Irene

I had a brief spell of cold sweat on a plane. Upon return, I saw a GP who recommended me to see a heart specialist the next day. I went through the treading mill and failed miserably. Two days later, he did an angiogram and found 99% blockage on the main vessel. One day after, he did an angioplasty (or commonly known as a balloon) to burst out the blockage. Surprisingly, really painless and two days later I was working in my office and breathing freely.

Your question is a good one. In my case, I was lucky of having such a GP who then strongly recommended me to check with a heart specialist. In this modern day, the technology is so advanced that quick "intervention" could have saved life. Well, at that time, you cannot blame yourself for not knowing the tell-tale sign but now you know.

Humble Pie,

My replies are in bold type:

I have a question about foreign income received by a Thai limited company. My accountant tells me that a Thai limited company invoicing an overseas company cannot offset the income from these invoices. It would appear that foreign income is taxable and the company expenses are ignored. Income of a Thai limited company is based on world income. If earned from an overseas source under that company's name, that income is viewed as income of the company and can be deducted against any bona fide expenses of that company. The company has the duty to file returns twice a year and corporate tax at 30% on net profit. If there is loss, no tax is payable and the loss can be carried forward to offset against the profits for the next five years.

The Thai company currently doesn't make any profit. It's main source of income is from an overseas company, but the income received is all consumed by the running costs of the Thai company. However there is a 15% tax on invoices from overseas which I'm told is unavoidable, even though the Thai company is not profitable. So over the year the Thai company would end-up paying a lot of tax on non-existing profits. Is this right? Wrong, the overseas income has to form part of the tax computation in ascertaining taxable profits or tax losses. There is no withholding tax on income received or receivable from overseas.

I've asked people about this, but I can't find a definitive answer, so any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

HP

Personally, I have yet to see any success with an in-house coffee shop or restaurant within a residential building or even in a gated housing development. This has been mainly due to a lack of demand since it is so near to your own kitchen, so why bother. Even in an office building, I have yet to note of any prosperity, forever seeing changing hand of ownership. I may miss something but please do tell us of a result of your venture. You could be an exception since 50% are farang residents.

Irene- I shall file the names you gave me for when I make the move but is there a reason why neither of you used Dr Visuit or was he simply not available at the time?

duan- I had no choice. I had my scare on the flight from HK to Bkk and went to see Dr. Chumpol at the recommendation of my GP. Dr. Chumpol noted my blockage immediately after the treadmill and angiogram and angioplasty were immediately followed. (He persuaded me to have it done quickly as it was at a dangerous stage. Hence, I found this as impressive and responsible on his part). In the case of my relative, he had the scare in the class-room

and also was sent to see an available doctor who turned out to be Dr. Pisanu. Both of us had no chance of selection. (I got it from Dr. Chumpol that Dr. Pisanu was with him in Belgium for the training of two years).

If you wish to use the services of Dr. Visut, it is best to see him before any attack in order to get acquainted and once there is a problem, you then would know who to turn to.

It was a long article in Business Week. Unfortunately, I did not keep the record. It was something like a survey made and not based on scientific reasons. The manufacturers did dispute the contention and questioned the sampling method.

If my memory serves me correctly, it was a drug coated stent that was used. As to my relative, the two stents were definitely drug coated. I remember this well because after his operation, there was a controversy of the pros and cons of the coated and non-coated and surprisingly the conclusion favoured non-coated.

Thanks Irene. That's an odd conclusion to arrive at especially since drug coated stents were used. Would you care to highlight the issues of that debate? From all I have read on the subject it seems that drug coated stents are preferable since they are capable of influencing the inflammation in the artery wall caused by the crushing effect of the balloon. It therefore seems somewhat illogical not to use them in favor of non-coated stents - or am I missing something in the argument?

Irene, my understanding is that the risk of restenosis is reduced significantly if drug eluding stents are used and judging from the cost and timing of your angioplasty I would guess they were not used in your case, is that correct?

