Family Money: Get real about real estate

By Leslie Wright

Although I wrote about buying land and houses in April last year, in recent weeks I have again received several enquiries with regard to buying real estate property, so it’s about time we revisited this thorny topic.

The enquiries have invariably been from a middle-aged (or older) expatriate who has decided to settle in Thailand with the girl of his dreams that he met last month or the month before, who loves him so much that she’s leaving her place of work in Soi 8 or Pattayaland Soi 2 to settle down in the nice little house she’s found for them somewhere along Jomtien Beach.

Typically, the enquirer wants to find out why the property cannot be held in his own name, and if it’s okay to put it in his girlfriend’s name.

Some of these prospective buyers are so na๏ve that they even ask how they can obtain a mortgage on the property. “Oh dear,” I think when I hear these tales, “Not another one...”

For their own protection

At the height of the currency crisis in 1997, Thailand had agreed with the IMF to liberalise its laws with regard to foreigners owning real estate in Thailand.

The matter was debated in parliament and the press at great length, and the usual jingoistic (some would say xenophobic) statements were aired that if the protectionist laws were amended, we greedy farangs would sweep in and buy up all the land in Thailand and exploit the poor innocent Thais in our typical colonialist fashion.

(I wonder why the fact that Thais or anyone else with money can buy any amount of landed property in the UK or USA is never aired as a counter-argument, and neither the British nor Americans seem terribly worried that their country is going to be taken over by colonising Asians - but that perhaps is another topic for another day.)

So the debate went on and on, and announcements were eventually made that the law was going to be amended to allow foreigners to lease up to 1 rai of land for up to 30 years, on which to build a residential property - provided this was preceded by a remittance equivalent to 10 million baht of hard currency from overseas deposited in a bank in Thailand.

However, like several other politically unpopular bills, this one also is still pending, over a year later, as far as I’m aware.

Nonetheless, some local real estate firms trumpet in their advertisements that foreigners can now own their own property. But this is just a clever ploy to get you through their doors. The mechanism which has been used for years to get around this protectionist law has not in fact changed.

The facts

An expatriate can own a condominium in his own name provided not more than 40% of the apartments in the condominium complex are owned by foreigners. That has been the case for a long time already.

But if you want to buy a house or land, an expatriate can only do so through a legally registered company, of which a single expatriate cannot own more than 39% of the shares (amended last year from 33%), and collectively not more than 49%.

You also need at least six Thai partners to hold the remaining shares (although you can go a long way to protect your interests by being the sole authorised signatory and ensuring these local partners sign their undated resignations and share transfer deeds at the time of setting up the company.)

Additionally, there should be some properly drawn-up paperwork to show that the company has borrowed the money from you to buy the land, which is then mortgaged to you to pay off the loan. This mortgage then has to be registered with the Land Office at City Hall to ensure the paperwork is complete and your interests protected.

Of course, you could avoid the costs & hassle of setting up a company by putting the house in your wife/girlfriend’s name. This will undoubtedly make her very happy - even happier than the visits you made to her favourite gold shop and motorcycle shop (which are the usual precursors to visiting the real estate agency).

However, what happens a year or two down the road when you have a major disagreement about something, or her Thai ‘husband’ shows up (since they all seem to have them squirreled away somewhere)? You, like so many before you, may find yourself standing on Jomtien Beach with only your passport in one hand and a bag of clothes in the other...and your life savings gone.

Time shares

Another one that many unwary expatriates have been caught by is the time-share salesman who approaches you on Beach Road or along Jomtien Beach.

The concept is that you will have a pied-เ-terre to stay in when you visit Pattaya, and rental income from the property in between.

You will perhaps be taken to see a nice apartment (or more typically just some glossy photos), and persuaded to make a “reserve” down payment of “only” Bt.80~90,000 which you are assured will be repaid if there is anything illegal about the contract.

This is entirely different from a cooling off period such as exists in UK. You may be sure that the contract you signed was carefully drawn up, and there’s nothing illegal about it. So should you change your mind, you have no recourse. Your money will probably be lost - unless you know someone with some influence or strong powers of persuasion...

The fact that most of the people who work this scam are working here illegally (without work permits) may be your only leverage should you decide upon reflection that it may after all not have been so great an idea...

