mpetersen

I thought I had found myself agreeing with one of SM's posts for an instant but whilst the first paragraph starts well the rest of the post degenerates true to form.

A high proportion of those 'straights' who get married 'disgrace the essential importance of marriage' by the relative ease at which they enter into divorce.

As for the buffalos(low uneducated?) they may want to be doctors but they will have to pass the medical exams like everyone else to practise so I don't understand your point.

And regards the fish, I they want to drive, sign up for drivers school, take the lessons and happen to pass the driving test who could deny them a license.

I agree that today's version of marriage is in a rather pitiful state, and having separated in 1992 from my first and only marriage, I'm part of that cause, but let's not kick an institution of human society when it's down. There's a lot wrong with things today, but political stunts like this only make it worse.

Regarding the buffalo/fish analogies, I was just demonstrating the scope of this madness in a fairly brief and most certainly confusing manner for those readers who are not gifted with my same madness. Sorry, for I should have appealed more to the centre of the bell curve than such tangents, but I hope you got the point, that bovine farm animals studying medicine and aquatic lifeforms with fins and gills driving land vehicles is about the same as couples of the same gender getting married.

My first wife was/is a buffalo, then I married a cold fish. Nothing wrong with it, and I was issued a perfectly legal marriage certificate, and had to make perfectly legal support payments after the fact....

Oh y goodness gracious! Let this be a lesson to all of us that we must obey the law, and wear a condom, even on the ubiquitos american Valentine's Day!

It's the law to wear a condom in Thailand???

I don't know if that kind of extreme is standard practice. I don't know alot of junior farang engineers getting paid 600,000 THB a month in any country, and I dont' know any senior engineers in Thailand who would work for 30,000 or 45,000 THB.

It's more likely that a mid-level farang engineer (say 4-6 years experience) costs around 100-250K THB per month, while a similar mid-level Thai engineer might cost 99-140K THB. That's not a 12x difference.

The deal about declaring income offshore can and does happen anywhere. Some offshore income might be legitimate if some of their services were performed outside Thailand. Depends on the situation.

But back to engineers. A fresh university Thai graduate is no more use than a chocolate fireguard, to be truthful. Probably at Grade 12 level when compared to US/Canada, and therefore probably overpaid even at 20-30K starting salary. To run an office full of Thai people requires far more management/admin personnel than in the west, due to the overall business and government regulation structure. Severance, pregnancy and sick leave, are more generous, and if any project requires senior farang talent (liability, responsibility, ability to travel wtihout visas freely, communication, professional qualifications etc etc), then this adds significant overhead to the collective Thai engineering team and local admin costs. Lastly, Thai employees have notoriously high turnover, further adding to the net lack of efficiency after training, hiring, and retraining are considered.

The original post might be a bit of a troll, but I just don't believe that there are too many qualified people working for a pittance (in Thai terms) because they are a very mobile workforce and have access to a great number of employers. Note, I say "qualified". "Engineer" means as little as "VIP", and one has to look way past the resume, degree, and past job experiences to really "qualify" Thai technical and management resources.

I am speaking from experience, not hearsay.

The BS that is written on here is unreal. People going on like they never paid any sin sod money. Every Thai guy I know has paid sin sod to his wifes family. Only one family I know gave it back because they were kinda flush anyway. When I ask thai people about the fraff spoken on here about sinsod they just don't know where you get this rubbish from . It's also amazing how when I speak with farangs outside of the internet, they tell me how much they really pay, never heard of a farang paying less than 100,000 and if you are a 50+ marrying a 30- you are defo paying more than that. Be honest, help the guy out and stop trying to save face. Man, you lot speak about the thais covering things up.

I am not married, but if I married a thai I would follow the tradition within my budget limitations. A better idea for the op would be to build the parents a home (if they need a better one) so that he and mrs can stay once a year when they visit. A far more practical gesture than giving a wad to be gambled or drunk away.

