GuestHouse

Yes folks its true, Thailand is to host this year's Rainbow Gathering (December), featuring a cast of thousands.... and in keeping with the season their very own Rainbow Jesus.

Heartbreak.

You have paid out 2.5 million for a build that when complete will value circa 7 million.

Go to the law firm I suggested (Tillek and Gibbons) and get advice on how to procede.

Do not mess around in HH, all you are doing is telegraphing your actions to him.

Do not play that influence game, calling in people who might be able to help - Go to the law, and go to the best lawyers you can afford.

Don't get involved into name calling, just get the lawyers on the case.

The amount of writing you have done here would, directed at the Lawyers I suggest, get you real advice on how to procede.

If there is any influence to bring, it is the influence of Thailand's most respected law firm, use them.

At your age I'd be looking at saving in stocks rather than intrest paying accounts, because historicaly they do better.

The idea is to build up sufficient capital to be able to retire on the intrest. To do that you need to have an idea how much income you need to retire. In real terms this might be the amount you spend now (I take it that you have some money left over each month, hence your question).

So, assuming that you spend Bht50K per month, you need to build capital that gives that amount of intrest for you to live on in the future.

As a rough guide, you need a capital of about 20 times your desired income.

So 50k per month = Bht600K/Year and that requires a capital of 20*600K = 12 million Bht.

I recently did an assessment of the growth history for my own private investments and it turns out I have averaged 6.9% growth over the last 29 years.

If we plug that into a calculation based on what I acheived (6.9%) and your age, it works out that to retire at age 65 on Bht50K per month (Basis above) you need to save Bht 9700 per month.

If you want to retire at 60 on Bht50K a month you need to save Bht14000/month.

In both cases you'd have to find an investment that is growing at an average of 6.9% over the period from now until you retire

Taking care of inflation.

To negate inflation you'd have to increase these figures in line with inflation (usually in line with your pay rises over the period).

Your UK Pension

If you have not been paying National Insurance Payments back home then you should consider doing so. There is of course no guarauntee that UK pensions will be in existance by the time you retire but on the other hand the payout is a good return on investment as they stand now.

I believe the current minimum payment is less than GBP400/year for which you would receive GBP105/week.

You'd have to pay the 'back years' that you missed (if any) but on the basis that you have missed 8 years and that you retire at 65 this represents a return on investment of almost 7.3%.

The growth figures I have given are based on investments I made with Unit Trusts, Private Pensions, Pesonal Purchase of Shares and ISA's. I think they are pretty realistic given the fluctuations in the stock markets over the period since I started investing.

I will make a full report to UN commision for Human Rights, and Amnesty International.I am sure they will be very interested.

Not unless this place is off the beaten track... any excuse for a 4X4... No 4x4, no intrest.

The reason that Singapore is getting many Thais as tourists at the moment is because they promote the fact that you can party all night (but nobody in their right mind would do drugs there). There are many affluent Thais and Ex-pats that WANT to spend their money partying all night

Having lived in Singapore until very recently, and on the basis of my frequent business visits (one week a month), I can honestly say I can count on one hand the number of occasions I have met affluent Thais out partying.

Bangkok bar workers and freelances heading for Orchard Towers, yes. Affluent Thais out at the clubs and late night bars... hardly ever.

I'm glad to see I'm not alone in my thoughts about Thai agricultural practices.

I've fenced off the land we plan to use for growing our own food, it's been fallow now for 4 years and will remain fallow for at least seven years (The minimum amount of time land must remain free from chemical use in order to meet the 'Organic Land' requirements).

Back home I've grown food in the garden and allotments since I was a child - Good organic home grown food is one of my pet subjects.

Best of luck with promoting organic produce.

There are two problems - Unbalanced Load and Incorrect Routing.

Unbalanced Phases Can cause different voltages, including power on the Neutral.

This occurs when the phases at the local substation/transformer are out of balance.

The local substation will have three phases (You receive one) and the other two are distributed elsewhere. Ideally the load on each phase should be the same, it never is exactly the same, but good management of the system should keep loading balanced.

If your local power distribution is unbalanced the Live/Neutral set you receive can be substatialy drifting from the specified voltage.

Wrong Routing - Live to Neutral and Neutral to Live.

I'd never assume that the Live is in fact Live and the Neutral is in fact the Neutral. They are very very often the wrong way around.

