camster

I was just reading this thread and was very surprised the topic was immediately jumped on by a couple of moderators and closed. Personally I think it was a really stupid question however looking at the forum rules I see nothing specific that was against policy. I find it alarming that anything that the moderators of this forum find distasteful or of a subject matter not to their liking is immediately shut down. This type of action destroys the credibilty of this forum. Am I wrong???

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Falang-Women...ur-t357362.html

C.

Kata beach is really nice but pretty busy, was fantastic before the Tsunami but was destroyed not by the Tsunami but rather all the PR from the Tsunami because when I came back 2 years after the Tsunami things had changed dramaticly. Same with Nai Harn beach on the southern end. Used to be one of Phukets best kept secrets with only a few loungers being used, now there jammed in 2 rows deep from end to end. The beach used to be lined with little mom and pop bars and shops but when they were flattened by the Tsunami they were replaced with guest hoses and hotels. Really sad but typical of the tourist trade, once a place catches on it can quickly be stampeded by paradise seekers and if its a small place like Naiharn it can be overrun very quickly. Dont get me wrong its still really nice, much better than patong but If you seen it 7 or 8 years ago you would be dissapointed to see it now.

Hi eveyone.

I've designed a new site with new flash galleries in the photo section. They seem to be working good on my local system but was wondering how they look on other systems, browsers, monitors ect. I would appreciate anyone who would like to take a look and make any comments on the overall user experience. Are the Galleries easy to navigate? do they come up in a reasonable amount of time? Are the photos sharp? ect. and what type of system and browser you are using?

Any comments would be very appreciated.

PM me for details if you are interested.

Thanks

Cam

I didnt think it would be easy and you guys have verified that, thanks for the info I'll do some more research and possibly talk to sunbelt.

camster

I am a professional of certain services and I want to open a small school that will offer training and workshops on how to do these services.

I would like to open an office to provide my services as well as the school aspect of it to conduct workshops and tutorials.

1.) My first question is do I need seperate business licences, one for the professional services, and one to provide training if someone wants to do it themselves?

2.)Does the school/workshop need to have a special "education" licence. It would be mostly short 1 or 2 week courses mostly for foriegners?

3.) I have a Thai wife i can trust but she will remain overseas in North America. Is it easiest to put her as majority shareholder or should i set it up myself?

4.) I have about 1.5 million baht liquid after I buy assets for the biz. Is that enough to place in a Thai Bank to set up the company?

Any thoughts on this would really be appreciated.

Thanks

Camster

I need some start-up business info, there used to be some good information on this forum, on getting set-up legally but I cant find it now. I would really appreciate it if some one can give me some basic info and/or point me in the right direction to get more info. In a nutshell this is what I'm wanting to do.

I dont want to be specific about what profession here so I'll just call it a professional service.

1.) I would like to set up an office that offers a specific professional service(s) but also conducts short workshops that will hopefully grow into other more comprehensive training. I have been a professional at this service for 20 years and have taught at the College level for six years (not sure if that would help or not).

2.) My wife is Thai and I can trust her but she will remain in Canada for now. Can she be majority shareholder even if she is living out of Thailand?

3.) I will have about 1.8 million baht liquid available before purchase of equipment, office lease, other start-up expenses. Is this enough?

4.) Do I need to physically employ any Thais to start with or can it be on paper?

4.) I will have a non-imm. B visa

5.) Do I need a special permit for Training to conduct workshops (mostly to foriegners)?

Any help on this would be great. Thanks in advance.

Camster

how about getting a car, or at least using a tuk tuk late at night, sure they're a rip off but at least you dont end up fighting for your life. just a thought

If any one knows of any houses for rent on Koh Chang could you please let me know. I'm looking for to rent 6 months or more. I've searched high and low on the net and this forum but keep coming up empty handed so any info at all would really be appreciated.

Thanks

Camster

thanks TP. I'll check it out.

I'm returning to Thaialnd for my fifth winter there (actually it will be winter here in Canada but who cares). I'm a little tired of the Phuket congestion and am looking for new diggs.

I've searched high and low on the internet for a decent website that features houses for rent in the Koh Chang area (hey there's a great business for someone to start up, what an idea!). Or maybe there just arent any available.

It would be nice to secure a house before I got there and was wondering if anyone knows who to contact or where I can research this. Please no sales people offering the "call it a luxury Villa and triple the price for some sucker whos never been here" type of a house.

