ericjt
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Posts posted by ericjt
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Try Tian visa services in Chiang Mai at Promenada Plaza. Here's a link:
https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1011299-new-visa-agency-at-promenada-mall/They're very helpful and knowledgable. I hope they can answer your questions.
Good luck.
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I think we can all agree the smog in CM is unpleasant and dangerous.
Does anybody have any *concrete*, *constructive* suggestions about solutions?
If not, let's save everybody's time and do other things till it clears up -- like it does every year.
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Must have been a slow news month at Channel 9.
Let's see, kids coming to a party, paying to get there, getting drunk, stoned, dancing, sc*ewing and having fun. That's the story?
I guess some people can't stand it when other people have a good time.
Or maybe they get off on watching?
Either way, IMO Channel 9 can take their "report" and shove it.
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Mr. Soalbundy -- From your comment, I gather you are still a fan of the War on Drugs? If/when you come to believe that we would get a better return from directing our resources elsewhere, maybe you'll agree with my comment. Until then, I guess we just agree to disagree?
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Good post, Seara7.
I'm not defending Dr. S. I don't know him and have never been a patient. I'm just saying I think there's more to the story than was covered in The Nation's article.
And I think your comment adds some good facts.
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Sloppy journalism. I know at least one person who has donated a kidney, and have read about several more. None of them report weakness after surgery. Sometimes people are born with only one kidney and only find out about it later in life. They don't even know about it until some kind of scan or procedure turns it up.
So if this teen feels "weak" after the operation, then either it wasn't done properly, he wasn't a good candidate, or else, it's in his mind.
Or maybe the "journalist" made it up to make the story more interesting?
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Thanks for the clarification. Guess I thought it was lipo after watching the video embedded in one of the comments.
If the procedure involved cutting and removing implants, then maybe some of my previous comment was off base. To the extent the procedure called for skills closer to traditional surgery, I guess I should modify or retract parts of my comment. I'll leave it up to the readers to decide which parts have value and which don't.
Thanks again --
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Why deny the prisoners the little bit of comfort or relief they can get from drugs? Aren't they being punished enough already?
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OK, Just to clear a point up...unlicensed doesn't necessarily mean unqualified. After you have gained a medical or care related qualification, you then have to pay for a very expensive license which is simply a license to practise. No where in the article does it say he was 'unqualified' to carry out this procedure.
This is not a statement of his innocence or guilt, but legally he should have had a license to practise. There is always a risk with anaesthetics.
Problem with all these cases we read about on here is we hardly ever get any follow up !!
Shame for the young lady and her family but it says a lot about modern society when plastic surgery is so important, The number of thais i know who have loaned money or paid on credit card to have those ridiculous nose jobs is unbelievable. Sad.
On stories like this where real people have died, lets try to have a little decorum and less of the chest beating rhetoric. Thank you
At the risk of taking an unpopular position, the facts we have say the patient died from the anesthesia, not the liposuction procedure. "Unlicensed" does not mean "unqualified", and Dr. S was NOT unlicensed. He WAS licensed as an MD. He just hadn't done one more residency -- a surgical residency, apparently.
Dr. S. might have performed the liposuction procedure perfectly, but a bad reaction to the anesthesia might have still killed his patient. Any doctor will tell you that there is a small but definite risk of death or complications every time a patient is put to sleep using general anesthesia.
So I think the question we need to ask is, "Was the anesthesiologist (gas passer) qualified and properly licensed, and, did he/she do anything wrong?" If he/she was licensed and didn't do anything wrong, then maybe punishing the doctor for what is basically a technical licensing violation is unfair.
If the anesthesiologist wasn't licensed (or if the doc himself was doing the gas passing), and, if the anesthesiologist deviated from the established standard of care, then maybe the anesthesiologist should be punished.
But if nobody did anything negligent, and if nobody deviated from good medical practices, then this death might not have had anything to do with whether Dr. S had one more license, or did one more residency. If that turns out to be the case, how heavy handed do we want to be about punishing him, when he might not have done anything medically wrong?
Last thought: In the future, I think relatively simple procedures like liposuction will be done by PAs (physician assistants) or nurses under the overall supervision of an MD. Liposuction using today's liposuction equipment can be learned, AFAIK, in about a week. Maybe a month or two if you want to give a PA some time to work with an experienced provider. But lipo is still not a difficult or complicated thing to do -- certainly nothing like traditional surgery.
