Foreign-Owned Thailand

[noitom]

A well thought through real estate taxation and enforcement scheme would solve a lot of problems. You can afford to own the land, pay your share of taxes, and give back to society for your future generations you should be entitled to live in and utilize your property as you see fit. provided that no zoning laws, civil regulations, and building standards are violated. Whoops, no zoning, enforced regulations and/or standards in Thailand. Forgot about that. Fagedda bout dat.

[endure]

A well thought through real estate taxation and enforcement scheme would solve a lot of problems. You can afford to own the land, pay your share of taxes, and give back to society for your future generations you should be entitled to live in and utilize your property as you see fit. provided that no zoning laws, civil regulations, and building standards are violated. Whoops, no zoning, enforced regulations and/or standards in Thailand. Forgot about that. Fagedda bout dat.

Forget about what? If you want zoning laws, civil regulations and building standards best live in a place where they're available...

[Johpa]

Do you have any link at all that you can point to that would confirm this law such as which version of the constitution it was included or even just some kind of credible link that speaks of the plight of women's rights in Thailand that mentions this?

Sorry, can't find any link to older Thai laws. I could not even find a decent search engine to look through the old usenet soc.culture.thai (SCT) postings where this subject was often discussed. As for getting some feedback on such womens rights in Thailand try conversing with my old SCT pal Nong Od at her blog site here.

[jonclark]

Confiscate the land and sell it at auction, have them spend 30-days in a Thai detention center before deciding to drop charges and then deport them. This is certainly what I would want done to foreigners who illegally obtain land or run illegals business in my country.

Nisa your post epitosises the 18th century thinking and the scare mongering that holds this country back. Instead of supporting a law that creates criminals from people who seek to integrate and participate fully in society, you would be better off supporting amendments to laws that make Thailand a fairer and more equitable place to live.

Racism has no place in the 21st Century, and that's what these laws are. It has nothing to do with protecting the average Thai. These laws are designed to maintain the status quo of land ownership with the rich Thais controlling the majority of the land. The hundreds of thousands of landless farmers in Thailand at present is proof enough of this. The rich are scared because the foreigners have the wealth to prize their land (not the Thais land - their land) from their clutches. So they employ a racist law to protect their interests. Perhaps Nisa you are one of them?

On a more philosphopical note Nisa Just remember - The land owns the people, the people don't own the land. Only a fool would think otherwise.

My experiences and opinions differ greatly. Take a drive outside the city some time and look at all the housing tracts being built (yes by the wealthy) and those homes being purchased by non-rich Thais. All my wife's sisters and brothers own homes outside the city (Bangkok) and none of them would by any stretch of the imagination be considered rich.

If foreigners bought houses in one of those housing tracts , (say a maximum of 10% of available units) that your wife's sister and brother did, would it have resulted in a price hike that might have pushed the price of of the houses your wife's sister and brother own, beyond their budget and resulted in them not being able to buy? Didn't think so!

There is plenty housing available for people of all budgets. The argument that it takes housing away from Thais is nonsense as the answer is simple - build more houses, which is good news for the wealthy Thais who your wife's brother and sister bought from in the first place.

[Tatsujin]

But if you really meant that foreigners are illegally obtaining land, then you better expand on how you mean this illegal action is done. Because giving your wife/gf money to own it is not illegal.

It's simple . . . those foreigners who think they "own" the land/house they bought through a vehicle such as a company, with nominees that don't exist or were supplied by the 'lawyers', don't pay tax on the hypothetical employees of that business, don't make a profit yearly, and with a shareholding structure or 'voting rights' structure that (in theory) gives the foreign owner 'control' over the business and/or property. This is what is illegal as it blatantly circumvents the Foreign Business Act. "IF" the Thai's decide to crack down on these types of ways of "owning" land or property, the foreign owner won't have a leg to stand on.

Before you all start by saying that everyone does it, the lawyers facilitate it etc etc, it doesn't mean it's legal . . . in fact it's the opposite, it's completely illegal but they just haven't bothered doing anything with it simply because everyone is making money from it.