To avoid the problem and risks that arise from these problems I have always used Circuit Breakers

with Leakage Current Cut-Off in all the houses I've lived in Thailand.

Given that you say millions of Bht have been spent, I would suggest you consider one of the leading Bangkok law firms, ie Tileck and Gibbons.

If you have threats documented then that is all in your favour.

Vines, and particularly the Convulvulus recommended by Sir Bur, are great for keeping a space cool. It's not just the shade but also the evaporation of water that adds an extra cooling effect.

Go see a lawyer and start legal procedings against him. I'd also advise that you consider asking your lawyer to start the persuit with a request to the court to place him under bail and confiscate his passport.

I hope you have a contract and receipts for all payments.

I didn't read it, but if Catholicism was the backdrop, then it was not a taboo.

I assure you that the litterature to which I refer did use taboo as a backdrop, and the issues were real taboos. But to continue that discussion would drift of the Thailand subject.

So back in the Thailand camp, we have.

If Thais are excluded from creativity of thought by Taboo, why then is the Thai language so expressive?

Is the expressiveness of the Thai language a result of a need to circumvent taboo, and if so the possibility arrises (I would argue certainty arrises) that the problem at hand is not the problems Thais might have with creativity and expressiveness due to taboo, but that the fault lies in the basis of the question.

Perhaps the problem is ears that are deaf to Thai creativity, lacking perhaps the liguistic or cultural tools to understand what is being said and expressed by Thais.

Put another way, perhaps a value judgement is being made on something that is not understood, all the while using non Thai, language, culture and learning as the basis of that value judgment.

Some of the greatest English literature of the 20th Century was written by Catholics who used the moars and taboos of Chatholosism as a backdrop to their writing.

So, while the OP's point has some validity in that cultural conditioning affects thought and creativity.

The argument that it must necesseraly hamper creativity is, to use a well know expression utter <deleted>.

This issue has been running for too long now, a real blight on Thailand's image.

The sooner these animals are returned the better

However, I doubt very much we'll be hearing they are going just yet. Such things have a habit of dragging on in Thailand.

My optometrist reckons that cheap (no UV protection) sunglasses are actually worse for your eyes than no sunglasses at all because behind the dark lenses your pupils relax and dilate, thus allowing more harmful rays in - he says squinting into the sunlight is better for you

He was entirely correct in his advice.

Either UV protoective sunglasses or no sunglasses at all.

How long is a piece of string?

I know people retired in Thailand on a fund that I would not be able to sleep nights through worry. They seem to be as happy as Larry.

There are two problems I see with retiring on the minum visa requirement.

1. What happens as inflation eats in to your lifestyle.

2. What happens if you settle with a younger woman and along comes the younger woman's needs.

I take the view, retire in Thailand on what you need to retire back home and live very much better in Thailand, with the option, because you can afford it, of going elsewhere if the need arrises.

The problem with all this 'Racial Identification' is that often ignores racial mixes. Very few people are purely the race they thing they are. So you might believe grandma was Irish, but she may not have been.

Then when you add race, into normal family genetics you run up against the errors that occur in understanding due to the fact that the world over significant numbers of children are not the natural child of the father raising them - (that excludes where the father is aware of the fact).

So what's left is a soup over which nobody has any control.

As always, I give this advice as if it were answering a general question that anyone might ask, I say this because firstly others may read this as a guide to their own thinking and secondly because I do not want the comments I make to be considered a judgment on the person asking the question.

If you were single, I’d say go for it.

As you are married, and your wife is not Thai, I’d say look into all the implications for both of you.

The advice often given is, do not invest in Thailand that which you cannot afford to loose. The reason for that is lack of rights and protections foreigners have in Thailand. That is something for you both to consider.

Likewise and moreso, a married woman who is not herself Thai, but who’s husband is moving a substantial share of their marital wealth to Thailand (Off shore in general) needs to think very carefully about the rights she is loosing.

The risks to a western women moving to Thailand with her husband and life's savings are not to be ignored. (That is not a judgement, but an observation)

My personal advice would be that at 40 years old, and on the assumption that you are not going to give up life in the US and move to America right now, I’d put my money elsewhere. Probably into property back home or at least into something you can keep an eye on and for which you enjoy the protections of your own legal system.

As an investment, property in Thailand that you do not occupy yourself, strikes me as a Risk. Money invested elsewhere with less risk can do a lot better.

