phuket Mike

I would take a look at Prestashop, very nice eccommerce package, free with loads of modules. Also has a Thai language pack. The main site has links to shops built with it, there are many partners that will create a theme or if your adventurous do it yourself.

Just Google "Car tracker" there are loads of solutions in the US, the problem you may have is how accurate they in Thailand and Thai Maps etc.

Does Facebook have any income?

The article states "It is estimated that Facebook could bring as much as $2 billion in revenue annually."

As far I can see the only revenue source is PPC advertising which to be honest is very good, allowing advertisers to target people based on their profile information. As already stated with a massive database of information on it's users (500 million people) this in itself is worth a fortune, but is it worth $50 billion ? It probably is at present but for how long, how long will it be before someone else comes along with the next social media platform and everyone starts to migrate, you only have to look at Myspace.

Personally I think there are a lot of issues with how Facebook works and is managed if someone else comes a long with a product that fixes these issues people will leave in droves.

At the moment Facebook is an extremely useful marketing tool and if you have a business web site Facebook integration is a must.

If you use Yahoo Messenger the person receiving the message pays the carrier charges. Useful for some things but not for business.

I have been looking at Thai SMS solutions for sometime, I have a friend who want to send SMS message from his web site. We tried a Thai company based in Bangkok and although they were cheap, their SMS Gateway was way too slow.

We then looked at Skype but for the number of messages sent it was expensive. We have since settled on www.cardboardfish.com who have all options, desktop software, email to SMS, Web API, there are some setup costs for some of the services, but the desktop application is free when you pre-purchase a number of messages.

It's very reliable and easy to use, although you may find free or cheaper services if it's a business solution you need this one fits the bill.

There is an excellent company in Bangkok called Web Course Bangkok, now I realise they are not in Phuket but they may be worth contacting because I think would consider a course in Phuket.

Patong Deli supermarket has the biggest selection of imported alcohol I've seen on the island.

Thanks for the replies, I was already aware of Almacom in Bkk. The business is currently up and running in proof of concept mode, the next step is to go into full production. Having experience of many companies in the past with different IT systems within each department I wanted to find a solution for the whole organization.

We will now implement OpenERP in this POC business to further test it's capabilities, but from what I have seen it will more than meet our requirements. With Thai localization it is very promising.

Anyway once again thank you for making the effort to reply.

I would say it all depends who the business plan is aimed at, if it is your business and more importantly your money then your business plan should outline your strategy with milestones for you to measure your progress. Also these targets can be financial, normally a business plan should detail the first 12 months and then give projections for next 2 years. In this situation your business is designed as a guide for you to follow.

If you are planning to raise finance from banks or investors then the plan should be much more detailed.

I actually cheat and us a piece of software called Business Plan Pro, it has over 500 sample business plans. I have no idea how much it costs because I was given my copy.

The most important aspect of creating a business plan is that it makes you sit down and think about what you wish to achieve.

Good luck

Hi,

I have lived in Trang Province for the past 3 years. You won't find any real estate agents, a part from some of the banks. In terms of properties similar to Phuket i.e. with swimming pool again you will be very lucky I haven't seen any, a part from custom built. On the plus side land is very cheap, so buying land and having something built is the best option.

You may want to check out some of the bank web sites as they very often list properties they have repossessed especially Kasikorn Bank.

Trang is whole world of difference to Phuket.

Good luck.

I am looking for a software solution for a small food manufacturing company, it's a start up and they are looking at getting the IT side of it right from day one by implementing a scalable management system. The first stage it an accountancy package, I came across openerp www.openerp.com and it looks like it might just meet their requirements, allowing deployment of an accounting system initially then other modules as they are required.

It is supported in Thailand, I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with it, obviously being open source it immediately ticks a big box. As it stores all data in a sql database there is very little problem with data lock-in. There would be a cost in support and implementation, but as the organization is relying on investor capital, transparency and low overheads are paramount.

