ludosiam

Hi Garro, in your situation I would make a trip to somewhere, baby and wife just to get a break from the mother in law. I like mine, but keeping my freedom by living not too close.

My reason to not applying for PR is simply the ignorance from the immigration department. I have asked them several times, last time this June when the application time frame is open, with no answer. I do fulfill all requirements, but no idea when I can apply so don't bother anymore. Would be nice to have PR status but it's not inconvenient without so far.

Cheers for that Ludosiam

Will the road from Takfa shortly, are there any other Falung in these parts, as I am going to be working around here for quite a while??

There are quite a few foreigner around there I believe, some can be met at the Pub near the Pimarn Hotel I mentioned. Hope you'll enjoy your stay in NKS, it's a lovely city there.

If looking for a western owned pub in NKS you won't be very lucky I believe. I had been living there for a year or so, but moved about 6 month ago. At that time the better places for dining are along the river, when you come into NKS, passing the bridge on the left side. Pretty good Thai food there. Further down the road on the right side comes Pimarn Hotel (approx. 800THB / night), with e very good pub with life music, and a disco with plenty of female visitors late at night. They won't let you in without a ID card there. In downtown is the Mai Hom Hotel (approx. 500 THB/night), just around the corner is a Pub called Terminus with some western food, owner speaks good English. At the center is a lake with plenty of night life around, pubs, discos and karaoke stuff, but again all Thai style. For accommodation I would not really recommend the Pimarn Hotel as the room rate doesn't match the room condition, cheaper at Mai Hom or Beverly Hills (up the hill). Hope this helps and enjoy.

At this time usd/thb 34.02 Set index -2,12 pct.Could this be related to the good news of today?

Just checked Yahoo finance and its still at usd/thb 30.

That's the offshore rate. And also offshore the Baht is traded a little lower now, around 30.6 at the moment

Foreign business act should have been in place 50 years ago when all the Chinese migrants came over here to set up their businesses They in general had been welcomed by Thailand, yet now the offspring of these people try to slam the doors for other competitors.

I believe that the consumption stated in their commercials here in Thailand is based on a downhill run at Doi Intanont with everything but the driver seat, motor, wheels and chassis removed. I have a Mitsu Triton 2.5 and figured out roughly the same consumption, about 1.8 B / km on highways and 2 B / km in the city with current fuel prices.

I had tried to register a ".co.th" domain, the hosting company did ask for company registration, work permit and other company related topics - no thanks for me. Registered a ".com" with an US - based host, cheaper, better technology and service, paid by credit card and able to use within 5 minutes. I believe this helps when making a decision. Believe that in regards of taxation it really doesn't matter.

I can't imagine a Thai pensioner happily singing in a karaoke shop up with a "hamburger - shaped" american mia noi but if it happens it's time to invest in somtam shops in california and florida

Worst case scenario is that you can loose another 10% or so on the exchange rate, but as some posters say: you only live once. So for me, 50k a month well enough to live on if you're not getting too fancy and you still have plenty of free time to earn a few bucks. Selling goods from Thailand via Ebay could work, but only small items as the transport is rather costly back to UK. I've tried ceramic stuff, 1 Container but did not work very well at that time, transportation costs were just too high.

There are a few topics about the currency exchange but most of them are on for a while and the usual one on one communication has started, therefore I would like to open a new topic on this matter. There are so many well informed and educated members on this forum and I would be very interested what are the different opinions and theories around.

Here is mine: It came to my attention a while ago that in theory if you bring THB out of the country, convert to USD with the offshore rate, then bring back USD to Thailand converting with the onshore rate there would be a nice profit of about 10%. Now there are some restrictions around to prohibit this but wouldn't it be possible for people who are better connected than the average resident? I actually believe that it is happening and that the BOT with it's capital inflow restriction a while ago that created the on / offshore difference has actually achieved the opposite of what they had in mind. Take out THB here in Thailand unrecorded, convert it to USD and bring it back in would be seen as huge capital inflow and boost up the THB, until we reach the offshore rate. So I believe we can see a rate of 31 - 32 and will only get weaker then if this 2 - tier market is being eliminated.

I can confirm all those points, for StanChart HK, except the last. I think Sing has slightly looser regulations for account openings (in terms of being non resident)

Do you mean HK will not open an account for someone resident in Thailand, or do you mean HK would want me to go to HK simply to open the account?

If it's the former, it defeats the whole purpose as I'm resident in Thailand and wanting to open an offshore account.

I had contacted HSBC in sPORE some time ago, they will open a non resident account but require personal identification. Could probably be made in a HSBC branch in Thailand as well.

The point is - on top of the stress of running a business who needs this extra hassle

of Thai immigration officers cracking the whip i.e. the balance sheet must be better

next year or else !!!! ?

Absolutely right! If I didn't decide to expand before that auspicious occasion with immigration, now sure wouldn't invest a single penny in the company, probably would be better off in the stock market and speculate on the future crash to be happening if this policy will continue.

