TravelerEastWest

Built this year, just about finished, move in later this month.

steel.jpgtile.jpg

Roof must be 100-150m2, it's just a normal 3 bedroom 2 storey house, nothing special.

Guess yours is a bungalow, which would double the roof area.

Land 650k, Build 900k, developer profit 150k, taxes 100k = total 1M8.

I don't have specific prices apart from the land, rest is a guesstimate.

Our building is a rectangle - I have never been certain what a bungalow is.

Your roof may cost around 225,000 baht.

Our roof is more than double the size of yours so the actual cost per square meter sounds very similar.

Enjoy your new house!

600k is a hell of a big roof!

My entire 3 bed house cost less than 900k to build.

The roof is something like 400+ square meters (I forget the exact number) using galvanized steel and concrete Monier tiles.

The biggest part of the cost is the steel - the labor and tiles is reasonable.

You have me very curious how large is your roof and what type of tiles and steel did you use and how much did it cost?

And the big question when did you make the house?

We had a good company quote us something with 800.000 Baht.

We took someone else who did it for 50.000 Baht without any visible problems.

I guess the first one just saw the Farang and though money doesn't matter....

That is a huge difference.

In our case usually I am not involved and my wife is Thai as is her father who helps a lot.

Being a general contractor here seems very profitable.

I am making a spread sheet now and breaking the building up into different parts.

So far so good.

General contractors are charging us too much so...

Example one contractor we interviewed quoted a million baht for roofing labor, parts Monier concrete tiles and galvanized steel etc. Going directly to a large store with a good reputation we could do the same roof for 600,000

Another contractor told us pilings would be 180,000 going directly to the piling company 120,000

So my wife has decided to skip the general contractor and contract directly with specialists and have her family be on site daily to keep an eye on our project. Note this is a workshop - a simple box not a home.

She plans to save quite a bit which is nice but all of a sudden we feel free and are enjoying the process very much.

If we had a general contractor we would still need to be watching them like a hawk.

My question is what is fair for a general contractor to make - in terms of a percent above what his subcontractor charges him?

"Also, can a Myanmar citizen do job tasks other foreigners are prohibited to do, like drive taxi, work as a food vendor etc?"

Now that is a very interesting question - anyone know?

he/she can to do these kind of jobs but is not allowed.

OK I appreciate your sense of humor.

I was hoping they might have some exceptions for the type of work to go along with the easing of paperwork...

If you have two Thai children you can own the common shares and give them the preferred shares.

You keep control with the common shares.

To own the land legally the children need more than 50% ownership then you will have Thai company.

20+ years down the road I assume you will want them to own the land anyway.

"Also, can a Myanmar citizen do job tasks other foreigners are prohibited to do, like drive taxi, work as a food vendor etc?"

Now that is a very interesting question - anyone know?

There is a Turkish/Greek place that does kebabs at Zoe in Yellow near the UN Irish pub.

I LOVE the hummas/falafal on the left side of Chang Klan Road just South of the big intersection where Pantip Plaza is. The guy is from Yemen. The food is not expensive and tastier than most..

I also like this restaurant. Menu a bit limited but the food is good and they are nice people. It is called Sababa and they are Jews who were, as UG points out, born in Yemen.

Across the road is another Israeli restaurant which looks kind of flash and doubles as a travel agent. Not been in so can't tell you what the food is like.

Sababa is quite good - the owner smokes which is annoying and they are smoker friendly - ashtrays on the tables.

Across the street the food is basically fast food - went there once, never again.

I have used 3BBB Premium in Chiang Mai and Bangkok in crowded areas and typically have no problems.

Around 2400 per month for 5 down and 1 up - but constant for overseas connections 24 hours a day better than much larger plans that are cheaper from True etc.

In the end you need to pay for a good connection.

Hi All,

I have a Ltd company... I have 2 daughters aged 6 & 8.... Myself and they're mother have split up and were never officially married....

I would like to buy some land firstly in my companys name and then transfer it to my 2 daughters a little later (7 yrs later) as a gift when a house/office and gardens have been made...

My company has been trading for 12yrs and is 100% upto date with its taxes and is doing ok.... The Bangkok Bank has said it can give my company a commercial loan that will be 30% down and then 7yrs pay back...

Can anyone see any flaws with what i plan to do ?? I have been told previously that a company can give away gifts (ie land/house) to family members and that will be tax free....

any advice or ideas will be treated with open ears,

many thanks in advance, Safetynet

Sell your daughters preferred shares at a low price - they will have ownership without control.

I asked this question about 6 years ago to the IRS and they said (at that time) that you don't need to pay SS if you are paying it in Thailand.

Now you may want to pay anyway depending on your personal situation.

"Not really interested in hiring an accountant/lawyer to do what should be a simple job."

I am sure it is a simple job if you can read and write Thai, and if you do not value your time to wait in line and go through traffic.

The key point being waiting in line.

Hiring a service that does this type of thing should be much cheaper than doing it yourself - unless you place no value on your time.

We live in the center of Chiang Mai and run AC all year almost 24 hours set at 25 except for the coldest part of the winter.

