nicholasmerwood

Cheers Custom,

Would love to check out your processing plant next time we're up there so I can see how its all done! I'll see if I can get an address for the plot of land in interest.

Thanks again.

Thanks for that info Jim. I have been watching your rubber factory vids and was wondering how much time/money it cost to set up something like that (including the furnace and all machines), and where do you get these machines from? Where in Isarn is your rubber factory?

Cheers

Also - wondering how many rai needed to make cup-->sheet viable. I understand that a lot of the weight is lost during the process, and many people say it is a waste of time. I have however noticed on your you-tube flicks that you do produce the sheets.

Thanks Jim,

We are in Perth. I'll try and find out more info. about the plantation.

Hi All,

I have been looking into buying a rubber tree plantation that is 7 years old and ready to tap. The land is 20rai, and is selling for 2M THB (100,000THB/rai).

My Thai wife and I are currently residing in Australia so have not been able to see the land yet, but her father (who is an accomplished rubber tree farmer) says the land is a bargain.

The land is near Beung Khan. I am unsure if the land has a house/shed on it, and also don't know what water supply it has.

Assuming the trees are healthy (I am unsure if they have been tapped yet), is this a reasonable price (100,000THB/rai)?

Also - when we head over to check out the plantation what sort of things should we be looking at?

Would anyone with significant expertise be able to come and have a look at the plantation when we arrive? Name your price.

Good point - although I was hoping to own a franchise of a chain - ie boots, watsons or similar, if possible. The pharmacy would obviouslly have to be strategically placed - ie meeting needs of an area that is underserviced.

I hate selling things other that medicine - but understand it is necessary to make a profit.

Perhaps the whole country is already oversupplied and it was a terrible idea to start with....althgough one of my (thai) friends own a few pharmacies (Phuket/Songkhla etc) and seems to be doing well. I shall talk to them more about it.

I can always put 51% under my wife anyway. Does anyone know if you have to be a registered pharmacist in thailand to own a pharmacy or where I could find out? In Australia you have to be a registered pharmacist to own a pharmacy....

Also in the restricted list is:

Retailing, unless not less than 100 million baht capital is invested, or having minimum capital for each shop of not less than 20 million baht

Would a community/retail pharmacy be considered retail?

Hi All,

I am in my late 20's, married to a Thai, we both live in Australia. We're looking at coming over in the next year or so and assessing work options.

I am a pharmacist by trade - is there any legal reason why I would not be able to purchase pharmacies in Thailand and have Thai pharmacists manage them?

Cheers

The account must be in your name. And if using income it must be yours.

If legitimate income must be made then a work permit is necessary, and therefore it may be better to just get a non-b. Would a letter from Thailand (translated into English) from my wife's father inviting me to work for him on the rubber plantations suffice, or is that on the restricted list?

Another option would be to open up a new bank account with my name or joint names, and deposit 400k into it 2 months before every renewal - no pwobwem. right?

Perhaps I could get a letter from her father in Thai asking me to come tap some rubber for him haha

A non-b would be much more difficult to get seeing as though we don't (yet) have a business set up. We were planning to do that over the next 6-12 months after scoping certain areas out.

My plan was non-o -->extension --> work permit....

Just have to avoid HKT.

Other option is to put business in wifes name and hence avoid all the things that go along with having to get a work permit, reporting VAT etc. Then just keep extending based on marriage.

Thanks again -

I thought that recently the 400k in the bank account was removed as a qualifier, and now you had to show a regular stream of income (40k+/month) going into a Thai bank account.

Does the Thai account need to be under my name or can it be under the wifes? We already have a SCB account under her name.

Cheers

Thanks for that, very helpful!

So if we live in phuket and I wish to get a work permit then I will definately have to get a non-b visa? correct? Is there much difficulty in changing from a non-o to a non-b?

Also for 5. I was supposed to type - is there a difference between non-o (not non- b ) and marriage visa.

Cheers

Hi All,

I'm 26 and my Thai wife is 29, we both live in Australia and have done so for the last 4 years. She has PR here. Recently we have been looking at the possibility of moving back to Thailand.

