Us & Them

[Tomtomtom69]

If Thailand was first world it would be at first world prices like Singapore. Thailand is cheap because it has warts.

Poor example. Singapore real estate prices are sky high because it is an island.

Real estate prices in Thailand are not that much lower than a "first world country".

.

New house on an acre of land where I can see the ocean Thailand $100,000. Florida $3,000,000. You are so wrong I can't even discuss it.

That is again, highly variable. Land prices in Phuket are certainly WAY higher than $100,000 on average. Prices in Bang Saphan on the other hand may be quite low by comparison. Florida expensive? Doesn't surprise me. But how about south Texas, or some isolated part of the Gulf or South Carolina?

It's all relative, but the guy who said real estate prices in Thailand are not that much lower than a "first world country" may not be that far off.

Case in point: Housing estate developed by Sansiri near Suvarnabhumi Airport on Bang Na-Trat road. Hardly the most desirable location to live but last year they were quoting 29-58 million Baht. Now it's 30-60 million. Yes, that's right, almost a million dollars for some mediocre house and up to almost 2 million for the most expensive houses in that estate, which probably use inferior building materials and are definitely not worth what they are being sold for. And this is 25km or so from downtown Bangkok.

[Tomtomtom69]

Here is why, "Your Thai wife.or Thai Maid,or Thai fake tenant will make copies of some of your home documents.Then the fake your signature on some other documents.Then they go land office,They remove you from the lease and or as a director of your company.Then they go to the local loan shark who is in on the scam.he gives a loan and he needs to be repaid within one year.If not repay he gets owns the home.One year later the loan gets not repaid so the loan shark gets the home.He kicks out the surprised farang who knows nothing at all about all of this.The Farang goes to court 2-3 years looses lots of money on the legal case and finally looses his case in court.Court will say loan shark did not know all signatures were fake? and so now case is closed.All win only farang loose his house."

Everyone knows about the above scam.

Let the buyer beware. If you get cheated knowing the above it is your own fault. If you have not done your homework and don't know about the above it is your fault.

Most do not know this in up on arrival to Thailand ,,u usually know about these scams soon as it happens to u or to your neighbours.

Should the Thai government not take more actions against these scams?

Why it can go on and on just like jet ski rentals??

How about make it mandatory that any transaction at land offices all parties need to appear in person? that would really prevent lots of their scams for us...

A good reason to read Thai Visa and Stickman and other sites dealing with those issues before coming to Thailand. Do your homework. I am constantly amazed on how little planning people engage in before changing continents or marital status or......

Perhaps these foreigners came from countries where a fair legal and justice system was in place for all its citizens.(foreigner and local citizens)

Then they wrongly assumed it would be the same here in Thailand,then they found out the hard way that its not the case in Thailand.

Thailand again need to better protect its foreign citizens..

To be fair, the Thai legal system is hardly any fairer for locals either. It's a mess for everyone. Except really rich, connected and corrupt folks.

[duanebigsby]

It isn't just in banks, but everywhere you go,. there are always two prices for just about everything, especially the golf courses, Thai and Farang

It's the same for Scottish golf courses - discount for the locals. Scottish universities have much larger fees for foreign students.

Same in the USA - locals get into Disneyland for less etc.

Where I live there is no two pricing on the golf courses. Try living in the real Thailand and out the tourist zone.

But,

In the USA local isn't everyone white

In Thailand local is everyone Asian.

That's a stretch.

Thailand didn't have slavery, mass immigration and isn't next to a country full of people with a different skin color.

You can bet all the hilltribes who've been here a few hundred years are discriminated against as well, and they're Asian.

[lostoday]

That's a stretch.

Thailand didn't have slavery, mass immigration and isn't next to a country full of people with a different skin color.

You can bet all the hilltribes who've been here a few hundred years are discriminated against as well, and they're Asian.

Thailand outlawed slavery in 1912.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLjuuPp5UiE

Edited June 11, 2015 by lostoday

[rayongchelsea]

^^^ not on their fishing vessels, not in their chemical factories employing Cambodians etc..when did anything that was legislated for in Thailand mean it would be enforced. Slavery is in practice the world over..

