CWMcMurray

How about the Gemopolis Industrial Estate by the airport...

Gemopolis

Gemopolis Industrial Estate was established in 1990 by Mr.Boonyong Assarasakorn, founder and current CEO with the initial mission catering to the gems and jewelry business. The successful completion of the project currently brings 120 companies employing over 20,000 staff.

In 2008, Gemopolis was granted “Free Zone” status by the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (I-EAT). Gemopolis Free Zone is the first and unique free zone in Bangkok metropolitan area opens to a wide range of products not only gems and jewelry business but also fashion industry, high value products, medical equipments, watches, lens, eye glasses, spectacles, telecommunication accessories, IT , computers, electric & electronic accessories, sport equipments, stationery & toys. Importation all kinds of product is exempt from duty and vat. It is considered only a unique free port in Thailand just 8 minutes from Suvaranbhumi International Airport.

In order to stimulate economic growth and community development around Gemopolis and the international airport, we plan to develop the rest of land about 600 rais to be a “Service Industrial Estate”. Business operation includes trading, commercial, and services activities, for example, hotels, hospitals, housing projects, exhibition complex, entertainment centres, international distribution centers, health care & beauty centers, etc. We would welcome Thai and foreign investors worldwide.

The most convenient way would be to just use your card at the hospital. You would just call to your card provider in advance and tell them when you will be going to India and the estimated amount of the purchase and location of the vendor. They will then put it into their system, so that when you make the charge it will not be blocked by their "Fraud Detention Department".

I usually do this when ever making a large purchase with my card and have never had a problem.

I am with many of the other posters... if the Best case scenario is you make 2,500 THB per month that is not really a great deal for you. If you just want to help out a good friend that is another story. As others have said, I can't think of any good reason why he would need to use your name as the lease holder...

The only reason I can think of, it to protect himself if things go wrong.... if the business doesn't work out, he can then run away and not face any repercussions other than loosing you as a friend, you on the other hand will be stuck with making payments until the lease expires.

You mentioned that you have a Plan B for the building if needed.... not sure what that is, but it may very well be better than this idea... maybe your plan B should be your plan A

I believe that an Amity company must be registered as an "Amity Company" at the time of forming the company. I do not know if it is possible to change a traditional "Thai company" to an "Amity Company" at a later date.

I would check with a Lawyer to confirm if under the terms of the treaty must an American "Form a company " or if they can "aquire an existing company" through stock purchase and if any additional paperwork needs to be done to qualify under Amity treaty.

If in the case that the treaty does not allow for and individual to acquire an existing company through stock purchase, then the American in question may need to form a new company and then acquire the B & C shares of your company.

If the existing laws can't be enforced, and they are not, seems pointless making new ones.

"people under 18 are already banned from bars, while Internet cafes face age-control and closing time regulations, and you have to be 18 to get a driver's licence."

That's because the people in charge of making new laws are not the ones who enforce them... there is pressure to "do something" and it is much easier to make a new law rather than to take on the BiB and force them to enforce the current laws that are already on the books.

This is a knee jerk reaction to the under age girl driving a car illegally and causing an accident that killed 9 people.... but she was already breaking the law by driving and how would a curfew have prevented this? Simple answer, it would.t have prevented this accident. Do you think that some one who who would drive a car without a license would have any problems with going out after curfew?

I was in Tops Central Silom yesterday and was surprised to see a gigantic Jelly Belly display. The entire end of one of the rows was devoted to Jelly Belly jelly beans in all their many flavors, in bulk, in packages, etc. etc.

Shouldn't be too surprising as Jelly Belly has a factory in Thailand...

Many US ports can handle imports from Thailand and there are many ports on the east coast... Most liners will run smaller "feeder vessels" between Thailand ports and Singapore and then containers from various origin countries in Asia will then be consolidated in SIN and loaded on to various "Mother vessels" heading to various ports in the USA.

The deciding factor of what port to use will be based upon your customers location (delivery address) in the USA.

