Time Out - Part 2

Rain, normally, is something which is a guaranteed occurrence between the months of June and October on the west coast of Thailand. Looking out of the hotel room window I could see that the mountains to the east were largely cloud free. It was a surprisingly clear morning and hopefully we would be in for a good day.

The view from the hotel

The breakfast was another buffet type affair with just about everything on offer in a state ranging from lukewarm to cold. I looked at the congealed fried eggs sitting on a plate and decided that some cereal and toast might be a better option. There was another farang eating his breakfast, the first I’d seen in a couple of days, so we sat down at the table next to him and I struck up a conversation. He was another expat residing in Bangkok and, much like myself, was taking some time out from the big smoke, with his Thai girl friend, to have a look at some of the scenic beauty of the country. Unlike me though, he was being a bit more adventurous when it came to getting to the attractions in the area. He’d come down from Bangkok in a car and was, at that very moment, checking a map to decide on his travel routes for the day. It probably wouldn’t, in hindsight, be all that difficult as I’d noticed, on the day before, that most of the roads and tourist attractions were signposted in Thai and English. I wished him luck and we made our way down to the lobby to wait for the arrival of our tour guide.

Our guide and taxi arrived at 0930 a.m., only today it wasn’t a twenty something female that would be showing us around, it was a forty something Thai male. Introductions were completed and we were on our way. Our destination this time was an area tucked in against the mountains, inland and to the south of Trang. There were three or four waterfalls bunched together with the furthest, and our first stop, being about 45 clicks from town.

On the road heading out of town the driver pointed out the residence of Chuan Leekpai, the former Thai Prime Minister. Chuan had a sizable property; approximately ten rai (according to our driver) which was still well within the city limits. Apparently, Chuan was a fairly low key figure these days and, if you can believe the wealth of info coming from the drivers lips, wasn’t really considered very much of a mover and shaker in the business of government anymore. In fact, according to our insightful driver again, Chuan wasn’t really held in much regard at all because the only thing that he seemed to tell the local constituency, during his time in office, was to plant more rubber trees. Well it certainly worked because, from what I’d seen during my brief time in the province, there were rubber trees for as far as the eye could see. These days, once again according to our very knowledgeable driver, (ex) dear leader (aka Thaksin) was still the man of the people; he was the guy that had gotten things done. When I enquired what it was that (ex) dear leader had done, the only thing that the driver could think of was that there were now more shopping malls. I didn’t want to get into a discussion about (ex) dear leaders’ tax evasion skills so I just looked out the window, watched the rubber trees gliding past and thought about something the girlfriend had confided in me yesterday. The ‘ahaan talay’, we’d eaten down at Pak Meng Beach, had been a lousy meal and a rip off, for the price charged, and I’d felt compelled to do the disgruntled farang thing – voice my disapproval. The girlfriend advised me not to as ‘Thai people in south not friendly like Thai people in north and that, if I make ‘plomplem’, maybe they boxing you’. Furthermore ‘south people jai lai’. When I asked where the friendliest people in Thailand are living; the answer I was given was hardly surprising, considering that she originally hails from that part of the country – it’s Isaan of course (how silly of me to even have to ask that question).

Ton Te Waterfall

The road rose steadily into a mountainous area as we got closer to our intended destination. There were some picturesque little villages scattered amongst the rubber plantations and the increasingly denser vegetation. Everywhere was green and lush due to the recent heavy rains. The road started to narrow noticeably and then we saw a sign saying ‘Nam Tok Ton Te’. The driver turned to the right and, after another two clicks, we were there. There was a gate which was locked and the place was deserted. The driver told us that the government wouldn’t provide money for the upkeep of the area and, therefore, no staff could be employed to take care of the place. We ducked under the gate and walked towards the river. Looking around I could see that everything, pretty much, was in a state of disrepair and overgrown. There were picnic tables that were lying broken and corroded.

