monkeycountry

There is no need for any rules regarding this. More and more tourists has free wifi in the room as a deciding factor when choosing hotel, so Marriot will eventually find out that it is bad for business not to provide free wifi.

I was travelling with my 10yo son in 199?, we were invited to sit in the cockpit.

Didn't ask, stewardess came back and asked us.

Has it become a problem for some reason?

I do believe 9/11 generally changed the rules reg any unauthorized persons in the cockpit.

I also recall being invited to the cockpit a few times as a child (I flew alone, but assisted by stewardesses from delivery to pickup). Anyway, the most exiting cockpit visit was when I asked the captain about to big flashy buttons, and he told me they were the machine cannons :-)

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

moonseeker, this is a very dangerous topic to be discussing here. Make sure you filter out the noises in the thread and take advices with deep thoughts and considerations.

After reading your post, I suggest you not buy them a house, and do not give them a large sum of money. People without financial knowledge will not have the capability to maintain and manage large sums of money. It will be easily used up in a matter of months of years.

With your suggested sum of 12 million. May I suggest to you the following solution.

6 funds, available through stock brokerage purchase, not through banks. You simply mail the required documents to one of the stock brokers in Thailand, recommended are MBKET, and etc. Once your account is opened, you can move your funds into that stock account, and purchase the funds I recommend to you personally.

TRUEIF - 6% Dividend per year TAX FREE - True internet's telecommunications grid, the income will be from renting off of towers and equipments to companies in Thailand, and these have a long 5-30 years contract. You do not need to worry about fluctuations, the revenue is fixed already for years to come.

BTSGIF - 6.2% Dividend - Bangkok's skytrain, dividends fluctuate according to ridership. Prices are regularly increased at a faster rate than inflation.

CPNCG - 7.4% Dividend - Central World Offices

TLGF - 5.3% Dividend - Tesco Lotus Retail Markets, collects rent.

MJLF - 7.7% Dividend - Major Cineplex Space Rent

CPNRF - 6.7% Dividend - Central Department Stores Rent

With your 12 million, put 2 million into a money market savings mutual fund. You can open a bank account with Kbank, and set up online mutual fund purchasing. k-MPLUS, it gives you 2.2% per year, anytime you decide to sell, ALL the cash is immediately available to you the next morning before 10am. This fund only goes up, never down, no fluctuations.

Put 3 million into any insurances you deem necessary as suggested by other members here.

Now you have 7 million left, this is the REAL SOLUTION you want.

Put 2.5 million in BTSGIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 2.5 million in TRUEIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 1 million in TLGF = Receive 53,000 per year.

Remaining 1 million in the CPNCG, CPNRF, MJLF = Receive 70,000 per year.

Total dividends received per year 423,000 THB

Dividends are usually paid 4 times a year, the money goes DIRECTLY into your bank account with no actions on our part. The bank account will receive 100,000 every 3 months. Make an atm card for this bank account, and let the mom withdraw it to use accordingly.

Your family will be able to enjoy this money for many years to come, be it 30 years, 40 years or 50 years. They do not have to sell the stock, or to understand it. They are owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies.

I hope my personal advice will be of help to you and your situation of distress.

Do not trust bankers, and do not get financial advice of any "professional". They are out there to earn your money or to receive commissions if they succeed in selling your product. I have been there and done that, and own those things I have recommended to you, and I do not care if there are others out there who would like to say otherwise. The stock funds recommended to you have also been strategically suited for you to reduce the risk, with BTSGIF and TRUEIF being the most rock solid, having the most proportion.

-Retired investor

There are a number of problems with this approach.

1. Several of the property funds you mention are based on long term rental, not ownership. In other words, the OPs family is not the owner of anything as you suggest. They are simply renting and subletting.

And where exactly is the problem? I really fail to see your point where this is a problem. They are called property funds, they are not stocks. Yes, last time I remember property funds revenue comes from long term rental and renting, thanks for clarifying, is that bad? Your statement of ownership is not exactly correct. The OPs family is indeed the owner through shares of the property funds, which is managed by a banking institution who hires a property manager to take care of the property business.

2. Property funds and REITs go up and down just like all other shares, although they are usually less volatile. Yet some of the funds you mention have gone up and down at least 20% over the last 2 years or so.

Same problem as the previous question, where's the problem? Property funds go up and down, because it's a free market. Do we need to start educating everyone, beware, egg prices may not be the same, oh no, taxi fares have gone up. I think this is pretty much common sense, not something you have point out. I fail to see where you have caught a problem honestly. Property funds go up and down, depending on the market demand for it, most of the time if not all, they move in opposite direction to stocks. When investors view negatively about the market and that their capital may decrease in the time ahead, they will sell stocks, and move to "safer high dividend" property funds. Same thing happens when investors are optimistic about the economy, the reason they move out of property funds is not because they view property funds negatively, but because they feel if they allocate the money to stocks, it may be more beneficial to them. So property funds have always been a mode of transportation, where investors get in and out. As for the OP's interest, we are not concerned about your fluctuations of 2 years or so, that is gambling. We are going to enjoy 30-50 years of dividends to come.

3. Even with property funds things change over time. They are dependent on someone renting what they have to offer, so competing cinemas, shopping malls, hotels etc. might steal the tenants over time, reducing the income and thereby value of the property fund. While some property funds on the SET are doing great, others are not, and noone can predict what the status is in 10 or 20 years.

Nice opinions and common sense refresher. There are good people and bad people in this world, there are good companies and bad companies, sometimes it rains sometimes it floods. News Flash. Everything changes, not just property funds. In this subject, we only discuss numbers. The financial numbers do not lie, we do not need useless theories. There are over 20 property funds in the SET. These recommended property funds are the top 5, and still performing well with rock solid numbers. Be realistic. If anyone were to believe your 3rd statement we would all be doomed and living under a shell. No one knows what will happen in 20 years, keep your money in the safe under the bed! Don't trust the banks, who knows what they will do to it. BTS skytrain will disappear in 5 years, there will be another train that flies. Central world will be taken over by Robinsons department. Sure... How about I'll keep buying the things I recommend, and we'll meet each other in 30 years. hehe

4. Property funds and REITs can be purchased both through brokers and banks. In either case alot of paperwork is needed to set it up, and as it involves information regarding the account owners knowledge regarding stocks, risk acceptance and economy, I doubt it can be inherited without doing it all over again.

My point is, investing directly in any stock, even property funds and REITs require some understanding of the stock market and the business you invest in.

As the OPs family likely has no knowledge in this field whatsoever, I suggested in a post above to simply buy mutual funds or similar directly from any local bank.

The advantages are:

1. Professionals from the bank will invest the OPs money on his behalf and maintain the investment as the years go by. The OP and his family therefore does not need to know anything about the individual stocks.

Sure, the bank can make bad decisions, but odds are they will do better than the OPs family.

Nice try. There are no true professionals, they are just students who graduate with a certain degree, requires a job, buys a suit, starts working. Isn't it funny? This "pro" investor investing your money for you and still requires to eat your money by % commissions, and still needs you to sign a paper that says, investing results in gain or loss and you can't blame him/her. It's like rubbing in your face. This "pro" is a poor guy, who lacks the knowledge and ability to earn money, he requires his job for his next meal or bowl of rice. Go ahead and ask him to show you his portfolio. I guarantee not over 100k. To add more insult to that, he doesn't hold any of the things he recommended to you hahaha.

I repeat, the "professionals" are one of the worst lying scums on the face of this planet, even worst than sales. When they receive your money, they start buying investments based on investment objective and allocation. They are forced to buy a certain percentage of the largest companies on the SET. Their portfolio looks something like this, 5% PTT, 4% ADVANC, 4% CPF, etc. If PTT does well this month, and the stock price goes up 10% because the company is performing well due to increase in revenue. Guess what happens to his portfolio? PTT becomes 5.5% He can't have that, he has banking regulations and investment objective. He is "forced" to sell PTT (a good company) back to 5%. Same thing happens when a stock is doing poorly, the professional is forced to buy more back to maintain that allocation. Understand now? Why when the SET drops a lot, we see retail selling and institution buying? Understand now? Why the technical chart bounces zig zag when moving? There is no guessing, we know the reasons. The more you know, the more control you have. There is no such thing as guessing or gambling.