If my memory serves me correctly, it was a drug coated stent that was used. As to my relative, the two stents were definitely drug coated. I remember this well because after his operation, there was a controversy of the pros and cons of the coated and non-coated and surprisingly the conclusion favoured non-coated.

As a previous patient seven years ago of having a stent put in, I was advised by the then cardiologist of the risk of a collapse of the artery, called “restenosis”(?), within a period of six months (or three months?). But thereafter, you can take it as a relative safe period. Todate, I have been lucky and seeing this doctor every three months without much sign of baddies. The prescribed medicines are concor, corzar, asprint and lipitor and daily exercises of one hour, (almost without fail). Based on this knowledge, I would not like to be away from bkk during that preliminary period. Time taken to Pataya and Hua Hin is almost the same, one and a half hours for Pataya and two hours for Hua Hin.

The quality of cardiologists at Bumrungrad and Bangkok Hospital is comparable to world standard. The best are normally lured to these two hospitals. Dr. Visut was lured back to Bumrungrad, after practicing in the States for a decade, to pioneer this cardiac centre at Bumrungrad. I had mine done (angiogram and angioplasty) at Bumrung rad with Dr.Chumpol who has now moved to Bangkok Hospital. My relative recently had the same things done with Dr. Pisanu at Bumrungrad and happy with the outcome. Mine cost Baht 500,000 with one stent and my relatives with two stents amounted to Baht600,000.. (By coincidence, both doctors were in Belgium for two years). The beauty of these two hospitals is that they are doing heart intervention everyday with huge number of patients. It is like a factory to them. Just like a restaurant, with two restaurants side by side, you would pick the one with a big crowd of customers in which they have more experience than the half-empty establishment.

In sum, conservatively, you should not take risk in staying at Hua Hin or Pataya for the “honeymoon” period.

Incorporated 5 months a go. Do I need pay to do a balance sheet already?

My accountants has told me I need to do a balance sheet now. We incorporated 5 months ago. They said if we had incorporated in Jan we could have waited for a year.

What I understand may be the reason for this is so that we can act alike a business set up in January so our accounts run for the year like most Thai businesses. This way the goverment is less likely to check our annual reports as thoroughly as they might if we were running our accountants on another date.

However, someone else has told me that a new business does not have to do a balance sheet in their first year or for 15 months or similar.

The obvious reason I ask this question as I do not want to keep throwing money at the already rich accountants.

For the first accounting period, you can close your accounts any date you like, so long as it does not exceed a twelve month period. Thereafter, that date has to be your closing date for twelve months each year.

irene,

i gave leads to which you have taken and ran with - which usually means one thing - i will leave you to figure it out. and now we know that you are in the business and although you sometimes offer good advice - we should always take what you have said with caution as you are always promoting yourself!!

Of course, investment in assets for profits is a business. But I don't rely on this forum for clients or for property sellers. I no longer intend to contribute on property matters any more. That is fine with me. After point-by-point explanations, you just don't get it.

I can accept your slight on this angle. But don't call me stupid, uneducated and a liar which are the adjectives that no good forum should tolerate.

Irene,

I'm fairly sure that the law you quote above is valid for leases fully registered through the proper channels, and all required taxes properly paid.No, you are mistaken. A lease is a lease. But for a lease of more than 3 years to be effective, your citing of registration requirement is necessary. For a less than three year lease, no registration is required.

There are a gazillion legal precedents in Thailand that indeed the lessee is well protected under the law, but in practical day to day life they can just chuck you out, and you'll have to start a very lengthy civil lawsuit against the lessor!No, not really. A lessor entering a lessee's premise during the rental period without permission is regarded as a trespasser, just like a burglar. He can be subject to jail sentence. The right of a lessee's inhabitant is supreme.

In real life, the courts are solidly on the side of the well off Thai property owner.No, on the contrary, the court tends to favour lessees who are not that well-off especially those being harassed by a landlord.

It does not need much of a motivation (probably monetary) for the courts to agree that the lessee reneged on some silly contractual agreement, such as properly watering the garden, and as such be able to find the contract between lessor and lessee void!Yes, that is a good point. Breaching of duties by a lessee could be caused for termination before due time but not on those silly grounds like watering garden. The one that is crucial is not paying rental on time.

