Yamantaka

Chownah, I think that was an excellent explanation. When people ask me about Buddhism, I tend to explain it as "Buddha said 'This is what I did and it worked well for me. If you think it might do you some good, try it.'"

• Relax and be yourself. Don’t try to “perform” like someone else you’ve seen negotiate. Develop your own style with which you can be comfortable.
  
• Know your “product” inside out. Whatever you are negotiating, be sure you know everything there is to know about what you’re selling: product, service or yourself.
  
• Provide information. Be prepared to explain the benefits of what you are selling. Knowing the product is not enough. You must be able to relate the information in terms your client can easily understand.
  
• Honesty is the best policy. Never exaggerate the benefits of the product or your company’s capabilities. If your competition has something of value, you can suggest that your client investigate it further.
  
• Don’t take it personally. Not every sales attempt is successful. Always hold on to the thought that if your client doesn’t make the deal, s/he is making the mistake, not you.
  
• Be realistic. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that a deal is possible even when you see that it is never going to happen, for whatever reason.
  
• Handle objections. Before your negotiation, put yourself into your customer’s shoes. Find as many good reasons as possible not to make the deal. Then find an intelligent, informed answer to each.
  
• Ask for the sale. At some point, you will have to stop talking, and get a signature. Don’t be afraid to shut up. You both understand that this is why you are there.
  
• Think long-term. You might have to give away one this month to sell ten in the next.
  
• Be brave. Be prepared to walk away. Don’t start any negotiation “needing” the sale. Make it clear that your client will be the one who loses if the deal isn’t made.
  

I started taking Buddhist teaching in the U.K. more than 20 years ago and shortly after began "practicing" Buddhism. One of the first teachings was that if there are facets of the teachings that don't make sense to you, put them aside and listen to the rest. I had to do that with some things. After months and years of more teachings, everything finally fell into place.

My Thai girlfriend of two years had almost no understanding of Dharma. I had to teach her. She only knew that giving monks money would bring good luck (not based on Buddhism); having a spirit house would protect a dwelling (not based on Buddhism); having a household Buddha would protect the family (not based on Buddhism); and wearing amulets would protect the wearer from evil spirits and bad luck (not based on Buddhism). I read recently that over 40% of Thais have never had any teachings in Buddhism. So there is probably not a widepread understanding of Karma.

I think the best reason to learn Thai is to be able to understand what is being said when people around you believe they can speak in front of you without you understanding them.

Overreacting in Thailand can be as dangerous or more so than in any major city in the world. Violence in Thailand is increasing faster than in the G8 countries., There are many more instances of Thai on farang stabbings and severe beatings than there were five years ago.

I always think it is better to smile and walk away. Remember: "There is a time and a place...." and a useful quote from John Dryden, "Beware the fury of a patient man."

I have to agree with SabaiJai in that taking a teaching is infinitely more beneficial than reading a book, especially for a beginner. I don't want to sound too ethereal but something different occurs when hearing the teaching rather than reading it. From my experience, the higher the realizations of the teacher, the more specifically s/he can infuse the teaching with what best applies to the students' needs.

There are many, many version of lay vows. When I took them from Tibetan teachers, the were, in simplified version:

Not to kill

Not to steal

Not to lie

Not to participate in sexual misconduct (with a very long list of what constituted this)

Not to use intoxicants with attachment

Here's what happened to a guy I know:

He ordered some food service equipment for his business and some sealed packaged foods to go with them. He told the shipper in the states not to send the food with the equipment since it had to be submitted to the Thai FDA before it could be shipped.

The shipper included a sales receipt with the equipment shipment that showed the purchase of foodstuffs even though they were not on the pallets or even listed on the bill of lading. Thai Customs refused to allow the shipment into the country, refused to inspect the shipment to see that there was no food, and refused to allow the shipment to be returned to the shipper in the states. Why? Because there was un-approved food on the receipt.

In other words, they confiscated the entire shipment which I am sure ended up in the playroom of some Thai general's kids. All this happened even though one of the biggest customs brokers in Thailand was paid to facilitate importation, and all appropriate "extra-ordinary fees" were offered.

My point: BE CAREFUL. Make sure everything is perfect because if it is not, you will lose any goods that appeal to the Customs official.