2. Buying funds at the bank (or a broker), makes it alot easier to spread risk. As an example the OP can buy into funds that cover the whole world, or any part of it, not just Thailand. Or buy into a sector (banking, telecoms, infrastructure etc.) Instead of just 1 company.

That's what most failures use as an excuse. The true eye is able to choose which are the best and to buy them only. Those who lack the ability to do so, fears buying a bad apple, so decides to buy all apples ending up with good apples and bad apples, and patting himself on the back saying he hasn't failed completely.

3. Buying mutual funds require alot less paperwork than opening a trading account. And buying or selling funds can easily be done at the bank.

Once set up, it's all click click click. No paperwork. Nil. Too much excuses and negativity. Don't like this type of person on my team lol, give you a thousand reasons why a specific project can't be completed. instead of finding ways to accomplish and go forward.

The downside is that the bank charges a fee for taking care of the funds. I think it is usually around 1-2% a year.

The only fact I accept in this post.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer using a trading account myself, but if I knew nothing about the stock market, I would let a bank or broker do it for me.

Sorry I really have to counter most of your statements

You said the OPs family would be "owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies".

I then counter your statement, as many of the property funds only rent the land and buildings they invest in, and you then claim than owning shares in a property fund that rents land is the same as owning land. Well I bet the guy whose name is on the chanote will disagree :-)

Anyway, I see no point in you and me debating this, as we will clearly never agree on much. My comment was meant for the OP, and I am sure he can decide for himself which advise to take and which not to.

I am glad to hear that you only pick winning stocks and never lose. I think you may be the first investor in history to do that, so congratulations.

You should consider getting paid for that skill, as many of the big investment banks will pay millions of dollars for a guy who always pick winning stocks :-)

There is no benefit in arguing, but clearing facts is important. Not just randomly throwing out opinions.

"You said the OPs family would be "owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies".

I then counter your statement, as many of the property funds only rent the land and buildings they invest in, and you then claim than owning shares in a property fund that rents land is the same as owning land. Well I bet the guy whose name is on the chanote will disagree :-)"

I am clear of what I've said, and still stand behind it like an iron brick. Shareholders ARE "owners of land, space, and equipment.........".

You counter my statement, as funds only rent land and buildings? That's not a counter. It is what property funds do. Or do they open karaoke bars and massage bars to make income?

Then I claim "owning shares in a property fund.........." I still stand behind it, never looked back.

The guy whose name on the chanote? Wrong. Once the property fund has paid billions of baht for that property, it is no longer the companies' or somchai's land. It becomes under a juristic person which is aka the shareholders property divided into individual percentage shares, WHICH is then managed by the financial institution as a representative of ALL shareholders, who then HIRES a property manager to look after all the operations on the said land and equipment.

It's not just rent, sadly. Hopefully that clarifies your opinions.

Same with Tesco lotus fund, the fund buys all the land, parking, equipment from lotus, then reverses it as rent to Tesco lotus itself. If Tesco lotus goes bankrupt, the fund will simply apply for change in investment objective, and renames it as 7-11 fund, or makro fund, and starts renting that same land to the new businesses. Or they can close the fund, sell all the land, return all capital to shareholders. WIN WIN situation. Come out from your caves "investing is scary" people.

Edit:

"I am glad to hear that you only pick winning stocks and never lose. I think you may be the first investor in history to do that, so congratulations.

You should consider getting paid for that skill, as many of the big investment banks will pay millions of dollars for a guy who always pick winning stocks :-)"

Pat yourself on the back, it's called passion. When one has a passion, he goes after it without the need to be paid. I was barely 30 when I retired. I have made many friends who are like-minded, so I am not the first. Keep telling yourself if you need to feel better. I don't need it. There is nothing to be proud and brag about. My only wish is to help others who haven't reached this path, and provide information for them to achieve an easier life, and a life without the worry about money. Because money is an endless supply, just like tap water.

So I don't need a job like you have tried to provoked. A man can be the best chef in the world, and cook for his beloved ones only. Why does he need to work at a 5 star restaurant. Because he needs money? Sorry somchai, that's you. My group of friends? All living life like how it should be, not slaves to money. I know you tried to use your words to provoke by "guy who always pick winning stocks". But sorry, it is no surprise, it is not even a compliment. It's just a skill. If you learn all the things that can be taught, anyone can make money through investing. It's the idiots who are full of opinions and who fail in life and investing, continue to rant about it being so hard and dangerous. It's not. The problem lies in you, the individual. Would the world care how you scratch and crashed your car when you park? Then next day news, you complain how driving is dangerous.

Big investment banks need people like you, they will never find me. (Because I own those big banks)

Or maybe they will never find you because they aren't interested in you or your "skills"? :-)

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

moonseeker, this is a very dangerous topic to be discussing here. Make sure you filter out the noises in the thread and take advices with deep thoughts and considerations.

After reading your post, I suggest you not buy them a house, and do not give them a large sum of money. People without financial knowledge will not have the capability to maintain and manage large sums of money. It will be easily used up in a matter of months of years.

With your suggested sum of 12 million. May I suggest to you the following solution.

6 funds, available through stock brokerage purchase, not through banks. You simply mail the required documents to one of the stock brokers in Thailand, recommended are MBKET, and etc. Once your account is opened, you can move your funds into that stock account, and purchase the funds I recommend to you personally.

TRUEIF - 6% Dividend per year TAX FREE - True internet's telecommunications grid, the income will be from renting off of towers and equipments to companies in Thailand, and these have a long 5-30 years contract. You do not need to worry about fluctuations, the revenue is fixed already for years to come.

BTSGIF - 6.2% Dividend - Bangkok's skytrain, dividends fluctuate according to ridership. Prices are regularly increased at a faster rate than inflation.

CPNCG - 7.4% Dividend - Central World Offices

TLGF - 5.3% Dividend - Tesco Lotus Retail Markets, collects rent.

MJLF - 7.7% Dividend - Major Cineplex Space Rent

CPNRF - 6.7% Dividend - Central Department Stores Rent

With your 12 million, put 2 million into a money market savings mutual fund. You can open a bank account with Kbank, and set up online mutual fund purchasing. k-MPLUS, it gives you 2.2% per year, anytime you decide to sell, ALL the cash is immediately available to you the next morning before 10am. This fund only goes up, never down, no fluctuations.

Put 3 million into any insurances you deem necessary as suggested by other members here.

Now you have 7 million left, this is the REAL SOLUTION you want.

Put 2.5 million in BTSGIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 2.5 million in TRUEIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 1 million in TLGF = Receive 53,000 per year.

Remaining 1 million in the CPNCG, CPNRF, MJLF = Receive 70,000 per year.

Total dividends received per year 423,000 THB

Dividends are usually paid 4 times a year, the money goes DIRECTLY into your bank account with no actions on our part. The bank account will receive 100,000 every 3 months. Make an atm card for this bank account, and let the mom withdraw it to use accordingly.

Your family will be able to enjoy this money for many years to come, be it 30 years, 40 years or 50 years. They do not have to sell the stock, or to understand it. They are owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies.

I hope my personal advice will be of help to you and your situation of distress.

Do not trust bankers, and do not get financial advice of any "professional". They are out there to earn your money or to receive commissions if they succeed in selling your product. I have been there and done that, and own those things I have recommended to you, and I do not care if there are others out there who would like to say otherwise. The stock funds recommended to you have also been strategically suited for you to reduce the risk, with BTSGIF and TRUEIF being the most rock solid, having the most proportion.

-Retired investor

There are a number of problems with this approach.