The beginning of the trail

With the driver leading the way, we walked on towards the starting point of a paved path which ran parallel to the stream and rose steadily up into the jungle. I stopped to take in the surroundings. Apart from the sounds of the jungle – the cicadas and birds – and the sound of water flowing steadily downstream, the place was absolutely silent. It was brilliant. There was no man made noise at all to be heard – no vehicle noise, no loud Thai music and no loud Thai voices yelling at each other. I just stood there and soaked it up. My appreciation of this quiet moment was broken when, out of nowhere, a young Thai male came bounding down the trail looking like he’d seen a ‘Pii’ (ghost). The driver asked him what the problem was and it transpires that he’d seen a large snake lying across the pathway, further up, and had decided to turn back because he was ‘krua’ (scared). On hearing this, the girl immediately latched onto my arm in a state of fear. The ease with which a state of fear can be invoked in a Thai is almost something akin to the Australian Aboriginal and their ‘pointing of the bone’. You’ve only got to mention large snakes, or ghosts for that matter, and there’s an immediate psych out. I just stood there wondering why this young bloke didn’t just apply a bit of common sense and simply pick up a rock, or a stick, and shoo the bloody thing off the track.

Heading up the trail

The young fellow moved off towards the park exit and we had a bit of a conference. The driver was trying to convince the girlfriend that it might not be a good idea to continue up the trail because, if the snake was still there, it would be ‘antarai’ (dangerous). After a bit of negotiating we moved on up the trail. I told them that I’d go first and take a big stick with me just in case we see the snake. Obviously, that was agreeable to them – much better to have the silly farang bitten rather than one them. After another three hundred meters, and no sign of a snake anywhere, the paved pathway gave way to an overgrown dirt trail. I pushed on with my intent being to work my way up to the head of the waterfall. About ten meters up the trail I heard the word ‘teeruk’ – spoken in that tone which Thai women reserve for those times when you know that there’s, more than likely, not much chance of compromise. I stopped and looked back to see them standing at the beginning of the dirt trail.

‘Driver say not much to see up there teeruk’. ‘Dern mai dee teeruk’. I walked back towards her and resigned myself to the fact that there was no chance of getting her to go on. The driver was beginning to annoy me. He was becoming more of a ‘tour restrictor’ than a tour guide. He was a Thai male that had got himself into a nice comfortable line of work where he didn’t have to over exert himself or get his hands dirty. He wore nice clothes each day and he was a bloody dandy. The idea of getting hot and sweaty, while pushing up an overgrown jungle trail, was the furthest thing from his mind for the day. I was in that frustratingly no win situation that we (farang) so often find ourselves in, when paying for a product or a service in this country, and things aren’t up to scratch. You can bellow, rant and rave all you want but if the Thai digs his, or her, heels in, there’s not much you can do about it.

I wasn’t beaten yet though. It was about a ten meter drop down the bank towards the stream and there was a bit of a trail leading down. I pushed a branch aside and started to work my way down to the stream. The girlfriend said ‘bai nai’ but I didn’t answer as I’d had enough of their Thai procrastination and it was time to get wet and grubby. Where I come from – New Zealand – the whole point of going to a waterfall is that you try to climb up the bloody thing as far as possible because, at the end of the day, that’s the only way that you’ll be able to get some decent photo’s.

The view upstream

I got to the edge of the stream and looked back up to them. The driver had decided to sit down on a log and have a cigarette. The girlfriend, being originally from Nong Khai and a country girl at heart, saw that a bit of adventure would be ‘sanook’ and started working her way down the bank towards me. A couple of minutes later she was standing next to me, smiling, and just said ‘farang baa’.

We moved off, rock hopping across the stream. A lot of the rocks had moss on them and they were slippery. I decided that the best approach was to get into the stream and that way get a firmer footing. Unfortunately I underestimated the depth of one of the pools and went in up to my waist. Eventually we worked our way across to a large expanse of exposed flat rock, sitting in the middle of the stream, with small waterfalls above and below it. We sat down on a rock in the middle of the wide expanse of the stream bed and took in the surroundings. It was the natural beauty of Thailand at its best. It made me realise that there’s so many good things about this country that a lot of blokes just don’t get to see, or know about. Each to their own of course but, for me, being in some smoked filled beer bar getting inebriated while some third rate slapper goes to work on you for her rent money, just doesn’t measure up any more.

The view downstream

I took out the camera, fired off a few shots and then we started back towards the trail. The driver was still sitting there puffing away when we came up the river bank. I was still dripping wet from my unplanned swim in the stream and was thankful that I’d bought an extra pair of shorts along. We moved off back down the trail towards the parking area.

Our next location, according to our driver, was about twenty minutes back up the road towards Trang.