I will make the same suggestion for losing weight that I have for high blood pressure: meditation and exercise.

Find a good meditation teacher who can teach you the basics and then develop individually structured analytic meditations that are directly applicable to you and your lifestyle. I have no doubt this will change your view of yourself and give you the mental strength to eat properly and exercise regularly.

I learned to meditate 28 years ago. It has changed every aspect of my life including the physical. Most people think I am 15 years younger than I am. I attribute this to my using structured meditations to "amplify" the positive effects of proper diet, exercise, good sleep, tranquility, good attitude, etc.

There is no excuse for not striving for better health.

I will make the same suggestion for losing weight that I have for high blood pressure: meditation and exercise.

Find a good meditation teacher who can teach you the basics and then develop individually structured analytic meditations that are directly applicable to you and your lifestyle. I have no doubt this will change your view of yourself and give you the mental strength to eat properly and exercise regularly.

I learned to meditate 28 years ago. It has changed every aspect of my life including the physical. Most people think I am 15 years younger than I am. I attribute this to my using structured meditations to "amplify" the positive effects of proper diet, exercise, good sleep, tranquility, good attitude, etc.

There is no excuse for not striving for better health.

I will make the same suggestion for losing weight that I have for high blood pressure: meditation and exercise.

Find a good meditation teacher who can teach you the basics and then develop individually structured analytic meditations that are directly applicable to you and your lifestyle. I have no doubt this will change your view of yourself and give you the mental strength to eat properly and exercise regularly.

I learned to meditate 28 years ago. It has changed every aspect of my life including the physical. Most people think I am 15 years younger than I am. I attribute this to my using structured meditations to "amplify" the positive effects of proper diet, exercise, good sleep, tranquility, good attitude, etc.

There is no excuse for not striving for better health.

I would agree with the suggestion of meditation and exercise for reducing high blood pressure. I drink six cups of coffee, four cups of green tea and at least two cans of pepsi max every day. Most people think I am 15 years younger than I am. My blood pressure is usually 120/80.

I attribute that to the fact that I exercise five days a week (three days lifting and two days cardio) and even more, that I learned to meditate 28 years ago. It has positively affected every aspect of my physical health, attitude and mental "strength". I also quit smoking at the same time. And I don't drink much, lately not at all.

Find a good meditation teacher who can teach you the basics and then develop individually structured analytic meditations that are directly applicable to you and your lifestyle. I have no doubt this can lower your blood pressure to better than acceptable levels.

Okay I'll admit it, I am of an age where I need to use Viagra and it has been of tremendous help to me for the past five years. But about one year ago the effacy of Viagra started to reduce and I thought that other health problems had started to come into play. So I went to Bumrungrad and had my annual health check and failed due to blockages of my coronary arteries. Following an angiogram I was prescribed statins, asprin and Plavix. Good news for my heart and life expectancy but no progress on my love life or marital relationship.

I finally went back to Bumrungrad and sought out a Urologist who specializes in erectile dysfunction and relayed all the facts to him. He told me that the problem almost certainly, without the need for further examination, was due to the quality of Viagra I had been buying. He talked of a study that Pfizer did recently in Thailand where they purchased Viagra from a range of pharmacies in Bangkok and elsewhere and then examined the products they had bought - the packaging on nearly all of them was perfect he added. Of two hundred and seventeen purchases of Viagra only fifteen were the original product. O the non-Pfizer products or copies each contained anywhere from 17% to 48% of the required necessary ingredients.

Frankly I found it difficult to believe his story but his offer was that he would prescribe Viagra, Cialis and Levitra and I could try each and judge for myself. The check out/pharmacy attendants were highly amused when I received my prescription and the pharmacist told me to "have a good evening" as I left.

I can now confirm that what the doctor at Bumrungrad told me seems almost certain to be true and I am amazed. I had known all along that copying is a huge problem but never imagined it is so to the extent of this experience.

Do you exercise regularly? Do you drink a lot? Exercising will increase production of testosterone which will improve sexual performance. Drinking will diminish it. Ingesting any chemical on a regular basis cannot be good for your long term health.

I would seriously doubt it.