Edited March 16, 2012 by Tatsujin

[Berkshire]

I agree with the Thais to a certain extend. In my country (Brazil) foreigners could own unlimited amounts of land until a few years ago. You know what happened? The Chinese came in and bought vast amounts of agriculture land, I am talking about huge areas that equal the size of small countries in Europe. They come in <snip> up the soil with their polluting pesticides and herbicides all to produce food mostly for their cattle back in China. This is a real problem in Brazil nowadays and many other countries in South America. In Panama, central America they did the same thing, the tip of the country on the pacific side is almost entirely owned by Chinese companies, not even the Panamanians can get in there. I would not be surprised they are doing this in Thailand because of the Chinese.

This is a very, VERY good example of why the Thais need to keep strict control of foreign land ownership. Once you let the genie out of the bottle, it's tough going back.

[Macmundi]

Foreigners can't buy a car, so he uses his wife's name to buy a car. What happens if she can't afford to buy insurance?

[laurentbkk]

I never wanted to buy anything in Thailand , beside being here for 20 years .... too risky .... as you dont even know if you own your house , your land , your condo ...... too bad I buy my real eastate abroad where countries dont care about this details. You cannot bring the land on your back if you leave the country .... this over nationalism sometime disturb me .

[laurentbkk]

Foreigners can't buy a car, so he uses his wife's name to buy a car. What happens if she can't afford to buy insurance?

Foreigners can buy cars here , if you have a work permit , a job and incomes. I owned all the cars I bought under my name ....

[samsiam]

I think this guy brought a house from Colin Vard.

[Tatsujin]

I think this guy brought a house from Colin Vard.

Could be, and for those that are interested, a warning tale:

http://www.andrew-drummond.com/view-story-other.php?sid=389

[Reasonableman]

Foreigners can't buy a car, so he uses his wife's name to buy a car. What happens if she can't afford to buy insurance?

Foreigners can buy cars here , if you have a work permit , a job and incomes. I owned all the cars I bought under my name ....

Same here

[FangFerang]

The whole article is a non-sequitur.

Red plus seven equals cube (except on Tuesday).

[Pukehina1]

Robert Mugabe started his career doing something like this, As there is nothing like making the poor disenfranchised feel National pride when they take the land off the foreigners wife and kids and restore it to the wealth pool of some inane politically connected official.

[Gweiloman]

The more I read the posts on this thread, the more incredulous I get. I'm pretty much fully with Nisa on his opinions, to me, it's a no brainer.

One poster suggested that the Govt officials issue such statements to gauge the responses of farangs on TV - don't kid yourself. The Thai Govt has zero interest in what TV members think.

Another poster suggested limiting the amount of land an individual can hold - not a closet communist by any chance?

I can't understand why so many of you can't grasp the simple concept that this and previous governments (and probably future ones too) have decided that land within the Thai borders can only be owned by Thais (and before any other poster says that all land belong to all mankind, please kindly note that the biggest land grabs in history were initiated by farangs). If I'm a Thai, any government proposing to open land ownership to foreign ownership will not get my vote. Irregardless of whether most of the land is owned by a few wealthy Thais or not, the simple fact is that the greater the demand for a finite and limited "product", the higher the price will go. Economics 101, as many are happy to quote.

All this talk about reciprocity, barring Thais from owning land in foreign countries etc, are just inane, childish comments. America has some of the most rigid protectionist policies in place. Should the rest of the world ban American products (admittedly, they make very few world quality products). I wish that many European countries would relax their entry requirements for Thais - Japanese, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese can pretty much travel most of Europe visa free - so why are these countries discriminating against Thais? For this reason alone, I'm very glad that Thailand does not allow foreigners to own land here. What a lot of these European countries do not realise is that if they opened their borders a bit more, the amount of money that Asian tourists will spend in Europe significantly outweighs what European tourists spend here - and this can only be a good thing for all those bankrupt European countries.

Maybe when Europe takes a hard long look at where she's heading will things change.

