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  1. #51
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    Oh and also how about the possibility of a guesthouse?

  2. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by supernovadw View Post
    Oh and also how about the possibility of a guesthouse?
    No chance ! I am going to have the best guesthouse in North East Thailand and to compete would be futile.

  3. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by can123 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by supernovadw View Post
    Oh and also how about the possibility of a guesthouse?
    No chance ! I am going to have the best guesthouse in North East Thailand and to compete would be futile.
    I'm talking about Laos mate, not Thailand

  4. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by supernovadw View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by can123 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by supernovadw View Post
    Oh and also how about the possibility of a guesthouse?
    No chance ! I am going to have the best guesthouse in North East Thailand and to compete would be futile.
    I'm talking about Laos mate, not Thailand
    Laos is a bit scruffy. I am astonished to see that you believe that you can just go there and start a business. It is a communist state and I would imagine that there would be enormous practical difficulties. Perhaps in a few years time as the political changes take place in the ASEAN countries but not now, surely ?
    Why can't I make new posts?

  5. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by can123 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by supernovadw View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by can123 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by supernovadw View Post
    Oh and also how about the possibility of a guesthouse?
    No chance ! I am going to have the best guesthouse in North East Thailand and to compete would be futile.
    I'm talking about Laos mate, not Thailand
    Laos is a bit scruffy. I am astonished to see that you believe that you can just go there and start a business. It is a communist state and I would imagine that there would be enormous practical difficulties. Perhaps in a few years time as the political changes take place in the ASEAN countries but not now, surely ?
    Not only that but dealing with the asian mindset.
    What if you have an urgent job, you call up a supplier (having gone through major headaches just finding one) and he turns up half a day late, with the wrong part, and not only INSISTS it's the right part, but that it's twice the agreed price and charges you $50 delivery which was never mentioned in the initial discussion.
    What will you do then?
    Then hi BIL turns up with 4 cops and tells you he's the chief of police for that district and if you want to operate there he will need to be a 'partner'.
    The potential pitfalls and problems are many and varied.
    “If we stop testing right now we’d have very few cases, if any.” Donald J Trump.

  6. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by quimbian corholla
    Good grief, what a mess.
    if youve nothing nice to say, why say it? its not the OP'S site, so whats with you?

    it probably serves its function and the blokes doing alright, fairplay to the bloke.

  7. #57
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    oh and supernova, go for it, take a breath and jump in as far as you dare, you never know until you try

  8. #58
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    I really don't think he knows what he's getting into.
    To just jump in and invest his savings in a business in Asia without being aware of the quite different to the west problems and pitfalls he will face will be to throw his money down the drain.
    Ingrained and accepted corruption and a different perspective of honesty and truth, cultural chasims will eat him up.
    He'll end up on here in a year begging for someone to point him in the direction of a teaching job.
    To encourage him to just jump is bad advice.
    Get a teaching job for stability, spend a year generally sussing things out then start slow, backyard jobs.
    You're talking about starting off big, which is all very well if you're prepared to lose a good deal of cash, otherwise i'd start of small, backyard stuff, and build a reputation.

  9. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by sunsetter
    if youve nothing nice to say, why say it? its not the OP'S site, so whats with you?

    it probably serves its function and the blokes doing alright, fairplay to the bloke.
    The OP posted the link. It's a forum, people comment on stuff; get over it.

    I didn't have a go at the quality of work that his friend does since I have never been there, but the website looks like something out of GeoCities circa 10 years ago..

  10. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by supernovadw
    She is a very good hair dresser and has always looked after herself!
    There you go, you may well have answered your own question. A mate of my wifes has a salon the husband put up the money to set it up but she runs it entirely, she done a course in cosmotology or some such girly shit , something to do with painting pictures on there finger or toenails, i was gobsmacked when she told me she can charge 40 000 kip, thats 5 bucks per nail, not bad money, Maybe an upmarket salon would be something your wife could do, but again its location location, Your coffee shop might not be a bad idea also, but in the right location, have a look at those Joma cafes, been in business here for yonks 2 locations in vientiane and 1 in luang prabang, just selling coffees and cakes etc, the same with the scandinavian pizza place , 2 locations, and before pizza company turned up a couple of years ago were the only people making a pizza, both businesses are farang owned by the way, A coffee isnt exactly cheap in both places considering Laos grows coffee, and is a good drop imho, these places are making money. Another poster was a bit negative about the communist factor, Bullshit. Business visas are easy to obtain, The government may well be communist but at least you know where you stand with them. None of that red shirt yellow shirt nonsense, corruption ? of course, and why not? corruptions great when its working for you, anyway a few more thoughts for you.

