GuestHouse

GuestHouse, that is outrageous your friend needed a police report to cancel the stolen card. Which credit card is that and when did that happen? For my Thai credit card, all it takes is a single phone call to a call center that operates 24 hours a day (but not toll-free).

I've just asked and she tells me SCB, and she absolutely needed a police report before they would cancel the card.

I've not had a problem with my credit cards in Italy, but I caught a guy trying to pick my pockets on the H bus in Rome and a lot of stuff disapears out of the office.

Pick-pockets and theives in Restaurants/Cafes and seemingly offices too are a real problem here.

If I thought I needed to keep an account secret from my wife I would not have married her.

And here's an observation - I NEVER TRUST PEOPLE WHO LOCK THINGS AWAY.

Take care of stuff/money for sure, locking it away secretly - get some help and don't get married until you have.

Hi Amila, and welcome to TV,

For practical advice on Thailand with children take a look at Thailand4Kids . It is written for families going on holiday but has a lot of basic information you will find useful.

With regards to visas, there are a number of requirements that need to be met, firstly as you are a single parent emmigrating with children you need to address parental permission to travel (Thailand4Kids has a chapter on that) secondly there is the visa itself.

Your children, as your dependents, will be given automatic visas, so long as you meet the visa requirements. There are a number of options, depending upon your age, nationality and how you want to stay in Thailand. I therefore think the question on visas should probably be best posted in the Visa Section. If you state more personal details there, you will get a more accurate answer.

The term is 'Kitsch'.

But my credit card issuing Thai bank says I am protected. They don't seem to like to advertise it publicly though.

They said they'd require a proof if any of the transaction on the statement is not mine but I don't know how you prove a shopping you didn't do. But isn't this procedure same with any credit card issued anywhere else in the world?

Does anyone have any first hand experience or heard of anyone whose credit card being fraudulently used and not been compensated for that by the Thai credit card company?

The reason I post this warning so often is because I have a very good friend who lost a great deal of money to a Thai Credit Card company over fraudulent use of her card.

The problem is, what constitutes 'proof' and what consitutes a 'report'.

She had her card stolen over a holiday weekend. She was responsible for every single charge between discovering the loss of her card, and presenting a police report (The actual paper report) at the bank. Her credit limit was substantial as she has a high paying job and a good credit history (Using the card on overseas expensed trips etc had racketted up her credit limit).

She had called the emergency number and they had told her they could do nothing until she filed a report. Think of that over a holiday weekend!

Compare that with my UK Credit card.

Twice in twenty years I have experienced fraudulent use, both times I only discovered this after receiving my statement, and on one occassion this was two months after the fraud (I was travelling on business).

I called the bank, the imediately cancelled the card, placed the charges on 'hold-contested' and removed them as soon as they received my written statement that I had not authorized the usage.

I would not even consider a Thai credit card - What they call protection, pittiful when compared to a card from back home.

Odd you should post that because I was only thinking yesterday how often people on TV run other's down for having an idea, wanting to work, looking for an idea/work.

It seems that nothing would please people some people less than to see someone else get on in life.

(Why I always assume such respondents are British is another story).

And again - BE AWARE - A US/UK/Eurpoean credit card will provide you with protection against fraudulent use - You only need demonstrate that you did not give permission for the withdrawls and the credit card company will refund the theft.

A THAI credit card does not have this protection.

Fraudulent use on a Thai credit card is down to the card holder.

I don't know about in Thailand but in the UK prenuptual agreements are worthless - claims that they have been accedpted under common law are wrong.

I can confirm that is total B0ll0cks.

Perhaps Patex is missing a point.

While a house is still owned in the UK it is possible to return to the UK if things don't work out in Thailand.

This is known as 'Not Burning Your Bridges'.

If after a few years you find yourself settled and content with your life in Thailand you can sell and re-invest.

My first apartment in Farang Land took all of my money - ALL OF MY MONEY.

I had no money for bus fares, nights out with the lads – Holidays where a distant dream.

Once a week I’d treat myself to a bottle of cheap wine. I thought life was going to be one round of constant debt.

When I did get on top of that debt, I started paying into my pension and then moved up the property ladder (with more debt).

Half a life later – I’m looking at early retirement and genuine financial independence in my old age.

In between time I’ve had a riot of fun, hard work, a career and all the things that keep us busy in life.

Not some one off story, but a story repeated time and time again and the reason you’re your parents are giving you the advice they have.

