happenings

I know how to fix the economy...

Was reading the Asian Wall Street Journal the other day, I do from time to time to pretend I can still stay plugged into the business world, and came across a rather puzzling article. The article highlighted the current boom in the use of self storage by Americans and how well the self-storage companies are doing. Having just moved to Bangkok, living cheap and having a one room apartment near a slum I found it rather amusing to remember that I did not need a self storage locker until I had moved out of my pad in San Francisco. At that time I needed to rent out my loft in SOMA and since I had not moved much to Hong Kong I needed to find some place to put my belongings to make room for my renters. This article focused on the need for typical Americans to rent a self-storage locker for purposes of keeping all the stuff they need that they have no room for in their apartment or house. I refer to this stuff as junk most of the time because generally I find Americans purchasing junk, something they already have or frankly just desiring too many things they don't really need.

i don't have much room for things I don't actually need these days and constantly find myself getting rid of things or checking twice at the store to remind myself that I probably don't have room for what it is I am buying. Sounds like the opposite is happening in America. buy, buy and buy - before it is too late and you might die before you bought all that stuff you don't really need. We all know why this is happening - Americans are feeling like the cost of borrowing money is just too cheap, artificially so, and therefore it makes sense to keep on buying. The bubble in the housing market might also have something to do with this but as the rates keep coming up this may get a little pin prick before it is too late.

So one fix I have for the ailing US economy is for Bush to subsidize the cost of self-storage space. This makes perfect sense and this would continue to fuel the consumer to buy and buy knowing that they have somewhere besides there primary residence for storing these goods they are not using. This should help push the US economy along for another 6 months or so without people having to feel what is really happening out there.

I need to check sometime but somewhere between me and the local Carefour I saw a Bangkok self-storage place. I want to see what is going on there since my guess is it is not full of stuff that people cannot fit back on the ponderosa but is probably used by businesses for extra storage, document storage or expats needing to stash there random stuff somewhere.

Interesting times these are...

;)

What I need from Skype...

I need a USB dongle that uses something to connect to a wireless headset.

This dongle contains the Skype software which runs from the USB, my account info and works on windows or mac.

I carry the dongle with the headset. Plug into an internet machine and I am ready to go.

Wouldn't it be cool?

Don't think it exists yet but might as well ask.

fun fun

Doyle's Practical Guide to Thailand Business Law

This book link  should work but at press time the Asia Book's website appears to be down - not an uncommon thing in Thailand. ;)

I picked this up yesterday at the bookstore yesterday hoping it would help me get a grip on a few more of the things I am perplexed about in understanding how to legally condict business in Thailand. This book is a heavy topic but was easy to read and I jammed through it before I ate lunch today. it reinforces even more that if you really want to do business in Thailand you should work with an agency or lawyer that specializes in helping foreigners buy, sell or startup businesses in Thailand. I think that makes the most sense. One, but not the only, example of a company like this in Thailand is Sunbelt Asia.

if you are using a company like Sunbelt to help you then I think you can skip a few of these chapters in the book but the sections on terminations, work-permits, visas, US Amity, and Vat where very informative. I wish there we more case studies and I wish there was a companion book that discusses more thoroughly operational tactics when it comes to running your Thai business. I guess I need to keep perusing the bookstoores or learn it the hard way. I hope learning it the hard way won't be a disaster.

alrighty then - onward ho...

Klong Toey...

Once I had decided to abandon the 9-5 steady paycheck world to explore life in Thailand I figured right away that I had better live cheap or I may have to go back to work quicker than I really want to. Cheap is all relative I guess since it all depends on comfort levels and savings accounts. For example - cheap to me is going from one part of Bangkok to another part for 40 baht on a motorcycle taxi. That is 1 buck USD. However I was with another Thai person who had jsut made the same trip and she only paid 20 baht. So yes Thais get it cheaper than farang and cheap is relative.