Traditional surgery does require a high skill level, so, IMO, a long residency is appropriate. But that's not the case here. Requiring a surgical residency to do liposuction is like requiring the use of a sledge hammer to kill an ant.
Let's all take a deep breath, and see how this situation plays out.
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Come on, guys, this is an easy one.
If you have enough money to hire a good, caring, full time, live-in helper in your old country and maintain a good standard of living there, then *maybe* you're rich enough that Thailand is not the best place to live when you are getting REALLY old. Maybe.
But for the rest of us, aside from a family ethic here in Thailand that calls for taking care of old members of the family, it's also possible to hire a good, caring, full time, live-in helper for a fraction of what it would cost at home. And you can list off all the other institutional "benefits" of being taken care of in your home country, but no institutional solution comes even close to what's available here in Thailand from a full time live in helper, who speaks at least some English or other language you can understand.
One caveat -- when you're REALLY old and sick and weak and helpless, at least two natural laws (natural selection and survival of the fittest) are working against you. So it's also going to take some luck and/or a very caring and devoted family if you're going to get good care when you're getting REALLY old -- whether you're in Thailand or someplace else.
What do you bring to the table? Do you have a pension that is worth millions as long as you are alive but worthless if you are dead?
I don't get your comment, Thailiketoo. You can hire a live in maid/cook/housekeeper here for around 7000 baht/month + room and board. Round it off to $300 USD/month + room and board. Add a little more if you want someone to take more personal, nursing kind of care, and you're looking at maybe $500/month + room and board. And you don't need a pension worth millions to afford that. Even a modest retirement income should be able to handle something like that.
So I don't bring anything to the table, other than a little knowledge about what it costs to hire a live in maid/helper in Thailand. And I don't see what having a "pension that is worth millions" has to do with my comment. If $500 USD/month is too much for someone's budget, they're going to have a hard time when they get old no matter where they live.
And if I did have a pension worth millions, I think I'd be able to buy the best care available no matter what country I chose to live in, so again, I don't see what your comment has to do with the OP's question or my comment.
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Come on, guys, this is an easy one.
If you have enough money to hire a good, caring, full time, live-in helper in your old country and maintain a good standard of living there, then *maybe* you're rich enough that Thailand is not the best place to live when you are getting REALLY old. Maybe.
But for the rest of us, aside from a family ethic here in Thailand that calls for taking care of old members of the family, it's also possible to hire a good, caring, full time, live-in helper for a fraction of what it would cost at home. And you can list off all the other institutional "benefits" of being taken care of in your home country, but no institutional solution comes even close to what's available here in Thailand from a full time live in helper, who speaks at least some English or other language you can understand.
One caveat -- when you're REALLY old and sick and weak and helpless, at least two natural laws (natural selection and survival of the fittest) are working against you. So it's also going to take some luck and/or a very caring and devoted family if you're going to get good care when you're getting REALLY old -- whether you're in Thailand or someplace else.
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Isn't anyone on this forum against increasing taxes?
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Time to learn about investing. The members who suggested high yielding Thai stocks are on the right path, IMHO. Start educating yourself about high dividend (high yield) Thai stocks like the ones they mentioned. Also Big C (or Central Department Stores) looks like a great stock to buy right now.
If you want to go beyond that, take a look at ThinkOrSwim in Singapore, or Interactive Brokers (in the US), or OptionsXpress in the US. If you learn something about stock options and option structures, you can invest in the stock market with a higher rate of return and with lower risk than by simply buying stocks. But options require some time and effort invested up front to learn about them. When you're knowledgeable, though, 2M Baht can buy you some pretty large positions using options. $60,000 USD is not a small starter account for options.
Buying land also seems to be a good investment in BKK and CM these days, but the market has been moving up so fast that prices are getting scary. A rental property also seems like a good idea. You can buy a small condo for 2M Baht and rent it out, but you probably won't get more than 3% or 4% on your investment from the rental income. Prices are high and rents are low in CM and BKK. I don't know about other areas. But, theoretically, the property should also increase in value -- at least as much as the inflation rate. On the other hand, Thai people prefer new properties, so the increase in value of older properties can be pretty small and slow. The land is what seems to increase in value, rather than the structures.
