160 baht everything including). London is one of most expensive city in the world. Of course you find much cheaper clubs in London than Shootfighters.

In Europe in many countries you find any martial arts below 1000 baht.

 

I found already a few clubs below 3000Baht but since I am in Thailand I want cheaper than that. Of course I do not find that in tourist, farangs oriented clubs like Team Quest but in real Muay Thai clubs.

Muay Thai lesson can be very cheap, everyone who has some idea about Thailand and Muay Thai knows that most Thai people who started Muay Thai were poor and Thai boxing was an escape for them from poverty. 

They would never pay 8000 or 3000 baht. I lived in other parts in Thailand and trained with really top guys and I paid funny money.

 

For you 8000 baht is fine because you either has something to do with Team Quest or you are one of these naive farangs who really know nothing about the country they are.

You probably have nothing to do but  I kindly ask you, please do not waste my time and do not write here. 

Your  reply has no value and it is not appreciated. Just go and do something valuable.

 

 

 

The prices you quote for London Shootfighters sound similar to what I paid when I was training in Europe, though the training setup there is quite different from what it is here in Thailand.  Different enough for the prices to not be comparable. 

 I don't have anything to do with Team Quest, so I guess I must be one of those naive farangs.   Admittedly, I only had a few fights here myself  (one at Gawila when it was still the only decent place to fight here in CM) and don't want to give the impression I was some kind of champion, unlike those Danish guys.

You certainly do manage to sound like an impressive bloke who knows your way around here.  Just so I can get some impression to what extent you do know what you are talking about, could you tell us where in Thailand you fought in the ring, in boxing or regular muay thai?  

Ten years ago I didn't think 8,000B per month was outrageous for two hours of  muay thai training in the morning, and two hours of training in the afternoon, six days a week, and I certainly don't think it's outrageous today.  Back then there were a couple of very talented danish guys at the gym I trained who were invited to join a gym in Bangkok, and train there for free.  The only condition was that they would fight for the, which they didn't mind of course, as that is what they were in Thailand for.

So I guess if you're a very talented guy, you cand find a gym that will let you train twice a day for less than 3,000B.  Even for free.  And you'll fight for that gym once or twice a month in exchange.  Are you a very talented guy? 

No problems with Tokio Marine here either.  Had them for the first couple of years, but on the third year they did not want to renew our policy.  Admittedly Mrs. Awk and I had more than our fair share of minor but expensive, and entirely self caused accidents, so I wouldn't really want to have us a customer either.

Getting a loaner car was never a possibility I heard mentioned though.

54 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

It sounds as though you've got a pretty good idea of the things that need doing so why not just get a decent contractor to do the things you specify? Treat door and hinge replacement as one item, window locks as another and window bars as a third. I've never come across anyone in Thailand who sells themselves as a building security expert, much of it is common sense anyway so my advice would be, don't waste a lot of time trying to find something that may not exist.

 

BTW if you need the contact number/name of a decent quality worker to do the above items, please shout.

Thanks.  Please give me the number/name.

Greetings.  Can anyone recommend a company or guy that does decent work related to making the average middle class house slightly more secure?  

I'm thinking about simpler things like making the front door more secure by installing a more solid locking mechanism and hinges, probably also replacing the door, built of I'm not sure exactly what, with a door made of solid wood.  The windows look like they will slide open if you pull a little hard, the locking mechanism not withstanding.  Can something be done about that?  Possibly installing steel fences on the outside of windows as well, as well as whatever other tips a competent person in this business might have.

I.e., not fort knox, just making things a little better.  Any recommendations, or even information about people who do these type of things?

On 8/28/2016 at 0:30 AM, blackcab said:

Remember that the law allows any contract between husband and wife to be cancelled if the effect would not be detrimental to a third party.

I asked the lawyer about that since I've seen it quoted here on TV often.  She said people like to refer to a ruling in the supreme court when saying that, but according to her, it is not a correct interpretation, and the usufruct cannot be cancelled by the wife.

 I don't know who is correct. 

Many thanks, in particular to MikeyIdea and khunPer for taking the time to provide good replies.  

MikeyIdea, I would probably have tried your idea, unless the lawyer rejected it flat out as something that would not work here, but did unfortunately not have enough time.

Today I, or rather, soon to be ex-Mrs. Awk, purchased the house and the land it sits on.