If customers are in the North east, then likely NY Port would be the best option.... If they are a little bit further South, then Baltimore may be a better option... if they are a bit further to the south, then Savannah may be a better option.... (I think you get the point)

Also it is important to note that customs clearance in the US is done electronically, so you can really be located anywhere and still handle customs clearance in any port.

Thanks for the insight - thinking of getting my customs broker license - and would like to pick an east coast port well-suited to handle exports from SE Asia, specifically Thailand.

There are certainly vessels that go to both east cost and west costs ports and liners will also offer rates to most other destinations within the USA. If an inland destination, once the container arrives at port, they will be railed to the final destination city.

While Long Beach CA is the closest port to Thailand, it may not always be the least expensive route depending on the final destination city.

For example, if you are sending to Chicago via LCL (less than a container load), if you compare costs between "via NY Port" and "Via Long Beach" the cost via NY is cheaper by aprox USD 20 per cbm (this is due to inland transport costs from Sea Port). This being said, the transit time via New York is a little bit slower... from BKK port to Chicago---- "via NY Port" = T/T of 33 days and "Via Long Beach" = T/T of 30 days (OOCL)

I would recommend investing in the SET or if she is adverse to investing in stocks, there are some Bond funds available in most Banks.

You mention that she is not in the higher tax bracket, but if she is paying any taxes, she can invest in stocks and bonds under a "Long Term Fund" (must keep invested for a min of 5 yrs) and she can then deduct up to 150,000 thb (or actual contributions) per year from her taxable income. .

If she is not paying taxes, then just invest normally (outside of LTF) and no benefit would be gained and her money would remain much more liquid and she would not face any penalties for "early withdraw"

just as an fyi...

This is only for courier shipments. If sent via traditional Air Freight the volume weight remains unchanged.

L x W x H (in) / 366

L x W x H (cm) / 6000

Yes, you are kee niow, congratulations. I cant help but feel abit sorry for your wife truth be told.

She is most likely a very patient type lady, who is biding her time and putting up with this, as the insurance policy is upto date, and all assets would be her name anyway as one would guess she is significantly younger than her very generous husband and just she just waiting for him to take his final trip to the Alps in the sky...

This reminds of a lecture given in my Thai History Class at University. The professor was a Thai women with a PHD....

We were discussing one of the Famous Politicians from the 70's or 80's (can't remember the name anymore) and it came out that this person had a lot of minor wives and that it seems that he was very open about this and it was out in the "public". One of the female students made a comment about feeling sorry for his wife.

The professor then made a comment that really blew my mind at the time (only been in Thailand a few months and considering that the speaker was a well educated and well off female university professor)

She then directed a comment "to all of the girls in the class" (please also note that almost all of the girls at this university are from very well of families)....

"Girls... Many of you will end up marrying men who are much older than yourself and many of them will have Mia Noi and girlfriends on the side. Do not let it bother you and do not make a scene, after all they will die much earlier than you and then you will inherit all of their money"

... This was said with a straight face and the professor was completely serious.

I think the rule is that you need to have spent less than 180 days per year in Thailand to qualify for vat refund.

These types of Insurance policies are only interesting if you are in a high tax bracket and can get a 30-40% refund on the annual premiums paid when you do your taxes. In the OP's example, he would increase his total return by 25% if he was in the 30% tax bracket.

If in 30% tax bracket....

40,000 * 0.3 = 12,000 thb per yr

12,000 * 16 = 192,000 thb (additional "payout" if you can deduct premiums from your taxes)

Otherwise the return is about the same as you would get if you just left the money in the Bank.

I also have one of these deals, but it is a bit shorter... pay 30k for 6 years get around 235k at 10yrs

It's called a "Garbage Plate" ...

The original Garbage Plate was created at Nick Tahou Hots' fast-food restaurant more than fifty years ago. Tahou came to Rochester in 1937, selling hot dogs near the railroad depot.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/GarbagePlate.htm

It looks almost perfect for a belly full of beer....but what is it?

