billd766

Far be it for me to state the obvious but I will anyway.

How can anybody be that stupid and still walk around?

While CDMA and WCDMA is very nice and useful if you are doing a lot of downloads etc it is not widely available outside the cities and main roads.

Spare a thought for us people living in the sticks where the choice is GPRS on AIS or DTAC. It takes a long time to download even some photos and 2 hours on line at one time is sometimes possible.

On the other hand it is a lot nicer up here where life is slower and mai bpen rai rules the roost.

St George  ...  what about the Dragon ? 

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The dragon is well and living in the UK.

We divorced 5 years ago.

how does one work from home then in LOS. Is it possible to be a 'consultant' and have part of your house as your workplace, and have a (legitimate) registered business at the same address?

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As far as I know, that depends on your landlord. Whether they are willing to let you use it for commercial purposes (which puts them in the books). If you own the place, I believe this should not be a problem.

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Yes, it is possible. I used to have a company that was registered at the house my wife and I had rented but the landlord did have to agree first.

I had to set aside an area which was my office pretty much fully equipped and though I was not there most of the time as I was consulting with Motorola on the CDMA project for Hutch.

I had to employ a Thai lawyer to set the company up which in retrospect was a bad idea but at that time I did not know about Thai Visa or Sunbelt which would have made my life easier.

At that time I had to register the company with 2m baht capital though I did not actually have to pay that much.

I had to employ 4 Thai people (family and friends), pay their salaries, pay social security for all of us though that got us medical cover at hospital etc. I also had to supply photos of my office and the toilet (for some reason), employ an accountant and a host of other things. I was also visited by the authorities a couple of times, once they gave notice and another time they did not but my wife was at home anyway.

I also had to do the following: -

1) Building owners certification that your business is a registered tenant.

2) Company name sign displayed at office entrance, with photograph of same turned in to Revenue Dept. (photo must show sign, and also building or office number)

3) Thai language street location map provided to Revenue Dept.

(Thanks to Indo-Siam for that info)

This also got me a work permit.

I closed the company down a couple of years ago as I was no longer working and even then it cost money for a while to sort out the closure with the accountant who is Belgian, married to a Thai and a very nice guy. Should anyone need a good accountant PM me and I will send details.

On the side my office was actually a real and not a virtual office.

I don't know if I would ever do it again but if I did I would take some good legal advice first. Time and money spent in preparation is never wasted.

I use Travelmate 290 series, I bought it last year.  Maybe 4050 has no problem but all friends who use ACER, we all got problems.

Good luck. 

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Thanks for the info

Here's that link for teak i said I'd find. Its actually talking about the area I live in. They recon a return of 58,000$ /hectar over 20 years with teak as the sole crop, that works out to about 370,000/rai. It does have some drawbacks though, not the least the long return time, and what could happen with the laws in between.

http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?...5E/x4565e10.htm

Hi RC

Thanks for that link. I will show it to my wife when I come home at the end of the month.

Cheers billd766

So are you suggesting that any farang can teach and all those alcoholic woman chasers are going to 1. want to teach and 2. be able to teach.  Teaching is a skill and an art and it takes a long time to be good at it and many/most people will never be good at it because they just don't have the right stuff to be able to do it.  To suggest that all those farangs already here should just be enlisted to teach is a poorly thought out idea at best.  Sorry if I'm being harsh but when I think of all those farangs in the bars and go-gos in Phatong and think about your idea.....well.....just think about it youself abit and then post what you think.

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chownah

Not all of us farangs sit in the bars and go-gos of Phatong. Some of us are living out in the country and if we were given some training we could do some good. Where I live there are not many farangs and some of us have time and may want to put it to good use rather than sit around and vegetate.

I am 61 and I know I want to help the people where I live.

I am sort of with you as unfortunately I am working in Pakistan for a while though I do get back 3 or 4 times a year.

Our son Tiw was 1 years old on Monday 1st August.

We used to have the odd rat or two up country but then the snake moved in on the land.

Now, no more rats.

If we meet the snake anywhere we both stop, and go in different directions.

I don't bother the snake and he doesn't bother me. Not the sort of thing to have as a pet but OK in its place.

Whatever but not ACER, I got some strong problems with it.

GGGRRRRRRRRRR 

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Which Acer do you have?

I was looking for a Travelmate 4050 or 4150 series next month.

Sounds like my wife has a twin.  Thanks for shareing, I get tired of hearing about all of this gold digging Thai women. I was thinking my wife was stange or something.

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Dakhar

No your wife is not strange at all. At least 6 of my friends are married and all of their friends are friends of my wife and they have known each other for many years even before we came along. One of her friends was married to a Thai and has a daughter. He used to beat her so she left him and went all over Thailand until she came to live with us and she is welcome to stay with her daughter as long as she likes.

I would not say that her husband is typical of all Thai husbands as many of my friends are Thai as well.

His behaviour is similar to a small percentage of men all over the world.

When I finally quit working I also would like to try to teach basic English and also some computing skills in the school near me.

