simonphuket

if sipping cold beers is ok too, then you got me convinced. Guess you are right, if I can find someone for that kind of money, I would be nuts to do it myself. Thanx for the advice for improving the soil! Kee kon will work too? Just shit in the garden for a few weeks

It is a garden job indeed, around 70 sqm. A small tiller will do. The soil is either rock hard, or sticky. Hiring labour is an option, but I refuse to pay farang prices. Most jobs in/around the house I end up doing myself. Cheapest and the job gets done well. Or are you available ? haha

Hi there,

Does anyone know where to rent a cultivator / rotary tiller in Phuket? Not looking forward to do it all by hand with a spade, breaking my back...

Thanks!!

Simon

I came for the sex but stayed because back home i'm an even bigger looser than here?

I came for the sex but stayed for the sincere smiles

thanks guys, sounds like it should be easily available then, excellent!

Hi,

Dirty creatures, glad smaller than the ones back home, but still don't like them. Anyone knows where legally to get rat poison?

Thanx!

Good to have a subforum about fishing. Used to fish a lot, esp. big game fishing. Had my own boat , fished tournaments and guided trips. Caught many sails, tuna, marlin etc. No time now anymore, but talk a lot with my collegue, who is an avid fisherman. He makes his own poppers for snakehead etc. Will 'interrogate' him on his secret techniques and hotspots

We are about to get electric cables and plans to our new home within couple of weeks. After this I might be able to recommend the electrician to you. Are you in a hurry?

-Pekka

Kinda, the electrical system in the (new!) place I bought is an utter mess. Causing power failures and short circuits at times. The tenants are not impressed and can understand this. Need to have the place partially re-wired and got a rediculous quote from one engineer already.

You must have VERY understanding tenants to put up with power failures and short circuits!

Well, the guy on the 3rd floor is ok, but the guy on the 2nd floor.... ting tong makmak you know LOL

We use this electrician all the time.very good work-reasonable price

"Wong" 0872711556

Tell him "Juk" recomended him

Hi Smiley, thanks, will give him a ring as well. Better 2 or 3 quotes to compare. Phom satang nitnoi u know...

We are about to get electric cables and plans to our new home within couple of weeks. After this I might be able to recommend the electrician to you. Are you in a hurry?

-Pekka

Kinda, the electrical system in the (new!) place I bought is an utter mess. Causing power failures and short circuits at times. The tenants are not impressed and can understand this. Need to have the place partially re-wired and got a rediculous quote from one engineer already.

I have used this guy many times and recomended him to a lot of friends, his name is cic 0815351569 you will be pleased

Hi zazo, excellent, will ask him for a quotation! Thanks.

We are about to get electric cables and plans to our new home within couple of weeks. After this I might be able to recommend the electrician to you. Are you in a hurry?

-Pekka

Kinda, the electrical system in the (new!) place I bought is an utter mess. Causing power failures and short circuits at times. The tenants are not impressed and can understand this. Need to have the place partially re-wired and got a rediculous quote from one engineer already.

This is gonna be like finding a needle in a haystack, but I need a good electrician. Anyone knows from own experience a good and trustworthy (hmmm...) one?

Thanx

Well now simonphuket, that's very elitist of you to say that cockney accents are low class and pethatic. in fact some would say rather rude.

Guess you're right there. Not so much talking about cockney accents in particular, but where I'm from, radio and TV presentators try not too speak with any accent for this reason. Guess in the UK people look at it differently, so please do not take offense. Btw, this is totally off-topic . Still they could play some more modern music, and in the morning something to wake us up, instead of trying to put us back to sleep.

He does not do anything in writing... Afraid that can be used against him?? A real snake (not joking).

Is it true that I can cancel my work permit? He mentioned that the accountants/lawyers we use to handle all paperwork regarding permits, have to fill the necessary paperwork. Might be just the papers to cancel the work permit.

Does your contract say anything about written notice of termination? And period of notice e.g. 30 days?

Take a tape recorder with you any time you speak to him.

Correct, notice must be given in writing and a 30-day notice. Should I take a tape recorder with me, then I must inform him. At least, back home it will not be accepted as evidence by court otherwise.

Gregb: you are right, collection is tough. They are struggling like many other companies. But having that paper that I'm right is already good enough. Just teach him a lesson that he has to stop bullshitting everybody. He's lucky that I'm trying to be fair and honest, but should he pull these tricks with a Thai, he might end up with broken knee-caps or worse....!

Thanks guys for all the help, really appreciated. I have a lot to think about and mention to the labour office.

Severance pay is not related to your working notice period at all.

Go to the labour court and ask their advice.

You may even mention to your director that you have sought legal advice and that you know he is talking bullshit.

I beleive that you could cancel your work permit yourself? Do you have your termination in writing yet?

He does not do anything in writing... Afraid that can be used against him?? A real snake (not joking).

Is it true that I can cancel my work permit? He mentioned that the accountants/lawyers we use to handle all paperwork regarding permits, have to fill the necessary paperwork. Might be just the papers to cancel the work permit.

... or else... Else = he will not cancel my work permit before the end of March so I cannot legally work somewhere else. He stated that I cannot have 2 work permits...