I think many are making this more complicated than it needs to be... this really is a no brainer as the interest rates you are paying on your foreign debt are relatively low.

The tax benefit by far outweighs the benefit gained by paying down the debt a year or two earlier, this is a very simple numbers game.

The Thai stock market has been doing very well the last few years, but if you really do not want to "Gamble" on stocks or bonds, you can realize the same tax benefit by buying life insurance. You can deduct up to 150k in premiums and will get back all of the premiums plus a little bit more after a set time. I have one of these policies where you pay for 6 years and then get a lump sum payout after 10 yrs. Its not a huge amount of interest, but when you figure in the tax benefit, they are not to bad. (although I would not recommend them to anyone who is not at least in the 30% tax bracket)

If you are going to be in Thailand for a while, then buying a condo may not be a bad idea and you can deduct up to 100k in interest on your mortgage from your taxes, but since we are only talking about 10k a month, that may not be feasible.

In your situation, I would continue to service the foreign debt and try to max out the tax benefits that you can gain in Thailand.

up to 150k in long term funds (must keep the funds invested for at least 5 yrs)

up to 150 in life insurance premiums

up to 100k in interest from mortgage

If you are in the 40% tax bracket, this could give you a tax benefit of 400k *40%= THB 160k (aprox EUR 340 per month). This means the tax benefit alone would allow you to service 94% of your 360 debt and does not include any benefit realized from any of your investments during this time.

This really is a no brainer...

I disagree with the others... but only because you have advised that you are working in Thailand and it seems that you are in the Top Tax bracket paying 40% income tax. This is based upon your advice that if you invest 10k per month you would get a refund of 4k per month...

This means a 40% guaranteed return on investment plus what ever gain you receive from the stocks themselves....

Back in my younger days when I was back in the US, we used to get one of these after a long nite of drinking...

Mario....

I have tried to look up online to see if there were any consulates or honorary consulates in France but was not able to find any. The only listing I could find in France was the Embassy in Paris. Do you know of any consulates or Honorary Consulates in France?

Clinique...

Thank you for the above information, it is good to hear that the Paris Embassy is helpful. I am guessing that he will need a letter from the company confirming the Internship offer, but will wait for him to contact the Embassy and advise.

From what I have heard the questions on the O-Net exams are horrible ...

I did a google search and found this on another forum...

-----Quote----

M3 English O.Net You have to be joking

I have heard it said that Braces are relatively new to Thailand. Previously there was not a large enough "middle class" who could afford them. So now it is not uncommon for many older folks with Bad teeth to just start getting braces as they did not have the opportunity to get them when they were younger.

Given that there are a purely cosmetic (make your mile look nicer), only those with enough extra disposable income can afford them. So this means that Braces are considered a status symbol because only the well off can afford them. So someone came up with the idea of creating "fake braces", so that those who could not afford them could still where them for fashion/status.

Having needed to wear braces in High school for about 3-4 years, I can not imagine wearing them "just for fun". I have also heard that in many cases the "Fake Braces" are unsafe and have caused some to ruin their teeth or get sick and there was a push to try to get kids to stop wearing them a couple years back.

I have already briefly explained the process and have given him the contact details of the Thai Embassy in Paris. I have advised him to contact the Embassy to verify what would be required and let us know.

Looks like there are not a lot of French folks on Thai Visa...

Came to Thailand when I was 28 and have been here for 6 years. I am working for a Thai company and no plans on heading back to USA anytime soon.

I was originally in the US Army and went back to university in US after getting out under the GI Bill. I did my first two years at university in the US and found out that Uncle Sam would still pay GI Bill if going to school overseas as long as the university and major were approved by the US Government. Did a little research and the IB program at Mahidol University was approved, so came over here for a semester abroad which later turned into finishing my degree here in Thailand.

I was able to find a good job with a good company here in Thailand, so we have continued to stay and build our lives here in Thailand. Otherwise, we would likely already be living in the USA.

Have seen a few decent pen shops in the Mall Bangkapi...