Phrai Sawan Waterfall

The parking area at Nam Tok Phrai Sawan had a number of ramshackle food vendors stalls. They were made of the usual rusty corrugated roofing iron and rough hewn posts. No one was in attendance as; once again, it was the wrong time of year (the low season).

The trail at Phrai Sawan

There was a wide track which followed the course of the river and rose up into the peaks. It was wide enough for a vehicle to drive on so it was, more than likely, being used on a regular basis. There were rubber plantations bordering the track on the opposite side of the river bed. I asked the driver how far it was up to the waterfall and was told it was ‘about two and a half kilometers’. I was keen to get on with it as it was an easy walk and we could get there in reasonable time. We hadn’t gone more than a kilometer when I heard that dreaded ‘teeruk’ again.

I’d heard the driver rabbiting on about something and was in no doubt that he’d, once again, planted some ridiculous idea in the girlfriends’ brain to subvert my enthusiasm for walking the full length of the track. I turned back and looked at her. She explained that the driver had told her that it wasn’t safe to go too far up the track. I was expecting to be told that there were dangerous beasts, or wild animals, to be encountered. What she next told me was complete and utter bloody nonsense and I was getting to the point where I was just about ready to run our driver off. It turns out that he’d convinced her that there were a lot of bad people living in this area and that, if we went too far up the track, a gang could catch us, rape her and kill all of us. This driver was, to put it bluntly, your typical example of a lazy Thai male. The bottom line was that he didn’t want over exert himself by walking too far for the day. It was time to change tactics and stay in front of our drivers schemes for doing as little as possible. It was time to put him on the spot. I asked the girlfriend to ask him where we can go to see one waterfall. The thought processes clicked into gear and we were told ‘Nam Tok Sai Rung’. I turned, gestured back down the track and said that I wanted to go there now.

On the way we had a change of plan. The driver asked if we’d like to go for lunch first. It was getting near enough to midday and, I figured, he must be absolutely famished from his strenuous morning. He said he’d take us to a nice Thai restaurant at the top of the road that goes over the mountain to Phattalung. It sounded like a good idea so I said ‘yeah, why not’.

The road was the main artery which, pretty much, joins the west coast area of Trang to the east coast. At the top of the pass was a nice outdoor style Thai restaurant, built completely of timber, looking out over the jungle.

Jungle food on the menu

The food was the normal Thai fare with a couple of interesting jungle dishes available to try if you were feeling adventurous. I was feeling adventurous so I ordered the ‘pad phed gop (fried spicy frog)’ and the steamed wasp larvae. The ‘gop’ was another fiery southern dish which had me reaching for the jug of iced water with every couple of mouthfuls. The wasp larvae were woody and bland. There was an interesting display board, at the restaurants entrance, showing very old black and white photos of the construction of the original road over the pass. The photos were taken one hundred plus years ago and showed various stages of the road building with the king, of the day, being involved.

Sai Rung Waterfall

After the lunch break we drove back down the road we’d come up on and after a twenty minute journey we arrived at Nam Tok Sai Rung. It was a short walk from the car park to the edge of the stream. On the way I spotted a sign which had been the same as I’d seen at the previous two waterfalls. There were photos of an over flowing river and what looked like people in various modes of a rescue operation. I couldn’t read Thai to save myself so I asked the driver what the signs were. He told us that they were warning/danger signs for flash floods. Apparently, about two years earlier, a lot of people, including tourists, had lost their lives when unseasonal rains had created flash floods. Thirty two people had died and the greatest loss of life was right here at Sai Rung. It wasn’t hard to understand why. The stream is bordered by steep banks and it’s only a short hop to the main waterfall which, unlike the gradual gradients of the previous two we’d been to, rose high and steep out of the gulley. He then pointed out a bull horn that was sitting on top of a tall wooden pole. It was meant to be a warning device in case of flash flooding. In my estimation anyone who was wandering up the gulley would have all of about thirty seconds to try and scramble up to higher ground if the siren ever went off. Flash floods move very rapidly and it’s highly doubtful if a thirty second warning would do much good.