I had already experienced living "thai" style in a one room apartments before so I was prepared to make that a permanet lifestyle for some period of time. So I chose to live in a typical thai style apatrment building in the Klong Toey district close to the actual heart of Klong Toey. Klong Toey was originally the major slaughtering center for all the live animals that come into Bangkok to be killed, cut and served up as food. Most of the actually slaughtering has been moved away from the center of Bangkok but it is still a very active market for almost anything you can imagine in Thailand and is the biggest slum in Bangkok as well. So rent is pretty cheap around here, street food is plentiful, the outdoor market is full of all sorts of affordable food and you can get an everyday glimpse of real thai society. For more on Klong Toey and Father Joe's outreach program go here. Klong Toey is full of the drug and flesh trade so there are some local folks like Father Joe who try to aid those in need. Kids are generally the most exploited in this environment.

For me the interesting thing is just life around the apartment building or the few small sois around it that I know well. Food is everywhere from small street carts, to small indoor food places and house that double as small eateries. It is all pretty cheap and pretty much anything that is a part of a normal Thai diet is here. No farang food in general. So I am getting used to eating like this and there is even a small market downstairs for anything else I may need for normal day to day use. There is a laundry place downstairs where I can take a bucket of laundry and get it back a few days later all washed and folded for a dew hundred baht. Just too easy.

I also like walking the halls of the apartment building and peering into the open doors to get a glimpse of whatever is going on. Sometimes it is dinner, a mekong/coke karoake session, arguments, illegal dealings, tv watching and just about anything else you can imagine. I am not the only farang in the building but there are not many so in general I also get looked at when cruising around. Of course my Thai is getting better and for me this type of environment is feeling pretty normal.

The joy in it all...

Meeting my biz partner in BKK for an afternoon iced coffee near his apartment on Suk Soi 8 - popped in and turned on the PB G4 to find on open wi-fi hub called danger. Seems to be working great. Let's hope this post does not get it shutdown.

love this town

cya

stuff...

After checking out the gran opening of the Champagne Lounge last nite, we headed over to NP for a drink at RB4 and of course ended up at AW. I love it when u see a falang Dr. from one of the famous hospitals speaking fluent thai and enjoying himself like he was king or something. Such a strange and lovely world it is...

later

TV on DVD is a good thing...

check out this article...

i think for the most part it is a good thing since that is about the only way I can see any cool TV shows I like while living in Asia. What is even cooler is living in Bangkok and finding most of the good ones available in the copy DVD stores so I can get Sopranos - an entire season - for a few bucks. love it.

cya

In Penang...

Chilling - if you could call it that in Penang. Can't really saw there is any reason to come here other than getting my Thai non-immi B visa - because it sure isn't the food, the nightlife or the beaches. I could have stayed in Thailand for any of that. I have always tried to enjoy Malaysia but other than going to KL - I can never really seem to enjoy Malaysia. It could be the Muslim thing, the too many Chinese thing or maybe that fact that I am just always irritated by the whole taxi situation. This place will never regularly attract and retain tourists until the government sorts out the taxi mess.

First off - this is not a tough one - use the freaking meter. You are note fooling anyone with the little sign over the meter, the meter does not work story or the blunt we don't use meters around here statement. It gets so old. I hate always being quoted a different fare than the one I paid yesterday for the same run and I hate always having to bargain just to get the price down to a fair level - let alone a bargain. Anyway - I just hate it and it will always bug me about Malaysia.

We are staying at the City Bayview Hotel in Georgetown area. Nothing special but decent, fair price and wireless internet in the room. A little too pricey for the pre-paid cards but at least I can get reliably connected in the comfort of the room. Got to like that. Room service menu is small but so far the food has been tasty. Breakfast comes with the room but don't expect a great meal but enough to get your day going.