1. Several of the property funds you mention are based on long term rental, not ownership. In other words, the OPs family is not the owner of anything as you suggest. They are simply renting and subletting.

And where exactly is the problem? I really fail to see your point where this is a problem. They are called property funds, they are not stocks. Yes, last time I remember property funds revenue comes from long term rental and renting, thanks for clarifying, is that bad? Your statement of ownership is not exactly correct. The OPs family is indeed the owner through shares of the property funds, which is managed by a banking institution who hires a property manager to take care of the property business.

2. Property funds and REITs go up and down just like all other shares, although they are usually less volatile. Yet some of the funds you mention have gone up and down at least 20% over the last 2 years or so.

Same problem as the previous question, where's the problem? Property funds go up and down, because it's a free market. Do we need to start educating everyone, beware, egg prices may not be the same, oh no, taxi fares have gone up. I think this is pretty much common sense, not something you have point out. I fail to see where you have caught a problem honestly. Property funds go up and down, depending on the market demand for it, most of the time if not all, they move in opposite direction to stocks. When investors view negatively about the market and that their capital may decrease in the time ahead, they will sell stocks, and move to "safer high dividend" property funds. Same thing happens when investors are optimistic about the economy, the reason they move out of property funds is not because they view property funds negatively, but because they feel if they allocate the money to stocks, it may be more beneficial to them. So property funds have always been a mode of transportation, where investors get in and out. As for the OP's interest, we are not concerned about your fluctuations of 2 years or so, that is gambling. We are going to enjoy 30-50 years of dividends to come.

3. Even with property funds things change over time. They are dependent on someone renting what they have to offer, so competing cinemas, shopping malls, hotels etc. might steal the tenants over time, reducing the income and thereby value of the property fund. While some property funds on the SET are doing great, others are not, and noone can predict what the status is in 10 or 20 years.

Nice opinions and common sense refresher. There are good people and bad people in this world, there are good companies and bad companies, sometimes it rains sometimes it floods. News Flash. Everything changes, not just property funds. In this subject, we only discuss numbers. The financial numbers do not lie, we do not need useless theories. There are over 20 property funds in the SET. These recommended property funds are the top 5, and still performing well with rock solid numbers. Be realistic. If anyone were to believe your 3rd statement we would all be doomed and living under a shell. No one knows what will happen in 20 years, keep your money in the safe under the bed! Don't trust the banks, who knows what they will do to it. BTS skytrain will disappear in 5 years, there will be another train that flies. Central world will be taken over by Robinsons department. Sure... How about I'll keep buying the things I recommend, and we'll meet each other in 30 years. hehe

4. Property funds and REITs can be purchased both through brokers and banks. In either case alot of paperwork is needed to set it up, and as it involves information regarding the account owners knowledge regarding stocks, risk acceptance and economy, I doubt it can be inherited without doing it all over again.

My point is, investing directly in any stock, even property funds and REITs require some understanding of the stock market and the business you invest in.

As the OPs family likely has no knowledge in this field whatsoever, I suggested in a post above to simply buy mutual funds or similar directly from any local bank.

The advantages are:

1. Professionals from the bank will invest the OPs money on his behalf and maintain the investment as the years go by. The OP and his family therefore does not need to know anything about the individual stocks.

Sure, the bank can make bad decisions, but odds are they will do better than the OPs family.

Nice try. There are no true professionals, they are just students who graduate with a certain degree, requires a job, buys a suit, starts working. Isn't it funny? This "pro" investor investing your money for you and still requires to eat your money by % commissions, and still needs you to sign a paper that says, investing results in gain or loss and you can't blame him/her. It's like rubbing in your face. This "pro" is a poor guy, who lacks the knowledge and ability to earn money, he requires his job for his next meal or bowl of rice. Go ahead and ask him to show you his portfolio. I guarantee not over 100k. To add more insult to that, he doesn't hold any of the things he recommended to you hahaha.

I repeat, the "professionals" are one of the worst lying scums on the face of this planet, even worst than sales. When they receive your money, they start buying investments based on investment objective and allocation. They are forced to buy a certain percentage of the largest companies on the SET. Their portfolio looks something like this, 5% PTT, 4% ADVANC, 4% CPF, etc. If PTT does well this month, and the stock price goes up 10% because the company is performing well due to increase in revenue. Guess what happens to his portfolio? PTT becomes 5.5% He can't have that, he has banking regulations and investment objective. He is "forced" to sell PTT (a good company) back to 5%. Same thing happens when a stock is doing poorly, the professional is forced to buy more back to maintain that allocation. Understand now? Why when the SET drops a lot, we see retail selling and institution buying? Understand now? Why the technical chart bounces zig zag when moving? There is no guessing, we know the reasons. The more you know, the more control you have. There is no such thing as guessing or gambling.

2. Buying funds at the bank (or a broker), makes it alot easier to spread risk. As an example the OP can buy into funds that cover the whole world, or any part of it, not just Thailand. Or buy into a sector (banking, telecoms, infrastructure etc.) Instead of just 1 company.

That's what most failures use as an excuse. The true eye is able to choose which are the best and to buy them only. Those who lack the ability to do so, fears buying a bad apple, so decides to buy all apples ending up with good apples and bad apples, and patting himself on the back saying he hasn't failed completely.

3. Buying mutual funds require alot less paperwork than opening a trading account. And buying or selling funds can easily be done at the bank.

Once set up, it's all click click click. No paperwork. Nil. Too much excuses and negativity. Don't like this type of person on my team lol, give you a thousand reasons why a specific project can't be completed. instead of finding ways to accomplish and go forward.

The downside is that the bank charges a fee for taking care of the funds. I think it is usually around 1-2% a year.

The only fact I accept in this post.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer using a trading account myself, but if I knew nothing about the stock market, I would let a bank or broker do it for me.

Sorry I really have to counter most of your statements

You said the OPs family would be "owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies".

I then counter your statement, as many of the property funds only rent the land and buildings they invest in, and you then claim than owning shares in a property fund that rents land is the same as owning land. Well I bet the guy whose name is on the chanote will disagree :-)

Anyway, I see no point in you and me debating this, as we will clearly never agree on much. My comment was meant for the OP, and I am sure he can decide for himself which advise to take and which not to.

I am glad to hear that you only pick winning stocks and never lose. I think you may be the first investor in history to do that, so congratulations.

You should consider getting paid for that skill, as many of the big investment banks will pay millions of dollars for a guy who always pick winning stocks :-)

There is no benefit in arguing, but clearing facts is important. Not just randomly throwing out opinions.

"You said the OPs family would be "owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies".

I then counter your statement, as many of the property funds only rent the land and buildings they invest in, and you then claim than owning shares in a property fund that rents land is the same as owning land. Well I bet the guy whose name is on the chanote will disagree :-)"

I am clear of what I've said, and still stand behind it like an iron brick. Shareholders ARE "owners of land, space, and equipment.........".

You counter my statement, as funds only rent land and buildings? That's not a counter. It is what property funds do. Or do they open karaoke bars and massage bars to make income?

Then I claim "owning shares in a property fund.........." I still stand behind it, never looked back.

The guy whose name on the chanote? Wrong. Once the property fund has paid billions of baht for that property, it is no longer the companies' or somchai's land. It becomes under a juristic person which is aka the shareholders property divided into individual percentage shares, WHICH is then managed by the financial institution as a representative of ALL shareholders, who then HIRES a property manager to look after all the operations on the said land and equipment.

It's not just rent, sadly. Hopefully that clarifies your opinions.

Same with Tesco lotus fund, the fund buys all the land, parking, equipment from lotus, then reverses it as rent to Tesco lotus itself. If Tesco lotus goes bankrupt, the fund will simply apply for change in investment objective, and renames it as 7-11 fund, or makro fund, and starts renting that same land to the new businesses. Or they can close the fund, sell all the land, return all capital to shareholders. WIN WIN situation. Come out from your caves "investing is scary" people.