[salty14]

There are many us and them paradigms in Thailand. The Thai vs Farang thing is annoying, sometimes expensive but not toxic. There is the Thai vs African, Thai vs Burmese, HiSo vs everybody, rich vs poor ... etc. All of these are much toxic and impossible for the victim to avoid. At least you can get on an airplane and go back home to deal with your familiar garden variety profiling.

How true!! I think the Thais are just as biased against their own people from different provinces, shades of skin colour etc.. Not to mention other Asian nationalities.. We just generally have more cash to fleece! [emoji13][emoji13]

[redandyellow]

Never fk'ing mind us and them

What about them and us?

Let's call a spade a spade

[Naam]

Geez, it gets worse and worse by the day. When I used to work (briefly) as a real estate agent for Thailand's largest property developer, I was in charge of selling condos that were the same price for everyone. The only difference was in the conditions to purchase, seeing that most foreigners would not be eligible for a home loan (mortgage) and would need to pay in cash. So in that sense, Thais purchasing a condo on a mortgage would pay more because they would need to repay the interest on top of the principal borrowed.

But if dual pricing at national parks, various tourist attractions and rip off attempts by taxi drivers and tourism operators weren't already enough, banks and property developers are getting into the game now too? Geez...this is definitely a worsening trend.

To the OP - unless you come from the most sun deprived country in the world, living in Thailand mainly because of the sunshine is one bad reason to keep living here! Not to mention there are plenty of countries with at least as much, if not more sunshine than Thailand receives on average, but probably won't have a dual priced property market either!

You may want to reconsider your options.

you should also consider that in "plenty" sunny countries the taxman takes much more out of your pocket than any Thai "racist" double pricing.

Well that is highly debatable and not necessarily the case either. In any case, these taxes are charged equally without regard to the color of your hair, size of your nose, ethnic or national origin. Even more importantly, they are used to subsidize important benefits such as healthcare and education. None of which are subsidized in Thailand, at least not for foreigners (except those that are able to get on the 30 Baht health care scheme but even that is limited).

Besides, Thai taxes are not that low either. So avoiding taxes or paying fewer taxes is hardly a good enough reason to consider living in Thailand. There are plenty of tax havens or even just other countries with much lower or even no personal income taxes, such as for example the UAE.

-no retiree is entitled to any free healthcare in countries that levy income tax.

-neither is he/she entitled to any free education.

-if you compare living cost, especially real estate, in the UAE with Thailand you will weep.

-the UAE has no retiree visas.

-there is no other country which levies lower taxes than Thailand. simple reason: less than zero can't be levied

next "qualified" comment please!

[RasiMike]

Last year, my family visited a national park/rainforest walk in North QLD (owned by aboriginals) and an island on the great barrier reef. We were with a family ofThai friends who were visiting from their home in southern Australia. For park entry and the island transfers, my family paid LOCALS rate and our friends were charged about 20% more.

Never heard of dual pricing like that at any attraction in Australia. Please explain.

Mamu rainforest walk is an attraction near Innisfail and some of the ferries to the reef and Green Island offer two tier pricing...locals show a drivers licence and can get unlimited trips for a fixed fee not available to anyone outside the postcode. "Pay like a local" is advertised on the local radio from time to time.

[mogandave]

Last year, my family visited a national park/rainforest walk in North QLD (owned by aboriginals) and an island on the great barrier reef. We were with a family ofThai friends who were visiting from their home in southern Australia. For park entry and the island transfers, my family paid LOCALS rate and our friends were charged about 20% more.

Never heard of dual pricing like that at any attraction in Australia. Please explain.

Mamu rainforest walk is an attraction near Innisfail and some of the ferries to the reef and Green Island offer two tier pricing...locals show a drivers licence and can get unlimited trips for a fixed fee not available to anyone outside the postcode. "Pay like a local" is advertised on the local radio from time to time.

RACIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mogandave]

What about bars that have 'Ladies Night'?

SEXIST!!!!!!!

