Foreigners Doing Business With Foreigners

[smokie36]

I wish there was a 'Name shame and flame' thread.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

I loaned a friend money to buy a condo, Did it as a business deal and drew up a contract in English and had it translated into thai. But to be safe also had my wifes name on the chanote so it cannot be sold without her signature. plus a deadline on missing payments.

It has been over two years and he has never missed a payment, been a day or two late a few times but that is no problem. We charged him the same interest rate we were receiving at the time.

So if you do it like a business deal it can work. But to be honest I would not do it again.

[maccaroni man]

..., it's quite sad really how desperate some people are just to stay here, they'd rip off their own grandmothers if need be.

Yeah, it is amazing. I think it's the lack of law or payback that brings out the worst.

I've lived in other nice places that were small and if you cheated another expat word would get out and you'd have to get out of town.

On Samui - which is even smaller - expats cheat each other and

then the dead beat runs to his mates and complains about the other guys nationality gets sympathy and proceeds to rip his own countrymen off.

while I can think of three who have done Sloaney-style runners (borrow a lot of money then skip the island with apparently no fear of retribution) there are plenty more who stay. I've never heard of anyone being sued for ripping someone off and I've never heard of anyone "getting a leg broken" either. Has anyone here heard otherwise?

[Master of the court]

theres one rule out here dont lend money to any one, to my cost I have learned the hard way,farangs and thai the same full of promises when you lend the money, but when it comes to paying back same old excuses,so the moral is DO NOT LEND TO ANYONE

I tend to agree with the general rule of thumb - Don’t lend to anyone.

But I have been on both sides of the fence on this one, and have borrowed from some farang mates to get through a certain blip, and then found that the blip took longer to work through and things did not fall into place as expected. Eventually the money was repaid but it took much longer than expected, and some of the reasons for the delays were bad luck, others were probably bad decisions on my part but many were also due to the unusual business environment in Thailand / Koh Samui. Luckily the mates were very patient and because they were living in Samui understood the reasons whereas if I was living back home and got some of my excuses, I would think I was a crooked liar.

So I would say, please consider helping a friend in need as business in Thailand is difficult at times, but obviously make sure you are not desperate for the money to be returned and if possible get a written agreement to repay or some other form of security. Even an English language loan agreement can be enforced in Thailand as long as it is structured properly and is witnessed (and is not at exorbitant rates of interest).

I am reluctant to lend but because of the graciousness of the person who lent to me once, feel it appropriate to consider doing it for others.

Thumps up, mate. Do you wanna be my friend ???

[clinique]

the OP said he had a 2% problem ??? in business anywhere it would be normal to allow for bad debts..

why all these hard luck stories..IF you dont have the personality to COLLECT themoney forcefully,, then dont lend it in the first place,,

AND /oR take some sort of security,, even with 'friends''

money comes between friends..just the facts.

[FlatOut]

I do business with people all over the world.

The people I have had the most problems working with are Farangs living in Thailand, so much so I won't work with them anymore. I've had every excuse under the sun for late/non payment, I've had several disappear without a word after taking delivery of a completed project. I've had others who add to the project scope towards the end of the project and refuse to make any payment until the additional work is completed, basically extortion, do this extra work for free or you don't get a penny.

So now I just won't do business with them, I have one Farang client left who is an OK guy, once he decides he doesn't need my services anymore I'll not be taking on any more.

Just bumping this to the top. We'll see what tomorrow brings and then I'll explain why this post is here.

Ohh so theres a motive for bringing this old thread to the surface.

Yes. I find it strange how he mentions the words extortion and non payment. Still awaiting an email/bank transfer from him. Only been 6 months of lies and deceit. I'll happily delete this when it's paid.

[Evergreen]

Well, i just had a quick read through this thread and had a wry smile on my face as i agree with mosty posts on this subject.

I myself was recently the "victim" along with another guy who simply got conned out of quite a few thousand baht. I'll put it down to experience that's for sure and i'll NEVER fully trust someone again here...no matter how convincing they sound. It's amazing how some guys can talk so well and manage to convince people to part with money.....then you never see a single penny of it whatsoever. Then the conman comes out with all the excuses of the year and even trips himself up as to what stories he's told as i had 3 different versions he's told me personally! I just laugh as the guy is desperately trying to tell others that he's done nothing wrong and it was me and the other guys fault, it's quite sad really how desperate some people are just to stay here, they'd rip off their own grandmothers if need be.