A good thai friend of mine from the south explained to me that, the sin sod is a payment to protect the daughter if the husband leaves her. Traditionally the wife doesnt work so if the man scarpers she is left with nothing. The sin sod will help her parents put a roof over her head, feed her and help any kids out. In recent times the sin sod has become a way of families getting rich, especially where the farang is concerned. However, i see nothing wrong with giving a poor family some money when you marry their daughter as a gesture of good well. The thing we need to accept is that in thailand the man takes care of the family; and that means if you are wealthy you are expected to take care of extended family. When you marry into a thai family you are doing exactly that, your family effectively marries with theirs, it is like that in most non-western countries; thus the reason families look for other suitable families to marry their son or daughter into. I am not saying you have to support everyone, set out your limitations and boundaries and stick to them before you marry. Most women in the UK would not want a wedding costing less than 10-15k, most are 20k+. So, if you marry a thai woman, pay 3k for the wedding and 4k in sin sod and gold then you are still quids in.

Italian girls demand 20,000 EUR diamond rings (well at least the stereotypical Italian girl), American girls want the fairy-tale wedding party costing tens of thousands of dollars or more. Thai girls are asked to deliver dowry to her parents. It's all one and the same to me.

Unfortunately my first Thai "marriage" (i.e. not legal but complete ceremony etc) didn't last, but here is how it went: She asked me kindly to please help her older brother back for university expenses he paid after both her parents died. 100K THB. I said ok no problem. She said her family and village friends would appreciate to see 300,000 THB laid out. No problem, because all 300K would be returned and then she'd hand 100K back to her brother (unbeknownst to the rest of the family who would have flipped over that arrangement - not getting a piece of the action). We had previously bought some sort of commitment rings together and decided that those two rings would look wonderful in the ceremony used as wedding rings. I happend to have a pound of gold (in 10g chips) in my safety box which I took along and it was laid out and later retrieved. All in all, her village people thought the world of all that wealth laid out, her brother recovered expenses he put out for his sister which he could ill afford but did at great sacrifice to himself, and I ended up with everything back. We put the 300K in a bank account and I told her that if we ever broke up she could keep half of it. That's indeed what ended up happening some time later, and I kept my promise.

In my second "marriage" we had a low key lunch-time ceremony at a five star hotel in Bangkok, wedding book, pictures and beautiful honeymoon days at JW Marriott in Phuket. No dowry, but my wife gets a salary from my company for which she does hard and efficient work (probably at below-market rates compared to other SME top managers in Thailand), and she is free to do with it as she pleases, including supporting her small sisters through school activities, giving money to her grandma and spending almost none of it on herself.

Yes, sinsod used to put me off, but it's an arrangement that , when put in proper perspective, actually makes sense. Indeed, it would be fair for a farang ex-husband to give his ex-wife the amount of sinsod if they break up because there is no spousal support arrangement, and lots of farang guys even don't bother sending sufficient money to support their own offspring. Now that's off-putting, isn't it.

m

Of course you need permission (morally, technically, and legally) for you to leave the country with your child. Sort things out, or get a court-ordered sole custody agreement. Paying support is for your son, not your in-laws. If paying support for your son entails keeping a roof over your in-law's heads then so be it. Child support is never paid directly to the child, but always paid through the mother/guardian.

Don't be a dick (to yourself) and take a kid out with the possibility of ending up in jail for it. A criminal record is going to do nothing for your future or your future ability to travel internationally to see your child.

So, how much support could it possibly be? 5,000 THB? 10,000 THB per month? The best thing you can do is make sure your child grows up knowing that his dad did his best to support his life. He will turn 16 soon enough and make his own decisions then.

You gotta be kidding me pops with your analogy of these groups. Stupid and unjust comments ? Maybe you should ask yourself why these groups are on law enforcement agencies hit list including interpol. Or do some searches on the violence, past and present they are involved in, murder, prostitution, drugs, extortion, guns. Its all very well documented. Sonny Barger was honest about the reason they exist. Yeah real freaking angels.

Thailand needs these kind of criminal foreign gang MCs like anyone needs a hole in the head. I don't want my biking be associated in any way with these gangsters, thanks very much. After many years of fighting with police and against eachother in Canada/US and being curtailed, riding a big bike for a hobby/fun has finally become respectable again. HA and Bandidos and the likes aren't clubs. They are criminal organizations and nothing less.

Are you sure it is a visa issue?

She not wanted by the police for something? Just an idea why?

If she has permission to work in UK she requires a letter of permission to exit Thailand for purposes of employment overseas from the Thai Labor Department. Thai nationals need this EVERY time they fly out.

