GuestHouse

Gentlemen please.

To respect and support (as I do) TV's right and indeed duty to ensure that content on TV does not transgress Thai law is wholly correct. But it is an entirely different matter to go further and revel in delight at the presense and practice of censorship.

To not court problems by removing references to a book that 'may offend' is one thing, but to join in the condemnation of that book is quite something else, particularly so since noone outside of the Author and Publisher has read the book.

To express blind cristicism (blind because you have not read the book) does nothing for the argument you would put forward, it is by deffinition ignorance.

As I say, I've ordered my copy, I very much forward to reading it. I might have something to say condeming or extoling the book, but only after I have read it.

And, here's the rub, I don't expect anyone else to have to read it. I don't, unlike censors, have any desire to control what anyone else reads. And I am extremely suspicious of the motives of people who feel they need to join in censorship as if it were a duty.

We view other parts of the world and wonder who are these people parading around burning flags and making death threats over a cartoon, and yet here among us we have people who would, I strongly suspect, be happy to do the same.

Good business practice, yes. Duty of a private individual, no I do not think so.

Given the subject, which was a banned book not banned Pravda, I am not surprised the thread was removed. If the police are already blocking access to the book elsewhere then to leave the thread up is courting trouble.

I'd like to say that I was surprised, but I was not, when I read that some members where themselves trashing the book (that has not been published yet) perhaps in the belief that doing so makes them more loyal to Thailand.

Whatever, I've ordered a copy and look forward to reading it, but I shalln't be brining a copy to Thailand in my luggage - for the very same reasons that ThaiVisa don't want links to blocked websites being added into this forum.

A sensible precaution, that's all, nothing sinister and as Wolfie says done in the best interest of members who rely on access to this website being available.

I lived and worked in Thailand for 12 years (full expat deal with a major international corporation).

I left for greener pastures when my employers cut the deal and have not looked back on that decision with any thing but the knowledge that we did the right thing.

It's not what is good for me, it is also what is good for my wife, and she is thoroughly enjoying her life overseas. Opening her mind and view of the world.

We came back to Thailand for the first time in two years over Christmas, had a great time, visiting family and friends, spending time working on the land where we plan to retire. But it was when I met with old expat friends from the office that I realised how much life moves on.

You'll hear it said from time to time 'Guys who won't go home and guys who can't go home'. I met old (and not so old) friends like that, stuck in a what they regard as a comfort zone. Talking up the deal they are on, which I know is crap because I have a copy of the deal, and constantly jostling for position so as not to be the top of the demob list.

You want an expat job in Thailand? Think long and hard about it.

I love Thailand, we have some very good friends in Thailand (including I'm pleased to say one member and his wife here on Thai Visa). I thoroughly enjoyed most of my experiences working there, and we plan to retire in Thailand but my experience of Thailand was that of a professional expat, and there are aspects of professional expat life in Thailand that I don't like and I am very pleased to be away from.

Too often guys are too desperate to stay, and it is at that point things in Thailand turn for the worst.

I rented in on a smalll Thai housing estate in Narklua for many years. All the neighbours except one was Thai, he happend to come from my home town but we were forty years apart in age and I had never known him back home.

The soi we were on (12 houses) was spotless, in no small part due to my Farang Neighbour who swept the place clean on a regular basis. It wasn't long before the Thais where doing the same.

He's been dead now for over three years, but when I visited his family over Christmas the soi was still spotless, it seems an expectation had been set by example.

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However, not wanting to risk the theory, we're building smack in the middle of our plot with a clear 45 meters between any wall on our house and any part of any neighbours property. I shall maintain the ground between us as a buffer zone, cleverly disguised as a garden.

I think that sums it up nicely.

For my part, on the basis of my own knowledge of water treatment and the advice of the water treatment professionals I work with I do not drink RO water and I certainly would not drink demin water.

I drink bottled mineral water and when I eventually get my place built (fished), I'll be putting a 80 meter bore hole down and drinking that (micro filtered and regularly tested).

I work in Oil & Gas/Chemi/Pharma, my O&G is not specific to Offshore, but what I can tell you is that jobs in Thailand, when they come up, are looking for experience and if you are freelancing as oposed to already working for one of the end users/main contractors then you'll be up against the local expat job mafia.