Sai Rung Waterfall

Due to the steepness of the sides of the gulley I could see that the trail probably didn’t go too far. We followed it for about one hundred meters and it petered out to a dead end next to the stream. There was a bit of a clearing there so the girlfriend and the driver sat down seemingly knowing that I was going to push on. I stepped out into the stream and saw that I already had a reasonable view of the waterfall which was only a couple of hundred meters further up. There were some fairly fast flowing rapids and a lot of large boulders to be negotiated to be able to get up to a large rock plateau further up. I waded through a thigh deep pool and clambered up onto a slippery rock. There wasn’t much in the way of toe holds so I removed my sandals to afford a better grip. After a few more minutes of slipping and sliding over rocks, and wading through rock pools, I was up on the plateau.

A good spot for a dip

I thought about pushing on to the pool, which I knew would be at the base of the waterfall, but decided not purely for safety reasons – I was out of sight of the girlfriend and the driver. I banged off a couple of photos and sat down for a while to appreciate the surroundings. I was hot, sweaty and wet but it had been worth the effort. There was a small pool there so I stripped off and jumped in and thought that a cold Heineken would’ve gone down nicely.

The climb back down was the reverse of the ascent with lots of slipping, sliding and the picking up a few grazes for good measure. I arrived back at the clearing and checked my watch; I’d been gone about forty minutes and I was dripping wet. The girlfriend looked at me and just said, once more, farang baa. We moved off towards the parking area and I told the driver that we’d go back to the hotel.

Despite the drivers’ lack of enthusiasm for taking us all the way up the trails, I’d had a reasonably decent day out in the end. We’d visited some really scenic spots and had an interesting lunch. If I was going to do it again though I’d try and arrange a proper guide. Even though it was the rainy season it was, in my estimation, the best time of year due to the fact that there was plenty of water flowing.

Time Out - Part 1

For a lot of us that live here, particularly those living in the rat races of Bangkok and Pattaya, the daily grind of earning a living eventually makes us forget some of the original reasons for coming here. As time passes, the monotony of travelling on the BTS, the traffic congestion and the never ending swarm of humanity, that we encounter each day, numbs our minds to some of the great places to check out in this country.

After another in a long line of seemingly pointless shopping excursions to MBK, with the girlfriend, the sky train arrived at Siam BTS. I’d picked the worst time of day to be there, it was 5.30 p.m., and I was about to encounter, once again, a tide of workers heading home. The train pulled up and the doors opened. I was hit by that particular Thai phenomenon which is, essentially, those waiting on the platform aren’t going to wait for those on the train to alight before pushing their way on to get a seat.

Somewhere in the deep dark recesses of my brain, something began to stir. Someone stood on my foot and I was about to explode when the girlfriend grabbed my arm, looked at me in that beautiful sedate Thai manner and very calmly said “Jai yen yen teerak”. Obviously she knows my mood changes and sensed the farang loss of patience about to erupt. I smiled, took a deep breath and moved towards the center of the platform to gather my thoughts. I think I just stood there for a while, oblivious to the throng milling around me, and, in a trance like state, it just came to me; I need to go somewhere, anywhere, to get away from this never ending treadmill of city living.

Over the next couple of days I considered where it was I’d like to go. In the end I decided on somewhere I hadn’t been before; Trang. I did a bit of an internet search and found some info on accommodation and local attractions. It all looked pretty interesting. There were a number of waterfalls in the area and there’s a national marine park, encompassing a number of small, picturesque islands not too far off the coast.

I called the Thumrin Thana Hotel, in Trang, to confirm that there would be rooms available for the number of days that I planned to be there. Once room reservations had been confirmed, I booked a couple of round trip flights on Nok Air. The cost was 4400 Baht per person and there were departures every day, from Don Meuang, at 0900.

The flight down was fairly uneventful. It was a full flight and baggage space, in the overhead lockers, was at a premium. I made a mental note that, if I planned on doing this again, I should avoid taking a flight on Monday mornings. The food and drink service is similar to Virgin Air; if you wanted to put something into an empty, growling stomach, you’ll have to pay for it (even a cup of lukewarm black tea).

Seventy minutes after lifting off from Don Meuang, we touched down at Trang’s provincial airport. Like most small airports, instead of the conventional enclosed disembarkation into the arrivals hall, there was stairway to negotiate and a short, humid walk across the tarmac.

Thumrin Thana Hotel

Eventually our bags turned up and we made our way towards the terminal exit. There were a couple of taxi touts hanging around but their mild mannered approach was refreshingly welcome compared to the aggressive gauntlet encountered at Suwarnabhumi. They were pleasant, smiling and politely enquired where it was that we were going.

