Property Law in Thailand

Author: Chris Heath
Thailand is becoming an ever more popular retirement and choice of country to live with its low costs and beautiful scenery not forgetting of course the world famous friendliness of the Thais themselves. But finding out about the laws governing property ownership here can be confusing. Here are the bare bones of Thai property Law

* A foreigner can own a condominiums long as less than 40% of the condos or apartments in the building are owned by foreigners. Many people believe it to be 49% although this regulation was an addition to the existing law and was only meant to be in place for one year and has since expired.

* A company can own property such as land and a house (and hence the foreigner can buy land and a house via their Thai registered company) as long as no one foreigner owns more that 39% of the company (recently amended from 33%) and total foreign ownership of the company does not exceed 49%.Still ambiguous and under review.

* The Thai wife of a foreigner can own property (a recently changed legal status due to gender equality in the new 1997 constitution revision), in her name only. This is fine as long as you don't have marital problems. (The same, of course, goes for a Thai husband, but the law was changed recently for Thai wives due to the new constitution guaranteeing equal rights.)

* A foreigner can lease land for 30 years, with an option for another 30 years, the first 30 years are guaranteed they are registered with the Land Department, however the second can be contested.

* If you gain BOI approval you may as a company is able to buy up to one rai of land. Although this is meant for very large investors.

At the end of the day if you are seriously looking to invest in Thailand you should consult a good lawyer who will be familiar with the latest property laws.


About The Author

Chris Heath is the sole proprietor of Soho Properties a real estate agency located in Bangkok Thailand

http://www.soho-properties.com

Law Offices, Professional Image, And Marketing

Author: Paul Purcell
Face it. Financial bottom lines are affected by the fact we live in a world that judges a book by its cover. Pretty singers sell more records, court cases rank higher in the news if the person is attractive, and politicians are elected based on their image as much any other factor.

Looking at your own industry, don’t you have to fight the public’s perceptions? We see it on TV and in movies every day. More often than not, young lawyers, paralegals, and others just starting out in the profession are portrayed as cheap, petty, low-rent, and usually called “ambulance chasers.”

It’s not right, but this issue of image is one that you have to live with and learn to work with.

Let’s cut to the bottom line which is this: In today’s business climate, everyone should realize that a professional image is crucial to reputation and everyone could stand to improve theirs to some degree or other. It’s what you need to do to keep your individual firms alive. Therefore, let’s cover some opportunities for improvement using the acronym A.L.I.V.E.:

Appearance – Your physical persona and the way present yourself.

Letterhead – The level of professionalism demonstrated in your printed marketing materials.

Information – Accuracy and honesty; the keys to presenting the data gathered during a case.

Voice – How you communicate to everyone you’re associated with.

Education – The continual improvement to your professional knowledge base.

Appearance: People base a large percentage of their first impression on your appearance. When a client meets you for the first time, they’re sizing up your credibility, your ability as a legal professional, and deciding just how well you might conduct yourself in public. As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a good first impression, so let’s look at a few pointers.

- Always dress in a professional manner. For men and women both, the attire should be “business professional,” which for men means suit and tie whenever possible, and for the ladies, business suits, nice skirt and blouse, or dresses. If you look unkempt or “second rate” the client will wonder how you’ll represent them while working their case.

- A close cousin to dress is personal grooming. Simply put, make sure your hair, facial hair, hands, nails, and teeth are all clean and well kept. By the way, how’s your breath? Always keep some mints handy.

- Keep jewelry at a minimum. Jewelry should follow the rule on colognes. It’s best to smell of nothing than to overpower with the wrong thing. A general jewelry guideline is no more than 2 rings per hand, no more than 2 thin necklaces, and either post or small-ring earrings. And... you guessed it, visible exotic piercings or tattoos are out if you’re going to be taken seriously by the legal community. The “Professional Image Dress” website at http://www.professionalimagedress.com has some good articles and checklists. Also, you’ll find some good books and magazines on business and professional image at your local library.

Letterhead: In some cases, the first contact someone may have with you might be one of your business cards. For our purposes though, “letterhead” refers to any printed material (paper or electronic) anyone outside your office might see.

- Business cards are a must. Make them distinctive, but with minimal content. Let your website or brochure carry the heavy content.

- On business cards, stationery, and your website stay away from trite, cliché, or negative icons such as someone running after an ambulance. In your web address, phone numbers, or email addresses, stay away from negative phrases like “makethempay@mylaw.com.” These might seem cute, but to many potential clients, they’re a turnoff.