And maybe put around 5% to 10% of your investment into physical gold. Buy from one of the larger gold dealers in CM or BKK. It's for the long term, but when it pays off, it will pay off big.
Hope this helps.
Good luck --
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How are foreigners supposed to know which developers are unscrupulous and which are not? And how are they supposed to know when a property was built in violation of the law when all permits and other paperwork seem in order? Since the govt let it happen, IMHO, the govt should make the developers cough up enough money to repay the buyers and restore the land to its original condition. The burden shouldn't fall on good faith purchasers. And if the developers can't cough up enough money, some of what they did is probably criminal, so maybe they should spend some time in jail -- along with the officials who signed off on their illegal acts. It would be a good focus for the anti corruption campaign, and make the point that there's a new sheriff in town very clearly.
I see it like this ericjt: First off, you should consider all property developers and their ilk unscrupulous, and be suspicious of all of them. Even more so the farangs. You are far more likely to be taken advantage of by farangs here. And that includes even smaller farang-run businesses as well, where you can usually expect to pay more for whatever goods and/or services they are offering.Farangs here face an inherent disadvantage in any business dealings. Most especially when involved in businesses in direct conflict or competition with similar Thai-run businesses. Dealing with farangs involving property and/or land and house sales is a fool's game. They'll ultimately resort to ripping off their fellow farangs to make up for their disadvantage or whatever they've 'paid' to get into that game to begin with. Expect to pay a premium, and expect to get screwed.And don't expect justice if things go tits-up, like you would expect in whatever corner of farangland you come from. Even if you are totally in the right, you can't expect that anything would be resolved in your favor.Never spend or invest anything here that you're not willing to write off as a total loss!Caveat emptor.I agree with parts of what you say, iSabai, but I've lived here for 10 years now, so I know my way around, at least a little bit. When I first came here, I was hugely ignorant of how things worked here -- who to trust, how to do things, etc. And I think it's the same for most farangs or anybody else who's new to Asia.
So if the new govt wants to start going after corruption in the old govt, and if they want to do it fairly, then I think my suggestion stands. You can't ask people who don't even know what they don't know to try and avoid scams when moving here. Or pay for the scams they got caught up in. They're the ones who need the new govt's protection, IMHO.
As for Thais or other knowledgeable people, well, they're not good faith buyers, so if you'd want to make them pop for some of the loss, I might agree with you.
Agree, and point taken ericjt. Victims of scams or shady dealings should have protections and some recourse to recover their losses for sure. And as you said, it's not easy for farangs to fully understand what exactly they are getting, or have gotten themselves into sometimes. It's not totally impossible to find some happiness in what you're looking for, many farangs do. My point was merely that a cautious and suspicious approach to any dealings here is the way to go.
Hopefully the "new sheriff" will take up that "campaign" against those "illegal acts" as you say. Would be best for all, but will certainly take time before we'll see significant results.
Chok dee!
For sure. Hope the "new sheriff" does that.
I did try to be careful when I first moved here. Heck, I was a lawyer before, so the first thing I did was hire a lawyer to protect me. Yeah, right. The lawyer was friends with everybody, and I was friends with nobody. Given my ignorance, things probably worked out pretty well. It ended up costing me more, but it could have been a lot worse. They system is so different here -- Land Office running most real estate transactions, the multi-level title system, mountain areas reserved to the Crown -- that I couldn't even start to ask intelligent questions.
But I agree that a cautious and suspicious approach is the way to go. Maybe because I was, I didn't get hurt more.
Chok dee...
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How are foreigners supposed to know which developers are unscrupulous and which are not? And how are they supposed to know when a property was built in violation of the law when all permits and other paperwork seem in order? Since the govt let it happen, IMHO, the govt should make the developers cough up enough money to repay the buyers and restore the land to its original condition. The burden shouldn't fall on good faith purchasers. And if the developers can't cough up enough money, some of what they did is probably criminal, so maybe they should spend some time in jail -- along with the officials who signed off on their illegal acts. It would be a good focus for the anti corruption campaign, and make the point that there's a new sheriff in town very clearly.