The police, however, will be unable to do anything to help you. Caveat emptor is the rule of the day: Let the buyer beware.

Getting a mortgage

In UK, USA or Europe, getting a mortgage on a property is almost taken for granted. Few people are in a position to buy a property for cash on the table.

The relatively low price of property in Thailand means that many expatriates who decide to settle here are tempted to buy a residential property, or a shophouse for their girlfriend to run a travel agency, beauty salon, snooker hall or beer bar on the ground floor, while they love - I mean live - upstairs.

Some of the more na๏ve ones imagine that they can just march into a local bank and get a mortgage on the strength of the property and their ‘personal’ guarantee on behalf of their girlfriend.

Sorry, but that isn’t going to happen.

Unlike in the West, where the title to the property guarantees the bank in the event of default, and an endowment or insurance policy its money in the event of the borrower’s dying, laws in Thailand to help banks recoup bad debts were only passed in 1999, and the efficiency of the court system here is such that it could take up to 10 years to recoup defaulters’ bad debts - if they don’t declare bankruptcy first (as they’re now able to do under the revised laws).

Banks are not interested in holding real estate on their books, since this is a non-performing ‘dead’ asset; they want to recover the money they lent, to lend it to someone else and earn interest on the loan. Understandable, since they’re in the money business, not the real estate business.

During the building boom prior to the financial crisis of ’97, it was fairly straightforward to get a mortgage on a condominium - even if you were a foreigner.

But after the financial crisis of ’97 many foreigners defaulted and fled the scene. With high levels of non-performing loans already on their books (still around 38% of total loans issued by local banks), coupled with the high percentage of mortgage defaulters, the banks here have virtually stopped offering new mortgages on real estate, even to Thais; and have stopped issuing mortgages altogether to resident foreigners on condominiums, even where the prospective borrower is able to show a stable income and good cash flows.

In Europe, banks can seize collateral property and sell it on fairly quickly. Here, in a depressed property market, even auctions have proven less than totally successful in moving those real estate properties which banks have been able to repossess against defaulting loans.

More often than not the few meagre bids have not reached the bank’s reserve price, and the bank simply withdraws the property from the auction.

A new round of auctions was recently announced, with many properties that failed to reach their reserve prices last year coming to the block yet again. As a result, some people think they’ll be able to pick up some bargains. But almost certainly, if the reserve price isn’t reached, the property won’t be sold.

It has to be borne in mind that obtaining a mortgage anywhere depends largely on the ability of the borrower to repay the loan. This will be evaluated by a lending institution on the basis of stability of employment income and past credit record.

Nowadays, even local business people with good credit records are having great difficulty obtaining mortgages. Typically, they have to show they have at least the value of the mortgage on deposit in the bank already, and are prepared to keep it there as collateral.

So if you’re prepared to deposit the value of the property in the bank - in your girlfriend’s account, of course - she might be able to get a mortgage if she has a good employment record and her regular salary is sufficient to repay the loan. And of course the property then has to be in her rather than your name.

But to imagine that an expatriate boyfriend (who could leave the country any time) will be accepted by any bank as guarantor of a mortgage being applied for by a local lass whose employment record consists of working in a go-go bar for a year or two, and whose average bank balance has hovered around 400 baht, is na๏ve in the extreme.

(to be continued next week)

by Mirin MacCarthy

Caught Red-handed

It is a fact of life that not everyone is an up-right, honest citizen. The thief, or burglar in Thailand is referred to as a kamoey. It is a cute name for a naughty character. Kamoeys come in all shapes and sizes, and in each of the three genders: male, female, and - (can we say that the Gay group is perhaps the ‘third sex? Or is that politically incorrect somewhere? Never mind). We can suppose that two sexes of criminals are probably enough. Admittedly, every country has its Bad Guys, and Thailand is no exception. It may be arguably safer to walk the streets in Bangkok and other cities here than say, New York, Los Angeles or London, but Thais, too, occasionally commit acts of anti-social behaviour just like their Western sisters and brothers.

The kamoey is usually a petty thief who relieves you of your goodies without your permission. All of those expensive gadgets like entertainment centers (everyone else except the Americans call them TVs), VCRs, camera equipment and jewellery are tempting tid-bits for our local housebreakers. Occasionally the odd washing machine and electric clothes dryer will be hefted over the back wall to waiting accomplices. Fax machines, expensive watches, power tools, piles of cash left on a bedroom dressing table, and even furniture can disappear under the sly management of a pair of kamoeys. There are often more than two, but rarely does a Thai kamoey work alone.