If it means for the owner to be able to sell or to be stuck with the property, they will use whatever means to get you out of there!Possible in rural areas but not in Bangkok. Therefore a tenant needs to show that he know his rights.

It will all depends how friendly you are with the owner!Yes, that helps to preclude confrontation but always bear in mind that a lessee is in a stronger position.

Personally I only feel comfortable where an agreement (lease) is duly registered, taxed and noted on the back of a land title deed.That should apply to those over 3 year leases. Most landlords prefer not to register to avoid taxation on lease income.

Although even that is still doubtful when you have to go to court.I am not as pessimistic as you are.

Again, as a real life precedent, a friend of mine loaned a certain amount to the owner of a well known and big real estate agency, to fund a housing project.

Duly registered on the back of the land title deed.

Owner defaults on the payments to my friend form day one (never planned to pay any penny back), friend goes to court trying to claim the land, owner files for a "poor mans agreement" claiming he is just above the poverty level, courts agree and refuse to hand over the land to my friend and instead force him to accept a new pay back term (30 years instead of the 2 years contractually agreed upon, utterly ridiculous as my friend is over 60 years of age).That is quite different from this position. That was a loan agreement and not a pure lease agreement.

Do note that the owner moves around in multi-million chauffeur driven cars etc, but they are all on lease contracts in his company name. A thorough search by my friends investigators indeed shows that the owner has very little to his name (but very rich brothers, sisters and children, maybe even a well off maid!), lives in a small mansion and has several extremely expensive cars in his driveway. And whatever asset he has to his name is properly covered by loans, all of which he is defaulting on, blaming it on a slump in the housing market etc...

This took 3 years. My friend, against advice from his lawyers to the verdict to appeals court, which he again lost!That is quite different from this position. That was a loan agreement and not a pure lease agreement.

Depending who you deal with, the law is so full with loopholes resulting in you having zilch protection....Yes, you are right. Dealing with people in Thailand is an art. You have to do a due diligence exercise on his reliability and outlook in life. Lending money to a businessman personally is the last thing you would do in Thailand. Even among Thai people, one does not lend money to friends.

First, the range of my rental is 65,000 to 85,000/month. 95% of my property are leased to a non-English speaking race, Japanese.

if 65-85k is a typo Irene i apologise in advance for being arrogant. based on your quite professional postings and explanations as far as real estate is concerned i got the impression that you are indeed "established" in this business. however, the amount and the percentage you mentioned in context indicates something quite different.

65-85K are real. The 65k income is derived from my investment of 2.5-3.5M 25 years ago. In terms of the amount, our family is established alright in investing and renting.

Yes, you can take this right to the police and through the courts. Probably take longer than your 12 month lease contract.

That is sometimes the 'practical' side of Thailand.

Electricity s probably in the name of the owner, so he don't have to tresspass. He just call the electricity company to cut it for him. And the meter is almost always outside of the property, so no tresspassing there too.

But even with tresspasing, who is going to stop him?

Another tactic i have seen is that the new owner parks his car in front of the entrance. What are you going to do about that? Damage it, remove it. Call the police?

Better be safe than sorry and talk to the new owner as quickly as possible. Confirm the rental contract and new ownership and ask for new account numbers etc. Be pro-active on this. Not just wait and see. Who knows maybe the old owner did not tell the new owner about the length of the contract or maybe the new owner bought it to rent it out and is happy with it. Get those worries out of your system and talk.

Electricity s probably in the name of the owner, so he don't have to tresspass. He just call the electricity company to cut it for him. And the meter is almost always outside of the property, so no tresspassing there too.

But even with tresspasing, who is going to stop him?In law, that is trespassing on your right of peaceful inhabitant.

Another tactic i have seen is that the new owner parks his car in front of the entrance. What are you going to do about that? Damage it, remove it. Call the police?Call the police for obstruction.