I have been looking at obtaining a non-o visa in Australia, and once in Thailand wanted to extend it to 12 months. A few questions;

1. Does the visa have to be extended in Bangkok or can it be done locally, and is there a list of immigration offices where this can be performed?

2. Can I extend this visa indefinately or do I need to return to Australia once/year for it to be re-issued?

3. I have read that a requirement for this visa is for my wife to provide copies of her house registration, what if we do not own a house in Thailand (we own a house in Australia)?

4. Do we need to be married in Thailand or is an Australian marriage legally recognised for purposes of this visa?

5. Is there any advantage or disadvantage in having a non-o visa with a work permit in comparison to a non-b visa with a work permit (if I want to work/start up a company in Thailand in the future)?

6. Last but not least, is there a difference between a marriage visa and a non-b visa or are they the same thing?

Thanks in advance

Ah great, sounds good. Thanks andytime. I will do that. Just wondering how much to send, I guess better to send a bit too much than a bit too little otherwise I'll have to send more incurring more transaction fees.

XE is about 29.3 about now, assume I'll get 28 -

130,000/28 = $4642 + $22 charge = 4665 and then I'll allow an extra 35 for charges in thailand - i think $4700 sounds good, would that be a good estimate? Maybe 4800 just in case.

Hmm just as i thought.

I managed to find the website of the student loan company.....

All in Thai of course. I wonder if I can transfer money directly to them? My wife couldn't find any mention of a transfer, and she seems to think it needs to be done in person at the bank.

Maybe it'll be easier to just purchase an airfare and send her over with the cash in hand.

I realise that this may have been discussed previouslly on the forum, however I cannot find any recent discussions that are specific to my question.

In short, we have to send approximately 130,000THB to LOS to pay of my wifes university bills. I've got the bill in front of me. What is the cheapest way to do this?

We have a savings account with SCB in Thailand, or could send the money to a trusted member of her family. I guess we could also pay the company directly into their bank, however I'm not sure if they accept internet transfers.

I am currently looking at an international money transfer with commonwealth bank, they will only give approx 27baht/dollar, plus $22 fee for sending, plus whatever hidden fees they take from the other side.

Hey guys,

I'm heading over to Koh Lanta next week from Phuket. Whats the current suggestions on method of travel.

Cheers

Also does anyone have an up to date schedule for transport between the two locations?

Hey guys,

My Thai wife and I are coming back to Thailand next week, and staying for a month. I'm not sure how the Thai 'health-care' system works, if something unfortunate happened to her.

Is it worth getting travel insurance for her? If so, which company can do this, as most companies I have come across in Australia only insure Australian citizens.

Thanks

Nick

Khao San Road it is!

Any hotels recommended on this road? I have stayed at Khao San a couple of times before, but only in november/december never during thai new year.

Location is probably more important than cleanliness for this night of chaos!!

Hey guys,

Got less than 24 hours in Bangkok, arriving midday on the 14th of April (during songkran).

I wanna party in the BEST party zone of Bangkok. Not a red-light district but just heaps of pubs/clubs and maybe some girls for my mates too (i'm married).

I want to stay in a hotel nearby so we can basically walk to the clubs, or get a short taxi ride there.

I've been to bangkok several times but havn't really explored. Not sure if Songkran is busy in any particular area?

Any recommendations?

I better get the TR then just in case. Just a pain in the arse having to go into Perth to get it.

I'm not worried about having to pay anything, just if the cops happened to catch me there without a valid visa before i reach the airport. so 1 day over is ok?

Was just looking at the dates and i'm not sure if it will be counted as 30 or 31 days

Arrive at 9AM on the 4th April, Leave at 8AM on the 5th May.

30 or 31? Still need tourist visa?

If we take, say 5k across with us. And deposit it into my wifes bank account over there, what sort of fees are her bank going to charge for depositing a foreign currency?? Will they give us a good exchange rate? I guess if we have any left over we will have to get it out again and swap it back to THB incurring more fees.