Homes and shops in Thailand most usually have iron gates and bars welded over the windows. These are referred to as ‘kamoey’ bars. Decorative and easy to install, they are supposed to prevent the kamoey from entering the premises. What a lot of property owners never notice until it is too late, is that when the labourers come to install these deterrents, the bolts and screws are positioned on the outside of the building. So of course, all one needs is a screwdriver to remove the entire unit.

Engineering 101 doesn’t teach that, but here in Thailand, we get to do it the “Thai” way. Of course there are wise and bloodied home owners who have been robbed so many times they finally get the workers to install the kamoey bars correctly. Front doors are often chained in triple loops and locked with massive padlocks. Looks foreboding! Last week I had a friend call me in despair. His wife had flown up to Chiang Mai for a family visit and had mistakenly taken all the house keys with her. The kamoey bars were installed just fine. The front and back doors were chained and locked with imported hardware strong enough to withstand artillery. I was just getting ready to make reservations in a hotel when the gardener came to our rescue with a tiny hacksaw and sawed right through the metal bars on the door. The door, complete with the chain and lock clanked to the ground and presto! We were in. My friend got to sleep in his own bed that night, but I wonder if indeed he really slept.

But our homegrown burglars are crafty. They simply come back a week later and slip in through the tiles on the roof. Those lovely red tiles for which South East Asia is famous, are simply laid, one atop another, with the hope that gravity will do its job. A new product has recently arrived on the scene. Originally meant to stop leaks, re-configure high ceilings in commercial buildings, and act as an insulator, the high tech material which is sprayed into the ceiling in the form of liquid foam, has inadvertently stepped into a new role. When the foam solidifies, it fills up the space between the roof and the ceiling and it acts as a great barrier to our thieves who thought they had gained an easy entry.

In the countryside, old superstitions and beliefs die hard. Many Thais believe that a house or building has a ‘spirit’ and one needs the permission of the spirit of the building to receive entry. Thresholds are usually where the request is silently made. A hesitation at the doorway, a tap, tap, tap with a bare foot and a humble wai, will placate the soul of the house, and put at ease any bad tempered spirit which may take offence at being disturbed. This is not only good manners, but a kind of bribe in case the house holds bad energy. It also insures a little bit of good luck, which is so often the basis of folklore in Asia. Kamoeys need all the good luck they can get. And they are quiet; very, very quiet. Homeowners often wake up in the morning and find burnt candles, bowls of flowers, and incense where their TV used to be. The silent kamoey made sure he had the affirmation of the house spirit before he relieved it of its valuable items. Which is very good luck for the thief. Homeowners are often light sleepers and armed. Shots in the middle of the night in my own neighbourhood, once in a while, remind me that some thieves aren’t lucky.

I did catch one burglar, actually. In the wee hours of the morning I got up to use the bathroom. Apparently my housebreaker had the idea first and I walked in on him. Can’t say who was more surprised, but since my toilet is rather small and there was not room for both of us, I let him pass. As he ran past me he flung my watch and money in my face. Guess the spirits in my house are democratic, since he and I both had narrow escapes.

I don’t have a gun and I usually sleep like the dead. My house has no electric alarms or iron bars. But now I do sleep in a bedroom full of dogs. Loud, yappy dogs.

by Lesley Warner

by Marion

One of the most powerful books, and one that has remained a classic since its first printing in 1943, is The Fountainhead, written by Ayn Rand. The moral principles of individual “truth” shown by the characters in the book were those with which young people immediately identified. Positive and uplifting, if somewhat Utopian, Rand’s writings repeatedly stressed the importance of individualism and independent thinking.

Millions of people have read Ayn Rand’s work, especially her novels, and many have found them to be a great source of personal inspiration. Her focus on reason and individualism appeals to many people. Even among those who do not accept her philosophy as a whole, there are still many who find inspiration and support. Conservatives applaud her anti-communism stand. Libertarians appreciate her anti-State-ism. Young people respond to her idealism. Women appreciate her strong-minded (and sexually liberated) heroines. Non-conformists like her defence of individualism. There was something for everyone, depending on the way you looked at it.