I see it like this ericjt: First off, you should consider all property developers and their ilk unscrupulous, and be suspicious of all of them. Even more so the farangs. You are far more likely to be taken advantage of by farangs here. And that includes even smaller farang-run businesses as well, where you can usually expect to pay more for whatever goods and/or services they are offering.Farangs here face an inherent disadvantage in any business dealings. Most especially when involved in businesses in direct conflict or competition with similar Thai-run businesses. Dealing with farangs involving property and/or land and house sales is a fool's game. They'll ultimately resort to ripping off their fellow farangs to make up for their disadvantage or whatever they've 'paid' to get into that game to begin with. Expect to pay a premium, and expect to get screwed.And don't expect justice if things go tits-up, like you would expect in whatever corner of farangland you come from. Even if you are totally in the right, you can't expect that anything would be resolved in your favor.Never spend or invest anything here that you're not willing to write off as a total loss!Caveat emptor.I agree with parts of what you say, iSabai, but I've lived here for 10 years now, so I know my way around, at least a little bit. When I first came here, I was hugely ignorant of how things worked here -- who to trust, how to do things, etc. And I think it's the same for most farangs or anybody else who's new to Asia.
So if the new govt wants to start going after corruption in the old govt, and if they want to do it fairly, then I think my suggestion stands. You can't ask people who don't even know what they don't know to try and avoid scams when moving here. Or pay for the scams they got caught up in. They're the ones who need the new govt's protection, IMHO.
As for Thais or other knowledgeable people, well, they're not good faith buyers, so if you'd want to make them pop for some of the loss, I might agree with you.
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How are foreigners supposed to know which developers are unscrupulous and which are not? And how are they supposed to know when a property was built in violation of the law when all permits and other paperwork seem in order? Since the govt let it happen, IMHO, the govt should make the developers cough up enough money to repay the buyers and restore the land to its original condition. The burden shouldn't fall on good faith purchasers. And if the developers can't cough up enough money, some of what they did is probably criminal, so maybe they should spend some time in jail -- along with the officials who signed off on their illegal acts. It would be a good focus for the anti corruption campaign, and make the point that there's a new sheriff in town very clearly.
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I don't get the problem. Children are smart. You can explain that some Thai people do things differently than some Western people do things. You can also explain to your child which ways you think are better. And, best of all, you can act in ways from which your child will learn from you.
Children watch their parents closely and they notice everything you do. Act in accordance with your beliefs and you won't have to explain much at all. As for Thai schools, I have heard that questioning and independent thinking is discouraged, so our daughter is in an English speaking International School. She thinks for herself, questions us constantly (which we encourage), and seems to have no problem dealing with differences between Thai and Western culture.
Mom is Thai. Dad is Western.
Children adapt very well with even minimal guidance from their parents. If you are sincerely troubled by what you have written about, OP, take a look at your own feelings and conflicts. You might find you are projecting them onto your children.
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Per the immortal Richard Pryor, "He came and went at the same time."
We all should be so lucky.
God bless him. (And her)
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Using the Visa card won't help you xfer funds to the US, I don't think. You need the $$ to go into your US PP account or bank account, right? I can't tell you how to do that easily, but I can warn you about Paypal. They will freeze your account without warning and for reasons only known to them. Whatever you do, don't leave large balances in your PP account. And if you can use another service, like Skrill, you should do so. I think there was a website called www.xe.com or something like that a while back. It used linked bank accounts to help move funds from country to country. Try a search for them. Or similar dedicated FX transfer sites. Good luck.
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For touring/cruising we love our BMW R1100R (1100 cc) with three hard saddlebags and a soft tank bag, but we need to sell it. For touring Isaan or riding to Bangkok, it would be great if you can stretch your budget a bit. It has 40,000 km, it's a 1998 model, with good title, and it's in Chiang Mai. The local BMW dealer's head mechanic has done all maintenance, and the bike is in cherry condition. Photos attached.
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I might be wrong, but it was my understanding that if you deposit 800,000 Baht in a Thai bank account, that can serve as your proof of income. Or take the place of a proof of income letter from your embassy. The 800,000 Baht is supposed to have been in the bank for at least 90 days before you use it as your proof of income (with a letter from your bank confirming the deposit), so I'm not sure how you would work that out your first time around, but that 800,000 Baht option may be another piece of the puzzle that you can use. Good luck.
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Try reading my last post again Moto77. I tried to make this post part of our thread of conversation, but Thaivisa said I had used too many quotes. Hope you see this post and that it answers your question.