Edit:

"I am glad to hear that you only pick winning stocks and never lose. I think you may be the first investor in history to do that, so congratulations.

You should consider getting paid for that skill, as many of the big investment banks will pay millions of dollars for a guy who always pick winning stocks :-)"

Pat yourself on the back, it's called passion. When one has a passion, he goes after it without the need to be paid. I was barely 30 when I retired. I have made many friends who are like-minded, so I am not the first. Keep telling yourself if you need to feel better. I don't need it. There is nothing to be proud and brag about. My only wish is to help others who haven't reached this path, and provide information for them to achieve an easier life, and a life without the worry about money. Because money is an endless supply, just like tap water.

So I don't need a job like you have tried to provoked. A man can be the best chef in the world, and cook for his beloved ones only. Why does he need to work at a 5 star restaurant. Because he needs money? Sorry somchai, that's you. My group of friends? All living life like how it should be, not slaves to money. I know you tried to use your words to provoke by "guy who always pick winning stocks". But sorry, it is no surprise, it is not even a compliment. It's just a skill. If you learn all the things that can be taught, anyone can make money through investing. It's the idiots who are full of opinions and who fail in life and investing, continue to rant about it being so hard and dangerous. It's not. The problem lies in you, the individual. Would the world care how you scratch and crashed your car when you park? Then next day news, you complain how driving is dangerous.

Big investment banks need people like you, they will never find me. (Because I own those big banks)

Yes, as you said, most property funds RENT land and buildings. Hence if you buy shares in the property fund you own a share of that lease, but you do not own a share of the land itself, and one day the lease will expire. You can see in the balance sheet of the various property funds when the individual leases expire, and when they do, they are no longer an asset of the property fund.

Obviously it makes a big difference, especially long term, to the whole business concept whether the property fund owns the land or rents the land.

To the OP: investing in property funds is not a bad idea, but you should look elsewhere for advise regarding the details, and make sure you understand for yourself how it works, as certain people in this thread do not seem to understand the fundamentals of property funds etc. and therefore may end up unintentionally giving you wrong advise.

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

moonseeker, this is a very dangerous topic to be discussing here. Make sure you filter out the noises in the thread and take advices with deep thoughts and considerations.

After reading your post, I suggest you not buy them a house, and do not give them a large sum of money. People without financial knowledge will not have the capability to maintain and manage large sums of money. It will be easily used up in a matter of months of years.

With your suggested sum of 12 million. May I suggest to you the following solution.

6 funds, available through stock brokerage purchase, not through banks. You simply mail the required documents to one of the stock brokers in Thailand, recommended are MBKET, and etc. Once your account is opened, you can move your funds into that stock account, and purchase the funds I recommend to you personally.

TRUEIF - 6% Dividend per year TAX FREE - True internet's telecommunications grid, the income will be from renting off of towers and equipments to companies in Thailand, and these have a long 5-30 years contract. You do not need to worry about fluctuations, the revenue is fixed already for years to come.

BTSGIF - 6.2% Dividend - Bangkok's skytrain, dividends fluctuate according to ridership. Prices are regularly increased at a faster rate than inflation.

CPNCG - 7.4% Dividend - Central World Offices

TLGF - 5.3% Dividend - Tesco Lotus Retail Markets, collects rent.

MJLF - 7.7% Dividend - Major Cineplex Space Rent

CPNRF - 6.7% Dividend - Central Department Stores Rent

With your 12 million, put 2 million into a money market savings mutual fund. You can open a bank account with Kbank, and set up online mutual fund purchasing. k-MPLUS, it gives you 2.2% per year, anytime you decide to sell, ALL the cash is immediately available to you the next morning before 10am. This fund only goes up, never down, no fluctuations.

Put 3 million into any insurances you deem necessary as suggested by other members here.

Now you have 7 million left, this is the REAL SOLUTION you want.

Put 2.5 million in BTSGIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 2.5 million in TRUEIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 1 million in TLGF = Receive 53,000 per year.

Remaining 1 million in the CPNCG, CPNRF, MJLF = Receive 70,000 per year.

Total dividends received per year 423,000 THB

Dividends are usually paid 4 times a year, the money goes DIRECTLY into your bank account with no actions on our part. The bank account will receive 100,000 every 3 months. Make an atm card for this bank account, and let the mom withdraw it to use accordingly.

Your family will be able to enjoy this money for many years to come, be it 30 years, 40 years or 50 years. They do not have to sell the stock, or to understand it. They are owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies.

I hope my personal advice will be of help to you and your situation of distress.

Do not trust bankers, and do not get financial advice of any "professional". They are out there to earn your money or to receive commissions if they succeed in selling your product. I have been there and done that, and own those things I have recommended to you, and I do not care if there are others out there who would like to say otherwise. The stock funds recommended to you have also been strategically suited for you to reduce the risk, with BTSGIF and TRUEIF being the most rock solid, having the most proportion.

-Retired investor

There are a number of problems with this approach.

1. Several of the property funds you mention are based on long term rental, not ownership. In other words, the OPs family is not the owner of anything as you suggest. They are simply renting and subletting.

And where exactly is the problem? I really fail to see your point where this is a problem. They are called property funds, they are not stocks. Yes, last time I remember property funds revenue comes from long term rental and renting, thanks for clarifying, is that bad? Your statement of ownership is not exactly correct. The OPs family is indeed the owner through shares of the property funds, which is managed by a banking institution who hires a property manager to take care of the property business.

2. Property funds and REITs go up and down just like all other shares, although they are usually less volatile. Yet some of the funds you mention have gone up and down at least 20% over the last 2 years or so.

Same problem as the previous question, where's the problem? Property funds go up and down, because it's a free market. Do we need to start educating everyone, beware, egg prices may not be the same, oh no, taxi fares have gone up. I think this is pretty much common sense, not something you have point out. I fail to see where you have caught a problem honestly. Property funds go up and down, depending on the market demand for it, most of the time if not all, they move in opposite direction to stocks. When investors view negatively about the market and that their capital may decrease in the time ahead, they will sell stocks, and move to "safer high dividend" property funds. Same thing happens when investors are optimistic about the economy, the reason they move out of property funds is not because they view property funds negatively, but because they feel if they allocate the money to stocks, it may be more beneficial to them. So property funds have always been a mode of transportation, where investors get in and out. As for the OP's interest, we are not concerned about your fluctuations of 2 years or so, that is gambling. We are going to enjoy 30-50 years of dividends to come.

3. Even with property funds things change over time. They are dependent on someone renting what they have to offer, so competing cinemas, shopping malls, hotels etc. might steal the tenants over time, reducing the income and thereby value of the property fund. While some property funds on the SET are doing great, others are not, and noone can predict what the status is in 10 or 20 years.

Nice opinions and common sense refresher. There are good people and bad people in this world, there are good companies and bad companies, sometimes it rains sometimes it floods. News Flash. Everything changes, not just property funds. In this subject, we only discuss numbers. The financial numbers do not lie, we do not need useless theories. There are over 20 property funds in the SET. These recommended property funds are the top 5, and still performing well with rock solid numbers. Be realistic. If anyone were to believe your 3rd statement we would all be doomed and living under a shell. No one knows what will happen in 20 years, keep your money in the safe under the bed! Don't trust the banks, who knows what they will do to it. BTS skytrain will disappear in 5 years, there will be another train that flies. Central world will be taken over by Robinsons department. Sure... How about I'll keep buying the things I recommend, and we'll meet each other in 30 years. hehe

4. Property funds and REITs can be purchased both through brokers and banks. In either case alot of paperwork is needed to set it up, and as it involves information regarding the account owners knowledge regarding stocks, risk acceptance and economy, I doubt it can be inherited without doing it all over again.

My point is, investing directly in any stock, even property funds and REITs require some understanding of the stock market and the business you invest in.

As the OPs family likely has no knowledge in this field whatsoever, I suggested in a post above to simply buy mutual funds or similar directly from any local bank.