1 $ = 35 bht ? What is the problem? Or for who is it a problem? If it touch a bunch of bar bees, there is no problem, assuming they still can go to Cambodia and still think they are the King of the mountain.

Agree that if it hurts some bees there will be not much of a fuzz here. But in my opinion (built from news clippings mostly) the tourism sector and exporters are getting into trouble while oversea investors are raking in profits at the moment. (set +800 yesterday, fueled by foreign investment). There is no doubt that investors doing a good job making money, using the right strategies and will jump off the train as soon as it slows down. It is a fact that exports are up every month right now, but I am pretty sure the revenue isn't which results in much lower tax revenue for the country. So in my opinion, the strong Baht will hurt Thailand pretty much in the long term while investors will move on to the next party, as it has happened in 1997.

One of the requirements to get a Visa extension based on business is Pos. 4: In overall the audit must show owner’s equity of no less than 1 Million Baht. It seems that owner's equity is sometimes mistakenly set equal to profit by some immigration officers, as it was in my case (upcountry immigration)

At a business dictionary total equity is referred to as: The total interest in a business, incl. capital and reserves, which is attributable to the ordinary shareholder, partner or proprietor.

"My" immigration officer has informed me that this year he will grant me another extension but for next year the balance sheet have to be better, or else no extension.

I put up with the poster who believe sit and wait is the best option here, new rules do need some time to be understood by everybody, so far too many interpretation are around. And sometimes regulations are being intentionally misinterpreted to be able to offer help for a small donation.

If an extension will not be granted I see 2 options for me: 3 month Visa run or extension based on marriage, since I am married anyway might go for the first option, and gulp down a few Beer Lao instead Thai beer.

But there is one point i really do worry about: what if the rumors of not issuing Visas for non residents in neighboring countries does come true, then we will be really f....d, German beer is a little overpriced when counting the ticket in.

Had read this story in one of the Thai newspapers:

'The world's most valuable wood'

Aromatic agarwood prized by princes could become a lucrative export for local tycoon Boon Vanasin

CHAROEN KITTIKANYA

Property tycoon Boon Vanasin was once invited to a banquet held by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia with 100 distinguished guests in attendance. The prince was burning dry agarwood to please the guests.

Dr Boon was stunned when he learned that the prince's aromatic little gesture cost 10 million baht, prompting him to research one of the world's most expensive woods _ and its market potential.

According to Dr Boon, Saudi Arabia alone burns dry agarwood worth more than 80 billion baht a year. The world market for agarwood, used mainly for incense, is estimated at more than 180 billion baht a year.

''World demand is astonishing,'' said Dr Boon, who has spent 15 million baht over the past five years researching the business. It has led to the formation of a company, Krissana Panasin Co, to handle agarwood development.

''Over the last five years, we have dedicated much time, finances and human resources to researching, studying and testing, to create high-quality agarwood oil concentrate,'' he said,

''And we have achieved an agricultural breakthrough in agarwood production by reducing the production period of resinous heartwood from 50 years in nature to just seven years in cultivation.''

Dr Boon also said that his was the first company to bio-engineer agarwood trees to create high-grade heartwood throughout the entire tree.

Agarwood is found in Aquilaria trees, large evergreens native to Southeast Asia. It is a resin that the tree produces in response to the attack of a parasite, but in nature it occurs in only one tree out of every 5,000.

Krissana Panasin has also succeeded in developing its own agarwood varieties named Panasin, using seeds from Sra Bap and Soi Dao mountains in Chanthaburi, where the best agarwood varieties in Thailand originate. It also has an agarwood tissue culturing project based on varieties that can yield good-quality heartwood.

Insatiable worldwide demand for aromatic wood over 2,000 years has led to severe depletion of tropical agarwood forests.

Thanks to a Thai initiative to promote reforestation, local farmers have grown more than 100,000 agarwood trees since 2000. Currently, several million such trees are grown nationwide.

According to Panamese Thitisomboon, managing director of Krissana Panasin, the company has invested 30 million baht in a refinery at its orchard in Chanthaburi. The factory is due to start operations in about six months.

The market price for agarwood oil now ranges from 280,000 to 800,000 baht per litre depending on quality.

According to Mr Panamese, the company has about 5,000 trees and aims to have 500,000 within three years.

The company will arrange for experts to assess plantation areas for other growers. It also guarantees to repurchase the trees grown from its strains at 2,000 to 3,000 baht each once they mature in six to seven years.

Dr Boon said the company was also working with the SME Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives to support farmers.

''Growing agarwood trees is popular and there are more and more agarwood farmers. However, most are not properly educated,'' he said.

''Even worse, they have been deceived and when the time comes to collect the heartwood, they are unable to sell it at the desired prices as the quality is below global standards. So we would like to advise interested investors to study the information on agarwood cultivation thoroughly beforehand.''

Source: www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-164229605.html

I have never met an "undesirables" who is more undesirable then Thai Higher Ups.

