onlycw

Drive a Honda Wave and have several kids ride pillion...

BiB don't like "headaches". By making a nuissance of yourself, they are inclined to wave you on.

Cross forum posting is not allowed, right? Check out the GT-Rider forum for a long narrative of a trade insider.

Don't bother!

Do your homework, there are tons of bikes in the country with no rego and no green book. some have "import papers".

What's the going price for a new green book? 62,000 cost?

Even if your time is free and you are cool with this taking half a year.

Chris

They are "pretty generous" indeed using other people's assets. My wife's 12 Baht of gold ended up in a jewelry shop. Then the fun and games started. Her mother had taken out the loan @ near 20%. Still way better than that 5% a month land deal she entered into with no repayments.

OK, so the only son decides he would like THB 20,000 piggybacking on the collateral that is not mother's in the first place.

I urged my wife to pay off the loan and take the gold. But the bad brother was quicker. With a company loan, he took the gold, then blackmailed my wife into paying him X thousand more than the loan balance. To be honest, I was amazed that she got it back at all!

Things tend to progress from bad to worse. At some point, they are in too deep to repay.

Oh, i forgot the death threats! The only son has been living interest free in a town house built on mother's land. He has sisters but anyone wanting to make a just claim will be threatened. Even little things might trigger death threats (assasination by a 3rd party).

Be very careful to disentangle you while you can.

Well, we rent a studio about 6 km from the old don Mueang airport. A Thai project, with a lovely gym and pool. Paying 6,000 per month for a 36 m studio on the 3rd of 7 floors. The place cost about 800,000 to buy and the landlady won't break even, with a monthly condo fee of about 800 Baht. www.pgp.co.th

Rents have fallen over here, also for shops. Furthermore, IMHO the Baht is way too high. What are you guesstimating?

Not sure how long you would be in Pattaya, using the condo. But count on having it vacant most of the time. Open your eyes, look around - you think the local businesses are going well?

I would just rent a condo for 90 days or whatever. No strings, you can rent another place at another location next time!

Good luck!

Chris

Thanks a lot! I would hate to waste $ 131 only to be told to repeat the process overseas.

Thanks for all the answers!

Ubonjoe: I never had any Thai VISA and the honorary consulate's wording is in German. But I believe it boils down to paying for 1 x 90 days or 4 x 90 days, the latter costing much more, of course. They want the passport and cash. Anyhow, it can be done in Germany. Will apply there now.

Lite Beer is right - it seems to be the very same deal available at the Stuttgart consulate. Good luck with your plans!

Yeah interesting, i am just about to buy a PX175 platinum enduro 50,000thb with all on roads. Are others riding this?

Don´t do it! It´s a horror bike! Many electric problems, the very amazing remote does not work often and the engine runs not softly. Some had a broken frame and and.... A second hand XR250 is a better choice. Many in CNX.

Seconding HangDongRider. I had a XR 650, great reliable bike. Tiger, the Thai brand, has an offroad 135 cc, I think. How extreme would you go? For hard core stuff, you might need a CF 450 or WR 450 or a 2-stroke CR 500 with barbaric power.

I brought my heavy Harro leathers, but in those I would sweat a liter the first hour.

Do you compromise by risking serious injury in case of a fall? Option for a t-shirt, jeans and flip flops?

I read something about high tech clothes but fear the price tag

My wife gets to work on bike taxis every day for 8 years. Still, I might want something for her as well. Something better, something protective. I doubt she would wear leathers, though

I fell off a Kawa H 100 near Manchester. In those days, I wore 3 pairs of trousers, still, the knee was bleeding and it was only at 30 mph (trying to teach a bloke from Russia how to ride. Not sure what he did, maybe get his foot into the spokes or blocking the front wheel by braking too hard? Down we went. I think he panicked when there was oncoming traffic )

As long as you are riding, the wind should keep you kinda cool. Saw some photos and noticed European outerwear for GT Riders. When you arrive, you take a shower and change quickly? Is that the solution?

Well, I would doubt that Cashmere is available at more than a few places in LOS.

You can get great deals on eBay, now and then. I got some superb 100% cashmere Winter coats starting at under 30 Euros including shipping within Germany. Higher end coats go for often under 100, even those which cost a 4-digit amount. On average, you should be able to get a really nice brand cashmere coat for around 60 Euros.

Get it dry cleaned...

Or buy new at the Winter sale.