With the publication in 1957 of Atlas Shrugged, her most popular novel, the principles demonstrated by the characters became crystallized for many people and a whole new “cult” began to form world-wide. This individual power of “self” and somewhat anti-establishment leaning was initially given the name “Randism”, but was not a title that she ever wanted, and the term Objectivism was then coined for her philosophical concepts. To promote these for public discussion, Rand then produced a publication called The Objectivist.

In Ayn Rand’s own words, “I regard the spread of Objectivism through today’s culture as an intellectual movement - i.e., a trend among independent individuals who share the same ideas - but not as an organized movement. I want, therefore, to make it emphatically clear that Objectivism is not an organized movement and is not to be regarded as such by anyone.” (Derived from “A Statement of Policy” in The Objectivist, June 1968.)

So just who was this woman, a philosopher who has moved millions of people with her writings, both fictional and otherwise? She was born in 1905 in St. Petersburg, Russia and moved to the United States in 1926 where she became a naturalized US citizen in 1931. She died in 1982 in New York City.

Ayn Rand was not her real name, having been christened Alisa Zinovievna Rosenbaum and took the name of Ayn Rand when she came to America. “Ayn” is actually pronounced “Ine” (rhymes with “fine”) while the derivation of the name “Rand” most probably comes from the fact that if her original Russian name is written in the Cyrillic characters of the Russian alphabet they resemble the word “Rand” in English.

She studied philosophy in Russia and had enrolled in a course of Cinematic Art, but the increasing political problems and her opposition to the regime forced her to go to America. She went to Hollywood, where she got a job as an extra in the De Mille movie, The King of Kings. As the movie was being completed, De Mille offered her a job preparing synopses of works to possibly be adapted for films. Unfortunately, De Mille eventually closed his studio in 1928 and Rand was left working odd jobs until 1929 when she became a filing clerk in the wardrobe department of RKO. She married actor Frank O’Connor in that year, having first met him when they both worked in the DeMille’s movie, and they remained married until his death in 1979. In 1932, while still running the wardrobe department, she made her first professional writing sale, a movie screenplay entitled Red Pawn. From that point forward she worked as a professional writer.

Her novels included: We the Living (1936), Anthem (1938), The Fountainhead (1943), which was her first bestseller, and Atlas Shrugged (1957), her last, longest, and best-selling novel.

As well as her novels, Ayn Rand wrote six non-fiction books which were published during her lifetime. These included, For the New Intellectual (1961), The Virtue of Selfishness (1964), Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (1966), The Romantic Manifesto (1969), The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (1971) and the Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (1979).

After the success of Atlas Shrugged, she was much in demand as a public speaker. She delivered annual speeches at the Ford Hall Forum in Boston, and also spoke at colleges, universities and other forums. From 1961 to 1976, she acted as editor and publisher for a series of periodicals devoted to discussing Objectivist ideas, for which she also wrote numerous essays.

Her opinions were sought on many issues and like the characters in her novels, the answers were always clear and followed a predetermined thought pathway of individual expression. To understand Ayn Rand’s positions on a wide variety of issues, find a copy of The Ayn Rand Lexicon - Objectivism from A to Z, edited by Harry Binswanger, but here are a few.

Abortion. Rand believed women had the right to choose an abortion. “An embryo has no rights. Rights do not pertain to a potential, but only to an actual being. A child cannot acquire any rights until it is born. Abortion is a moral right.”

Homosexuality. “I do not believe that the government has the right to prohibit it. It is the privilege of any individual to use his sex life in whichever way he wants it. That’s his legal right, provided he is not forcing it on anyone.”

Race relations. Rand was strongly opposed to racism, which she described as “the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism.” However, she also opposed civil rights laws that interfered with the right of private citizens to discriminate with their own property.

Ayn Rand was not a radical, she was an individual who championed the cause of the individual. If you have not read her books, then you should!

by Anchalee Kaewmanee

Ambition can be everything to people born into this combination. Career and financial goals are their highest priority, and this can become all-consuming. They may seem warm, out going and kind, but all too often, there are few things which interest them as much as status and power.

