CWMcMurray

SKYPE is what I use. $0.021 per minute for both landlines and mobile phones in the US.

If any of your customers also use SKYPE then you can talk for free.

You can also set up a US number that your customers can call and it will go either to your SKYPE phone or can even be forwarded to your mobile in Thailand.

Key point... get the fastest internet connection available. I use 1 meg and rarely have problems, but the faster the better.

Yes you can and should file a return especially if you are not going to be working the entire year. Your withholding tax is based upon your tax bracket if you were to make your salary for the entire year.

For example, if you are making 150,000 a month, your withholding will be based upon 1.8 mil. If you only work 6 months, then you are making under 1 mil and have just paid a whole lot more than you should in taxes...

You can talk to your employer to ask them to withhold less, but they may not want to do this. If that's the case just file a return at the end of the year.

I am beginning the process of looking for a house, but the more I hear about Moo Baans the less I want to live in one.

I know plenty of people who live in Moo Baans and never have to cause to complain. Actually I'm one of them, I'm very happy living in a Moo Baan and find it difficult to consider living in a condo.

That is good to know, doesyour Moon Baan have a managment commitee?

I really don't have any plans to move into a condo (currently renting a house).

But I was beginning to think that it may be better to look at stand alone properties rather than those in a Moo Baan.

Or a property in a Moo Baan that does not have security or management commities. Just buy a house and don't have to deal with anyone.

The only other option might be an admin job with an NGO - google on 'Thai NGO' and have a look. You will probably only get approx the same as for English teaching - say 20-30,000 Thai Baht/month. As you will see, most (even NGO's) are only looking for Thai nationals so there is a lot of competition for the few remaining jobs.

Good luck on getting an NGO job without a degree... even Peace Corps volunteers need a 4 yr degree to apply...

Some NGOs will state degree or life experience, but at 22 I dont think the life experience option will apply.

I agree with Teacup... at 22, going to University is the best thing you could do for yourself. In the US it is still possible to find jobs without a degree, but in Thailand almost all entry level positions in almost all industies will want people to have a degree.

Without a degree you will be really hard pressed to find anything that will pay you much over what it takes to just survive. It is also very likely that you will not be able to get a work permit, which means you are going to be breaking the law to do it.

You can work your way through college in the US without to much difficulty. You may have to apply for finacial aid and take out some loans, but you can do it.

It is very unlikely that you will be able to do the same if you wanted to go to school in Thailand.

Another to look at is doing a 1 yr study abroad at Chiang Mai University, they have a lot of agreements with arious US Univeristies. So you may be able to spend one out of the 4 years here in Thailand while you are working towards your degree.

But all of the above are examples of individual countries. If an EU member defaults I believe it would have different rammifications.

So what happens if in the above example, Ireland dafaults?

What are the rammifications to Ireland?

Will this have any effect on the EUR?

What effects will this have on the EU as a whole and other member countries of the EU?

Thats correct, you need an income of 40,000 Baht per month. The people that has a mariage visa with 400,000 baht in the bank are grandfathered under a previous law prior to October of 2006.

Barry

I though it was just brought back in the new police order. Everyone should now be able to do it again.

Bump! They've been on the phone again. Apparently it's for wear and tear to the

private moo baan infrastructure! and 'free' water.

david

So if they build the house there will not be any wear and tear? Do they have "magic equipment" that this outside builder does not?

Does the outside builder's equipment use ore water than the Moo Baan's builder and that's why there should be additional fees for water usage?

Does this mean that you will not need to pay any water bills while the house is being constructed?

I am beginning the process of looking for a house, but the more I hear about Moo Baans the less I want to live in one.

Amounts and time lines can also vary greatly and the amounts can be quite large, in my boss' case for example she said that some her friends took out loans from the group for cars...

I have heard about this from several Thai People I know and was as confused about it as you were when I did.

Their explination was similar to your own exept the part about bidding for the money every week. They way it was explained to me was that they will create a pool savings account where everyone will have to contribute an equal ammount. Then they will "take turns" borrowing the money.The way that they decide to take turns can be decided among the group, some may just decide among themselves or others may set up a bidding structure as you explained.

Then the person who borrows the money will have to payback the amount plus the agreed upon interest to the group.

Based upon the people I have heard about this from, I don't think that these things are scams (or at least a lot of them aren't). But I never was able to find out what happens if someone defaults on their loan???

The first time I heard about this was from a small business owner that is friends with my wife. She got the capital needed to start her business by being a member of a similar group.

Another person I heard about this from was the owner of my company. We were just chatting about things and talking about credit and debt and how people many times will spend more they have and the problems that can cause(you know just light afternoon conversation to pass the time).