The advantages are:

1. Professionals from the bank will invest the OPs money on his behalf and maintain the investment as the years go by. The OP and his family therefore does not need to know anything about the individual stocks.

Sure, the bank can make bad decisions, but odds are they will do better than the OPs family.

Nice try. There are no true professionals, they are just students who graduate with a certain degree, requires a job, buys a suit, starts working. Isn't it funny? This "pro" investor investing your money for you and still requires to eat your money by % commissions, and still needs you to sign a paper that says, investing results in gain or loss and you can't blame him/her. It's like rubbing in your face. This "pro" is a poor guy, who lacks the knowledge and ability to earn money, he requires his job for his next meal or bowl of rice. Go ahead and ask him to show you his portfolio. I guarantee not over 100k. To add more insult to that, he doesn't hold any of the things he recommended to you hahaha.

I repeat, the "professionals" are one of the worst lying scums on the face of this planet, even worst than sales. When they receive your money, they start buying investments based on investment objective and allocation. They are forced to buy a certain percentage of the largest companies on the SET. Their portfolio looks something like this, 5% PTT, 4% ADVANC, 4% CPF, etc. If PTT does well this month, and the stock price goes up 10% because the company is performing well due to increase in revenue. Guess what happens to his portfolio? PTT becomes 5.5% He can't have that, he has banking regulations and investment objective. He is "forced" to sell PTT (a good company) back to 5%. Same thing happens when a stock is doing poorly, the professional is forced to buy more back to maintain that allocation. Understand now? Why when the SET drops a lot, we see retail selling and institution buying? Understand now? Why the technical chart bounces zig zag when moving? There is no guessing, we know the reasons. The more you know, the more control you have. There is no such thing as guessing or gambling.

2. Buying funds at the bank (or a broker), makes it alot easier to spread risk. As an example the OP can buy into funds that cover the whole world, or any part of it, not just Thailand. Or buy into a sector (banking, telecoms, infrastructure etc.) Instead of just 1 company.

That's what most failures use as an excuse. The true eye is able to choose which are the best and to buy them only. Those who lack the ability to do so, fears buying a bad apple, so decides to buy all apples ending up with good apples and bad apples, and patting himself on the back saying he hasn't failed completely.

3. Buying mutual funds require alot less paperwork than opening a trading account. And buying or selling funds can easily be done at the bank.

Once set up, it's all click click click. No paperwork. Nil. Too much excuses and negativity. Don't like this type of person on my team lol, give you a thousand reasons why a specific project can't be completed. instead of finding ways to accomplish and go forward.

The downside is that the bank charges a fee for taking care of the funds. I think it is usually around 1-2% a year.

The only fact I accept in this post.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer using a trading account myself, but if I knew nothing about the stock market, I would let a bank or broker do it for me.

Sorry I really have to counter most of your statements

You said the OPs family would be "owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies".

I then counter your statement, as many of the property funds only rent the land and buildings they invest in, and you then claim than owning shares in a property fund that rents land is the same as owning land. Well I bet the guy whose name is on the chanote will disagree :-)

Anyway, I see no point in you and me debating this, as we will clearly never agree on much. My comment was meant for the OP, and I am sure he can decide for himself which advise to take and which not to.

I am glad to hear that you only pick winning stocks and never lose. I think you may be the first investor in history to do that, so congratulations.

You should consider getting paid for that skill, as many of the big investment banks will pay millions of dollars for a guy who always pick winning stocks :-)

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

moonseeker, this is a very dangerous topic to be discussing here. Make sure you filter out the noises in the thread and take advices with deep thoughts and considerations.

After reading your post, I suggest you not buy them a house, and do not give them a large sum of money. People without financial knowledge will not have the capability to maintain and manage large sums of money. It will be easily used up in a matter of months of years.

With your suggested sum of 12 million. May I suggest to you the following solution.

6 funds, available through stock brokerage purchase, not through banks. You simply mail the required documents to one of the stock brokers in Thailand, recommended are MBKET, and etc. Once your account is opened, you can move your funds into that stock account, and purchase the funds I recommend to you personally.

TRUEIF - 6% Dividend per year TAX FREE - True internet's telecommunications grid, the income will be from renting off of towers and equipments to companies in Thailand, and these have a long 5-30 years contract. You do not need to worry about fluctuations, the revenue is fixed already for years to come.

BTSGIF - 6.2% Dividend - Bangkok's skytrain, dividends fluctuate according to ridership. Prices are regularly increased at a faster rate than inflation.

CPNCG - 7.4% Dividend - Central World Offices

TLGF - 5.3% Dividend - Tesco Lotus Retail Markets, collects rent.

MJLF - 7.7% Dividend - Major Cineplex Space Rent

CPNRF - 6.7% Dividend - Central Department Stores Rent

With your 12 million, put 2 million into a money market savings mutual fund. You can open a bank account with Kbank, and set up online mutual fund purchasing. k-MPLUS, it gives you 2.2% per year, anytime you decide to sell, ALL the cash is immediately available to you the next morning before 10am. This fund only goes up, never down, no fluctuations.

Put 3 million into any insurances you deem necessary as suggested by other members here.

Now you have 7 million left, this is the REAL SOLUTION you want.

Put 2.5 million in BTSGIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 2.5 million in TRUEIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 1 million in TLGF = Receive 53,000 per year.

Remaining 1 million in the CPNCG, CPNRF, MJLF = Receive 70,000 per year.

Total dividends received per year 423,000 THB

Dividends are usually paid 4 times a year, the money goes DIRECTLY into your bank account with no actions on our part. The bank account will receive 100,000 every 3 months. Make an atm card for this bank account, and let the mom withdraw it to use accordingly.

Your family will be able to enjoy this money for many years to come, be it 30 years, 40 years or 50 years. They do not have to sell the stock, or to understand it. They are owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies.

I hope my personal advice will be of help to you and your situation of distress.

Do not trust bankers, and do not get financial advice of any "professional". They are out there to earn your money or to receive commissions if they succeed in selling your product. I have been there and done that, and own those things I have recommended to you, and I do not care if there are others out there who would like to say otherwise. The stock funds recommended to you have also been strategically suited for you to reduce the risk, with BTSGIF and TRUEIF being the most rock solid, having the most proportion.

-Retired investor

There are a number of problems with this approach.

1. Several of the property funds you mention are based on long term rental, not ownership. In other words, the OPs family is not the owner of anything as you suggest. They are simply renting and subletting.

And where exactly is the problem? I really fail to see your point where this is a problem. They are called property funds, they are not stocks. Yes, last time I remember property funds revenue comes from long term rental and renting, thanks for clarifying, is that bad? Your statement of ownership is not exactly correct. The OPs family is indeed the owner through shares of the property funds, which is managed by a banking institution who hires a property manager to take care of the property business.

2. Property funds and REITs go up and down just like all other shares, although they are usually less volatile. Yet some of the funds you mention have gone up and down at least 20% over the last 2 years or so.

Same problem as the previous question, where's the problem? Property funds go up and down, because it's a free market. Do we need to start educating everyone, beware, egg prices may not be the same, oh no, taxi fares have gone up. I think this is pretty much common sense, not something you have point out. I fail to see where you have caught a problem honestly. Property funds go up and down, depending on the market demand for it, most of the time if not all, they move in opposite direction to stocks. When investors view negatively about the market and that their capital may decrease in the time ahead, they will sell stocks, and move to "safer high dividend" property funds. Same thing happens when investors are optimistic about the economy, the reason they move out of property funds is not because they view property funds negatively, but because they feel if they allocate the money to stocks, it may be more beneficial to them. So property funds have always been a mode of transportation, where investors get in and out. As for the OP's interest, we are not concerned about your fluctuations of 2 years or so, that is gambling. We are going to enjoy 30-50 years of dividends to come.