Yes, I agree that it is good just to call the old owner asking him what happen. But just remember that you are in an upper hand with your legal rights.

shochu,

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irene,

i now understand why you and some others are so generous in offering advice regarding rental - in particular your rentals and how well you are doing even though some of your rentals seem to defy the norm and now it is very evident that you are using this forum to make it appear that one can earn a very tidy sum by a)renting out to foreigners BUT one must first b)buy from a foreigner - and it is a nice win win situation for you if you are involved in both - yes?

if you are going to give advice under the guise of advertising - at least pay the dues and give thaivisa a fee for using their website or at least offer advice that is real - such as that there is an increasing rental backlog and that rental prices are coming down and will for some time to come. anyone who knows the rental market in bangkok knows this.

i see you have now changed your selling line a bit to adjust for my revelations that seem to refute some of what you speak!

Again, you are wrong.

First,the range of my rental is 65,000 to 85,000/month. 95% of my property are leased to a non-English speaking race, Japanese. My potential tenants do not read this forum.

Second, out of all my purchases of our condos, I have never bought them from foreigners or potential readers of this forum. Either, I bought them from the developers, off-plan, or in majority being "victims" of the flippers in buying second-hand from Thais. Mostly, the flippers made Baht1M to Baht3M profits from me. I have been happy with all these purchases from the flippers because I view the prospect as somewhat proven after the property is built and the growth potential is in my view good. The reason why I believe so because of the rush to rent my property from all types of estate agents. All my rental has gone up.

So far I have never sold my property. Why so? The answer is with the location. Almost at every stations along Rajdamri to Sukhumvit 67, I got involved. Why do I share my experiences with readers of this forum? I simply like to widen the horizon of readers of this forum in which they have been innundated with one-sided advices. I also like to read advices from someone to me that my perception is incorrect despite it has proven correct so far. Instead, I have been receiving insults that I am stupid and uneducated. However, I received one good advice from one reader that don't believe in one's past records because the chemicals may not be the same now. Because of this advice, I have become cautious.

Third, I got this idea of being a flipper because previously I was not long-sighted enough to buy off-plan. Recently, I bought at Sky Walk (Sukhumvit 67) and a couple of units at Taksin Bridge, off-plan. I see both as great potential for growth because of advantages of being commuters since both sites are next door to sky train stations and can be subject to large developments because of population growth in both areas. I know it is risky if the projects turns sour. I can lose 30% of my progressive payments. If I am proven right, I can make large profits from taking this risk.

I can see that you don't like me and call me of all sorts which I don't mind. But, don't doubt my integrity. I am prepared to stay away from this forum completely just to please you. I came into this forum because of my previous stress on health problem and I was touched by the responses which guided me to the right path. I don't understand why topics like economy, baht strength and property investments, there are so much mistrust. Please believe me I am real with no ulterior motives to pump my property value.

Folks,

I have never understood Sir Winston's slight on Lord Atlee, a great socialist, until I got involved with this thread:

"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject".

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/773.html

I have looked at the idea of buying condos to rent out many times over last ten years.

The bottom line for me has always been the rental yield has never been sufficient to justify the risk/hassle etc

Most condos i have looked at never seem to give a gross yield above 6%(some significantly less so).Note I'm mainly refering to condos in prime areas(cbd)

Perhaps if any of the previous posters could tell us the secret of their success and what sort of yields they are aiming at etc etc .

Thanks

First, I go for location and its prospect.

Second, whether there is a prospect of good management.

Third, find out about current rental per M2 (don't take your info from the newspapers articles but rely on the classified ads).

Fourth, anything not less than 5% gross yield is acceptable. (Current interest income is at 2-3%).

Fifth, one has to be comfortable with continuous tenancy otherwise one could end up in no yield but maintenance expenses. Hence, Central District is a comfort. My secret is to see that location is next to or near to mass transit stations, supermarkets, and a park. With this, the chance of not finding tenants would be reduced.

