Luke06

Oh dear, looks like I hit a nerve…here’s the deal and this is what I am selling, people can come to Thailand and make a better life and they don’t need to be retired to do it…period. I have no issue with retirees, I have issue with retirees who demand that you must work in the west till you retire and then come here and to do anything else would be a huge mistake. I have issue with ‘business experts’ who have never actually run a company or even worked in Thailand but insist that the only work you can do here is to be a teacher that no other job is possible and the people who insist that you need to leave your ambition on the plane. There is a significant population on this forum who take pleasure in pushing people’s ideas down primarily, it would seem, because they have nothing better to do. The thing is that success breeds success, the more people that come here and are successful the more people that will do the same, the better and more successful the country will be.

I won’t respond to the comments, suffice to say that very few actually deal with the point and some of them seem so upset they didn’t even read the post properly. If people want to come here and start a bar let them, it may be the best bar in the country and they open a chain that spreads to the whole region, if they want a guesthouse encourage it, maybe they will do the same, if they want to start an export business through ebay, go for it. There are a huge number of expats that are extremely successful in this country (no, I don’t count myself amongst them) and they on the whole don’t have the interest or time to post anything. Sadly this allows the others a free run at the ground. In addition there are also a lot of people who genuinely want to help or assist, sadly they are getting drowned out. Those others need a reality slap.

If this thread makes one of those experts think…well actually what do I really know about running a business in Thailand – have I ever owned a bar, managed a guesthouse or run an export business, etc., then it has been a useful thread. If not, well it made me smile.

Good stuff glad that so many of you grasped it (hits head against wall), thanks for your replies. Frustrated - dam_n right. Frustrated by the morons who post here to tell you how bad life is in Thailand, never invest more than you can afford to lose, bla, bla. Is that golden nugget really different from anywhere else? Advice - the advice is simple, you can be successful in Thailand from a monetary/career point a view (as well as having a good wife/husband and a family), if you take the risk, don't be put off by people on this forum telling you that you can't do it, it is possible. I do have a wife and children but this was focused on the career/money side that so often gets beaten down here as some type of dead end, for people of my age it is critical as we are trying to build our lives and need those foundations.

Lets have some positivity, encourage people to come to Thailand and try it for themselves as long as they are not a desperate old man with a death wish, a bit of spare change in their pocket and the desire to get as close as possible to committing pedophilia with any whore who comes their way.

As for self-advertising, look at how often I post and what I post, do you really think that I feel the need? You really didn't get it, I am nothing special or remarkable, I'm an average guy, that's the whole point. Hopefully it will give some of the people wondering about making the jump a reality check that it can be done and won't end in some farmer from Issan getting a new house. As for being here 20 years I'll see what the future brings.

-That said apologies for the expletives - too much Asahi.

Thanks for the info, I checked and was told by Nok that the airport was open and they were taking bookings for it, but it looks like a toss up whether it will be or not and the roads may be impassable, Krabi has landslides so risky to travel over as roads are likely to be closed and Hat Yai is a long way and also may not be passable - short of a boat lookds like I am out of options. If anyone hears of anything please let me know.

My two pennies worth...its a scam.

Why?

From what you have written you show no special knowledge of financial trading...yet they offered you a job.

You have to find an investor with 500,000 to invest with a guy who has 2-3 months training....or possibly that is to complete your 2-3 months training. How many people with that money to play would be willing to do that?

Did you ask them what the pay was....I would hazard a guess its commission only/nothing.

They promise high ROI...how?

Why is it trading on the NY stock exchange, and don't you not need a license to provide financial advice to people?

I appreciate that you cannot put the company name, but I would put my neck on a block and say that within 24 hours, with the name of the company, I could find a lot more reasons to not go near them. Depending on where they are do a google search on their name, see how long they have been around and what is being said about them by other people - but, from experience, make sure you spell the name correctly, you might find they have a name very similar to some well established and legitimate company.

I joined California Wow many years ago at Siam Paragon. I went there for two years and used it regularly, the price I paid was quite cheap so I put up with the problems as the trade off. Towards the end of my time it was so busy I could not do my normal circuit and the place was going downhill.

The reason I stopped going is that I used to do about 15-25 mins on the cross trainer, one day there was only one cross trainer available so I started my normal workout. A few minutes in, the cross trainer 'slipped', it was broken and I sharply jarred my leg. I had noticed many times that the machines that were broken would take weeks to have a sign on them to warn/prevent people from using them and the maintenance seemed non-existent, there would often be broken machines in there for months on end. After that I developed a pain in my knee, which overtime got worse. Eventually I stopped going to try and rest the leg. A week later something gave in my leg and it swelled up to double its size. That was two to three years ago, they believe I ripped the cartilage under the knee and the scans showed that I had a lot of damage around the knee from a fairly violent event. I'm trying to avoid surgery but it seems unlikely - I can't do any gym work or sport involving my legs and the other leg is now badly playing up.

Moral of this story is that whilst the price I paid seemed quite cheap and I put up with the issues I could see for the good price, it was the issues I couldn't see or didn't expect that got me and just the medical bills I have paid so far are substantially more than the cost of my membership...and that's without keyhole surgery.