October 31, 2010

How the Search Engine Works ?

Search engine is the popular term for an information retrieval (IR) system. While researchers and developers take a broader view of IR systems, consumers think of them more in terms of what they want the systems to do — namely search the Web, or an intranet, or a database. Actually consumers would really prefer a finding engine, rather than a search engine.
Search engines match queries against an index that they create. The index consists of the words in each document, plus pointers to their locations within the documents. This is called an inverted file. A search engine or IR system comprises four essential modules:
  • A document processor
  • A query processor
  • A search and matching function
  • A ranking capability
While users focus on "search," the search and matching function is only one of the four modules. Each of these four modules may cause the expected or unexpected results that consumers get when they use a search engine. 




Source 

October 9, 2010

Writing Report


Assignment: Writing Report

Access to Library and Information Communication


Topic:
Is it safe for foreigners to own land in Thailand?





Prepared by:

Abdul Rahman Nawawi (53060790)

Willy Zogo (53059842)




To:

Dr. Namtip Wipawin





Sripatum University 2010/2011




 
Abstract:

This report investigates about the current law and regulation for foreigners to own land in Thailand. A brief history of current law and regulation and its operation is initially outlined. The discussion then focuses on the advantages and limitations of owning a property in Thailand. In recent years the market in Thailand has opened up somewhat to foreigners who wish to legitimately own properties. However, there are some grey areas and expats who continue with the structures they put in place some years ago might be in for a shock if they are challenged.








Introduction
Under the Thailand Civil and Commercial Code foreigners have the same property rights as are available for Thai nationals, however it is under the Land Code Act B.E. 2497 (1954) prohibited for foreigners to own land in Thailand. As ownership of land is an essential element of any real estate (land and house) ownership it leads to the conclusion that, besides an apartment in a condominium, there is NO freehold ownership of real estate (land and house) available for foreigners in Thailand.



Under the Thailand Land Code Act foreigners may own land under the provisions of a treaty, however the last treaty allowing foreigners to own land in Thailand was terminated in 1970 and there is currently NO treaty with any country allowing foreigners to acquire and own land in Thailand. In fact anyone who contravenes with the above section shall be punished with a fine not exceeding twenty thousand baht or an imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both (section 111 of the Land Code Act).



Table of Contents:

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………
Introduction………………………………………………………………………
Discussion:
·         Why invest in Thailand………………………………………………....
·         Can foreigners own land in Thailand?....................................................
·       A growing number of expats now own properties in Thailand.
Are you one of them and if so,
can you confidently say that you own your property legally?............
·       If you are one of these owners, how do you feel about it all now?......
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..
Recommendation……………………………………………………………….
References……………………………………………………………………….






Why invest in Thailand?
Thailand is a beautiful country with wonderful people and a pleasant climate. It has a stable government and a stable economy. It is reasonably foreigner friendly as far as buying/leasing land and setting up home. In most parts of the country, it is inexpensive for Americans, Australians and Europeans to buy land, buy or build a house and live here compared to a typical retirement destination such as Spain, France or Florida. Also, many people build or buy to rent out or use as an investment.
Hua Hin is currently experiencing a building boom unsurpassed in any other part of Thailand. Prices of land and property have in many cases more than doubled over the last 3/5 years and prices are still rising. It is possible to achieve up to 30% returns on investments per annum.


Can foreigners own land in Thailand?
The direct answer, unfortunately, is no, but there are ways foreigners can legally secure the right to use land and build or buy a house.
There are two preferred ways for foreigners to own land in Thailand.
  1. Buy the land in the name of a Thai person, usually your mate or someone you think you can trust, then lease it back for 30 years with an option to extend. Some developers already offer house sales using their own 30 year lease options.
  2. Start a Thai company in which you can own up to 49% of the shares and buy and own land through the company.

