joe84330

not sure how many comparable places are available in FV at that rate. sounds like you're a match for bang rak. it's not a swimming beach to be sure but it is a beach, has a number of bars and an easy songthaew ride to tesco.

ah yes the virtuous and ethical thai police. that's a great source of info. just so there isn't any more confusion, we're not using fake plates, we're using a reproduction plate on the back of the vehicle as the very legit real plate has been moved from back to front. the reproduction plate is exactly that, a reproduction of the original. nothing new has been created and any diligent officer of the law will find that the plates match up with anything they might find in their database.

the issue isn't one of bogus plates, it's of having NO plate on the back or front of your vehicle. it takes 3 months to obtain a replacement after filing police reports and visiting each office on the island at least once. the reproduction plate which is placed on the back after moving the legit plate to the front. the reproduction plate goes a long way towards avoiding having any involvement with thailands finest should you find yourself in a traffic stop. have your letter and no plate and you will still be pulled over, questioned, asked for some pocket money and later sent on your way, possibly a few baht lighter.

there is an entire industry here fully functioning to avoid the 3 month wait and traffic stops. these shops are located in every city in thailand, and run by thai's. there must be some reason for that.

So, it would seem Rooo's policmen aren't aware that they shouldn't be cooperating

I lost mine too. The police department should have had a list of found ones , the transport department also have one.

I had to order mine from the transport department, 3 months for a duplicate. When I left & drove through Nathon got stopped. Lucky I had the letter & receipt explaining the payment & reason for duplicate. I was then told ok, but move the back plate to the front.

So as long as she has the paper work with her & the plate on the front, shouldn't be a problem.

i think if you ask rooo to expound, they may, if pressed, offer a 24 hour and even in some cases (policeman is a relative/friend/drinking buddy/ couple hundred baht under the table) up to a 7 day grace period. far short of the 3 months required to obtain a new legit plate. i'll bet a few satang that anyone trying to use that letter after even a few days will be fined. my staff are my staff because they have friends and family in literally every office on samui and this was the route that they chose, so far i've seen no evidence to disagree.

Joe sounds like a real fake plate oh well copy every thing in Thai

you do realize that there is an entire industry set up throughout thailand to provide people with plates rather than waiting for months for a "real" plate and possibly getting one or more 2k baht fines in the process?

no, probably not. it is much easier to make snide comments when you are hiding behind a key board.

If you have the letter from the Transportation Department why on earth would you pay fines?

because, and this comes straight from several different policemen on samui, "if you don't want to get stopped and pay a fine, park your vehicle until you get a new plate".

of course they told that to my thai staff in thai but the point should still get through. the transport department and the "police" do not cooperate, do not work together, and any fines and/or bribes paid to one do not necessarily transfer over to the other.

also, i've put thousands of km's on my motorbike in the last 4 years and not one of those km's was there ever a license plate on my bike. one of the little endearing quirks about samui that i really like haha.

yep put the back plate on the front. i've also had temporary plates made at local shops rather than wait months for the real thing. had mine made directly opposite that new university in chaweng. first they print out a paper copy which they then put inside a frame and install, then call you a week later with a "real" plate.

They can't call you with a real plate Joe. These are only issued by the Land Transport Department.

true, this is why i put quotes around the word "real". since they don't use any stickers identifying an actual vehicle, there is literally no difference between a fake "real" plate and the real deal issued by the transport department. i guess the only difference is that you don't need to wait 3 months and visit every bureaucracy in samui 4 times in the process.

There is an embossed seal on the new real ones. You can get fined for not having this seal....youi can get jailed and fined heavily for having a fake seal.

interesting info, good to know. having said that, none of any of our plates around here have any embossed seal visible to the naked eye. my impostor plates don't even have a fake seal, embossed or not so i guess i'm in hot water now!

regardless, the normal and official plating process here, especially in the case of a replacement plate, is completely absurd. no surprise then that the thai's have developed a much more efficient black market for these plates. i didn't even know it existed until we needed the plate for an office vehicle and staff took me to the shop. now i see them regularly and operating completely in the open.

i am interested to see how you are finging it on Koh Samui now? we are looking to move there next month and have a 7 month old. Did you have much trouble finding a place to rent and getting a car. We were looking to move there only for 8-9 months as my husband can work remotely from his computer anywhere in the world.

Is there anything you would have done differently or could recommend? Does there seem to be many people with young families living in Koh Samui and did you intergrate well?

Thanks

Quack Quack OOPPS.......does your husband have a work permit to work in Thailand???............

ironic, coming from a time share hustler.

only quoting entire post to justify using an accountant, personally i'd rather pour hot sauce into my eyes than ever look at that list.

not all accountants are rip offs, particularly if they can remove even half of the headaches involved with putting all of the various papers together for the work permit.

if you can speak and/or read thai, the process is much smoother. just go to the labor dept in nathon, in between the police station and tesco and perhaps they have updated the list of required documents, forms, tax returns etc that are required. from my experience, having a thai person handle all of these chores, even for a nominal fee, was well worth the effort and i can read thai.

yep put the back plate on the front. i've also had temporary plates made at local shops rather than wait months for the real thing. had mine made directly opposite that new university in chaweng. first they print out a paper copy which they then put inside a frame and install, then call you a week later with a "real" plate.

