MichelBangkok

What would need to happen to have you questioning whether to continue living here?

47.98% total income tax on worldwide income plus enforced 19% VAT on goods and services like in my home country Germany

Same, same for income tax in my home country Canada, only VAT is 14%, but wait for property taxes, school taxes, and all the others !

Get a Yandex email account for free ! Based in Russia, better be spied by the russkies ( no offence intented - spaciba ) !

Sadly, the entire business ethics of Thailand, with its monopolies, cartels, isolationism and screwing any foreign partner, just doesn't fit in with the concept of free-trade and fair competition. The idea of a "level playing field" is just beyond their comprehension.

So True ! All of it...

NomadJoe has an excellent review and appreciation (ouch !) of the current 3G offers in this country. Thank's for summarizing the situation with such great clarity. Sadly, there is not much hope that the situation may improve given the trio-poly, yes three times a monopoly, as all three organizations are competing to keep/increase their respective market shares with their "new" offerings.

In the mean time, we will certainly monitor creative marketing strategies being implemented by each telco, but rapidly copied by the others, while pricing will not be one of the positive developments, if any. Just trying to get a clear picture of the real coverage of the three 3G networks in the country is a major undertaking. Yes, each provider produces its own mapping in beautiful colors, but it is extremely difficult, for example, to discover if you will have access to 3G or EDGE (or nothing at all) when in the Mae Rim mountains, north of Chiang Mai, unless you bring your equipment up there and give it a try. By the way, the results for this particular example were DTAC and AIS, no coverage or sometimes EDGE, and True Move some 3G, some of the times...

Very few countries are offering real unlimited 3G at full speed, their concern being network and cells capacity not being able to sustain so many simultaneous users at such speeds....for the time being !

"Integration" is a word that cannot be translated in Thai, as each separate agency or department works in an absolute "stand-alone" mode, so better not dream of a location that will be user-friendly with easy access to local transportation. Just look at the Suvarnabhumi express link that ends downtown in the middle of nowhere.

Give the muslims their due, at least they respect their religious bans.

After working in the Middle East for over 30 years I'll take that with a large pinch of salt

A very very very very large pinch of salt, indeed - I lived in Muslim countries also for a very long time !

My thoughts when I read your post was the "Little Britian" sketches about the the only gay in village..

But to answer your question, yes far too many....the Thai goverment should make it harder for farangs to live here long term...increase the fees for the visa's, make the qualification for extension of stays harder, increase all the finanical requirements....

what a stupid comment , there are many expats living in every country in the world today , that's what makes it exciting to up and move to these countries . are there too many Asians in Australia ? no , they bring their culture to the country and so do every one else who lives in another countries . maybe you like the communist way of life . Thailand has visas requirements if long term you need money in the bank , many countries are not as strict as Thailand

Sorry mate, not stupid at all the comment ! Fully agree with "Soutpeel" that the requirements for long-term residents are way to easy to comply for, as this allows too many border-line individuals that would not be welcome in many countries to establish their base here. "Border-line" being defined as without appropriate resources, or with a "past" involving prison or other not-so-honest activities abroad, or running away from a very nasty past (spouses, family, work) in their home countries. Long-term residents shall pass a language test (yes - I speak Thai fluently), demonstrate a clean state of bills regarding their past, and show much more than 800,000 bahts in a local bank 3 months before the renewal of their visa extension. These measures shall diminish the quantity (topic of this thread) and augment the quality (an additional bonus) of the foreigners living here.

Simple measures : never pay a 20 baht charge with a 1000 baht bank note to avoid getting a 500 baht note in return. Always get your 1000 and 500 baht notes from a bank; check it there BEFORE leaving the bank. As for 100 baht notes and lower denominations, there is not much check on these although it has been documented that counterfeit notes are also circulating.

The Bank of Thailand entertains a section on how to check counterfeits (yes in English !):

http://www.bot.or.th/English/Banknotes/Pages/howtocheck.aspx

glad the OP has opened this thread... to be honest I thought I was the only one with an unsupportive family. all the farang I have met here have had nothing but support from there family...

I didnt speak to mother dearest for 10 years after I married wifee... right from the start she made it clear that she didnt want to know about it (the relationship)... anyway, so I decided then that if thats how you feel about it, I`ll not let you know. but i`m buggered if i`m stopping for you. your not controlling MY life lady..

BUT, evntually our child was born and I was going off to work in the middle east so I told the old dear she had a grand daughter. she hung up the phone... we didnt speak for 10 years...

... eventually I tried to patch things up with the old bag through feelings of guilt and for the sake of her grand kids but she couldn`t handle it... 'how can I tell my friends my son married a thai...' .. OMG!...

oh <deleted> off you nauseating old hag!... I did visit the women in the summers of 2011 & 2012... first time I thought she had come around to the idea but 2nd time we were just back to square one again... I got up and walked out and told her as I left that she would never see me again... and thats the end of it....

all I feel now is relief....