OK its not a mafia with guns, but the real money jobs in Thailand are pretty much tied down.

My advice would be go to www.oilandgasjobsearch.com and see what is available world wide. You'll probably decide, as most do, that the best option is follow the money and then R&R in Thailand.

I'd add I did over twelve years in Thailand and quit to go elsewhere when my employers offered me a reduced deal - I have not looked back. Working in Thailand is competative, and the deals are getting worse.

You never see any bad comedy now, game-shows have taken over, and farang 'culture' aka Big Brother House) has been imported. News & documentaries are IMHO on the retreat.

And the idea of a consumer-rights programme never even made it off the drawing-board

That'd be consumer-rights program of the type that started in Farang Land would it?!

Farang Culture... its a whole pick'n mix, gets confusing sometimes.

I mentioned this to our process engineer who specialises in water projects. His comment was that he believes a significant risk to health in drinking de-ionized water is that de-ionized water will seek ions from whereever it finds them. De-ionized water will absobe very much higher levels of contaminates it comes into contact with.

So if you place d-ionized water into a, say a lead pipe, or a pipe joined with lead solder, it will absorbe more of the lead than normal water would.

Anyway, I think it has been demonstrated that De-ionized water should not considered as definately safe, and that this is not an urban myth....

I've a Thai/Chinese friend who runs a business in Sriracha, I've known him for 15 years, been doing business together on and off with out a hitch, a genuinely honest businessman.

Much the same as the guy who runs the hardware store I use.

I guess its who you meet and how you treat them as much as anything else.

It is not illegal - Provided they are charging all card users in the same manner.

A couple of years back I called Amex and Master Card, the both gave me the exact same asnwer.

I would not touch this with a barge pole.

I take this issue of fire safety very seriously and would suggest the fist thing you do when moving into a multiple occupation building is install smoke alarms in all your rooms.

I'd then get myself a means of breaking locks, be-it a crowbar or a heavy mallet.

We had a townhouse in Narklua, that upon inspection of the roof space, turned out to be in a single terrace fire trap, a fire in one building would have without doubt poured smoke along the whole terrace (Remember here that Thai furnature materials are the old style banned elsewhere because they are highly flammable and give off extremely toxic fumes)- Also, given the use of lofts as storage space, fire would have spread the same route.

Added to that the bars on all the windows, it was a death trap in the making.

"Thailand Safe" - There's an example of a hidden safety hazard that just doesn't show on the radar.

We installed smoke detectors in all rooms, including the loft, replaced the Electrical Fuses with modern Circuit Breakers and bought 'Break-out tools' which we kept in each room.

Remember, the time to think about a fire is not when you have a fire.... it's far too late by then

So Thaistick, what are you telling us, that you are loaded? Why are you telling us? What have you got to prove? And who have you got to prove it to?

Next time you are in Rome, send me a PM, I'll make a point of staying in doors so I don't run the chance of meeting you down the Cotto - Hel_l I don't need to feel any lower down the social scale....

But why and I here? Why was I in NY, London, The Hague, Tokyo, Beijing, Bangkok, Singapore... How much was I getting paid to be there? ... that's another story, and I don't need to tell anyone, I have nothing to prove.

I do have one thing I doubt needs much proof, and that is people who make claims like $1500 profit a day on penny shares are usually talking out of their bottoms (to be polite).

It’s just a gut feeling, traveling around as I do, I get to meet a lot of Walter Mitty’s and I have to say, all the alarms are ringing.

Sorry, I should add, I'm not saying you don't make $1500 a day on your penny shares.... I just doubt it very much.

I wouldn't go as far as to call you a liar... Perhaps a dreamer... but liar would be too harsh.

Some good advice, especially from Steve and his warnings about exchange rates. I'll add the interest rate you need to consider is not 2.5% (the back home rate) but around 7~8% the Thailand inflation rate.

You also need to consider that your plan works for getting by now when you are young and fit... it will not work for long term when you have to consider the responsibilities of life that will inevitably come along.

And then one final point. What if things go wrong?

What if we have a change in the establishment that goes really anti foreigner, where are you going to go then?

