SGD

5 minutes ago, Rael007 said:

Looking out for how things will be later this year or even next year, but as far as right now is concerned, speaking from personal experience:  

 

I have a great condo in a desired area of Bangkok.  It's in excellent condition and currently unoccupied though fully furnished.  I've owned it for five years and I'm now trying to sell it for a VERY reasonable price.  It is being marketed on many different websites and I've enlisted several agents.  Yet, there has been zero - that's ZERO - interest.  (which is more or less what I expected in the current climate).

 

So if this is a "golden opportunity" for those looking to get nice condos in nice areas for good deals - I've yet to experience that.   I think this is a lot of PR spin.  Like, "Come to the Fyre Festival; it's going to be the greatest music festival ever!"

Sorry to give you the wake up call but if it was priced well, it would have generated interest and would probably have sold.

If your neighbours have theirs advertised for 150k per sqm it doesn't mean yours is worth 150k per sqm because theirs is simply overpriced. The price to move it in this market is perhaps 50k per sqm but you would think that stupidly undervalued. Yet that is the market price.

You may get more in the future and you will if the baht FX rates improve but contrast this. I have a near 100sqm condo in central London which is worth perhaps £1m. That makes it about £10k per sqm. You have your Bt200k per sqm condo in Bangkok which you think is worth £5k per sqm.

In which universe is London only worth twice the price of Bangkok ?

Can the Thai brain cope with 120kph because it doesn't seem able to cope with 110kph now.

19 hours ago, golfpro47 said:

I have lived in Thailand 25 Years and Cambodia was my bolt hole when I needed a change , I visited many many times,usually for 1-2 weeks and always enjoyed my time there,the biggest mistake I made was moving over to Phnom Penh Full  time.Looking  for what I call a decent Condo/Apartment to Rent the ones I viewed were in the 450 600US,I had looked at what Barang were calling good Condos at 300-350US and they were shocking couldn’t believe how some Barang were living. I settled on a playyyce just over 2klms from the City Center,a brand new Building Furnished,they were looking for 650US I offered to pay 550US 6Months in advance and got it for that.

 I didn’t find the food to bad(except the street food)plenty of Euro Restaurants prices decent,but really missed Thai Food.

what surprises me are that most of the comments by people who have lived there  or have visited regularly is they nearly all say cheap beer,cheap and ready available drugs,I often wonder what kind of life they lead when they are the first 2 things they mention.

After about 6Months I was getting bored,relief was my Work as I was Working all around Asia,so at about 9-10 Months I decided I had had enough and moved back to Thailand.

Most of my friends I had there have also departed,some to Thailand,Vietnam and some back to Europe, I am told by people I still know there that they are also considering leaving,they are fed up with the usual things,dirty,attitude,Crime more prevalent and far to many Chinese now with there bad attitude,and of course getting more expensive.

Did I enjoy my long stay there no,did I enjoy my frequent visits prior to moving there most definitely,but my experience living there and the stories I am being told, I am glad I left when I did, I made a big mistake moving there and as such I have never been back.

Most guys reach for a beer with one hand and a girl with the other and they can apologise for anything and live in squalor if those needs are met.

I see guys living in Pattaya in rooms that girls today would be ashamed to live in. Cheap is good, cheap trumps all other questions.

Not often this question is sensibly asked and less so sensibly answered.

I am not tied to Thailand but I have never lived in Cambodia or Vietnam and haven't even been to Laos.

I have no desire for malls, no need for golf, eating local is fine though I do like spicy and I am content without 5* luxury. Medical is an issue but insurance and a couple of Plan Bs cover most of that.

Sadly, I cannot roll back the clock to the Thailand I fell in love with. The people have changed and the landscape pillaged for profit. I see that happening everywhere and nowhere is immune.

I study this argument with interest as I want to go to these places for a month or two but as I still have business in Europe then I am constrained by the amount of time I can get away in one trip and that is what, more than anything, makes me return to Thailand as I can relax on day one.

With so little time, were I to make plans say to go to Cambodia, then if I didn't want to stay there, I would have lost so much of my precious holiday getting back to Thailand and if I stayed there, then I would probably regret not going to Thailand - oh for days past when you could border hop at will ????

Yet I am aware that I could see myself asking the same question in 5 years time and regretting not going.

However, as I move toward retirement, I do want a real relationship again. That seems to preclude Laos but not Cambodia and presumably not the Philippines, which is also on the "spend a month or two there" list.

If I may ask a tag on question which I think has some relevance.

If I bring in 5m and get a FET and purchase a condo and then sell it for 10m but I wish to buy a new condo at 10m, is this an issue with my original FET only being for 5m and there being a period of time between the first purchase and the second purchase.

It would seem illogical to have to bring in another 5m (or to send the second 5m or even the whole 10m on a holiday outside Thailand) but hey, TIT ????

You are only part way to the holy grail of answers.

Thailand treats income earned more than 12 months ago as capital and not income. This is key to the wider picture because of the dual taxation treaty, which also works when there is no tax to pay in the UK and hence, no tax to pay in Thailand.

You need to consider the issue of first VAT, then corporation tax and finally personal taxes on dividends over certain levels, which would give rise to personal taxation in the UK were they paid in the UK.

The whole answer is complex and needs careful understanding because the actual answer is very much dependent upon the sums involved, the time period you are thinking about and whether funds not taken out of a company can be better used than paying dividends and thus accruing tax liabilities.

