richardt1808

About 7 years ago I sued my Thai landlord for a measely B 20,000 depost - same issue (scratched floor). I used a small legal company and he charged me B10,000 in legal fees, including issuing the summons. The whole process was quick - about 4-5 weeks from the first meeting to the court date and I must say, nothing will beat the satisfaction of seeing the Landlord counting out the cash to give me in court after winning the case. Given inflation, your amount is higher than mine was, so its do-able for sure.

Sorry, I dont have the contact info anymore, but as mentioned above, you can start with Siam Legal or there are loads of small law offices to choose from.

Best of luck

Having been bitten by the Radio Controll bug, I was looking to purchase some RC items locally instead of importing them and I chanced upon a great looking online website based in Bangkok who had a pretty good range of products at very reasonable prices. Since one often experiences postage delays when ordering things from overseas, I was prompted to buy from a local retailer so that I could get the things immediately... so, I added a list of items to the shopping cart which is part of the local weloveshopping.com infrastructure, and made my purchase. Within 3minutes I received a confirmation SMS on my phone and the transaction was done.

The next morning I found myself with some free time and since the website also has a physical shop (not naming names yet), I decided to give them a call and ask if I could actually go and pick up my order. Imagine my surprise when I was told that none of my items were in stock - and that the shop was now ordering them for me from overseas !! What a load of <deleted>. Isn't the idea of a 'shopping cart' that you add things to it, pay by credit card, and then they are sent to you ? Anyway, I asked the shop to cancel my order and refund my money so that I could go the eBay route after all and also enjoy the buyer protections that are offered there. No problem said the shop - my card would be credited within 2 days. Needless to say several days went by and no refund was given, so after calling three more times over the next two weeks, I started to get annoyed. The amount was almost B10,000, not a killer amount but certainly better off in my wallet than some rip-off merchant. On the 4th call the shop owner then informed me that the financial side was totally the responsibility of weloveshopping and he would ask them to call me and explain the delay. Finally got a call from weloveshopping and was then informed that, according to their policy, I would have to wait another 30days before they could process my refund! What nonsense!! First, they permit merchants to list items which are not actually in stock, and then you either have to wait an incredible amount of time to get them, because they are then being ordered from elsewhere - and sometimes even at a higher price than the stated amount on the website; or, you have the choice of waiting 45days for a refund.

Sorry, but this is just NOT what online shopping is about. Anywhere else that one sees a shopping cart and a price, we know that the items are in stock and that they will be shipped on receipt of payment. If items are not in stock, there will be a note saying 'out of stock' or 'backorder'. How is it that Thai companies think they can do things any different? So, its just a warning for any others out there who may be tempted to do online shopping in Thailand.

Personally, I will definitely be sticking with eBay from now on. They have a brilliant record of looking after buyers; transactions are guaranteed and one can check the feedback of all sellers and where there is a dispute eBay mediates immediately and can refund your payment at the click of a button (which I have now experienced several times) so it is actually even better than using a credit card in a local shop.

It's all very well to bash True regarding this fiasco, but consider this:

GMM may have paid a fortune for the broadcast rights, but they gain equally handsome rewards when advertisers buy advertsing and sponsorships to go along with each broadcast. FreeTV channels make a packet of money when they lease airtime to GMM, so both of those parties have a net gain.

However, it's a lose-lose scenario if True were to join the party and pay GMM for sharing the rights because since True only re-broadcast the FreeTV content, they wouldn't be allowed to insert commercials - so there's an enormous outlay for zero return.

I'm all for competition, but in this case the blame lies at the door of the regulator. By not creating a proper set of rules to govern the broadcast industry, they have allowed this messy situation to fester for years. We had the same scenario, same threats and arguments between UBC and the 2002 World Cup rights holder and luckily at that time UBC did carry the matches on FreeTV. The regulator has had 10 years to get its act together, but here we sit and suffer the results of their pathetic efforts in getting absolutely nothing done.

Amazing what we can find when we Google, isn't it !