I’d also observe influences are passing elsewhere in the world - Cuba’s not long off being opened back up again!

(Mod: Samran - edit to this post 15/4)

I don't know but I assume that following the common decency of not advertising/promoting the other forums would be all that is required.

It gets a bit of a thin line if, for example, someone asks a specific question for which a specialist answer is available elsewhere - Posting the link seems sensible but may cross the line on advertising the other site. (after all, copying from elsewhere and pasting into TV would be contravening copyright)

That said, I come across a lot of references to TV elsewhere.

I guess common courtesy of not deliberately advertising is all that matters and common sense on the part of poster/moderator.

The real offenders are usually easily spotted.

I make the following comments on the back of my own experience of getting help with a long term medical condition, firstly in Thailand, then back home followed by traveling globally with health problems.

I think there are a number of issues that need to be addressed as early as possible.

The first is getting an assessment of your current health and a medical opinion on how that is likely to progress in the medium to long term. Doing so will at least give you and fuller understanding of what lies ahead.

Where to go for such an assessment is a personal choice, my choice would be to go back home. I say this because I have had need to use the Thai medical system for a serious illness that needed a spell in an ICU followed by long term care. My experience was that while Thai doctors are extremely good at diagnosis and physical treatment; they are extremely poor at dealing with the emotional and psychological side of serious illness. There are also cultural issues relating to how we all deal with illness, the way illness is explained to us and the way medical staff respond to the concerns of the people they are treating.

Where ever you go for your assessment, get a full write up that will follow you, especially if you are traveling back to Thailand. (Make sure that is discussed and recorded in you notes, I have had difficulty getting medical records released to Thailand from the UK – Don’t take it for granted).

If, and I presume you are, planning to continue to live in Thailand then the next thing I would do is start the search for a doctor with whom you can relate and in whom you feel you have trust. I believe that a key to getting good long term treatment for any chronic illness is to have trust and good communication with the doctor who is treating you. When the doctor I found who met my needs of trust and communication moved hospitals to another town 20Kms away, I moved all my records to his hospital and traveled to his new hospital for all my check-ups and treatment. When I visit Thailand, twice a year, I make a point of visiting him for a full check-up and assessment. Trust, communication and a valued opinion – A critical issue.

Join the Alzheimer society http://www.alzheimers.org.uk, you’ll find all manner of help, discussion and support available from people who absolutely understand what you are facing.

Next, deal with the legal and financial side of your illness.

I know I go on about this, but I would start with making a living will that gives directions for your financial and legal care should you become unable to care for yourself.

You will need to give some thought as to where you shall domicile any wealth you have. This is going to have to be given a lot of thought. I would not be happy placing my livelihood under Thai law, especially if, as you say, you wife is from a poor farming background. She, and you could become prey to fraud and theft of the money and wealth you both need. Perhaps a slim chance, but it exists as do a host of problems your wife may have with challenging authority.

On the other side of that coin, leaving money and wealth back home under more secure legal control, needs to be planned carefully to ensure that if/when trustees of your affairs need to act, they have the information and clear guidance of your wishes. Ensuring that your wife is not prejudiced, while not exposed to risk of being bled dry by others is a difficult line. I really think a lawyer back home would be the best choice.

NEVER EVER, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS GIVE POWER OF ATTORNEY TO A THAI LAWYER.

If your financial position allows, perhaps you should provide your wife with immediate security of a home, and provide you both with a steady income coming in from overseas. The income from overseas needs to be addressed early if you are taking the advice of leaving your wealth back home. Addressing this early ensures your wife doesn’t have to deal with it at a later date – she may have difficulty doing so, or those helping her may take advantage of her lack of knowledge on how these things work.

Finally Pensions, Insurances, Carer’s Allowances.

Take some time to review all your pension and insurance schemes (if any), including state pensions. Have you contacted them with your “Statement of Wishes”? These are the instructions on what to be done with your pensions and payouts on your death. Do this in a statement of wishes, not a will. Give a copy of your pension details to your Lawyer (Back home!!) and discuss how he can help ensuring your wife continues to get the money that is her right under your pensions – Do Not Forget your State Pension.

If you are British Contact the Citizens Advice Bureau and ask about Carer Allowances your wife may be entitled to. – Some of these are payable overseas.

And one more thing (after the Finally).