May I be permitted to put a different 'Slant' on all of this house thing , First the OP says HE has a company that owns the land , he cannot , he is only a minority owner , should he go to prove the point HE fronted the money for the land he is screwed because that is ILLEGAL , so he can be out voted in what ever may be the outcome regarding the property .

The OP states that HE payed to have the house built so therefore he owns it and not his wife , he is screwed there because a non Thai cannot 'Own' a house , it has to be in the name of a Thai or a registered company of which HE can only be a minority share holder so he can be out voted as to the future of the house , screwed again .

In Thai law it seems that on divorcing it becomes a 50/50 split on sale of assets , therefore his best and by far the easiest path for him is to forget lawyers/accountants etc which can and will cost him even more of his hard earned monies , take the divorce , take his 50% and run .

From all the threads and stories I have listened to over the years , I never got even close to this kind of situation because I had taken advise from my first boss , he said " They say that experience comes from the accumulation of all of the mistakes a person makes in their daily lives , my advice to you is to pay attention to the other guy and learn from HIS mistakes about what NOT to do in your life , you will find that a much more simple and cheaper way to learn ".

Hope I am not raining on somebody elses parade and what I have learned(hopefully) from others in this respect is at least somewhere in the ballpark .

A foreigner CAN legally own a house or any property. Just not the land. In his case the land is owned by a company he is a minor shareholder in. This company will in its balance sheet show that he is owed a certain ammount in the form of a loan as capital introduced. This must be paid back to him on the sale of property/land. Blue book means nothing at all. Do yourself a favour find a good lawyer. No one here can give you accurate Thai legal advice. Only express their opinions. Get your company documents up to date and ensure your taxes for the company are paid. Check the Chanote is in your(COMPANY) name and you have a sales contract or purchase agreement for the house. With regards divorce, your wife could be entitled to halve your interest in your company. Together with any other assets you have obtained since your marriage. If you dont have marriage registered at the amphur. Dont worry about that one.

There is an exception: If your company is BOI sponsored, it may a) be 100% foreign owned and own land for residence and/or business. I believe it's max 1 rai, not 100% sure. I know I can own land through my 100% owned company, though. However, if the company is dissolved, the land/house MUST be sold within 6 months.

This is my third relationship over here and hopefully the last and she is my wife now. I met her with friends and I knew her for over a year before we got together. Noting is for certain as far as GF/Wife. But stay away from the ones always asks for things (shopping, money, etc, no matter what is the reason) and absolutely No internet. They are the worse

Internet wives the worse eh ........oh dear more generalisations, its probably one of the best ways to meet, you get a chance to chat and dismiss potential mates and them you easily and early on, you meet up later and see what happens. I never understand this "internet" worry. Nearly 4 years married now only problems are language "misunderstandings" and cultural differences and to cap it all we live 6000 miles apart for 7 months of each year. She has all access to bank accounts and takes care of our business, buys secondhand clothes off friends and saves like a trojan for ahouse for us , so please dont label all Thais using the internet as gold diggers. She's a lo so Issan wide nosed wife ok SO WHAT her Mum did a good job i raising her and I suspect many more are like this? Honest as the day's long and often appalled by other peoples (Thai) attitudes in Thailand always telling me "oh they are very bad why do they do this" etc does she have faults, sure, dont w e all.

Please GH ok I know, I know, but I read pages of stuff like this before I came out and going solely on that I would never have set foot in Thailand 5 years ago.

So to anyone out there using the internet keep your head screwed on and there wont be any problems.

Right on. I concur 100%

This is my third relationship over here and hopefully the last and she is my wife now. I met her with friends and I knew her for over a year before we got together. Noting is for certain as far as GF/Wife. But stay away from the ones always asks for things (shopping, money, etc, no matter what is the reason) and absolutely No internet. They are the worse

Met online, she worked as admin in a condo office, where she started immediately after completing her business admin degree. I asked her to help me with setting up my business and deal with all the government paperwork. She got so busy with it, quit her job and didn't even ask me for a salary for a year until the company was setup and legally allowed to hire employees. We've now been together 4 years, she manages my 10-20 staff and workers, and combined we travel 200,000 miles a year going back and forth between Thailand and my home in Canada. Everything she owns I had to push her to buy (from clothes to car), she doesn't act hiso, and she's never earned a single baht from anything other than her job.

