TravelerEastWest

It doesn't matter which number is used as long as it is answered and any report acted upon timeously.

You are the voice of calmness and good sense.

Thank you.

"The only advantage for you as an individual, is that under BOI you will receive a 2 year work permit, as opposed to the conventional 1 year."

2 year work permits require double the government annual fee but are available - although some offices may be difficult and only want to do one year and ask for extra requirements such as the company needing to have a VAT license even when they are small enough in revenues to not need one.

If you pay for help with the paperwork a two year visa will cost the same for the service as a one year so normally a two year work permit is a good idea.

"...the coating to help prevent stomach irritation, along with the obvious convenience are reasons to buy the real thing."

Exactly, Enteric coated aspirin.

No you do not need to hire an accountant but you do need bookkeeping done in a timely manner.

You can engage the services of an outside accountant.

"ex forest land with no channot."

Can normally only go to the children and can't have commercial use so in theory you can't sell the crops so what is the point unless you don't care about the law then go for it...

So the renting idea is interesting but only one year in advance.

Ii can say we where lucky bought a house at the edge of a moo-baan for 550.000 baht lived there for 8 years and sold it furnished ( we want to buy everything new in the new house) for 1.150.000 so lived free for 8 years and had money to build a new house, so who is still saying renting is better ?

You invested well - good work.

No need to lose money on a house in Thailand.

I always enjoy watching someone go off the deep end because someone else observes something and wishes it were different.

Back to the topic in hand - of course Thailand's changing; it's become a much richer country. Thanks in part to the contributions to the economy by many folks posting on Thaivisa. But human development always lags economic growth and once there was a limited service sector attracting a handful of dedicated "cream of the crop" people and now there's a much bigger service sector with much less freedom to pick and choose the workforce. That's all that's happened really. Better economy = more expense and less service. At least in the short-term. In the long-run it means more expense and slowly improving service as companies begin to move away from price competition and quality of product competition and on to service based competition. No big deal.

I like your thoughts.

As for myself I think Chiang Mai has more buildings (OK with that) and more traffic (less OK with that but can't be helped) but the people haven't changed much.

Prices have gone up all over the world.

Basically I still like Chiang Mai - only complaint is the air pollution part of the year.

Kids should be whacked for fighting, bullying etc, but for forgetting to sweep the class or other triviality? Thai teachers seem to get off on inflicting pain on their students. He should be fined, struck off and banged up.

Kids should not be whacked for any reason.

Violence is not necessary for discipline.

Children should never be hot for any reason and certainly not in school.

If a parent can't control a child then they are the ones at fault in all cases...

Also I seem to recall it being illegal to hit children or is that not the case in Thai schools?

You should keep the two tasks separate.

Have the company transfer title to you first.

Then close teh company.

Closing seems slow and expensive in your example.

"is the housing market outside the city limits and upwards of 5 mil plus,in a depressed state, to sell at a reasonable price???"

Yes it seems that way, but RE moves in cycles all over the world so the reasonable prices could be gone in 18 months or they may go lower no one knows for sure.

On Sunday I was out with the family and noticed lots of new buildings in Mae Jo which is outside CM enter. A new post office is underway and an acquaintance is selling land nearby at a big gain so in the end if you are careful and can see where future demand is you can still buy at good prices.

Why do people use a visa office???

Often they can get you an appointment for a visa extension so for a fee they save you many hours of time.

When you are working and have a family saving time is very important.

You can save much more than the cost of their service.

Blackcab has given the best answer so far.

You might consider owning 49% of the total shares but 100% of the common shares and have your children own preferred shares.

The young children probably can't be promoters but shortly after starting the company they can be shareholders.

It is all matter of education. More educated Thai women do not speak loudly or like a child...specially is they are world travelers.

Exactly.

Also they have to give notice if you have been working for them for some time. Immediate termination is not legal.

I was not aware that immediate termination was not an option - is this something new?

In some cases you have to pay money such as severance pay of different amounts,but you certainly can fire with cause and probably without cause but with money due.

I could easily be wrong...

From experience, you will have to apply for a new work permit.

Exactly.

"At 21:00 the traffic was the worst I have ever seen it in Thailand.."

Sounds like a troll post or someone who has never been to Bangkok.

Chiang Mai has far better medical care, better food and shopping etc compared to more than 20 years ago when I first stayed here.

45 minutes outside the city is mountains and farms and so on.. I live in the mountains and love it the best of both worlds.

What would I do?

Offer you my sympathy. And suggest maybe 1st class insurance next time?