Things we tried, and failed to do:

- Put Awk Jr. as the owner of the land.  No go.  The land office person said we would have to show the money came from a Thai person, e.g. Mrs. Awk.  As Mrs. Awk can not provide documentation to that effect, that was a no go.  According to the land office woman, it would have been no problem if I was also Thai.  

I, in what in different circumstances might have been funny to Mrs. Awk asked if it would also be "no problem" if Mrs. Awk and I divorced today, and Mrs. Awk came back on Monday to purchase the house on behalf of Awk Jr.  The land office woman said that would be no problem, but Mrs. Awk would also have to show a divorce paper stating she, and only she, had custody over Awk Jr.  If I, the evil bignose, still had part custody, it would again be a no go.

- Separate land and house, putting me as the owner of the house, and Mrs. Awk as owner of the land.  This was not possible due to the "build license" of the moo baan.  Even though the house was new with an empty house book, apparently things had progressed too far for such a separation, the superficie khunPer refers too.  The separation of building from land in the article khunPer refers too was not an option I was suggested, though I did not specifically ask for it.

I ended up with a simple usufruct on the land/house.  As per the lawyers suggestion, Mrs. Awk will also sign a contract gifting the land and house to the two Awk Juniors to be effective once Awk Jr. is of age.  Presuming I and my lifetime usufruct does not die, least of all under suspicious circumstances, before that, the Awk Juniors should hopefully get the house and land without problems, and Mrs. Awk's will will state something similar.

One interesting idea that I for personal reasons did not go with, but which my lawyer suggested, was to include the two Awk Juniors in the usufruct.   She did not explain, and I did not ask, what the precise effect of this would be, but I wonder if the effect of that, together with the contract (not will, as a will can be changed whenever you want) would be very similar to Awk Jr. owning the land outright from the beginning?  

Presumably the life time usufruct for the children would prevent anyone from selling the land, or cancelling the usufruct, before the children become 20.  And the contract Mrs. Awk will sign will make it possible to transfer the land to the children once they are 20.  So once 20, they will, after transferring ownership with or without Mrs Awk's consent, own the land.  And before that, no one can sell the land.  I'm guessing the sticky point is how sure one can be that the contract will ensure ownership can be transferred, even if the owner of the land refuses.  E.g., does one need to go to court?  

Perhaps it could be of interest to somebody else to consider this option, to include the children on the usufruct, should better alternatives not be available.

Again, many thanks for the helpful replies.

I met with the recommended lawyer today, which seemed like a decent woman.  

While at her office, she called the land office that has jurisdiction over the Chiang Mai area the house in, and after some checking, they said they would not allow a minor to own the house.  Quite unfortunate and surprising, as I've seen many posts here from people who have put the land/house in their minor childrens name.  According to the lawyer, this varies a little from district to district, and while in other districts (also in Chiang Mai), it has been done, in this case, the land office seems to refuse it

I don't really understand why it is a problem, but according to the lawyer "everyone will know that the money is not the child's"  and various land office bosses are more careful/diligent about protecting themselves against reprisals from above.  :-/

Quite unfortunate to say the least. 

Will see what happens at the land office itself, where I requested an associate of the lawyer accompany us to help  with the Thai documents, but I assume the answer will be the same then.  

Since the house is new, with an empty house book, it may be possible to put the house in my name, the land in Mrs. Awk's name, and with a usufruct on the land in my name.   The lawyer thought that may be possible, though said the process would then have to be done in two steps, with the house being registered to me after 30 days.  Of course, the moo baan owner would expect me to pay all  the money when purchasing the land/house, and then I would depend on the honesty of the moo baan owner to fulfill his duty in registering the house in my name 30 days later.  Not a very good situation either, unless I can withhold a substantial sum until the house is transferred.  

Barring that, I guess it will be an usufruct in my name, with both land and house in Mrs. Awk's name.  Much less ideal than I had expected.

I've read some posts here suggesting one should simply ask the land office to point out where in the law it prohibits a Thai child, minor or not, from being the owner of Thai land, but I suspect none of those suggesting that "simple solution" have actually tried that, or heard about anyone having success with that.  In addition, the lawyer I talked with seems to have a friend at the mid-level  in the hierarchy at this particular land office.  This is the person at the land office which Ms. Lawyer called, but the decision is up to the top boss, and according to the friend, the top boss does not allow it.