Probably jealousy

Thats for sure!

To be honest I haven't met that many "higher ups" but some foreign low lives who I sure like to avoid anywhere in the world.

Nothing to worry about I believe. Work permit is only issued for the time you have a valid non - immigrant visa. WP expires on the same day as your visa. Then applying for a 1 year extension, might get 1 month consideration time, get 1 month WP again, might get 1 year extension after that and will get another 1 year of WP granted. It's a little confusing, but always worked this way for me in the last 6 years.

The baht has been strong for a few months anyways and yet the prices at the chain shops still seem high. The UFM bakery raised its prices recently. It seems like 7Eleven prices are higher. Shouldn't prices go down if Thai money can buy more for less abroad? Just curious why things aren't cheaper.

Wonder about that myself, specially the fuel prices should have gone down as the sales price is in USD and the baht has appreciated a lot against USD, yet the fuel prices have in fact increased. Everytime the crude oil price goes up,. the prices at pumps stations are up as well, yet when the Baht is getting stronger no reaction on the market.

JR Texas to Fred Sanford: I agree with you, partially, about Bendix and LoveDaBlues. They certainly come across as being selfish and unsympathetic....but also informed (even though I disagree with most of what they say).

When I read statements like they have made, I try to ask myself what I would have to believe to make similar statements.

I think both Bendix and LoveDaBlues are informed by a belief that tells them that the individual is the only one responsible for reality. Bendix, for example, probably believes that if he has a problem it is because of him and the actions he has taken..........or that if he is rich, it is because of his decisions (nothing to do with serendipity or the hard work of others, etc).

So, when people "complain" about the visa rules, he thinks they have not taken proper action at the level of the individual....that they are lazy, or ill informed, etc. So, it becomes hard, if not impossible, for him to accept the premise that individuals are often influenced by powerful forces/events that thwart any individual efforts to address them.

I fully agree with JR Texas and Stanford. For example when someone tells me he has no driver licence in Thailand and need to run away if the police try to stop him I encourage and advice him on how to get one instead of walking away and think about how much smarter than that person I am.

When posting here I mean to share some experience and not to whine and feel bad all day about how miserable the situation is. If any post can help someone avoiding or solve trouble than the board has done a good job.

This is probably the wisest post on this entire thread, a thread, incidentally, riddled with hearsay and inaccuracies presented as facts.

Example, first we hear of a new requirement for businesses to make 1 million baht, then the poster amends it to 1m capital.

It's really not that hard to work how legal ways to stay and to contribute to this country we all profess to love, if that is what we want to do.

To Bendix: I had posted what I had experienced at the immigration: the wrong interpretation of an existing regulation saying that a company employing a foreigner must have at least 1.000.000 in equity. It was interpreted by that officer as profit and thus did not want to issue the extension.

There are still a lot of poor people in Thailand. I think the gov't has been trying to make sure that the less well off locals got the priority and the protection in establishing small businesses.

If that is the ideology behind it is fair enough and standard practice, and therefore we do have a foreign business act (much discussed though). The company I am employed by is 100% Thai owned though and still gets scrutinized by the immigration for employing 1 foreigner, Tax payment is expected to be higher than that of companies that do not employ foreigners and therefore I believe there is a different ideology behind it.

The real thread to the poorer people are loan sharks, be it legal or illegal ones. The trend to give cheap loans on loan papers so every farmer is able to buy a pickup truck and a mobile phone as been initiated by the former government and I believe that this will create severe imbalances in society in the long term.

I like your statement that many people do over exaggerate their positive impact on society. I cannot believe that an average person no matter it's origin actually has any substantial impact on society in general at all, maybe some on their immediate surroundings, be it good or bad, not up to me to judge this. But if it is all that bad I believe the immediate surrounding would have the problem solved without the help of any immigration regulations.

To wolfmanjack: not sure what they actually do count in on that. Maybe they will check weight of any foreigner and calculate 100kg x 75 THB = 7.500 ?

The balance sheets are actually done by an external auditor and that's what they are checking on now, I had explicitly asked if the amount required is being raised accordingly we do have to pay a much bigger sum of taxes than we do now. The balance sheets do show roughly the same amount every year as business is rather stable.

I can hardly understand why the Thai government want to have a small amount of big players instead of a big amount of small players now. There was a report from a foreign analyst about the unusual tax payment discrepancy between small and big companies, guess who in relation to income did pay more......

Just searching the net if I can find that article again, did anybody else read about this issue?

Ludosiam to JR Texas: My last extension application was a wake up call for me. I will sure try to keep going here in Thailand as I have family, home and investment in Thailand but preparing for being labeled an undesirable in the future. No further investment locally, switching most activities from local to abroad (engineering and "on site assistance" can be done anywhere in the world), receive my payments offshore and keep them outside Thailand. Too bad I had just invested in a new factory building! As long as I can stay I will do so, but since future plans are being deterred by RTG I have to adjust accordingly.