But forget getting one made over here. Cashmere is very soft and light and warm - no one would wear it over here. Linen & woven silk jacket? by all means!

I bought some 100% linen and silk jackets or mixture of both fabrics, good for the weather.

Warning: many local taylors have "cashmere" printed on fabrics of dubious quality. The one thing you can bet on is that these fabrics won't contain an ounce of cashmere You will have a hard time getting real "Egyptian cotton" for your shirts and in Pattaya, they sell polyester as "Thai silk" . Polyester garments will soon lose all shape. Ask me how I know?!

Closing, here is a link to a good website with an article on cashmere. The real Mc Coy for high end bespoke costs often 1,000 quid or 65,000 Baht and more just for the fabric itself! www.englishcut.com

We live in Thailand, but I never had a Thai VISA. Instead, I have been flying home most months or made the odd VISA run like a flight to KUL with LH.

Today, I chatted with a lawyer who says I have to apply in my home country for any U.S. VISA.

Q: is this true? Surely, the same database is available to the state Department.

Have you used a legal service for a spousal VISA (K3)? Or to apply for a Green Card?

What was your experience? Was it worth the money? How much you paid? Care to recommend a service?

Today, I bought that PIN to schedule an interview at the embassy. But then this attorney said it would have to be done at the home country. But I ended the residence in the home country and am living with my spouse in LOS. she has a full time job... Does it mean I need to fly back just to apply for a VISA?

Hi All,

apologies for this question. Is it possible to walk into a Thai Immigration with photographs and the fee and get it done here? Or is this something for the Consulate in your home country?

The home country consulate requires a cash payment by mail .

Cheers, Chris

Someone posted lots and lots of incredible custom photos. In this thread, a Thai custom guy is mentioned. I would contact him - sorry, I cannot remember the name. He has a website in ?English and his creations are owe inspiring.

Hope someone can remember more? Maybe 6 months ago.

I'm seconding Jopham! Just forget it - too much hassle, but I only have experience with the American National Highway Safety Something Group mandating a crash test for my then Yamaha SR 500 limited edition, although the SR 500 was sold in the U.S. for years (made for 20 long years).

Shipping was cheap - but at the San diego side, they hit me hard.

The bike was on a RoRo ship with imported cars. The 10000 km journey was peanuts versus the Dock Workers moving it off the boat, and damaging it

Just forget it - it is the buyers' best interest to say no.

What's the asking price? Put your ad here at TV!

Hi, I fancy a used Boxer 200 to get around town. Has anyone seen one for sale?

Hi All:

yesterday, IB sent me this e-mail. I also changed my address to circumvent whatever outrageous *order* affect my overseas account being blocked from any overseas wire out transfers, except to banks based in Thailand.

I am an expat, who gave a Thai address to the broker.

The broker has no offices in Thailand (but in HK and Australia and it's headquarters are in Chicago).

An ACH is an established electronic way to make either deposits or wqithdrawals between accounts, in this case my broker account outside Thailand and my account in California, also outside Thailand.

It blew all over, apparently, but might be an indication of things to come.

Here is part of the e-mail IB sent to me:

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: [email protected]

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:09:12 -0400

Subject: Restriction lifted

To: [email protected]

Mr. XXXXXX-

We have received notification of your address change which has been

entered into the system.

The Compliance Department has notified us that the restriction applied

to Thai residents regarding their ability to submit a wire/ACH

withdrawal to banks other than those in Thailand has been removed.

Now imagine the United States would act like this. Then Americans with an account *wherever* would no longer be permitted to say transfer funds from their Thailand based account anywhere but to a bank which is based in the U.S.

Sorry, I have no further information about all this, but the international legality is highly questionable.

Let's just say, it's the thought that counts

Answers: my own experience. This was quite a shock. Sudeenly, the overseas broker no longer lets me do an ACH to a U.S. bank or wire funds to any bank except one based in "Thailand".

Answer: The ACH in my account is set up between the U.S. bank and the U.S. broker with operations in Australia and Hong Kong besides Chicago. It is a big broker with $ 4 bn market cap.

Q: Anyone knows something what this is all about?

Any other IB customers with Thai addresses being affected as well? www.interactivebrokers.com

There are wires and an electronic system named ACH. Neither worked for over a week. Turns out, Thailand residents (and citizen) are no longer permitted to wire overseas money anywhere but to banks residing in Thailand.

This has enormous implications.