A growing number of expats now own properties in Thailand. Are you one of them and if so, can you confidently say that you own your property legally?
It is illegal for foreigners to own land in Thailand. As an expat you cannot own the land your house stands on. Strata title ownership is allowed. Most apartments and condominiums are strata title leasehold, allowing foreigners to own the units. However, the law caps ownership by non-Thais at 49% of the space in a given development. It thus does not follow that just because you find a leasehold condominium that you can automatically own a unit. The developer must obtain government approval to have a portion of the units foreign-owned and then there is a strict control over the allocation to ensure that majority Thai ownership is maintained. Developers have been known to be less than honest when it comes to this allocation. They have sometimes allocated space by means that the government disallows, and thus foreigners illegally own their units.
The maximum allowable lease term in Thailand is 30 years, which is considered short in the western world. Leases cannot be legally arranged to run consecutively, removing that option for you to secure a 60-year lease, even though in practice this is often exercised.

If you wish to own a house there is the question of land ownership. Some expats have their Thai spouses own the property. This does not give security to you as the effective owner. Joint ownership is not allowed.
Some systems have been developed for the ownership of land through a Thai company. This is allowable but does not actually give you full proof protection. You are only allowed to own the minority of shares in a local company. Thus you still only have up to 49% ownership of the property in practice. To get around this, arrangements are often made for shares to be held by nominees. Lawyers arrange for a company registration where the legal practice staff are the other Thai shareholders.
Until recently there were seven Thai shareholders required for a Thai company. This was recently reduced to three. So the fact is that 51% or more of your house is owned by a lawyer and his Thai staff; maybe a secretary, accountant and driver. If you cannot substantiate that the capital for their shares was actually paid from their individual bank accounts, then the company registrar may declare your company illegal.
It is commonplace for the company to have small paid-up capital. Once it is established you make a loan to the company in order that it may purchase the house and land. So, in a practical sense you may own say 45% of a company with capital of 2 million baht. Your share is thus 900,000 baht. You bought the house for, say, 6 million baht. So you made a loan to the company of, say, 5.3 million. The legal situation is that you own 900,000 shares in a company that you do not control and that company owes you 5.3 million baht in loans. So the other shareholders could decide to sell the house, pay a dividend to themselves and not repay the loan. You would then be obliged to start legal action against these Thai shareholders through a Thai lawyer to recover what was actually all yours in the first place.


If you are one of these owners, how do you feel about it all now?
One of the options is for you to have your Thai spouse or a trusted friend to own just the land. You could even structure a company to do this if you feel confident that you can get over any objections the government might have. Next, you lease the land for your exclusive use for 30 years. Then you buy the house. There is no law that stops you actually owning a building in Thailand. This will at least give you much more protection than the usual way foreigners are coerced into the company structure.
Many expats decide to buy their own homes here as they feel they want to spend the rest of their lives in Thailand. Others feel that an investment property will be a good opportunity for the future. Whatever your personal reason for ownership, make sure you plan well for the future and can make an appropriate exit if and when the time occurs.
There are more and more financing options becoming available to foreigners hoping to buy property in Thailand, and over the coming weeks we will be covering these in more detail.










Conclusion


Although property ownership in Thailand can be problematic, it is not impossible. You will however need three essential requirements:
(1) An ability to think outside of the box to construct a mechanism that best suits your needs;
(2) Plenty of patience; and
(3) Enough cash not to worry about the money you just invested in the Thai property.

It is the last of these you should keep in the forefront of your mind: never invest in Thai property more than you are willing to walk away from.








Recommendation

Exceptions to the Prohibition

1.      Board of Investment (BOI) incentives:

Sec. 27 of the Investment Promotion Act authorizes the Board of Investment (BOI) to grant a foreign owned company permission to own land for the purpose of conducting the promoted activity. The area of the land must be approved by the BOI, which will review the land and proposed construction plans to determine that the land's size is suitable for the promoted activity. The use of the land must be limited to the promoted activity, and if the promoted business is later dissolved the land must be sold within one year of the termination of that business. The BOI exception to the prohibition against foreigners owning land is primarily limited to the ownership of land and factory for a promoted manufacturing activity.

In addition to permitting foreign ownership of land for the purpose of conducting a promoted business, BOI privileges can authorize a foreign owned company to conduct business activities which would otherwise be prohibited under the Alien Business Law. Thus, the indirect impact of the Alien Business Law on foreign land ownership can be reduced under BOI privileges.

