HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Family Money

Snap Shot

Modern Medicine

Heart to Heart with Hillary

A Slice of Thai History

Personal Directions

Women’s World

Family Money: In case you’re not immortal

By Leslie Wright,
Managing director of Westminster Portfolio Services (Thailand) Ltd.

I know I’ve written before about life and death and planning for the latter, but at least once a week someone comes to see me who has not done so, and has little idea how to do so – especially with regard to Thai assets and Thai laws and Thai wills.

The problems are often solved not by the one who dies who was too busy enjoying life to bother to make proper provision for his passing, but by those left behind holding the bag containing all the problems. And having to solve them at what inevitably is a very traumatic time is adding an unnecessary burden to your loved ones at a time they least need it.

Perhaps your local life-partner speaks good English and can make some sense of the various papers that come to light at this time. More often your partner will speak halting English and understand very little written English legalese. They may be lucky enough to have access to supportive friends, a qualified family lawyer, or an experienced financial adviser with a working knowledge of probate matters and finalising a person’s estate.

Also, there will be many among you who, having spent the latter decade or so overseas, are now on second families and, having set up with new Thai partners, have given little if any thought to the consequences that can befall a mixed-nationality household in the event of the early mortality of the main breadwinner, who will usually be the expat.

Foreigners spend much of their working lives creating wealth and hiding it from the taxman, so it is far preferable to spend a little time and money now to protect local partners and children, than to let government departments or distant relatives employing expensive law firms fight over the spoils by challenging agreements not enshrined in law.

Even more worrying and vastly more expensive, it could mean your estate could be tied up for years in legal battles – especially if your partnership exists as cohabitees or a marriage that does not legally exist as it received, perhaps, only a Buddhist or Christian blessing, without being registered at the Amphur. Such arrangements could easily be contested by overseas offspring from a former legalised marriage; despite the legitimate considerations of the Thai partner who might not understand complex legal jargon and whose knowledge of investments and financial affairs may be quite limited.

Putting these scenarios into context, expats everywhere should set themselves an agenda to tackle these important tasks sooner rather than later – while they are still able to do so, and protect their loved ones from trauma as far as is possible when they do eventually go.

Categorise & centralise your affairs: First, create a personal record card system of all your holdings: bank accounts, life insurance policies, mortgages, shares, bonds, pensions and other investments.

Each card should have the institution’s full address, telephone, FAX and e-mail contacts together with the name of a person to contact, and policy/account numbers and approximate encashment values.

These should be kept in a centralised file that can easily be found in an emergency. Short instructions – with Thai translations – on how to handle each file should be appended.

Deposit a “letter of wishes”: Expats can assist their foreign partners by leaving a letter with an embassy, trusted friend, lawyer or adviser. This would outline a series of steps you would wish to be followed should you die or become mortally incapacitated. It would also instruct your partner where to find financial files, where the wills are held, whom to contact for help and what to do next.

Power of attorney: As a double safeguard, expats should consider drafting a generalised and legally binding power of attorney in favour of your Thai partner, or, if you feel your Thai partner is fiscally unsophisticated, you can give a similar document to a trusted bi-lingual friend (who may be the Personal Representative whom you have to name in a Thai Will) clearly expressing your wishes as to what to do in the event of your unexpected demise. This person should be utterly trustworthy, and familiar with your assets and financial affairs. It should preferably be in both English and Thai and will enable them to deal with all eventualities.

Offshore bank account: Without doubt, all expats should have an Offshore Bank Account accompanied by an ATM card. In the event of death, all institutional monies can be paid into this account, to which the partner can have immediate and automatic access via the ATM-debit card network.

Have policies “written in trust”: Consider notifying investment houses that you want an in-house “trust” document drawn up nominating your life-partner and/or children. Alternatively, you can add them as co-beneficiaries. Signing an instruction as to where the monies should be paid reduces problems considerably.

Get professional help: Appoint a long established and trustworthy lawyer or financial adviser to assist your Thai partner in resolving all the issues involved. Agree in advance by way of a contract what you wish them to do and what the charges will be on an hourly basis. A total capped figure should also be agreed.

