Digger

Hospitals will rarely divulge HIV status unless very specifically asked. Pneumonia is a symptom of advance stage HIV infection but otherwise quite rare in Thailand. Having said that if she has a weak immune system for other reasons, and then got soaked in a downpour - could well be pneumonia. Either way Banglamung hospital is pretty dire - cant you make arrangements to get her transfered to BKK Pattaya and have them charge your credit card if you are that concerned. They can send an ambulance and pick her up as well for about 1000 baht. BKK Pattaya is the only hospital in Pattaya with HIV specialists as well. If it is HIV related, thats the best place for her short of BKK hospitals.

So is this considered as a condo owned in your name as a foreigner and where is the condo located (BKK etc).

Sounds interesting.

I dont think its a question of the foreign investor company but more of government rules and how they interpret them. I have no qualms with the financial situation of somebody such as Citibank or Stan Chart banks both of whom operate in Indonesia, but equally they could if they chose to just walk away from those investments and write them off. To my knowledge none of the foreign institutions have unlimited liability in Indonesia and in particular guarantee any deposits. That in itself is not unique, many countries have similar situations, but conversly other countries have a better track record of ensuring that things are handled correctly with proper checks and balances in place.

For example, if a hyperthetical 50,000 US$ just disapeared from your account, how confident are you that Indonesia has sufficient ability and credibility to find it and return it? Have you ever tried the legal system in Indonesia? Thats all I am saying and perhaps thats why most Indonesian wealth is invested in Singapore. My view has been built up after having worked for MNC's that operate in Indonesia and seeing first hand how things operate. You may believe your money is watertight, but its not a risk I would take.

Hertz has been running some ads in the BKK Post over last couple of weeks for some prestige motors that have been added to their fleet. One was def a Jaguar and also possibly a convertible Merc but I might be mistaken on that one. One company called Master Car Rental also advertises BMW 3&5 series but I think they are aiming at longer term rentals (e.g 6 months+)

Thailand is no good. You will need to convert it into Baht and more over Thai banks will not open account if you are a foreigner who have no work permit or residency permit. Even though those documents have been satisfied,some Thai banks discriminate between foreigners and local residents. Foreigners money is no good and therefore gets no interest vs local money which is good and therefore deserves interest. Such are mentality of the banks in Thailand.

Singapore and Hong Kong dont treat you well, unless you bring lots of money. I like my bank to treat me well. So in this case, I dont even bother banking in Singapore and Hong Kong cause they dont even bother to call you back or response to your email.

Perhaps you want to try to put it in Indonesia. A small deposits like USD50,000 will get you first class treatment. Under IMF pressure, they passed the law that guarantees free capital flow in and out of the country. By law banks cannot reaveal any information to anyone including Indonesian Tax authority. Your interest is automatically deducted for tax purposes. You may want to put it in USD rather than local currency, and put your USD with the country's largest banks that have internet banking facility that allows you to monitor and transfer money out. The following banks use double protection for its internet banking: a pin and a device that you carry to access the system so it is double protection:

Bank Mandiri

http://www.bankmandiri.co.id/english/index.aspx

Bank BCA

http://www.klikbca.com/index_eng.html

BCA and Mandiri are two largest banks in Indonesia. BCA is owned by Newbridge Capital and Mandiri belongs to the government of Indonesia 50%. They are both listed on the stock exchange and you can details of their financial information through Bloomberg.

I have some money in Europe on an off shore bank account that will soon have to be declared to the tax departement because of some new regulations in the EU. In order to avoid this, I wanted take this money outside of the EU and put it on an Asian Bank account (Thailand) where it can hopefully stay in peace... I presume there are some people in this forum who have experience with this kind of stuff and am calling for your advice.

Question: how much money can one bring into the country without it being flagged, marked as suspicious (I don't know how this works). The amount is not fenomenal, but I could use it to buy a house or so. Will money sitting on a Thai bank acc. be out of view of the European taxman?

what do I need to do for all this? I have been here a couple of years on tourist visa's, next year I'll have a non immigrant education visa for one year and after that I plan to get WP or start business etc (get legal status for working).

I tend to think it's just a question of opening a bank account here, transferring the money and ready, but I just want to check if it is that simple. When getting the money in from abroad, I will need to get one of those TT..? forms if I want to take this money back out of the country one day right?

cheers guys

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If thats the case why is that every expat I know and that includes ones working for foreign owned banks in Indonesia, keep their money in Singapore? Personally I could not think of any country I rather keep money out of, but its down to your individual risk I guess. Unfortunately Indonesia has very little credibility with international investors and has a habit of changing rules at the drop of a hat.