I live right out in the country about 400 km from Bangkok and I don't remember the last time I saw the local police around here except at the Kings birthday fair in the village in December every year.

I will follow this thread as it seems useful and sensible.

Anyone trusting any BG is riding a slippery slope, very slippery

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Nam Kao

You are generalising again and IMHO talking crap.

In defense of the OP, I can understand, to a certain extent, where he is coming from. I too went through a divorce several years ago, and ended up with a suitcase of clothes. I was fortunate in that I was 31 and was still young enough to start from scratch again. I worked hard, and now own a couple of properties.

I am still worried that I would lose the lot again.

You may sneer and wax lyrical about love etc. but until you have lost everything and had to start from scratch again I feel that you may be missing the OP's point.

F.Y.I. I am living with a Thai woman and have been doing so for the last 2 years, quite happily I may add. I will in time marry the lady, but I will make provisions for her and her 2 children in Thailand, so that if we ever part or I pass away before her,  she will have property here, she already has land and a car, all in her name. However the property outside Thailand will not go to her.

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Sorry to hear about that Mickmac. I have been divorced twice before and after the second time I didn't even have the bag of clothes I am now married to a wonderful Thai lady and mate I'm afraid if you are still worrying about what you'll lose or won't lose with regard to material possesions over being with someone that you trust implicitly and truly love then you are in for a bit of a miserable life. I regard my wife and children as my primary concern not my properties or cars etc.

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I too went through a very expensive divorce but at least I took a rented cars worth of my stuff with me.

I agree with Jimmy totally in the fact if you cannot trust the lady you are with, Thai or Farang, and there is no real love or commitment then forget it because what you get from the relationship will not be worth it.

I am currently resising in Thailand and would like to know the opinions of the members regarding the advisability of a legal marriage (to a Thai woman). I plan to stay in Thailand and do not intend to take the wife back to my country. I know there are some econoomic advantages for visa (less money required) and the ability to jointly own land with the wife. But, I do not see any other advantages. Any comments? Thanks.

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Call me old fashioned, but AFAIC the only reason to marry should be love.If you find yourself considering marriage for other reasons, you should probably focus on overcoming those shortcomings that you think marriage would solve,ease or provide leverage for. Just my opinion.

Regarding "and the ability to jointly own land with the wife"...non-thai individuals can't own land (individual or joint ownership).

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Well that makes for two "old-fashioned" posters in this thread. I read the OP, and thought to myself "&lt;deleted&gt; is this guy thinking".

My advise is - don't marry - with your attitude, you will attract the wrong type of woman who will rip you off, and you will join the thousands of bitter twisted farang men in Thailand, complaining about how Thais are all worthless scum, the women cannot be trusted, etc, etc.

Stay single, enjoy yourself, and as penelope recommended - try to overcome your shortcomings. And grow up!

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What shortcomings?? I am living in reality, not fantasy. If you go blindly into an marriage, particularly one from a different culture and language, in a country where many of these realtionships are based on money, you are living in dreamland

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Well a2396 i am legally married to my Thai wife in the UK and she is not bothered about getting married again in Thailand. I have known my wife for 12 years and we have been married for 5 of them, and our son will be 1 year old next week.

I was married before in the UK and I divorced my UK wife to marry my Thai wife.

I married for love and not for any advantages to be able to live in Thailand and in fact I am financially worse off than if I had stayed married to my UK wife. On the other hand I have been a lot happier in the last few years than I could have hoped.

My wife has no desire to live in the UK or wants a UK passport as she is Thai through and through. The only thing she has asked me for is a UK passport for our son so that he will be able to have dual nationality and I think that this is a good idea.

My wife owns the land, house, property, car etc and I own the clothes I have and a few more things and I have no problems with that at all.

I did not go "blindly" into marriage and thought long and hard before I asked her to marry me. She did not ask me to marry her and was quite happy to be together but I felt that as I love her it would be better if we were married as when I die she will be financially secure as she will be entitled to a portion of my pensions until she dies.

I am working at the moment to provide funds for the future of our family.

If my wife decided that she could not live with me any longer I would not regret a minute of the time we have spent together.

The second best thing that has happened to me in the last few years was marrying Nee and the best thing was the birth of our son.

She speaks better English than I speak Thai and keeps me on the straight and narrow and looks after our money far better than I ever did.

I thank Buddha every day for my good luck.

The only economic advantage to me in our marriage is that now I have money to spend if I need to because she will not let me waste it as I did before.

Marry for love and enjoy it.

Marry for any other reason and regret it.

SECTION 1569 of the Civil and Commercial Code of Thailand

A person exercising parental power is the legal representative of the child.

SECTION 1571 of the Civil and Commercial Code of Thailand

Parental power includes the management of the property of the child and such management shall be exercised with the same care as that of a person of ordinary prudence

[NOTE: my underlining]

SECTION 1598/3 of the Civil and Commercial Code of Thailand

A guardian is the legal representative of the ward. ... Section 1571 shall apply mutais mutandis...