Last wills and testaments: These should be legally drafted in Thai and English, sealed, and held in a bank’s safety deposit box. Certified copies can be placed with lawyers both ‘back home’ and in Thailand.

But bear in mind that only a Will written in Thai is admissible in a Thai court: the one in English is for your convenience and information only. (More about this topic next week).

Carry an emergency S.O.S. card: It’s a very simple idea but makes sound practice. With an S.O.S. card written in both languages, authorities can easily notify friends, family, partners or lawyers should you get hit by a truck, baht bus, a piece of falling masonry, or Jumbo crossing the road to get home. In which event, all of the precautions taken above will kick in to protect the people you care about most – your loved ones.

You may be the luckiest guy in the world, but that doesn’t prevent you sitting next to the unluckiest guy in the world the next time you ride a baht bus or go flying.

(Next week: How Thai law affects your estate)

Snap Shot: Weird Edward Muybridge

by Harry Flashman

Photography can certainly bring out some of the real characters in this world. A couple of weeks back I brought Weegee to your notice, the man I like to call the father of photojournalism. He was the chap ready to photograph the body on the pavement, but I doubt if he would have been involved in holding a blanket to catch the jumper! Edweard Muybridge was another of these ‘characters’ and while decidedly eccentric he did further scientific knowledge and made the first cinema projector, so should be remembered fondly.

Edweard was born plain Edward Muggeridge in the UK in 1830 but emigrated to America in the early 1850’s and changed his name (as did a lot of other people emigrating in those days). Edward’s reasons were not stated.

In the 1860’s he took up photography and gained some fame as a topographical photographer and even published a book, “Scenery of the Yosemite Valley” in 1867, so Ansel Adams was not the only one to see the possibilities in the majestic landscapes.

However, it was the photography of motion that attracted Edweard. In 1872 he finally managed to successfully photograph a horse in motion showing that at certain times all four hooves are off the ground simultaneously. Unfortunately, immediately after that he was tried for murdering his wife’s lover but was acquitted. He was then sued for divorce by the distraught lady and finally widowed. All this kept Edweard away from his photography of motion for four years.

Returning to photography, with the millionaire railroad builder, Leland Stanford as his sponsor, Edweard developed a unique system in 1878 which was in reality 12 cameras mounted side by side and operated by trip wires. By the following year he had expanded this to 24 cameras and could thus take very short time interval photographs of horses, dogs, pigeons and goats in motion. This in turn led to photographing moving humans, despite enormous problems in getting people to walk past his battery of 24 cameras in the nude! However, by 1881 he published these in a book.

His next objective was to show these as motion and he invented the “Zoopraxiscope” which projected sequences of these photographs mounted on a glass disc to give the impression of true motion. This was in fact the world’s first cinema projector and preceded Thomas Edison’s “Kinetoscope” by some twelve years.

In 1882 Edweard went to Europe, hopeful of raising sponsorship to continue his photographic study of movement, but returned to America with empty pockets. He was then lucky enough to get backing from the University of Pennsylvania. They kept him alive while he photographed 2000 models, male and female, clothed and nude, as well as wild animals. When he ran out of models, he even used himself, taking his serial shots of himself walking up and down ramps. 20,000 photographs of almost 800 different subjects were published in a book called “Animal Locomotion” in 1887.

Once again, he was to run out of money for his grandiose schemes and tried selling the “Animal Locomotion” book at $100 a book. Needless to say it was not an overnight best seller.

This led our Edweard to new heights. He built a hall to demonstrate the Zoopraxiscope, called the Zoopraxographical Hall in the 1893 Chicago World’s Colombian Exhibition. This was the world’s first movie theatre and predated the Lumiere brothers “Cinematographe” presentations by three years.

Despite his inventiveness, the world did not beat a path to his studio and Edweard decided he had enough of this photography lark, returning to the UK, where he bequeathed all his photographic equipment to the local library. At the turn of the century he reprinted his original books, earning enough to eke out his last four years of life.