3. Even with property funds things change over time. They are dependent on someone renting what they have to offer, so competing cinemas, shopping malls, hotels etc. might steal the tenants over time, reducing the income and thereby value of the property fund. While some property funds on the SET are doing great, others are not, and noone can predict what the status is in 10 or 20 years.

Nice opinions and common sense refresher. There are good people and bad people in this world, there are good companies and bad companies, sometimes it rains sometimes it floods. News Flash. Everything changes, not just property funds. In this subject, we only discuss numbers. The financial numbers do not lie, we do not need useless theories. There are over 20 property funds in the SET. These recommended property funds are the top 5, and still performing well with rock solid numbers. Be realistic. If anyone were to believe your 3rd statement we would all be doomed and living under a shell. No one knows what will happen in 20 years, keep your money in the safe under the bed! Don't trust the banks, who knows what they will do to it. BTS skytrain will disappear in 5 years, there will be another train that flies. Central world will be taken over by Robinsons department. Sure... How about I'll keep buying the things I recommend, and we'll meet each other in 30 years. hehe

4. Property funds and REITs can be purchased both through brokers and banks. In either case alot of paperwork is needed to set it up, and as it involves information regarding the account owners knowledge regarding stocks, risk acceptance and economy, I doubt it can be inherited without doing it all over again.

My point is, investing directly in any stock, even property funds and REITs require some understanding of the stock market and the business you invest in.

As the OPs family likely has no knowledge in this field whatsoever, I suggested in a post above to simply buy mutual funds or similar directly from any local bank.

The advantages are:

1. Professionals from the bank will invest the OPs money on his behalf and maintain the investment as the years go by. The OP and his family therefore does not need to know anything about the individual stocks.

Sure, the bank can make bad decisions, but odds are they will do better than the OPs family.

Nice try. There are no true professionals, they are just students who graduate with a certain degree, requires a job, buys a suit, starts working. Isn't it funny? This "pro" investor investing your money for you and still requires to eat your money by % commissions, and still needs you to sign a paper that says, investing results in gain or loss and you can't blame him/her. It's like rubbing in your face. This "pro" is a poor guy, who lacks the knowledge and ability to earn money, he requires his job for his next meal or bowl of rice. Go ahead and ask him to show you his portfolio. I guarantee not over 100k. To add more insult to that, he doesn't hold any of the things he recommended to you hahaha.

I repeat, the "professionals" are one of the worst lying scums on the face of this planet, even worst than sales. When they receive your money, they start buying investments based on investment objective and allocation. They are forced to buy a certain percentage of the largest companies on the SET. Their portfolio looks something like this, 5% PTT, 4% ADVANC, 4% CPF, etc. If PTT does well this month, and the stock price goes up 10% because the company is performing well due to increase in revenue. Guess what happens to his portfolio? PTT becomes 5.5% He can't have that, he has banking regulations and investment objective. He is "forced" to sell PTT (a good company) back to 5%. Same thing happens when a stock is doing poorly, the professional is forced to buy more back to maintain that allocation. Understand now? Why when the SET drops a lot, we see retail selling and institution buying? Understand now? Why the technical chart bounces zig zag when moving? There is no guessing, we know the reasons. The more you know, the more control you have. There is no such thing as guessing or gambling.

2. Buying funds at the bank (or a broker), makes it alot easier to spread risk. As an example the OP can buy into funds that cover the whole world, or any part of it, not just Thailand. Or buy into a sector (banking, telecoms, infrastructure etc.) Instead of just 1 company.

That's what most failures use as an excuse. The true eye is able to choose which are the best and to buy them only. Those who lack the ability to do so, fears buying a bad apple, so decides to buy all apples ending up with good apples and bad apples, and patting himself on the back saying he hasn't failed completely.

3. Buying mutual funds require alot less paperwork than opening a trading account. And buying or selling funds can easily be done at the bank.

Once set up, it's all click click click. No paperwork. Nil. Too much excuses and negativity. Don't like this type of person on my team lol, give you a thousand reasons why a specific project can't be completed. instead of finding ways to accomplish and go forward.

The downside is that the bank charges a fee for taking care of the funds. I think it is usually around 1-2% a year.

The only fact I accept in this post.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer using a trading account myself, but if I knew nothing about the stock market, I would let a bank or broker do it for me.

Sorry I really have to counter most of your statements

You said the OPs family would be "owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies".

I then counter your statement, as many of the property funds only rent the land and buildings they invest in, and you then claim than owning shares in a property fund that rents land is the same as owning land. Well I bet the guy whose name is on the chanote will disagree :-)

Anyway, I see no point in you and me debating this, as we will clearly never agree on much. My comment was meant for the OP, and I am sure he can decide for himself which advise to take and which not to.

I am glad to hear that you only pick winning stocks and never lose. I think you may be the first investor in history to do that, so congratulations.

You should consider getting paid for that skill, as many of the big investment banks will pay millions of dollars for a guy who always pick winning stocks :-)

It is ironic thay while Thailand is promoting Thainess to tourists, many foreign countries are teaching their citizens how to avoid Thainess on their holiday in Thailand, as a meeting with Thainess often ends badly for the tourists.

moonseeker, this is a very dangerous topic to be discussing here. Make sure you filter out the noises in the thread and take advices with deep thoughts and considerations.

After reading your post, I suggest you not buy them a house, and do not give them a large sum of money. People without financial knowledge will not have the capability to maintain and manage large sums of money. It will be easily used up in a matter of months of years.

With your suggested sum of 12 million. May I suggest to you the following solution.

6 funds, available through stock brokerage purchase, not through banks. You simply mail the required documents to one of the stock brokers in Thailand, recommended are MBKET, and etc. Once your account is opened, you can move your funds into that stock account, and purchase the funds I recommend to you personally.

TRUEIF - 6% Dividend per year TAX FREE - True internet's telecommunications grid, the income will be from renting off of towers and equipments to companies in Thailand, and these have a long 5-30 years contract. You do not need to worry about fluctuations, the revenue is fixed already for years to come.

BTSGIF - 6.2% Dividend - Bangkok's skytrain, dividends fluctuate according to ridership. Prices are regularly increased at a faster rate than inflation.

CPNCG - 7.4% Dividend - Central World Offices

TLGF - 5.3% Dividend - Tesco Lotus Retail Markets, collects rent.

MJLF - 7.7% Dividend - Major Cineplex Space Rent

CPNRF - 6.7% Dividend - Central Department Stores Rent

With your 12 million, put 2 million into a money market savings mutual fund. You can open a bank account with Kbank, and set up online mutual fund purchasing. k-MPLUS, it gives you 2.2% per year, anytime you decide to sell, ALL the cash is immediately available to you the next morning before 10am. This fund only goes up, never down, no fluctuations.

Put 3 million into any insurances you deem necessary as suggested by other members here.

Now you have 7 million left, this is the REAL SOLUTION you want.

Put 2.5 million in BTSGIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 2.5 million in TRUEIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 1 million in TLGF = Receive 53,000 per year.

Remaining 1 million in the CPNCG, CPNRF, MJLF = Receive 70,000 per year.

Total dividends received per year 423,000 THB

Dividends are usually paid 4 times a year, the money goes DIRECTLY into your bank account with no actions on our part. The bank account will receive 100,000 every 3 months. Make an atm card for this bank account, and let the mom withdraw it to use accordingly.

Your family will be able to enjoy this money for many years to come, be it 30 years, 40 years or 50 years. They do not have to sell the stock, or to understand it. They are owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies.

I hope my personal advice will be of help to you and your situation of distress.

Do not trust bankers, and do not get financial advice of any "professional". They are out there to earn your money or to receive commissions if they succeed in selling your product. I have been there and done that, and own those things I have recommended to you, and I do not care if there are others out there who would like to say otherwise. The stock funds recommended to you have also been strategically suited for you to reduce the risk, with BTSGIF and TRUEIF being the most rock solid, having the most proportion.

-Retired investor

There are a number of problems with this approach.