[Fab5BKK]

Geez, it gets worse and worse by the day. When I used to work (briefly) as a real estate agent for Thailand's largest property developer, I was in charge of selling condos that were the same price for everyone. The only difference was in the conditions to purchase, seeing that most foreigners would not be eligible for a home loan (mortgage) and would need to pay in cash. So in that sense, Thais purchasing a condo on a mortgage would pay more because they would need to repay the interest on top of the principal borrowed.

But if dual pricing at national parks, various tourist attractions and rip off attempts by taxi drivers and tourism operators weren't already enough, banks and property developers are getting into the game now too? Geez...this is definitely a worsening trend.

To the OP - unless you come from the most sun deprived country in the world, living in Thailand mainly because of the sunshine is one bad reason to keep living here! Not to mention there are plenty of countries with at least as much, if not more sunshine than Thailand receives on average, but probably won't have a dual priced property market either!

You may want to reconsider your options.

you should also consider that in "plenty" sunny countries the taxman takes much more out of your pocket than any Thai "racist" double pricing.

Well that is highly debatable and not necessarily the case either. In any case, these taxes are charged equally without regard to the color of your hair, size of your nose, ethnic or national origin. Even more importantly, they are used to subsidize important benefits such as healthcare and education. None of which are subsidized in Thailand, at least not for foreigners (except those that are able to get on the 30 Baht health care scheme but even that is limited).

Besides, Thai taxes are not that low either. So avoiding taxes or paying fewer taxes is hardly a good enough reason to consider living in Thailand. There are plenty of tax havens or even just other countries with much lower or even no personal income taxes, such as for example the UAE.

-no retiree is entitled to any free healthcare in countries that levy income tax.

-neither is he/she entitled to any free education.

-if you compare living cost, especially real estate, in the UAE with Thailand you will weep.

-the UAE has no retiree visas.

-there is no other country which levies lower taxes than Thailand. simple reason: less than zero can't be levied

next "qualified" comment please!

Free healthcare: France ("CMU")

Education: in France education is mandatory and free

Lower taxes: Hong Kong, Switzerland, Monaco, Eastern Europe, etc.

Next "qualified comment" please ;-)

[duanebigsby]

That's a stretch.

Thailand didn't have slavery, mass immigration and isn't next to a country full of people with a different skin color.

You can bet all the hilltribes who've been here a few hundred years are discriminated against as well, and they're Asian.

Thailand outlawed slavery in 1912.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLjuuPp5UiE

Great info! I should have clarified slaves of another race as the post I was addressing was about diversity in USA and its' inclusiveness

as opposed to everyone not included in Thai society if they're not Asian.

We are such a minority here and it's not going to become the melting pot the

USA is.

[Tomtomtom69]

Geez, it gets worse and worse by the day. When I used to work (briefly) as a real estate agent for Thailand's largest property developer, I was in charge of selling condos that were the same price for everyone. The only difference was in the conditions to purchase, seeing that most foreigners would not be eligible for a home loan (mortgage) and would need to pay in cash. So in that sense, Thais purchasing a condo on a mortgage would pay more because they would need to repay the interest on top of the principal borrowed.

But if dual pricing at national parks, various tourist attractions and rip off attempts by taxi drivers and tourism operators weren't already enough, banks and property developers are getting into the game now too? Geez...this is definitely a worsening trend.

To the OP - unless you come from the most sun deprived country in the world, living in Thailand mainly because of the sunshine is one bad reason to keep living here! Not to mention there are plenty of countries with at least as much, if not more sunshine than Thailand receives on average, but probably won't have a dual priced property market either!

You may want to reconsider your options.

you should also consider that in "plenty" sunny countries the taxman takes much more out of your pocket than any Thai "racist" double pricing.

Well that is highly debatable and not necessarily the case either. In any case, these taxes are charged equally without regard to the color of your hair, size of your nose, ethnic or national origin. Even more importantly, they are used to subsidize important benefits such as healthcare and education. None of which are subsidized in Thailand, at least not for foreigners (except those that are able to get on the 30 Baht health care scheme but even that is limited).

