Bobcat

Has anyone on this board applied for Thai citizenship? If so, did you apply before or after you had your PR for 5 years?

Thanks,

Bob

Form two Thai companies with both companies holding shares of the other. If your lawyer does it right, you’ll have indirectly 99.995% ownership in each company

Can you elaborate, Sunbelt?

Regards,

Bob

ส่วน essay โจทย์เป็นภาษาอังกฤษหรือไทย ? หมายถึงโจทย์ออกแบบไหน

Write an essay about one of the following topics: "Thai festivals", "Thailand today" or "Sports that I like".

หรือว่าจะเป็นภาษาไทยทั้งหมดอย่างเช่น

เลือกเขียนเรียนความหนื่งเรื่องจากหัวข้อต่อไปนี้ ก เทศกาลของคนไทย ข เมืองไทยวันนี้ ค กีฬาที่ชอบ

As a test of the Thai language (reading, writing, comprehension and speaking), all questions and instructions were in Thai. Also, you would lose points for using English words on the test.

I'm sure with a little more practice you'd do just fine on the test, Greenwanderer. Concentrate on your spelling by doing dictation and read lots of Thai books. Reading will give you a better understanding of how to write the Thai language more naturally, like a Thai.

Cheers,

Bob

I believe that there is no limit to the number of times that one can take the test. Also, minor spelling mistakes like an incorrect tone marker here and there, are of little consequence. I almost obtained full marks for the essay portion of the test and I know that it was peppered with little errors.

I agree with both P'Yoot and P'Johpa. Great explanations of an often difficult to understand concept.

This is shamefully overdue, but a step in the right direction.

I totally agree with Meadish. There are no shortcuts when it comes to writing. Just practice building your vocabulary on a daily basis and read, read, read. Reading is essential for vocabulary building and understanding the context in which new words are used in the written language. While studying I had to write a daily journal of one A4 page, a weekly essay of 2 A4 pages and a weekly dictation test of about 1 A4 page. After a while, the spelling mistakes get less and less until one day you're able to complete an entire A4 page of dictation without a single error. It takes time but it is, for me anyway, so enjoyable and satisfying.

Congratulations Tingnongnoi!! I'm looking forward to collecting my certificate and finding out exactly what score I got. I'm now wondering where to go from here with my Thai. My writing is now quite good, a lot better than my spoken Thai I think. I might look for a new teacher to improve my spoken Thai and stick with my old teacher for writing. Pity there is no Mor. 3 exam. At least then I'd have another goal to strive for. I'm pretty hopeless unless I have some sort of goal.

Are any of the other members thinking of taking the test this in December year?

Cheers,

Bob

Looking down the list of names of those who passed, I'd say that roughly 90% are Japanese.

Well, the reults of the Grade 6 exam are out. I passed!! Yay!

I'm not sure how many people sat the exam, but the list of those who passed includes 170 names in all.

Cheers,

Bob

Does anyone know that the approximate price per rai is in the Mae Rim area for land that has a chanote title deed?

Thanks,

Bob

You might try http://www.bangkok-home.com

It hasn't strictly changed, it's just that the Land Office can't be bothered as everyone knows it is a "Mickey Mouse" Company when they see you are a property rental company. As it's only internal policy it can change back any time, and I would still see it better to follow the 39% route.

The regulation was formally abolished in 2003. I have seen the written notice of abolishion and can assure you that this rule is no longer on the books. However, I do not know if all branches of the Land Department outside of Bangkok and the other major centres are aware. I regularly transfer land to 49/51 companies in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Phuket and the Land Department in all of these places accepts the 49/51 structure.

regards,

Bob

Not any more. 49% is now accepted without further investigation. You are right that that used to be the case though.

This is correct. It was the case in the past that the Land Department would not register land to a company with foreign ownership of 40% or more without getting the okay from the big wigs at the land Department. The rule was, however, abolished in 2003.

No, you need only a minimum of 7 directors the majority of which must be Thai (ie. 4 Thai and 3 falang is ok). More than 7 would make for a very complicated setup.