Budget is 10,000 to 20,000 bt per month. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Camster

I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get info on houses for rent on Koh Chang. I've searched the net high and low and cant find anything other than the usual Hotels, Motels, or Luxury (put a "Luxury" tag on it and triple the price) Villas.

Thanks

A few years ago the Phuket Gazette reported that Ko Samui was slated as the future center for Design and internet technology. I believe it reported that the government and some IT technology companies where planning on building a center with equipment, school and resources for Computer gaming, design and internet technology. I was just wondering if anyone else heard about this? Is it still in the works?

Thanks

Camster

A few years ago the Phuket Gazette reported that Ko Samui was slated as the future center for Design and internet technology. I believe it reported that the government and some IT technology companies where planning on building a center with equipment, school and resources for Computer gaming, design and internet technology. I was just wondering if anyone else heard about this? Is it still in the works?

Thanks

Camster

Thats probably where the problem lies. The line is blurred between what a website designer is. It could mean you design the overall look or skin of a site. Or it could mean you design the infrastructure of a website meaning it's functuality, database(s) and other technical aspects of a site. And please dont get me wrong I'm not slamming those who are good programmers, they obviously are integral to creating an efficient website that has clean code and is fast and has great functionality. The line is further blurred by the availabilty of design templates, royalty free images, etc. which are available for for programmers or anyone building a website. And for designers there is as mentioned before, content management systems such as Mambo or Joomla to add functionality to a site. What gets me is people who dont do either well. So if a website designer is someone who is a programmer and builds the infrastructure of a site then yes that is completely seperate from graphic designer. But if a website designer who is someone who makes the site beautiful by using good layout, typography, graphics, etc. then it is directly related to graphic design. I guess it all comes down to how you percieve the definition of "website designer".

Why do I care anyway? Once again someone speculating why I have started this post.

I dont like competition.

I dont want young people in the business.

I've been burned by a businessman.

I dont have work and I'm pissed off.

Blah Blah Blah.......

It doesnt matter what profession your in, be it Engineering, Design (of some aspect), Doctor, anybody who has spent years in career and is passionate about their career, would defend it if its being dragged down by people who are untrained in the resepective career. I've explained why I think the field of Design is getting a bad reputation and why I care. If you didnt see it go back and read THE ENTIRE THREAD before you make off the cuff remarks and personal attacks.

The great thing about forums is that people speak whats on their mind. The bad thing about forums is theres no accountability to saying stupid things.

If you have something constructive to say, or have an even slightly intelligent argument to my views then by all means say it. If you want to make personal attacks I obviously cant stop you but I'm done wasting time and effort replying to any of that crap.

I'll repeat myself for your benefit FyingDutchman. Anyone can use a WYSIWYG program to BUILD a website. This does not mean they have designed it any way. And whats all that crap at the beginning of your post supposed to mean anyway.

Some good comments here, I agree a designer can certainly specialize in designing websites only and is certainly an advantage. I guess what I'm trying to say is a true designer has knowledge and skill in the basics of good design such as color, contrast, spatial depth, composition, typography. These principles in design can be applied to the web, print, or other media. Someone with these skills can easily adapt them to programs for print such as Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, or for the web such as Dreamweaver or host of other programs. Or if one choose can be applied directly to building a website directly into code. Ultimately the ideal situation is to have a designer creating the front end or skin of the website while a programmer creates the backend and makes sure it functions properly. In the end regardless of the media used, a good designer will have these basic skills. What I have been seeing is a lot of people who certainly are very good at building websites but clearly dont have these basic skills, passing themselves off as "designers".

There seems to be a misconception here that the reason I posted this thread is because I have a problem with competition. I suppose people will form their own opinions based on absolutely no knowledge of me whatsoever and regardless of what I say. I have purposely left my website url out of here so that I'm not accused of using this thread to promote myself or obtain personal gain. Back to one of the very first things I said. There have been a lot of comments on thaivisa in the past that "everyones a web designer" or something similiar to that topic. I was simply trying to analyze why this is happening and at the same time offer some advice on choosing a designer for web or print. Is that so bad!

Belfast Boy is right about the level of design someone may need or be able to afford. Really if someone cant afford a good designer they are better off just having a plain website with simple text links and a few images with all the content in a nice layout.