2. Condominium Act (No. 2) of 1990 (as amended April 27, 1999)

Sec. 19 of the amended Condominium Act authorizes qualified foreigners to own individual condominium units provided that the total area of foreign-owned units within the condominium project does not exceed 49 percent of the total area of all units within the project. In Bangkok and other municipalities to be designated in ministerial regulations, the 49% limitation does not apply. The following foreigners qualify for condominium unit ownership:

a. Individuals having permanent residence status in Thailand.

b. Individuals who have been permitted to enter Thailand under BOI privileges.

c. Juristic entities registered in Thailand but being classified as "foreign" under the Land Act.

d. Juristic entities, which have been granted investment privileges by the BOI.

e. Individuals or juristic entities, which have brought foreign currency into Thailand for the purpose of purchasing the condominium unit.

Strategies

Despite the broad scope of the prohibition on foreign ownership of land and condominiums in Thailand, and the narrow scope of the exceptions, a variety of tactics can be used to minimize the impact of the prohibitions. These include, for example:

a. Forming joint venture companies with majority Thai ownership but adequate safeguards for the foreign minority interest.

b. Long term leases with rights to renewal.


 
Reference:

R.Dubout.Rene-Philippe.2009. How to Safely Buy Real Estate In Thailand. TheEbookSale Publishing.Limerick Ireland

Fernquest. Jon September 08,2010. Is it safe for foreigners to own land in Thailand. Bangkok Post.


www.encyclopedia/ foreigners to own land in Thailand





October 4, 2010

EXERCISE 6

1. What is internet ?

 The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail.
Most traditional communications media including telephone, music, film, and television are being reshaped or redefined by the Internet. Newspaper, book and other print publishing are having to adapt to Web sites and blogging. The Internet has enabled or accelerated new forms of human interactions through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking. Online shopping has boomed both for major retail outlets and small artisans and traders. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect supply chains across entire industries.
The origins of the Internet reach back to the 1960s with both private and United States military research into robust, fault-tolerant, and distributed computer networks. The funding of a new U.S. backbone by the National Science Foundation, as well as private funding for other commercial backbones, led to worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies, and the merger of many networks. The commercialization of what was by then an international network in the mid 1990s resulted in its popularization and incorporation into virtually every aspect of modern human life. As of 2009, an estimated quarter of Earth's population used the services of the Internet.
The Internet has no centralized governance in either technological implementation or policies for access and usage; each constituent network sets its own standards. Only the overreaching definitions of the two principal name spaces in the Internet, the Internet Protocol address space and the Domain Name System, are directed by a maintainer organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The technical underpinning and standardization of the core protocols (IPv4 and IPv6) is an activity of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a non-profit organization of loosely affiliated international participants that anyone may associate with by contributing technical expertise.

Source


2. What is internet protocol? (IP Adress)


The Internet Protocol (IP) is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams (packets) across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite. Responsible for routing packets across network boundaries, it is the primary protocol that establishes the Internet.
IP is the primary protocol in the Internet Layer of the Internet Protocol Suite and has the task of delivering datagrams from the source host to the destination host solely based on their addresses. For this purpose, IP defines addressing methods and structures for datagram encapsulation.
Historically, IP was the connectionless datagram service in the original Transmission Control Program introduced by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn in 1974, the other being the connection-oriented Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). The Internet Protocol Suite is therefore often referred to as TCP/IP.
The first major version of IP, now referred to as Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) is the dominant protocol of the Internet, although the successor, Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is in active, growing deployment worldwide.

 Source

3.What is the OSI model?

7)  Application Layer : The application layer provider different services to the application. Example of services provided by this layer are file transfer, electronic messaging e-mail, virtual terminal access and network management.
6) Presentation Layer : The Presentation layer is responsible for protocol conversion, date encryption/decryption, Expanding graphics command and the date compression. This layer makes the communications between two host possible.
5) Session Layer : This layer is responsible for establishing the process-to-process communication between the host in the network. This layer is responsible for establishing and ending the sessions across the network. The interactive login is an example of services provided by this layer in which the connective are re-connected in care of any interruption.
4) Transport Layer : This layer is responsible for end-to-end delivers of messages between the networked hosts. It first divides the streams of data into chunks or packets before transmission and  then the receiving computer re-assembles the packets. It also guarantee error free data delivery without loss or duplications.
3) Network Layer : This layer is responsible for translating the logical network address and names into their physical address ( MAC address). This layer is also responsible for addressing, determining routes for sending and managing network problems such as packet switching, data congestion and routines.
2) Data Link Layer : Data link layer is responsible for controlling the error between adjacent nodes and transfer the frames to other computer via physical layer. Data link layer is used by hubs and switches for their operation.
1) Physical Layer : Physical  Layer is responsible for transmitting row bit stream over the physical cable. The physical layer defines the hardware items such as cables, cards, voltages etc.