Sorry not in Udon, but I suspect there is a higher contention ratio on the 6mb connections i.e. more people sharing it. Strangely in my area Trang, TOT have just put in new equipment and advertised 6mb connections everywhere. I've just done some speedtests and the 2mb is exactly 2mb and the 6mb varies greatly from 2.5 to 4.5 depending on the time of day.

To find a house to rent out in Real Thailand there is only one way, you need to be in the community where you want to live. Your wife or girlfriend needs to be in the local salon at least once a week, you need to go to the same shops and talk to people.

What happened to me recently is the perfect example. I currently rent a 2 bed shop house in a small village on the main highway 4 from Krabi to Trang, it's good, it's big, clean and secure. Unfortunately the people that own it are broke, they owe money everywhere, from the bank, their car and motorbikes. So the bank are now taking his house, now we can hang on because the bank want to find a buyer first, but it's not ideal. The rent is 2500 baht per month.

We have a big shop at the end of the road and the market over the road, load of children so the location could not be better. So my wife is talking with the lady in the shop, complaining about our stupid landlord, and low and behold we find one of the other houses is coming available for rent. This house is owned by the 3 sisters that own the big shop and the land that the market is on. Now these people are really nice, I see them everyday, one of them really wants to learn English. So my wife goes and talks with them about this house, as soon the sisters find out it's me that wants it, it's ours and the rent 1500 baht per month. So now my rent, internet and UBC for the same cost as my current house.

This has all come about because we know the people in the area, well everyone knows me because I am the only falang for miles. So my advice to anyone looking to find a rental outside of the tourist areas is to get into the community, be seen, spend time and money in local businesses , make friends, it's the only way.

Another good way of finding information about what's available in Trang is Facebook, with a little bit of effort you can easily find people that live in Trang province both Thai and Falang. I recently made contact with an English Teacher and her husband who live near Tescos, she is Thai and her husband English. I'm not saying that your going to find a house to rent but you never know, and if your planning to move here why not makes some friends before you arrive.

Just on another point the new Robinson opening in Trang City last week, we foolishly went on the opening night, anyway the centre is excellent, Tops Market and a number of other shops. Oh and a Cinema wow

Indeed they are cheaper outside of Thailand. If you get one shipped in, where ever it is delivered to you will have to pay import tax, this could be anything between 20 and 40% of the invoice value, yes you will pay duty on the shipping.

If HK is the best place to buy one, go there for the weekend and have a break, you won't save any money but at least you can have some decent Chinese food.

As the Thai Customs are recognised as the most corrupt department (Thai Government Statement), and that is against some pretty stiff competition, personally I wouldn't recommend getting one shipped, I have already had some hefty customs charges on a food parcel from the UK, value 8000 baht, customs charge on total value of 14,000 baht, 3500 baht and that was DHL.

Well I think it's a long time since you have been, I haven't been to Ranong for 2 years. The only thing I know for certain is you can't stay in the boat at the Burma side, they, like the Thai's want to take your picture, oh and be sure you take your own crisp new $10 Note, 500 baht is still way more expensive.

For me I would always do the Andaman Club only a little more expensive but a whole world difference in civilization. The second poster was very accurate do not buy anything you shouldn't because they will search you on the way back.

Some excellent advice already on this thread. One tip if you have an email account you've had for a while try searching for it in Google and also if you have been using the same password for a while try the same. One of my old email addresses and password is listed on a hackers site, more worryingly another hosted in the Arab World.

I'm have the names of these sites that contain lists of usernames, email addresses and passwords but I will not list them here, the best way to check is to google your information. Of course if you do get any hits I would recommend deleting that email address completely.

How much do you charge per night or per week? I have a friend coming in early next month for two weeks.

Sorry Jim if you mean how much Shreks charge I don't know. Shrek contact details are on this site - Shreks Contact Info

Personal profiles on Facebook are not indexed by Google, all that will come up in Google is your Facebook name if it is sufficiently unique, if you have your privacy settings in place only friends can see what you post, and you can further restrict that by security or the use of groups.