Talk to the Alzheimer Society and see if they have any information and help that may be useful for your wife and her family. She too needs to understand what she is facing, what is going to be expected of her and what provisions you have put in place for her and her family. I am quite certain they will have some advice and help available.

You may also find some Thai language books on the subject that your wife could read up on.

I hope this helps, I wish you and your family the best of luck and an observation if I may.

Nothing in life, no matter how bitter, comes alone.

I take the general assumption that Thailand attracts more than its fair share of shady characters, on that basis I wouldn't invest with expats in Thailand.

Please don't anybody take that personally, I'm referring to the other guy(s)

Consultant Engineer with an International Engineering Consultancy in Process Eingeering; Oil, Gas, Petrochem and Pharma.

The device works by creating a phase difference between the current and the voltage.

This phase lag interferes with the meter's measuring circuit, it will also intefere with the operation of ellectronic and electical equipment in the house.

The device can itself heat and catch fire.

I'd stay clear of it if I were you.

Your wife's will should clearly state that she leaves the house to your son, and that she wishes you to manage the property and affairs of your son. She should also state that she wishes to give you the right to live in and have use of the house while raising your child. Adding a statement along the lines of 'I wish my child to be raised by his father in the home we have shared together as a family, I wish my son to contine to have the security and comfort we intended for him when we bought our family home'.

This makes a clear distinction that your wife wishes you and your son to have use of the home for the best interest of your son, and makes it all the more difficult for A.N. Other to claim to be acting in the best interest of your son - by 'kindly offering to relieve you of the worry and responsibility'.

I would suggest that you pay the price and get a good BKK law firm to draught this will.

The question you need to ask is.

If the Bht/GBP rate falls lower than it is now can you sustain the payment?

You have a commitment to meet, saving money is of course preferable, but can you risk the Bht/GBP rate going lower? If not, then pay and forget the money you 'might have save', weigh it against 'not meeting the commitment'.

You do not say if you have bought the land yet?

If not, then I would advise you consider the capital you have and how best it might be distributed, importanly as you wisely (and responsibly) state, 'How do you protect your children from being disinherrited?'

I don't think there is any way in Thai law that you can do this as Thailand has not trust law and therefore the wealth of minors is 'managed' by individuals under very lax legal controls (Lax to the point of not existing).

Start by considering, do you have a private/company pension from back home and can you contact the Trustees of your pension with a statement of wishes. If you have such a pension your children will almost certainly be entitled to a child's pension after your death (until they are 18). You may also ask, in your expression of wishes that lump sums (if any) are placed in trust for your children.

Take a look at Pensions, Insurance, Savings back home and speak with a Solicitor back home.

Leave wealth you want to protect BACK HOME and protect it with a Will - A will BACK HOME.

Do Not bring wealth you want to protect to Thailand or control that wealth with a will from Thailand.

If you also make a will in Thailand, expressly state that the will only covers wealth in Thailand and that wealth outside of Thailand is covered by a will, outside of Thailand.

If possible make two or three younger members of your family executors of the will and provide detailed instructions in a letter attached to your will describing how you want your children to be provided for. Do not put your pension, or insurance payouts in your will - Use the expression of wishes provided by the pension and insurance companies. (Saves problems with tax and worse still Lawyer Fees).

Don't forget to check your children's rights under a state pension you may hold.

When you've dealt with pension and insurance consider how much cash savings you have and are they sufficient to buy the land/house you want AND provide a fund (controlled from outside of Thailand) for your children?

If so leave that money BACK HOME and write a will BACK HOME, do not bring this money you are saving for your children to Thailand and consider taking up one of the Child Saving Options (Usually used for saving for University Fees and hence very favourable in terms of taxes). - See other threads on Wills.

If you do not have sufficient funds to buy land, AND leave a fund for your children, consider buying a smaller plot of land, not buying land at all, only buying a house etc to leave some funds back home.

Keep in mind that even a seemingly small fund, say of GBP5000 would, if invested in a tax free investment scheme, very likely provide a very generous nest egg 18 ~21 years from now.

University/College Fees at 18 and a nest egg at around 28 is not a bad mix.

If you are from the UK. Growth ISAs are available, tax free and suited for just this kind of investment.

This is not an easy problem to resolve, but you are entirely right to address it now. I'd also say your are acting with responsibility.

I think this is an issue anyone with children to a Thai wife in Thailand needs to address, especially if they have significant age difference, absolutely if their wife has a child/children from a former marriage.