THis is my second relationship in Thailand. Fortunately I learned from the first one (who worked at a private hospital in Pattaya), that Thai girls get very homesick, and there is no point trying to fight it. Hence the flying back and forth my wife and I do now to keep a foot on two sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Every legal employee qualifies for severance pay. Even if they say you are a 'temporary hire,' this doesn't hold water after the first year or so (or else no one would ever have any 'permanent employees')- Thai labour law is strong, and if the paperwork has been correct the MOL (Ministry of Labour) will back you up. Insist on your rights, and if that doesn't work hire a lawyer to inform the school you know your rights. They will cave in. Then post their name in our 'schools you don't recommend thread,' as if by coincidence.

IJWT - i'm certainly not trying to pick any holes in your post, but can you post links to any success stories etc. Maybe in newspapers/ajarn.com or indeed on here?

It's just that i'm trying to separate fact from heresay.

Coincidentally, i am pretty much in exactly the scenario that Wangsuda described in his opening post...........

This could be a bit arkward.........

Dear Ijustwanna teach, sorry but your statement "Every legal employee qualifies for severance pay. Even if they say you are a 'temporary hire,' this doesn't hold water after the first year or so (or else no one would ever have any 'permanent employees')..." Is a little too blanket and a little too strong.

Under the Thai labour law:

- If the contract has no end date and the employer finishes the employment then the employee is entitled to severance pay. (Unless of course the employer dismisses the employee for theft, failing to carry out reasonable instructions etc., as well defined in the regulations.)

Severance must also be paid when the employee is asked to retire because of age.

- If the contract does have an end date and, and the end date, is not renewed by the employer then there is no entitlement to severance.

- If the employee resigns there is no entitlement to severance.

Therefore it is in the interests of the employee to ensure that on starting work the contract is clear and all signatures are completed and dated etc.

It is true that, if the employee is entitled to severance and the employer fails to pay, then the Thai courts will take a very serious view of this scenario and find in favor of the employee and quite probable punish the employer with a fine etc. In this regard, over the last 10 years, the Thai courts have become quite serious and are not swayed by 'extra pressures' so to speak.

You can figure that the "end date" provision applies in case of employment for under one year, and on the first contract only. Once multimple renewals have been in place, you can consider it full time permanent employment, qualifying for severance.

(Un)fortunately (depending on whether you are employer or employee) Thai law is very much in favour of the employee.

And also people......yearly contracts are exactly that, a contract for one year. if the school or company want to change your salary or conditions then they can. you have no recourse other than to find another job/contract that is better.

Of course most employers like to keep their employees relatively happy. at my school a lot of the teachers are grumbling that the annual pay rise is less this year (300 baht a month less). and some can't comprehend that a 12 month contract is exactly that. a contract for 12 months.

That is not true... Whether you have annually renewed contracts, no contracts, or just full term permanent employment, what counts is the total period served with the employer. However, in my opinion (I am an employer in Thailand), if you don't re-sign the renewal, then you are effectively resigning and definitely not owed severance. If the employer, however, does not offer a renewal, or does not continue to employ you , then you are indeed entitled to full severance under Thai labor law.

m

If they have the same budget as Bangkok-Rayong Hospital then they'll probably even have Internet access so you can show the doctor all about your maladies on the website.

It worked for me a few weeks ago.

I am very impressed with their facilities and service.

Oh do I ever agree with the OP!!!!!!

Thai mattresses are so hard that IMO they are an utter waste of money since the same effect could be gotten by just sleeping on the floor. Particularly can't understand shelling out a small fortune for spring mattresses that are as hard as the floor.

Like OP, I absolutely cannot sleep on hard beds, I'm awake all night in pain. May have something to do with the fact that I am a side-sleeper. Lying on your side on a hard surface it is impossible to have the small of your back supported, and the hip and shoulder bones areas get painfully sore within 15 minutes.

As for the mattress covers or for that matter even the fold-up foam mattress things, insufficient.

Not to sound like the Princess and the Pea, byut I've tried piling as many as 3 together atop a Thai spring mattress to no avail.

At home I have a thick foam mattress I bought many years ago but they no longer seem to be available in shops. You could try latexinnovations as suggested by prior poster.

