richm7

Assuming (and I admit that it is rather a large assumption) that the protest is allowed to go on and that there is no large scale violence, this could actually play out extremely well for the government.

The PAD seem to be going beyond the boundaries of Freedom of Assembly as stipulated in Article 63 of the Constitution (such assembly must be unarmed to be lawful for starters), and by disrupting routes both into and within the capital they are doing nothing to ingratiate themselves with the bulk of the population who just want to get on with their lives - especially so in Bangkok which is the PAD's "heartland".

According to the press it seems that some NBT staff are being held captive, so you can pop kidnapping on the list of alleged offences.

Taking over a state agency (assuming that's how NBT is classified) and storming the metropolitan police HQ. Treason? Possibly. The PAD certainly seem to be guilty of sedition, but I don't know if that's a crime here, as it is in many western democracies.

To those that liken the PAD protests to popular public protests elsewhere in the world, a reminder. The PAD is still a minority group; it does not have the support of the majority of the population. That it is so visible for a minority group is the result of the money it has behind it and the fact that its founder owns a media empire - it can punch well above its weight. Remember too that the PAD's idea of "democracy" is for 70% of MPs to be selected rather than elected. The PAD is fighting against democracy; not for it. Fighting against corruption? Corruption is being fought in the courts, as it should be, not on the streets outside the rule of law.

This is not some altruistic attempt to save the country from a despot; it is a pure and simple power grab by force after failing to attain power for its allies by legal means.

Stay safe everybody.

Perfect. Wish I'd said that. Very nicely written Meerkat.

These people are a pain in the arse. Protests never solve anything.

Learn history......From France, Russia to Cuba and and and all was done by protests....

Yeah, but they were "popular" uprisings by the ordinary guy in the street. This is just one bunch of rich bastards trying to usurp another bunch of rich bastards. The danger will arise when Somchai from Nakhon Nowhere gets involved, that's the time to worry. At the moment though I don't see ordinary Somchai's showing much interest.

richm7: thats what I was trying to say but you made it much more clear. My debit card transaction fee is 3.00 in bank and 5.00 at atm go figure.

Sorry slapout, didn't mean to step on your toes. You make a good point about the charges too, because as you say it is $5 at the ATM. Also, one response suggested multiple withdrawals, which you can't normally do in the same day (that day being your bank's day, not a local day). If you do use this method over multiple days you get dinged a $5 charge each time, so if you need say 50k baht and do it over 3 days (to keep within your daily limit) it will cost you $15 as opposed to $3 using the exchange booth/desk method. That a few beers difference in cost, or a weeks worth of lunches if you eat Thai!

My advice is that if you need to withdraw a large sum (over your bank limit or over the local bank limit) go to the bank exchange booth and use your card there. It has to be a credit/debit card (i.e. a "Visa" card for example where if you use it as a credit card the cash comes straight out of your checking account). The limit on this kind of transaction is very high ($7,000 in my case whereas it is $500 at the ATM) and it is MUCH cheaper; they only charge $3 for the transaction and you get a very good rate. You'll need your passport, of course. I've pulled as much as 250k baht that way (when the rate was better than it is at present!).

Oh, by the way, it is not real "credit" since the money comes straight out of your checking account, so no credit charges. Just the $3.

He said "C1" so it is a British Passport. 30 days is plenty of time. I lost mine in transit from Heathrow (I think it was nicked by one of the Russian mafia on the flight) and the embassy in Bangkok turned me a new one in 6 working hours. Admittedly it was an emergency but still bloody brilliant service. Plus, they were really extremely pleasant to deal with and understanding too. I won't hear a word said against the Embassy in Bangkok. I have always had first class treatment from them.

Now, the visa process to take the missus to London is another story...........

Simple truth is the person deceived you and you weren't able to decide for yourself. If she was open/honest with you from the very beginning then that is one thing, however she lied to you and your relationship is based on falsehoods. I think its time to move on.... trust has been broken and makes you wonder what else the person is hiding.

I like this response. The old "what you don't know about you don't worry about" is absolutely true when you don't know. But now, you do know; you have this huge internal conflict because you feel betrayed, which is right. You have been betrayed. I'm a great believer in all relationships in an up front "set level" where all relevant information is revealed. Then there are no surprises down the road. If there are, it is a betrayal and as far as I'm concerned, gives you the right to walk. That is a decision you now have to make and, if you are considering sticking around, I'd have an open and frank discussion now where any and all relevant information is laid on the table. Then you can make an informed decision on what to do.