Hi,

Windows volume licensing is available to users who own 5 computers or more, so it is indeed not possible and there is not much discount anyway. Microsoft does however have a special pricing policy for South east Asia, so you can buy at a very reasonable price.

Hi,

I would suggest taking the Don Muang tollway into town and then get onto the Cheangwattana / Sirirat tollway. Take the Rama 6 exit and turn north on Rama 6. At the first set of lights (Padipat Junction), turn left and follow Tahan road for about 2km. Samsen road is on the left.

Dont know how you cant see it in google... I typed 'samsen road' into google maps and found it first time.

True has an office in Nakhon Nayok, so with a little bit of luck you wont have to swap landing pages

Hi there,

Around 7 years ago, I sued a landlord in the Bangkok civil court once in order to reclaim a room rental deposit. At that time, the lawyer's fee for a one day appearance plus all the case-filing fees was around B10,000. I won the case, but there was no award made in terms of the legal fees, which I understand is the case for petty matters like this. So, if you are willing to fork out ten grand plus in lawyer fees in order to get back only seven, then yes, it is an option for you.

As Unique commented above, good advice from your lawyer - I would definitely let it go.

Hi there,

If it is the Nichada that I know, it is on Samakee road in Nonthaburi, right ?

If you have a car and will be commuting, you can stay anywhere since it is fairly close to the expressway and driving at those times will be no problem. However, if you dont have a car, then you will find transportation a nightmare as Nonthaburi is way out from the city center and most of the vans and busses stop at or near The Mall Ngamwongwan so you would need to use the local pick-up vans, which would be interesting since I dont ever see any foreigners using them. I guess it all depends on how well you speak Thai. If you have never lived in Thailand before and you are not familiar with how things are done, you're in for an adventure!

As I say, if you are driving yourself, no problem. but if you are new to town and are going to rely on local transport, I'd recommend you stay close to the office until you find your feet. There are plenty of Malls, Cinemas and eating places out there and taking a taxi to the city once or twice a week would be a lot easier than struggling every single day to and from work. The Legacy hotel is about 1km away from Nichada and caters for both locals and foreigners (mainly other Asian) and I'm sure you'd be fine there or someplace similar.

Good luck

Hi Richard!

Thanks, appreciate you writing back.

Yeah, I know it´s a flight case, at work colleagues has tools and other stuff in it so it´s automatically a tool case...

How much did you pay for yours? In Sweden I´ll cost somewhere in between Bt 30´000-40´000. My thought was to maybe save a bit.

Cheers!

Hi,

I have a standard case, which is smaller and less complicated than yours (no drawers), and it was around 10,000 B. Comparing the size of yours, and also if you can find something as complex as this, I think the price may be similar in Bangkok to what you pay there. There are companies who can make cases to your exact size and design, but these special designs are very expensive here.

Good luck

Hi,

Most people know them as flight-cases and yes you can buy them here. I bought mine in Ban Mor area from a shop called NPE electronics. I recommend that you bring your photo with you and ask any taxi to take you to Ban Mor and you will find hundreds of similar shops in the area.

Having said that, you will probably find a better selection and better prices in the US, Singapore or Europe as its a pretty niche product for Thai people.

Cheers

Hi,

AIS has a 'dual SIM' option, so the answer is yes.

The multi-SIM package allows you to have 2 SIM cards with the same number (designed for users of smart-phones who may also have an existing phone). Take a look at the AIS website or visit your nearest branch.

Cheers

Hi,

www.xstreamstudio.net

Run by a very knowledgable American guy.

Hi,

You can try The Victory http://www.agoda.com/asia/thailand/bangkok/the_victory_executive_residences.html

If it is not what you are looking for, do a search on www.agoda.com

Cheers

Hi,

I totally agree with the above. I run 4 sites aimed 99% at Thai market and I use a host which is out of Thailand. Much cheaper and amazing tech support. On the few occasions I have needed support, I have received replies to my support requests literally within minutes.