Which is why you see American products everywhere, because they're soooo bad. Sprite, Boeing, Hollywood, Nike, Calvin Klein, the military equipment governments use to protect themselves (especially the Thai government), Apple, Microsoft...not one of those is "world quality" (I think you meant "world class", by the way)? You're just wrong. Flat out wrong. You sound like you watched a little Al Jazeera or briefly picked up some Chinese newspaper when you start talking about America. You make such a vague and topical reference to American "protectionism", which a bunch of revisionist-history wannabes cite again and again to try to make what little sense they can out of global politics. Yep. America has some of the world's most protectionist policies. So that justifies every act of xenophobic economic duplicity out there? I'm trying to make sense of what your saying because what it sounds like is: "America is bad. Thailand should do what America does." Regarding your point about Thais not being able to get into other countries: have you ever read international news concerning Thais recently? Almost all stories involve corruption, trafficking, or visa violations in some capacity. I've asked both American, Canadian, and Swiss immigration officials and all say nearly identical things. Thais don't get visas because they violate them, constantly. I'm married to a Thai woman and she's been denied access to my home country since we got married on the basis of the belief I will now also shirk the rules.

Formatting and paragraphing for easy reading and comprehension is obviously not one of your strong points. However, I will try to decipher best as I can and respond.

Sprite, Hollywood, Nike, CK - classing these are (yes, you are right), world class products is a bit of a joke. They would hardly make anyone's list (other than possibly Americans) of must haves.

Apple - absolutely, though I'm sure you realise these are made by Foxconn in China. Microsoft - jury's out on that one, in so far as quality goes (not talking about market dominance here)

Boeing, military equipment - yes, I would imagine so, especially as it takes a lot of money to get into this business.

Talking about more important products for day to day living - cars, motorbikes, household electrical items such as TV's, refrigerators etc, you get my point.

The rest of your rambling is a bit incoherent so i don't even know how to respond but I'll try.

"America is bad. Thailand should do what America does."

No. Posters here are saying Thailand is bad. Our countries should therefore do the same. What I'm saying is that before criticising Thai policies, you should look at your own - you have equally discriminatory policies.

Thais don't get visas because they violate them, constantly

Claptrap. An American, Canadian and Swiss immigration official is the final word on what a whole race of people do? But what can I say, two out of these three nationalities are some of the most blinkered people in this world. I work in the global travel industry so I'm very, very familiar with the behaviour of various nationalities. Simple fact of the matter is that many supposedly rich, developed, industrialized nations look down on poorer nations and it's populace, thinking that these people will invade their country, commit crimes, live off their social security, steal their jobs. There's no denying that in every country, there are poor, desperate people that will resort to crimes. But I can tell you for a fact that if a young, single Thai female tries to apply for a visa, the first thought that runs through the consul's mind is that this girl is planning to sell sexual services. How broad minded is that?

[softgeorge]

I agree with the Thais to a certain extend. In my country (Brazil) foreigners could own unlimited amounts of land until a few years ago. You know what happened? The Chinese came in and bought vast amounts of agriculture land, I am talking about huge areas that equal the size of small countries in Europe. They come in <snip> up the soil with their polluting pesticides and herbicides all to produce food mostly for their cattle back in China. This is a real problem in Brazil nowadays and many other countries in South America. In Panama, central America they did the same thing, the tip of the country on the pacific side is almost entirely owned by Chinese companies, not even the Panamanians can get in there. I would not be surprised they are doing this in Thailand because of the Chinese.

It is happening in Australia as well the Chinese own nearly 50% of the prime agricultural land in the state of Victoria, food produced there is shipped back to China very little if benifit to Australians. They even own a cattle station in the northern territory which is bigger than Thailand.

[bigbamboo]

Btw, I don't own shit.

I can't.

It's all in my wife's name (who IS Thai).

And it all goes to my THAI kids when I die.

So, what's the big deal ?

I guess when it comes down to it nobody actually owns any property but are merely custodians until they shuffle off to the great condo in the sky.

[Reasonableman]

Btw, I don't own shit.

I can't.

It's all in my wife's name (who IS Thai).

And it all goes to my THAI kids when I die.

So, what's the big deal ?

I guess when it comes down to it nobody actually owns any property but are merely custodians until they shuffle off to the great condo in the sky.

You can't take any of it with you, despite rumors to the contrary.