23 years and counting enjoying the land of not-so-eternal smiles, learned to fluently speak and read, learned the ways to do (or not to do) business here, got a master's degree in Bangkok, married a native and live here, now retired - enough credentials ! As for the main topic : at "home", friends and family initially were doubting, then jealous, then adapted. Only the old man decided that he did not agree and found ways to express it. Same "relief" as for Kristophon, as I decided that cutting the link with him was the only solution - six years ago. Very unlikely that I will ever return living "home", as home is in Thailand now...for 23 years, and counting !

Jinjoks are pests. Anyone who enjoys having jinjok shit in their silverware tray, coffee cups and plates, fresh fruits and vegetables, sugar & creamer containers, in the underware drawers and on their toothbrushes must be unaware of health hazards. Shit is shit...it goes through the body and is waste material full of bacteria. I'd bet that most of the posters here do not clean their own house. They also crawl into electronic devices and cause shorts which could lead to fire. No difference between them and a mouse. Any that enter the house are subject to the death penalty. Those that stay outside are spared.

Pretty harsh statement ! So you are for the death penalty ? Comparing jing joks to mices is like comparing my dog to Godzilla, although my dog is a fierce fighter as well... True that they have this habit of getting into the smallest locations, inclusive of air condition systems, but still prefer jing joks invasions to mosquitoes - cockroaches - ants into the same locations they inhabit so will not chase them by a bazooka...

I can think of a host of things, other than geckos, I would rather eradicate. Rednecks and PTP fans (same thing in Thailand) come to mind.

If you really must get rid of them and don't necessarily want to kill them try some mothballs (made from naphthalene) the strong smell seems to deter most things that like to creep around the house. I know my mother-in-law is not keen on the smell.

Yes, this is a working solution; but I will not apply it myself as I prefer the little monsters to insects crawling around in the house; the insect level is low, but the poop is high - it's a choice. So really try mothballs. They repel geckos/jingjoks. But this is a last resort, as mothballs smell a lot worse than geckos, but these do not poop. Place a mothball on a piece of tape near door entry or window ledges. Mothballs disintegrate in water, so placing them outside does no good. No luck as well on the mother-in-law and she loves the jing joks...

Not thst I expect to have any say in the mater but to die quietly at home would be ideal. then put my ashes in to a half empty bottle of Brandy and cast it upon the ocean.

However I do like this quote

“I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.”

― Woody Allen

Fully support the motion ! If Brandy bottle not available or deemed too expensive, then Chang Beer shall do...

“Death is Peaceful, Life is Harder”

- Stephenie Meyer

Most Thai banks will accept foreign government and institutional checks. But I do not believe they will accept a personal or third-party checks.

At least with Bangkok Bank, all my checks were personal checks written out to me for cash.

Same with my own experience : a personal check from my account in Canada deposited to my account in Bangkok Bank.

The eternal question ! Where to setup shop ? After 23 years here, speaking fluently the local dialect and having some intense exposure to businesses in country and with the neighboring countries, inclusive of the two ones you mention, would suggest to remain very careful if you decide that Thailand will become your operational base. It's not just the bureaucracy !

Unless you have issues with visas to remain in Thailand and where a work permit could be useful Singapore, although becoming more and more expensive, would be my choice with Hong Kong as an alternative if you hit a roadblock due to their more stringent requirements...

Good luck !

Just deposited a CAD $30,000 cheque in one of my local accounts; it took 4 weeks, Baht 290 charge up front, no other charges either in Canada or on the way. The only catch is the exchange rate when the money is landing converted from CAD to THB by the local bank, which is usually the best way to plan it; verified the day it was deposited in my account and got a substantially lower rate than what was quoted on the Bank web site for that day. So beware... A SWIFT transfer may get a better rate, but there are other charges. It depends if you plan a substantial deposit or not.

I received my Thai citizenship last August. I have a thread about it. I'm Australian and not married. My application took 5 years from submission to ID card in my hands.

Haven't really paid much attention to doing it myself, as I said before too old to bother now.

Genuine question, is it for life or does it have conditions attached, ie run out date and renewal or list of checks done after so many years etc?

What direct advantages have you found since getting TR.

I am not being sarcastic in any way, it's a genuine question

Congrat's by the way.

It is for life. Theoretically could be revoked if you committee a serious crime etc.

So far, I have purchased land in Chiangmai under my own name, opened a company to conduct a business restricted to foreigners, don't need a work permit, have travelled extensively in SE Asia without needing visas, opened bank accounts without hassle, Spode through immigration at the airport by using the passport scan machines etc. However, most of all, it gives me security. I am here to stay and I can't be kicked out at the whim of immigration.