In sum, if I am right with all that evaluation, my yearly investment income is better than fixed interest income and with inflation and higher cost of constructions and EIA (environment) requirements, and good prospect of growth in the city, I view my chance of increasing my family wealth should be good. Based on my past experiences, this has been so. But I don't know about the current prospect, whether I have missed some important points that may sink my evaluation.

chalvy,

Section 568 of the Civil and Commercial Code provides as follow:

"A rental contract of immovable property is not extinguished by the transfer of the ownership of the rented property.

The transferee (i.e. the new owner) is entitled to the rights and is subject to the duties of the transferor (i.e. the previous owner) towards the lessee."

So, chalvy, the new owner has the right to collect rental from you, (But you have to make sure, he is really the new owner). However, the new owner has the obligation to honour the lease agreement previously signed by the previous owner.

The new owner has no right to enter your compound or your house without your permission. If he comes in to cut your electricity, you could send him to jail for trespassing. So, if the new owner likes to occupy the house now, he would have to give incentives to you to leave. At that point of time, you can demand all the figures that you believe is worth it. Your house is still your castle during the rental period.

I just want you to know that you are in a strong position and not a weak position when talking to the new owner. Forget about not being a Thai, your right is still well protected. Have a Thai friend there to meet a new owner.

irene,

are you sure you are better off than I?That is rather childish. One does not need to go personal. I could not care less whether any one is better or worse off than me.

you are the one who made the intial claim - now you cry fowl - my my....

I see all the flippers - er - used car salesmen are out in force.

Weak arguments!! I guess I was correct - this is a field of the uneducated.

Again - there is a reason gov't's enact laws to try and stop flippers!!!

And no flippers are not necessary in the transaction - as they often keep people from getting in on projects!!!

I really feel sad for you. It is below me to point at anyone as uneducated even for those who deserve to be called as such.

There is no law against a willing buyer and a willing seller in having a contract assigning his right to the property to another party. The price level is up to the willingness of both parties. How can any law be enacted against this practice?

Points by points I have answered back and ignoring those false accusations, and now all you can do is to insult people with good intention.

Self praise is no praise. I leave this to readers to evaluate the sensibility of your and my logics.

I think the OP means is he safe untill the 12 months are up .I would think yes .It can be sold in the mean time ,and just means that he will have a different landlord .

Thats exactly what I meant. Didn't want to move all my crap again before my 12 months was up. In my country the contract is safe as houses ( pardon the pun ) but in the LOS you just never know, do you?

The missus was all in a tiff thinking we could be looking for a new place to live, but thanks to your wise advice, she can rest easy.

Cheers

Just to help to confirm that the law favours a tenant in this case. You are well protected until the expiry date.

how long on average do your tenants stay... One year to six years. On average, about two years.

and for how long on average does the place stay empty until a new tenant is found? A few weeks to one month for renovation. There was an exception of one unit having been vacant for one year due to bad management of that condo.

and lastly, what method do you use most to find tenants; real estate companies or advertise it yourself?EPG's answer coincides with my method (Use all methods,Agents,sign outside,anything and see what comes along and also all my condos are in great location).

In addition, I don't mind paying one-month brokerage fee to anyone. I don't bother to advertise for direct contacts to avoid fee payment. Hence I have built up a network of brokers to allow me to pick types of tenants and types of brokers I like to deal with. Another benefit is to know of some buying opportunities.

a local yellow pages with a help of thai will give you addresses and phone numbers to the local agents. Your condo menagement can point you to some, as well.

One effective way is to approach the front desk for help. There should be quite a few walk-ins enquiring of the availability.

I'm British (with Thai Wife) and have recently become a father.

My son has Thai Birth Cert & Passport can he own Land in Thailand?

Yes he can. There have been many threads in this forum asking this question. I suggest you search back and read some of those threads for the advantages/disadvantages of putting property in a minor's name.

The son cannot sell that piece of land until he reaches maturity.

irene,

are you sure you are better off than I?That is rather childish. One does not need to go personal. I could not care less whether any one is better or worse off than me.