They can't call you with a real plate Joe. These are only issued by the Land Transport Department.

true, this is why i put quotes around the word "real". since they don't use any stickers identifying an actual vehicle, there is literally no difference between a fake "real" plate and the real deal issued by the transport department. i guess the only difference is that you don't need to wait 3 months and visit every bureaucracy in samui 4 times in the process.

hm, i don't think any of the fishermen on the entire south coast, nathon or even bang rak fall into the bussed in construction or tourism workers category. looking at what they've done to local fish populations and beach quality i'd say that they just don't give a shit. i remember spending a few days cleaning the beach around bang rak a few years ago where the new seatran ferry is located and having to move my trash bags around some of these fishermen sitting on the beach with one of their engines draining oil into the sand. and they sat there looking at me like i'm crazy. perhaps they are right, i am still "wasting my time" picking up garbage left behind by all of the thai's when i could be doing something productive.

Leaked Photo of Joe84330 at his office: :

hey! i never gave anyone permission to use that photo!

hm, i don't think any of the fishermen on the entire south coast, nathon or even bang rak fall into the bussed in construction or tourism workers category. looking at what they've done to local fish populations and beach quality i'd say that they just don't give a shit. i remember spending a few days cleaning the beach around bang rak a few years ago where the new seatran ferry is located and having to move my trash bags around some of these fishermen sitting on the beach with one of their engines draining oil into the sand. and they sat there looking at me like i'm crazy. perhaps they are right, i am still "wasting my time" picking up garbage left behind by all of the thai's when i could be doing something productive.

. which bar are you currently trying to sell? i might be interested now as long as the key money isn't too ridiculous

Well, that sort of blew your cover.

Come to a place you don't know anything about and buy a bar. What a novel idea.

"Man-up and roll with it"? Sounds like what my defense said on that armed robbery charge....

I don't think a person wants to come to a place with his family where he has to "man-up." Then again, I hear Sierra Leone has nice beaches too.

i will move to samui one of these days and i'll be damned if i'm going to do anything besides sit on either side of the bar.

Joe sounds like a real fake plate oh well copy every thing in Thai

you do realize that there is an entire industry set up throughout thailand to provide people with plates rather than waiting for months for a "real" plate and possibly getting one or more 2k baht fines in the process?

no, probably not. it is much easier to make snide comments when you are hiding behind a key board.

Samui is great, it has more days of good weather than bad, typical temp is 28, with great beaches. It has schools that provide an education on par and better than many schools in the USA or UK. Many of the Dr's have worked in the EU and USA. Water sport, art, music, and golf are all available to children and adults. Southern Thai food is wonderful, samui is user friendly, no real need to speak thai. Every day is Friday on Koh Samui. Trust me when I say I am not a person who has a love affair with Thais or Thai culture, I find many things on a daily basis that make me scratch my head and wonder why. Having said this I have been on samui for more than a decade, my boys ages 12 and 6 have both been raised here and are polite, have a very good respect for family, elders and themselves. They have or are currently sailing, taking art lessons, swim, play golf, learning to play piano, play soccer,learning to play guitar, and score high on their SAT test. Will my boys leave samui for education and a different take on life? Yes and when that time comes they will leave Thailand, just like many of the children who live, leave and return to Thailand. I have live in Bali, and traveled throughout thailand, for me samui with all it's faults is still the place I like to call home.

hey that almost makes this place seem livable. which bar are you currently trying to sell? i might be interested now as long as the key money isn't too ridiculous

yep put the back plate on the front. i've also had temporary plates made at local shops rather than wait months for the real thing. had mine made directly opposite that new university in chaweng. first they print out a paper copy which they then put inside a frame and install, then call you a week later with a "real" plate.

i'm very happy to raise my 2 kids (10 and under) here and will be adding my 3rd next month. have lived and traveled around the world and am very happy with my choice to stay here for 5 years now. certainly not perfect but very nice for what it is.

my own opinion is that each of the people who constantly show up in the samui forum to talk about how bad the place is have either 1) "purchased" property based on a scheme that is not allowed by Thai law. 2) bought a bar with cash once and are now paying the real price 3) kissed a frog thinking it would turn into their princess.

the more negative their response leads me to believe they've done more than 1 of the above.

i'm a gardener in bang por. do you offer 401k, medical/dental and a union break schedule? if so i might be interested.

if not, maybe my boy would be. he's only 10 but he knows how to water correctly, weed, make compost, hunt for aphids and beetles and push a wheelbarrow.

thanks for the pics. i'm only really posting though to take exception with the "farang rape" of the island. having personally taken more than 100 kilos of trash off of my beach in the last two weeks it's pretty clear to me who is responsible for "raping" this area. get off the beach and onto the roads and i don't see any farang driving trucks or motorbikes belching disgusting smoke into the air either. i remember showing a customer around the island once and i was driving behind a school bus when 3 separate children took turns throwing plastic garbag, cups etc. out onto the road. any attempts to place some blame that aren't directed squarely at the thai's that live or visit here is disingenuous to say the least.

there is a new "health foods" type shop open in the bophut side of mae nam, directly on the ring road. don't know the name though and have never been inside but based on the name alone they are apparently trying to appeal to the organic foods types. not far from the family mart at the entrance to W, but opposite side of the street.

This funny?

great photo. can't tell if it's trying to scare anyone away or mock them for even thinking of coming closer.

Reminds me not to buy an iPhone...

It appears that the blurry smudge posted by the OP is not even remotely similar to the arachnid with the long legs.

as an iphone owner for years, i wouldn't buy one for the camera either. perhaps the newer models cameras are better than my 3gs but comparing the total package, no other phone even begins to come close.

god bless texas.

i'm sure he was simply a misunderstood soul and that with proper counseling and rehabilitation he will yet become a productive member of society.

Take it to a computer repair shop and ask them to clean it.

Probably dirty inside that makes it turn off because off heat.

could be. when my wii kept turning itself off it turned out to be a blown fuse. OP i've sent you a pm with the name of the guy that fixed my console.