Theyreallrubbish

I wasn't asked for it. Position wasn't teaching though

I guess that they won't close because Major cineplex which owns the company at 49% is too big.

Major will just take over the company in the future.

So they also sell 10k lifetime membership in Pattaya ?

Major sold most of their share last week

The company lost 42 million Baht last quarter and has 29 million in cash remaining. You do the math.

In case you think this is a temporary thing, and just one bad quarter, they've lost 370 million Baht over the last 2 years

If your paperwork is in order you don't need to pay an agent. Just get a letter from your company with the relevant details and present it at a Thai Consulate with application and the $250.

I dont work here. i live off overseas investments. so am i stuck with an agent then, or would it be better to set up a company here.?

Setting up a company to get the work permit and non-imm visa requires 2 million paid up capital, 4 thai employees making at least minimum wage and paying social security and if the company doesn't show revenue to support your salary (minimum between 35k and 60k depending on your nationality) then they can yank the visa anyway and you need to pay tax on your "salary"

So not the cheapest or easiest route to visa status

I am usually quite skeptical when strangers talk to me. This is especially true if there is more than one. Other than the odd question about "which bus do I catch to....." I try to be cool and get away as soon as possible.

My favorite one is when someone asks if you can help them with their English (usually newspaper or something in hand) and then try to sell you something like a Condo!

Sadly I'm the same now. Random strangers approaching me are treated with suspicion.

I can revert to being friendly if I see they're genuinely asking for some advice or directions, but my default response is defensive and to get away.

Its a shame, but trust and giving the benefit of the doubt is what these scammers prey on

Many of the things that people are complaining about here have nothing to do with you being a farang, but are to do with you being a stranger in the village and much richer.

If a well off Bangkok Thai married a poor Issan girl and moved to her village and built a house that was better than most of the other houses he would face exactly the same issues of people gossiping about him, some of them being jealous and resentful and many approaching him for handouts or "loans"

A Thai friend of mine once met me for lunch and he was in a bad mood as he'd been stopped at a traffic light and had wound down his window to order some fruit from a seller by the side of the road. She's asked him for three times the normal price. When he asked why she said that because he drove a Mercedes he could afford it.

Exactly the same attitude they have to us, nothing to do with race.

http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/11/20/bus...ss_30117042.php

I have to say that when ever someone has asked me about the California Wow memberships I've replied by telling them how much money the company is losing, but the response has been that Major is a big shareholder and won't let it go under.

With the reduction in their stake is buying memberships much more risky now?

You can have any capital you like and pay up any amount you like, but if you want a work permit you need 2 million fully paid at the time of application to get it.

And you need to pay a minimum salary, or at least show you've paid tax on that amount, based on your country of origin to keep it as well as 4 full time Thai employees that you pay social security tax for in order to get the non-im B extended

At the risk of sounding a little dense, isnt a work permit a requirement when setting up business in Thailand. How is it possible to pay less than the 2 million, fully paid up and still run a business?

Also, I already have a non-im O visa, does this meet the requirements for business start up or must I change that for a non-im B ?

Thanks for your response

You only need a work permit if you intend to work in the business. I discussed the same matter with the lawyer and asked if it was legal for me to do the work to set up the company in order to get the work permit and he said that strictly speaking its not, but the Labour Department won't make an issue of it. I could have had my Thai manager do all the work and control the business through letters of authorisation for specific acts, then I wouldn't need a work permit and wouldn't have needed to pay up the 2 million, but that didn't sound that safe to me so I paid up to do everything completely legally

Can't comment much on visas other than to say that setting up the company and becoming a shareholder doesn't involve your visa. You'll need a non-imm B to apply for the work permit I believe. Don't know if any other type of visa would be acceptable.

I found Sunbelt Asia in Chiang Mai to be helpful. I got 4 quotes and they were around the same price as local Thai lawyers who have no experience and were asking me to go look up the law for them!

You can have any capital you like and pay up any amount you like, but if you want a work permit you need 2 million fully paid at the time of application to get it.

And you need to pay a minimum salary, or at least show you've paid tax on that amount, based on your country of origin to keep it as well as 4 full time Thai employees that you pay social security tax for in order to get the non-im B extended

Some time ago I helped out a family member, he had a loan of 20,000 baht with an intrest of 2000 baht per month, a cool 10% per month and 120% per year, as extra security he had to hand over his truck.

Had the money, paid the "bank" and went to collect the truck.

The "manager" was a member of a well known state agency, and the secure storage of the truck, being a lot for impounded cars & all, was managed by the same agency.