    Not sure about the carwash idea, wouldnt cost much to set up but you can only charge about 50 000 kip per car and you are likely to find that at that price all the hummer , prado, drivers will turn up Take all day to wash the fokers

    Car accessory shop?.........might be worth a look at

  11. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by can123
    Laos is a bit scruffy. I am astonished to see that you believe that you can just go there and start a business. It is a communist state and I would imagine that there would be enormous practical difficulties. Perhaps in a few years time as the political changes take place in the ASEAN countries but not now, surely ?
    Have you been to this scruffy communist state lately or ever?. you would be surprised how much is going on in Laos at the moment. Thats whats astonishing

    Not such a stupid question , I thought you were "imagining practical difficulties" 2 years is a long time, take another gander at it on your next 2 day visa run. you would be surprised, astonished even. it will never be chic, the slightly scruffy tag is apt, But the commie bastards are getting the hang of this capitalist thingo i reckon, new roads, hotels and infrastructure going in all the time,
    even the Lao cant believe there government is finally shelling out some coin on something besides the latest Prado
    Last edited by beerlaodrinker; 28-12-2012 at 03:39 PM.

  12. #62
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    Quote Originally Posted by supernovadw View Post
    classic car restoration thailand

    This is the business that my friend runs in Thailand, he is doing really well and inundated with work!
    Point being, that is in Thailand and you're taking about Laos. two complete seperate entities with two complete different rulebooks.

    Here's my advice, based on what you've posted:

    1: Go for it, move to SE Asia and give it you best shot. As you say, you're only young once - if you make a go of it, great, if you don't it's a great learning experience.

    2. Don't take your mum, she'll cramp your style at best or become a millstone around your neck at worst. If you're going to do it, do it on your own two feet.

    3. If you already have a friend in Thailand operatng a business you're familiar with, try and cadge a job. Then, you've got a foot in the door in Asia, you're earning a bit of coin and have time to suss the lie of the land, decide whether you really like it or not, whether you feel safe sinking your life savings there...

    4. I'm not sure Laos would be your best choice. I'd have thought the concept of a high end garage would be more suited to Thailand anyway, or even Cambodia, moreso than Laos - more people with more money=more expensive cars to work on...simple economics. It's good to be a niche in the market but if that market niche is so small as to be commercially unviable, well, that's another matter.

    Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide to do, just don't go investing into anything you can't afford to lose on mate.

  13. #63
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    Quote Originally Posted by beerlaodrinker
    Have you been to this scruffy communist state lately or ever?. you would be surprised how much is going on in Laos at the moment. Thats whats astonishing
    Yes, of course I've been there. Stupid question ! Not for two years, though. Has it made the transition from "scruffy" to "chic" in the last two years ?

  14. #64
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    ^ it ain't changed.
    my wife calls VT the city that's always Sunday.


    anyway .
    go for it Supanova , it's gotta be worth a try , just don't burn your bridges with the UK.

  15. #65
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    I agree with BLD the upmarket salon looks like a goer!

  16. #66
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    Quote Originally Posted by beerlaodrinker
    Not such a stupid question , I thought you were "imagining practical difficulties" 2 years is a long time, take another gander at it on your next 2 day visa run. you would be surprised, astonished even. it will never be chic, the slightly scruffy tag is apt, But the commie bastards are getting the hang of this capitalist thingo i reckon, new roads, hotels and infrastructure going in all the time,
    even the Lao cant believe there government is finally shelling out some coin on something besides the latest Prado
    We are singing from the same hymn sheet, mate. There will be huge changes in the political/economic climates of Asia very soon now. Undoubtedly, Laos will change but, please acknowledge, that it starts from a much lower position than Thailand. For Laos the only way is up as it is quite low at present.

    I am not clever enough to predict the political changes which will occur in Laos. I hope for the sake of its people that its future will be peaceful. I would wait for this to be clarified before I would up sticks and move there.

    This guy is naive in the extreme and, while he has every right to take a chance with his own life, his plan to uproot his family, with potentially catastrophic results, is foolhardy.

  17. #67
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    Lot's of replies, great! Sorry for my slow response!

    Right then where to start....?

    Whilst I obviously do not know anywhere near everything about Laos and how it operates I would in all honesty say that I have quite a decent understanding plus of course my wife is Lao. She has a big family who are always more than happy to help out, her sisters partner is quite high in the police so could perhaps be helpful to know and her brother is of a lower level in the police so again good to have on side.

    I am aware that running a business in Laos is going to be very different to the UK! In all honesty I don't know that many foreigners who run their own business in Lao to talk to, the only guy who I know is in Savannakhet, he runs a restaurant and tells me he has had no real problems plus getting a business visa for Laos is much easier than Thailand!

