simple1

Over the past decade, there have been so many statements from various government officials that they are about to clamp down on foreigners owning land through illegal nominees, and that new, draconian laws will be introduced.

But apart from a few ‘scaremongering’ actions and statements from regional land offices that they are going after these land-owning ‘criminals’, little has been done to disturb the peace and tranquillity of those farangs who ‘own a property through the company/nominee system. To my knowledge, not a single farang, who lives in his own home, has ever been brought to book, and had his home seized or been forced to sell and deported from Thailand.

Therefor it is not unreasonable to assume that these new proposed laws will also die a similar death over the coming weeks and months.

Changing the land laws here is a very lengthy and complicated business, and just because one guy says he is drafting new laws, there is absolutely no reason to assume that anything is going to change any time soon – if ever.

There are so many obstacles to overcome, including partisan ‘fights to the death’ by opposing political parties on anything that smacks of controversial legislation that in all probability, it will die a death like all previous land reform proposals.

If the government wanted to clamp down on foreign land ownership, it would make far more sense to go after the ‘nominee shams’ than try to bring in new laws. They already have the necessary laws if they really want to do something.

In any event, for a vast majority of farangs who only want their dream home in paradise to eke out their remaining years, then the proposal to lengthen the lease period from 30 to 50 or 90 years would satisfy a vast majority of farang residents. The maximum 30 year lease rule has always been the major bone of contention as they would live in fear of being thrown out of their homes in their dotage, with little money and nowhere to go.

As for those who predict dire consequences for the tourist industry if such laws are passed, well quite frankly that is just laughable. The number of tourists coming to Thailand has increased year on year for decades, regardless of coups, murders and rapes of foreigners, scams, and any amount of negative publicity.

The punters will never stop coming here – no matter what the government does to the land laws or anything else, for that matter. It is fact that for every tourist who says they are not coming back, there are at least ten new ones to take their place. Get used to it, and stop making foolish, unsubstantiated, dire predictions on tourist numbers dramatically dropping.

99% of the tourists couldn’t give a hoot what Thailand does with its land laws.

But maybe these new proposals have nothing to do with the farangs who own land and homes through dubious legal devices.

It is actually highly possible that it has much more to do with the activities of an alarming trend in governments and corporations of rich countries to buy up farmland on a large scale in more than 60 developing countries to produce basic foods for export.

According to the farmers’ rights group, GRAIN, on worldwide farmland grabs, the massive rush was triggered by the food crisis in 2007 and 2008.

To protect themselves, the food-importing countries, led by the Gulf States, started to use "farming abroad" to secure direct food supplies.

According to the World Bank, about 50 million hectares of land were sold or under long-term lease to foreign governments and investors in 2008 and 2009 alone and according to Land Matrix, an online public database of large-scale land deals, 227 million hectares were involved in this global farmland grab.

That is more than 1,400 million rai of farmland, or half the land area of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

As a result of this global land grabbing, millions of poor farmers are being thrown off their land, local water sources are siphoned to feed giant agro-industries, and ecosystems are severely damaged by large-scale chemical-intensive plantations.

Among the main countries seeking farmland abroad are the Gulf States, China, South Korea and Japan. Closer to home are Singapore and Malaysia. For example, Kuwait is reportedly investing US$20 million to irrigate 4,500 hectares in Laos to produce rice for export to Kuwait.

While the buying up of paddy fields in Thailand has yet to be exposed, many scenic areas in resort towns are now in the hands of foreign real estate businesses.

For years, mountains in the North have been turned into chemical-intensive orange plantations by Chinese money and corn plantations by contract farm giants.

Meanwhile, forest dwellers are kicked off their ancestral land for forest officials' carbon credit money. Old communities are also evicted from the forests to make way for timber and oil palm plantations.

So concerns about massive land grabbing really have nothing to do with xenophobia.

They stem from a desire to hold the government accountable when the drive to make Thailand the so-called ‘Kitchen of the World’ ends up destroying local ecological systems, small farmers' livelihoods, and the country’s own food security.

Why don’t we just wait and see what this proposed legislation is really all about before we start to throw our toys out of our prams and indulge in unnecessary and unjustified name calling at our Thai hosts?

Excellent and in my humble opinion accurate post

I have a 1.3 litre car that was costing me approx 1,200 baht a week for petrol, installed LPG, now costing 400 baht a week for same mileage. With a "promotion" in Pattaya cost 19,000 baht to install,

It has not been good for the Thai food at this outdoor restaurant on soi 22 Naklua . Now it cators to Russians, I ordered spicy tom yom kung soup.

What used to a thick spicy seafood soup. Has become a watery tastless clear broth with carrots and cauliflower and one large shrimp. For 170 baht.

Russians spoiled your soup, hahaha. Thanks to Russians you, Europeans are unspoiled by Hitler, and you, Americans, came out of economic depression, sellin' weapon during WW2. So, you are speaking of SOUP??? what are your values after it?! And you are telling me, some ladies take food from the restaurant to the beach?