Luckily, they have all of the attributes needed to gain the respect they crave, and to fulfil that driving ambition. The ardour and urge to initiate projects which is so characteristic of the Aries, is balanced by Capricorn’s logic and practicality. Thus the drive and enthusiasm of the personality is complimented by the inner nature which is cautious, calculating, and methodical. This creates the force which gets the job done, whatever the goal.

Work is important for this sign, but less out of a sense of duty than out of raw ambition. Once people in this category set their sights upon a target, they are capable of ruthless opportunism, and even, sadly, downright cruelty.

The challenge for persons born into this combination is to acquire a more tolerant, forgiving, and respectful attitude towards others while climbing the ladder of success. By developing a more humanistic side of their nature, their rewards of acclaim will be that much more enjoyable.

If possible, these people will benefit greatly by setting aside some time for themselves in which to enjoy relaxing hobbies, meditate, and socialise. They have great personal dynamics and natural magnetism. Expanding these qualities into broader emotional and spiritual directions can truly enhance their personal lives.

Others respond to what they see as great maturity and responsibility, and by gaining a sense of humour and a lighter touch with co-workers, this sign will reap respect and influence among peers. Those who earn the genuine friendship of an Aries/Capricorn are indeed invited into an inner circle. But be warned. This combination often maintains a facade of joviality for reasons which are best described as self-serving. Loyalty may be important to this Sun/Moon sign, but paradoxically, that loyalty may not be a 2-way street. When challenged, individuals in this group can be formidable and unforgiving opponents.

It is often true that people born under this Sun/Moon sign were drawn into great responsibilities at an early age, perhaps because of family obligations. Thus, their childhood may have been a training ground for later life, with little time left over for fun and games. This is one reason they may have such an ambitious nature. For all of their determination and decisiveness, it is possible these individuals could feel some insecurity, which drives them to prove themselves. Frustration or defeat can often push them into depression or anxiety. It would be well for these people to remember that winning is not everything, and learn to value their many talents and become more self-satisfied.

Ideally suited to administrative and managerial careers, the Aries/Capricorn will most often be found in executive boardrooms. If they lack creativity, those highly developed management skills are needed to implement plans and ideas with originality and foresight.

Like all Ariens, this group of people will be vibrantly sensual. Many people born into this Sun/Moon sign pursue romance as ardently as power and recognition. As partners, they can be affectionate, generous and loyal. If they remember to consider the personal needs of their lover, people in this group may learn that less work and more play can bring much enjoyment to a relationship. If, however, they forever feel they have something to prove, some partners may feel entirely overwhelmed.

by John D. Blyth, P.O. Box 97, Pattaya City 20260

The Board of the Great Western Railways may have had an idea that their engineer, I.K. Brunel, was really only a civil engineer, and had little idea about locomotives; he had ordered some from building firms in the north of England, but laid down some design features which were not sound - for example he required very large wheels, and small boilers and cylinders. Thus a locomotive engineer, Daniel Gooch, had been appointed, and as he arrived before any of the locomotives he set out providing engine houses for them. He also studied the designs submitted by the builders, and finding that eighteen locomotives were on order, recorded that ‘I was not much pleased with the designs ...’ He had good reason; only those from ‘Stephenson’s works were in any way satisfactory; these did not have the Brunel features as all, not just ‘North Star’, which had made the long journey to America and back without being off-loaded at New York, having been for an American railway which couldn’t pay for them. Space allows me to show two only; the first a real freak!

A real freak, designed by T.E. Harrison, ‘Thunderer’ was in three parts with a single pair of driving wheels on the foremost unit. Only 6 tons rested on this pair of 10 ft. diameter wheels, and it could only have moved a small load.

It came in three parts, a very big boiler in the middle, fuel at the rear, and a front unit with two cylinders and a solitary pair of 10 ft. diameter wheels, on which only 6 tons rested, out of a total of some 25 tons. To get such an engine to move at all would be some feat, and it is certain it did no useful work, although the useful-sized boiler was later used on a goods engine. This engine ‘Thunderer’ was sent with another ‘Hurricane’, and was designed by T.E. Harrison, who later did learn to design some useful locomotives.

The curious engine ‘Ajax’, built by Mather, Dixon & Co., with its wheels built up from boiler plates, heavy and awkward. Two such engines were delivered to the Great Western, and were only used for construction work.