Thailand is a great place to spend money – It is very rarely (extremely rarely) a place for foreigners to make money.

There is a second consideration.

You are moving now from earning a living, to retirement and living off investments and perhaps pensions. This requires an absolute understanding that the capital and pensions you have, are irreplaceable – You need, above all things, to maintain control over and security of the capital that is providing your retirement income.

If you have a pension held under trustees in the UK then that is a very secure investment (Despite all the scaremongering on pensions, once ‘In Payment’ Pensions are very secure).

You need to think extremely carefully about what you want to do with the rest of your capital. I would warn against taking it all to Thailand – Once your money is in Thailand it is at very much greater risk than in it would be in the UK.

Agree with your wife what you need to take to Thailand (Money to buy a property/car/household goods etc) and then leave the rest invested in the UK.

Talk to a financial advisor there are a number of good secure savings vehicles that will give you an income. If you are quick you can invest GBP 14,000 in tax free ISA’s this month and another GBP14,000 next month. But you’ll need to get on to that financial advisor now.

Make your initial capital purchases with cash but make subsequent purchase out of income you derive from your capital (Decide a monthly budget for a expenditure in Thailand with a little extra to accrue savings for the extras you might need – holidays etc)

Remember every time you draw capital you are reducing future income.

Remember too that prices in Thailand are rising – Faster than in the UK. So you need to talk to a financial advisor about securing a retirement income that can cope with the price increases and that will last for as long as you will – perhaps longer if you are providing a pension for your wife after your death.

Do Not Forget the wisest of words – Never Take Money to Thailand that You Cannot Afford to Loose.

You cannot afford to loose the capital that is providing your retirement income.

So DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAPITAL TO THAILAND.

Leave it in the UK and live in Thailand off the Income (not the capital)

How much are other family members paying into the pot?

I think this is a good question.

My time in Thailand has been spent working so that kept me on my toes so to speak. But I still found that I needed to be doing something else to keep the old brain active.

Studying Thai is of course an obvious choice, but I also joined the foreign correspondents club in BKK and the Siam Society. Both have meetings and lectures on a wide range of subjects.

A hobby can help too. Mine are art based, drawing, painting, photography - something I have always done and something I have always been able to slip into when I have a few spare moments.

It goes both ways of course.

My wife organized lunch at our home here in Rome this past Saturday. Among the guests was a Thai lady working for the UN, the she and my wife sat chatting about politics until late into the evening. They are out for lunch again today.

If you're the kind of person that enjoys interlectual discussion/challenges then I believe they are become extremely important to your happiness and well being where ever you might be.

My advice is as follows:

You have capital from the sale of your convenience store. You also have a house (I presume fully paid for). I don’t know but I presume you may also have other wealth, for example a pension.

The fact is that your wealth is not entirely your own. It is both yours and your wife’s.

I see the first issue is your transition to Thailand. You will presumably buy a property/business in Thailand. I also presume that you understand that the purchase can be via a company (which you control) or through a lease (purchased in your wife’s name but leased for 30 years to you –giving you tenure).

My first piece of advice is. Insist that any property you purchase in Thailand is bought in your wife’s name but leased to you for 30 years – place a reasonable monthly lease fee of say Bht5000~6000.

This achieves many positive things for both of you.

It protects your wife on two fronts:

If you divorce she has the right to receive a rent from you that will keep her.

If you die, she has the property, either to use or to sell.

It protects you on three fronts:

If you divorce you maintain tenure (should you wish to maintain Tenure)

If you divorce you can present the Property Title in a court back home as evidence that your wife has a property in Thailand – therefore protecting your rights to keep your house back home.

If your wife dies you can keep tenure (should you so wish).

It does something else too – If, for any reason whatsoever, your wife objects to you having a lease on the property you buy in her name – Alarm bells should be ringing loudly in your ears.

Having bought your wife a property in the Thailand, you need to consider what to do with your property in the UK.

My first advice would be rent for at least two years – You have not yet settled in Thailand and you do not yet know if you will settle permanently – Things change, so don’t burn your bridges too early.

So rent, and perhaps make your daughter in the UK the manager of the rental, with her receiving a fee for her help.

At sometime in the future consider the rental value versus the capital and whether you want to sell and invest elsewhere.

If you sell look to secure an income for your youngest daughter, an income for your wife and perhaps start capital for your daughter to get on the property ladder – or even to establish her own pension. (Starting a young person with a pension is a great way of helping them out)

Note: If you have bought property in Thailand, this is owned outright by your wife.