She also mentioned about these groups and said that they are very popular among Chinese Thai's (but first ewxample is not of Chinese decent, so I think they have become popular among all Thais). She said when she first started working, she joined a group like this, but never borrowed any money, she just let all of her friends borrow and she kept the interest.

I think you are asking the wrong folks...

Small businesses, especially in the start up stage take a lot of work. The only way it will be successful is if your girlfriend is passionate about it and really wants to put in the time and effort into making sure it works.

If you just buy something that is available, I think the chances are much higher that it won't work out.

I would recomend asking her what she wants to do and then focus on that. Whether in means opening a new one or buying an existing one, but I would guess that opening her own would be better than trying to purchase an existing business.

There are plenty of small businesses that can be started for under 500,000 THB.

Wish you the best of luck.

However, your supplier in Thailand will have added 7% VAT to their invoices to your Company, so you have already paid this to your supplier here, who in turn has paid it to the Thai Revenue Department.

And if your suppliers are outside of Thailand then the VAT was charged to you during customs clearance at the time of import of your raw materials. You can also claim VAT Refund for this as well...

Anyone know anything about Laser Printers?

I have an old inkjet and I am thinking about buying a color laser printer. I have looked around and prices range from around 3,500 thb to 50,000+.

I am not a big time computer person and I will be using it to print out some pictures. I would like to buy the cheap models: Cannon LPB 3050 or Brother HL-2140 (both around 3,000 thb), but not sure if they will be good enough for my purposes.

Would like relatively clear pictures with good color. I really have no Idea if Laser printers are good with printing pictures.

Would appreciate any info anyone could give on this subject.

fyi: I am currently using a HP Injet 4160 and happy with the quality of pics, just a pain refilling the ink all the time and don't like having to wait for ink to dry and smudges that ocasionaly happen.

Important point often not understood.I would just add the obvious corollary that there is not the slightest compulsion for Immigration/Interior to make anywhere near the full 100 quota for each nationality.In the year I got PR I recall about 16 Brits got it.My lawyer told me many were rejected.

Understood that there is no requirement to fill the quota.

So if 16 Brits got PR the year you applied, but "many" were rejected we should be able to find more people who have been rejected.

The problem is you seldom hear from anyone who was rejected and why... just rumors of "many" applicants rejected.

The key to understanding the process and requirements clearly, both official/unofficial, is to find out from people who were rejected.

So is the general consenus...

If you meet the minimum requirements and are willing to put in the time and effort it shouldn't be a problem.

The only time it becomes an issue is if there are more than 100 for your nationality because then applicants will need to be ranked and some that meet the min requirements may not be accepted?

Is the above a fair statement???

No it's not really a fair statement.

The minimum requirements are exactly what they say, the minimum. This is what is required to get thru step 1 at immigration, from there it is passed up the chain where the decision is made by the government - various depts. have input into the final decision.

So if you meet all of the minimum requirements you will get past stage 1...

Let's assume that you can pass the Thai Language test and your Nationality does not reach the quota of 100 persons.

Has anyone ever gotten past stage 1 and been turned down for reasons other than the two listed above?

...the event is considered a national agenda.

According to Gen Anupong, the country would gain benefits, if it can properly host the summit...

And where was the army when the PAD was forcing the PPP governmnet to move the summit to Chiang Mai?

I guess that stopping people people from shutting down the country's Airports and costing the country 290 Billion baht was not a part of the national agenda.

And 290 Billion baht and 500,000 jobs were not a big enough benefit to the country to convince him to do his job last time around...

That being said of course they should maintain order, it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth to see blatent double standard.

It removes all credability from the Army and Police... where were guys before

So is the general consenus...

If you meet the minimum requirements and are willing to put in the time and effort it shouldn't be a problem.

The only time it becomes an issue is if there are more than 100 for your nationality because then applicants will need to be ranked and some that meet the min requirements may not be accepted?

Is the above a fair statement???

That is kind of what I expected. Those who have received it normally say that you need a mountain of paperwork and it may take a couple of years but over all not that difficult.

But there are a large number of people I have seen on this forum who don't have PR and have never applied for PR who constantly say that the minimum requirements aren't enough and thet you need to surpass the requiremenrt or you shouldn't even try.

I am interested in hearing from others with first hand experiences.

I always see everyone talking about how impossible it is to get PR and how you absolutely need this that and the other. People say the minimum requirements are not enough... and you shouldn't even waste your time applying.

So has anyone actually met the minimum requirements and been refused?

Is it really that hard or are all the nay sayers just full of

Had to go through this myself. I was on a non-O with multiple extensions for Education.

