SAMCHAROEN

Try enforcing the laws inside the Sois as well. I've never seen a traffic cop inside a soi. Seems the sois are governed by the residents of the sois as they deem convenient for them, with cars and motorcycles parked in any available gap on the street. 3 passengers on Motorcycles none wearing a helmet. 

Lately I have observed that the traffic cops are nowhere to be seen even on the roads let alone the sois.

no helmet and no mask

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thaivisa notes that applying for PR can be a long, quite expensive, time consuming, document filled adventure and there are many hoops to jump through. 

Same as it is with most other countries around the world 

There are lots of places where I have seen pumps for flood-water in BKK, even in BigC! When you want to see how they look Google "dirty water pumps" in images and this kind shows-up to give you an idea. To you the choice of the size, big or small (to get rid of the volume of the water), which depends of the price of course.

Home-"Pro" has them also but I'm not fond of this shop for several reasons. I'm almost sure that you can find them in a local shop in Sukhumvit 63 (Ekkamai)!

Water-problems already???

Thanks for the pointers...

Yes my water problems seem to have begun in earnest.

The heavy down pours yesterday caused my tiny soi to be flooded. Water came into our ground floor through the door and the drains.

It took me any my wife 4 hours to discharge the water outside bucket by bucket.

Hello Friends,

My house in Ekamai is having flood problems.

Can anyone recommend me a water pump which can pump out the flood water.

Where can I buy one of these in Bangkok?

Thanks all!

Lady Gaga in hot water over Bangkok concert[/

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-06-15

I would like to see GAGA's (pronounced as BAA-BAA in Thai) reaction if she actually does land in hot water or better still in hot onion soup.

If she had any talent she would not have to retort to using such cheap gimmicks.

What is so shocking about this?

There are so many places in Bangkok where bare chested females can be seen in public (Soi cowboy, Nana, patpong, pattaya ....).

There is also no shortage of gambling dens.

What these people have done is put 2 and 2 together and come up with a new formula for vice.

Its like watching porn and gambling at the same time.

Only thing shocking about this is that the police did not get to them earlier.

Hello all,

I am currently looking for ways to partition a large room.

I will need 2 standard doors or 1 door + 1 large sliding door.

I am trying to decide between aluminum and UPVC.

I have a quote of Thb2,500 per sq meter from the Aluminum guy. Is this expensive? (I checked with 2 shops and both offered me about the same extimate)

I am yet to find a source for UPVC in Bangkok.

Any suggestions and personal experiences please do share.

Which one will be more cost efficient? aluminum or Upvc?

Hello all,

I am looking for a reliable source for UPVC sliding doors in Bangkok area (preferably Sukhumvit road).

Any suggestions?

Please do share your personal experiences.

Thanx

What's the big hurry these bus drivers are in???

It's been raining and roads are slippery...don't these people have any sense of responsibility ???

Instead of spending billions of bt on money hand-outs pre-election the authorities should install GPS on all public transport to warn speeding drivers and penalize offenders.

I have been watching the Ashes (4th Test) on sportwiththeboss.blogspot.com. It is Sky Sports coverage and very good

Sorry got to mention its free

Thanks!!! you made my day.

I would like to watch live cricket on my computer paid or otherwise.

Any suggestions?

That's a new one on me, I've never seen a motorcycle riding a monkey...

I see monkeys riding motorcycles and even tuk tuks on Sukhumvit road everyday.

Can anyone help me.

I plan to drive to Nakon Sakon from BKK today. Are the roads open?

Nakon Sakon?

At the time of writing this post its bright and sunny outside.

Please can anyone list all the roads/important sois which are expected to be flooded?

Sukhumvit road and all its major sois goes without mentioning I believe

Good thing we have BTS and we can all glide over the flood like riding Noah's Arch.

The flooding will occur because of rains up north and flood waters flowing through Bangkok, not because of rains in Bangkok.

And Noah had a boat (ark) not a bridge (arch).

My apologies for the spelling mistake and it was indeed an ark.

What I meant (as a joke) was that the BTS would be a metaphoric Noah's Ark.

At the time of writing this post its bright and sunny outside.

Please can anyone list all the roads/important sois which are expected to be flooded?

Sukhumvit road and all its major sois goes without mentioning I believe

Good thing we have BTS and we can all glide over the flood like riding Noah's Arch.

Why did I even bother to read this topic...

She has a green card, so what. I have a "beyond" platinum card. Green card cannot make payment nor withdraw cash. Who cares about green card outside USA. If I am the immigration office, I would politely tell the girl to put the green card away, as I won't be interested; and stop threatening me. Have green card does not make her my mother. I am only interested in her Nap passport, her real intention to visit Thailand, if she has the mean to support herself, any hidden agenda, is she likely to take up illegal employment, and will she be leaving Thailand after her intended stay, etc. . . . As the article is only a one sided story, I will take it with a bucket of salt. . . . http://thaicatwalk.c...eyond-platinum/

The punishment should fit the crime. She had entered Thai soil without valid visa by mistake of Thai airways authorities who allowed her to board the flight in the first place.

