Flashermac Posted February 11, 2013 Report Share Posted February 11, 2013 I asked my students in the international programme why they studied here instead of abroad. (Their families usually could afford it.) They said everything in Thailand depends on networking... whom you know. You mgiht get a better education abroad, but when you came back you would lack the necessary contacts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzz Posted February 13, 2013 Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 LOS can never be my home. It's a place for me to get away for a while. After 2 wks in Thailand, my attitude heads south. I'm planning a 10 day trip to LOS now, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted February 13, 2013 Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 I asked my students in the international programme why they studied here instead of abroad. (Their families usually could afford it.) They said everything in Thailand depends on networking... whom you know. You mgiht get a better education abroad, but when you came back you would lack the necessary contacts! Flash I have noticed that first hand. There are certain companies who prefer to employ Thammaset Grads and do business with other companies with Thammaset connections, conversely the same applies to Chuala affiliated companies with respect to employees and preferred companies they do business with. If memory serves me right they refer to each other as "Pink's or Blue's" dependent which Uni, I used to think the British "Old School Tie" situation was specific to the UK but it seems to apply in Thailand just as much if not deeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 13, 2013 Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 Pink and white are Chula's colours. Thammasat's are red and yellow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted February 13, 2013 Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 Pink and white are Chula's colours. Thammasat's are red and yellow. OK Pink's v Yellows but you understood the jist of where I was coming from, I do have a few Polo Shirts from the annual varsity football game played at national stadium and they are all red and yellow. My Mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 14, 2013 Report Share Posted February 14, 2013 Thammasat had a 2 to 1 lead in the games, until Chula started bringing in "guest players" from the Thai national football team! Now Thammasat has had to follow suit to have a chance. WTF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torrenova Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 It is always a good idea to have your own visa. The problem is that having your visa tied to your job means if your job ends, so does your visa. That happened to me once in the 1980s. I had to rush down to Penang for another visa to give me time to find another job. Fortunately, I did so very quickly. We also used to be able to transfer our WP from one job to another. Not any more ... have to surrender it and apply for a new one. It wasn't hard to get your own non imm B visa without any real proof but I heard it got marginally harder, though far from impossible. Getting it from the UK shouldn't be hard and you don't have to be a UK citizen or resident (as I confirmed with them directly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torrenova Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Riight... ... Jumps in... I have PR. For better or worse, this is home. I agree with Kong and KS, you will never fully integrate, nor will you be fully accepted as 'one of us'. Yes, I still need a WP to work, I still need to go to immigration for a re-entry permit, BUT the visa is not tied to the WP. It is tied to the PR*. So I won't be kicked out on the basis of losing my job. Also, because both my kids are Thai nationals, I can stay on because I will be 'supporting' them (though the case may change once I need a walking stick to get around - hopefully they'll be supporting me). *Note to Flash - the PR is permanent - so there is no 90 day reporting or anything of the sort. So as long as I do not leave the country they'll leave me alone. As to the 'never invest more than you're prepared to lose', the kids'll get the house anyway so I'm not bothered. Can't take it with me. Cheers VK When scrutinising the immigration rules a couple of years ago, I found it was completely possible to have a child support an adult for visa and immigration purposes. I didn't test it but it was clearly prescribed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torrenova Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 I've lived in a number of countries but in most, the state may have rules but they don't go out of their way to make it impossible to live there with some degree of certainty. Thailand does. Move past the derogatory "farang" word, the dual pricing, blatant rip offs, the smile to your face while they steal your wallet etc. and the state won't give you certainty of residence. Heck, you could invest 20m in a penthouse condo, legally registered in your name and you still could be forced out or refused a visa to visit your own property. Of course, most people can enter or have retirement visas and think there is no problem but you can't have a voice and if you speak out, some corrupt official can cancel your right to stay permanently. Hence you have little or no right of access to the law. Thailand can be home but you cannot have that peace of mind which comes with knowing you are totally safe. In Thailand, you can only ever be as safe as they allow you to be and those rules change like the wind. I think anyone retiring to Thailand needs to have a Plan B and potentially a Plan C as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 The retirement visa originally included owning a condo, bonds etc as an alternative to keeping 400,000 baht in the bank. Then wonderful Mr. Thaksin came along and doubled all the figures (200,000 to 400,000 for married folks, 400,000 to 800,000 for retirement), plus he eliminated the property ownership option. Owning a condo or townhouse counts not at all for a retirement visa. You have to show either the money in the bank or the minimum monthly income (60,000 baht). As you say, who knows what Takky might do if he came back. He might decide to double the figures again, since he obviously has a hard-on about "poor" Farangs. If he doubled the figures, as long as I've been here, I would still be farked. (I am sure as hell not bringing that kind of money over here to sit idle in a bank.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.