You call this helkping a family member?

No better than a loan shark

My family lends other family members money with no interest

My understanding of reading his post is that the 10% a month rate is the rate he was already financed at before the poster paid it off.

At street level though, in the real world, it's the poor who tend to actively, often enthusiastically, seek out money lenders, not the other way around.

You don't need to go to school to learn that 100 to 1 and 1000 to 1 odds in the underground lottery (X billions wasted by the poor each year), and millions to 1 odds in the legal lottery (ditto X billions wasted), and not drinking in moderation (X billions again in health care costs/lost productivity however you want to look at it) are poor financial decisions. The whole money lending situation is typically just the final puff of smoke in the tail spin of decision making that the poor partake in.

That said, I think there should be an enforced firm cap on interest rates with all business of this nature going to the banks, finance companies, and licensed pawnshops that operate legally. At least then it's a *little* more reasonable when the poor come out once in awhile to protest that they were too stupid to take 6% gov't loans instead of coming out to say that they were too stupid to take out a 60% per month loan from a local loan shark.

The reason they go to loan sharks is BECAUSE they can't borrow from the banks. They're not totally stupid and would borrow from the banks if they could.

They borrow from loan sharks for two reasons, they don't have the right kind of documentation (6 month's salary slips, etc) or they need the money much faster than a bank can give it out (2-8 weeks)

The government recently passed the Financial Sector Masterplan Phase 2 through the cabinet and over the next few years laws will be changed to make it easier for licensed entities to lend in this sector. They're going to remove the cap on interest rates and make getting a license easier. (Although expect licenses to only go to the connected)

I think the one in Central Airport Plaza is in fact 150 Baht for 15 minutes.

Correct. And 300 Baht for 30 minutes and 600 Baht for 60 minutes. Clearly written out on the sign

They've obviously never heard of bulk discounts (cue fat joke) or they surmise that their customers are too dumb to do basic math.

Probably both

http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppi/info/info_870.html

A federal or state law enforcement agency may request the denial of a passport on several regulatory grounds under 22 CFR 51.70 and 51.72. The principal law enforcement reasons for passport denial are a federal warrant of arrest, a federal or state criminal court order, a condition of parole or probation forbidding departure from the United States (or the jurisdiction of the court), or a request for extradition. The HHS child support database and the Marshals Service WIN database are checked automatically for entitlement to a passport. Denial or revocation of a passport does not prevent the use of outstanding valid passports.

Passport revocation may be effected when the person obtained the passport fraudulently, when the passport was issued in error, when the person’s certificate of naturalization was cancelled by a federal court, or when the person would not be entitled to a new passport under 22 CFR 51.70 (a) or (. The physical revocation of a passport is often difficult, and an apparently valid passport can be used for travel until officially taken by an arresting officer or by a court.

That's pretty incredible that you have to be a convicted felon, OR have a child support claim against you. So they've officially made a child support CLAIM as serious as a felony, as you'll be in the basis based on the mother's claim until you get a court order specifying otherwise.

Just goes to show that having a child in the west is only safe for a man if you're very rich or very poor. If you're middle class forget it as you become an indentured servant subject to the whims of the mother with the full apparatus of the state arrayed against you

buy drinkie is same same as having sex withthem.

So that's why they put the condoms on the beer

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/...-Koh-Samui.html

This is probably the biggest selling newspaper in the UK

In its dreams.

The story itself is typical Daily Mail ... the ending makes it seem as if rape and murder is common in Thailand.

but this kind of story in this kind of newspaper will have a real impact.

Yes, the 'hang, draw and quarter 'em' types who wouldn't trust 'johnny foreigner' will make sure they avoid Thailand.

I don't really disagree with your underlying point but bigging up the Daily Mail is quite funny. It's preaching to the converted.

Whatever you think of the Daily Mail's politics its number 2 daily and on SUndays with over 2 million sales. Contrast that with the Guardian at 380k a day and you can see the difference in impact.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/...-Koh-Samui.html

This is probably the biggest selling newspaper in the UK and its quite a prominent story on their Sunday webpage.

The story itself is typical Daily Mail in not really sparing any of the horrific details. And the ending makes it seem as if rape and murder is common in Thailand.

Another nail in the coffin etc. but this kind of story in this kind of newspaper will have a real impact. This isn't some drunk sex tourist getting beaten up in Pattaya that most people can say they'd never go there or act like that, this is a regular woman getting into a random taxi and for no reason being raped, beaten and robbed.