This is the reason why I prefer 5 hours of driving to spending the night in a hotel in Bangkok when I need to go into town. It would be a sleepless night.

And also why I have come to dread staying in a hotel anywhere in Thailand as almost all of them likewise have these torture devices for beds.

Luckily in Cambodia, where I have to stay in hotels often, the opposite is true . Foam mattresses are produced locally and are what one usually finds and unless very old (in which case they may sag a bit) they are marvelous -- they give way where they need to accomodate a shoulder or hip while still giving good support to the back. In the 5 star places one may encounter spring mattresses but the management can always come up with a foam one on request and pretty much everything below 5 stars has Cambodian made foam.

So if all else fails, OP, a trip to Cambodia may be your answer.

Marriott/Sheraton/Westin/Fraser etc etc...all have nice mattresses, not too hard. I am not sure where you stay when you come to bkk??

Have you tried Tempur or similar memory foam mattresses? They really are great.

withdraw, exchange somewhere (superrich1965.com has usually the best rates) into GBP and take it with you.

I have a nice 3Bdrm on 36th floor at Sukhumvit and Asoke (Millennium Residence). Easy walk and/or free shuttle to BTS/MRT station. Fully furnished. Brand new, amazing pool, parking. Within your budget, and can be fully serviced and/or with live-in maid.

[email protected]

I can highly recommend President Park Serviced apartments on Sukhimvit soi 24. For around Bht 4500 you get a very nice 2 bedroom suite with a fully contained kitchen including a clothes washing and drying machine, three swimming pools, chidrens playground, bbq area and really great service.

marriott executive apartments, sukh 26. you get valuable marriott reward points, too, which you'll be able to use toward free vacations etc. i think the long stay rate is something like 2600 thb/nt.

fraser suites is alright, as well.

m

nobody is happy with exchange rates they are getting right now. you have to send funds in a way to be issued an FET, or you won't be able to close the transaction. Just stick with the regular bank. No risk, guaranteed FET, less hassles. You might be out a few thousand baht, but you'll be able to sleep better. Usually the exchange rates booked upon transfers-in are very fair and reasonable.

Hi

Thx a lot, problem is i never know where i am going and when, could be i 2 hours. Would be nice to have a card. Also look more expensive when you want to use a lounge maybe 15 times a year. Will keep looking.

Whats wrong with Priority??

My Amex Platinum and my Diners Club card have lounge programs. Part of the annual fee. As well, HSBC Premier has a few lounges.

M

hmmm. my son has both thai / british citizenship so does this mean he too has to forego his thai citizenship

The son of a friend of mine got a German and Thai passport, but at the age of 18 (still plenty of years to go) he will have to decide, which citizenship he wants to keep. How old is your son?

Germany changed that rule. Now, children born with dual citizenship do NOT need to give up their German passport upon their 18th birthday anymore (I have 3 kids with dual citizenship german/canadian).

m

Dr_lucas, you seem to be pretty resistant to advice.

So just go ahead and buy the Z4. It will make a good read on TV some day when "something" happens to it. I'll stay tuned.

Please complete the following: "if it seems to good to be true, ...."

LN

What a nonsense. I am just interested in real facts that can help me decide, not disinformation.

Please complete the following: "If you have nothing nice to say..."

I am getting a headache reading this. DO NOT BUY A GREY CAR. period. 1) Grey importers go bust all the time. They probably cheated on taxes/imports and bribed the cars into the country to a much higher degree than they pass on to you. If you save 1.5M they save another 1.5M. But you get caught later and pay 3 M plus interest etc. Save yourself the trouble already.

If you are interested in saving money, just buy a gently used BMW from the dealer, or a private seller (a legit not grey resale). We bought a Freelander for about 1/4 of new price with just 40,000 kms on it. Can't lose on that, can ya? Drive another 80K, it's still perfectly fine, and probably still worth half of what we paid for it.

I just can't imagine why you would be so keen on buying this car with that type of risk involved. For all you know it could be a lemon, it could have legit parts stripped and replaced with cheap replacements, whatever.

I am gonna stop reading this post now. If you get f'cked on this deal you deserve it after hearing everyone's advice. Stop asking already.