1. Several of the property funds you mention are based on long term rental, not ownership. In other words, the OPs family is not the owner of anything as you suggest. They are simply renting and subletting.

2. Property funds and REITs go up and down just like all other shares, although they are usually less volatile. Yet some of the funds you mention have gone up and down at least 20% over the last 2 years or so.

3. Even with property funds things change over time. They are dependent on someone renting what they have to offer, so competing cinemas, shopping malls, hotels etc. might steal the tenants over time, reducing the income and thereby value of the property fund. While some property funds on the SET are doing great, others are not, and noone can predict what the status is in 10 or 20 years.

4. Property funds and REITs can be purchased both through brokers and banks. In either case alot of paperwork is needed to set it up, and as it involves information regarding the account owners knowledge regarding stocks, risk acceptance and economy, I doubt it can be inherited without doing it all over again.

My point is, investing directly in any stock, even property funds and REITs require some understanding of the stock market and the business you invest in.

As the OPs family likely has no knowledge in this field whatsoever, I suggested in a post above to simply buy mutual funds or similar directly from any local bank.

The advantages are:

1. Professionals from the bank will invest the OPs money on his behalf and maintain the investment as the years go by. The OP and his family therefore does not need to know anything about the individual stocks.

Sure, the bank can make bad decisions, but odds are they will do better than the OPs family.

2. Buying funds at the bank (or a broker), makes it alot easier to spread risk. As an example the OP can buy into funds that cover the whole world, or any part of it, not just Thailand. Or buy into a sector (banking, telecoms, infrastructure etc.) Instead of just 1 company.

3. Buying mutual funds require alot less paperwork than opening a trading account. And buying or selling funds can easily be done at the bank.

The downside is that the bank charges a fee for taking care of the funds. I think it is usually around 1-2% a year.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer using a trading account myself, but if I knew nothing about the stock market, I would let a bank or broker do it for me.

I am generally in fixed interest. Been good over the last few years. Do I cover inflation? Only just. Could I gamble, Yes. Do I need to? No. Financial people have vested interstate.

Awful phone. Changes what I type. Just read my post, interstate! Interest.

I understood what you meant :-)

Fixes interest is fine, and more or less risk free, but as you said yourself, it only covers inflation, so you are basically just storing your money, not making any. As I understand, the OP is looking to invest, in order to make money for the family, which obviously carries risk.

moonseeker, this is a very dangerous topic to be discussing here. Make sure you filter out the noises in the thread and take advices with deep thoughts and considerations.

After reading your post, I suggest you not buy them a house, and do not give them a large sum of money. People without financial knowledge will not have the capability to maintain and manage large sums of money. It will be easily used up in a matter of months of years.

With your suggested sum of 12 million. May I suggest to you the following solution.

6 funds, available through stock brokerage purchase, not through banks. You simply mail the required documents to one of the stock brokers in Thailand, recommended are MBKET, and etc. Once your account is opened, you can move your funds into that stock account, and purchase the funds I recommend to you personally.

TRUEIF - 6% Dividend per year TAX FREE - True internet's telecommunications grid, the income will be from renting off of towers and equipments to companies in Thailand, and these have a long 5-30 years contract. You do not need to worry about fluctuations, the revenue is fixed already for years to come.

BTSGIF - 6.2% Dividend - Bangkok's skytrain, dividends fluctuate according to ridership. Prices are regularly increased at a faster rate than inflation.

CPNCG - 7.4% Dividend - Central World Offices

TLGF - 5.3% Dividend - Tesco Lotus Retail Markets, collects rent.

MJLF - 7.7% Dividend - Major Cineplex Space Rent

CPNRF - 6.7% Dividend - Central Department Stores Rent

With your 12 million, put 2 million into a money market savings mutual fund. You can open a bank account with Kbank, and set up online mutual fund purchasing. k-MPLUS, it gives you 2.2% per year, anytime you decide to sell, ALL the cash is immediately available to you the next morning before 10am. This fund only goes up, never down, no fluctuations.

Put 3 million into any insurances you deem necessary as suggested by other members here.

Now you have 7 million left, this is the REAL SOLUTION you want.

Put 2.5 million in BTSGIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 2.5 million in TRUEIF = Receive 150,000 per year.

Put 1 million in TLGF = Receive 53,000 per year.

Remaining 1 million in the CPNCG, CPNRF, MJLF = Receive 70,000 per year.

Total dividends received per year 423,000 THB

Dividends are usually paid 4 times a year, the money goes DIRECTLY into your bank account with no actions on our part. The bank account will receive 100,000 every 3 months. Make an atm card for this bank account, and let the mom withdraw it to use accordingly.

Your family will be able to enjoy this money for many years to come, be it 30 years, 40 years or 50 years. They do not have to sell the stock, or to understand it. They are owners of land, space, and equipment, and will be paid rent for those items by other companies.

I hope my personal advice will be of help to you and your situation of distress.

Do not trust bankers, and do not get financial advice of any "professional". They are out there to earn your money or to receive commissions if they succeed in selling your product. I have been there and done that, and own those things I have recommended to you, and I do not care if there are others out there who would like to say otherwise. The stock funds recommended to you have also been strategically suited for you to reduce the risk, with BTSGIF and TRUEIF being the most rock solid, having the most proportion.

-Retired investor

There are a number of problems with this approach.

1. Several of the property funds you mention are based on long term rental, not ownership. In other words, the OPs family is not the owner of anything as you suggest. They are simply renting and subletting.

2. Property funds and REITs go up and down just like all other shares, although they are usually less volatile. Yet some of the funds you mention have gone up and down at least 20% over the last 2 years or so.

3. Even with property funds things change over time. They are dependent on someone renting what they have to offer, so competing cinemas, shopping malls, hotels etc. might steal the tenants over time, reducing the income and thereby value of the property fund. While some property funds on the SET are doing great, others are not, and noone can predict what the status is in 10 or 20 years.

4. Property funds and REITs can be purchased both through brokers and banks. In either case alot of paperwork is needed to set it up, and as it involves information regarding the account owners knowledge regarding stocks, risk acceptance and economy, I doubt it can be inherited without doing it all over again.

My point is, investing directly in any stock, even property funds and REITs require some understanding of the stock market and the business you invest in.

As the OPs family likely has no knowledge in this field whatsoever, I suggested in a post above to simply buy mutual funds or similar directly from any local bank.

The advantages are:

1. Professionals from the bank will invest the OPs money on his behalf and maintain the investment as the years go by. The OP and his family therefore does not need to know anything about the individual stocks.

Sure, the bank can make bad decisions, but odds are they will do better than the OPs family.

2. Buying funds at the bank (or a broker), makes it alot easier to spread risk. As an example the OP can buy into funds that cover the whole world, or any part of it, not just Thailand. Or buy into a sector (banking, telecoms, infrastructure etc.) Instead of just 1 company.

3. Buying mutual funds require alot less paperwork than opening a trading account. And buying or selling funds can easily be done at the bank.

The downside is that the bank charges a fee for taking care of the funds. I think it is usually around 1-2% a year.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer using a trading account myself, but if I knew nothing about the stock market, I would let a bank or broker do it for me.

One reason i just avoid Chiang Mai and other tourist areas. Perhaps much of the problem is stupid foreigners tossing money around and not asking the price before they buy something or get a ride. No one is holding a gun to your head. Rarely if ever have any problems in bars, taxis or Thais in general but like i said i just avoid tourist areas. Too many dumb foreigners.

I do not think you understand how how blatantly they cheat people. Knowing the price may not be enough. As an example, many years ago in some gogos they would have a sign both inside and outside the bar saying "no cover charge","free show" or similar, and staff would confirm. You then go in, drink and have fun, and when it is time to pay, you were of course charged a fortune, and when you wanted to point to the signs, they would be gone. They could make any variety of that scam if any bar if they wanted, even in a bar with no girls. "Yes sir, your beer is 100 baht, but the chair you sit in is 10,000 baht/hour and you have been here all night" :-)

Check out various mutual funds at local Thai banks. They are easy to buy and depending on the fund will pay out dividends regularly. You can invest in domestic shares, foreign shares, bonds, gold and alot of other stuff and thereby spread the risk.

