xbusman

We use small ones on some of the bags we make. I have never found them made in Thailand, that stuff is way over Thai manufacturing capability. We buy small cheap ones in Chinatown but for better quality we order direct from China.

I do tire and shocks first.

Next, I get a 100db horn that garners attention. Has been a life saver more than once.

For a long distance bike, I have one of the US seat rebuilders add a bit over the 6mm of cheap foam they put on the steel plate.

If the bike is to be used outside of Bangkok I add a lighting package in case I get caught out at night.

Thats pretty much the starting point for key essentials.

Well, I dont want to be negative netty but..... Having worked in commercial busses since the 80s I really do not think that Scania or Volvo busses would be the best vehicle for the Thai operating environment. Dont get me wrong, they are excellent busses. When properly serviced and maintained they can live almost indefinitely. Note the properly serviced and maintained bit. I would want to do some serious study of the Thai operations and maintenance capabilities before making a recommendation. It may well be that cheap, crude technology, Chinese busses were the best bet. Just from historical experience, if II were head of the procurement I might ask Mercedes to develop a plan to put a manufacturing operation in Thailand and jointly make these and all future busses in country. Mercedes can make a cheap, indestructible bus along with the best of em. I certainly would not immediately assume that a technologically sophisticated bus like Volvo would operate well in this environment with or without corruption.

Fundamentally, having manufactured many thousands of busses over my career, I have always thought that Thailand should make their own bus and be the supplier for the other SE asian economies. They could easily support 500 busses yearly given the population density and car ownership rates, thats more than enough to bring those jobs here instead of supporting other countries.

Well, does it occur to anyone that the military is in charge now? Just stop for a moment and think of the military mind. What their goals are, how they operate, how they are trained, taught to address problems..... Making better sense of the new developments yet?

My understanding was that the Thai Elite card specifically excluded working in Thailand. Perhaps that has changed or I am mistaken.

My experience is that none of my visa (non imm or work permit expenses can be deducted from the business. I have to take the money out in payroll, taxed at payroll rates, and pay for those on my own. Visa runs (the three month variety) were also excluded.

My experience with Thai tax authorities though, leads me to believe that every tax center applies the rules differently. For example, when we were in Sai Mai tax district, I could receive and entertain customers from the US on company expense. In Wang Thong Lang however, not only are those not company expenses but we cannot advertise, market or otherwise claim expenses such as R&D for growing the company. We also cannot claim warranty expenses incurred on our products in Wang Thong Lang. 

So, as with all things Thailand, I would check with the local tax authority first. That also makes the point that the address in Thailand you use to set up a business is of critical importance as it determines your tax district. Hoping to not be too obvious but I would avoid Wang Thong Lang if at all possible.....

Edited..... Sorry, reread the OP. This is a US tax question. Very doubtful it could be a business expense in the US as it is not a business expense. The US tax code is so convoluted I would add it in and let them throw it out. 

From experience, the Landmark does a pretty good job. On a 1-10 scale with Cantors being about a 8, Landmark is a good solid 6 or 7. The NYCC (New York Cheese Cake Deli) in CDC puts out a pretty good 6 but usually out of pastrami, I think they import it from the US.

Okay, one more time......

If it is a US car, and you can provide documentation that it had been registered and titled in the US at some point in its history, you can just ship it. There are companies (brokers) that specialize in importing vehicles into the US. They should not charge you much more than a regular broker and I would highly recommend you use them.

If you cannot prove that it had been US titled and registered at some point in its history then it is going to be highly dependent on the make, model and year. It gets more complicated but still possible depending on the car.