The second early locomotive I show is the curious ‘Ajax’, from the works of Mather, Dixon & Co. - this again had 10 ft. diameter driving wheels, built up of boiler plates in sections, the two pairs of carrying wheels were formed of single plates. I would expect the wheels to be quite heavy, and on a small locomotive a side-wind would be likely to cause some unsteadiness. There was a second similar locomotive, ‘Mars’.

It will be seen that all locomotives had big wheels, although these two 10 ft. examples were more than even Brunel was looking for. All were intended for working passenger trains, for which at that time a single pair of driving wheels was the norm, but a lot of work was done (by those which could be persuaded to work), on construction and ballasting the new track. Gooch was not long in getting rid of the poor locomotives supplied, and he soon produced designs for serviceable machines, which, from quite an early date, were built and maintained in the company’s works at Swindon.

As the end of the broad gauge era approaches, ‘convertible’ locomotives were built; No. 3022 will be rebuilt for the standard gauge, with wheels on shorter axles, and placed ‘inside’ the frames.

It was plain from an early date that the gauge of the GWR’s track, 7 ft. 6 in., would not survive; a Gauge Commission had been appointed which reported back to Parliament recommending that all railways should be of the ‘Standard’ 4 ft 8 1/2 in. gauge already widely used in the north of the country. So the GWR soon had some standard gauge tracks, and a locomotive works was set up at Wolverhampton for their building and repair, the new lines being north of that point.

By the mid-18th century Gooch had designed some very good locomotives for both gauges, and for the best express trains on the broad gauge he had provided some 4-2-2 locomotives with (usually) 8 ft diameter wheels; other types, of course, for the now increasing traffic in freight and minerals, and for branch lines, shunting and other duties. Perhaps his most famous was the ‘Lord of the Isles’, which, when completed, was sent straight to Hyde Park in London to be one of the main exhibits in the Great Exhibition of 1851; it was also put on show in a similar event in America; when the broad gauge finally ended in 1892 it was kept for some years at Swindon, but was broken up in 1906, an act of vandalism justified by the land being wanted for another purpose. My picture shows this famous engine in its working days.

Into a different era; ‘Lord of the Isles’, designed by Daniel Gooch, was a very famous broad gauge locomotive, being exhibited at the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London, and later at Chicago, U.S.A., and at the end of the broad gauge era, kept at Swindon as a relic.

The coming abandonment of the broad gauge did not stem the need for replacement locomotives for its dying years. For the final few years these were made to a system that allowed them to be quickly and cheaply converted from the broad to the narrow gauge. My final picture shows one of these, in its ‘broad gauge’ form; it will be seen that the large driving wheel as well as the carrying wheels is fully visible, in contrast to that of ‘Lord of the Isles’. In the latter the frames are ‘outside’ the wheels, but No. 3022 shown has them ‘inside’, and with the wheels ‘naked’. This was to enable conversion of gauge to be carried out quickly, simply by inserting wheels with the bearings on the axles closer together, i.e. in the position called for by the-narrow gauge. It was quite a simple job to lift the engine off its wheels, run in a set of wheels for the new gauge, and connect up the ‘motion’ again.

As written in an earlier article, the broad gauge finished in quite a grand way in 1892. It was a bold experiment, but time has shown that on the standard gauge the highest speeds have been achieved, and the heaviest trains hauled. There may sometimes be a case for a smaller gauge than standard for purely local lines (which now would be a bus on the road!), but that where a larger gauge has been adopted there has been no advantage seen.

by Richard Brunch

From Denis Broadbent, Bangkok: I have a question about what information I may be giving out when I am connected to the Internet. Although I do not do anything illegal with my computer I don’t really want to be providing information if I do not need to. How can I check what if any information is leaving my PC and then stop it?