[Berkshire]

I agree with the Thais to a certain extend. In my country (Brazil) foreigners could own unlimited amounts of land until a few years ago. You know what happened? The Chinese came in and bought vast amounts of agriculture land, I am talking about huge areas that equal the size of small countries in Europe. They come in <snip> up the soil with their polluting pesticides and herbicides all to produce food mostly for their cattle back in China. This is a real problem in Brazil nowadays and many other countries in South America. In Panama, central America they did the same thing, the tip of the country on the pacific side is almost entirely owned by Chinese companies, not even the Panamanians can get in there. I would not be surprised they are doing this in Thailand because of the Chinese.

It is happening in Australia as well the Chinese own nearly 50% of the prime agricultural land in the state of Victoria, food produced there is shipped back to China very little if benifit to Australians. They even own a cattle station in the northern territory which is bigger than Thailand.

Exactly right. And the Chinese will keep buying up prime real estate in Australia and elsewhere if governments let them. I'd imagine Australians rebelling at some point.

An odd thing happened in the US years ago. When the Japanese economy was doing well in the early 80's, they came over and bought up US real estate right and left, causing somewhat of an uproar. They bought up some pretty iconic property as well, including Rockefeller Building, Pebble Beach, etc. The ironic thing was that Europeans had been doing it for years and no one batted an eye. But the Japanese--"yellow peril" and all that--well, American racism was on full display.

The Chinese will be the new Japanese and they appear to have a lot deeper pockets. I hope the Chinese will buy up the west and leave Thailand alone.

[Gweiloman]

I agree with the Thais to a certain extend. In my country (Brazil) foreigners could own unlimited amounts of land until a few years ago. You know what happened? The Chinese came in and bought vast amounts of agriculture land, I am talking about huge areas that equal the size of small countries in Europe. They come in <snip> up the soil with their polluting pesticides and herbicides all to produce food mostly for their cattle back in China. This is a real problem in Brazil nowadays and many other countries in South America. In Panama, central America they did the same thing, the tip of the country on the pacific side is almost entirely owned by Chinese companies, not even the Panamanians can get in there. I would not be surprised they are doing this in Thailand because of the Chinese.

It is happening in Australia as well the Chinese own nearly 50% of the prime agricultural land in the state of Victoria, food produced there is shipped back to China very little if benifit to Australians. They even own a cattle station in the northern territory which is bigger than Thailand.

Exactly right. And the Chinese will keep buying up prime real estate in Australia and elsewhere if governments let them. I'd imagine Australians rebelling at some point.

An odd thing happened in the US years ago. When the Japanese economy was doing well in the early 80's, they came over and bought up US real estate right and left, causing somewhat of an uproar. They bought up some pretty iconic property as well, including Rockefeller Building, Pebble Beach, etc. The ironic thing was that Europeans had been doing it for years and no one batted an eye. But the Japanese--"yellow peril" and all that--well, American racism was on full display.

The Chinese will be the new Japanese and they appear to have a lot deeper pockets. I hope the Chinese will buy up the west and leave Thailand alone.

Hahahaha. I doubt there are very few people who realise how rich the Chinese (from China) really are and how much real estate they own all around the world. Unlike some countries still sabre rattling, the Chinese are quietly going about the business of world domination by buying up the real estate, govt bonds, businesses, etc etc.

@Berkshire - is this Berkshire as in Windsor, Berkshire? I used to live in Beaconsfield, South Bucks

[Berkshire]

I agree with the Thais to a certain extend. In my country (Brazil) foreigners could own unlimited amounts of land until a few years ago. You know what happened? The Chinese came in and bought vast amounts of agriculture land, I am talking about huge areas that equal the size of small countries in Europe. They come in <snip> up the soil with their polluting pesticides and herbicides all to produce food mostly for their cattle back in China. This is a real problem in Brazil nowadays and many other countries in South America. In Panama, central America they did the same thing, the tip of the country on the pacific side is almost entirely owned by Chinese companies, not even the Panamanians can get in there. I would not be surprised they are doing this in Thailand because of the Chinese.