If you only need to make one trip out of Thailand during the year, and if your Visa is single entry, then you only need to buy one re-entry permit. That's 1000 Baht. That's cheaper than a multiple re-entry permit, which is 4000 Baht at the airport. If you need to make 4 or more trips, though, then it's cheaper to buy the multiple re-entry permit for 4000 Baht.
The price of the multiple re-entry permit is only around 2000 Baht if you get it at Immigration at the same time you renew your retirement visa, but it's a different pricing structure at the airport. If you only need to make one trip outside Thailand during the year, it's cheaper to pay 1000 Baht for one re-entry permit at the airport. If you need to make more trips, it's cheaper to get a multiple re-entry permit at Immigration the same day you get your retirement visa renewed.
Hope that's clear.
"Single entry visa", BTW, means no trips outside Thailand. Your single entry was your entry into Thailand, whenever that was. If you want to leave and return again without getting a new visa, then you need to buy a re-entry permit. And you can do that either at Immigration when you are renewing your visa, or, if you don't do it then, you can do it at the airport, but the pricing is different.
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You guys that overstay will not like this !!
I did two Border Runs to Cambodia and one to Laos in 2004 when I first arrived.now having done that paying for the trips taking away three days from doing something else I decided it was time to go about this the right way. Got a Non-Immigrate O Visa, at the end of th a year obtained a Retirement Extension which I have done every year since. Not fun and cost 4,000THB every year.
So, I guess there are a few reasons for Overstay (1) Too cheap to pay your dues for living here. (2) Can not afford to pay the fees (3) Just love running to the Border every month or two.
For what ever reason you have stiffed Thailand for the fee and they are tired. Take whatever number you want, as to how many Farang live here multiply by 1,900 or 3,800THB and you see why they want to stop it.
Just to clarify, it's 1,900 Baht for a single entry one year retirement visa, and 3,800 Baht for a multi entry one year retirement visa. So unless you need a multi entry visa, it's only 1900 Baht/year if you're over 50.
Wait. I thought all "retirement" visas were single entry and then you had to get re-entry permits for multi?
Yes and no. The visa itself is single entry. But you can apply for multi entry immediately after the visa is issued, on the same day and same visit to Immigration. And walk out with a multi entry retirement visa for a total of 3800 Baht.
If you only have a single entry visa, though, and need to travel outside of Thailand, Immigration has a special window immediately past the security x-ray machines as soon as you enter the international departure area at Chiang Mai Intl Airport. Walk from the x-ray machines to that window with a passport photo, and you can get a one time re-entry permit for 1000 Baht. Or get a multi entry permit for 4,000 Baht. It takes about 15 minutes, and that's where you get your re-entry permits these days.
Don't even go to the Immigration Office. They won't do it. They'll refer you to the window in International Departures that I've just described. (This is for Chiang Mai. I'm not sure how they handle things in other cities.)
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You guys that overstay will not like this !!
I did two Border Runs to Cambodia and one to Laos in 2004 when I first arrived.now having done that paying for the trips taking away three days from doing something else I decided it was time to go about this the right way. Got a Non-Immigrate O Visa, at the end of th a year obtained a Retirement Extension which I have done every year since. Not fun and cost 4,000THB every year.
So, I guess there are a few reasons for Overstay (1) Too cheap to pay your dues for living here. (2) Can not afford to pay the fees (3) Just love running to the Border every month or two.
For what ever reason you have stiffed Thailand for the fee and they are tired. Take whatever number you want, as to how many Farang live here multiply by 1,900 or 3,800THB and you see why they want to stop it.
Just to clarify, it's 1,900 Baht for a single entry one year retirement visa, and 3,800 Baht for a multi entry one year retirement visa. So unless you need a multi entry visa, it's only 1900 Baht/year if you're over 50.
One other comment -- I've found most people here to be pretty reasonable if you are reasonable with them. I've been here for over 10 years and haven't felt once like any official was trying to "stick it to me". For strict legalism, try the US, Canada, or some of the European countries. Here, it's more about relationships, courtesy, and maybe a little coffee money from time to time.
It's easy to make up nightmare scenarios about what might happen if possible penalties are enforced to the max. But I've rarely seen that happen here, unless somebody cops an attitude and starts asserting his "rights". That can lead to an unpleasant wake up call, but that can happen anywhere -- not just in Thailand.
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Kingdom of Wonder recommended for low costs for expat retirees
in Cambodia News
Posted
Sihanoukville taken over by who, Scouse123? Tnx