bamboozled

But, point well taken. Will keep my eyes and ears open.

yes, but moving is not a lot of fun, either. And I've only been here 4/5 months and the contract finished in August... And of course one has to find a semi-suitable place to move to.

Thank you for all the feedback. Nobody latched onto my idea of the plastic silver tarp, however! I was hoping that was a brilliant idea. I have yet to see the top side of the roof nor have I found a hatch in the ceiling to get a look into what must be the space between the ceiling and roof; I assume there must be one. As for the roof, from looking at the edge it seems to be one of those wavy prefab "tiles" that are made of...well, not sure seem like cement but they're not that heavy. Do they support walking on? I think painting the roof silver or throwing the plastic tarp over it with some weights to keep it down might be the cheapest was to start and take it from there. I don't have a long term lease and not sure I want to stay where I am. Every month the landlady talks about how she wants to up the rent so I doubt she will be keen on pitching in on any improvements nor have they done any in the recent past from the looks of the place. I would love to put one of those whirly fans in. Who knows, maybe there already is one. I've got to get a look on the top and suss it out.

The large industrial fan also sounds nice and I do always keep the windows open. Let's see if I can get a closer look....

I'm a Chiang Mai resident so I'm posting this in the CM forum. That being said, the sun shines down on us all equally here in Lalaland. My question: I'm in a rental house, all two stories of it, and the top floor is excruciatingly hot in the summer months. The bedroom does have AC but I only run it while sleeping. I'm actually worried for the things I have stored on the second floor seeing as it gets so hot and they are likely to suffer heat damage. Also, worried for the electric bill. I'm fairly certain there is nothing between the roof and the ceiling such as insulation or reflectors or the like. I'm wondering if there is a fairly cheap way to cut down on this heat. Since it is a rental, I don't want to put a lot of money into it. I know there are the insulated reflective roof panels available and that might be an option but probably more money and work than I want to invest. I'm wondering if even throwing one of the silver plastic tarps over it and tying it down would help or the slow drip water method that I've seen some establishments employ (YMCA for one). Has anybody tackled a similar issue?

Thank you, bamboozled.

...please report back about Khun Krit. I have a 6 year old MBP also...never changed the hard drive so perhaps I should prophylactically do it and save myself some trouble down the road.

Thanks, Ianf, I'll give that a shot.

Thanks so much. I've used that service in the past but that truck is not available right now...too bad for me!

...need to move a few large items. Anyone know where I could rent a truck for the day, preferably an old beater so I don't have to worry so much about the satiny finish?

Cheers and thanks!

I have never noted the name of the place. The sign out front does say packing materials and "EMS foam" whatever that is....

On the road that goes from the north-east corner of the moat to JJ/Kamtieng market, at the second traffic light across the intersection from Hualamphong bar, on the same side of the road, is a business that deals in packing materials so I gather from the sign out front which I believe has "foam" in the title. I've never been in but have always been curious as to what interesting items might be inside. It's very close to the old city so you might want to take a look.

For some reason, if I'm not mistaken, there is a bin at Anusarn market on the right near the office and the Thai European Bar.

PoorSucker, your are talking about one's own company, yes? So the wife is one Thai employee, perhaps, and then only one other is required? No jumping through hoops and doing the limbo?

Ah ok, so no new news here. It sounded from the posts as if being married unlocked a lot of doors.

From Ubonjoe: "You can work with a non-o visa or extension of stay based upon marriage to a Thai."

From Mario2008: "On a non-O based on marriage there is no problem getting a work permit."

How does being married help in getting a work permit?

whoa whoa whoa...my apologies if I'm jumping in here. But this is new news to me about non-O visas and work permits. Could you please elaborate on this point? If married to a thai and possessing a non-O how does one go about getting a work permit and for what sort of job? Does this still require sponsorship from a company? Lastly, is this the same hoop-jumping as having your own ltd. company with 2 or 4 employees, 1 or 2 million baht registered capital, etc...just that it's easier if you are married?

Thank you.

Kham Tieng market.

Maestro, thanks for that. I have downloaded the file and will take a look. I was dubious at first but I see it was prepared by the Thailand office (or at least by a Thai). I'm a little put off by the disclaimer at the beginning but I suppose that is par for the course.