This is wrong.

All Thai companies registered under the Civil and Commercial Code of Thailand require a minimum of seven shareholders. The minimum number of directors is one, not seven. For a company wishing to own land, it must be considered a "Thai" company - meaning that more than half of its shares need to be owned by Thais. This is where the 49% foreign/51% Thai structure comes in. In addition to this, the Thai Land Code stipulates that in order for a company to be registered as the owner of land, more than half of its shareholders must be Thai. Accordingly, 4 out of your 7 shareholders must be Thai.

In order to set up a Thai company, you'll need a Thai person or company to own 51% of your company's shares. Once you find that person/entity, you can work out the two tier share structure to give yourself control. This is done on a regular basis by all of the major law firms (and some not so major) in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand.

The Option should also be registered and then in theory at least, should the landowner not be willing to attend at the Land Office, the courts should grant the new lease and direct the Land Office to register it.

Such an option is not a registerable interest under Thai law. Accordingly, options to renew (for however long they may be) cannot be registered with the Land Department.

Regards,

Bob

Check out

http://www9.sbs.com.au/radio/language.php?language=Thai

Click "Listen to Latest Braodcast". There is a new one-hour program every Thursday.

Cheers,

Bob

Mike,

Your application has been approved by the Immigration Department and is now awaiting official signature by the Ministry of Interior. Once the Interior Minister signs your application, you will receive a letter notifying you of the decision to approve your application. You will then need to attend the Immigration Department at Suan Plu to obtain your residency papers.

One never knows how long it will take for the Interior Minister to sign the applications. Hopefully, you should receive your letter within the next couple of months. The process has improved over the years and it appears that the lengthy delays waiting for the Minister to sign may be a thing of the past. I believe in one particular year (2000 or 2001), the applications were not signed by the Minister for three years. As I said, however, such long waits now seem to be a thing of the past.

Cheers,

Bob

In this particular instance, however, the Land Department are following the letter of the law. The specific regulation mentions the house registration documents specifically as the required proof of residence at a particular property.

I take it you are saying you bought and sold a house on land you did not own? unsure.gif

Regardless as to whether that was the case or not, your name being on the Tabian Baan of any property has no relevance for tax purposes as far as I am aware.

Do you have any legal references to support your claim?

If so, I would be interested to know what they are.

I bought and sold a condominium. Normally, if you sell a condo within 5 years of purchasing it, you need to pay specific business tax on the sale price. The rate of tax payable varies depending on whether or not you lived in the property prior to the sale. If you lived in the property for 12 months or more, the rate of tax at which you are assessed is significantly lower than if you did not reside in the property. The only proof of residence the Land Department will accept is your name in a tabian baan. I had lived in my condo for three years before selling it in the fourth year after I purchased it - but my name had only been in my tabian baan for several months - so I ended up having to pay the higher rate of tax.

My sources are the Thai language versions of the Thai Land Code, the Thai Revenue Code and various notifications and announcements made pursuant to those laws. I looked into this issue in detail when I was trying to convince the Land Department to accept that I had lived in the condo for more than 12 months before selling it. I had a letter from the condo management etc., but this was not acceptable. The regulations that I read clearly stated that the proof of residence was the tabian baan.

You can check with the Land Department who will confirm this.

Regards,

Bob

Also, if you sell the house and your name has been in the tabian baan for at least one year before the sale then you will pay a lower tax rate. Without your name in the tabian baan, irrespective of how long you have lived there, you'll pay a higher rate of tax. Unfortunately, I know this from experience. Your name in the book is the only proof acceptable to the land department as to how long you have lived at a property.

I'm afraid Tabien Baan (blue) only for thai nationals.

This statement is not entirely correct. Any foreigner with permanent resident status in Thailand is entitled to have his/her name registered into the blue Tabien Baan book.

Regards,

Bob

A notice is posted on the Immigration website (only in Thai) that applications for 2005 PR are accepted from 22 December 2005 until 30 December 2005.

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/2noti...ission48_th.doc

You need to go to Room 301.