Admittedly I'm quite surprised as I thought at least putting my Thai children on the chanote as the owners would be straightforward here in Chiang Mai.

All MT gyms have two sessions a day, the first starting around 08, the second around 16.  I can't imagine any of them would have a problem if you come at 16:30 instead of 16:00.

Perhaps there was a misunderstanding due to language?

Thanks to those who replied with information.

I hope to meet with a lawyer in Chiang Mai some people have recommended, next week, but thought it would be a good idea to hear what people here say too.  Especially since I'm not sure if I'll manage to meet that lawyer or not, and an alternative incompetent lawyer would of course be pretty useless.  

Information from people with knowledge here may help when evaluating the competence of a lawyer.

I am married so I assume additional proof of guardianship is not required, though not sure if I need to bring a marriage certificate with me or not.  What I intend to is however to have only my own name listed as guardian on the chanote, and only the child/children listed as owners.    Hopefully that is no problem, but if anyone here knows anything to the contrary, I'm of course interested in hearing that.

With kind regards, Awk.

There's a decent guy not far from Prince Hotel by Chang Moi Kao road.  If you go past Prince hotel, so the hotel is on your right hand side, continue straight and you should see the guy 50m straight ahead where the road turns a corner.  Easy to see it's a repair shop.

Wasn't much impressed with how he fixed a mechanical problem on my fan a few years ago (broke again shortly afterwards, as I expected when I saw how it had been fixed), but more recently I was dully impressed when he fixed my speakers, finding and replacing some faulty IC's.  

From what I gather I can buy a property (land with house on) in my Thai child's name, while my child is still a minor.  At the land office, the child's id can be registered as the owner, and I, a non-Thai father, can be registered as the sole guardian of the property.   I have seen posts here where the child was mentioned as being as young as two years (a fingerprint was used).  

This guardianship gives me the right to live in the house , or rent out the house should I wish, until my child is no longer a minor, and all that is necessary for this to be done  is for me to show up with my passport, and the child with his/her Thai id card at the land office when the purchase is formalized.   From what I read, this should be a fairly standard procedure in bigger cities and no lawyer is necessary.

 I hope someone can confirm this.  

What I have so far been unable to find is whether I can at the land office register both my children as owners of the property.  Does anyone know?

If both children cannot be registered as owner, is there something else that can be done that will have the same effect - the property being the shared inheritance to both children?

If someone could provide me with the correct Thai term for being the guardian of the property, that would also be much appreciated. 

What is a charging station?

A place to plug in your phone to re-charge the battery

So are you trying to tell.me that people plug in their 30,000 baht iPhones and leave them to charge while they cruise around the airport looking ugly? If so, deserve their phones to be stolen. Fools.

No, that's not how it works.

You plug in your phone, and sit or stand nearby, keeping an eye on it while relaxing or reading something, waiting for it to get enough charge. Since the charging stations usually have a couple of handful of charging outlets, others can come to the same charging station to take their phone back, or leave their phone to charge, all while your phone is charging on the same desk. When somebody comes by, presumably to leave or take their own phone, one needs to keep an extra close eye on one's own phone to make sure it does not get nicked. This may not always be so easy as the charging stations unfortunately do not seem to have been designed with letting the owners easily see their own phone in mind.

I recommend installing one of the anti-theft apps available. E.g., "anti theft alarm" for Android is easily set to sound an alarm if your phone is unplugged from the charger, hopefully waking you up as you sit dozing nearby.

Hope this helps.

When you enter the country after getting the new passport you would need to show both passports to use the re-entry permit in the old one. You would be stamped into the country to the date shown on the re-entry permit in your new passport.

Then you would need to go to immigration to have all your stamps transferred to the new one.

Do you have to do this on your first reentry into Thailand with the new passport, or can you enter Thailand with an extension of stay in your old passport more than once? E.g. if it's difficult to get to an imm. office in time on your first (short) reentry.

I find these figures hard to believe considering the amount of plagiarism and cheating that has recently been shown to take place. Pity the list doesn't show who the top universities are in Asia.

It does show that:

National University of Singapore (NUS)

The University of Hong Kong

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU)

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Tsinghua University

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/asian-university-rankings/2016#sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search=