Hi

Could someone advise please. We are a farang couple that would like to buy a house here.  We have approx 10% deposit and would like to get a mortgage. 

Obviously we can't go down the thai gf/bf road so could you give more info about the company.  A relative is married to a thai but she already has their house in her name. Is it possible for it to be in her name? 

Many thanks,

J

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Very unlikely to get a mortgage with such a low down payment + an important consideration is that bank valuations take NO account of any extras in the house that can be stripped out in the event of a repo. i.e kitchen, aircon, curtains etc - therefore basically all they are valuing is the land, the sq m of the property and if it has a pool which they will take into account. Very often, bank valuations using this method fall way short of what you are actually paying. They do lend to companies owning property but its based on the financial situation of the company directors - basically if they think you can afford the repayments at least 2-3 times over, they will likely lend you the money but its rare for them to give more than 50% of their valuation to a foreigner. Basically they want to see more of your money tied up in the property before they will lend you some of their cash. They are very cynical of foreigners in so far as what is ties you have to stay in Thailand. Therefore a farang married to a Thai is often in a better position than someone who has no ties to the country other than "its a nice place to live". Also they do not like speculators using their money so do not say, "well I want to buy this place and sell it in a few years and make bucket loads of cash"

If you want to get the money out of Europe, I would suggest that you deposit it in Singapore. Singapore is quietly carving out a niche in this area and there are no restrictions on money movements in and out plus, not many countries have the ability to support their currency in the way they can. Another option would be just to open an account in the currency that the money is in. However, if there is anything dodgy about the money - dont expect Singapore to play dumb - they will squeal on you quicker than you can say money laundering. But if its legit - there are not many safer places in Asia to keep it.

Also HKG is another option but there currency is linked to the US$, which may not be a good thing depending upon your point of view.

I'd second the suggestion of trying to get direct to an owner. Some of the real estate agents in that immediate vicinity have a habit of upping the rent from what the owner wants and pocketing the difference. Particularly if the owner is not in country, however there are plenty of guys in there who own 3/4 condos as well as live in one and getting hold of one is not that difficult. Funny how the real estate agents seem to have a std price for the different types of condo there whereas, you would think through a supply and demand situation, prices would vary from owner to owner ???

Still open and is being run by his son, Darren who is doing a very good job. Popped in couple of weeks ago and all is well and the food is consistently good.

Staff have new uniforms by the way but that was the only difference I noticed.

Mike,

Has there been any update on your situation? I've just stumpled onto this post (and onto this site as a matter of fact) and I'm highly interested if everything has worked out okay.

I am also looking into importing (my 996 911) and hearing your story actually makes the importing process relatively painless (with the exception of your shipping damage)...

Do you mind if you can forward me the contact info for your agent?  I would love to get in touch with him/her.

Thanks so much.

jon

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the guy failed to update us on his situation and I think it's safe to say that it probably was a disaster. You dont want to brag on the Internet when you get taken to the cleaner.

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Probably not a disaster for the head of customs who as we speak is on his way home (the long way) driving some farangs car and will be for the next 6 months or so...... Oh hang on, wasnt this the Ford Scorpio thread??? - Sorry in which case its likely in the breakers yard being torn apart for scrap with the proceeds going to the same customs guy.

The end was coming when Phuket air stopped flying into and out of Phuket - hardly an apt name considering they dont even fly there anymore....

Having said that, I actually feel quite sorry for them but thats not how business works, something they have found out the hard and expensive way.

I am still amazed at the amount of people who think there is a return in the travel business - its is one of the worst cyclical businesses to be in, coupled with huge external factors way beyond your own control and at best tight margins for the investment costs. Plus you need very very deep wallets to get over the rough periods.

No doubt we will see a number of expats deciding to close their business for the month of September, miss the rain and go and spend money somewhere else until the boss goes back to BKK - then it will be back to normal for all concerned, still working without permits and not paying any taxes. Although of course, I am sure that the police between them will produce their little black book of dubious characters and pluck a few out to be the sacrificial lambs and paraded on TV for all to see before being deported.