Thanks man I'm just so glad nobody was hurt. At the time this rolling wreak of a Corolla came into our possession I considered the insurance options. But this car was truly a mess. The engine was shot, the transmission slipped and the lights barely worked (I believe it was a floater in some Bangkok flood), and every panel on it was covered in bondo... but it had good tires and stopped on demand. Honestly I would value it a about 1000 dollars salvage. So I opted for the minimum insurance .... hummm.

You need 1st class insurance for liability if nothing else. Good news that you weren't hurt.

You made a big mistake - unless you couldn't get 1st class insurance then it is frustrating and you have my sympathy.

If you can find the money behind the accident and the time involved is worth it go for it if not as others have posted move on as you are now losing energy over this and it is not worth it.

Two months ago an unlicensed guy in a truck delivering water rear ended my car and he admitted fault but had no license or insurance - he claimed.

One call to our insurance agent and 20 minutes later the report was filled out followed up by a visit to the local police station as a formality.

Next stop the dealer and a brand new bumper with an exact paint match. A big headache for me but no out of pocket money certainly not to the police.

One interesting note the insurance company wanted to do a repair I said no, and my insurance agent took care of it and we received a new bumper about 12,000 baht bill for the insurance company and it doesn't raise our rates.

So not only do you need good insurance but you need a good agent.

Stands to reason a 23 yr old girl will have a totally different outlook/aspect than a 40 yr old.

But in reality, I doubt many women would "understand" that situation or accept it.

Correct - actually I think the OP is trolling and can't be serious to think a 23 year old from Thailand will see the world the way he does.

Mae Rim is beautiful in the hills.

Why not rent a house near Prem and have your kids go to a school that has a green campus and good teachers.

If you like night life stay in Chiang Mai.

Promoting Thai silk is a good thing.

The finishing of Italian silk is something special and will be difficult to equal everything else can be done here in Thailand.

Silk shops that are well run exist but prices are very high in Bangkok and I don't think anyone actually shops there except those who buy very small amounts of silk.

Shinawatra and Jim Thompson for example have very beautiful silk - but it is expensive.

Knowing what is real silk and good quality silk is not difficult when you work with silk.

Weaving silk by hand is not as popular now compared to 30 years ago but talented weavers are still in Thailand

Using a stock account I can easily send money to Thailand via ACH (BBK) or pull money from a normal US bank. Has been this way for years.

Perhaps HSBC is not setup for this basic business transaction?

While at a coffee shop a couple of weeks ago the local police came in and took pictures, had us fill out forms and look at photos of other frangs to see if we knew them. I figure the local police have some pressure on them to do their job. Then last week I had my extension from immigration visit. They came, sat on my deck, filled out forms and checked on "Line" about something. Had my wife roundup a couple of neighbors, more pictures. Never asked to see my passport, and on the way out, the leading officer turned and said " By the way, What is your name?"

I have no idea if you are joking - but I loved your post - you have a great sense of humor - carry on...

Sarakitc,

​Your post is a little strange - the OP took the time to help parents and has more experience as a teacher than you wrote.

From your post it appears that you have no teaching experience and English is not your first language - although I could be wrong maybe you and your friends are native speakers of English and have 200 years of teaching experience?

Thanks again to the OP for taking the time to help parents (I have two kids in an IB school).

"I would not worry about it In small towns Immigration has time on their hands and very often make spot checks to verify a persons situation"

Sounds correct - I have a family and in 8 years have never had an immigration visit or even have it mentioned, but I don't live in the countryside where things may be different.

Scottishsaphire,

Yes and no to the above posters advice.

It makes no difference if local teachers can't speak English fluently and have little experience or skill with an expat market if that is what you are targeting.

When I learned yoga as a boy a long time ago there were no special styles of yoga that were well know or of any concern to normal yoga students also it was very rare that yoga teachers actually made a living. Basically it was free or donation based.

Maybe what you teach is special, or maybe special but not in demand, but in the end if you are an excellent teacher you may do well.

I really know nothing about the business of yoga but I do know about business in Thailand and if you already are a good businessperson doing business in Thailand is not a problem. Work Permits etc is just paperwork that you need to budget for and do correctly - don't play around with visas and work permits that are not 100% correct.

Perhaps you can be creative and come up with special vegetarian cafes that are healthy and taste good, to go with your yoga studios - this is very rare in Thailand. I am not making a suggestion just pointing out that the challenge is not doing business in Thailand but a lack of creativity and business skills - and doing business in Thailand.

Many if not most of the expats who complain have limited business skills and like to blame Thailand for their problems.