Many guys reading this forum are, I'm certain, either married to or in real relationships with former bargirls. They know their wives used to be prostitutes and have made an informed decision to persue the relationship regardless. Hopefully, despite the naysayers, many of these relationships are long term successes. Yours could be too, so long as you are confident you won't get hit with another surprise. Somebody said follow your heart; true, but follow your head too. The one on your shoulders.

Singapore.

Oh yeah, Thailand. Hua Hin as it is yet to fully developed. The real estate industry section of Organized Crime has yet to fully gain a foothold there.

Why are there twice as many deeds as there are properties in Phuket?

Best comment I heard comparing Singapore to Thailand was "great hardware, lousy software" whereas in Thailand it is the opposite!

I'd vote for Hua Hin area. Further from BKK and the airport than Pattaya area but much, much nicer. Unless you are looking for a good selection in bar girls, of course, which makes Pattaya a no-brainer!

Who is this twit lifeisrandom? I do not understand what kind of miserable existence forces someone to make such a mindless comment. The question was fair. Some of the more considered comments indicate that to be the case. Even the flippant posting starting with Dusit Palace made intelligent suggestions. I quit one forum because of out of control miserable morons like 'random. Cuttingly funny is O.K. but out and out nastiness just pisses me off. Grow up 'random.

We need to put a qualifying mental age limit on the forum.

I see many reasons why this would not work but I will quickly only point out two:

1) We have a saying in the USA about our guns: "I will not give up my gun until you can pry my cold dead fingers away from it." (Then again we shoot a lot better than you Brits do, isn't that what won our freedom in the first place?)

2) Toronto (as in MLB, Blue Jays) is in Canada, thus not the USA. Perhaps instead of contacting Microsoft to update that spellchecker you should perhaps contact Google and get that Google Earth map you are using updated.

Point of order dingdong - who is this "we" who supposedly shoot better than Brits? Well, Brits, of course, which is what they were, then. Anyway, marksmanship had nothing to do with it. The French helped the British rebels who started that particular civil war (war of independance my foot) and without them you'd now be in the commonwealth. Don't forget that.

Another point of order; Toronto is indeed in America, North America. The United States is just one part of America, made up of North America, Central America and South America. Last time I looked at Google Earth Canada was indeed still in North America.

The old gun chestnut comes out again......you've just had eight years of a clown who has single handedly and systematically removed many of your freedoms, destroyed your economy, lined the pockets of his cronies and introduced a new word into the vocabulary (nucular). You all bleat on about needing guns to keep the Government in line or whatever bullshit yet not one of you has had the guts to pick up your precious firearm and put one between dickheads eyes. Don't make me laugh about guns. We all know they're just substitues for small American dicks.

You are being told a load of crap. In Thailand you can use any old name you like. My daughter has my name and me and her mother were not married at the time. My (now) wife's surname is different from both her parents surnames (for complicated and, for this discussion, irrelevant reasons).

In fact, the first attempt at my daughters birth certificate was a mess because they used my middle name as her surname (family name for you yanks). I told them to reissue it correctly and they did.

The U.K. visa process stinks. I wanted to get a visa for my wife and stupidly misunderstood the "6months" to mean "multiple entry, longest stay six months" which it in fact is BUT it's only valid for six months, for nearly 5000 baht. If you want one for longer it costs some 15k baht! On top of that they want a one inch thick wad of paperwork with all the ins and outs of my personal business. Cheeky bastards. I am a bloody Brit too, that's the aggravating part. I walked out when I found out. I remembered why I left over 20 years ago and how much of a big brother place it has become so what is there to show her there? Spy cameras everywhere, speed cameras everywhere, a bloody immigrant checking my passport on entry, Eastern block tea leaves everywhere, a tax on farts and three and a half quid for a pint. Everything gasp inducingly expensive and bloody cold too.

Contrast that with the US Embassy. 4500 baht, a two minute chat followed by a 10 year B1/B2 visa for her (I have a Green Card). No problem. All those folks complaining about Thai immigration want to try dealing with the U.K. Perhaps you'll not complain quite so much then.