I do wonder how many others the guy we dealt with have been conned as it sure seems like the guy lives his life ok whilst doing no work whatsoever so there must be more than just the 2 of us i'm sure.

Anyway, such is life, it's a harsh lesson but what's done is done and hop this thread acts as good advice to any "newbies" back home thinking off any great job/work "offers" to come over here and stay...as all is not what it may seem!!

Right, it's beer o clock.....again!!

So, what was the story?

Oh it's a long story, too long to type on here but i think in my OP you get a general idea.

Meanwhile i see the guy in question just goes about his life without a care in the world both online and actually on the Island as i get informed by friends who live on Samui...after all he's got his money from us and i've had to pack up and come home simply because of him. No conscience whatsoever but as i say that's life, professional conmen don't care a jot about anyone apart from themselves after all and always have some absolute bull**** story made up to pathetically try and defend themseves.

Never mind, i've already got plans coming up for my return, i'm working very hard on it...

[smokie36]

If you ever want someone out of your life, lend them money.

True. Unfortunately my long standing debt has been 2/3 paid off recently. Jeez the guy might even imagine we're on nodding terms. Sadly not after I had to virtually beg to get to this point. No phone calls or email explaining why he had to 'invest' my dosh in keeping Samui's bar culture afloat. Its the ignorance which annoys me much more than the money really.

I won't be chasing the rest of my cash.....happier to take the above advice.

[Somtamnication]

I do business with people all over the world.

The people I have had the most problems working with are Farangs living in Thailand, so much so I won't work with them anymore. I've had every excuse under the sun for late/non payment, I've had several disappear without a word after taking delivery of a completed project. I've had others who add to the project scope towards the end of the project and refuse to make any payment until the additional work is completed, basically extortion, do this extra work for free or you don't get a penny.

So now I just won't do business with them, I have one Farang client left who is an OK guy, once he decides he doesn't need my services anymore I'll not be taking on any more.

Laughable at best, coming from you. I am still waiting for two weeks worth of work I did for you in November of 2009. Emails go unanswered and you have a lovely new pad on Koh Panghan according to Link removed

There is a word in Thai for what you wrote above: Thai reference removed.

[BigC]

I do business with people all over the world.

The people I have had the most problems working with are Farangs living in Thailand, so much so I won't work with them anymore. I've had every excuse under the sun for late/non payment, I've had several disappear without a word after taking delivery of a completed project. I've had others who add to the project scope towards the end of the project and refuse to make any payment until the additional work is completed, basically extortion, do this extra work for free or you don't get a penny.

So now I just won't do business with them, I have one Farang client left who is an OK guy, once he decides he doesn't need my services anymore I'll not be taking on any more.

Laughable at best, coming from you. I am still waiting for two weeks worth of work I did for you in November of 2009. Emails go unanswered and you have a lovely new pad on Koh Panghan according to XXXXXXXXXXX

There is a word in Thai for what you wrote above: XXXXXXXXX

its easy all u need is a horse and a bed. actually in thailand buffalow might be easier to find. do some basic mathamitics and the money wil come flying back through the window.

here is the simple equalsion.

1 buffalow + 1 Bed = money back

you must brake down the equasion to work out how to make the use of the buffalow fit into the bed sinario. i am sory though i am a mathamical geanious i mmight have to leave this one up to u lot to work out. good luck answers on my bed by monday morning thank you

[Rooo]

Some posts have been deleted. Name dropping and innuendos not accepted.

[Rooo]

I have edited some posts & reinstated them. Please be aware, that there are limits to what you can post on here.

There are clear guidelines in forum rules.

Thank you.

Rooo.

[BigC]

cheers for giving me the benifit of the doubt.

[SamuiRes]

As they say - if you lend someone £20 and you never see them again it is probably money well spent!

[clinique]

if you REALLY need money collected PM me and i will refer you to an ethical, vigorous, and well respected debt collector in Bkk. (embassy recognised))