The other thing is the way the media works. Being in a paper like the Mail means it'll be run in hundreds, maybe thousands of other publications worldwide

He flooding is much better than it used to be in the 1990s when you'd have huge areas thigh deep for days at a time every year.

They've really done a good job in my opinion.

OK, it occasionally gets overwhelmed, but that's not surprising given the environment

Have to say, I think the traffic is remarkably good. Can't complain at all. Even in rush hour it doesn't grind to a halt and the system of highways makes it easy to get anywhere in the city from anywhere in under 20 minutes.

Compared to Bangkok, there's no comparison, and even compared to comparably sized cities in the UK such as Cambridge or Oxford, its much better.

If he'd been only a little more drunk there would have been a high probability of the rock flying into one of the always open 7-11s that are situated every 30 meters and his holiday wouldn't be ruined.

Wee obviously need more 7-11s to prevent this kind of needless tragedy happening again

Been through Thai immigration hundreds of times and never suffered anything worse than not getting a smile returned. (Emotional abuse!)

I agree with other posters that US immigration is the worst. Quite ironic considering they have a 3000 mile open border to the south and 20+ million illegal immigrants, but being hardass to those arriving at airports is somehow improving national security.

sawasdee Khun O37,

nice story buddy

I had an absolutely huge one of those perched on my window a couple of weeks ago. Biggest inset I've ever seen and built like a tank.

I didn't know they were valued or I might have picked it up and given it to a neighbor

Mine all love humans, but hate each other, and the cats all beat up on the dog. Luckily, the customers have decided that they are a tourist attraction and hug and kiss them and take photos, so they get plenty of attention every day.

When the dogs first arrived I was worried about the cats, but after the first couple of days the cats started teasing the dogs.

The dogs are growing really fast though, so I'm not sure how long this will remain harmless entertainment for the cats.

I also have a couple squirrels and since the cats got smacked for chasing them the first couple of times they now have to sit in mute frustration as the squirrels come right up to them and flick their tails in the cat's faces. The cats attempt to preserve their dignity by pretending the squirrels don't exist even as the squirrels bite their tails.

I have a problem that the local Thais have decided a kind hearted person (sucker) lives here and we had to kick up a fuss when the second abandoned dog was brought by a neighbor, so hopefully they know we're full up now.

There's a free vet clinic that goes around so although I paid for the cats and the first dog's injections at 500 Baht each, I'll see if they'll do the second dog for free.

There are so many abandned animals here that is is not easy to find a home. I already have 5 and there is just no more room.

Ditto, I have two abandoned kittens and two abandoned puppies. All of them have become wonderfully affectionate animals, but there's simply no more time available for poop scooping.

If that shocked you then when in the UK make sure not to wander down the supplements aisle of Tesco, Asda, Waitrose, Sainsburys or any other super market or pharmacy as they're sold in every store.

I don't agree with the hunting of sharks either, don't eat sharks fin soup, and doubt whether the cartilage supplements have any benefits at all, but seriously, is this the first time you've been allowed out of the house alone?

Since home mortgage financing is open only to Thais, information is sparse and confusing, but I need to understand what is going on.

On the surface it would appear that Thai normally take long loans with initial teaser rates of about 2% that increase in year 3 to "MLR" (now 5.8%) minus maybe 0.5%, but plan to cancel and refinance at what they hope will be the same terms 2-3 years out. There is no assurance that an inflationary cycle wouldn't cause MLR to rise to 10% and the teaser rates to disappear.

Thus it would appear that people's payments could shoot up perhaps 500 percent which would of course be unaffordable for most.

Is it then true that there are no "real" mortgages in Thailand and homeowners are living on short term financing with the expectation of continuing low inflation? What kind of system is this?

Any sources of commentary or background information links would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Ron

The Thai initial teaser rates is the same as the Option Arm mortgage that is about to explode in the United States and cause the second leg of the financial crisis.

Wachovia even called them "Pick a payment" mortgages and they were even more extreme in that people could choose a negatively amortising mortgage for the first few years!

The initial teaser rate is standard in mortgage markets. Its supposed to allow you to have lower payments in the first couple of years when expenses are high and to allow earnings to rise. In reality it allowed house prices to be bid higher than was supportable.

In Thailand its not as bad as they maintained underwriting standards that the borrower must be able to pay the mortgage after the teaser expires, which they didn't do in the US or UK. I remember asking HSBC in the UK how much I could borrow and they came back with a figure way in excess of what I would have thought was sustainable, even if I'd switched my diet to Ramen noodles.