Anyone else noticing this restriction?

This is huge

It works and might be okay if you only call a few minutes. You need Skype-out credit ($ balance).

For 300 minutes per week free calling to Thai mobile phone numbers in a 3 months period, you can pay about 10.50 euros to www.voipdiscount.com

After the 3 months, you get charged 1 cent a minute...

You can make the odd test call for free, if you wonna try some other software packages. this is the only one I know of which offers free calls to Thai mobile phones... Chris

The directors have the legal obligation to file for bankruptcy when they ran out of cash. Or cannot cover their obligations, like honoring a check.

No reputable company would a) hold a meeting at 1 am unless it is a social event. postdate a check.

Delaying bankruptcy is an offence!

Good luck, keep posting about this...

Look, #1 these days is preservation of capital. SIPS insured = a good idea, just mind the limits per account!

Most banks etc. are just selling funds for the 5% agio plus maintenance commission of in Europe

There are ways to earn a bit more with existing stocks - writing call options (earning a fee for offering them for sale at a set price for a set monthly time. but this won't apply here.

Beware of churning = frantic trading activity. In once case, a client lost 95% due to just fees. every day, the advicor would earn commissions, trading commodities etc., and closing these positions. Good for him, bad for the client.

have your father do a proper will and consider a DNR form. Estate planning might be wise, too.

My advice would be - just play it safe and have him fill out instructions to the banks about how to allocate his balances when he dies.

this channel is part of our cable package. they also show cockfights - saw one cock die. But never saw bulls injuring each other and no such commercial break. but then, I'm squeamish and like animals. Cows are really friendly.

At the time, I thought this is much fairer than the Matador variety of a bull fight

In F1, dangerous bends command the highest ticket prices. chances are some driver might get killed here... on the motorway, sometimes drivers would stop in the fast lane, to look at an accident, hoping to see torn limbs or a single head.

Hi All,

are you aware of condo places charging for say wedding photos being taken there?

The complex we live in has featured in commercials. Just a shoot of the outside of our building was quoted at 5,000 Baht.

Q: what is normal? How much do wedding parties pay for a quick shot at such a complex? Looks like someone is confused and quoting commercial prices.

Q: so one does not have the right to take a shot of the place one owns or rents and lawfully lives in?!

Cheers!

a mate is willing to sell his 1985 Honda CB 750 F for 50,000 Baht. He says the registration cost him 40 grand alone.

What about the cost? Tax = ? Insurance = ? How much tee money to give to traffic cops? Is it okay to use a British DL or should it be an International DL? Can a european big bike license be exchanged for a Thai license? I did that without problems with a German license for a British one with insurance companies requesting a British DL for better rates.

Maybe someone feels like writing a guide to biking over here which can be pinned?

Cheers,

Chris

first you need to do is to change the registration into your name (i assume your friend has the green book, original one), cost around 1,9k bath in the department of transportation.

second, see the tax for the bike, if the tax havent been paid for over 4 years, you need to do all the paper work all over again, tax can be paid in certain area (you can ask your thai friend), cost not that expensive. around 100 bath.

if you dont commit any violation, you dont need to give money to the cop.... .......but 100 bath will solve most things.

for drivers license, there is special thread for it. read it, good article.

cheers.

btw: is that pic the bike your friend has??????? 

Thanks for the answers, much obliged!

Chris

a mate is willing to sell his 1985 Honda CB 750 F for 50,000 Baht. He says the registration cost him 40 grand alone.

What about the cost? Tax = ? Insurance = ? How much tee money to give to traffic cops? Is it okay to use a British DL or should it be an International DL? Can a european big bike license be exchanged for a Thai license? I did that without problems with a German license for a British one with insurance companies requesting a British DL for better rates.

Maybe someone feels like writing a guide to biking over here which can be pinned?

Cheers,

Chris

The Z 750 is also among the top sellers in many European countries.

As for Thailand, this market seems to be dominated by Honda with Yamaha trying to differentiate itself by design and Suzuki on 25 cc more for extra power. Haven't seen many new Kawas except these strange looking small ones. Lots of 2-stroke bikes though with that 70s look. 

MZ went bust and many more will follow. Look at the HOG graph to see Harley-Davidson's stock fall by 2/3. 

I saw a cop riding a BMW 1200 - is this special branch or just a lucky guy? And their Tiger 200 cc bikes are from Taiwan? The government should buy Thai!!