Azul_Blanco

How is your spoken and written Thai? If you can get those up to scratch you will open many doors for yourself. What about savings? If you have them why not try a business? If you don't have them then you're probably not going to get them in your current situation and it's best to head back home for a bit. I've worked in Alaska a few times and in 6 months you can save a million baht. It's hard work but a few million baht will give you many options here.

Each time I went back home I knew exactly how much money I wanted to save and I did it as fast as possible. It's always nice to take a breather from Thailand anyway (I would say that for any country). I'm young too - late 20's - and am married to a Thai. I've never felt that I need to keep myself in any situation that I didn't want to be in and it's worked out fine.

My wife has been teaching Thai for about 3 years. She has a Bachelors degree in English. She only teaches private courses and has taught journalists, embassy staff, office managers and children of foreigners. I'm a bit biased but I think she is an excellent teacher. Her name is Hongsiri and her # is 09-884-1315.

I appreciate the links axl. That's great to hear about the tax being dropped. I'm having my wife call customs but just wanted to hear from some people that have done it.

I was recently looking at used boat prices in Thailand and the prices are terrible. I was born in Seattle and often return and can easily buy a boat there for 250,000 baht that would cost 1 million+ baht here. I know that importing a car is a real headache and that the taxes are prohibitive but I was wondering if anyone has imported a boat - if so, how did it go?

Hello,

I'm married with a Thai wife and am in my late 20's. I will be spending my life in Thailand and am considering using a bit of our money to start a rubber and or palm oil tree plantation.

We've found some large plots in the south (50-100rai) and it seems that we're looking at paying around 15,000 baht a rai. Trees will take 7+ years to start producing rubber but we're still quite young. Is anyone doing this or know much about it? A small but steady cash flow in the future is what we're after. I'm looking to diversify more and would like to own land with my wife. My wife's father has some smaller plots himself that he has planted with rubber trees and seems to be doing ok - his fulltime job is a shcool principal. I'm just trying to get some opinions from those that have done this. Was it a good idea for you? How are you doing? My wife's father is a great guy and will be a good resource in getting this done. He's a huge optimist though and it's hard to get negative responses from him. This would not be our main source of income but would hopefully suppliment what we make elsewhere. I was hoping someone could mention if they were actually doing ok with a 50-100rai plantation and also how "hands on" you have to be with a tree plantation. Thanks.

I'm 28 and currently have a BBA and a CELTA and am doing fine in Bangkok. I've been teaching for a year and am making about 55,000 a month including a few privates. Would a DELTA in the future increase this much? I'm married to a Thai and will be making my life in Thailand and would like to get myself as comfortable as possible. I'm hoping to move to the south in a few years (Had Yai area) and was wondering if anyone would reccomend doing a DELTA? Would it allow me to make much more money or have much better options than I currently have? Also, would a MBA from a Thai university be worth more or the same as a DELTA when considering teaching prospects?

Thanks.

I think 1 million is possible but why not make some quick money before you come over here? I was working as an accounting clerk in Seattle but found it hard to save much so before I came here I went up to Alaska and worked in fishing for 4 months. Saved about 1.2 million Baht in that time. The work was ###### but it's not as much ###### as you would have to go through to make 1.2 million Baht in Thailand. It's easy to get and keep jobs up there if you're willing to work hard.

I just finished a series of private Thai lessons and was really happy with my instructor. She lives downtownish and was able to come to my condo for the lessons in the evening. Her English was quite good too which helped a-lot as I was starting from scratch. I hope she wouldn't mind me posting her # (sure she wouldn't) 09-884-1315 her name is Hong.

I just finished a series of private Thai lessons and was really happy with my instructor. She lives downtownish and was able to come to my condo for the lessons in the evening. Her English was quite good too which helped a-lot as I was starting from scratch. I hope she wouldn't mind me posting her # (sure she wouldn't) 09-884-1315 her name is Hong.

sorry, wrong forum.

Spellbound - you really shouldn't take credit for your earlier posts - I'm not sure if BKK Phil was the first to come up with them but I saw all of these on his bangkokmouth.com over a year ago. Great website BTW. Anyway, If I was Thai for a day, I would go back to the construction company I just visited and ask for a new price quote.

Oh, new topic idea!

