GuestHouse

just look at the success such people have in the Thai entertainment industry where good looks are at a premium.

Or perhaps, its because of the numbers of luek Krueng/Chinese in the media/advertising that ethnic Thais have adopted and admiration of that esthetic.

Media around the world attracts and is attracted to imigrant populations and that in tern promotes an new set of esthetic values.

White kids in the UK follow the esthetic of black Americans.... Media and advertising jump on what is new, what is unusual and thereby spread a trend.

I knew it was a scam when..... my Thai lawyer asked me to sign the Power of Attorney...

Like all generalizations, it is based to some extent on truth.

But then what is truth when it comes to looks?

Here's a story that illustrates the problem.

My sister and two friends came over to visit me in Rome from New York, she's been living there almost all her life, I left a long time ago.

Anyhow, we were discussing TV programs and my favourite US TV Program came up. "CSI Miami" - Everyone was taking the p1ss out of me for liking the program.

After laughing about 'nobody holds a flash light that way' - I eventually said, in a hope of adding some serious critical notes to the conversation, "well at least its the one US TV Program that has an ugly guy in the lead role" (The guy who plays Horatio has serious ginger tendencis ... U.G.L.Y.

My sister and her friends could not believe what I had said - The guy who plays Horatio is aparently a perfect fit for the US sense of good looks.

So it isn't a family thing - you like people who look like your family, but it is a culture thing.

I do think that many (by no means all) foreigners sell themselves short on the Thai woman front, but that more to do with background, education etc and that is a whole new topic.... which usually degenerates into abuse.

Mrs GH, I might add is stunningly beautiful.

Jeez, I'm glad you don't live next to me.

We're a tidy lot, so I don't think rubbish would bother you... but I bet it wouldn't be long until something else did.

I believe there are clauses in the land acts that specifically and unambiguously prohibit the use of a company as a means of foreigners owning land.

I bought mine in Edinburgh about ten years ago. And is is quite and encyclopedia. Check what Amazon UK have to say about it, the sales text changes across countries.

Well if you consider 850 GBP a load then up to you.. This is just a diversion for beer tokens, my real gambling (read investments) pulled in about 1 mil baht a week for the last 2 months (200k USD +-) so 850 GBP is hardly a worry...

I've learned to take such claims with a pinch of salt, especially when found on internet boards... not that I doubt the veracity of this particular poster you understand...

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Here's an observation though. My website takes about ten hours a week of my time, it makes me pocket money. Any income from the internet is going to take a lot of input hours, you'll wind up sitting infront of a PC rather than at the job you are doing now.

The other point to make is, internet business can be done from almost everywhere, so the place to start is from home before taking two risks - giving up work for a start-up and moving to Thailand. Start from home and see how it goes.

And finally, internet businesses that rely on use of the mail work very well in the west (the Royal Mail in the UK attribute a 30% rise in parcel post to E-bay!!). However, using the mail in Thailand is not such an easy option, taxes/back-handers and theft can put a huge dent in proffits.

I have a copy of the Oxford Dunden Pictorial, not cheap but very good, above all accurate translations.

Its not about taking risks Rishi, its about taking measured risks.

As I say, I would be delighted to hear that the rates of sucess for foreigner start-ups in Thailand even match the failures - I suspect very few break even and most spiral into debt.

The advice I, and others have given, are cautionary, they are not anti risk, they are anti being ripped off.

This guy is discussing (and he is discussing, so alternative views are allowed) moving to Thailand with his life's savings and going into business in what is accepted as perhaps the most risky of businesses for a foreigner to go into.

The advice not to bring money into Thailand that you cannot afford to loose is sound.

I know of nobody in their forties who can afford to loose their life's savings.

As for businesses that are sucessful. I'd like to see the actual figures for start-ups that go/fail in Thailand - I suspect it makes depressing reading. (I would love to be proven wrong).

But here is another observation. Businesses that do well, do so because of their hardwork/imagination/flare etc of the person who starts the business (and their staff). The actual amount of start-up capital, is not a significant factor in sucess. e.g. Richard Branson started with GBP100, a carboard box full of tapes/records and the use of a public phone box outside Reading Station.

If an idea is going to make money, it needs hard work - not your life's savings.

Recently Redundant. Recently Bereaved, Recently Divorced.

The best advice is CONSOLIDATE get back into your normal life, get back to work, get saving and give yourself time to think.

If GBP100K is all your life's savings then the very last thing you should be doing is bringing them to Thailand - YOU WILL LOOSE YOUR MONEY.

OK. I might be wrong in a very very few cases, but the general rule is true - Don't bring money to Thailand you can't afford to loose. None of us can afford to loose our life's savings.