So, all in all, you want to make sure you have parental/guardian control. However, in the case of luk-krung children, the courts have often awarded parental control/gurdianship to the Thai mother.

As such - therein lies the problem...

SM

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Discussing the above provisions with a friend of my yesterday evening, they concurred that the above apply in normal circumstances. However, insofar as land is concerned, they directed me to Section 1574 of the Civil and Commercial Code - and in particular sub-sections (1) & (2). These read as follows:

A person exercising parental power cannot eneter into any of the following acts with regard to the property of a minor except with the permission of the Court:

(1) selling, exchanging, sale with right of redemption, letting out property on hire-purchase, mortgaging, releasing mortgage to mortgagor or transfering the right of mortgage on immovable property [land] or on mortgaged movable property;

(2) extinguishing the whole or a part of the real right of the minor on immovable property;

....

(5) letting immovable property for a period exceeeding 3 years;

...

(7) making a loan of money

...

(13)...

So it would appear that my comments above were wrong in this case and that there are certain safe-guards in place.

SM

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Thank you for the information but does this only apply to Thai fathers or does it apply to Farangs as well? If I cannot own land or a house it would seem to me that my wife has to name our son as the heir and me as the guardian which would allow me to stay in the house and on the land. Or is there another Thai law which comes into effect?

I am pretty sure that it has to be via your mobile supplier.

I know both AIS/DTAC offer pay as you go at 1 baht per minute.

I have a contract with AIS and get 200 hours per month for 500 Baht.

The connection is very good, in fact as good as any dial-up I have had in London.

But then I live in a rural area where, other than the kids downloading to their mobiles, there is little internet usage. Not sure how it would work in BKK.

Hope this helps....  

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I also live in a rural area but when I go to BKK I get the same level of service that I do when I am at home.

I also use it when I work overseas and it works just as well.

I bought a legal program which turns my laptop into a DNS standalone server so I have no need for CSLoxinfo etc.

I am married with everything registered in my wife's name.

I am wondering what would happen if she died before me. We have a 1 years old son and I would like to hold the land, house etc for him when he comes of age. He is registered as my son and my wife and I are legally married and I am a little concerned what would happen should she die first.

Does anybody have any idea?

61 with a lovely 40 year old wife and a beautiful 1 year old son.

good question, don't know the answer but will be please if someone does

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I have only my son in the UK and a few friends and they know that my plans are to live and die here in Thailand with my second family.

I have told my Thai wife to stick me with something sharp when I die just to make sure I am dead and then take me to the wat for the ceremonies after which she can scatter my ashes on the land. I would like Queens "Friends will be friends" and some Tina Turner played at some time during the ceremonies.

After that I plan to live in the spirit house on the land to keep an eye on the family and if I am lucky I may come back as a nicer person than I have been in this life.

As far as I know what happens to you in Thailand is mainly up to your Thai families.

If you have no Thai family someone should contact your embassy to find out what happens though I suspect to ship you back to your own country will be at your families expense.

He has a few teeth now and is into biting anything he can and usually his mum is nearest. Me too but I love him to bits.

His face after he bites me.

I'm sure he'll be just happy to see his dad again billd766 but don't get too upset if he doens't recognise you at first, babies have pretty short attention spans (like fish ) & with you working away this is going to be a regular theme of your home comings. Eventually he will get older & remember you more & more, I was out of the country for most of my 7y/o neices life but from about 2 1/2 she remebered me, as my sister had pictures of me around the house & would always remind her who I was. Maybe something for your wife to think about doing daily?? Have a great trip home & enjoy your time with your wife & son

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Thanks Boo

I was lucky in my first marriage as I didn't really work abroad until my first son was 13 so it wasn't so bad. There are pictures of me around but most of the time they talk to him in Thai but my wife does speak in english as well. My contract is up at the end of August and if it is renewed I will take it as future money for the family and if not, I will be more than happy to go home again.

Hopefully I can put this picture up on the post.

Thanks to everybody for their ideas.

He was not walking when I left a couple of weeks ago but he can stand up using what is available and has learnt how to use a small plastic chair to climb onto the bed, but not to climb down, yet. He has a sort of seat on wheels which will just fit in the gap at the end of the table and knows how to get it into the right place to fit or he will go the other way around.

He into things which make noises and also the boxes that they come in.

I will buy him something nice when I get home as there is not a lot here for him.

1 New Years resolution. I MUST LEARN MORE THAI! And stop being so fukcing lazy.  Happy New year everyone for when it comes

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I agree with you Jockstar. I must try to learn before the New Year but it is not easy as I am working out of Country and people want me to speak Urdu so I reply in Thai.

I live about 6km outside of the village in a small Moo Ban with my wife and son. It is not where she comes from (Samut Prakhan) so we don't have these problems. We do have a few friends locally and yes we do lend a little but we also have no problems in getting anything returned and we borrow equipment and people as and when required.

Perhaps the difference is that my wifes family are from Bangkok and we live 400 km away. Having said that her family are more than welcome to stay with us and we do have a small house that her parents can live in if they want to leave Bangkok and live with us.

We must be lucky.