M

Hi folks, I wanted to start a new thread on this but guess I will post here for now. I just went back to Vietnam and cashed out all of my money there (was living there before coming here in September) and of the three currencies I was looking at, the Euro gave me a slight edge value-wise, so I went with that. I now have 4860 Euro. I come on here and I see that the Euro was listed as high as 49+ just a few weeks ago but is now at 47.106 or something and likely going down, that equates to about ten thousand baht. What's the general consensus? Although the Euro was the better value in Vietnam looks like it's not a good one here? Think it will go back up? Any reason for decline or just usual market unpredictability?

Asked at one currency exchange if I could go directly from Euro to another int'l, such as dollar (usd) but they said no. Edit: I am not a European and don't travel there, just used the currency as it offered a bit of a higher value. Feels strange holding onto money you'll never use.

my opinion is the EUR overshot. Maybe fair value at about par to the USD. So long term, the USD should recover against the EUR and the THB should weaken abit.

Perhaps like so:

35 - 38 THB / USD

35 - 45 THB / EUR

just my 2 cents...satangs whatever.

I am going through the motions with a large USD transfer of 400K. Everytime the THB moves 0.10 it's 40,000 baht. Real bummer, since I planned on converting at around 38, and now averaging just near 34 on my condo purchase.

Swampy immigration is one of the worst in the region. Even Jakarta you get thru faster. Lately they have more staff and desks open but still not nearly enough. It takes average one hour to get into taxi from the time your plane hits the runway. First one kilometer hike to immigration, half an hour waiting, wait for your bags and walk to taxi which is in the other end and wait some more to get going. Singapore has similar if not bigger volumes and never it has took me more than 30 mins to be on my way. So it is doable.

Biggest issue is that there is three sections in immigration but one of them is reserved for crew and thai air first class passengers. So effectively 30% of the capasity is not being used. The same applies on departure, immigration section in the middle is not in use. Only occasional diplomat might go thru. So only 70% of capasity in use and this creates massive waiting times in peak hours (morning departures and arrivals from europe and US come in same time).

At least now Thai seems to have get their act together regards to check-in at 8am flights. It used to be more than one hour que for check-in since they opened Swampy but lately it is better. They have more desks open and probably re-scheduled some flights as well to ease the load...

So only solution would be to open all three sections to public and leave one desk in each for the VIP's. Off peak hours just close desks evenly in all three and peak hours keep all desks open in all 3 sections.

What gets me is this: A big line in the "foreigner" queues, and immigration officers sitting with NOBODY coming through "disabled" "thai" "VIP" queues. Now, in every other airport anywhere in the world, those idle officers will call up people standing in the regular lines one at a time. But not in BKK. It's really stubborn and odd use of immigration resources. Same at Thai check-in. There could be a line at the "gold checkin" counter a mile long, and 10 agents sitting idle at biz or first class. But NO WAY they would direct their next-tier "Star Gold" passengers; don't understand it really.

It's amazing at how arrogant some people can get be to the less able in a society. I very much doubt that people beg because it's such a lucrative way to make money.

I'm inclined to agree. I generally don't have any spare money since I'm not working and just trying to get one day to the next myself on a little savings and what is left on my pension after bills in the US. But I still cannot help but feel, though all my Thai friends say don't give because it is run by criminal gangs and most are from neighboring countries. I don't know. In the US at least it can be lucrative. People stand near the interstates with signs "Will work for food." If offer them work they refuse and usually stay at moderately-priced hotels. I guess scams here too. The thing is then the really needy suffer too because they are all suspect. My Thai friends say better to give to temple or mosque because they can help members of their community then...

Begging is a lucrative "profession". Try 3-4000 THB per day in a decent location... Some really armless kids aren't armless by accident. And there is such a thing as a beggars' mafia, i.e. someone behind the scenes arranging to drop them off, collect money, pay off BIB etc etc. Not just in Thailand, by the way. Maybe in North America the downtrodden are real beggars in the traditional sense, but not in Bangkok. I doubt the old ladies on the streed "want" to sit there, but someone puts them there.

On an internal flight is it just a quick flash of the passport at immigration?

No immigration at all, just the airline check in. But not sure if they check your entry stamp. Personally I wouldn't risk it.

Though never overstayed, I have travelled inside Thailand with simple ID, Drivers License from my home country. They don't care about passports on internal flights.

m