Of course, what Edweard did not realise was that almost 100 years later the scientific community would find that he had left them the most complete records of animal motion ever produced and in fact in 1979 his books were republished. It’s a weird world we live in!

Part Three: Declining Influence 1636-1688

by Duncan steam

In 1636, Prasatthong decided to renew Thai relations with the Portuguese, reasoning that having only the Dutch as allies was not necessarily in the best interests of Ayutthaya.

By this time, the Netherlands was established as the foremost commercial and maritime power in Europe, and Amsterdam was the financial centre of the world.

When Prasatthong died in August 1656, after a reign of almost 27 years, a struggle for control of the throne ensued. His son Chaofa Chai held the throne for just one day, the shortest in Thai history, but was then ousted by his younger brother Narai, who placed their uncle Sisuthammaracha in power.

His reign was also short-lived. Just two months later, in October, Narai had his uncle killed and usurped the throne for himself.

Joan Maetsuyker, VOC governor-general from 1653-1678, later noted that Ayutthaya remained stable under Narai and the king was “always implied to be favourably disposed toward the company, and we hoped that now he is on the throne he would persevere in his disposition but he seems to be flighty and inclined towards warfare...”

Trade increased markedly under Narai. In 1657, Thai textiles were sent to Manila aboard Narai’s Dutch-built royal vessel and exports to India and Japan increased. By 1661, after a break of 29 years, the English East India Company had re-opened their factory in Ayutthaya.

That same year, Narai twice ventured north with his army to attack the Burmese vassal state of Chiang Mai. In the first offensive Narai occupied Lampang but failed to take Chiang Mai and returned home. The second expedition succeeded in taking both Lampang and Chiang Mai, but a Burmese relief force compelled Narai to retire once more.

In March 1662, the Ayutthayan army once more occupied Chiang Mai and later that year Narai’s forces raided into lower Burma, striking as far as Martaban, Rangoon and Pegu before retiring with captives.

Around this time, relations between the Thais and the Dutch became strained after the Chinese successfully petitioned King Narai to lift the VOC monopoly on deer hides, and trade between Ayutthaya and the Portuguese increased.

A serious rift occurred when the Dutch stopped and checked the contents of a Portuguese ship in the Gulf of Tonkin and found goods on board belonging to King Narai. The Thai ruler became incensed at the Dutch action and ordered the VOC Ayutthaya factory closed.

The Dutch responded by sending three warships to blockade the mouth of the Chao Phrya River in August 1663. Narai soon realised he needed the Dutch and took steps to placate the VOC. Using his minister of trade as a scapegoat, Narai sacked the unfortunate official and publicly humiliated him, having the hapless man brought before him with a rope around his neck. A Muslim, the sacked minister was compelled to eat pork and covered in pork grease. Narai then offered to restore all rights and privileges to the VOC, including granting a partial monopoly on deer hides, and exclusive tin mining rights in Nakhon Si Thammarat (Ligor).

On 11 August 1664, Narai signed an agreement with the VOC that gave the latter the right to trade in Thailand free of restrictions but they were compelled to pay taxes. Thailand agreed to refrain from employing Chinese nationals on Thai ships and confirmed the VOC monopoly for the trade in deer and cow hides.

However, the one point imposed by the Dutch on the Thais and greatly resented was the clause introducing extraterritoriality. Employees of the VOC who committed a serious crime in Thailand, were to be handed over to the head of the Dutch East India Company, to be punished in accordance with Dutch law.

Soon after signing the treaty, Narai told the VOC he had agreed to the terms under duress. He subsequently refused to further restrict trade with China, saying that the Chinese were considered Thai citizens while they were in Ayutthaya. Narai also ordered the construction of fortifications at Bangkok and made peace with the Burmese.

Relations between Narai and the VOC remained unstable until the revolution of 1688 and the monarch’s death in July that same year. The Dutch were spared the expulsion of all Europeans that followed the revolution because they had remained neutral during the upheaval.