I live in Phuket. It is difficult to make it here as a designer because there is lots of Thai talent and they will do the work for cheap., cheap, cheap. Secondly 90 per cent of the businesses are small mom and pop operations operating on a day to day basis just trying to survive.

Of course guesthouse has put his 2 cents in and implied that I'm just pissed off because I have no talent and therefor no work. And of course guesthouse has absolutely nothing to base this on. I have a few clients in Thailand that give me regular work but the bulk of my work comes from existing clients in Canada where I come from, and also from an agent in the US who gets me some projects from there. Really I dont look for much work in Thailand, I'm better off promoting to businesses abroad. From what I gather Bangkok is a little better with a much larger base of corporations to draw on. But for the most part it would be difficult for a Farang designer to make a decent living there.

I'd love to hear your idea Belfast Boy, you can PM me to discuss further if you like.

Guethouse why do you keep implying I'm saying things that I'm not saying at all.

"There are no restrictions to anyone starting up as a webdesigner, there never will be and I can't see there is any sense in having any controls."

I NEVER said there should be any controls, and never said there ever would be.

"It's the old "people in an industry would love to control entry to the industry ... all in the best interest of Jo Public"

Where did you get this from??? I have absolutely no problem with a young talented, knowledgeable Graphic Designer going out there and making a good living for themself. In fact I am happy for the industry and the young whipper snapper. Do you think I teach Graphic Design to young people to keep them out of the industry?? Get real.

"It's not going to happen, the 'secrets' of web design are not secrets."

Did I metion something about web design secrets? What secrets are you talking about. I like the way you put quotations around 'secrets' like its a direct quote from me.

Are you even reading the same post. You obviously dont know a thing about the industry and are only here to stir the pot. If you dont have an intelligent response that adresses directly what I have posted than beat it and go play with your "web designer" program. AND STOP MISQUOTING ME!!!

i heard FrontPage can make you a web designer.

it can. you should join the army of other people who have already discovered that it works!

With all due respect Guesthouse your missing the point. I'm not denying theres people out there who have come up with money making websites without any design training or experience. I am sure with the millions of websites out there a few self made websites with wicked ideas and a great website marketer(s) behind them will rise to the top. You can have a great looking website but if its not marketed properly it will be useless, and inversely if you have a really, really, bad looking website but is at the top of the search engines it also will probably be useless (of course again it depends on the idea). These are completely seperate issues.

What I am saying is just because someone can BUILD a website doesnt mean they can DESIGN a website. And to promote and portray ones self for profit, without any training or real work experience in the field is quite frankly negligent and fraudulant. Someone applying paint to their bedroom does not make them an interior designer.

Where on earth did you get the idea I was running down other peoples efforts who are trying to make money? What I am trying to do here is bring to light some of the problems of the industry and also, to offer some advice to FREE ENTERPRISE entreprenuers on what to look for if they do want to hire a graphic designer. I have no problem with someone building their own website and making a trillion dollars. Even if its the ugliest thing on the web. What I am talking about is unqualified people passing themselves off as something they are not qualified to be, and ultimately leaving a black eye on the industry. Period.

From time to time the topic of Graphic Design and specificly "web design" come up in this forum and more often than not you read the same thing "everybody in thailand is a web designer". People often post questions like "can I come to Thailand and make living as a "web designer" and of course the awnser is "good luck". These common replies are often true but I would like to touch on why they are true.

First lets touch on the self imposed title of "web designer". What is a "web designer"? Have they designed the world wide web? No. Do they design spider webs? I suppose if they are spiders they do. This is probably the most abused word(s) just behind George Bush and his idea of "freedom". Someone who truly is capable of designing a website is also capable of designing a logo, a brochure, a poster, etc. When I hear someone call themselves a web designer It indicates to me that they have learned some html and maybe a little programming (or maybe not, theres lots of WYSIWYG programs out there) and are now capable of building a web page. Just because someone can build a web page does not make them a designer. I can build a wooden box, cut a square in it for a window, and splash some ugly paint on it, but that doesnt make me an architect nor do I go around passing out biz cards with the title "Architect". What I am saying is just beacause someone adds the word "designer" to their job title doesnt necessarily make it true.