I'm still waiting for Sunbelt to chime in here.....................

That's a good point, mrfaroukh. It's that it is fairly expensive and time consuming and maybe difficult to open one. It is also fairly expensive to close one, believe it or not. That is the reason I am unsure whether to close or not.

This Thai woman has an Uni degree in....?

I'm hoping Sunbelt will chime in here. They should know the true answers to all these questions.

Sunbelt, are you there?

Mogo,

Your company was set up in order to buy a house, correct? But this is not what the "business" of the company is...or am I wrong? I mean, folks incorporate a business perhaps in order to purchase assets but as far as I know the company must have a "proper" purpose. My company was set up to purchase goods and ship them overseas (if I remember correctly). So I'm wondering (hoping) that I too can stop paying the accountant. I am provided with a thick stack of papers at the end of the year...though when I asked for a copy of the newspaper announcement (do you recall that for the yearly accounting there is supposed to be a published announcement of the declaration?) I was told that it wasn't necessary or anyhow, I was not given a copy of that...which seemed a bit odd as if it wasn't done or that the whole thing was a fleecing.

Who to turn to to get a credible, accurate answer?

Thanks, guys. The company has no assets. Well, hmm, it has registered 1,000,000 baht I believe from the start up. I would need to pay VAT on that? I don't believe so. There is nothing registered in the company name. As for shareholders, they are two Thai sisters with whom I am friends and used to do business. We have since drifted apart due to work changes for all of us but I don't see a problem there. I'm now married and could/should change the structure if I keep the company but I don't see a need for it at the moment. Perhaps if I activate it again.

So as you two see it, there is no problem keeping the company inactive? And for how long can this be done? My accountant implies that it could be problematic, as if I might get fined or something. Let me clear up one thing: inactive means there is no billing/no income/no movement/no taxes paid, correct? And I am not doing any monthly accounting but only an end of the year declaration.

Barin, where are you that you pay 8,000 baht? I'm in Chiang Mai.

Hi folks,

I have a small business registered in Thailand (co. ltd.) since 2009. It was active for about two years at a loss and has been inactive since...meaning that it is still registered and that I pay my accountant 10,000 to 15,000 to do my end of the year report (with zero income/movement/taxes to pay). I am being advised by the accountant to shut it down in order to not get in any trouble with the government (I guess having an inactive company for a long time can be a problem...?) and so as to not pay the yearly accounting fee.

Must I really shut it down? It's costly to start a company and if I can keep it cheaply on the back burner for a possible future need I rather like that idea. Or will I indeed run into some problems? Similarly, do I even need to be paying an accountant for pushing some papers around? No offense to any accountants and I am not a cheap Charlie. I am, however, unfortunately at this moment a POOR Charlie. If I can save some money for future money making investments after which I can rain down 1000 baht notes on the accountants of the world I would like to do it.

Constructive advice/CONSTRUCTIVE criticism greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Bam

What I've noticed is the Chinese heading back to the airport with plastic bags packed with snacks...Mama noodles, Lay's crisps, etc... What gives? Do they not have these things in China? That's hard to believe...instant noodles, really? I was thinking that perhaps they bring them as small gifts for friends, the novelty being that they're from abroad (the snacks).

Having spoken to a few small business owners in the night bazaar, sales are way down this year. I don't know if that relates directly to high season having started/not started or it just means tourists aren't buying...but interesting info.

I recently met a lawyer from New York here in Chiang Mai. He was on vacation visiting his American daughter who is teaching here but we got to talking and it turns out most of his work is on immigration...getting folks visas and the like for the US. He has assisted Thai nationals but I believe he said most of the folks are Chinese and/or Latino, if I can remember correctly, just because well, there are a lot of those folks trying to get to the US. Anyhow, I really enjoyed chatting with him. He was very soft spoken and I liked his presence. I have nothing to do with him, just met him one day. However, he left a good impression on me and I took his card for future need. PM me if you would like his details. It doesn't hurt to shoot him an email with your questions.

Cheers...........

Has to be cast and not cut? Some of the plasma cutters can cut 5mm steel...