Besides, Thai taxes are not that low either. So avoiding taxes or paying fewer taxes is hardly a good enough reason to consider living in Thailand. There are plenty of tax havens or even just other countries with much lower or even no personal income taxes, such as for example the UAE.

-no retiree is entitled to any free healthcare in countries that levy income tax.

-neither is he/she entitled to any free education.

-if you compare living cost, especially real estate, in the UAE with Thailand you will weep.

-the UAE has no retiree visas.

-there is no other country which levies lower taxes than Thailand. simple reason: less than zero can't be levied

next "qualified" comment please!

I come from a country where retirees (pensioners or seniors as they are generally called) pay nothing for their healthcare. Hell, most ordinary working citizens pay nothing or very little for their healthcare. Don't know what you are talking about but your comment has no basis whatsoever.

There are far cheaper places to live than Thailand not to mention that give their residents a better safety net. Almost certainly you will be paying a lot of money for your healthcare in Thailand, the only way you wouldn't be is if you have some sort of expat or travel insurance based health care policy. The latter means maintaining a residence back in your home country, but it is acceptable to spend up to 12-18 months at a time abroad under such policies.

[Tomtomtom69]

That's a stretch.

Thailand didn't have slavery, mass immigration and isn't next to a country full of people with a different skin color.

You can bet all the hilltribes who've been here a few hundred years are discriminated against as well, and they're Asian.

Thailand outlawed slavery in 1912.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLjuuPp5UiE

Great info! I should have clarified slaves of another race as the post I was addressing was about diversity in USA and its' inclusiveness

as opposed to everyone not included in Thai society if they're not Asian.

We are such a minority here and it's not going to become the melting pot the

USA is.

Right, unless very radical changes were to occur in Thai politics and society that would allow for such changes. However, don't look for anytime soon for that to occur. I'd bet my money on China becoming more open to diversity before Thailand does.

Anyway, Thailand is not even inclusive when it comes to other Asian races living here. Certainly not Indians of course, but not even Asians who look more similar to Thais, such as Cambodians or Burmese. Chinese, Lao, intermarriages between Thais and these and other groups have, over time been allowed to assimilate but new arrivals will not be any more likely to assimilate than richer westerners or Asians from richer countries like Malaysia and Singapore.

[lostoday]

Right, unless very radical changes were to occur in Thai politics and society that would allow for such changes. However, don't look for anytime soon for that to occur. I'd bet my money on China becoming more open to diversity before Thailand does.

Anyway, Thailand is not even inclusive when it comes to other Asian races living here. Certainly not Indians of course, but not even Asians who look more similar to Thais, such as Cambodians or Burmese. Chinese, Lao, intermarriages between Thais and these and other groups have, over time been allowed to assimilate but new arrivals will not be any more likely to assimilate than richer westerners or Asians from richer countries like Malaysia and Singapore.

Not that anyone would want to in mainland China but I think it is a lot easier to become a permanent Thai resident and citizen than in China. Correct me if I'm wrong.

If I had to list countries that had an ethnocentric problem it would be Korea #1 and Japan #2. Thailand would be quite a way down on the list.

[Robert24]

Right, unless very radical changes were to occur in Thai politics and society that would allow for such changes. However, don't look for anytime soon for that to occur. I'd bet my money on China becoming more open to diversity before Thailand does.

Anyway, Thailand is not even inclusive when it comes to other Asian races living here. Certainly not Indians of course, but not even Asians who look more similar to Thais, such as Cambodians or Burmese. Chinese, Lao, intermarriages between Thais and these and other groups have, over time been allowed to assimilate but new arrivals will not be any more likely to assimilate than richer westerners or Asians from richer countries like Malaysia and Singapore.

Not that anyone would want to in mainland China but I think it is a lot easier to become a permanent Thai resident and citizen than in China. Correct me if I'm wrong.