I have got the polyeurethane foam insulation in my house after my previous one had fibre wool. To be honest, I dont actually feel much difference during the day - I still find the house to be hot, however I do find that my electric bills have really come down - probably by 50% assuming like for like sized house. I had never really thought about the foam being effective in keeping the heat out, but had worked on the premise that it would help keep the cool aircon air in and not escaping/warming up in the roof space. In that regard I am glad I did it - it cost about 90,000 baht from memory and I'll save that in 2 years as my elctric bills have come down from an average 10,000 baht month to 5,000 baht.

My 13m * 5m pool runs for 2 sessions each of 2 hours per day. Pool is spotless and never had any problems. Would suggest there will be no benefit for you, but the electric company will be very happy...

Soi NPW is a nightmare for traffic - its too narrow for the amount of traffic that goes down it and it all grinds to a halt due to a narrow railway bridge carefully (!!) located adjacent to a big fresh food market. For that reason its popular with Thai's - who can get fresh food easily but I would strongly suggest that living off the next road (Soi Siam Country Club) is better for the fact that its way easier to get around.

Also access Into central Pattaya road (Pattaya Klang) is not as easy in Soi NPW as the police have errected a barrier to allow you to do the immediatte right turn into Pattaya once on Sukhumvit. Soi Siam Country Clubhas no such problems.

Suggest to your wife that she just drives along Siam Country Club and stops of at the numerous housing estates being built to see what she thinks. The road itself is very long and around the resevoir itself, you have a good selection of nice projects where you get more for your money than intown.

Its between central Pattaya and North Pattaya roads on the same side and just before (heading towards BKK) the orphanage. Called Northstar or something like that and set back from the road on a deep plot of land. There is a sign from Sukhumvit but I think its only open 3 days a week.

I would suggest that you consider setting up an accounting consultancy with a thai partner focused at foreign owned business in Pattaya. Big market for decent pro-active advice to foreigners and nobody is doing it properly at the moment. You could charge decent prices if your able to demonstrate a reason why customers should pay it and believe me, there are many many customers wanting decent financial advice. I am amazed how overlooked Pattaya has been by decent companies for this kind of service provision. Ask a Thai accountant why getting a tax invoice is important and they will tell you, but also they will keep administering your monthly accounting for a year before YOU realise that without tax invoices, you cannot depreciatte items, include in VAT calculations and include the said amounts in your company accounts. Serious lack of correct business guidance for many start-up and established companies in Pattaya. Friend of mine was telling me he had purchased about 20,000,000 baht of items over the course of a year that could not be included because the receipts (in Thai) showed the wrong address (wrong Tambon or village) however it was only after seeing his audited accounts that his accountant said "oh this pile of bills no good for including as address is wrong" - had he been notified after the first month, he could have at least had 11 months which were correct. An expensive lesson for him as he could have claimed the VAT back and then depreciated these expenses in normal accounting methods.

Wise choice changing to the Marriott - you will not regret it. Great way to just chill out is at the outside bar they have at the hotel called from memory the Crossroads - not cheap but good for people watching. Also nearest decent hawker centre to your hotel will be at Newton Circus - its a popular tourist place so prices are not as cheap as some, but its worth a visit and is open 24hrs a day - chilli stingray and a cold tiger beer is highlight. There is also a food court under Orchard Towers just up Orchard from the Marriott and past the Thai embassy and a couple of stalls cater to the Thai girls working upstairs. There is also a Thai/issan place inside the towers itself but your girl will need to ask another Thai girl where it is as its off the beaten track.

Drinks in the bar at the top of the Swissotel are a nice way to spend an evening - about 65 floors above ground level with good views all around.

For shopping, many Thai girls prefer mooching around Far East Plaza, 200m from the Marriott which has loads of little shops and stalls and is cheaper than the flashy malls.

Thaiflyer - Royal Plaza is not as good as it was and certainly not in the same category as others on Orchard/Scotts such as the Mariott or Hyatt. Rooms although OK are nothing special and quite small and the freeminibar is a waste of time - consists of couple of tins of soda and alcohol free beer. 4,800 baht is expensive for that property.

Not sure if this is much use, but from the limited info I have, there are also the following available:

Stockrin - same category of drug as Nevarapine

DDI - Same category as D4T

Abacavir - Same category as D4T

Kaletra - Protease inhibitor - not same category as any of the above.

Abacavir is approx: 10,000 baht month and no idea about Kaletra, but it will likely be same or more expensive than Abacavir.

Resistance tests will be the key - if the doctors have followed int guidelines, they would be using 3 drugs which likely means that they have used initially:

d4T/Nevarapine + one other I can never remember (but not mentioned by you) - which together form the govts GPO-VIR subsidised treatment.