- For stationery, choose quality paper and have your letterhead and envelopes, as well as your contracts, professionally produced by the same people who do your business cards. Make sure their color themes match. Your local print shop or office supply store should have everything you need. If there’s any one place you want to spend a little money, this is near the top of the list.

- If your stationery has a particular logo or color scheme, it should be reflected on your website, or vice versa. As with business cards, your website should be an exercise in minimalism after it’s done its job of relaying all the necessary information about your firm. Avoid animation, sound files, heavy graphics, flash, or anything else that makes your site slow to load. Slow loading or “busy looking” sites are more an annoyance than an attraction. Relatedly, though they might provide a tiny bit of pocket change per year, try to stay away from banner ads and other outside links on your home page. If you have outside links, put them all on your links page. You don’t want your client clicking off into cyberspace before they’ve read what a good job you can do for them.

- Stay away from blank notepads and manila folders. They’ll both get too messy too soon and not only will that make you look unprofessional and disorganized, but blank notepads make you look unprepared, and lost or disorganized notes lead to inaccurate reports and invoices. Invest a little time and/or money into buying or developing a comprehensive set of forms or an organizer system to use while assembling your case.

Information: In the legal business, the glass is neither half full nor half empty. It’s 50%. And, unless you know what’s in it, don’t speculate. “Just the facts Ma’am.” One of the biggest opportunities for a good impression, and naturally the most important, is the timely delivery of honest, accurate, information. Nothing will kill your image, reputation, and livelihood, like incomplete, inaccurate, biased, or late case work. Likewise, an inaccurate invoice can cost you by being either too low or too high.

- Rule one is, always has been, and always will be, “Use a good case management system.” Make sure everyone working for you uses the same system, and that your standards of accuracy start at the beginning, and continues through the whole case and through any follow-up you may ever have with that client. Then treat all of your other clients the same way.

- Use nice presentation folders for all your reports; even the “small dollar” ones. Each client is important to you from a marketing standpoint and therefore deserves to be treated with respect. Putting your work product on better stationery, in a well-organized format, and in an attractive presentation folder will provide a greater perceived value to your client. These people have probably paid a hefty sum for your service and a more professional report will help assure them that it was money well spent.

- With any kind of information transfer, the key word in today’s legal climate is “PRIVACY!” Reassure your clients in your contract, and in your final report that your relationship with them is as private as the law allows, and everything you do in connection with their case, before, during, or after the fact, will remain confidential. Loose lips not only sink ships, they destroy good client relationships.

Voice: Voice is a general term used to describe not only the actual verbal communication you have with your clients and others, but the “tone” your business has with those it deals with.

- When you answer the phone, do so cheerfully and actually smile. You can tell when someone’s not happy to be on the phone and so can others. This phone call might be your first contact with the next big client, so make it count.

- If you can’t personally answer every call, the next best thing is to have a receptionist or answering service. A person is always better than voice mail. Go with what you can afford, but since the phone call is one of your opportunities for a first impression, anyone answering the phone should be trained to be courteous, cheerful, informative, and as professional as possible.

- If voice mail is your only option, make the best of it. First, be smiling and cheerful when you record the message. Second, have the message convey your high standards. Say something like “As we’re extremely devoted to all our clients, we’re probably working a case on their behalf right now. However, YOU are just as important to us so please leave us your name and number and we’ll get back to you within the hour.” Then, if you say you’ll be back to them within the hour, actually do it. Prompt personal attention is a major plus in any business.

- Education and intelligence are just as necessary as a cheerful hello. You want people to know that you are every bit as qualified and capable as they could hope for. Therefore, when speaking with people, speak clearly, and choose your words carefully. They don’t have to be big words, but they do have to make sense, and grammar is important.

- The written word should follow the same rule. Make sure your business cards, letterhead, brochures, reports, invoices, and all other written documents use correct spelling and proper grammar. Though your client may be enamoured enough with your abilities as a legal professional to overlook a minor grammatical error, you never know who else of importance might see your report or correspondence.

Education: Here we continue where your writing skills leave off and cover the actual knowledge or skill base upon which your legal expertise is founded. Experience is the best teacher, but classroom education can certainly help keep you informed and up to date. Also, the fact that you are continually updating your expertise is impressive to most potential clients.

- Many states require continuing education. If your state does, you should publish this fact in your firm’s literature. If your state does not require CEU, you should still take it upon yourself to keep your own training updated and make that fact a prominent component of your marketing materials.