The Thai Airways did not help her even though she was put into a bad situation because of their mistake.

The Immigration did not show her any sympathy but instead put her in jail ... she had not committed any crime.

The transit lounge is the place where such passengers should be taken to wait for the next flight to where ever they choose not the jail.

Most if not all of us break some law everyday but mostly we go unpunished since the crime is not so serious.

Instead of showing sympathy and helping the lady they put her in jail instead.

Having a green card does not mean anything but to be treated fairly means a lot.

Where can I get FOX channels such as Fox Crime, Fox News?

I also would like to have Bio Channel and other English channels not supplied by UBC.

Any other channels worth watching these days?

Will be much obliged if I could get their contact telephone nos. in Bkk.

Thanks in advance.

This in regards to Brahmburgers comment :

"The rich are people. People are selfish. Asians are generally more selfish than westerners, if viewed from the perspective of how much tangible aid they give the less fortunate among them - whether in % or bulk amounts. Whenever there's a global-scale calamity, who goes to offer aid? The Asians (China, Korea, India and others?). No. Perhaps Japan helps a bit. Where do ALL the do-good global organizations originate? UN, Oxfam, Red Cross, Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, World Bank, etc? ....that's right, they originate and are run by Americans or Europeans. Name one such organization which originates in Asia (Red Crescent doesn't count, because it's Arab). "

Your comments reek of racial prejudice and I wonder why moderators haven't deleted these comments.

Just because the do-good global organizations don't originate in Asia does not mean Asians are selfish.

A lot of funding to these organizations come from Asians and a lot of Asians work for these organizations.

Just because these charitable organizations originated in the west does not mean that Asia does not play any part in it.

Whenever there is a global calamity the aid pours in from all countries not just the US or Europe.

During the earthquake in Haiti, Asian countries sent aid not only in cash but also in form of food and medicines.

On the other hand, till 60years ago many European countries occupied Asian and African countries.

The British ruled India for 200 years - ate their food, drank there water, stole their wealth, raped their mothers and daughters. Was this not an act of selfishness??

Or do I hear you say that occupation of entire countries was an act of kindness because Asians are poor barbarians and they needed aid?

I hope not.

I guess you should apologize if you are not selfish yourself.

Moderators please delete the offensive comments. Thanks in advance.

Brahmburgers please note:

Thailand has approved to give 20,000 tonnes of rice to help flood hit Pakistan.

Please read the full story here: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Cabinet-approves-aid-for-flood-hit-Pakistan-30136977.html

Asians are not as selfish as you think !

This in regards to Brahmburgers comment :

"The rich are people. People are selfish. Asians are generally more selfish than westerners, if viewed from the perspective of how much tangible aid they give the less fortunate among them - whether in % or bulk amounts. Whenever there's a global-scale calamity, who goes to offer aid? The Asians (China, Korea, India and others?). No. Perhaps Japan helps a bit. Where do ALL the do-good global organizations originate? UN, Oxfam, Red Cross, Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, World Bank, etc? ....that's right, they originate and are run by Americans or Europeans. Name one such organization which originates in Asia (Red Crescent doesn't count, because it's Arab). "

Your comments reek of racial prejudice and I wonder why moderators haven't deleted these comments.

Just because the do-good global organizations don't originate in Asia does not mean Asians are selfish.

A lot of funding to these organizations come from Asians and a lot of Asians work for these organizations.

Just because these charitable organizations originated in the west does not mean that Asia does not play any part in it.

Whenever there is a global calamity the aid pours in from all countries not just the US or Europe.

During the earthquake in Haiti, Asian countries sent aid not only in cash but also in form of food and medicines.

On the other hand, till 60years ago many European countries occupied Asian and African countries.

The British ruled India for 200 years - ate their food, drank there water, stole their wealth, raped their mothers and daughters. Was this not an act of selfishness??

Or do I hear you say that occupation of entire countries was an act of kindness because Asians are poor barbarians and they needed aid?

I hope not.

I guess you should apologize if you are not selfish yourself.

Moderators please delete the offensive comments. Thanks in advance.

The post from samcharoen is helpful, especially if it is correct. Unfortunately, there are some errors in it, and an omission. For non-Thais, the funds you bring into Thailand to purchase a condo must be equal to or greater than the amount that you declare as the transaction value of the condo at the time of transfer of ownership. It doesn't matter if it is all condo, part furniture and fixtures, or whatever. The amounts totalled on the Foreign Exchange Transaction Form(s) supplied by the bank must be equal to or greater than that transaction value.

If you rent your unit out, there is also tax on the rental receipts. You need to look into more detail on this, as I have no experience in renting out condo units.

In order to expatriate funds, Bangkok Bank requires very specific documents to support your application to convert Thai baht and export the converted foreign funds. You need to find out from whichever bank you use, exactly what documents must be supplied to them. It's easy to say, "supporting documents", but your assumption of what are "supporting" documents may be inconsistent with what the bank requires.