Was offered a job and in order to get a work permit I needed to change the reason for my extension from to study to stay with my Thai Wife.

I went to immigration and waited in line for Non-O family. After my turn came up I was told that I would have to go to window 1 (education) to have them cancel my extension for education and then come back to the family extension department.

I went to window 1 and they told me I would need a letter from my university stating my status before they would release me. I was still a student, but I think they wanted to verify that my status was current, otherwise they may just have canceled my visa (not certain about this).

I went back to the Univeristy and requested the letter (takes 3 business days).

Then went back to counter one and they released me from window one's responsiblility. I then went back to the family extension section and waited my turn. Once it was my turn gave all of the documents required for extension based upon having a Thai wife (including income letter from my embassy).

There was a slight bump in the road because my wife is from Nakorn Ratchisma Province and they originally told us that we would need to apply for extension in Korat. I explained that my wife works in BKK and I go to school in BKK and that we have lived here for our entire relationship. She advised us to write a letter requesting to be allowed to extend in BKK and submit to the supervisor. I did so and we were allowed to extend here.

Waited in Line again and when it was our turn we went up and gave all of the information and docs needed and everything went smoothly.

Can back a month later and had a new extension based upon staying with my Thai wife and then took passport to employer and they were able to get a work permit.

And also which countries I should export to and a list of possible customers as well, thanks...

forgot:

Please also let me know where I can buy the advised products for a very low cost

There are alot of places that would fit the bill. What kind of price range are you looking for?

You said it does not need to be by the BTS, if you can move outside of Downtown (around 20-30 min from Skytrain) you can most likely cut the rent in half or more.

You can probably find something like this for 13,000-100,000+ thb/mo depending.

I have a ranch style home fully furnished. 2 Bedroom/2 Bathroom + maid room/office full western style kitchen with 3 A/C units for 13,000thb. My house is located in Pattanakarn (about 30 min from skytrain[15 min if no traffic])

I believe my landlord has another house available (or did 8 months ago when I moved in). If interested in taking a look PM me and I will ask.

If you are looking for a more high end home, I know some one who has a few very nice homes up for rent, but most are in the 70,000 -100,000+ thb/mo range.

The only issue is if you will be actually moving in in Q3 2009, it may be a bit of a time waster to look now. Unless you are willing to sign a contract and start paying rent a lot of folks will tell you to come back in Q3.

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a large townhouse or single house in Bangkok, on Sukhumvit or in the Lumpini park area.

Our requirements :

- must have at least 2 large bedrooms + home office space or 3/4 large bedrooms with ability to convert some into home office (1 of the bedrooms at least should be on ground floor, for an old person with limited mobility)

- must have maid's room

- must already have or be 100% guaranted elligible for high speed internet access

Access to BTS, swimming pool and/or gym is not required but is a big plus.

We would move in probably only in Q3 2009, but as we'll be in Bangkok from february 8 to february 19, I'd like to take this opportunity to start visiting houses.

Let me know if you know anything that matches this, or if you can recommand a farang friendly real estate agent with good prices that could have that kind of house.

Thanks.

Restricted exports

There are restrictions on the export of archaeological items or historical artefacts without a certificate of authorisation from the Department of Fine Arts in Thailand. The export of images or figures of the Buddha and other religious artefacts is also subject to this ruling.

Prohibited items

Drug smuggling, trafficking or consumption carries the death penalty in Thailand. In addition, non-prescribed drugs and all firearms and ammunition are illegal. Gold must be declared on arrival and can be left at the airport of entry to be retrieved on departure.

Gold Bullion is a restricted item and an import license must be granted by the Thai Government. There are currently only a few companies that are authorized to import gold bullion into Thailand Legally.

If he wanted to bring in Gold, he should contact a freight forwarder to try and coordinate to bring it in Legally.

The better way would be to sell the gold... get to Thailand... Repurchase gold and then do as he earlier planned. The hassel to bring it in Legally will most likley not be worth it

The reason why you have to go to immigration is so that the immigration officers can make a note of it in their system. I would guess that this is needed, so if your company was ever inspectected there is a note of it.

In this very limited case, it is not considered work, but rather "Study" so it is linked to your ED visa. So labor department does not feel that they should get involved and everything should handled through window one at Suan Plu.

One additional note:

I am not sure how liberal this policy is. In my case the external internship was a 4 credit class that I needed to register, pay tuition for and was a required element of the degree program.

Thanks for the additional information, my only experience deals with University studies.

Are those studying at Dive Schools allowed to be interns as well? Do you have any experience with this or other trade schools? Do you know if they need to go to immigration to register their internships in the same manner?