If that failed, then sounds like they have used AZT/3TC and Nevarapine in combination. Common drug would be Nevarapine which might be the problem. Swapping out Nevarapine and replacing it with Stockrin might be of some benefit but the problem of drug resistance may rule out all drugs in that class. Both Nevarapine and Stockrin are very highly rated drugs.

All of these drugs are very cheap (relatively) in Thailand assuming they are using the generic copies of AZT and 3TC - the originals are considerably more expensive as they are made by GSK and imported from Australia.

Once you have used up these options, things start to get very expensive - currently as I understand it, there is no effective 3rd option for subsidised/generic treatment so you are compelled to use expensive imported drugs such as Abacavir and Kaletra. If you go down this route, your likely looking at cost of 20,000 baht per month for medication.

One other drug is Viread (also called Tenofivir) which is not currently imported in Thailand. I cant understand why as its now considered first line treatment in the West but the manufacturers are trying to set up a study to give it to HIV negative people in Thailand to see if it works as a protection against the disease in high risk groups - seems a bit warped to me when there are thousands of people with HIV that actually could do with it as well.

Hope this helps

Essentially no foreigners own land in Thailand, they merely lease it or control Thai companies that own land. I would estimate in Pattaya its somewhere around 5,000+ that have control of land in this way.

My Dad has some homes with what your looking for. They are very nice and 10 mins away from all the noise in the central of Pattaya. Soi siam Country Club road they are down. And they are western too, my Dad planned all of them. A small area in which English people live, other nationalities are also welcome. They are called Park View Villas.

You won't be disapointed

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Depends what your used to I guess, but for the average American, you will be very disapointed with Park View Villas - not least of all because the road into must be all of 10 foot wide and its clearly been designed by someone who has a vision challenged perspective of what is asthetically pleasing - you can do a lot lot better than this place.

Its fairly obvious that a bar that owns its land will be far better off than one that rents. Most of the bar owners I know are in the fortunate position of actually owning the land on which the bar is sat on - that makes a huge difference and I'd suggest that many less well known bars, in obscure locations are likely to making a far higher net profit than many of the more famous bars, in particular along Walking Street given that they have no rent to pay. Assuming somebody had the commercial sense to buy a property, means that they in all liklihood also have a brain on their shoulders that means that they are commercially savvy in how to actually run a business with the intention of making money, as against many dreamers who just acquire a bar because they can and then find they have no ability, skill or work permit to actually allow them to make it a commercial and financial success.

The guys original point was well meant but poorly put. Far better to build a set of beer bars and then lease them out to suckers who have no idea. Many many wealthy Thais do that and for no effort other than collecting the rent, they have build some very nice incomes, mostly cash in hand and large key money amounts. Only a sucker would take a lease on that basis, but they keep coming back.

SCB will lend on houses - just be sure to tell the bank that you want to borrow the money as the company that owns the house and land NOT in your own name. If you have been approved by SCB for a condo, odds are you will also be approved for a house. Basically to follow the law the loan is made in the name of the owning company but they credit rate the ability of the company to repay on your individual credit status. Once you get your head around this part, it actually makes sense in a Thai sort of way. I have had multiple mortgages with SCB at the same time for many different houses and land. I have even heard of them giving mortgages for people not even working here which sounds crazy but true.

This has always been done in Pattaya branches and they have a lot of knowledge of it. One additional point, SCB have a uncommon authorisation process for loans. Basically, as I understand it, anything under 5m baht is approved by the manager in the branch, between 5m-30m its done by specialist lending mgrs at regional office and above 30M it has to be approved by BKK head office. Most other banks require all loans to be approved by special depts in BKK. That might explain how they do what they do, at least in Pattaya. Therefore it might be worth enquiring of SCB brnach in Hua Hin and not mentioning that you are considering a condo in BKK - odds are that they will never put two and two together as the housing loan is in the name of the company and condo loan in your name.

Just an idea !!

Probably the spa has added about another 150,000 baht to the price - they need extra pumps and relatively powerfull ones at that, however I still do not see that an extra pump makes THAT much difference to the price, but like other posters have said, its pretty consistent between the companies. Interestingly, in 99% of the examples I have seen, the end result is nothing more than couple of extra blowers set into the concrete, so I have never bothered. If I did I think I would go for one of the dedicated Jacuzzi machines capable of seating 4-6 people with jets all over the walls and in the floor. They cost about 200,000 baht, but its a way better jacuzzi than the examples I have seen where they form part of the pool.