After mentioning that I had a booking at the Thumrin Thana, we were ushered to a cab and on our way. It was a short drive – only seven clicks – but the two hundred but fare was probably more than it should’ve been. I guess farang pricing still applies in the provinces.

My Thai is not that flash – something I’m not particularly proud of considering that I’ve been residing here for the better part of fifteen years – but I picked up enough of the conversation, between the girlfriend and the taxi driver, to know that there was a sales pitch taking place. The driver also happened to be a tour guide and would be able, if we wanted, to show us the local highlights for the very reasonable sum of 2,500 Baht per day, or,1500 Baht for a half day. I said I’d think about it and took her card as we pulled up at the hotel.

The air conditioning, of the hotel’s lobby, was a welcome relief after the poor flow of the taxis’. As we were checking in the girlfriend remarked that she’d just spotted a Thai TV ‘superstar’ (why is that in Thailand they’re called superstars and not just stars). She looked at me smiling as though something remarkable had just occurred. I gave her deadpan look in return and just said ‘oh yeah’. I was going to have to explain to her that I’ve got about as much interest in Thai TV ‘superstars’ as I have in the mating habits of the spotted bark worm. On a previous occasion I’d pointed out to her that most of the so called ‘superstars’, that I’d ever seen on Thai soap’s, were getting paid on false pretences. However, in Thailand, most of them seem to assume incredible status and it’s my guess that, every now and again, they need to get away from the attention and come to an out of the way place like this for a bit of peace and quiet.

We got our room at a reduced rate. There was a fifty per cent reduction in the rate because it was the low (rainy) season. A 4000 Baht per night room was now going to be only 2000 Baht per night. That seemed like a very good deal and we checked in for three nights.

Heading towards the lifts I noticed lots of Thais wearing red and white tracksuit tops with Honda emblazoned on the back. It looked as though our arrival had coincided with a convention of some sort. It was nearing mid day and we were both starving. After dropping the bags in the room we went looking for the restaurant. Reception pointed us to an escalator which led up to the second floor. As we approached I could hear the sound of a large crowd noshing in. Sure enough it was the convention tucking into a buffet style lunch. I got off the ‘up’ escalator and stepped straight onto the ‘down’ escalator; the girlfriend in tow.

I told her that we’d be better off either getting room service or looking for something nearby. We decided go for a walk along the road. As luck would have it there was a small, air conditioned coffee shop, within 200 meters of the hotel entrance, which also sold Thai food. What I’d forgotten was that Thai food in the south can be a bit different to Thai food up north. I selected a couple of things, that were ready cooked and sitting in stainless buckets, and it was served on a plate with steamed rice. The first mouthful had my eyes watering. It was, to put it bluntly, bloody ‘phed’. The girlfriend was in hysterics watching me struggle through it and, by the last mouthful; I reckon I had steam coming out of my ears. The other Thais watching thought it was great and readily remarked to the girlfriend ‘farang kin phed dai mai’.

We decided to take up the offer of the taxi driver/guide and arranged a half day tour up to a cave system approximately thirty seven kilometers north of Trang. The driver picked us up at two p.m., and we were on our way. After a leisurely drive along roads bordered by acres of rubber trees (yang para) we arrived at Taam Khao kop.

I’ve been in a number cave systems, both submerged and dry, in Thailand and was pretty much expecting just another ho hum cave tour. Fortunately, I was in for a bit of a surprise. There’s a small stream that flows under the limestone formation and, therefore, the majority of the system at Taam Khao Kop is accessed by boat.

Heading towards the cave entrance

For two hundred Baht you can hire a fiber glass skiff with two paddler/guides. The skiffs are moored up at a small jetty on the stream which is fairly close to the car park. There’s a two hundred meter, or so, paddle up the stream before it disappears under a limestone cliff face. This is actually the entrance to the cave system itself. I was wondering why the skiffs were so low to the water. As we approached the entrance I understood why. A lot of the traverse of the system had ceilings that were so low I had lie flat on my back to avoid scraping the rock face.

A couple of paddlers kicking back at one of the boat landings

Fortunately there’s a number of stop off points along the way where the low ceilinged traverses, which I might add are pitch black at some points, open up to large chambers. At these points the locals have put in small boat landings to enable the sightseers to clear the skiffs without too much difficulty. From these landings you can then walk into the tunnels of the cave system to admire some of the spectacular formations.