Your post about spoiled soup by Russians made all my friends in FB laugh!

for someone complaining about his soup, somewhat over the top! relax....

Am I not correct that foreigners acquiring land through Thai nominees is actually illegal under current Thai law, So those foreigners who have ignored the downside of the nominee company structure surely it's their "fault". However, what is the target of the proposed revised legislation that may/may not be passed into law? Is it private individuals with land & house, small agricultural land owners etc You would think that major foreign investors would have the investment decisions in Thailand ratified by the Board upon completion of all necessary due diligence to ensure compliance to Thai law.

Where do the majority of pattaya parlours customers come from?

Sure, but the largest users by far of the sex industry in Thailand is Thais. For background info go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Thailand

If you have a bank account in Australia I would just get the bank in Thailand to transfer your money back. I'm sure there would be some fee but it shouldn't be much. I transfer my $A to my bank in Thailand online and it costs me A$24, that's for up to $10,000. You might also get a better rate if you transfer to Oz in baht and get the bank in Oz to convert to dollars.

your rate is more likely better here as there is a loading of about 3% on the internal and external baht rate.

When I transfer my money from Oz I have the option of selecting either $A or Baht for the transfer. I always select $A because the exchange rate is better this end. I don't know how it applies in reverse.

Transfer in A$ to Australia - Oz banks give a lousy exchange rate for Thai baht

i

Airport's a good bet. . .

Airport exchange booths don't give a good exchange rate. Depends where you are e.g. Central Festival Plaza in Pattaya has a number of banks (Level 4?) Go after midday and plenty of foreign currency, incl A$

Quick action by BIB!

Sure you can find more crime in certain parts of London, Sydney and New York. But here is a clue - They Are Not Tourist Destinations! If anything the opposite is true. If you are trying excuse the situation by attempting to compare Phuket's crime statistics favourably with some of the most crime blighted spots on the planet, then you really _are_ living in Fantasy Land.

Compare like with like. Which other tourist destinations have similar patterns of crime. Once upon a time, South Beach Miami might have done; no longer. Agra perhaps? It is a tough job to find anywhere that consistently gets so much bad press _as a tourist destination_ as Phuket.

What fantasy island are you living on ???

Sydney, London and New York are most likely the single biggest tourist magnet in each of the 3 countries.

Here is a hint, where is the olympics taking place this year ? Where is the most famous skyline in the world ? Where is the most famous opera house and most famous harbour bridge in the world ?

A bit more detail:

Tourist visitors to London 2011 - 14.6 million

Tourist visitors to Sydney year end 2010 - 2.8 million

Tourist visitors to New York end 2011 - 50.5 million

Today Kasikorn Bank is quoting 32.5325 for notes. They also offer a same day service for transferring funds to Australian banks. Depending on the amount you wish to transfer you may be able to negotiate a better exchange rate. They did so for me when doing a bank transfer of A$ to my Kasikorn Thai account.

Soutpeel: You know you made me do it dont you......

of course...

Some people will argue the hind leg off a donkey. I don't care or want to defend anyone if they did it, do them in technicolour. If the guys were from a more known bad area, it would then be up to the police to make it not a so bad area. There is a serious policing problem here, and no getting away from it, while some appear to be doing a decent job, a dozen more will not care, Most are on the take, thus making it impossible to concentrate on crime prevention. All my Thai friends speak honestly about not having much respect for them.

If anyone thinks I'm bashing, all I can add is, if the money they get is not good enough--get out. I would never have a job that would not pay me for what I'm worth. example Nurses put up with lower money -they are worth more-but they are dedicated. The bib seem addicted to cash--EXTRA'S so to speak.

I wholeheartedly agree, and would just add one point which echoes your comment on how Thais percieve the police. In Europe, where I have lived in several countries over the years, and in particular in England I am struck by how most average normal people there have respect for the police and most importantly do not fear the police. When living in Thailand and talking to my Thai friends, it is clear to me that they fear the police, even when as my friend did recently, she is a law abiding office worker in Bangkok and was going to the police station to deal with divorce and changing her ID papers after divorce, she was genuinely intimidated, literally shaking, about going to the station even though she is not a criminal. That struck me because it is so different from my home nation, where the people afraid of the police are usually criminals, and normal people like myself are usually happy to to see the police and talk to them.

Obviously there are some very honest and courageous good policemen and women working in Thailand both on patrol and in offices. But there is also a strong undercurrent of corruption and it generates actual fear among normal law-abiding people I have met. I think to deny this reality, or to deny the effect this has in ongoing cases such as the horrendous violent crime in this thread's news story, is actually only to worsen the situation.

Absolutely correct. From talking with my extended Thai family, who all work, except the elderly (who do fear the police), they have have no respect for the Royal Thai Police, some actively dislike them. e.g. Smile, without laughing, when police pay day is due, so short of money & commenting on them going about their tea money collection activities. From my personal experience their are are exceptions in the police, but very few.

EDIT: What behaviour can you expect when police usually have to pay for their promotions.

At least you haven't got posts stating you're not tough enough to handle the noise, TIT, if you can't handle it go back to where you came from etc etc. A refreshing change!