It is happening in Australia as well the Chinese own nearly 50% of the prime agricultural land in the state of Victoria, food produced there is shipped back to China very little if benifit to Australians. They even own a cattle station in the northern territory which is bigger than Thailand.

Exactly right. And the Chinese will keep buying up prime real estate in Australia and elsewhere if governments let them. I'd imagine Australians rebelling at some point.

An odd thing happened in the US years ago. When the Japanese economy was doing well in the early 80's, they came over and bought up US real estate right and left, causing somewhat of an uproar. They bought up some pretty iconic property as well, including Rockefeller Building, Pebble Beach, etc. The ironic thing was that Europeans had been doing it for years and no one batted an eye. But the Japanese--"yellow peril" and all that--well, American racism was on full display.

The Chinese will be the new Japanese and they appear to have a lot deeper pockets. I hope the Chinese will buy up the west and leave Thailand alone.

Hahahaha. I doubt there are very few people who realise how rich the Chinese (from China) really are and how much real estate they own all around the world. Unlike some countries still sabre rattling, the Chinese are quietly going about the business of world domination by buying up the real estate, govt bonds, businesses, etc etc.

@Berkshire - is this Berkshire as in Windsor, Berkshire? I used to live in Beaconsfield, South Bucks

Sorry, but no. It's "Berkshire" as in "Hathaway." I just happen to be fond of this company. It's an American thing...

[bigbamboo]

I agree with the Thais to a certain extend. In my country (Brazil) foreigners could own unlimited amounts of land until a few years ago. You know what happened? The Chinese came in and bought vast amounts of agriculture land, I am talking about huge areas that equal the size of small countries in Europe. They come in <snip> up the soil with their polluting pesticides and herbicides all to produce food mostly for their cattle back in China. This is a real problem in Brazil nowadays and many other countries in South America. In Panama, central America they did the same thing, the tip of the country on the pacific side is almost entirely owned by Chinese companies, not even the Panamanians can get in there. I would not be surprised they are doing this in Thailand because of the Chinese.

It is happening in Australia as well the Chinese own nearly 50% of the prime agricultural land in the state of Victoria, food produced there is shipped back to China very little if benifit to Australians. They even own a cattle station in the northern territory which is bigger than Thailand.

Exactly right. And the Chinese will keep buying up prime real estate in Australia and elsewhere if governments let them. I'd imagine Australians rebelling at some point.

An odd thing happened in the US years ago. When the Japanese economy was doing well in the early 80's, they came over and bought up US real estate right and left, causing somewhat of an uproar. They bought up some pretty iconic property as well, including Rockefeller Building, Pebble Beach, etc. The ironic thing was that Europeans had been doing it for years and no one batted an eye. But the Japanese--"yellow peril" and all that--well, American racism was on full display.

The Chinese will be the new Japanese and they appear to have a lot deeper pockets. I hope the Chinese will buy up the west and leave Thailand alone.

And so in time will Middle England in the United Kingdom become the Middle Kingdom?

Edited March 16, 2012 by bigbamboo

[hawker9000]

'Got the message a LONG time ago. "We'll take your money in countless interesting ways, but we don't want Farang owning land in Thailand."

OK vit me. No ploblum...

Edited March 16, 2012 by hawker9000

[samsiam]

I agree with the Thais to a certain extend. In my country (Brazil) foreigners could own unlimited amounts of land until a few years ago. You know what happened? The Chinese came in and bought vast amounts of agriculture land, I am talking about huge areas that equal the size of small countries in Europe. They come in <snip> up the soil with their polluting pesticides and herbicides all to produce food mostly for their cattle back in China. This is a real problem in Brazil nowadays and many other countries in South America. In Panama, central America they did the same thing, the tip of the country on the pacific side is almost entirely owned by Chinese companies, not even the Panamanians can get in there. I would not be surprised they are doing this in Thailand because of the Chinese.

It is happening in Australia as well the Chinese own nearly 50% of the prime agricultural land in the state of Victoria, food produced there is shipped back to China very little if benifit to Australians. They even own a cattle station in the northern territory which is bigger than Thailand.

Which station do you know ??

[Tatsujin]

Which station do you know ??