You should realize that if you apply for citizenship now it will take about 9 months before you get an appointment for the biometrics and a further 2-3 months for the interview. In some places you get sworn in immediately after a successful interview but in most you do not, so then there is another appointment for the swearing in process. So, bet on one year if you apply now, and do not forget that all these appointments will be in the place you apply, so she will need to travel back for them. On top of that, though she no doubt qualifies now (married to a US citizen and legally been in the US for 3 years with no more than 18 months of those 3 years spent out of the country), when she goes for her interview they will ask what she has been doing SINCE her application. They might (or might not) conclude that she has abandonded the US when she tells them she's living in Thailand and refuse the application anyway. Nearly $700 down the drain.

That's the difficult news. The good news is that there are all sorts of excellent reasons to be a US citizen so if at all possible, DO IT. No visas for most places for a start. Want to go to Europe? No problem, jump on a plane if you have a US passport. If not, get in line on Wireless and get your cashiers check and pray. Anyway, it is also about options - you never know when you might need a bolthole. The tax thing is true but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages; you're a Yank so you're stuck with filing a return anyway whether she's a citizen or not. Also, I see a comment about an SSN; surely as a legal resident ("green card") she has an SSN already?

Dual citizenship is not a problem. She can be both Thai and American and use both passports (with some care, I might add; you don't want to piss the respective issuers off!).

Finally, if you do not go for citizenship, so long as she returns to the US every six months (no longer) she can keep her green card and return anytime anyway. You might get a picky immigration agent question that but I can assure you he will be wrong. Smile nicely, tell him you won't do it again and avoid the prick next time.

Something smells here. You say it is a rental building, which means its status is a rental, not a condo. It can be changed to condo status, which it will achieve when all units are sold, but there is a process that has to be gone through by the owners to do this. It sounds to me as if this guy just wants to take your money. If you are truly thinking about buying GET A LAWYER and not one he recommends. Also, for 160 sq.m this rent is incredibly low, so I can only conclude there is some sort of scam going on or the building is a dump, in which case it will never achieve condo status anyway. I'd put a minimum price of ฿50,000 a square meter on any half decent condo that close to downtown, and that's only half decent. That would make it an ฿8M buy. Mind you, I'm at an age where I value quality and comfort far more than I did at 25!

Agree that rents in BKK run about 0.5% of the property value, which is not great, but not that unusual; I reckon my house in Texas would only rent for about 0.6% of its value and when I lived in California at best you might hit 0.7%. I sold my house in Silicon Valley for over $700k but I know the best I could have rented for was $3500-$4000. U.K. is probably similar, a million quid property in London might go for five to seven grand a month. BTW, a million quid property in London ain't much these days.

Quick comment on "asking prices". Asking prices bear no relationship to market value. I wish people could get that into their heads. It does not matter what you are selling, it's value is only as much as someone is prepared to pay for it. That is the market value. There are idiots out there, of course, who are stupid enough to pay way over market value; if you want to know who they are, go on ebay, which is not really an auction site, it's an idiot filter! But, generally speaking, when it comes to property, you'll get market value and no more. I see comments like "the property market in (insert town or country) is way overpriced." No it isn't - it is driven by the market. Pay market price if you are buying and expect market price if you are selling. As a seller, if you have property that sits and sits then the reason is IT IS PRICED TOO HIGH for what it is. Simple as that.

Sorry, wandered off subject a little there.

Gentlemen,

The only relation between cost and price is how much margin it drives. Price is determined by the market; anyone investing in the manufacture of any product is going to look at his loaded cost versus the MARKET price to determine the likely margin. Market price is driven by demand and supply curves. Construction costs are of no interest to any buyer (because from a buyers point of view, they do not relate to the price he pays; in an extreme market collapse situation, he might well end up paying LESS than the construction cost).

