turgid

Thailand Elite Card = Thaksin idea to take money from rich Chinese and others to get visas. Presumably the rich found it cheaper to use other methods

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/322496-thailand-elite-card-issuer-on-auction/page__st__25

http://www.thestanda...d/FJ23Wd02.html

Dont know if this site is genuine but its still there.

http://www.thailandelite.com/

Just to be on topic. I've come in and out 12 times by Air in the last 12 months on 30 day stamps from various locations and had no issue.

My Indian colleagues who last year could easily get 1 year multi entry visas are only allowed to get 90 day visas this year and it seems they are only getting stamped in for 60 days.

My boss also had his 12 month visa revoked because we dont have enough local staff.

So there does appear to be general hardening of visa enforcement this year.

I live in Laos.

Sorry to go a little off topic but i'm interested in living in Laos .

Can you point me at any resources on how to do so legally ??

Thanks

Ting Tong !! It meanin crazy. some time your are confused, and forgot some things ,can say I am Ting -Tong

I was having a massage at the airport and there was a lot of female groaning and moaning from the next cubicle. There was some Thai chit chat between the two girls and a lot of laughter. When i asked my girl what was funny she said (about her friend) "She have ting tong (or ding dong or something similar" ) . I took it to mean something sexual like "she came ". I asked someone else (bar girl) who looked embarrased and couldnt explain it in english but said it was"sex word".

So i'm wondering if there is another slang meaning here that makes this offensive in polite society as crazy isnt that offensive even to poilte Thais.

This site was the only reference i could find to the phrase.

You know, a truck a house, a house in the village.

Somewhere out there is a farang who bought a bar girl a Camry and gave her half a Condo. I know this because I used to regularly meet bar girls who believe that i will buy them a camry and give them half a condo. I always found it interesting that they wanted a Camry not a BMW or Merecedes (which is what a girl in Singapore would want). Never been asked for a truck - maybe i move in less agricultural spaces.

I speak Thai better than most guys that have been here for twenty. It's difficult but not impossible.

I'm probably asking the obvious - what was your tested method for getting there ? I've seen a lot of Thai language schools that seem to be offering visa enabling not language teaching.

I'm rambling now.......

Excellent ramble though.

Thanks for the coments. since some questions were raised on the money and my motives here are the answers:-

I stated it in USD because i figured that would be the most familiar and understood currency. Its actually a little over a million pounds of which 800K is in UKP and the rest is split between USD and SGD. 10% is in stocks the rest 80% is in cash and about 10% is in Singapore CPF (which i can withdraw if i dont live there) . In global terms i've probably taken a 30% hit on the UKP and USD in the last 3 years I currently get paid in SGD - that will end in January.

I've been working since I was sixteen and pissed the first 4 years away - I started saving after that and bought a small house when i was 23. I moved around a bit and bought and sold 3 UK houses along the way at a decent profit, and one at a huge loss. Around half my money came from the houses the rest from saving. I sold my UK house about 8 years ago when i figured the UK market had peaked and missed the biggest boom the UK has ever had. I've been lucky enough for half of the years in Asia to have a company paying for my accomodation My worst investments apart from women, drink and cars were in company stock purchase schemes that most IT companies offer. When the company goes bust you dont get paid and the stock is worthless and that has happened twice. One time I doubled up convinced it couldnt go bust and would recover and lost twice as much. Also had two dead cert stocks recommended by a good friend - both of those went bust too.

So my best investments have been houses,and just leaving it the bank. Also one single shining platinum mining stock that covered most of my other stock losses. Up until two years ago i was getting 5% on cash in the Bank while my stock portfolio was struggling to get above 1999 levels . The stock is up a bit but i'm getting 2% in the bank today.

I've been well paid but I've had a total of 1.5 years of unemployment in my 15 working years in Asia the last period was the longest at 9 months - I had a great holiday before i realised it was turning into 9 months and I was spending way too much money. Also I was surprised how much the utility bills went up and how bored I was at the end. I lost complete days doing nothing.

Pensionwise I completed paying my UK NI when I turned 50 (thats one of the good things about starting work at 16) but expect it wont buy me more than a toothbrush a week when i'me 65. Likewise I have 10 years company pension payments in the UK which now seem like they will pay hardly anything.

My work area is IT - i'm a geek and and i have zero non-english language skills. Everyone i work with seems to be about 20 and owns a car, an iphone and wants to buy a condo. This makes me think that the days of living cheaply in Thailand may soon be over. Yes i am risk averse or insecure or both. Yes inflation is the thing most likely to make any long term plan not work.

I need a good hot water shower,air con a clean bed and decent food nearby .

I'd like a decent two bed condo with a weekly maid and a car and the ability to travel well three times a year . Dont really care where.

No i'm not expecting anyone here to make my choices but the sharing of your choices has been helpful. For those that did thank you.

I'm interested in the opinion of others since i assume some of you may have either considered this - or have been through it.

I am early fifties and about to lose my job at the end of contract. I've been working in Asia for around 15 years and for the last year in Thailand.

I have no permanent dependents spouse, houses or fixed assets. I dont have have any real pension because I've never been able to trust investment advisors.

I have a small amount of personal stuff in store and two suitcases.

Despite this or perhaps because of it I do have around US$ 1.5 M in cash, stocks and other fairly liquid assets. I hold a Singapore PR which will expire next year and presumably wont get renewed and I am a UK passport holder.

The time between jobs is getting longer and I know i will struggle to get another decent job in Thailand. I probably have a little longer shelf life in the UK and could revert to UK life - i've been offered a position at around half my current salary but the idea of 45% tax 6AM-8PM days commuting to London and cleaning the house, car and doing the laundry at the weekend isnt appealing right now when most of the money will be paid in rent..

- What would you do.

- Where would you live.

- How long can you make US$ 1.5 m in cash last and still have a decent quality of life

- Any other comments, suggestions, deas

Profitable Group have closed all of their offices in Asia including the office in Bangkok. They are under investigation by the commercial affairs department in Singapore. People are left holding worthless land and worthless investments. Predictable end to another unpleasant long term scam. Search for Profitable Plots or Profitable Group victims in Google to see the victim support website.

I will never do business with these people again. I bought two AAA products in Feb 2008 and am still waiting for my investment payout. Each delay has a different story so I have obtained legal counsel to sue them for what they owe me after the 12 months period, plus interest. They last said that I may be payed out mid June. These guys are a joke.

Same thing now happening with their Boron investments. They seem to try hard to discourage people from withdrawing their money and then delay for unknown periods those that do want to withdraw.

The advert is on youtube - search for "profitable group" . You take a low cost PC board with network access and add a flash drive loaded with free software (linux, open office etc) and stick it in a small box.

It is not a bad propostion. The idea is that most people only use a PC for internet email and basic office tasks and dont need all the extra stuff. I'm surprised the cable TV or game console boys havent done this yet since they all have space in their boxes. . The price doesnt seem that great given that you can get a very basic PC or netbook for less now.

But I suspect the price is aimed at convincing investors not buyers.

If you look around the web Profitable group dont have the best reputation right now. . If you look at how PG advertised Boron CLS Bond they sold it as the best lubricating product since the wheel was invented. What they then did was offer Boron investment programs to investors by talking about the huge orders they got for future delivery. There are quite a few Boron investors now asking for proof of customers and complaining of not being paid. Boron is no longer mentioned on the Profitable Group main site.

My guess is here there will be a suggestion of a huge order for thousands of these devices from Dubai or Eastern Europe or somewhere else where the claim cant be easily validated and there will then be an opportunity to invest in a program related to fulfilling those orders.