So whats the big deal you ask. The big deal is that people who have absoutley no training or actual work experience as a Graphic Designer buy themselves a cheap computer and a couple of pirated software proograms from Pantip and lo and behold "I'm a web designer!" I would estimate about 90% of the Farang "web designers" fall in this category. The problem with this is that the industry has been flooded with these WEB BUIDERS. The next thing that happens is that these "web designers" now offer thier services for next to nothing to make up for the complete lack of talent or knowledge. In return this entices a small company to hire a "web designer". The "web designer" then builds a website that looks like a dogs breakfast. It's got spinning Visa cards, little animated bunnies jumping across the screen, and 8 different fonts with a bright magenta background that burns holes in your eyes. Now the client has paid for this piece of s**t and he's not happy. He says to himself "I coulda done that myself", and next time he does.

So now we have the market flooded with "web designers", the price has been driven down, and clients have now had a bad experience and dont want to hire any more desingers good or bad. Not only are the crappy "web designers" not getting any work but they have also pulled down the few who actually are qualified and have some talent.

So what am I getting at? If you own a business and need a real Graphic Designer there are a few guidelines you should follow:

Ask for qualifications

What type of training does the designer have if any? How much experience do they have? Can they design for print also such as brochures, posters, corporate identity. This is important because at some point anyone who wants their website to have success will have to support it with collateral print material (promo pieces, newspaper ads, posters, etc.) Who are their past and current clients? Can they supply references?

Ask for a portfolio

Do they have a porfolio of recent samples? What sepicifly did they work on (some people will put things in their portfolio even if they have only contributed to a piece in a very small and insignificant way). Can you contact any of the companies the work is done for?

Ask what you will get for the price

There is a specific process to acheiving a design that hits the target market and pleases the client. Usually this begins with pencil sketches or quick color comps to convey more than one idea to the client before going to the extent of designing the actual piece wether it's a poster, logo, or website. A true designer has the ability to convey beginning concepts through the use of pencil sketches and sometimes color added. If someone tells you they are going to jump right in and give you a built website before you even see any indication of what its' going to look like...well you can expect some unpleasent surprises.

If your hiring a graphic designer use caution, dont always go for the lowest price, and check out who you are hiring. If they call themselves a "web designer" I would be particularly leery.

As for the self proclaimed "web designers" you and everybody else would be better off if you went back to running your internet cafe or corner store or whatever it is you used to do.

I am not writing this to promote myself but rather set a few things straight and hit back at those who have stained the Graphic Design industry. As for my qualifications I have a degree in Visual Communications (Graphic Design and Illustration). I have worked as a freelance Graphic Designer for 18 years and have taught Graphic Design at an Acredited College for 6 years.

I would like to hear from other true Graphic Designers on this topic and I am sure I will hear from a few "web designers" who make millions of dollars and have nothing but fortune 500 clients...blah, blah, blah.

Thanks

I'm just curious why this section is called "Photography and the Arts" when it seems to be photography only. Yes photography is an art as well so maybe it should be called "The Art of photograhy".

Then maybe you could have a section called the "Arts" for the Arts (fine art, music, dance, etc.)

I think with all the Creative type of people in Thailand, or interested in Thailand, it would be an active forum.

Just an idea.

canadian embassy is the same - Thai only in the initial interogation...er I mean interview. Bullet proof glass and all for good reason of course.

I'm a Canadian citizen with a Thai girlfriend, I was naive enough to think I could march into the Canadian embassy and get my girlfriend a visitors Visa to Canada......NOT! My second approach was to apply for a permanent resident visa for her. This took about 15 months and with landing fees, translations, couriers, and other miscellaneous cost me about 2,500 canadian (2,100)us. A very lengthy and at time frustrating process. But in the end we got her the Visa and now she is free to enter and exit Canada at her own free will. She can also work and conduct business in Canada as well as use our free health care system. The only stipulation is over the next 5 years she has to spend 2.5 in Canada non continuos. At the end of the 5 years if he has'nt spent the required time in Canada he would have to re apply.

You have to apply sponsor him and are responsible for him for I believe 3 years. This takes about 2 or 3 months to process and you should'nt have a problem being approved. You do not have to be married (I'm not) but merely have to be in Conjugal relationship for a minimum 1 year which you have been. Also with this visa your income nor your boyfriends are a factor but rather your and his ability to support yourselves. It's costly in money and time but once done is the best and easiset way to freely travel to Canada and Thailand. Of course you want him to enter the Us but I think you would have to get him entry into Canada first then I wouldnt think it would be a problem getting him a US visa of some sort. Just my thoughts.

Camster