BAYBOY

Have just had a visit from a New Zealand friend and his Thai wife, her daughter from her first marriage (aged 22) and their son ( aged 6). My friend has been to Thailand many times on holiday and has a good feel for the place, it's people and it's customs.

Problem 1. The wife and her first husband some years ago looked after a spinster Aunt in her later years. For being kind they were given the opportunity to purchase Auntie's plot of land prior to her death. This was done and she and her first husbands names are on the land title deeds. Following the divorce, the first husband agreed to having his name taken off the title, and a letter from him saying so, is attached to the title in the local land office.
The wife now wants to have the land transferred to her 2 children for their future. The local land office say she can not as  1) the daughter has joint Thai/ New Zealand citizenship so she is unable to own land here.2) the son is only 6 years old and is to young to own land in Thailand.  and 3) the wife must remove her name from the title now because she has joint Thai/ New Zealand citizenship, and her Thai I.D. card shows her married name, not her Thai maiden surname.
Should she remove her name, she would have to nominate her brother as the land owner which could create some problems further down the years.As it is freehold he then could borrow against it and possibly lose it and then the 2 children would also lose any claim to it.

Problem 2. The husband and wife have seen 2 commercial properties in Chaing Rai which again they would like to give to the 2 children as some thing for their futures. Again the same problems arise..... as in 1, 2, and 3, in problem 1. These 2 properties are worth some decent money and would give the 2 children a good stake here for their futures

My question is.. has any body on this forum had this trouble, is the land office correct in it's answers, and how to resolve the problems.
One does hear various stories about the true legal position of Thai land owners, here in Thailand, and it is so hard to get the true truth.

As an aside my friend has collected Buddhas for many years and has some knowledge of the types and their value. He bought 3 from a German collection and decided to give them to family here. On bringing them into Thailand, the Customs here wanted to take them off him and charge him import duty. The tariff they wanted to charge was very excessive so he declined and put them into bond and sent them back to New Zealand. So Thailand missed out on regaining some Buddhist artifacts. How stupid.

CHEERS
BAYBOY

Last week we went to one of our local Temples to collect our son who had been a young novice there for 10 days.
I parked the car in front of the accommodation block  ( which used to be the local school and has been bought by the Temple) To one side of where I parked, was the old school flag pole, like you see at all Thai schools.
I gathered up all the gear and loaded the boot, closed the boot, and without moving, I turned to the left and "Waied" a parent of another young boy. As I turned the flag pole came crashing down and landed on the boot of the car. I actually felt the wind from it's fall and placed my hand on the poleas it came to rest on the boot.
If it had fallen seconds earlier it would have landed on my back as I had my head in the boot!!!!

However  all safe and well.
.
My wife phoned the insurance company and they sent a man from Saraburi to Singburi to look at the damage.
The man advised us that the damage was approx 10,000 baht  and the insurance company would pay half and the Temple would have to pay the other half as it was their flag pole that fell.
The Thai parents of the boys all agreed, one does not ask the Temple for money.So with much talking and phone calls to the office it was agreed that we would pay 3000 baht and the insurance company would pay the balance.
The acting Head Monk of the temple said that the insurance company could " sue " the Temple but would they would never win such a case in Thailand.
The reason my wife agreed to pay the 3000 baht up front was to get things moving and the car repaired as soon as possible and the repair shop says it could be 3/4 weeks!!

Interesting ...... the Monk said that the Temple has no insurance cover for public liability or damage to others and would not pay out for any damages.This is not a small Temple, Hundreds visit it daily, and up to 10  buses come from Bangkok every Saturday and Sunday. They have spent millions on this Temple over the last 14 years that I have been visiting it.
                           never heard before that the insured party has to assist if other parties are at fault , rather than the insurance company paying out to the claimant and then chasing the other party for some liability.

Interesting.
BAYBOY

Hello all,

have been teaching here in Thailand for some years. Often get asked to teach English to adults on a one to one basis which I have turned down.

Last week my wife (who speaks excellent English) was approached by a local company who want 8 of their engineering staff taught " conversational English ". Seems they are starting to get sales inquires from O/seas and want their staff to have some English ability. Both my wife and I would do the teaching but have no idea as what to charge tthe company. We would provide all the materials but have use of their conference room at the factory for the classes.
Any idea what to charge?  Eight students, all have degrees in engineering, 2 hours every Saturday morning.

Cheers

BAYBOY

Recently there have been several threads going on the subject of medical care available in Thailand. I thought I would relate the experience that my wife and I have recently had.

Around end May/ early June my wife started to have headaches and the odd dizzy spell. At first she thought it may be related to the menopause which she has been coping with for the last year or two.The headaches would come at any time day or night and last about 3/4 hours. Afterwards she would feel listless and tired out. She has always been an active person about the house but once the headaches started she became less active and always seemed to want  to rest.