You need to protect you youngest daughter with her own income - secured in the UK (not under control of your wife – incase she remarries).

I would also tie your youngest daughter’s income to measurable and controllable issues – i.e. She should receive school fees paid to the school. Extra Income tied to attendance at the school. Extra Income for staying on past the minimum statutory school age (Beyond M3) and money held back for university.

All this can be provided for in a will controlled by an executor in the UK.

To summarize:

You buy your wife property in Thailand

You can use a lease to protect you and your wife in Thailand

You use the wealth in your house to provide an income in the event of your death for:

Your wife

A protected income for your youngest daughter

Start Capital for your eldest daughter

Remember too that your wife has income from your pension when that comes into payment.

Private Tutor if you can find one. My wife is teaching our children and commented that she wasn't happy with the Piano Schools she checked in Thailand (mostly run from music shops).

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has learned a language. During the initial stages of learning we learn to express our selves in the superlatives. Good/Bad, Fantastic/Awfull etc. You can hear this in the conversation of people with very little common langauge.

Which brings an interesting point.

How does this impact relationships where neither has learned the other's language?

What are you telling us OP.

You moved to Thailand because you are a low income guy back home and because you can get a girlfriend in Thailand?

Perhaps Thailand is good for you.

But are you good for Thailand?

I'd recommend having a look at some of the very sothern provinces in particular Trang, all the plusses of the more popular Phuket without the Phuket price tag. There are still some cheaper places around Krabi or better still go over on the other coast to Songkhla.

I have to agree with you on Pattaya. I spent seven years living in Narklua (adjacent to Pattaya), I occassionaly have to go there on business but I keep my visits to the shortest possible amount of time. My views on the place would probably be extremely offensive to a number of people here, so I'll leave at agreeing Noel.

One Man's Meet and all that...

Singapore will not give dependent pass to SEA nationals without legal marriage.

Not the full story

When I moved from Thailand to Singapore my, then fiancee, moved with me and she received a Long Term Social Visitors Pass which she then converted to a Dependents Pass when we married. Her application was supported by my employers.

The catogory to look at is Long Term Social Visitor.

Keeping my answer within the TV rules on use of language I can only say.

Jolly good luck old chap. You have had the great fortune to discover the truth early in your marriage to this lady whose virtue I would not dare to question.

I could have been worse, she might have been enjoying the fruits of her youth in the UK while you were at work. A divorce there would have cost you dearly.

Break all contact with this woman forthwith, change your phone number, cast your address book in the trash and make no further contact.

You are truly blessed that she has departed, do not let such blessings go un attended.

Just read your post out to my wife who is a graduate in archaeology, she was half asleep but she had no idea what you were referring to but is very interested to find out - so please expand on that point.

Ask your wife who the famous Thai archiologists are, and consider who among them might have an opinion that could be construed as infallible.

everyone also has the right to know about their history!

Indeed.

Now go find out where past capitals of Thailand have been located and find out why one particular archiological study, while demonstratedly wrong remains a standard text at Thai universities and why questioning the text can land the critic in prison.

Nobody is disputing that Thailand has an excellent record on literacy. I hope nobody is claiming Thais are in anyway less inteligent than anyone else.

But to deny that the Thai educational system is manipulated is not tennable.

Take some time and look into the influence of the Thai military in the educational system.

Not just the educational system but also TV, Radio and importantly the news.

The Thai military have seats on all government bodies dealing with information and education, up to an including the board of film sensors.

To my mind the issue is not one of learning and memorizing facts. It is the lack of critical thought.

As I have said above, I believe that to be a deliberate policy of the Thai education system.

A student given the tools of Critical Analysis need not be taught facts since he/she has to tools to self learn.

As Opthai rightly says, and as many here have commented - it has nothing to do with inteligence and everything to do with education methods.

As for history - Odd this should come up, because, history is perhaps the one single subject that teaches us to examin sources, examin context and interpret what has been handed down to us.

It is entirely upto you wether your choose to pay a Dowry or not. However, don't let this opportunity pass you by - You should grasp the chance to discuss money while the subject is being discussed.

Not just the Dowry, but how much are you expected to pay towards the upkeep of your beloved's parents?

And don't leave it at 'How much are you expected to pay?'. Take it further, ask how much each family member is expected to pay into the pot.

Get and understanding of exactly how far you are willing to streatch to help out - Who is, and who is not to be included under the umbrella of your largese.

Agree a number, include that in the housekeeping you give your wife and then STICK TO IT.