Easy enough to access and good lighting

The beauty of the natural world underground

In one of the larger chambers that you walk into the locals have set up a spirit house. I know they’ve got this thing about paying respects to the natural world but personally I wasn’t too impressed by this display. I don’t think they quite understand how many thousands of years it takes for stalactite to form. It’s their turf though so ‘mai pen rai’.

Appeasing the underground spirits

The exit from the system is the most challenging. The traverse is about 350 meters and for large sections of that the ceiling was so low that, even though I was lying flat on the skiff, at some locations I had to move my head to avoid butting the limestone. The paddlers did a great job though as for long periods they also had to lie flat and use the ceiling to pull the skiff along. Just when I thought the skiff was wedged they were able to move it around and get through the tight spots. The whole traverse takes about ninety minutes and is definitely good value.

Maneuvering through the tight spots

By the time we’d completed the circuit and arrived back at the jetty we’d soaked up a couple of hours. I tipped our hard working paddlers and we bade them farewell after a thoroughly interesting cave tour. On our way to the car park we had to get past the dreaded plate sellers. For anyone interested in coming here; if a local innocently snaps a pic of you, you can be sure it’s going to end up on one of those cheap plastic plates that you’ll then be badgered into buying as you depart.

The driver asked if we were interested in heading down to the beach to try some ahaan talay. I knew that the girlfriend was already hungry because of a remark she’d made as were nearing the completion of the circuit in the skiff. She’d spotted some weeds (aka jungle food) floating on the surface of the stream and told me, authoritively, that ‘they were good to eat’.

After a forty five minute drive, once again along roads bordered with endless rubber plantations, we arrived at ‘Haad Pak Meng’. The road then followed the coastline and we had an uninterrupted view of the islands sitting offshore. It was late afternoon and still as hot as Hades. I was considering jumping into the briny to cool down but, after seeing how far the tide was out, decided that I cold Heineken would be the better option. Now I understood why the islands offshore were considered the better places to go for water sports. The inshore areas had to be shallow for quite a way out because it was at least a one hundred plus meter walk to the waters’ edge on a low tide.

Eventually the driver got us to a nice little outdoor style restaurant which was one of a number lining the side of the road. The cold Heinekens went down very well but, unfortunately, the food wasn’t much to write about. It’s kind of ironic that, although we were at a restaurant sitting right on the edge of the ocean, I’ve eaten much better seafood meals in Bangkok.

The last stop, before we took off back to the hotel, was Pak Meng Pier. The place was pretty much deserted when we arrived. There were a number of tour operator/boat charter offices there but only one was open. I was duly told that regular ferries didn’t run in the low season. If I wanted to get out to the islands I had two options. Option one, the least expensive but most mind numbing, would be to hire a long tail boat for the day for 3000 Baht. The girlfriend, who’s a city girl and considers her fair skin to be sacrosanct, quickly said no to that idea. Option two was to hire a speed boat; the fee for a round trip to one island only being 8000 Baht! I decided I wasn’t all that keen to get out to the islands after all.

I told the driver we were calling it a day and that if he spotted a seven eleven somewhere on the trip back, I was going to grab another couple of cold Heinekens. All in all it was an interesting day. Tomorrow we were going to have a look a few waterfalls.

Let the Buyer Beware

Let The Buyer Beware

So, you’ve decided to get involved in a business in Thailand. You’ve been living here for a while, or you’re contemplating moving here and think that having a business might be the way to go to earn a living in the LOS. A quick scan of the local papers, such as the Bangkok Post, and you’ll find advertisements – in one dedicated section of the paper – for legal firms offering help in business formation and registration. The cost advertised, for doing as much, looks amazingly inexpensive. Some, advertise that it can be done for as little as twenty thousand Baht. The reality is that it will cost you a lot more than advertised and I hope that my own recent experience, of dealing with a local – farang owned – legal firm, will be a warning to others.

I’ve been living here for a number of years now and decided that getting a proper visa would probably be a good idea. I work in a well paid profession and spend at least half of the year working overseas. For this reason I decided that I would go down the road of company registration and a non B category visa as I will probably be working for at least another eight years before retiring. I wasn’t actually looking at working in Thailand under the umbrella of my registered company. I just wanted the option, if need be, at some point in the future of being able to buy property under a company name.