Computer Doctor replies: Firstly, often when installing programs that are free, although not exclusively, they install advertising software and software that monitors your Internet activity, reporting this to the company who will often use this to target you with what they perceive to be interesting offers for you based upon the information collated from your Internet activity. A useful utility for detecting these parasites is Ad-aware which can be downloaded from www.lavasoft.com. This is a free multi ‘spyware’ removal utility that scans the memory, registry and hard drives for known ‘spyware’ which can then be easily and safely removed. The current version of Ad-aware is 4.6 and this detects and removes Adware, Alexa 1.0-5.0, Aureate v 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, Comet Cursor v 1.0, v 2.0 and v 3.0 Cydoor, Doubleclick, DSSAgent, EverAd, Gratisware, OnFlow, SaveNow, Flyswat, Gator, TimeSink v 1.0, v 2.0 and v 5.0, HotBar, Web3000 and Webhancer. It has many configurable options including scan at Windows start-up, automatically remove references to ‘spyware’ create a log file, etc. It is advisable to run this check fairly frequently; it is simple and only takes a few minutes, and it really is amazing just how quickly your system can become parasite ridden again!

As a second line of defence as reported in the last Computer Doctor column it is a good idea to have a firewall installed on your PC. I recommend you install and use ZoneAlarm which will allow you to see which programs are trying to access the Internet. You can then either grant or disallow Internet access. The firewall will also prevent attacks from the Internet on your PC. You can download this free from www.zonelabs.com

From Harold Wright, Pattaya: I presently have and Epson Stylus Photo 750 printer which is about 18 months old. Although it gives excellent results when I print photographs onto glossy photo paper, it seems amazingly thirsty on ink and if it is left unused for any period of time the ink doesn’t flow and many cleans are required. Once this did not work and I had to return it for repair. I am now thinking that I will buy a new printer but am not sure what to get. I require reliability and excellent photo reproduction. Any recommendations or advice would be appreciated.

Computer Doctor replies: The Photo range of printers seemed to be dogged with reliability problems in Thailand although in Europe and the USA no such problems seem to manifest themselves. With Epson’s the heads are not replaced with the ink cartridge and it seems that in order to prevent clogging it is necessary to do some printing at least once a week, using both the color and black cartridges; not ideal but it does seem to prevent this particular problem.

With regards to purchasing a new printer I don’t think you can go far wrong with the DeskJet 900 series from Hewlett Packard.

Send your questions or comments to the Pattaya Mail at 370/7-8 Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, 20260 or Fax to 038 427 596 or E-mail to [email protected]. The views and comments expressed within this column are not necessarily those of the writer or Pattaya Mail Publishing.

Richard Bunch is managing director of Action Computer Technologies Co., Ltd. providing professional services which include custom database and application development, website design, promotion and hosting, computer and peripheral sales service and repairs, pro audio solutions, networks (LAN & WAN) and IT consulting. For further information, please e-mail [email protected] or telephone/fax 038 716 816 or see our website www.act.co.th

by Duncan Stearn

Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945, and two days later a broadcast from Bangkok announced that Thailand had withdrawn her declaration of war against Britain, the United States and their allies and would return ceded Malay and Burmese territories.

On September 2, a Thai military mission under General Narong arrived at the British naval base of Kandy in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) for talks with Admiral Mountbatten about an end to hostilities with Britain.

On September 8, the Thai legation in Washington DC, USA announced that the designation for the nation abroad would be Siam and not Thailand. Internally, the name would remain Thailand.

By September 17 Seni Pramoj, the leader of the Free Thai movement, had been installed as Prime Minister.

On January 1, 1946 a treaty of peace was signed with Britain in Singapore. As part of its punishment, Thailand was forced to supply rice at fixed low prices to the rest of South-East Asia for a period of time. A preliminary peace agreement was also signed with Australia, with a final peace treaty being signed on April 10.

However, it took until January 1951 before agreement was reached between Thailand and the government’s of Britain, Australia and India on an amount to be paid as war compensation.

Diplomatic relations were restored with the United States on January 5 and with China on January 23. In August 1946, the Thai parliament accepted the verdict of a mixed Conciliation Commission in relation to a dispute with France over territory given to Thailand by Japan. The commission had rejected Thai claims to the territory of French Indochina.

On November 17, an agreement was signed in Washington DC between France and Thailand by which the latter agreed to return territory in Laos and Cambodia ceded to it by the Vichy French government in 1941. In return, France agreed not to oppose Thailand’s admission to the United Nations.

On December 16, 1946 Thailand (still known internationally as Siam) was admitted as a member of the United Nations General Assembly.

Finally, on May 11, 1949 the government of Siam once again officially changed the name of the country to Thailand, exactly 10 years after first doing so.

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Updated by Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk.
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