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Winebibber’s Grapevine
Drive out in
style
Documents required to renew a Thai driver’s license for a
further twelve months are your passport and one copy of its relevant pages, the expiring
license and two small snapshots. The fee payable is just 105 baht at the office diagonal
to the Mercure Hotel on Sukhumvit. One matter which can trip you up is the requirement to
have a current non immigrant visa (not tourist) when you renew. Another pitfall is to
bring along the same photos you used last year because they need to have been taken less
than six months ago. Lastly, if you have changed your address, you need a letter of
confirmation from the immigration police.
Long
stay visas
A reader asks why you must have a non immigrant visa, rather
than a tourist one, to apply for a twelve months’ retirement permit over 55. A
retirement visa is actually and simply a non immigrant visa which is extended annually.
There is no requirement to leave the country to obtain a new non immigrant visa even if
you stay in Thailand for many years. However, if you do leave the country, you must obtain
a prior re-entry stamp at an immigration checkpoint or you will void the whole process and
have to start again from scratch.
Bucket and spade
Excellent reports from Grapevine spies about Seaside Two
Restaurant in the ‘Concrete Soi’ off Soi Buakao and situated diagonally to Quest
Video rentals. Don’t expect elegant surroundings, but Seaside Two serves English grub
and roast dinners which are the tasty equal of its rivals on any day of the week. And
you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the prices. This place should be on the
trencherman’s eating list for sure.
Hot air pigs
Pattaya bar owners are starting to gang up on those miserly
"Balloonists Are No No", BANN for short, the starving farang men who tramp the
streets looking for hostelries hanging out balloons. This is the sign that a party is
about to be held with free food thrown in by the host. BANNs will then descend on your
place and gobble up your roasting pig and sandwiches long before the regulars even get
there. If challenged, they will spin a hard luck story to make your eyes water to the
effect that they have not had a square meal in weeks. Fortunately, these varlots are easy
to spot as they usually weigh in at 250 pounds or more.
Rose tinted
spectacles
Wanna put even more easy money into the pockets of certain go go
club owners? Here’s what you do on Beauty Contest Night. Pay up to 200 baht
admission, watch a host of young women or men or oftentimes khatoeys march up and down the
stage and then you buy roses at 100 baht a time to lay at the feet of your personal
favorite. The cherub with the most petals wins. As soon as the show is finished, just
watch those roses disappear real fast out of the back door and into the van of a happy
looking flower seller. Who said farangs dislike being ripped off in Sin City?
Immortality stakes
Millionaire Roger Duvalle, 62, has breathed his last after
visiting 666 temples in six Asian countries to fulfill a fortune teller’s prophecy
that he would live forever if he achieved the feat. The wealthy Frenchman did manage 665,
mostly in Thailand and Vietnam, and ended up this week at Cambodia’s Ankor Wat
complex for his final pilgrimage. He died of a heart attack whilst clambering up the steep
steps of a thousand year old monument. His friend Marie LeClerc from Dijon said it was
probably the excitement of achieving immortality which killed him. She added that Roger
does not appear to have made a will.
Application received
Letter from a farang seeking a job with a Pattaya estate agent.
"I am a dynamic figure often seen scaling walls, crushing ice and mentally designing
bungalows. I have been known to remodel train stations in my lunch breaks making them more
efficient as regards heat retention. I woo women with my sensuous trombone playing and can
pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed. Using only a hoe and a bucket of
water, I once single handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of
ferocious army ants. I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst and a ruthless bookie. I
have won bull fights in San Juan, cliff diving competitions in Sri Lanka and, while on
vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a
small bakery. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a chip pan and a
toaster oven. I am currently learning to read and write."
Beery tale
Overheard in Tommy’s Bar, an evening center for
intellectuals wanting to discuss complex matters from Plato to Nato. "What I’m
saying Chuck is that ten beers a day must be good for you. Stands to reason Chuck. I mean
you wake up with a headache, Chuck, and you consume two aspirin which are medically proven
to prevent heart attacks."
Modern Medicine:
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
Triglycerides
It is always nice for any contributor to a publication
to find that someone is actually reading it! So, thank you, Walter D, for the kind words
and let’s deal with your question - Triglycerides.
Everyone has heard of Cholesterol, but poor old Triglycerides have been
left back-stage by comparison. Like our friend Cholesterol, Triglycerides are just another
of the blood fats which float around the body, and we medical folks refer to these blood
fats as "Lipids". The condition in the human whereby any of these blood fat
levels is elevated is called "Dyslipidaemia", so this covers excess Cholesterol
(Hypercholesterolaemia) and/or excess Triglycerides (Hypertriglyceridaemia). We love those
long words! I have been known to say that the medical course has to be six years - one
year for the knowledge and instruction and five years to learn how to spell the big words!
There is no specific illness or disease caused by high Triglycerides.
The elevated level is purely another "risk" factor in the likelihood of your
developing atherosclerotic arterial disease. (That’s when you clog up your arteries
with the fatty gloop). However, there are some conditions which we know are often found in
patients with an increase in Triglycerides. The most significant is Diabetes and
Alcoholism, but many people with elevated Triglycerides have actually inherited the
disposition from either parent. So, in common with many of our failings, we can blame it
on the family!