Cheers

Hi,

There are thousands of things to be recommended, which would take hours to type up here - and we dont know your preferences of things that you like to do and see. Why dont you stat by doing some homework yourself ? Use Google to search for things like "massage parlours bangkok" or 'electronics shopping bangkok' or 'Bangkok tours'. There's a good start.

You wont find any decent hotels near the airport and besides, all the things you will be doing will be in the city so why would you want to go back all the way to airport at night ? Go to Agoda.com and look up hotels in Bangkok. <br><br>When you have done your homework, you can come back here and ask for specific recommendations and detailed questions.

Cheers

Hi,

I know a great guy for setting up more complex websites like this. He'd certainly be able to set up and maintain the site if needed, but I'm not sure he will want to do the merchant set-up part, in which case my own company will be able to help you out. Will PM you details in a moment.

Cheers

Hi,

If you take the Express train from the airport to Payathai Express station, you will be about 100m from Payathai BTS station. Take the walk-way to Payathai BTS and travel one stop on the On-Nut line to Rachathewi.

However, it may be more convenient and even cheaper to take a public taxi directly to the hotel as 2 tickets on the express would probably be more than the taxi fare (which would be around 250 to 300 B, plus toll fees). I say more convenient, because there is quite a wait between trains and also it is quite a distance from the express station to BTS station, which includes use of stairs at Rachathewi station - so it is quite an effort if you have heavy suitcases. You should google the Bangkok BTS map for your reference anyway as you will probably be using it to get around once you get here.

Cheers

Hi,

Look on your desktop, you will find a labelled icon with a picture of a hard drive there. Simply drag any file with your mouse and release the mouse when it is over the icon.

If you go to www.apple.com you will find an excellent series of training videos on the lower right of the page. Do yourself a favour and watch them, especially the set entitled Mac basics.

Hi,

I'm sure you'd prefer to deal with a Thai company who can consult and give you advice as part of the project. You can check out my partner's company here : in addition to multimedia, they also do website design

www.xstreamstudio.net

excellent and objective reply above. I work in the TV industry and I fully echo the response.

Unfortunately, its a numbers game and clearly there aren't enough rugby-loving expats here to support the outrageous license fees that would be involved were True Visions to bid for the TV rights.

Last year I did find a site that would allow me to stream and download the matches to PC, so lets hope someone can let us know of more details on that.

Cheers

Hi,

There is nothing wrong; the WHT has been in effect for years.

My company had it applied to the tune of 14% when we were consulting here a while back. The idea is to encourage Thai companies to use local suppliers I guess - cant you find a local company to provide the same service ?

At the end of the day, the Australian company should have protected its bottom line by stating clearly in the contract or invoice that the invoiced amount is exclusive of all taxes and other deductions.

Cheers

Hi,

Any decent printer would be able to do a number of versions of standard mock-up. Using a hot-glue binder would probably be the easiest method.

The problem is that text and pictures formatted for any PC monitors, would be at 72 DPI, whereas to be crisp and clean for printing, you would need better resolution of 300 to 600 DPI, so you would need someone to re-do the layout in a proper pagemaker program. We use Adobe InDesign here, but there are others. I'm sure any graphic design place near you would be able to recommend a freelancer.

Cheers

if the foreign quota is indeed full, then any kind of proxy deal you do will never be water-tight.

The company route, when being used to purchase property in circumvention of any legislation, really opens you to trouble and you run the risk of the purchase being deemed invalid.

At the end of the day, if you do know someone well enough to trust as a proxy purchaser, you can draw up a back-to-back agreement with an agreed disposal clause, but it would carry some risk; so again the old story applies: "Don't invest anything more than you can afford to lose" (should the deal go sour)

Best of luck

Hi,

I had a similar feeling when it happened to me the first time here.... yes it's true, they do apply a significant devalue formula. With some shopping around you may find a company who will give you a slightly better valuation, but yes, you can expect around 20% drop in value, especially in the first year and especially in a car in the 600K price bracket.

Cheers