beddhist

I would like and answer to question 1, too. Can anybody please help?

So, if my Thai wife and I run a guest house we would need to form a company and employ people just so I can get a work permit? What will I be allowed to do or not to do myself without a WP? Change the sheets? Bookings, reception, paint the walls, clean? None of it, I guess.

How do other people get along with this? There are lots of farangs in this situation.

In one city I know a motorbike shop, owned and run by a farang. The only employee I have ever seen was also not Thai. How can this work? I'm sure he does it legally, or the Thai competition would soon have him shut down.

Thanks for any light you can shed on these questions. We are about to begin the process of moving to Thailand, but I neither can not want to retire yet.

Cheers,

Peter.

Free Garmin maps for the whole world can be found here: garmin.na1400.info/routable.php

There are many different GPS maps around. You will have to supply your coordinates to each of the publishers. If you email me I will include your GH in the next version of the Wanderlust map (smellybiker.com).

You can add your GH yourself to the OSMap on OSM.org. It will be in the Garmin map set on http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php about a week later. Can't get any faster than that.

Cheers,

Peter.

I assume your car is not registered in Thailand and I further assume that you are referring to the "Temporary Import Permit". Normally, this permit is only valid for one month and you have to get extensions every month at a customs office. I have done this for my bike many times. However, at my last entry I got 6 months; I don't know why.

If you don't have this permit then I would just forget about it. Your car is already in the country illegally, so... Next time you leave into a country other than Malaysia you will most likely be asked for the permit. You will just have to explain what happened and hope for the best. Just plead ignorance.

I would advise you against taking any vehicle into Cambodia.

Would you care to tell us why? I have met many travellers who took bikes and cars through and enjoyed their trip. Trying to enter from Laos, however, could be interesting, as we were asked for a customs permit we didn't have, followed by a bribe demand. Others were turned back there.

Cheers,

Peter.

Can be done and by all accounts is easy by air. I've been in Mae Sot since February with my French registered bike, but I came overland via Tibet, China and Laos. There are various reports of air shipments on Horizonsunlimited.com, search the forums, not just the web site.

Entering by land couldn't be simpler, Thai customs fill in almost all the forms for you. See the link to the GT-Rider site above. The temporary import is only valid for 30 days or the expiry of your visa, whichever comes first. This can be extended for 30 days at a time at any customs office. No charge. Max. stay for a vehicle is 6 months. You can then ride to Laos, Cambodia or Malaysia and come back, the process then starts all over again. I have done this once and combined it with a necessary visa run to Vientiane. (However, note that you can't enter Laos via any of the "Friendship Bridges" if your vehicle has less than 4 wheels.)

Sea shipping to Bkk is a dodgy proposition. Again, there is advice on the HU forums about this. A couple of friends also staying in Mae Sot ignored this advice and paid for it. Customs in the port where a nightmare to deal with. They demanded import duty, although you are not liable for this under Thai law under temp import. They had to bribe customs to get them to do their job. Not recommended, ship by air instead.