To lower Triglycerides it is necessary to ensure there is no Diabetes
and to lower alcohol intake (especially a problem with males). After that it is a good
plan to look at "lifestyle" factors such as exercise. Aerobic exercise is good
for you, whilst "anaerobic" exercise is definitely a no-no for anyone with
increased cardiac risk factors. (Walking, jogging, mat exercises are fine - Squash is out,
in my opinion, for anyone over the age of 35.) Obesity should be countered and dietary
restriction in total fats to less than 30% of total calories will also help.
Now, if despite all the modifications to "lifestyle" factors
you still have an elevated Triglyceride level there’s no need to slash the wrists
just yet! There are some very effective medications available to lower Triglycerides (just
as there are some specific Cholesterol lowering agents as well). A pharmaceutical item
called Gemfibrozil is excellent for reducing the level. An older drug, Nicotinic Acid is
also quite effective, especially when given in conjunction with the Omega-3 Fish Oils, in
my experience.
However, to see if you have a Dyslipidaemia problem you must consult
the doctor and have some blood tests arranged. Make an appointment today!
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Nine months ago I met and fell in love with a man via
Internet. His thoughts were so like my own. I felt I had met my soul’s twin. Soon it
turned into telephone conversations. Our bond grew very strong. But we lived too far apart
and wanted a life together. I sold my business and moved to his hometown, Pattaya. My
dream come true became a nightmare. I saw earlier that he can be verbally abusive, but I
thought we could work things out. But his venting is destroying my self-esteem. He refuses
to see how much his words hurt me and continues to express his ‘brutal opinion’.
He is self-righteous and his ego is big. He can’t stand to lose an argument, no
matter what or who is at stake. After an argument, he walks away, seemingly unscathed, but
harbors silent pain. He claims he is used to emotional bashing from previous marriages as
part of life I feel emotionally battered to the point of physical illness.
When something is wrong he coaxes me to open up to him. I reluctantly
let him into my mind and heart. He sees my weaknesses, and later uses my own words against
me, twisting the words in such a way as to provide supportive ammunition to his arguments.
If I recoil or compare his accusations to his own actions, he becomes defensive and angry.
So do I. That’s when the emotional battering begins. He wants emotional support, but
is not willing to emotionally support. The few times I have reached him, he has cried and
apologized, promising to never repeat his actions, but he does.
I left everything I had for him. I do love this man and want for us to
have a future together, work out our differences. He can be the most gentle, loving
person. He tells me he loves me several times a day - and believes it. I know he does. But
our lifestyle is different. I believe in creating a financial nest egg. He despises the
thought of it. Currently, because his business went bad, he is now working for a company
and feels hateful. He feels he is too good for it, but claims he is doing it for me.
I still want to support his dreams like I used to, but I need him to do
the same for me. I need him to stop hurting me and realize that I am truly his best
friend. But I now fear communication.
Sensitive
Dear Sensitive,
You’re in a tough spot and no matter what you choose to do,
it’s not going to be easy.
The problem is that he is not taking responsibility for his own
actions. His business didn’t work out, so now he has a job he doesn’t want, and
he blames you for it. Yet, he is responsible. He did not come into this relationship with
the understanding that you would support him, so his income is also his responsibility.
This is called being a responsible adult. It is the same obligation we all have. The same
way counts for the nest egg for the future and in the way the two of you interact in your
personal life. He is bashing you emotionally to vent his frustration over everything that
is not just as he wishes it to be, with no thought to what he is doing to you in the
process. There is a cost associated with each and every thing we do, and he is indulging
in the luxury of angry outbursts without regard to the cost of them. However, he can only
do that with your cooperation. He needs to clearly understand what he is doing to you.
That means that the next time he says something hurtful to you, don’t let it pass.
Tell him that he is hurting your feelings; that he makes you cry. Tell him that you
can’t be treated like this and be ok. We fall in love with a person because of the
way we feel about ourselves when we’re with that person. Let him know that the way he
behaves makes you feel bad. And your love will eventually be killed if he continues to
make you feel bad about yourself and your life when you are with him.
A person can be brilliant, and yet be emotionally underdeveloped so that all that
intelligence doesn’t help. That is likely the case with your man. Accept the fact
that you cannot change him and you have no control over whether or not he chooses to
change himself. Decide how much time you are willing to give him to make the changes that
will result in him treating you as an equal and a partner and someone he loves. Then
decide what you will do if he fails to make those changes. Sit down with him and tell him
of your decisions. Don’t let this become an argument. You do not have to defend your
choices or justify them to him, in any way, just explain them so that he understands what
needs to change, and what will happen if it doesn’t. In order to make it work, you
have to be willing to let go of the dream of how it could be, if it turns out to be only a
dream. Knowing what a wonderful man he could be makes it hard to accept that he chooses
not to be that man. But if that’s the case, you must accept it and move on with your
life.