Remember that if you go ahead and acquire an Ed visa, immigration do converse with you in Thai to checkout whether you are attending classes or not

believe it or not, learning Thai is not mandatory. even English will do.

Didn't know that - interesting the Ed visa places are not highlighting this info

Remember that if you go ahead and acquire an Ed visa, immigration do converse with you in Thai to checkout whether you are attending classes or not

Why not ask your friend to talk with customers visiting his shop on their customer service experience, away from staff as they may take offence; adjust accordingly. Might be a few challenges as many Thai's do not like to critic, but at least a starting point. If there is a demand from foreign buyers employ someone who you can train to focus on their specific customer service needs and of course can communicate.

A common issue in Thailand is that staff have very little product training, but as the business is niche I assume this is not the case.

Anybody find it interesting that given the international nature of this case it's off the front pages today? Thais don't really want tourists to know that you can be killed for a measily $10 whilst visiting this country. Also from what I remember the only mention of Yingluck's personal involvement came after they had located the suspects.

FUNNY POST...when was the last time your countries president or a high ranked politician respond to a normal crime? ....and the crime done is absolutely normal here in Thailand...so what do you want?

Unfortunately the current Australian Prime Minister did when a teenager was busted for buying a small quantity of gunja in Bali last year.

At least her name has been released. In the UK she would be enjoying anonymity while her supposed attackers name was dragged through the press relentlessly.

15 days....she has gained notoriety now...well done for letting the world know how messed up you are.

I didn't even hear about this story until this thread and actually only can find news stories of her being convicted for lying. So, she actually pointed somebody out as being the assaulter? Any news of her providing restitution to him or them? ... Actually I have a bunch of questions. Do you happen to have a link to any news story of this being reported initially where she had everyone believing it was a rape?

Nisa, does this link assist?

"First off, we take a moment to thank you for having brought us into this world in Canada, for giving us good values, for giving us the passion to travel, and especially to just for having been our parents. "

This final letter from Audrey to her parents sounds a bit like a goodbye letter...

Not the kind of words that you write in every letter.

Maybe they knew something was coming up

Your first post. Please give it a break with the uniformed opinion - have you no respect...

Ferangled: "Tracking people's movements is too Big Brother for my tastes". You live in Thailand how about 90 day reporting and hotels etc reporting daily on foreign guests is that not Big Brother activity.

Some of these new build very small condos are on the market at around 900k / 1m baht. What are the drivers to invest this money if only being used for weekender/holidays as to me doesn't make sense. It's not as though you have a kitchen to cook meals, laundry and so on. I assume the target market is for Thai investors seeking mid term capital gain/rental income - is this correct?

I often wake up early when I'm in Thailand and make a point of going down to the local market so I can make donations to the monks on their daily rounds. I often sit back for a while and watch many many Thai people doing the same thing. To me it's a humbling start to the day, to see people who don't have much give a little bit for others.

I hope the OP realizes that he is giving because it is a nice thing to do.

The Thais are 'giving' in order to buy a better future for themselves.

I personally find the whole 'merit' belief system, and those who buy into it (pun intended) as disgusting.

No one does anything without a reason. Those that do good works because it makes them feel good are to be commended. Altruism is inherently selfish, and enlightened self-interest inherently altruistic.

If one's actions have a good result all 'round, never mind the motives.

http://www.akha.org/

will give you a start

Definitely not an objective source. As I said I agree with the overall problem, but "genocide" has a specific meaning that IMO, as with "trafficking" and so one is best not overused.

+1

typical thaivisa.. immediately assuming there are 'real killers' and that every arrest is some sort of conspiracy, and that the 2 arrested were tortured into confessing.. even though there hasn't been anything to suggest this is happening.. they always find these guys so fast because they have surveillance cameras everywhere and they put 100 cops on every hi-profile case, especially one that involves the killing of a foreign tourist..

HMMM - You don't read much do you..??

Foreigners arrested for crimes routinely report torture until they confess - guilty or not...

Any links to support this statement regards foreigners from the likes of recognised human rights monitoring organisations?

This re enactment thing was a circus, sure do the re enactment if they have to but why not block off and secure the street keeping the general public away.

Totally agree mate. Does nothing except to give the relatives more grief.

Only a comment but surprised the "pork", the finest money can buy, didn't close off the street and sell 100 baht tickets for a look. Looked like it drew a good crowd. Opportunity lost. I suppose they can't think past helmets and sharing reward money and traffic accident settlements. From all that I've read

I think they'd still be looking for the prerps if a concerned restaurantuer / waiter hadn't mentioned it to them.

My wifes sister works for a large hotel in Phuket (accountant) and the wife was saying last night that her sister and 4 others from her hotel were given 200 baht (by the Hotel), to go along to the re enactment apparently there was a friend of hers from another hotel there also. I said to my wife; I hope she didn't take the money and her reaction was why not? Yes it definately was a circus.

That's a very sad and disappointing story

Other posts have stated no problem in the example you are using, so a search on Malaysia