Crash999

Announcement #152732735 that tourism is right around the corner. 
 

I had a 3-series a while back. Generally enjoyed owning it. Only issue I had was a strange squealing brake noise that the dealer tried to fix several times but it kept coming back. 
 

Eventually switched to Benz. Between the two I prefer Benz- better image in Thailand and in my opinion better interiors and tech. 

To update, boxes of our personal stuff were detained by Thai customs and rejected due to batteries (small button cells in our daughter’s crocs) and alcohol in perfume and cosmetics. Both were deemed hazardous cargo. We had to repack and ship without that stuff. 
 

Strangest thing was those Crocs were actually bought from Amazon and shipped to Thailand. So coming in it was okay but going out it wasn’t. Thai customs in a nutshell! 

23 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

There doesn't seem to be much evidence that the two young men are guilty, certainly not beyond all doubt. This is Thailand.

I thought it was a frame up too. But when you read the facts of the case (as presented in court by both the prosecution and defense, not random blogs and pseudo-media) it paints a totally different picture. The real story was so different than what was portrayed on some infamous websites that you have to wonder what their agenda was. Seems it was more about publicity than objectivity. 
 

Some examples:

- Unlike other Burmese the two fled. One changed his appearance. This was before they were suspected of the murder. 
 

- In the end the defense refused to retest DNA using a third-party lab when given the chance even though this could have conclusively cleared the defendants. The judge mentioned this as a major factor in the decision as there would be no way for the prosecution to get semen samples from the defense without them knowing. 

- The defense first said they left the beach before the murders took place and the smashed phone was not from the victim. When the father of the victim got IMEI info from the provider in the UK proving the phone was the victim’s then the story changed, that they went back to the beach to pick up wet clothes and found the phone. 
 

- UK independent police investigation results were disclosed only to the families as they could not participate in a court case where the death penalty was involved. The police only said the info would have not helped the defendants. 

- The Thai lawyer for the defendants claimed that they had been beaten into a confession and when he saw them they were horribly bruised. But when challenged why the next morning the two were in front of cameras and no bruises were visible he said the police had given them a special healing medicine. If someone can find out what that special medicine is called I’d love to bottle and sell it!

1 hour ago, CorpusChristie said:

From someone who was there 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/myfavoritemurder/comments/8t192m/the_real_story_of_the_2014_koh_tao_murders/

Reads like a fantasy. The guy claims his friend was with the suspects, a perfect alibi. Yet even the international defense didn’t come up with this mystery woman in court.
 

And his alternative story is various people related to a bar murdering them for such offensive things as complaining about being shortchanged or treating a ladyboy badly. Zero evidence at all there and the Burmese didn’t report anyone else walking past. 

We are in the process of moving to Hong Kong and have around 6 cartons of product to send over but have run into some issues.

DHL wants us to itemize and assign value to every item in the shipment which is hundreds of items when including the small plastic toys for our daughter. In addition for stuff like shoes they want us to provide proof that the shoes are real and provide receipts. Apparently this isn't for HK customs but for Thai customs.

No idea how I'm going to prove that my 5 year-old Nike shoes are real yet alone somehow get a receipt for them. It's a non-starter a source of stress as we are supposed to fly out this week and if our stuff is stuck here it'll be a disaster.

In the past I've been able to send boxes of stuff to relatives overseas just writing "gifts" in the description and adding a value. Not sure why this time is any different, except maybe the amount of cartons being 6 instead of 1. 

We are going to check with FedEx and a moving company to see if there's any better way to send personal effects.

Do any of you have experience dealing with this sort of issue? 

Cheers!

Maybe he should turn on the TV as several local programs and game shows are using these face shields only. 

Thailand You Trust sounds like an insurance company slogan rather than a vacation destination. 

On 4/24/2020 at 10:02 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

How much are these little cars in Thailand?

 

You could get into an Elise for 1.8-1.9m. Probably less as it's difficult to sell expensive manual transmission cars here.