Family Money:
By Leslie Wright
Risk and Return
Any investment carries a certain element of risk. Before making any
investment, therefore, this has to be weighed against the expected return.
The return from a bank deposit - like any other investment - has to be
weighed against the risks involved.
Most people regard a bank account as a safe, low risk investment. But
is this always the case?
If you’re dealing with a hard-currency deposit in a major
international bank, then the risk of the bank folding up is fairly small (although the
case of Baring’s Bank a couple of years back should serve as a reminder that it
cannot be entirely dismissed.)
This relatively small risk aside, the only significant risk in this
case is potential currency movements.
Currency risks
If your deposit is in a currency other than your base currency (the one
you think in) or the currency you spend most of, then movements up or down of your
deposited currency relative to these other two may significantly affect the real interest
rate you earn.
For example, if you’re British and living in Thailand, your base
currency could be Sterling or it could be Thai Baht.
You might, however, be working on a contract here whereby you’re
partly paid in U.S. Dollars.
If you are able to save a proportion of that Dollar income, and place
it into a U.S. Dollar time-deposit account, you will probably be earning interest of
perhaps 5% (give or take a few percentage points, depending on the amount and bank
concerned.)
If you converted that Dollar deposit to Sterling, however, you’d
probably obtain a higher rate of interest - but run the risk of Sterling depreciating
against the U.S. Dollar in the meantime by more than the difference you gain in interest
rates, thus more than offsetting this difference.
For quite some time now Sterling has remained at a relatively high and
remarkably stable exchange rate against the U.S. Dollar. Some analysts see this as
artificially high, however, maintained because significant amounts of European money have
been exchanged into Sterling deposits as Sterling is seen by many as a hedge currency
against the Euro.
Should this liquidity be removed, or changes occur in various other
influencing factors, Sterling is predicted by some to drop quite sharply against the
Dollar. Your lower-interest earning U.S. Dollar deposits would then be worth more in
international buying power than the higher-interest earning Sterling deposits.
This may not be so important if you need Sterling to pay bills (such as
school fees or mortgage repayments) in the U.K. or plan to return there permanently; but
it is significant if you are primarily spending money abroad in the international arena.
Higher interest; higher risk
A similar argument applies to any other third currency - and of course
to deposits in Thai Baht which have been earning significantly higher rates of interest
than either U.S. Dollars or Sterling deposits.
As has been mentioned in this column before, when considering these
higher rates of interest - some of which can be enticingly high from certain local banks -
the stability factor of not only the currency but also the bank in question has to be
taken into consideration.
This is especially significant in light of the fact that no investor
protection legislation is in effect in Thailand - unlike the U.K., for example, where your
bank deposits are guaranteed by law up to a certain limit in the event the bank should be
"unable to meet its obligations", as it’s so quaintly phrased.
Should a local bank decide to close its doors one day, it could take a
very long time to get your money back (as was the case with BICC some years ago, not to
mention numerous other less-well publicised bank failures around the world over the past
decade.)
Despite local governmental platitudes to the contrary, a cynic would
find it hard to believe the Thai government would immediately pay out 100% of all
depositor’s claims from their own limited resources (assuming these were sufficient
to meet the demand) - an action that would exceed even the U.K.’s legal obligations
in the event of the failure of a bank in what is a much more stable and highly-regulated
regime...
For several months now local banks have been negotiating with various
major international banks to increase their liquidity by selling them substantial amounts
of equity shareholding. This is good news for local depositors, and has certainly raised
the credibility of (and lowered the risk attached to deposits in) those local banks who
have been successful in this endeavour.
However, several local banks have not yet closed such sell-off deals,
and some are seen as unlikely to, according to reports published elsewhere.
The risk of these banks being potentially forced to close up is
therefore still a factor which needs to be considered when deciding where to place Thai
Baht deposits.
It is worth remembering that banks make their money, and pass some of
this on as interest to depositors, by lending money to others.
It is not unreasonable to conclude that someone who is willing or
forced to pay higher rates of interest to borrow from Bank A rather than Bank B has a
lower credit rating than someone who was able to borrow at a lower rate of interest from
Bank B.
Inherent in this is the greater risk that Bank A takes on of not being
able to recover the loan from the less credit-worthy borrower. This in turn is passed on
to depositors by offering them higher interest on deposits, to obtain the liquidity to
support the loans to these less credit-worthy borrowers.
A very simple scenario, and it doesn’t take much common sense to
work it out.
Unfortunately, when considering with which bank to place deposits, too
many people allow their common sense to be overwhelmed by an enticingly higher interest
rate - which of course is exactly what the bank in question hopes will happen!
Next week: risks attached to investing in property.
If you have any comments or queries on this article, or about other
topics concerning investment matters, write to Leslie Wright, c/o Family Money, Pattaya
Mail, or fax him directly on (038) 232522 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Further
details and back articles can be accessed on his firm’s website on
www.westminsterthailand.com.
Leslie Wright is Managing Director of Westminster Portfolio Services (Thailand) Ltd., a
firm of independent financial advisors providing advice to expatriate residents of the
Eastern Seaboard on personal financial planning and international investments.
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