If you are working in Thailand and have a work permit, banks have some additional provisions for allowing you to set up special accounts that will enable you to satisfy the requirements for getting the FETF's. There are some threads on thaivisa forum that address this very specific issue and you should search for them to learn more.

In the past, Bangkok Bank branch in Singapore and UOB Singapore had offered non-Thai baht loans for property purchase in Thailand, but the terms and conditions were so onerous that I have never heard of anyone actually using this facility.

Be careful of following advice from thaivisa postings. Some helpful in general but a lot are lacking in specifics and wrong on the details.

The post from samcharoen is helpful, especially if it is correct. Unfortunately, there are some errors in it, and an omission. For non-Thais, the funds you bring into Thailand to purchase a condo must be equal to or greater than the amount that you declare as the transaction value of the condo at the time of transfer of ownership. It doesn't matter if it is all condo, part furniture and fixtures, or whatever. The amounts totalled on the Foreign Exchange Transaction Form(s) supplied by the bank must be equal to or greater than that transaction value.

Dear tangoII,

At the risk of being off-topic, let me expand on what I posted earlier:

The actual funds which you bring into Thailand to purchase a condo must be equal to or greater than the amount that you declare as the transaction value of the condo at the time of transfer of ownership - agreed.

But the transaction value need not be what you actually pay - meaning you can deduct the estimated value of the furniture & fittings from the actual value. Whatever amount remains you bring -in that much and declare it as the cost of the real estate.

The reason being:

1. The land dept. does not need to tax you for furniture/fittings which came along with the real estate.

2. We dont need to show money coming from overseas to buy furniture.

Consider this: if you were to buy an up-market condo which came with imported Italian marble, Italian furniture, fittings, jaccuzi, whirlpool etc...costing at least a couple of mil. bt. , would it make sense to pay the land dept taxes on these furnitures & fittings whereas taxes have already been levied on them via other means? under these circumstances even the floor tiles (imported from Italy) would be considered as a fitting and not part of the cost of the real estate as such.

If you rent your unit out, you would in theory be required to pay tax on your rental income. Sorry for not mentioning it in my post.

I'm not a lawyer so meeting with a real estate agent or a visit to the land dept. to get the details will not be a bad idea.

Wine bars, artsy café/bars like the one suggested by snawa, indie movie theater/screen room, theme restaurants (imagine something similar to

Just thought of something: how about serving nice home cooked 3 course dinners at home and serving to select, by-invitation-only guests. You would need to be a good cook and have a dining room where you could seat 10-12 people comfortably. You could serve something special which is not readily available in restarunts and also it could provide the guests opportunity to make new contacts. Iam borrowing this idea from a tv documentry I saw some time ago.

Dear OP,

The following is based on my personal knowledge and opinions and thus may or may not be accurate. You must re-check with the proper authorities before making your decision.

1. As a foreigner, to buy a condo you must show money coming in from abroad. There is no exception to this rule.

However, you need not bring in full 100%... usually 80% is sufficient and the rest 20% you can use your savings here.

(I belive, 20% is considered cost of furniture and fittings of the property and not the actual real estate itself and so it need not be brought in from abroad.)

2. The current policy is not to lend money to foreigners for buying property. Period.

(Although I have heard UOB does give loans to foreigners if certain conditions are met.)

3. You can buy a condo using 100% of your own money provided the money comes-in from abroad as mentioned in point no.1 above.

4. Assuming that you dont have any funds in your home country, you can wire transfer your funds here to your home country.

Again assuming that you have been paying your taxes and your funds here are fully tax paid and you have all the supporting documents to prove it, you should not have any problem in doing so.

In fact, it will be an added advantage to you considering the current strong Baht.

After you have done this you may wire transfer these funds back here or you may look for a suitable investment back in your home country.

5. Since banks wont lend money to foreigners to buy condos you will not be able to refinance it later either. So getting a tax deduction does not arise.

6. If you buy a condo, you need to ask yourself - should I stay there myself or give it on rent? If the rental income you expect to receive from your condo is greater than the rent you are currently paying, you should give it on rent.

If not, you should stay there yourself and thus saving on your rental expenses.

7. In case you decide not to invest in a condo, there are only few other options where you can invest your money.

You have been buying into LTFs & RTFs which does gives you a tax saving. However, the returns are not so impressive in my opinion.

The lesser the risks involved the lower the returns. So if you want to make some real money you need to take some calculated risks.

Stocks, gold futures, agricultural futures are some of the riskier investments and you can invest a small part of your savings in these if you wish to take risks.

My safest bet would be to buy your condo and give it on rent. If you choose the property wisely you can easily make 8-9% annually on your investment.

You may even sell your condo later for a profit.

Happy investing !

..and if they hadn't built the airport you'd still be going by ferry!!

No he would'nt. There would be a government built airport and we'd all be paying approx 3800 return to bangkok.

As far as I know, the govt. does not build airports... its the Airports Of Thailand (SET symbol AOT) who does it and they are a public limited company.

If the profit is not worth the investment they will not invest.