If the numbers are small, you can self educate. If the numbers are more than £50k and less than £100/250k per year then you can get a mix of self education and professional advice. If over £100/250k then get advice.

14 hours ago, JoePai said:

Thought they said no more of this type of promotion as so much money had been scammed ?

Clearly they haven't scammed enough ????

The ownership versus rent debate is well known but all those crowing about rent saved and profits made are kindly forgetting that those who chose to rent (as opposed to those forced to rent) have kept their capital liquid and presumably invested and not hidden under he bed.

Chances are that dividend income and capital growth of said retained capital are higher than the rent saved and theoretical profit to be made from turning an illiquid Pattaya property back into money.

I am on the fence. I own and have rented but were I looking now for a single property to live in, it would have to be realistically priced (as some are) or I would take a long lease (2/3 years) on a heavily discounted luxury place.

Any purchase would have to made with a quasi yield to redemption basis of it not having any residual value and the enjoyment of the purchase being the sole reason for doing so.

6 hours ago, philba said:

Have a look at Arcadia Resort.

Lovely pools.

Pools look pretty good but only two configurations. Shoebox 25sqm or 50sqm where they cram in 2 bedrooms.

3 hours ago, wolf81 said:

View Talay 5 was nice imho, but can be hot in afternoon. Large square, great for making laps.

Agreed. less "resort" like than VT2 but decent contender. Issue (if applicable) about it being a ghost condo remain though.

5 hours ago, Nanaplaza666 said:

Just bought 1 in Dusit grand , good prices at the moment . A lot of square meters for your money and nice pool with enough sun . It's just of theppasit road about 2 kilometers to the beach .

Really at 60k plus per sqm ?

10 hours ago, jacko45k said:

What is wrong with the VT 5 buildings which are close to the beach and Thrappaya?

Fundamentally nothing wrong with it, except a bit overshadowed at times. I've stayed there and at night, it is a ghost town, well before Covid.

VT1, 2, even 3 are far more residential whilst 5 and up seem to have been bought by investors and are often 90% plus empty.

11 hours ago, walt1 said:

For my tastes it's hard to beat VT2.  In Pattaya the VT6 is OK.

Agreed, VT6 is ok and the development has good location, if higher priced than alternatives

My understanding is that whilst you can get divorced in Thailand, if you have been married for more than 12 months that will not be accepted by the UK courts and you would need to go through the process in the UK and thus the Thai stuff would be a waste of time, though you could complete it to make things legal in Thailand without having to go through the hoops of having an Amphur recognise a UK divorce.

I think if you Google this for the UK you will come up with this answer because that is where I got it from, some official government page, not from a internet forum.

First and last is a well used term for private rentals.

You put up two months rent to secure the property but you use one of those to pay the first month's rent and the last to pay the final month's rent, meaning that the landlord does not have to find money to refund any deposit.

Of course this leaves the landlord with no security in the last month which is why you will not see this written into modern contracts or with agents but it is still accepted practice as I know, having done this myself, from a tenant's perspective.

The start of the problem here is the contract your landlord agreed with the agent. A vast majority of standard contracts give the agent a further commission for extensions and often that is paid upfront, for the whole of the contract term, at renewal, which if say it was one month, would be covered by part of your deposit. In effect, your landlord is only getting 11 month's rent each year and the agent is collecting 1 month.

Therefore, the owner cannot vary this without putting themselves in a difficult position.

However, there is no law which states an extension has to be annual, even if the first contract was annual, unless that is an express provision in your original agreement, which you should have and could have objected to.

If you do not sign a new contract but simply continue to pay monthly, then that is also legal and the agent cannot force you out. However, they could put pressure on an inexperienced landlord who does not know what his true options are.

Your deposit is not at further risk because you do not sign an annual extension.

You can counter offer of course, stating that you will sign for another year but with a break clause only on your side at say 6 months, with 1 month's notice. This gives you security and flexibility but agents don't like it because they may have to pay back a commission if you leave early. The way round this is for you to make sure that the agent takes the commission on a monthly basis and does not request it up front.

Even if you stay, you can have a brand new contract drawn up. It does not have to be an extension of the existing one. The landlord can do the same with the agent.

On 2/11/2021 at 10:09 AM, blackcab said:

Q: Can we have a lien registered on the chanote, to "secure" our downpayment?

A: No. The property already has a mortgage registered against it, so no further encumbrance can be added without the permission of the original mortgagor. The original mortgagor will never agree to this.

The rights of a first charge holder are not in any way diminished by any subsequent charges as they rank in order after the preceding charge has been paid in full.

No legal or risk argument against multiple 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. mortgages. The risk is wholly with those not holding a first charge.

On 3/7/2021 at 7:20 AM, rcuthbert said:

Universe is a good deal.  2 squat racks, lots of dumbbells, two heavy bags, and it is well ventilated. It is a gay hangout, and very few gals train there, but it is a good functional iron house for focused training.

Thanks but not interested in Muscle Beach or gay hangout places.

On 3/6/2021 at 6:33 AM, suhoaswhas said:

I guess that you are such a champion that you need great quality gym...

Not at all. I just want to train in the best gym there is because I like new and maintained equipment, knowledgeable staff, a clean and air-conditioned environment and great facilities.

I used to train here, if you want a reference of what I am used to: https://www.thirdspace.london/canary-wharf/