If you are in the countryside with a very well built house you could cut back quite a bit I'm sure.

Electricity is not that expensive so unless you really don't like AC or are on a tight budget why not use AC?

Chiang Mai can get quite hot although not as humid as Bangkok.

I am curious how would you be double taxed?

I see double taxation in Thailand at the corporate and individual level but wouldn't you receive a tax credit in America for Thai taxes paid?

In America you can use an S corp which is typically only taxed at the shareholder level.

any idea about the legitimate charge for the same. just accounting, tax returns and balance sheet stuff.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

It depends on if you need Thai only or English translations.

I have had simple Thai only 6 month and year end tax returns done by a CPA for 800 baht or around double when English translations and lots of explanations are included.

Also Thai only audits for very small companies are under 10,000 baht per year. again can easily double with English reports etc..

Arkady,

What a wonderful and detailed response - thank you sir.

My current service business is a Thai company and i am comfortable with audits and taxes etc.

The business is small and has only two Thai staff (I have a Thai wife).

But I prefer not to have a corporation because of the additional IRS filing requirements for Americans.

I wonder if the IRS will treat a registered partnership as a corporation? I vaguely remember reading that it was a flexible area - I will have to research that.

Hmm, maybe I will just stay with a Thai corporation if I will save on Thai taxes and pay a CPA to do the extra filing...

On the other hand why would a shareholder save with a corporation in Thailand - as they do not have S corp type entities here which means you will pay tax twice in Thailand - at the corporate level and on your personal tax return.

I understand you can have a company car and driver etc but there is only so far you can go with those type of corporate deductions.

I paid months in advance for 4 seats together for the family 2 adults 2 small children on Thai Air.

I confirmed the seats.

I reconfirmed close to departure - they changed the plane without telling us and split up the family.

They did not care at all about us. I quickly bought seats on Air France - 4 together no problem.

It took me months to get a refund...

Can a Thai Partnership with a minority foreign partner own land and have foreign staff with work permits?

And if so is there a certain percentage limitation for the non Thai partner if land is purchased by the company?

Assume for this example that all taxes are paid and an actual profitable business is carried on as well as the correct number of Thai staff for the work permit.

You need a good customs broker for the imports not a lawyer - let them do all the work.

Let the lawyers do strictly legal work contracts - leases etc.

You need to find a good CPA for your audit and tax work one who will work closely with you.

The power buy expo might be useful for you - I haven't been there but I found this review (second one down on the front page) http://www.tradeshowthailand.com/

1) Yes, 45 Amps per phase (usually on a 50A breaker)

2) No more so than single phase

3) Treat it as 3 single-phase boards (no actual 3-phase appliances), your normal supply is just 1/3 of 3-phase

4) No, just 4 wires coming in rather than 2.

Crossy,

Thank you very much for your thoughtful answers.

This may be a myth but I have heard that if there is a power outage sometimes you amy still have power with 3 phase.

Also 3 phase can sometimes be cheaper to use?

A VERY quick-and-dirty maximum demand calculation says you will JUST squeeze on to a 30/100 single-phase supply, if one is available. But watch out for voltage drop on load (important with your technology).

Otherwise a 15/45 3-phase is the way to go.

Compare the costs, personally for 30k I'd go with 3-phase for the additional wriggle room it gives.

SSCsamui

"Go for the 3 Phase... You will be happy in the long run and peace of mind..."

Peace of mind and wiggle room sounds clear that I should get 15/45 3 phase.

1) Is 15/45 normal for 3 phase? Is the 45 amps?

2) Any safety issues with 3 phase?

3) Any downside such as some AC units computers etc won't work with it?

4) Is special cable needed? I ask as the building has not been started yet so I can plan ahead.

Triple phase - do I need it for my planned building?

We will have zero heavy machinery.

We will have about 3 refrigerators and 12 air conditioners - new inverter style (split) ac used 12 hours on average per day.

Normal lights and about 10 computers (business use for the computers)

Vaccum cleaner and microwave.

Water heaters may be powered by solar energy but for this discusison lets say three 8000 watt water heaters.

Currently there is no 3 phase on the land but for around 30,000 baht we could get it. (actual cost 60,000 split with neighbors)

Any thoughts on pros and cons?

In the US most deeds (same as a chanote) usually have a statement at the end of the size (acreage) description of the land, that statement is more or less

I have been told by the surveyor that was contracted by the Satahip Land Office that they primarily use GPS coordinates now a days to determine meets and bounds

I shall have to look up meets and bounds - I guess it means starting at one point and seeing where the next marker meets? Or am I way off?

It seems normal that deeds are not exact.

After many talks with my wife and father-in-law (a country farmer all his life) it seems that those nice straight lines on chanotes are not always accurate and the local land office survey manager has confirmed this.

So we will hope that the survey coming up in July is accepted by the farmer next to us. If not we will follow the historical boundaries (not straight - curved with a farmers rasied path) and build a wall quickly.

I am not sure how you build a curved wall so maybe posts and barbed wire?