You can buy directly in your name and will it to the family if you want.

The bank will handle all management of your funds (for a yearly fee), and the dividends are paid directly to your (or your family's) bank account.

Quite amazing really when you think about it, 5 baht here and 7 baht there, adds up to 3 billion baht a month!!

And those money have the telecom companies been stealing from their customers for years!!

Actually nothing was stolen. You signed a contract and paid voluntarily according to that contract. No one forced you to sign or to pay.

In any case, odds are they will comply with the new rules and then increase prises slightly to counter the 3 billion loss.

Further, if you have a look at the profits of the major 3 telecom companies (total 38 billion in 2013), you will know that the "3 billion baht a month" statement is a mistake (36 billion/year), unless of course their entire business and profit is based on overcharging on the last minute of a conversation. It should probably have been 3 billion per year and even that sounds way too high.

BTW, you call them "SHIN companies" in a post above. I assume you refer to Shinawatra, so just want to let you know that the Shinawatras are no longer involved in any of the major telecom companies in Thailand. They sold all their shares years ago.

Space programs requires sophisticated knowledge and resources, more over millions are dollars are involved. And they have to start with missile programs, and launch pads, etc. It is achievable in 25-30 years for sure if delicately working. But Thailand should not enter in this industry for fancy name and it is not tourist attraction anyway. Definitely migrant labors will not help in this matter, except manually skills are required.

At the moment every satellite operated in Thailand is fully owned by Thaksin company which is Thaicom. That's why Thai's are paying Baht 3/call while rest of the world is paying less than 1 baht. First experiment they should start with is, build a powerful communication satellite(For Telephones and Internet) and launch through foreign space agencies, and control from Thailand and sell the bandwidth to all telecom companies in Thailand and use the revenue to invest in space research.

At the moment most of the telecom revenue goes to Thaksin's family pockets, because Thaicom is monopoly in Thailand. That's how Farangs are paying B.1500/month for watch less than 5 worth English channels, and rest of Thailand is paying Baht.3 per minute calls.

And still they are debating about 3G/4G revenue sharing etc, because Thaicom is controls everything here. I doubt the big revenue making companies and politicians will allow Thailand to research on space programs.

Have you checked out the ownership lately? The main shareholder of Thaicom is Intouch (41%), which is controlled by the investment arm of the Singaporean government, both directly and through a couple of holding companies. Thaksin's family may still have a tiny share in Thaicom, I would not know, but they have absolutely no control of it.

http://www.set.or.th/set/companyholder.do?symbol=THCOM&language=en&country=US

I feel sorry for the pilot on the first Thai spaceship :-)

wonder if he will lose his licence or is he to rich/connected for that, no rego plates so theres another broken law, speeding as well. Just shows how pathetic the policing is when they just let them go because they drive expensive cars, just another red bull incident that will disappear

As I understand, pulling over the wrong car, can negatively affect a traffic cops career, hence they simply don't pull over expensive cars as odds are the owner is someone with influence. If the system really is like that, then you can hardly blame the traffic cops.

Yes option 1 is correct. Option 2 means she effectively gives you 17k of her money which does not seem fair as I assume you have spent the 17k together, hence you should also pay it back (to you) together (half each).

Since you paying yourself back will not gain you anything, you will only get the half that your ex pays you of her money (8,500k)

You will end up 17k richer than her, just as you were when you met (not including the property as I do not know who paid for that)

"a few horrible greedy people give pattaya and Thailand a bad name."

True, but so does Pattaya's many extremely stingy expats.

Yes yes, I know, it's the principle thy say, yet most of these expats seem to always manage to find and gather at the absolute cheapest bars, and as I understand from the OP, it is not the view that attracts them :-)

These days Sweden is politically correct to the extreme and everything is forbidden. It is to an extent that the other scandinavian countries do not know whether to laugh or cry.

You haven't a clue what you're talking about.

Swedes have one of the highest standards of living

in the world and are a pretty content bunch overall

Rated no. 6 in world's happiest countries by Forbes.

How does a high standard of living contradict anything I said? Are you even scandinavian?

Try reading newspapers from Swedens neighbours and you will see that there are daily articles about new swedish legislation banning something or swedish politicians outraged about something that Swedens neighbours, and most of the world, consider completely harmless.

I didn,t know Sweden was THAT bad Guess their fame as the world capital for free love has long expired. Very sad, whichever way you look at it, though IMHO a reaction totally over the top !

These days Sweden is politically correct to the extreme and everything is forbidden. It is to an extent that the other scandinavian countries do not know whether to laugh or cry.

Well, if all criminals are either let out on bail or given a 500 baht fine then things are bound to go wrong

America can make it's own "wodka", thank you very much.

And caviar? While American caviar from Shovelnose sturgeon is not as good as the Russian version, it's a hell of a lot more affordable.

What's left that Russia has that we need? Hackers? Blonde prostitutes? Check. Check.

Russia could disappear from the planet tomorrow and few Americans would even notice, 555.

Right.

But a lot of Europeans might feel the heat. Eg. >30% of Germany's gas consumption is imported from Russia. Same holds true for a lot of the Oil refineries - and nowadays those are fine tuned to a certain crude oil composition, so a change of supply is difficult.

Similar, as Europe was severely affected by the US mortgage crisis and Lehman Brothers collapse, a crisis in Europe would most likely affect the USA.

As with all business, upsetting your customers in any way, means you will lose them. Russia can double the price of gas, stop the supply or similar, which will damage their customers short term. However, they know that as soon as they do that, their customers, such as germany, will initiate the construction of an alternative to russian gas. Currently such a plan may not be financially viable, but if the price of gas doubles or the supply stops, then the customers have no choice but to find an alternative.

Russia of course know that they can hurt their customers short term, and make lots of money short term, but that doing so means they are guaranteed to lose those customers long term, as once their customers start the construction of an alternative, there will be no going back. Not because of revenge or anger, but simply because the construction of power plants and networks constitutes a major part of the price of energy.

To those of you suggesting various methods of using dynamite, I dont think it is possible nor legal in Bangkok, especially considering how close most buildings are to eachother, many even touching eachother.

It might be possible for the BMA to make am exception to the law, but without consent from neighbours, which they will of course not get, the BMA would face a ton of lawsuits, so not really an option.

Controlled demolition is only controlled to a certain extent. You cannot control dynamite enough to make sure you take down 24 floors while at the same time ensure you do not damage a building a couple of meters away.

A new owner / shareholder can not change existing labor agreements without mutual agreement.

A labor agreement is is between an employee and the company as a legal entity, not with the owner or shareholders of the company.

If irregularities take place the laborers should consult the labor department, they are in general good in Thailand and defend the laborers rights.

Thanks for the reply. This is the root cause because new owners /shareholders have already given the message they not only want to run the company different but change the regulations which staff have contracted.

I personally know I'm taking this a little too close to heart because many employees are acquaintances. And I allow myself to call it a salacious sales procedure. On a weeks notice employees first being told and believe it is the sale of a 20 year old well standing company where many staff have worked as long as 10+ years for then to get told that the company name will exist, only transfer of shares, which obviously is done to save staff compensation.

It is very simple. The staff is not employed by the owner but by the company, and as the company still exists, legally speaking nothing has changed as far as the staff is concerned. They have not been fired hence no reason to pay any compensation.

The existing employment contracts and general labour laws still apply.

The new owners may run things differently, but as long as they do so within the limits of the contracts and the law, then the staff will have to accept it or quit (without compensation).

If the company wants to change the contracts they will either have to get the accept from the employee(s), or fire the employee(s) with compensation and then rehire them under a new contract.

The above is not specific to Thailand, it goes for all companies around the world.