If I had to list countries that had an ethnocentric problem it would be Korea #1 and Japan #2. Thailand would be quite a way down on the list.

fully agree with you. In terms of Ethnocentrism I would put Japan as #1 by far, followed by Korea than China. Thailand is a quite open society and open to foreigners and I would put it ahead of Malaysia and Indonesia in terms of their openness to other foreigners and other races. Malaysia and Indonesia accept you but are not as open minded as Thailand. Thais are probably a bit opportunistic but who blames them. They also like mixed blood Thai with White Westerner which people in other Asian countries do not like, i.e. China, Japan etc. They are all very proud to be 100% Chinese or Japanese, they would not want to be mixed. Also Thailand is more open to Westerners than Singapore for instance. So overall in Asia Thailand is probably one of the best places for a foreigner to live (both Westerners as well as Asians) in terms of inclusiveness and openness.

If people don't believe, go live a while in China or Malaysia or Japan - I'm sure you would change opinion rather quickly.

[Fab5BKK]

Right, unless very radical changes were to occur in Thai politics and society that would allow for such changes. However, don't look for anytime soon for that to occur. I'd bet my money on China becoming more open to diversity before Thailand does.

Anyway, Thailand is not even inclusive when it comes to other Asian races living here. Certainly not Indians of course, but not even Asians who look more similar to Thais, such as Cambodians or Burmese. Chinese, Lao, intermarriages between Thais and these and other groups have, over time been allowed to assimilate but new arrivals will not be any more likely to assimilate than richer westerners or Asians from richer countries like Malaysia and Singapore.

Not that anyone would want to in mainland China but I think it is a lot easier to become a permanent Thai resident and citizen than in China. Correct me if I'm wrong.

If I had to list countries that had an ethnocentric problem it would be Korea #1 and Japan #2. Thailand would be quite a way down on the list.

fully agree with you. In terms of Ethnocentrism I would put Japan as #1 by far, followed by Korea than China. Thailand is a quite open society and open to foreigners and I would put it ahead of Malaysia and Indonesia in terms of their openness to other foreigners and other races. Malaysia and Indonesia accept you but are not as open minded as Thailand. Thais are probably a bit opportunistic but who blames them. They also like mixed blood Thai with White Westerner which people in other Asian countries do not like, i.e. China, Japan etc. They are all very proud to be 100% Chinese or Japanese, they would not want to be mixed. Also Thailand is more open to Westerners than Singapore for instance. So overall in Asia Thailand is probably one of the best places for a foreigner to live (both Westerners as well as Asians) in terms of inclusiveness and openness.

If people don't believe, go live a while in China or Malaysia or Japan - I'm sure you would change opinion rather quickly.

I don't know much about Japan but my brother in law (not a Japanese) has a successful business nr Tokyo...

I tried, for a while, to get a job in Thailand... Nothing!

On another hand, I've got a senior role with a chinese company ;-)

[NCFC]

US Fed are on the verge of raising interest rates for the first time in eight years. Already the markets are factoring this in with DFI dwindling in emerging markets. With all the condo building that is going on in Thailand, financed by cheap foreign money, we are now witnessing exactly the same set of events that led up to the Asian crash of 1997, which began in Thailand.

Now is not a good time to buy a condo or leave large deposits in Thai baht. Last time around the Thai baht halved in value. Wait until the crash and then bring your dollars and pounds to Thailand and buy in the fire sale that is about to happen.

[lostoday]

US Fed are on the verge of raising interest rates for the first time in eight years. Already the markets are factoring this in with DFI dwindling in emerging markets. With all the condo building that is going on in Thailand, financed by cheap foreign money, we are now witnessing exactly the same set of events that led up to the Asian crash of 1997, which began in Thailand.

Now is not a good time to buy a condo or leave large deposits in Thai baht. Last time around the Thai baht halved in value. Wait until the crash and then bring your dollars and pounds to Thailand and buy in the fire sale that is about to happen.

You mean the last time the USA raised interest rates the Thai baht fell 50%? You mean someone is making a run on Thai currency now like in 1997? You mean the factors are the same today as the Tom Yum Goon crisis? Nonsense.

[mogandave]

Isn't real estate one of the best hedges against devaluation of currency?