In the five years I have been in Phuket, I have seen hundreds of people with a new business idea lose everything because they didn't listen to those with experience. Be careful. doing business here is nothing like your home country.

Does it have to be Asia? There are some great places in the Americas, like Belize or Uruguay.

I guess I'm very out of touch. My reaction to this whole thread is "why would you care what men, women, gay men, albinos, dwarves or ostriches care whether you carry a bag if you need a bag to put your stuff in?" if it serves a purpose and you can look in the mirror without laughing or breaking out in a cold sweat, carry it!

I know Sunbelt are the experts on this. My lawyers and my accountant must be idiots.

I wonder why the Labor Department required us to submit a list with a minimum of 4 Thai employees and their salaries before they would issue my work permit in a company with registered capital of thb 18,000,000. They required this documentation every quarter inlcuding proof that social security was paid also. And why the Tax Department required that I pay the equivalent tax for a monthly salary of thb 60,000 (they specified this amount for an American).

I guess that's why Sunbelt gets the big bucks! Maybe I'll let them handle it next time.

Penkoprod, you are correct, each work permit requires four Thai employees whose wages and social security need to be proven ever month, along with personal income taxes for the two foreigners, whose minimum salaries are determined by the government. I believe that it is something like thb 50,000 per month each, so the monthly income taxes just for the foreigners will be around thb 4,000.

I do not want to sound like I am presenting myself as an expert by any means. But I have found that the more teachings I took, the more the Dharma became part of my daily life. Meditation is one part of the Path. Being always aware of what I have learned from my teachers becomes a walking meditation of sorts. Maybe a better term would be "existing meditation".

As negative things happen, I try to remind myself that every annoyance is an opportunity to practice patience. Every time I am stolen from, cheated or lied to an opportunity to practice compassion. And I think of how fortunate I am to have just burned up some more of my seemingly inexhaustible supply of negative Karma, so that hopefully I will have a better Rebirth. No, these do not occur automatically. I have to remind myself of these things constantly.

I have found this to be more beneficial for me than only doing sitting meditation.

I have had four ex-girlfriends who had boob jobs, three in the States and one in Italy. None have had any problems. I wouldnt recommend the "discount" clinics advertised in the newspaper. Go to BNC or Bumrungrad and she should be safe.

I think going to 34C makes more sense since I believe the number is the circumference of her chest and it might be difficult to increase that surgically. Increasing cup size to C should make her feel beautiful.

And we are fortunate to have another opportunity to practice patience and compassion.

Hello!

I am wondering from where your mother is coming? There are many English language Dharma centers in most industrialized countries. They are very comfortable and hapy to cater to those with special needs.

I first studied Buddhism in the U.K. where there are several good centres, and then in the U.S. where there are even more. Check out either www.kadampa.org or www.fpmt.org . I can recommend any of their centres for good teachings in tranquil surroundings.

For my mother, this is how i would do it.

Hello, Soundman!

A lot of what happened can be prevented by setting up accurate systems which require accountability of employees, and which eliminate the possibility of doing what they did. You can do this by documentation like checklists, sign-off sheets, signed delivery lists. Now that you've experienced Thai work ethics, you are better prepared to anticipate what can happen.

Get a whiteboard and work backwards from the theft, charting out all the steps it took to steal from you and your customers. Try to think like a thief and find ways to steal from yourself. Then look for mechanisms to thwart the theft.

Einstein said "Intellectuals solve problems. Geniuses prevent them." Be a genius!

Hello!

I don't know if CP will even give a license to a non-Thai. I've never met a non-Thai who owned a 7/11 or a Family Mart. My guess is that it will never happen.

But there are other better business possibilities here if you take your time and look around.

Hello!

You will always have trouble finding out what can and cannot be done here, so be careful and go slow. Laws are open to "interpretation" and one government official may tell you one thing and when you go back the next day another will tell you something different. If you go to two lawyers they may very well tell you two different things.

Also do you have experience in the food & beverage business? This is maybe the most difficult of all business sectors, even in your home country. Here it can make you crazy. Simple things that you would take for granted at home will not happen like that here. This is why there are always dozens of bars and restaurants for sale or just going out of business in Thailand.

I am not saying don't do it, just keep your eyes wide open and your hand on your wallet!