Source



 4. What is internet infrastructure?

With the growth of the Internet for personal use (e.g. Facebook, Amazon, Google, Gmail) and business purposes (i.e.file storage, web applications, collaboration and communication, VOIP) I thought it would be useful to talk about what actually powers all these things. I have a secondary reason for this too – when a non-technical person asks me what I do for a living, I have yet to come up with a short simple answer that actually explains it!
First of all, let me define what I mean by ‘Internet Infrastructure’. All the hardware and services required to make this web page appear in your browser, or an RSS feed download into your reader, or VOIP calls / emails get to your desktop. All the underlying technologies that are unseen, but ‘make the Internet go’.
I see Internet Infrastructure consisting of a ‘Top 5′ areas :
  • Data Centres
  • Network Connectivity
  • Computer Equipment
  • Storage Services
  • Server Applications
Data Centre
A Data Centre is basically a specialist building that has the ability to power (and cool) massive amounts of computer equipment. Typically a Data Centre would also have a very large amount of network bandwidth to accommodate data transfer in and out of it. Data Centres are built as highly redundant and resilient facilities – at the base level – you would expect a Data Centre to have at least N+1 power (this likely comes as a local feed from the national electrical grid as ‘N’, and a backup generator for the ‘+1′).
The Data Centre is the home for Internet Infrastructure. It is the central point of aggregation and distribution of data and network services. These facilities tend to include:
- 24 x 7 Staffed Operations Centre (typically called a NOC, the staff monitor all activities of the Data Centre and ensure smooth operation as well as deal with equipment issues)
- Building Management System (the BMS normally monitors and alerts on temperature zones, power and cooling usage, outside temp., access control and CCTV)
- Secure Access Controls (i.e biometrics on all entry and DC floor doors)
- Fire Alarm and Suppression (ie. VESDA for detection and Inergen gas for suppression)
The unit of measurement for a Data Centre is space and power. How much space will the equipment require and how much power will it draw (which is effectively double that, as cooling a server takes about as much power as just having the device operating).
Network
Possibly to most important foundation block of Internet Infrastructure is the Network. Without a network connection no data can pass between Data Centres, over the Internet, and ultimately onto your Desktop, Laptop or Mobile Handset. For the purpose of this post, let’s talk about the network infrastructure in a Data Centre, where data passed in to computer equipment, is processed and/or stored, and passed back out of the DC.
So you would expect at least N+1 network connectivity into a Data Centre in the form of at least 2  Fibre Cables from telecommunications providers on diverse rings. Therefore if one had service cut, the Data Centre’s network connection would not be affected. Some data centres (Hosting365’s is one) are Carrier Neutral – which means a number of carriers have a Point-Of-Presence in the facility, so the Data Centre is not affected by any commercial or technical issues of a single carrier.
Next you would expect redundant switch gear in the Data Centre in separate racks so again if the switch gear failed, the other set of it would simply take over and no service interruption would be experienced.
The unit of measurement for network connectivity is megabits per second and available megabits on the carrier connection. There may be 1 Gigabit available but the DC may only be using, and paying for, 100 megabits. The ability to meet peak demand is important though, so Data Centres will have a lot more connectivity available than is required for daily operations.
Computer Equipment
Now that the two basics of Internet Infrastructure are in place – the ability to power your equipment, and the ability to connect it to the Internet, the next thing is the computer hardware that uses this to process and store the applications and data.
By computer equipment, for this basic post, I really mean Servers. A Server is a more complex and high-end version of a desktop PC. An average server might consist of 2 power supplies (for redundancy), 8-12 RAM slots, anything from 2-10 hard drive bays and multiple processors (not just multi-core!).
Servers are housed in Racks in a DC which are typically 42u in height.  (1U is 1-unit and a low-end server takes up just 1 of these units, other servers scale within these racks to multiple ‘U’). Racks are normally powered by 2 PDU (Power Distribution Units) which connect to (if available) multiple power supply units in the server.
A low-end installation may be only a single server, which is the simplest form of Internet Infrastructure. The server would be connected to the DC Power, the Network,  an OS and other required applications installed on it. Then it is ready to ‘power and push’ data on the Internet. More complex deployments would include pools of servers, with different applications on each one, or clusters of pools for multiple clusters with dedicated application requirements.
The unit of measure for Servers is Processor Power and RAM. Although there is a lot more to selecting a server such as expandability, reliability, network ports, BUS speed, Cache size and speed. Personally I would like the unit of measure in Servers to change, I think for buyers and users it should be rated in ‘MIPS’ – which is ‘Millions of Instructions Per Second’ which is effectively all that matters, and how today’s Mainframe computers (IBM BlueGene is a high end Mainframe) are measured.
Storage Services
Data Storage is a huge part of Internet Infrastructure. All those emails accessible online, all the web pages on your favourite web site, all those photos on Facebook … are all stored on a hard drive in a DC somewhere. The basic level of storage is on-server storage, which means the hard drives in the computer server. This can cause not just performance and capacity issues, but also redundancy ones – local storage is inherently as prone to failure as the server it is in.
It is common to use specific storage devices – such as Direct Attached Storage (a dedicated and dumb storage appliance connected direct to your server), Network Attached Storage (a storage device that can be accessed by multiple machines over a network connection, and independent of the server itself) and Storage Area Networks, which are high-end, resilient and redundant set-ups that give high performance levels and are very scalable. A Storage Area Network may be shared among many services, applications, servers and customers.
The unit of measure in storage is gigabytes (getting to be more commonly terabytes now) and IO’s per second (input-output read/writes the device can perform per second).
Server Applications
The final piece of underlying Internet Infrastructure is the server applications themselves. In order for an web application to be delivered from a server, that server requires an Operation System (typically Windows or Linux), a Web Server application (like Apache or Microsoft IIS), and a Database (such as MySQL, MS-SQL or Oracle). There any many more variations here, but the basic web server has these 3 things. From here you can install blog software, an ecommerce site, your new web 2.0 application, or any Internet capable piece of software (more include – Instant Messaging Server, File Storage Server, Message Board)
More complex applications tend to have dedicated servers, or pools or servers, for specific things – like a cluster of Database Servers, or a pool of Web Server to serve those ‘www.’ page requests. These may also have more complex network setup such as dedicated routers, load balancing and firewall devices (for traffic management and security respectively).