I do wish people who know bugger all would keep their comments to themselves. CBRE may well be marketing themselves but that does not negate the truth of their comment. It is a fact that condo prices have gone up and continue to go up. 150k Baht a square meter is not unusual these days, whereas three years ago it was nearer 100k a square meter. The market is what it is. As with any investment, there is a risk, but the current trend in BKK is UP. That should not be surprising given that for a major capital city BKK is cheap; London runs at about 8 to tens times the price per square meter, perhaps more, in a comparable location. Remember, people are talking lower and middle Sukhumvit, Radjamri, Silom etc, not Suk 101, which would be more like Hackney or Acton in London terms. In the very unlikely event that a guy who bought three years ago sold at the same (baht) price he'd still make 25% on the exchange rate. I'd guess that someone buying four years ago and selling today, with FX taken into consideration, will probably double their money. Property prices are on the rise and I see no slowdown. Just because you are not well off enough or did not take the plunge don't knock those luckier (or smarter) than you. I envy them, I don't resent them. They HAVE made money, it is an undeniable fact and assuming there is no natural disaster or major political upheaval they will continue to do so. Bangkok is catching up and it is inevitable. Regarding the comment about "dark" condo's, just bought for investment, that is absolutely true, but should be seen as a positive rather than a negative. They're being snapped up BECAUSE they are a good investment, just sitting there. Who needs a renter when you can double your money in four years. Don't say it can't happen; it happened to me in California in the 90's when my house doubled in price in ten years, and it has happened in the UK too. In fact, my ex still lives in the house I bought in 1981 for 40K (quid) and it is now worth 400K! Why should BKK be any different.

One last comment on cost. I don't know where these previous numbers come from, but construction costs for a house run about 10k-15k baht a square meter, in BKK or in Nakhon Nowhere (to Western standards). By cost I mean price from the builder, so I'm including his margin, which might be 20%. Thats about 1000 baht a square foot set against about 4000 baht a square foot in the US. None of this includes the land, naturally. So, in this respect, Thailand is cheap. I reiterate, it has only one way to go. UP.

Not true, Scott. When you become a US citizen the oath is:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

Note I said "become" because if you are born a citizen (as was Tata) you don't have to do it. I've heard talk of being forced to choose at 18, but except in high profile cases like Tata, how the heck does Homeland Security know? I don't believe the "choose" stories are true, though I confess I don't know for a fact.

If you are a Brit, renouncing allegiance in the US oath means nothing, because it is a bureacratic hassle to renounce British citizenship and you have to stand up in front of some high ranking civil servant to do it. Now, having said that, by pledging allegiance to the US they reasonably expect you to honor that, so as previously alluded to, if you join the military of become an MP or carry out some other overtly nationalistic activity, the yanks will pull your citizenship.

As for Thailand, my daughter was born before we were married and we had no problem whatsoever getting her a passport, Thai or British, so dual nationality does not seem to be a problem for the Thais. I have no idea what will happen when she turns 20 or 21, whatever. Frankly, I think nothing, because the Thais have no idea she has a British passport, so why should anything happen? (Nor, I might add, do the Brits know she has a Thai passport, though they might reasonably guess; it matters not, because they don't care - Nationality act of 1948 or thereabouts).

Tata in her twenties.....you must be joking. She's well past 30, I reckon. My missus says she's 28 but if she is, she sure is not wearing too well. Must be those farang genes..........................

Wondering if anybody has tried something which could save me a lot of time in Bangkok.

I will be marrying a Thai lady in a few months. I have been told as part of the process of getting my "permit to marry" from the U.S. Embassy my divorce papers from previous marriages (in the U.S.) will need to be translated into Thai. My friend several years ago went through the same process, but he had to wait overnight for the translation service (near the embassy) to complete the translation. To save time and hotel costs, I thought I would try to mail my papers by EMS (from within Thailand) to a translation service who would then mail them and the translations back to me. Then I could just bring them with me when I went to BKK and avoid all the translation hassle. Has anybody done this, and if so, which translation service?

It is INCORRECT that you need a translation of your divorce decree. You will need to take your decree to the US embassy and get a "Freedom to Marry" document from them (in fact, if they are like the British Embassy you'll need to prepare the document for them to certify. It's a simple single page and there are examples abounding on the internet). THIS you will need to get translated then certified at the Thai Consular Services office in Chaeng Wattana (the translation service will do it for you for about 800 baht. Add to that the fee and it will come to about 2300 baht). So, the Embassy will take your money, then the translation service will take your money, followed by the consular office in Chaeng Wattana, followed by the Amphur where you actually marry. Finally, your wife will take whatever you have left! Welcome to Thailand!!