Digger

90-day notification of staying longer than 90 days

To aid a competitive angle with other local Asean countries, why are all people treated the same with the Immigration Department?

For example, a CEO of for example,  Toyota in Thailand has to go every 90 days and fill out a 90 report card.  Is this the image the country really wants to be portraying to business leaders who can influence massive investment in a region which is increasingly chasing every investment dollar?  

Perhaps follow the approach as used in Singapore and grant 2 year extension of stay with no further reporting requirements unless something changes, such as home address.  Although in Singapore, even that is not needed - they know where to find the CEO of Toyota if they need to - he works at their Thailand Head Office.

Perhaps grade companies and positions as they do in Singapore based upon monthly salary - 6 grades of employees - the top 3 grades (highest paid, professionals) receive much easier conditions (given their employers trust them with multi million dollar contracts and so on).  Manual type workers have stricter conditions to ensure jobs not being taken from locals.      

I worked in Singapore for 3 years and never once visited either a immigration office or work permit office.   I am seriously considering moving back as the cost advantages of Thailand are now being reduced and the ease of administration is much much easier.   My visa and work permit were approved even before I moved to the country.   The small matter of income tax at average of 12% versus 37% is also coming into the equation but Thailand needs to think - why are so few regional headquarters based in Bangkok?   Business leaders have better things to do than go and sit in an office for 5 hours while their admin clerk runs around for a yearly extension of stay and a 3 minute smile with the immigration guy.   PR requirements in for example in Singapore are simple - I know countless business professionals who have it - its much more cumbersome in Thailand and thus leads to people feeling they are not part of the country and there ability to stay is at the behest of a immigration clerk.   As I understand it there is not even a right of appeal.  

Business does not like uncertainty and Thailand's Immigration department is considered as a business inhibitor by many business people I know.

Once you add the fuel tax surcharge + VAT, then its just above an average of 4b unit at the moment for electric - or at least was when I simply divided total bill by number of units shown on the bill.   That is PEA so outside Bangkok and I get billed direct from the electric company.    However I use a fair whack of electric so the lower threshold amounts get proportionately eaten up by the load at top rate price.   Somebody who uses considerably less than me, may find their average is lower than this.

Pattaya Garage is indeed about 300m BEFORE traffic lights and you can spot it by the large arch shaped roof that extends behind it where all the work is done.    It is NOT easy to spot from the road as it has a very narrow driveway down to the main workshop.   I have not driven down that part of Sukhumvit for a while but it used to be easier to spot as there are large patches of undeveloped land either side of the group of some ten shophouses of which its a part.   Hence you could see the arched roof extending out the back, but if something is now built on land before it - you have probably no chance of seeing the roof.     I would concur with other posters - I have had much better results from Pattaya Garage than the other place mentioned.   Much more highly regarded however they have little to no English speaking staff.

So I assume you lent the $4000 of your own free will? i.e. the guy did not steal it, therefore what you need to do is consider suing him to get it back.    Did you have an agreement written down?

The process is long and expensive - I doubt any lawyer would touch it for less than 60,000b in fee's and realistically you maybe looking at 200,000b if you use a foreign lawyer.    There are no punitive damages in Thailand - but equally even if there were, why would they apply?   From what you have described it was a simple loan and he cannot afford to repay it.    

You will end up going round the houses and it goes to court - he says he just does not have the money to pay you back in one go however maybe can afford 2000b month for the next however many years.   The court would likely agree with that timescale and you win the case.  The court will award costs of probably 4000b to you.  

So you end up winning morally and also losing big time financially.  In the meantime, he then sues you for defamation on the one hand and for threatening him, in writing - both of these could cost you a lot of money to sort out.    

Just write it off.

TheWalkingMan, on 2011-08-14 11:44:03, said:

That event is being planned for next month, once all the camera crews are in place......