Having said that it is very easy for someone to get access to what you post, simply by creating a personal profile and sending you a friend request, if you accept which most active FB users do, they can then see what you have posted. There are people out there that specialise in this type of checking, working for large companies, checking prospective employee and existing staff.

Of course your social networking activity can also have a positive effective, if you behave professionally and actively help people you may find yourself head hunted by a company.

I think it should be common sense, not to publish derogatory information about yourself or your friends, Facebook and other social networking site can be very useful if used correctly, in fact I would go as far as to say Facebook with 500 million users is a must have for anyone who wishes to promote their business.

Regardless of how far it is to the beach you can't realistically stay in Nai Harn/Rawai without some form of transport, a car if you can afford it or a motorbike if you can ride one. If you want everything within walking distance somewhere like Kata would be better, but more crowded and expensive.

CAT CDMA is available from CAT Telecom in Phuket Town, as for the coverage in Nai Harn I honestly don't know, maybe post a question on the internet forum, same for the cost, the last time I looked it was something like 6000 baht with some free net time, although you may have trouble getting one without a work permit.

Some of the 3G suppliers claim coverage in that area, but again I don't know what it's like.

Wherever you stay I would recommend some form of internet backup, like a CAT CDMA card or an EDGE modem (slow but reliable).

I would like to add a thanks to BillR for posting a link to my Flickr page, I don't have anything to do with Shreks I just posted those pictures as a test for flickr web site integration. People under estimate Social Networking, flickr is an excellent way of organizing your pics and obviously of promoting your business.

SausageKing,

Are you looking at expanding your business to the south. A good western breakfast is none existent down here, no sausages, only Thai bacon and that's only available in Makro and Tesco, where I live there isn't even any butter.

I've stayed in a fair few hotels in Krabi and as a lot of them are Muslim owned there is no Pork. Trang is a bit different in that it is famous (in Thailand) for it's sweet cured Pork. So come on mate open up down here, you've got one customer guaranteed already.

As no one else has answered I will try. The first thing would be is the land on the flight path of the airport, in the high season there is a lot of traffic coming in, I have spent some time up in the national park and to honest I could not live with the flight noise. I'm not sure maybe you are north of the airport.

The second point is there is nothing up there, it is effectively Real Thailand, the only falang Bars and restaurants are in the tourist areas such as Nai Yang etc. Shopping is all in Phuket City, Central, Tesco etc. the rest is just very local Thai shops.

If you are serious about buying land up there, it needs to be good value for money otherwise you may as well look at off-island plots because they will be cheaper with the same amenities.

Sorry just read your post again, there is actually a pretty decent school up near the the airport, I did know a couple of falang teachers there.

A part from that it would have to be a real bargain otherwise there are many areas of Thailand that are cheaper, with the same facilities.

Without taking a closer look at your machine I would say you have a number of bad sectors on your hard disk and is causing firstly explorer to retry reads and writes to these areas over and over. This then causes the hard disk to get very hot over time. I know this because I had exactly that problem last week with my old Acer laptop.

What you need to do is firstly ensure you have a backup of all your data, if possible a full system backup, now I realise this won't be easy with your current problems but it is important.

The second step is to check the disk for errors and mark any bad sectors, this is done via the properties tools option from explorer. Windows cannot do this without restarting, when it restarts it will fire up chkdsk /f, which will check your hard disk and mark an sectors as bad. If you have a lot of bad sectors this can take some time. Hopefully this will complete and the system will come back okay.

If it doesn't do not despair, you can go out and buy a new hard disk stick it in your laptop install windows, and access your old hard disk via an simple cheap external storage box. Either way if you have a lot of bad sectors you will need to replace your hard disk.

Finally if your system comes back after the check disk which it should, mine did and I had a lot of bad areas, make sure you defrag your drive it will make the back up job a lot easier, I used Norton Ghost to back and restore and it likes a de fragmented disk.

"HaadYai is a small prosperous town."

Sorry I'm not trying to be funny but describing the biggest city in the south of Thailand as a small prosperous town is rather amusing, it might have been once but now it's the second largest metropolitan of Thailand.