Money is about one thing only - CHOICES and when I was in my early thirties I too was frustrated by the thought of having to work the way I was working for another 20 or 30 years... But, and this is the big but. In our 30s we have the energy and the outlook to take on a lot more than we do when we get to our 50s and 60s.

The choices you would like to make now are the choices you are going to need to make when you are older. Don't burn your chances for the future.

Our thirties are a time to be busy in life, building a future....Something I'm only beginning to realize now as I aproach my late 40s.

I was in Thailand and I made a special trip up north with a group of Thais and Expat from our office.

I have two memories of the trip.

One was the complete wonder at the eclipse itself, it is breath taking.

The other memory that will stay with me is that while I and the expats where watching the eclipse, the Thais among us where all down on their knees, faces in the dirt and hands heald above their heads wai-ing the bl00dy thing.

I doubt any of them actually saw the eclipse….

I would rethink the idea of running a bar if I were you.

Some people do make money running bars, lots and lots do not.

Again, thanks for the information Scouse.

I'll look into it as soon as I know what our mid term plans are.

You should make two wills, one in Thailand covering your assets in Thailand the other in the UK covering your assets in the UK.

You should also appoint an exectutor to the wills.

Here's a tip.

Make you will 'Fees Paid Up Front'. That is all the fees relating to the will are paid by you while you are alive.

Lawyers and Banks will offer you no fee wills that are often (but not always) paid for at the time of your death as a percentage of your estate. (You can see the sense in that can't you.... ) Jo Lawyer, but actually more often Jo Bank has a water tight investment in your wealth/house/savings/shares etc.

So - Rule No 1 (Fees Paid Up Front).

Now for your pensions.

You should not, absolutely should not, make any provisions for your pension within your will. There are two reasons why not.

Firstly your pensions are governed by trust laws, the pension trustees control your pension, not you. If you mension your pension in your will you are claiming it as an asset, which under trust law it technically is not - The Trustees Control your Pension, Not You. Getting that wrong could lead to tax problems - Not death duties, but taxes on all your tax free contribitions... Ouch!

The second reason is, while your pension fund is not part of you estate, if you mention it in you will it becomes part of your estate and then becomes subject to death duties.

What you should do is write an 'Expression of Wishes' to the trustees of your pension (Copy in the file you give to your executor).

Now be careful hear, you cannot rule out dependents, Again the Trustees control your pension not you. However, they do tend to follow your instructions. But keep it simple. ie Simple Percentages to each 'Dependent' starting with the major share going to your wife. Likewise for any lump sums payable under the pensions.

Did you see that word 'Dependent'. That means your wife, your child, any adopted child. It does not mean any other relatives but it might very well include an ex wife if she is still caring for a child under the age of 19 or who is still in full time education.

You should include a statement in your 'Expression of Wishes' regarding what you wish to happen if you AND your wife predecease your child. Almost certainly this should be placing the money in trust for the sole use of the child, you need to think carefully about that - See me earlier response to Advice on Wills

My advice is the provisions you have made for your property in Thailand seem sensible, but you need to re-think what you want to happen with your UK based wealth.

I certainly would not be giving pension funds to children without strings attached and I certainly would not make any Thai an exectutor to my will.

As for the difficulty of making wills, yes it is dificult, but you can make it easier by considering it is a chance to pass on your last wishes and feelings. I have made gifts in my will that seem on the outset small and senseless. A microscope for my son, some paintings for my daughter, a cycling racing trophy for a friend. What I know is these things have special meaning between us, and I have said "I want you my daughter, my son, my good friend to have this".

Wills are about taking care of the people we love.

Thanks Scouse, as usual, prompt and to the point.

I figure we might go for the Family Permit but then my big worry is that we either get posted back to the UK a couple of months after my wife's Spouses Visa has transpired or worse still get posted elsewhere away from the EU (Which is highly likely and would negate the chances of getting a Family Permit under the Treaty).

I've never heard of an 'Indefinate Leave Settlement Visa', but it could be the way forward if we do head off somewhere else before returning to the UK.

I'd add, it's not the cost, visa fees are covered in my T&C's of assignment, rather it's the whole uncertainty thing and being treated like a nomad.