I had an Elise and Exige here. Only thing reliable was the engine. All the other bits routinely fell off. I once delivered the Exige to the dealer with a list of 6 things to repair. When I came to pick it up 3 were repaired, 3 forgotten, and there were 2 new problems- the more serious one being the trunk release wasn't working. Oops.

Very fun cars though. I do miss driving them. Sometimes. Best part was that after upgrading the brake fluid and brake pads they could be happy track cars all day long. The driver would get tired long before the car.

Is that sodium hydroxide in your pocket or are you happy to see me?

29 minutes ago, zydeco said:

This doesn't let him off the hook with the IRS.

The laws may have changed but in the past one couldn't renounce unless taxes were all squared. 

Something tells me there is a bit more to this story than what the wife is letting on. 
 

Especially the part about having bought the bar from the neighbor. 

On 2/20/2020 at 7:54 PM, fulhamster said:

My wife received a letter from the local council with an attachment showing details of our house (in her name) including area and the structural materials (concrete)

A call to the council confirmed that she only need respond if any of the details are incorrect, however all looks in order.

The house is probably worth 3 - 3.5m, so am I safe to think that she would not be liable for tax ?

 

Just to complicate matters, she also has her name as minority shareholder on a couple of friend's (farang) company structures for houses worth about 2 and 3 million.

Would these be added to her records ??

I’ve been digging into this a bit. That letter as you said only is to confirm details. If all correct then no need to respond. 
 

Around April or May they said another letter will be issued that will say how much she needs to pay. 
 

If that is the only property in her name then she shouldn’t need to pay. 
 

There is a phone number at the bottom of the first letter she received that she can call to ask questions. They were very helpful but only speak Thai. 

My Thai father-in-law was a guarantor on a loan several years back. I don’t have all details but the story is that the debtor died. His wife received an insurance payout and spent it, or at least says she spent it. 
 

Now the company who issued the loan is going after my father-in-law, having called him to tell him he must adopt the debt and sending people to his house to take pictures of the house and car. 
 

Does anyone know what the guarantor obligations are here? I found an article saying that the law changed a few years ago to ban any debt provision that gave the guarantor equal obligation to the debtor. But aside from that I can’t find any specifics. 
 

Thank you. 

Thanks Britman. Do you have a source for that? My wife had received papers from the government saying that her property was eligible even though it is only worth 3m. The letter was dated November so I’m not sure if things have changed since then as I read there have been changes a few times already. 

My wife received through the mail this morning a guideline to the 2020 property tax. It was dated November and said she had two weeks to respond if any questions. Oops.

She and I have been trying to read up on the new law in English and in Thai today and haven't had much luck figuring out for certain what applies to our situations:

a) Her parents bought a house in Rayong worth about 3m Baht to use when they retire soon. They put it in my wife's name. This was about five years ago. My wife's mother is on the tabien baan, my wife is on the tabien baan at our condo in Bangkok. From what we read it seems that because my wife is not on the tabien baan of the Rayong house she will have to pay tax, which we found two rates- 0.2% or 0.3% per year per different articles we read. Also a possible increase after two years.

Rather than paying this tax my wife would prefer to transfer the property to her parents, maybe the mom as she is on the tabien baan. But then we may need to pay property tax on the value of 3% (4%?) based on an assessed value so it seems a 10-year or more break-even on that.

b) We moved last year to our current condo from a smaller one worth around 7m Baht. The smaller one was initially up for sale until my father decided he would move here in July this year so we took it off the market and kept it for him. Now the property is vacant. He will eventually get a non-O and I guess be put on the tabien baan of that condo. As I'm the owner and that's a second property it seems I'll have to pay tax on that condo too.

Is our understanding correct? It has come as a bit of a shock as we are not deriving any income from these properties and it seems we may need to start paying THB30k or more per year in addition to the common area fees, maintenance etc. Property ownership is starting to seem even less attractive than before here.

Thank you!