I also think 43 is the age you should be making money, not the age to spend money.

or accidentally catch fire, like that TG-737 flight he was due to catch, just after he was first elected. Fortunately the FBI (?) confirmed that is was just an accident - and nothing personal

I was at the airport when this happened and I saw the damaged aircraft.

The Official line was that the aircraft caught fire during refueling.

A fuel fire would have started around the fuel tanks (under the fusilage and wings) and would have burned until the aircraft was completely gone.

The damaged I witnessed was a bl00dy big hole in the front upper starboard passagenger section.

Very consistant with something 'happening' in the luggage compartment of the fist class section....

The 'accident occurred at a time the aircraft was scheduled to be airborn, but the flight had been delayed by the late arrival of the CEO.

Oddly that ties up with the first reports of a bomb which were very quickly hushed up.

I'd very much rather the CEO did fly on his aircraft, I have no desire to become collataral damage...

My advice is 'Play the Game'.

Take your plans to the local authority and speak to the approved architect, ask him to advise on how to get your plans approved. Offer the plans and ask him if they seem OK to him and if he is able to offer advice and/or would he be prepared to make any alterations to the drawings to bring them into line.

He'll no doubt be glad to help and then approve 'his' plans.

So what was the story with that property sales guy that was shot dead on Phuket a couple of months back?

All speculation, calls for calm and not to speculate.... but we never heard a thing.. another Thailand news item that went cold.

So anyone fill me in with what was the story behind this.. and has anybody been arrested?

(on the off chance )

I think there is a missunderstanding here, the issue is not simply how can this be done, rather what are the risks.

The golden rule on investment is to remeber all three parts to the equation.

Investment

Return on Investment

Risk

Then remember the golden rule of investing in Thailand, Don't take money into Thailand you can't afford to loose.

It concerns me that many of the overseas press property sections are publishing information about the property boom in Thailand's Islands, they skip over the legal problems and I strongly suspect that they get their information ONLY from the local property dealers.

From an investment point of view, I would stick my money in the stock market back home.

So come on, give us the school gossip....

Gentleness, grace, politeness, lack of beligerence while still able to express themselves, a willingness to give at least as much as they receive...

My own experience of western women suggests these are traits you can find anywhere, they are not merely found in Asian/Thai women.

However, it is to be remembered that relationships are a two sided equation.

so is it true then that a lot of men from Europe or the US prefer to come to Asia and choose a bride rather than go through the 'normal' process of finding a girlfriend in their homeland???? Just curious.

I had been in Thailand 6 years when I met the Thai woman I married, it was getting a bit too much travelling back to the UK to find the right girl, and I took the view that the chances of me finding the right girl during a two week R&R trip to blighty were slim.

I think the actual figures for issued visas versus applications is around 95%, that figure does not include people who withdraw their application ...

So 5% get refused.

I played HTG (Hard to Get) it took her the best part of four years to get a date from me and a further two to get me to agree to marry her.

Like I always tell her, the best things in life are worth waiting for.....

I once sneaked out and cut the wires to the temple speakers that are located on a pole right outside my sweet mother-in-law's house.

I figured, not a very respectful act, but then <deleted> has Thai pop music blasting out at 5:00 am got to do with Buddhism?!

That was over three years ago and they haven't fixed the wiring yet... perhaps I did the neighbours a favour....

You need all the usuall visa stuff plus parental permission to travel Essential Travel Documentation for Single Parents

The document above has been compiled with legal advice and used successfully by many parents.

I'd also suggest that you register your child with the British Embassy and get him/her a British Passport as soon as possible, it will undoubtedly come in handy in the future and is one of those.... "I'll do it later" ... things that never get done later and then suddenly become a huge problem.

Before you buy land from anyone else go into each of the local banks and ask them what land they have for sale in the area. Then go to the court office and ask them what land they have for sale in the area.

That will at least give you an idea of prices in the area, it might turn up a bargain (and land bought from banks and courts is secure in the ownership - not always the case of land bought from Somchai)

If you are buying land, pay one shot, one day. Non of this pay half now nonsense. A year from now the price may well have changed and/or the first payment completely forgotten.

Before you buy any land, get the title inspected, confirm that it has not been used as collateral on a debt and agree who is paying taxes.

As a general note land held under the title of a Chanote Deed is what you should be looking for.

I'd start straight away and speak to a lawyer regarding custody and how to go about recording the abuse your daughter suffered at the hands of her mother's family.

You can pre-empt any problems by getting in there first.

Well done for acting in the best interests of your daughter, best of luck to you both and of course to your dad, who I believe is giving a huge helping hand.

The message that custody with dad is as good for a child, and often better, than custody with mother is a message that seldom gets heard.

GH

Not from the UK I know, but just to put a scale on these things. My Italian Bank charge me a flat rate of Euro12 and I pay Bht500 at the receiving end.

I always transfer in my local currency and convert to Bht in Thailand, seems be a better rate if I do.