Makes me wonder why ever we would want to go back in the first place..... Oh no... don't get me started.

Thanks again Scouse

GH

The time is fast approaching when we need to consider what to do about my wife's Pemanent Leave to Remain.

As I have said on this board before, we are currently in Italy (legally registered as resident here), but my wife also has a probationary UK spouses visa, which she used for 11 full months to remain in Thailand. She has two previous visitor visas to the UK and (just for demonstration sake, I'll mention she also has visas for Singapore where she lived with me before we went back to the UK)

The point I am illustrating is that my wife and I travel together as a part of my employment, I work for an international corporation that requires I travel for my job. And it is this that puts me at odds with the immigration rules (although perhaps not, hence my question).

My question is:

What is the boards opinion on the following plan.

We head back to the UK one month before my wife's earliest date of application for PLR, register ourselves for council tax etc and then I return to Italy, travelling back to the UK weekends.

I am aware that we can apply for a FREE family permit under the EU Treaty of Rome, indeed we used the Treaty to obtain free a free visa for my wife to come to Italy. However, the Family Permit requires a full five years in the UK to be convertable to a Permemant Leave to Remain.

Anyway, whatdoyouthink?

I am aware that there is no requirement to spend the full two years in the UK but I still feel that the rules do not openly support the growing number of people like me who genuinly work internationally.

I think if I was wanting to move a business to Asia, and assuming I've considered all the issues such as location of client base etc, I'd then be looking to remove as much uncertainty as I could.

For that reason I'd recommend Singapore - and I have worked on International Projects in Thailand. China, The Philppines, Vietnam, Japan and Singapore.

Singapore, just works - the whole system is set up to make your (the investor's) life easier and it starts on Day 1 when you apply for your visas - There is none of this 'We are doing YOU a favour'. It's 'Hey you want to do business here - Welcome, and welcome to your ideas too'.

I think if you are going to still choose BKK then perhaps recruiting Indo Siam as a consultant to get you started might be a good idea to get you past the first pitfalls.

And one other point - Is you business plan the kind of thing that could be copied by your staff - ie Client Lists copied, contract details copied?

If so and you are going to start-up in Thailand, expect someone in your organization to do just that. They might even join your organization with the sole purpose of copying it.

I don't find it so easy to ignore when it is platered on the back of a car being driven by a German.

When I was living in Narklua there was an art shop that was doing a good trade in paintings of Hitler, I asked who was buying them and was told Germans.

As for is the Swastika offensive (and please black Swasticka within a white circle and on a red background, is not and never has been a religious simbol). Well yes, I find it offensive and I explain to Thais why that is so when I c ome across it.

The Lord Buddha means little if nothing to most foreigners, but we should accept that it has meaning to Thais, likewise Mohammed, Chirst and any other symbol that holds special meaning.

The Swastika in the form above has been used as a simbol of the most perverse and vicous regime the modern world has known. It is not too much to ask that to be understood and accounted for.

One of the problems with these deals is there is an invetible distortion of the market.

Somewhere down the line someone (Probably Somchai Sansapatchapoobooaranasornachat - or one of his Chinese cousins) gets to decide the price of chicken.

And many a Baht slips between the paperwork.

What is your core business, running resorts of software?

If you are already running a software business I would suggest that you put your effort there.

The resort idea seems good but is a high user of two vital resources – Money and Time.

Something I do think might make money is ‘Service Offices’ for people who want to have a go at running a business but either do not have sufficient or do not want to make the commitment of moving funds to Thailand.

I start any business with a lot of reading to get a grip of the big issues, start with ‘Starting Up and Staying Up in Thailand’. Then buy a big bag of salt to go with all the other advice you will be given.

Listen, (in English so as to avoid any missunderstandings).

I wouldn't care what language she speaks to me in, the trick is to achieve a happy balance between not offending her (and in doing so offending your Mrs) and being on such good terms with her that she decides to move in with you and the Mrs.

The saying to remember is Blood is Thicker than water, that is true in the UK, it is certainly true in Thailand.

I'd keep things at the 'Sabai Dee Mai' level if I were you.

Anything much departed from that will either cost you Grief or cost your Money and Grief.