Slightly off-topic, but you'll get the point:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/land-rush/story-fn59niix-1226085165144

[Reasonableman]

The sale of vast tracts of good, or even marginal, farming land to foreign interests could well be a future threat to the food-water security and autonomy of a country, and needs to be very carefully controlled, if permitted at all. If the produce of those farms goes overseas (e.g., is repatriated as food items), that reduces the resource available to sustain the indigenous/resident population. Allowing that seems very unwise in the long-term. The Australians are becoming increasingly aware of and concerned by this issue and are investigating and monitoring its impacts. Expect some policy adjustments in the wind.

[SouthernMan3]

"Time to learn how to read Thai."

I know.

I've tried a few times over the last decades.

But even though I speak fluently I just can't seem to get my head around the squiggle script...

[Unkomoncents]

The more I read the posts on this thread, the more incredulous I get. I'm pretty much fully with Nisa on his opinions, to me, it's a no brainer.

One poster suggested that the Govt officials issue such statements to gauge the responses of farangs on TV - don't kid yourself. The Thai Govt has zero interest in what TV members think.

Another poster suggested limiting the amount of land an individual can hold - not a closet communist by any chance?

I can't understand why so many of you can't grasp the simple concept that this and previous governments (and probably future ones too) have decided that land within the Thai borders can only be owned by Thais (and before any other poster says that all land belong to all mankind, please kindly note that the biggest land grabs in history were initiated by farangs). If I'm a Thai, any government proposing to open land ownership to foreign ownership will not get my vote. Irregardless of whether most of the land is owned by a few wealthy Thais or not, the simple fact is that the greater the demand for a finite and limited "product", the higher the price will go. Economics 101, as many are happy to quote.

All this talk about reciprocity, barring Thais from owning land in foreign countries etc, are just inane, childish comments. America has some of the most rigid protectionist policies in place. Should the rest of the world ban American products (admittedly, they make very few world quality products). I wish that many European countries would relax their entry requirements for Thais - Japanese, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese can pretty much travel most of Europe visa free - so why are these countries discriminating against Thais? For this reason alone, I'm very glad that Thailand does not allow foreigners to own land here. What a lot of these European countries do not realise is that if they opened their borders a bit more, the amount of money that Asian tourists will spend in Europe significantly outweighs what European tourists spend here - and this can only be a good thing for all those bankrupt European countries.

Maybe when Europe takes a hard long look at where she's heading will things change.

Which is why you see American products everywhere, because they're soooo bad. Sprite, Boeing, Hollywood, Nike, Calvin Klein, the military equipment governments use to protect themselves (especially the Thai government), Apple, Microsoft...not one of those is "world quality" (I think you meant "world class", by the way)? You're just wrong. Flat out wrong. You sound like you watched a little Al Jazeera or briefly picked up some Chinese newspaper when you start talking about America. You make such a vague and topical reference to American "protectionism", which a bunch of revisionist-history wannabes cite again and again to try to make what little sense they can out of global politics. Yep. America has some of the world's most protectionist policies. So that justifies every act of xenophobic economic duplicity out there? I'm trying to make sense of what your saying because what it sounds like is: "America is bad. Thailand should do what America does." Regarding your point about Thais not being able to get into other countries: have you ever read international news concerning Thais recently? Almost all stories involve corruption, trafficking, or visa violations in some capacity. I've asked both American, Canadian, and Swiss immigration officials and all say nearly identical things. Thais don't get visas because they violate them, constantly. I'm married to a Thai woman and she's been denied access to my home country since we got married on the basis of the belief I will now also shirk the rules.

Formatting and paragraphing for easy reading and comprehension is obviously not one of your strong points. However, I will try to decipher best as I can and respond.

Sprite, Hollywood, Nike, CK - classing these are (yes, you are right), world class products is a bit of a joke. They would hardly make anyone's list (other than possibly Americans) of must haves.

Apple - absolutely, though I'm sure you realise these are made by Foxconn in China. Microsoft - jury's out on that one, in so far as quality goes (not talking about market dominance here)

Boeing, military equipment - yes, I would imagine so, especially as it takes a lot of money to get into this business.