Its a bit of a job to prepare a car for shipment and import. I am pretty sure the fuel tank needs removed, cleaned and sealed. The under carriage requires special cleaning and certification. Nothing too onerous. Your import broker will give the list. Be careful that over the fifty years it has been on the road here that modifications were not made to the car. For example, if the engine was replaced, that changes the EPA requirements. If glass has been replaced with aftermarket stuff it has to meed current US standards which glass here does not. I mention glass because its etched with information that can catch you up. Again, your specialist import broker will give you the list where most cars get caught up. Those things are usually pretty easy to fix in the bonded warehouses they use but remember you are paying those mechanics around $200 per hour and they are non too fast. Changing out the glass in a standard sedan there will probably run around $5000 so its best to make sure everything is back to factory specs here before it goes into the container. The point is, for a US car if you have problems they can be fixed on the dock by your Certified Vehicle importer which you wisely chose to work with before shipping.

You have not provided enough information for a process that is very complex and expensive so the best answer for what you have provided is YES it can be done BUT contact a professional auto import company and be prepared to spend some money.

Short answer... cant be done. Long answer, the cost of getting it DOT, EPA and FMVSS certified greatly outweighs the value of the car.

If its a US car, titled and registered in the US, you can send it back using standard container services.

Smoked for 40 years, tried innumerable time to quit! About a year and half ago I bought an electric cigarette, have not smoked in over a year! It might not be for everyone, but it works for most! PM me and I will help you find them in Bangkok if you are interested.

Nothing, repeat NOTHING in the world is as potentially devastating as the flu. ALWAYS be hyper aware of that most dreadful of all demons.

I have one I bought to help out a friend in Thailand with the same problem. Its a vinyl to digital via USB. The software lets you clean up the music and even reduce the clicks and pops. I am done with it, just did a special opera collection for her. PM me if interested.

Have a small manufacturing and packaging company here and another facility in Thailand. All labor intensive. By far, I prefer to live in work in Thailand. If its just a few products or a single product line, eventually you can develop suitable suppliers here but its a chore. Agree with everything that has been said above, if you want to discuss it in more detail just PM me.

"The World Health Organization says bird flu has killed 331 people since 2003"

7 years, less than 50 a year. whilst i welcome concern over any potential killer illness / bug are there not more devastating health problems out there including malaria and dengue?

No, nothing more serious than a potentially lethal flu other than..... small pox.

This particular flu has thankfully not developed an easy form of transmission but if it does, the potential for disaster is simply unimaginable.

I would really doubt contaminated fuel caused these accidents. Each and every preflight includes taking a sample from the sump and visually inspecting the fuel. The odds that something was introduced into three machines and was missed by all three pilots is rather remote. The more I hear of these, and the subsequent grounding of the fleet, the more I am inclined to believe that they have a counterfeit parts problem.

My first guess is that they have counterfeit parts introduced into their inventory in some way. This is a major problem in the world and I know quite a few chopper companies that have gone to extraordinary lengths to combat this deadly problem. Having these many problems in such a short time also highly indicates that there is a problem in the inventory. Parts get replaced on a regular schedule and fail in similar manners. That creates "clusters" of problems as is periodically experienced by companies like Michelin, the clusters are just a lot more visible in Helicopters.

Just got mine renewed a few weeks ago.

Morchit Land Transport. I take the BTS to MoChit and come down the side away from Jakujak park. Walking away from the terminus point of the BTS, toward Victory Monument, its the third building on your left. After the parking lot is the Civil Aviation building, then some closed building that I think was Land Transport long ago, and then the Land Transport Office. Huge, hard to miss. Maybe a seven minute walk.

Enter the main gate and you will see a building immediately to your left. It aint that one. Keep on walking to end of the entrance drive to where it Ts. The building on your right is the one you want. Second floor there are some desks, just walk up and give them your papers with a goofy grin and you are home free.

I needed my original passport. Took along a residence cert and work permit but they did not ask for those. You will take the weird and wonderful braking reaction test. Have an eye exam. And watch the most boring movie ever made and then you too will be qualified to create mayhem between the curbs just like the natural born citizens.