Monday morning headed over to the Thai embassy to put in for my non immi B visa. There was one guy in line ahead of me and it looks like he had arrived way too early but better yet he was dressed in a suit and tie. I asked him if he worked in Penang and he said he was just here for a visa run. So I deduced that the attire was chosen to give him an unfair advantage in getting a visa. Somehow I don't think anyone cares and from what I can tell when I picked my visa up before him today that it did not help at all.

These quirky little embassy deals are such a pain really. I don't understand why that cannot put some systems in place to serve those who come first and make it clear to people what that system is. I did not have anything really better to do with my time but I always hate time get wasted on my behalf without consulting me first. So I was the second guy to get in line that day and since there was no one behind us - me and Mr. suit headed for the food stall across the way to get some pulled tea and somasas. God knows I was hungry and this was all there was to be had. I finished mine up and when I headed back there were 2 other people in line and the gate was opening up although it was before 9. We got in and grabbed the forms since I did not have one. Filled it out and then the second gate opened with people starting to form the actual line to the visa counter. Figuring I was in like Flynn I started to get in line and the Malay attendant told me that the 2 other people plus Mr. Suit were in line before me. This is the shit I hate since both Mr. Suit and the malay dork saw me second in line in the morning prior to drinking my pulled tea - which by the way was quite good. So I took 4th in the line knowing it was not a huge deal but wishing that this advanced culture could have sorted out by know the systems that could be put in place to make something like this a lot easier and fair.

So once the counter opened up it turns out a whole different system was now being created for how your visa form would get processed. The man at the counter was handing out small forms or receipts for the passport collection and they were numbered. Not being one to push by the time I reached the counter I was giving a slip with a number 7 on it. Great - after getting up early and being second in line I was now 7th in getting my form processed. Oh well - I was hoping in the end none of this really made that much of a difference because there was not too many people waiting around anyway. About 15 minutes later I paid for my visa and turned in my forms. Came back the next day and picked up my passport after about 15 minutes as well. Pretty painless - let's just hope it all works. One more funny one about Mr. Suit - he tried to pay for his visa in Thai Baht and was told only RM was accepted. He had to get out of line and hunt around for someone to exchange his Baht for ringgit. I had plenty to sell him but since he took no initiative to defend my second spot in line I decided against opening up my mouth as well. ;)

So far I have not really eaten any decent food or been to anywhere cool enough to mention. I can say stay away from the Thai restaurants on Gurney street since they are Chinese owned and appear to have Chinese cooks. We tried one and the food was bad but to top it off the service was crappy as well. We did eat at one Thai place in Gurney Plaza located in the basement. It has Malays working the counter and serving but we are pretty sure the cook was Thai and the food was great and the prices were reasonable. I will probably order the room service again tonight given I am getting up early and not feeling like exploring again.

Penang is not really turning out to be cheap and the 7/11 is not even stocked well enough for a decent snack run - so staying inside to play cards has not been a decent option since I am without my iPod speakers. When we jumped on the plane in Bangkok we checked one bag since we were each carrying backpacks and the third bag as a carry on was slightly pushing it. I was stupid cause when we arrived in Penang my bag did not show. How do they lose it from Bangkok to Penang - once short hop in my book. Since we had got in pretty late no one was going to be doing anything about it so we just went to bed and I called Thai airways in the morning. They did not where the bag was and said they would update me later. So to get started on things I called the claims department to see if we would be given some money in the meantime. They offered 100 USD for now so I jumped in the taxi, yes paying 10 RM just to get there, and staked claim to my 4000 baht. Later that day the luggage did show up. For some reason it made a stop in KL before coming to Penang. Who the hell knows why  but at least we got the bag back. However the bag was clearly opened and examined and I am now missing my InMotion portable iPod speakers with remote control. I really liked those speakers and I wondering if I am going to be able to get Thai Airways to pay for them.

Well - enough bashing for one entry. I need to get into a writing groove and I am just not sure how to do it. Yes - I know quitting my Job and moving to Thailand was about creating more time for myself but funny things happen along the way and I am once again busy looking for time. Life is a strange trip.

enjoy...