Source


5. What is Domain name?


A domain name is an identification label that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control on the Internet, based on the Domain Name System (DNS).
Domain names are used in various networking contexts and application-specific naming and addressing purposes. They are organized in subordinate levels (subdomains) of the DNS root domain, which is nameless. The first-level set of domain names are the top-level domains (TLDs), including the generic top-level domains (gTLDs), such as the prominent domains com, net and org, and the country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). Below these top-level domains in the DNS hierarchy are the second-level and third-level domain names that are typically open for reservation by end-users that wish to connect local area networks to the Internet, run web sites, or create other publicly accessible Internet resources. The registration of these domain names is usually administered by domain name registrars who sell their services to the public.



Source


6. What is world wide web? and its services?

The World Wide Web, abbreviated as WWW and commonly known as the Web, is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. With a web browser, one can view web pages that may contain text, images, videos, and other multimedia and navigate between them by using hyperlinks. Using concepts from earlier hypertext systems, English engineer and computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee, now the Director of the World Wide Web Consortium, wrote a proposal in March 1989 for what would eventually become the World Wide Web. At CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, Berners-Lee and Belgian computer scientist Robert Cailliau proposed in 1990 to use "HyperText [...] to link and access information of various kinds as a web of nodes in which the user can browse at will", and publicly introduced the project in December.

Source


7. how many current internet users in Thailand?

As of 2008, there were 16,100,000 Internet users in Thailand.


Source