If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound? --- thought of that myself : )

thanks for the replies. I've found a company out of BKK that does very nice looking work - For anyone else looking for the same thing I've found these:

google search:

cvs thailand

Delice Thai Co Ltd.

real-estate-insider

they all look very nice.

thanks for the reply. Yes, a wood home is what I'm after. I've got land on a hill overlooking the ocean so flooding isn't an issue. And I've seen a few "100 year old" teak homes so I hope it can withstand the critters. As for pre-fab homes, it is my understanding that that is the way Thai's have been building these things for a long long time - craftsmen build it up and then assemble it on your lot. I've found a bunch of pre-fab places around Ayuthaya but have not been able to locate much in the far south ----- I contacted a few up north and they could not comprehend sending it that far south. As for the price, well the wife chips in what she can (which is a good portion) but I am footing most of the bill - I'm looking at spending around 2 mil. Anyone else done this? I'd really appreciate a PM from those that have or we can keep it going on the board for others.

Hello,

I have finally got my little plot of land near Had Yai (well my wife has it) and I want to build a Thai style wood home on it --- Thai on the outside, modernish on th inside. Has anyone had any experiences with pre-fab Thai homes or builders in this area? Also, for all those builders out there, is teak wood the only option or is there another (cheaper) wood that is similar? Thanks.

I've been looking some more and it appears that a Norsor does not allow me to buy the land but to rent/lease it. Thanks everyone for your help in the past. I think I got it cleared up.

I just did a few searches on the internet trying to find out what the differences between a Norsor and Chenot deed are. I was not able to find much (I did learn that Norsor is a popular last name though - google, oh well!) Can anyone give me a brief rundown of what each is? Thanks.

Thanks again Sunbelt - very helpful. My wife is here with me and really really wants me to use emoticons when I write (I do like to keep her happy) so here we go...

Oh, and before someone hops on me for saying that I want to own land... again, I mean with my Thai wife.

Hi Sunbelt.I took a quick peek at your website. It looks like what is offered is a rental of property+business. I'm more interested in owning the land fully or owning the land (larger plot) with a partner. Thanks for your suggestion though.

Thanks for responding. I'm not looking for high end property (about 4 million is my budget) but I'm only 29 and don't mind sitting on the property for a while. I am just trying to get some opinions about island property that is reasonably priced now but that will most likely see a good price increase in 10 years. I'm going to Koh Chang next week to look at a few. Any other ideas? I've already "missed the boat" with Samui and Phuket. Thanks.

Hello,

Just hoping for some opinions on real-estate investment around the Islands. I'm starting to search around for a decent plot of land on or near the beach (about 2 rai) and was hoping for some opinions on the current market. I've found Koh Phangan and Koh Chang to be reasonable but would appreciate any other thoughts. I am sure there is still some good islands/areas that are available. It would just be nice to have a short list that I can run around the country with and check out what is available.

Also, I do have a Thai wife and know about the rules/regulations involved with buying land in Thailand - just fishing for some opinions about location/market. I appreciate any thoughts.Thanks!

Thanks for the reply. I know I am only getting opinions out of this topic. There are too many factors involved in opening this business to get anything more than a rough opinion from people. I'm getting ready to go ahead with this but just wanted to see if anyone would vote for --- You fool! (slap slap slap) and find out why they thought this is such a bad idea. I'm hoping for the best. thanks.

Hello,

This is going to be a bit long winded so I appreciate you taking the time to read it. I've managed to save a decent amount of money and I am getting ready to open an English nursery in Bangkok (Bang-na) and was just hoping to get some opinions from some long timers. A bit about me and what I am hoping to do:

I am 27 and have been teaching young children in Thialand for 1.5 years (I have 3 years of nursery experience back in the states). I really do enjoy teaching children and would like to be an active part of the school's staff.

I have a house in Bang Na lined up for this (80 talang wah, 6 room house - which I will own) and am looking at spending an additional million baht to turn it into a nursery.

I am doing this business with my Thai wife and (I hope) I have a decent understanding about the red tape involved.

My goal is a small scale nursery - about 20 children.

So my question is, do you think this would be a good idea or in your opinion is the market over saturated with this kind of operation? Might you try this if you were my age with decent savings?

I have given this considerable thought and time already but am always thankful for other opinions.

I would not worry at all about the legal aspects (work permit etc.) Unless you wear a shirt with "I'm an illegal contract employee" written in Thai then nobody will bother with you. There are tons of people who are working illegally in Thailand as the government often makes it difficult to work legally. The police don't wast too much energy tracking you down if you have a white face. I'm not even sure what you're doing would be illegal as you are not taking a job away from a Thai. You are just doing you old job for an American company. For you, your biggest worry would be that pain in the ass visa run but you should be able to sort out a nice multiple entery visa BEFORE you arrive here. Sounds like you're in a great postition. Enjoy!

I've been to India 3 times on 6 month visas -- no problem at all to get them, I think the cost was around 50USD. I've got 1 in the states, 1 in Romania, and one in Nepal and it was painless to get the visa at each location.