I am not the one having to flip/scalp off of others to make a living. generally people who do this are uneducated people with less opportunities to make a living and thus the lower moral standards. in thailand, these individuals are targeting their fellow countrymen as I doubt any thai would be stupid enough to fall for this charade. and by continually repeating a dogmatic selling line - buy no more than 50 meters from any BTS/MRT - they hope enough people will hear it and eventually an uninitiated individual in the honeymoon stage will succumb.Wow! What a lot of stereotyped vocabs that are frequently used in a bar and yet you labelled me as uneducated? Just like Sir Winston said, there are people who are so orthodox beyond education and just would not change the subject and outlook.

how many fellow countrymen have you profited off of?Not at this moment because I have not yet sold any of my property for a profit or for a loss. In two year time, I hope I can flip for profits with many happy buyers or incur big losses which according to my calculation are bearable.

and regarding your selling line - please tell me if it is so - why are the two most popular areas - ari and thonglo - when there are no condos within 50 meters of the BTS/MRT.There is one next to Thonglor station expected to be completed in two years time. Siri's project. Ari has no vacant land for developers to initiate any projects. There is not much one rai land around the main road of Sukhumvit.

another thing - anyone who buys a place that close to the metro is setting themselves up to more noise, pollution and the vibration from the metro. most people i know in bangkok choose to live near a metro but off of a major road down a quiet soi thus why ari and thong lo are so popular.That is your opinion and you can base on that in investing and I have my way of parting my money. And being a civil person, I would not call your opinion stupid.

irene,

you have been caught perjuring yourself! Why should I perjure myself when I have no gain from my input.

you have stated that you buy off plan and pay the deposit to flip it for the equivalent profit. Wrong again, I have never bought off plan and flip it for the equivalent profit. That was an example of how flip plan works and I gave out this technique for others to know, unselfishly. I intend to flip this plan for those condos next to MRT but have not done so yet. As I stated before in the past decades I had never sold any of my property.

when you were offering advice I thought - okay - here is someone who is doing a good deed. when i thought that you took older condos and refurbished them - I THOUGHT - hey - here is someone working for a living putting condos back on the market that would otherwise just deteriorate and thus providing a needed market function in a city that requires it - but then your rhetoric was like a boken record and anyone who has to repeated say - I AM NOT AN AGENT - generally is. Your definition of an agent is rather odd. I have been buying condos as a hobbie for rental and never trade in the property. I cannot be called otherwise but an "investor".

why am I up on you - WELL BECAUSE - i think anyone that flips condos is a used car salesmen - no better than a ticket scalper - who based purely on a profit motive artificially drives up the price of a condo to the point where bubbles form and keeps the locals priced out of the market and thus creates problems - BASED PURELY ON GREED - and by offering no real product except the ability to buy something that they have no need for except to profit by it. i dislike scalpers and thus I also dislike flippers. you profit from the sweat of others just by being in a position to hold it over them. you distort the market for a product that should first and foremost be a home to people that need them at an affordable price. you and people like you are pricing the thais's out of their own homes so that they will perpetually be in debt. i see nothing wrong in trying to make money - BUT -flipping is a very low form of making money that is on the level of used car salesmen, scalpers, snake oil salesmen, etc. I am glad you at least tell your feeling why you are up on me. That is a fair game. You simply have this socialist feeling of not wanting to see other people better off than you. I have not flipped my concos and have the generosity to inform the form of the market conditions to our forum. If I am selfish and greedy, I could keep quiet on my knowledge and let all the expatriates coninuing holding the cynical views.Your accusation against me is incorrect since I have not done so yet. With due respect, I take a different view since I believe all investors have to evaluate risk and reward and paying the 30% first portion could turn out to be a loss as well if there is not sufficient demand for the invested condos. There are also many sad stories under this light. But I think the fall back situation on near-Mrt condos is sufficient enough for me to take the risk. You can judge me in whatever ways you like but don't call me a liar.

AND if your tokyo analysis is anyting to go by - then all you have offered for advice is most likely the same - an end game for your gain! That is the only point you are right. The aim of an investment is to make a gain. I am a great fan of capitalism and not Fabian socialism