dinkas Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Gadfly1 said:Back when Effective Planners was the plan administrator for TPI, several Australians were charged with work permit violations because their work permits indicated - in Thai - that they worked in Bangkok but did not say anything about working outside of Bangkok. They had no idea what the documents said in Thai (and the Thai was ambigious), and attended some meeting just over the Bangkok city line. They were pursued - and portrayed in certain local circles - as dangerous criminals. But the whole episode made Thailand look ridiculous, particularly to the foreign business community. They were actually fined because the work permit lists the occupation and the activities allowed for the occupation, and there was documentary evidence that they were doing things which was beyond the scope of the activities allowed in the work permit. As there was no evidence that one of them was actually working outside of Bangkok, this charge was dismissed. However, if evidence had have been presented to the court to prove they were actually performing some tasks outside of Bangkok, they would have been in further trouble. I understand this is no longer an issue for Australians because of an agreement with the FTA signed with Thailand. For everyone else, if your work permit lists your place of employment in Bangkok, once you do any work outside of Bangkok, you can be arrested. Work permit violations usually result in a small fine, but have in some cases lead to deportation and blacklisting. As you say, it shows what can happen when you tread on the wrong person's toes. The whole TPI/Effective Planners situation, not just the work permit issue, is an absolute disgrace. I don't see what the Police can do if you don't have your work permit or a copy of it at a BTS station. The whole point is you are meant to keep it at the office in case the Dept of Labour does a raid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddy_guy Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 I would like you to show me a decent place to drink in Singapore that is anywhere near the prices in BKK or Pattaya. My expereience is that Happy hours have glasses of beer at 9 - 12 dollars Singapore and regular times 15 - 18 dollars Singapore and hard liquor more than that. There's no prices like that in Thailand. Don't get me wrong, I love Singapore too it's clean, cosmopolitan and very well organized with some interesting bars and restauraunts. Except for the food courts I would say the food is also more expensive generally in Singapore. If you decide to quit drinking and have your own woman in tow Singapore would be reasonable,price wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Shit that's much more expensive than in Europe. So no Singapore for poor people like me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farangman Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 He sent me a PM about it. Won't share it here as I don't think it's fair on Gadfly if he wants to keep anonimity about the area he works in. Cheers farangman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Buddy, read my report, I also complain about the price of booze, it's NOT a place to go drinking, one round out with the boys, $120! (about 10 of us). Regarding food courts, well, i think they are the best quality food actually, tastes best in my opinion, anywhere else in Sillypore your buying face, not food! Saefood, definately on par price wise with bangkok and a LOT better. Girls - $120 Sing for 2 hours, expensive, but a lot more variety. Generally going about the place and having fun, a lot nicer than Bangkok, which is a tough city to live in especially if you have kids. DG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 OK. Fair enough. Thanks for that Frangers. I apologize to Gaddie for being snarky. Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Thanks. My threshhold for risk in this area probably does seem extremely low (I will admit it probably does seem to border on the side of paranoid), but I'd rarther err on the side of caution. The worst that could happen here is that some posters don't believe me, but that pales in comparison to the grief I would get at work and among some of more conservative colleagues if they somehow learned about some of the stuff I post here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 They were actually fined because the work permit lists the occupation and the activities allowed for the occupation, and there was documentary evidence that they were doing things which was beyond the scope of the activities allowed in the work permit. As there was no evidence that one of them was actually working outside of Bangkok, this charge was dismissed. However, if evidence had have been presented to the court to prove they were actually performing some tasks outside of Bangkok, they would have been in further trouble. You may be right on charge about working outside of Bangkok being dismissed and other details. My information is from an old newspaper report I kept (published before the court proceedings ended), and I know the press doesn't always get these sorts of details exactly right. I don't either; it's not my field. I agree that the "whole TPI/Effective Planners situation, is not just a work permit issue, but an absolute disgrace." But the work permit violation (whatever the exact details) is a good example of how small technical violations of arcane and unexpected rules can get you into serious problems here. Most times Farangs don't even realize they are violating the law. And when a Farang businessperson is arrested, it generally has nothing to do with law enforcement, but some other agenda. Further up this thread someone - quite reasonably in my opinion if you are not an expert on Thai work permit law - concluded that you don't need a work permit if you are just coming in for a business meeting. That is what I would have thought if I hadn't learned about Farangs getting set up on such charges. Even your most prudent and conservative businessperson is unlikely to consult a Thai work permit lawyer before flying to Bangkok for a business meeting that lasts a single day. This is all a symptom of a bigger problem. But now, with my next post, I will return to the main theme of these thread with a quick post from last evening on Soi Cowboy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 The pendulum is swinging back an forth. Last night while I was out in Soi Cowboy at a certain bar a bit past midnight I saw the type of show we could amost always see before the New Social Order. In brief, no briefs, plenty of water and lots of muff diving. IMHO, this bar doesn't have the best looking girls on Soi Cowboy (maybe that bar also had a show while I was at this bar), but the show did top off a good evening. And renewed my optomism. But I also noticed that that the male staff in front of the bar were keeping a watchful eye up and down the Soi. Maybe next week it will be back to granny outfits, but despite the sporadic nature of shows and standards now, over the last six weeks or so there does seem to have been a trend on Soi Cowboy toward relaxed standards. Perhaps you won't find them every night, but certainly more so than before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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