Anyway she saw the local doctor who also thought it was related to the menopause. She was given several tablets but no found improvement at all. She then went to another local doctor who advised rest and again more tablets. Still no improvement. Next we went to the Army hospital on Lopburi to see a specialist who works mornings only, when we got there we found it is only one morning a week so another doctor checked her , more tablets and again nothing.
While this was going on, her father aged 93, became ill and was put into hospital for 10 nights. She being the only daughter, opted to stay through the nights with him and was very concerned for him. Her mother aged 88 is confined to a wheelchair and again she worried and was helping her during the day as well as doing her job of running a school canteen feeding 300 plus meals a day.


Around mid July she noticed that her hand/ eye coordination on the left side was not working. The classic was sitting at the table with a knife, a mango, and a plastic water bottle  on the table in front of her. She picked up the knife and reached out with the left hand, took hold of the bottle and tried to peel it.


Finally on Saturday July 24th, she had had enough, so went down to Bangkok and saw a neuro specialist at Bangkok Christian hospital. Told all her headaches due to stress and worry with father/ mother and again more pills.

That night at home I checked the pills out on the net..... one was paracetmol with a fancy name, another was prescribed for people coming off acohol and suffering depressions and worry, the other 2 seemed to be for generall headaches. Later that night she was beside herself so we went to the outpatients dept of our local small hospital in Singburi. The young doctor there concurred that the medicine from Bangkok Christian did seem to be wrong and put her on a drip for a couple of hours, more pills and home.

The next morning she spoke with a sister in law who suggested that she go to Bangkok again and see a specialist at Thonburi Hospital. So on the Monday26 th July we went down to this Hospital and saw a neuro specialist, more pills and an injection to relieve the pain. Again told to try and not worry about her parents, and to stay home and rest. Being driven home was terribly painful for her, she felt very bump and turn. Once at home she just layed on the floor and said she felt the worse she had ever been. The headache just wouldn't go away. We phoned Thonburi Hospital and were told the injection helps some people and not others.....depending on the headaches!!!

To try and help her that night we went back to the private hospital in Singburi, who addmitted her and put her on a drip to help her sleep and relieve the headache. Another young doctor there suggested that as pills didn't clear the headache perhaps an xray may show something. This was done, we were in the bedroom for about an hour when 2 doctors came and saw us, to say that the xrays showed 2 tumours in or around the brain. Most probaly the cause of the headaches.

Next day early back to Bangkok and Thonburi hospital. Saw a wonderufl dedicated doctor there this time, who checked the xrays, ordered a scan, had a host of blood checks done, put her on a steroid drip to ease the pain and arranged for further tests for the following day.The upshot 3 tumors, not 2, and the pressure on the brain was causing the serious lack of cordination between the left eye and left hand. The tests showed no cancer else- where in her body and the eyes had no damage at all. Sh e had a brain biopsy and the doctors recomended a course of chemo for 3./4 months followed by radation if needed.


So on the 16th of August she started the chemo. Lucky for us she was addmitted into Siirriaj hospital to start the chemo programme. The first treatment was for 10 days, 2nd for 3 days. 3rd for 10 days and at present she is doing her 4th for 3 days. Then 2 more 10 days and 2 more 3 days fo finish.At all the treaments she has 3 days of spinal injections and has to lie on the bed on her back for 6 hours.

Our life has been turned upside down and the last few weeks seem a blur. But she is a very brave, confident girl and is so determined to beat the cancers and to have a normal life afterwards.Great support from family here. and my family overseas, as well as many friends here and overseas.Their thoughts and prayers have given her a great boost.


The reason I have written this is to very strongly advise all who have a problem medically to push, and question, and don;t be afraid to get a second or third opinion if you are not happy with the information being given.Looking back we tried with 3 GPS, 2 specialists, followed by several other specialists to get to where we are today. Often all the converstions would be in Thai, which I don't speak, but my wife would ask them to explain in English or she would explain to me.I always question things and found most Thai doctors will be evasive or give simple answers to questions.


SO DON'T BE AFRAID TO QUESTION, CHECK AND ASK AND BE HAPPY WITH YOUR DOCTORS.

BAYBOY

Some week ago took my wife to  a major Bangkok hospital for a consultation.
She had been having very bad headaches for some weeks and had some lack of left side eye/ hand coordination. Doctor had a brief talk, did a brief physical examination and advised that she was suffering some stress and anxiety problems.

He then gave her an injection in the neck to stop the pain.

The nurse in the room then handed me an envelope with 4200 baht written on it. Thinking this was the fee, I was told to pay this  to another nurse sitting outside the room. I then asked about any medicines and was directed to the pharmacy counter and paid 1540 b. Got a small bag of medicines and we then got into the car and drove home.

Whilst been driven home I checked the bill. Usual things... Nurse fee                                              60
                                                                                                          Drugs                                                   960
                                                                                                          Medical charges                                   60
                                                                                                          Health Professional fees                  400    
                                                                                                          Vitiams                                                    60    =   1540 b
So the cash 4100 not incuded, so the Doctor must be having double dipping as I was also charged in the bill for his fee. Also he gets cash, so no income tax on that and no actual bill for the 4100b. Do that several times a week and a nice little income earner.

I will be taking it up with the Hospital as I feel it is pretty blatent cheating.
BAYBOY

Just curious? Any other people been charged in the consulting room as well as having an offical bill from the hospital?