    Taking it back to Thailand the guy I know running the garage again doesn't have any real problems, he takes care of one of the local coppers (1000 Baht a month and the occasional bottle of whiskey) And he takes care of him in return. Another friend who owned a bar in Cha-Am used to sponsor the police football team and give them a couple of free beers and again no problem! So yes whilst it's a very different way of doing things I really think it'll work!

    Getting my Mr's going again with a hairdressers saloon is certainly a very good idea and I'm sure that she could make decent money, she is honestly very skilled at what she does and still has a customer base as she was doing it for a long time so you know if we started her off in a new place all decked out nicely with good equipment etc then I'm sure the people would start rolling in again.

    The thing is that even if she was making enough money for the both of us I simply could not just sit around and I actually enjoy working!

    Car wash....I know it's not going to be a great money maker but of course every little counts doesn't it! I was thinking perhaps instead of offering one set service you could branch out a little, sure offer the basic 50,000 KIP wash but also to offer a detailing service, I know that the market for it would not be massive but there are certainly some expensive cars in Laos now and people with money to spend! In Bangkok there are companies charging five to ten thousand baht for a detail so you never know!

    The garage, yes Laos is not a rich country by any means however the rate that it is moving forward at is rapid! There are quite alot of expensive cars on the road and as Lao moves forward it will start to increase so surely now is the time to get in....Yes it could be quiet at first but theoretically the situation can only improve! As we know in Thailand many people will spend alot of money of modifications for there cars, whilst this isn't so much the case in Laos I am sure that it will be in a few years time! I would certainly say that there is much more of a market in Laos than Cambodia! I don't know the disparity between the GDP of Laos and Cambodia but Cambodia always feels much poorer than Laos to me....

    My Mother....I shall not be leaving her in the UK, I am the only family she has, she is 60 years old so to leave her here in the UK completley on her own would not be right at all! Yes it would be easier on my own but I couldn't be like that to be honest and my wife feels the same. As me and my wife intend to have a child in the near future she could also become a handy baby sitter ha ha.

    Vientiane it's self....Well whilst it's no where near Bangkok (One of the reasons I like it!) It certainly isn't as slow and backwards as many people think! Out of all the people I know who have been to Laos I would say 99% Complain that Vientiane is boring, slow and there is nothing to do etc...However I really don't think that this is the case! The city appears to be very small at first and whilst it's certainly not massive it is much bigger than it looks at first glance if you take in the outskirts etc...So I believe there is enough people to support business and with the way it is developing and the population increasing it can only get better hey!

    I'm starting to think that the ideal set up would be if we could do several small things but all in close proximity...I.e. the hairdressers, coffee shop and garage but at the same time I'm certainly not going to put all the money in at once (No where near all of it!!!) So we'll have to see.

    Anyhow I am of course only going to get so far by my online research I will just have to see how it spans out when I get there!

    One last thing is that with my work ethic I am feeling confident that I can make it work, not being funny but alot of people in Laos really do not do very much actual work at all! If you put in the effort I feel that you will get the rewards!

    We shall see how it goes anyhow, please keep the posts coming and thanks for everyone's help! When I first started the thread a and saw the first few posts I didn't feel very confident to as getting any decent info but it's now completley changed , thanks!

  18. #68
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    ^ You saw the pic of his wife , poor bastard must have a set of massive blue balls, i wish him every success if he trys it, but yes his plan has some serious flaws, Just trying to give him a few positive ideas

  19. #69
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    Quote Originally Posted by beerlaodrinker View Post
    ^ You saw the pic of his wife , poor bastard must have a set of massive blue balls, i wish him every success if he trys it, but yes his plan has some serious flaws, Just trying to give him a few positive ideas
    Thanks! Well it's certainly not easy being apart

    I really respect your suggestions as of course you living in Laos and working there you are more than qualified to give genuine advice!

    Please help point out my major floors so I can work on a good business plan. Like I say I want to give it as much though as possible prior to actually going for it.

  20. #70
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    Quote Originally Posted by supernovadw
    Please help point out my major floors
    Spelling?

  21. #71
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    Quote Originally Posted by beerlaodrinker
    ^ You saw the pic of his wife , poor bastard must have a set of massive blue balls,

    Yeah I reckon he ougth to leave off the Morris dancing gear when he goes back ,, mabe wear something a bit looser for a week or so

  22. #72
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    OK so apart from improving my spelling and not wearing Lao clothes any more sensible suggestions lol.

  23. #73
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    Are there any classic cars in Vientiane?

  24. #74
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jofrey View Post
    Are there any classic cars in Vientiane?
    15 posts and got repo turned off.
    Who are you Joffrey?

  25. #75
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    You're 24 for fucks sake, go for it and have fun. You have plenty of time to start over many times. Take you mum with you she will have a ball or bail out, whichever she will have tales to tell all her buddies.

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