Talking about more important products for day to day living - cars, motorbikes, household electrical items such as TV's, refrigerators etc, you get my point.

The rest of your rambling is a bit incoherent so i don't even know how to respond but I'll try.

"America is bad. Thailand should do what America does."

No. Posters here are saying Thailand is bad. Our countries should therefore do the same. What I'm saying is that before criticising Thai policies, you should look at your own - you have equally discriminatory policies.

Thais don't get visas because they violate them, constantly

Claptrap. An American, Canadian and Swiss immigration official is the final word on what a whole race of people do? But what can I say, two out of these three nationalities are some of the most blinkered people in this world. I work in the global travel industry so I'm very, very familiar with the behaviour of various nationalities. Simple fact of the matter is that many supposedly rich, developed, industrialized nations look down on poorer nations and it's populace, thinking that these people will invade their country, commit crimes, live off their social security, steal their jobs. There's no denying that in every country, there are poor, desperate people that will resort to crimes. But I can tell you for a fact that if a young, single Thai female tries to apply for a visa, the first thought that runs through the consul's mind is that this girl is planning to sell sexual services. How broad minded is that?

I wrote a paragraph-sized piece and no, I'm not concerned much with formatting. If it was tough reading for, well, you must struggle reading whole books.

"America is bad. Thailand should do what America does."

No. Posters here are saying Thailand is bad. Our countries should therefore do the same. What I'm saying is that before criticising Thai policies, you should look at your own - you have equally discriminatory policies.

That seems like a gross misinterpretation of what (all) other posters have said. You have no idea what my politics are. I think about them everyday, just as a think about Thai politics everyday. Thailand is where I live, so I think I'm fit to criticize the politics of my current home country.

Thais don't get visas because they violate them, constantly

Claptrap. An American, Canadian and Swiss immigration official is the final word on what a whole race of people do? But what can I say, two out of these three nationalities are some of the most blinkered people in this world. I work in the global travel industry so I'm very, very familiar with the behaviour of various nationalities. Simple fact of the matter is that many supposedly rich, developed, industrialized nations look down on poorer nations and it's populace, thinking that these people will invade their country, commit crimes, live off their social security, steal their jobs. There's no denying that in every country, there are poor, desperate people that will resort to crimes. But I can tell you for a fact that if a young, single Thai female tries to apply for a visa, the first thought that runs through the consul's mind is that this girl is planning to sell sexual services. How broad minded is that?

Poverty and crime are directly proportionate. That has clearly been demonstrated in studies across the globe. You would be telling them to ignore basic statistics. I am married to a Thai woman and have not returned to the West in protest of ridiculous visa regulations. I agree with you that it's close-minded, but the government's job in any country is to work for the benefit of the majority. Policies have to be grounded in macro-analysis. They can't worry about the fortunes of a young, single Thai female.

"Apple - absolutely, though I'm sure you realise these are made by Foxconn in China. Microsoft - jury's out on that one, in so far as quality goes (not talking about market dominance here)"

Well aware, thanks. Designed by Americans and American companies. Many of Samsung's products are also manufactered China. That doesn't make them NOT South Korean. Any good alternatives to Microsoft out there you can think of?

"Boeing, military equipment - yes, I would imagine so, especially as it takes a lot of money to get into this business."

I think I made my point.

Edited March 16, 2012 by Unkomoncents

[gemini81]

"Time to learn how to read Thai."

I know.

I've tried a few times over the last decades.

But even though I speak fluently I just can't seem to get my head around the squiggle script...

Helps writing/typing to internalize it I found. Its a bitch indeed.

[ReeceArnold]

If the land owned by a company or a wife or other nominee situation, who is asked to prove how the funds were provided and show tax records for the years when that income was acumilated, it could be difficult for many (especially the 51% shareholders who work in lawyers' offices and have to show how they gained/made funds enough to hold shares in dozens of, even hundreds of companies . . .) . . . It could be clearly shown in many cases that the outsider had provided the funds (there may be bank records to show this anyway) and thus the wealthy Thai land owners could stop this terribly unacceptable situation where working class, and most shockingly, the poor, are owning thier own land. This is a terrible situation, the poor gaining wealth, something must be done . . .