Its perfectly legal to have more than one employer and more than one workpermit at the same time.

Really? More than one employer makes sense, sure. But my work permit, the blue book, I can have more than one? Sorry if I sound un-educated in this area, that's why your advice is so invaluable!

Re-cap: if he does n ot return my work permit, the blue book, then I can still go ahead with the new employer as of 1 February. He must of course arrange a new work permit. Does it make any difference wether my current boss hands me the blue book or not? Will it make the application for the new work permit take more time?

They have no money, I could take some of the inventory with me though, until they pay me out...

Hopefully you are just kidding because we have another word for this "theft".

Sure, I'm not gonna lower myself to their level. If I want to get even, there are other ways. Having been the manager, I know too much what's happening. Just spread some words to the remaining clientele, and they have major problems. But, rather not do this, prefer to solve it in a professional way.

It seems that at 91.5fm they think it is cool to have a cockney accent indeed, to me it sounds low-class and pethatic, incl DJ Doris. Frankly, to me most of the music is crap, practically no recent music, just old stuff (the Carpenters are not really my favourite, sorry). Is it meant for the 60+ year old expat on Phuket?

In the morning it seems even worse, trying to bore you to death while you drive. If it is not the Thai drivers, it is 91.5fm that is killing me.

Why is there no music station with mainly uptodate music? Back home they do manage, is it too difficult here? (or is it a budget-problem?)

Interesting to see the majority here have used computers for more than 20 years. Would be interesting as well to see a simular poll regarding the age of the members on this forum - my guess is most are over 50, maybe even over 60.

And interesting to see that so many with an IT background ended up here...... What's wrong with us IT-nerds?

The next day I receive a letter in which they offer me another job with a lower salary and job title. I decline this (found something else already with same pay as current job).

Now they phrase it such that I am breaching the contract.

Just wanted to clarify ... when you say you "found something else already", do you mean you left your job without giving the required period of notice and took up an alternative offer of employment? Or you have continued in your job pending sorting this all out?

I was in a similar position some years ago (but in another country), having been told my position was being phased out and then offered another role. Basically BS as the new role would have been the same as the old, just with a new title and huge pay cut. They tried to argue that a redundancy payment was not required as I was free to remain with the company in the new role. I chose the highway, not long after making my first ever trip to Thailand.

What I meant was that I have a new job offer somewhere else starting next month. Still working for the old company, not a lot of fun right now as you can imagine.

Today had a talk with one of the directors. He basically stated that I should not try to get any severance pay, or else... Else = he will not cancel my work permit before the end of March so I cannot legally work somewhere else. He stated that I cannot have 2 work permits. He is talking about end of March because he gave me notice end of December, 90 days severance pay, so that is January, February, March. He will continue to pay me in that period, but knows dam_n well that my new job offer means to start per February 1. Otherwise they will find somebody else.

According to him, this '90-day severance pay' means that you still work for the company for 90 days, but are allowed to take days off for job interviews etc. This sounds like utter b#llocks to me. I thought that, irrespective of having found another job, they have to pay you, and that you can accept and start to work somewhere else already?

Btw, I guess he has to pay me my holidays pro rata for this year? How many we officially have minimum according to Thai law?

Thanks for all replies so far, very interesting!!

Phuket has a very strong and good labour department they will help you...and it's for free.

Some friends of mine(foreigners) had the same or similar problem like you, they all won their cases in a very short time and received their payments.

Gerd

Now, that is good news! Let's prepare for a battle then and should I win and you are in the area, beer is on me .

If your salary is stated in your contract and they don't pay it then they're in breach of contract.

Write tehm a letter to that effect and go see the labour court and find out what you can do.

But is it worth the hassle, time and money? Laywers are expensive. In case you should win, does the other party have to pay all costs? My salary has gone up since I joined them and that new salary has never been confirmed in writing...

Actually, it is a bit more complicated that this:

On 30 December in a meeting they verbally tell me I am being laid off per 1 Feb 2009. The next day I receive a letter in which they offer me another job with a lower salary and job title. I decline this (found something else already with same pay as current job).

Now they phrase it such that I am breaching the contract. To be fair, I would be happy with ending the contract as they verbally announced, with the severance pay as dictated by Thai law.

Wow, I thought I had been around for a while, but am a newbie compared to some of you guys. Respect . My first program on punchcards must have been around 1974 or so? Just fun on my parents IBM terminal. My first job as a programmer was in 1986, IBM mainframes. Worked for Big Blue for several years, cool stuff at the time. Lots of assembler programming, extensions to the OS... Then, as the career progressed, work became more and more boring, and finally ended up here.

Anyone knows if the wonderfull Big Irons from IBM are much used in LOS? Back home the real mainframe specialist are sought after, not many around anymore.

Thanks guys. Officially, that is on paper, it is a Thai-owned company. Unofficially, it is owned and run by foreigners. They will probably get away with not paying anything at all, trying to sue them will not help much. They have no money, I could take some of the inventory with me though, until they pay me out... . I'll keep you posted if anyone is interested. Cheers