- Join professional organizations where possible. Many of them will offer various classes and training programs and the benefits of networking are considerable.

- Many online communication forums are professionally dedicated and will provide educational information and opportunities through either on-site or on-line courses, or through the hints, tips, and suggestions offered by members. One good online communication forum is found through “Yahoo Groups” at http://www.yahoogroups.com. The free registration is easy to complete, and all you’ll need to do is search through the groups using the phrase “private investigator” or other keywords associated with your specialty.

- Keep your library stocked. Many people learn as much from books and videos as they do in a classroom setting.

As you attend some of these educational functions, take the opportunity to look around you and either further your own education on this issue of appearance by studying your colleagues, or help improve the way they represent you by helping educate them as to the benefits of a more professional image.


About The Author

Paul Purcell is an Atlanta-based investigative trainer and case management specialist. In addition, he’s the creator of “The Case File” (found at http://www.thecasefile.com).

Law of Attraction Accelerator - Put Your Weight behind the Thoughts

Author: Aldian Prakoso
In the Science of Getting Rich one of the most powerful concepts is the Law of Attraction Accelerator. What exactly is this? Looks complicated and difficult isn't it? You can't be further from the truth. It is actually a very simple principle. What do you do when you speed up on the road? Do you look here and there at the scenery? A normal person would concentrate on the road ahead. Now, using this analogy what would you do if you want to speed up on your way to wealth and success. FOCUS. Yes, that is exactly what I would do.

Once you have made up your mind and have the big picture in your mind, go for it. Don't hesitate. Don't look around. Go right ahead with the gas pedal hitting the floor.

Now, I know wringing the neck doesn't fetch a great picture in the mind. But, please pardon me; this is what we are required to do. Have you ever seen a sugarcane thresher? Maybe you haven't. But let me tell you, it squeezes out every drop of sugarcane juice from the cane. If it did not, it wouldn't be doing its job. So, you might well ask. Am I supposed to behave like a sugarcane thresher? Well, I would say, yes and at the same time no. Yes, because that's what focus is all about. You can't wish to be something but not work towards it. And why not? Because we are on this earth to enjoy. Be happy. Realize our dreams. Not get squeezed. But expand. Our thoughts should encompass the whole universe. If we accomplish what we want doesn't mean others are going to be deprived. Not at all. There is enough of happiness going around in the universe. There should be a feeling of plenty, not of scarcity.

That's where putting your weight behind your thoughts comes in. Once you have decided on what you want, you should put all your might to achieve it. The universe will multiply your efforts a thousand times and reflect it back to you. This is the Law of Attraction's essence.

You may think from the above statements that it would be a monumental task to achieve this concentration. And let me tell you, it couldn't be easier. The crux of the idea is to be positive and device ways to remain in this positive frame of mind. The universe and the Law of Attraction would do the rest. Just get on to the path of success and start driving towards your destination. The rest would be taken care of by nature. As you move down the road to success, events and situations would be created which would accelerate and speed you up towards your true destiny. You have to just focus on your destination. Rest would be taken care of.

It looks so simple. Yet most of us flounder on the way. As soon as we see the first bump on the road, we lose heart and change direction. And when we meander all over the place, we wonder how we got there in the first place.

The Law of Attraction is universal. If you have positive thoughts they would get absorbed by the universe and rebound back manifold. The same goes for negative thoughts. Remember, the universe is neutral. Like a mirror. If you send out negative signals, you will see negativity reflected around you. So you have to be careful. Always think positively. The more you think positively, more positive things will happen to you. And it will all add up.

And focus is all important. Imagine your mind to be a lens. When you hold the lens against the light, what happens? It collects all the dispersed light and points it at one specific point. And then it burns the patch you are holding the lens on. Don't you think the same is happening to your thoughts? Indeed it is. The more focused you are, more likely you will set a scorching pace towards success. Get rid of negativity. It disperses your energy. Get hold of positive thoughts by the scruff of the neck and keep twisting till the essence is realized.


About The Author

Aldian Prakoso is an OptiMINDzation Performance Coach and the owner of OptiMINDzation Attraction Accelerator Blog. OptiMINDzation Attraction Accelerator Blog helps you to achieve success, wealth, growth and health by helping you to visualize your goals and dreams vividly. You can instantly download a popular free report "OptiMINDzation Attraction Accelerator", available at ==> http://www.AudioGettingRichScience.com