Extremely interesting ! Being here for 23 years, speaking fluently Thai, married to a local, now retired here, but never thought there were real advantages in going through the process, but your perspective is making me thinking again, as your path has not been seemingly being successfully taken by many. Congratulations for your patience and perseverance. But will probably not consider it now given my age.

What does insurance have to do with enforcing the laws against extortion...........?

The insurance is seen as a way of removing any possible cause for the extortion attempts. If all rentals include 100% insurance cover there is nothing more to be said about damage if it happens.

Still the only real answer is just to ban the damn things completely.

Some "clever" operators have already mentioned to "customers" that the threats to extract direct payments from them will continue, for any kind of unimaginable reasons, like the boat will not be available during repairs so loss of revenues, loss of productivity claiming the insurance or potential denial from the insurance company to reimburse the "supposed" damages, etc...

The scams will continue, no doubt, there is just too much easy money involved.

You guys may be missing the point. The problem in Thailand is the lack of rule by law, allowing corruption to flourish.

I'll be banned from Thaivisa if I mention my theory about why there is no rule of law here.

Yes ! There are some "things" that will end you up in prison for a very long time or in a very deep trouble if you just even mention something slightly negative about such "things". Corruption is taught to children at a very young age as the only way to achieve something here, right at kindergarten when the parents bribe their way into the best schools and then it goes up to the top with politicians and business owners playing the dance. One has to reflect that a September 2011 Abac Poll revealed that 64% of Thais see corruption as acceptable if it benefits the country or themselves while 70% of the young population share the same opinion. NOTHING will change during our lifetime, better adapt to it...

The Ruean Thai Hotel has a fabulous swimming pool in front of all rooms circling the pool. Prices are very reasonable.

http://www.rueanthaihotel.com/

One might add Bill Monson's involvement in Thai cable-TV to that list of failed joint-ventures.

There are many, many, many people that claim to have been burned by the "Man In Dubai" and his cronies during his years as telecom tycoon...but these are just rumors, naturally !

Pizza Hut, Carlsberg, Orange (now True Move) and now Pepsi ! The list of companies that tried joint ventures of some flavor (pun intended) or another and that got burned by a ruthless - ethic-less local partner is endless. And some foreigners are still begging for the "permission" to bring more money and invest in this country. Amazing Thailand ! Do not count Pepsi out of the bottle (ouch !); they have very long term goals and the means to attain their objectives. And as for the EST flavor, or lack of it, everything has already been said...

Maybe the EST stuff is as good as Pepsi and Coke to (yes Google it !) : fertilize plants, remove rust, remove gum from hair, clean a toilet, clean an engine, remove corrosion from battery terminals, clean grout, clean a cooking pot, remove grease and blood stains from clothes, remove road grime from windshields, remove oil stains from driveways. Imagine what it can do in your stomach ?

Without wishing to put a downer on the ambassadors efforts NOTHING will improve the situation until they solve the corruption problems starting at the very top of government and police and working the way down.

Unless the governer is given an ultimatum by the national government that unless it is stopped HE goes directly to jail for 5 years and the top 3 or 4 layers of police will join him with a minimun of 5 years up to life for the top cops NOTHING will happen apart from more words.

Of course NOTHING will be done anyway at government level but there is nothing new there either.

So True ! Blogs like this forum can do more 'good' by alerting potential visitors, than most, if not all, the authorities involved directly or not can do to get rid of these scams...for reasons not necessary to be repeated !

Anyone know if there will be special prices for foreigners?

Discounted prices are usually the same for everybody but better polish your Thai Language Skills, as almost everything is printed, published and spoken in the local vernacular...

I went there today for my 90 day report. It was a good thing I had the form TM47 filled out ahead of time as they did not print the form as they had done the previous two times I went there.

Yes, it was serious, the man doing the 90 day reports was not talkative but at least no waiting, just put the forms and passport in the basket and wait your turn. You still need the face page of your passport along with the TM47 and sign both for service.

The personnel in the office seemed to be in a jovial mood but maybe the boss had not arrived for work.

During my last 90 days reporting was told (I speak Thai fluently) that the new lanes may not open, as the new boss is not fond of the system. Was also told that no other immigration office in the country is or would implement such lanes; seemingly somebody is realizing that the lanes will be blocked for ever when someone is required to provide a photocopy of whatever is missing !

As for the attitude, it seems that it all depends on who is on duty when you land a seat for your particular processing. Personally, given the language advantage, never experienced a glitch, ever, but touching wood...

Good info. By the way, do you speak Thai?

Fluently (reading as well)

The survey questionnaire forces you to answer all three questions; if you answer "none" to the first two you are still forced to respond something like "under 10,000" to the third one, although it should also be "none"...