If you want serious fun, try Pinehurst or Panya Indra for their night golf. Its a lot cooler, the caddies are more fun, and its more a party on the course than serious golfing for most players.

Unico is a good beginner course. While narrow its not long and not too much trouble to get into. Its inexpensive and very very close to the city which is nice. You wont find a lot of serious golfers on the course because its been in bad shape for so long. Recently renovated its in reasonable shape now.

Never invest more in Thailand than you can walk away from. Its just another walkin away moment and I doubt any of those members will miss it or lose a nights sleep over that amount.

Dont be sorry for posting and thanks for giving us the follow up. The learning curve here is steep and can be dangerous, you did the right thing in reaching out and looking for advice from the old timers. I always try to do the same when I think about wandering down blind alleys, has saved my bacon more than once.

I do not think the responses were mocking you and I certainly hope you did not read that into my response. Most of the westerners in Thailand have their own horror story of the first time reality hit up against their cultural beliefs. We save the mocking for people who should know better such as those investing in the Elite card or buying time shares in Pattaya. In fact, I think mocking was designed for the 98% that are too smart to ask for experienced advice or the other 1.99% that ask for it and then ignore it.

One last note for you if you are interested. I would really advise you turn off your cellphone for a few weeks. Lots of people here gave you some very unvarnished truth, walk away fast and far. That advice is pretty hard to take when you fall in love but its much more true than you can imagine in your current state. Odds are this is not over and it should be. Turning the phone off or changing the number for a few months might give you time to put it in perspective.

Best of luck.

I for one will be sorely disappointed with the demise of the Elite card. If the property market were to ever rationalize, the rule of law instituted and the politicians ever stopped engaging their mouth before their brain this forum would be over. Thankfully, while we knew the former was destined to go away, the others will be entertainment far after we depart this mortal plane.

Whew, so much drama. Relax, take a chill pill, welcome to Thailand. Been here a whole year and just now getting the hang of things?

You have broken no laws, you have behaved in fine Thai tradition of sneaking around parents and creating a web of lies and deceit. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

The only way you can go to jail is if the parents pay a lot of money for some corrupt policeman to harass you. The chance of that is none to barely registering on the scale. For a few thousand baht you can pay the same policeman to harass the family for having an underage girl work in a bar.

The only way you can lose money is if you pull it out of your wallet and throw it around. Hopefully you are smarter than that.

The only way a fine upstanding Issarn family will lose a daughter that can produce revenue is if she passes away, not much chance of that.

Here is some great advice on what to do. Make some strong coffee, have a good breakfast. Turn off your cellphone (IMPORTANT!). Put on some good music and have a great day. Dont answer calls for at least a week (in fact dont turn on your cellphone), go out every night, bask in the sun every day.

Here is the deal. Either you are in a negotiation for money or the parents really do not want you. I would seriously doubt that the parents do not want you but it is possible. If the parents do not want you, you simply have to walk away for more reasons than you could possibly know. If its a negotiation for money, understand that it will never end and if you want any chance for survival you better set the limits right now.

This is some really great advice and like all good advice, you should ignore everything and learn the hard way. Best of luck.

Just a note. As one of the group who understood from the outset that this was a scam due to for eventual failure, I never questioned the ability or wisdom of some people to buy such a service with the spare change normally found in their sock drawer as long as it was disposable money out of their lunch money.

I think that we will see the few people who purchased it at 1,000,000 baht back in 2003/2004 (40B/$) getting most of that back, say 900,000 baht after legal fees (29.8/$) for a tidy profit of about $5,000 US or close to 25% on their original investment over 7 years. Better than a T bill or savings account! During that time, they got some great free services, a few rounds of golf, ride from the airport, and all sorts of goodies. Wish my solid safe AAA+ T Bill from a country with unsustainable debt offered those services.

The risk for me was too much for the potential rewards but those few that could afford it might make out like bandits. In addition, they might end up with one last five year stamp in addition to making a little profit.

Not bad!