With this in mind, I made an appointment with a well known, and well advertised, local, farang owned legal firm. The initial contact was all very friendly and, after outlining what it was that I wanted to do, I was given a brief run down on what would happen and presented with a bill for forty two thousand Baht. At this point, the impression I had, from this company’s representative, was that the forty two thousand would be it and no more. I duly paid up and took my leave.

It was only later, when I’d had more time to think about it, that I realised that would not be it. What about things like minimum declared income tax, company taxes, vat filing fees and company audits? It didn’t add up and, much to my dissappointment, this, so called professional operation, hadn’t been completely up front about all the additional costs and, importantly, what the total costs were going to be.

With this in mind, a few days later I made an appointment to talk with them again. Once again, I was welcomed by the same smiling faces. I started asking questions and the smiling faces became not so smiling and not so friendly. An expert was ushered into the room to explain, in more depth, what the costs would be. It turns out that the total cost for the first year of operation – including the initial set-up fee – would be around 130,000 Baht. This meant that the annual running costs, for using this company’s services and, not including visa runs/renewals, would work out at about another seventy to eighty thousand baht above my innitial deposit. If I wanted a work permit then that was a whole different ball game and I would be looking at a total cost of somewhere in the vicinity of 250,000 Baht. I said I needed some time to consider things and would be in touch. The expert, who’s eyes were as shifty as any wheeler and dealer I’ve ever met in Thailand, smiled smugly and took his leave.

In hidsight, it could be said that I was naïve, that I hadn’t done my homework. There will be some that read this, who work in the same line of business as mentioned above, and say well, that’s business, it’s your own fault. The fact is that 42,000 Baht isn’t a huge ammount of money – it’s about one and a bit days pay for what I do. However, the thing that I can’t cop is this: here’s an operation that, purportedly, is a wholly professional business. They spend large amounts advertising that fact. From what I’ve seen they are neither professional nor are they entirely honest. Why not advertise/explain total costs right from the get go? What’s the hidden agenda?

During the conversation with the expert I discussed the possibility of changing tack and going for a retirement visa instead. I was told by the expert that, in some instances, it was possible to get a work permit on a retirement visa. It wasn’t ‘entirely legitimate’ but, ‘as long as your work permit endorsement was placed at the back of your passport, and the immigration authorities didn’t look there, when entering the country, then you’d be alright’. These were his words (or something to that effect). To say that my eyebrows were raised (when this was suggested) would be an understatement.

A few days afterwards I emailed the company to enquire what the situation would be if I wanted to get a retirement visa instead. No problems I was told, just fork up another 22,000 Baht and everything will be sweet.

The bottom line is this: when you see an ad in a local newspaper telling you that a company can be set up for 20,000 Baht, it’s bollocks old sport.

Have fun and be good – if you can’t be good then be good at it.

INTRO

I’ve been in Thailand for the better part of the last fifteen years. Originally from New Zealand, I first came here on a scuba diving trip and, within a few months, I decided that I liked the place so much that I moved here permanently.

I spent my first few years in Phuket working in the scuba diving industry and, after some interesting but not necessarily financially successful experiences, moved north to Pattaya. I spend approximately six months of the year in Thailand while the other six months is devoted to working overseas in the oil and gas industry. While I’m in Thailand I split my time fairly evenly between Pattaya and Bangkok with the odd excursion out to some of the great places to visit and explore in this fascinating land.

The name for this blog, Thai-Tales, is one which I didn’t think too long and hard about, I just wanted to use something which was short and to the point. The purpose of Thai-Tales is to provide good and factual information, gained from my own experiences of living and travelling in the LOS (land of smiles).

For those that log on thinking that this going to be another line of comment on the night entertainment industry, here in Thailand, you’ll be disappointed. Sorry, but that’s a subject which has been done to death and I really don’t have a lot to add.

There are other blogs/sites out there which specialize in the subject of ‘Thai ladies of the night’. The bottom line, for P4P activities, is fairly mundane – sex for money – take it or leave it. The fact is that there’s a hell of a lot better things you can do with your time and money than be immersed in the shenanigans of Walking Street, Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza.

For those that are planning to travel to Thailand, I hope what I have to say will help you avoid some of the pitfalls that are quite often encountered when visiting here. For those that live here, no doubt you’ll have your own opinions on my subject matter. Some may agree, others may think it’s a load of manure. Whatever the case, I look forward to your comments.