khunPer

Both my savins accounts in Bangkok Bank and SCB pays interest.

In Maenam soi 3 on the land side. Price is for one year rent; i.e., 60,000 baht.

Not many condos on Samui, normally you rent a bungalow, which is possible for long term agreement from around 5,000 baht per month depending of size, fittings and location. For 20,000 baht per month you have plenty of possibilities. There are many places on Samui where you can walk to both 7-Eleven and 24 hour open super markets; and with affordable restaurants in the neighbourhood. Lamui, which has been mentioned, is one option. Others are Ban Rak-area; Bo Phut beah-area and Maenam. Also Bang Por begins to be of interest. The main tourist destination Chaweng Beach is mainly hotels and resorts, shopping and some nightlife; while the southern part and Chaweng Noi-area might be interesting also to check out. Google Maps' Street View is an excellent help to get a visual impression. Then, when checking the island out, try to live for some days or a weeks time in areas of prior interest, and feel what its like in real life. A benefit on Samui is that you easily can find accommodation in walking distance to a beach – and for up to 30,000 baht a month you can actually live very near – however, there are not many guarded accommodation available; probably because we don't have much crime on the island. I've been living permanent on the island since 2006. I stay in Maenam, where you can find bungalows or other accommodation within your budget between 100 meters and a few hundred meters from the beach. Also within a few hundred meters you can find numerous 7-Eleven stores; a variety of super markets like Lotus's Fresh, Mini BigC and Tops Daily; plenty of (affordable) restaurants; some few pubs and bars; and lots of other shops, laundry and local markets. You can easily do both daily shopping and dining out without need of your own transportation. Other areas are close to the same. In Lamai you'll find both a Lotus's shopping mall and a nice large Makro hyper mart close by – Makro on Samui is orientated into good food and catering, supplier to the many, of not most, of the many-star hotels; there is also a similar Makro hyper mart in Bo Phut – however, the Lamai beach-road-area is quite touristed and can be a bit noisy, but have plenty of restaurants and numerous bars. There are ATM – sometimes more than one brand – by most convenience stores. If buying a car, your have further options for nice areas to live in. For me, Samui is as the sign by the ferry harbour, Paradise. My best choice ever was to settle here – and I did check Hua Hin, Phuket and Pattaya-area before making my decision...

First and most important thing to consider is that you cannot own the land under your house. Your status in US, green cards and citizenships have no value in Thailand, only your Thai wife can own the land. Secondly, you shall remember the good old advice: "Never invest more money in Thailand than you can afford to lose". Thirdly, if it is your money flowing into land and future house, you might need some level of protection. Be aware of that any agreement between husband and wife can be terminated. So, if you need any protection – like a usufruct registration on the land title deed – it shall be done before the land is transferred into your wife's name. You can also protect yourself with a registered loan, but again, it shall be before the deed is transferred to a spuse. That brings up "title deed". The 10 rai land you buy shall be of "Nor soor 4" title, often named as "Chanote", eventual "Nor Sor 3" title, which can be upgraded to Nor Sor 4 title. Only Nor Sor 4 title is full ownership. If it's a lower title deed, you need to be sure that the land cannot only be used for farming. You need a building permission – however, in some rural areas houses might be build without one, but I'll not recomment to build without one – and an architect will normally be able to clear all the legal stuff for you. You can be owner of a new built house – but as said earlier, not the land under it – for which you need to begin with a permission from the land owner, which could be a superficies-agreement. It's the "tessa ban" local office that issue building permission, and later gives you a house number and a "blue house book" in which Thai-residents are registered. All architect drawings, construction contracts and payments need to be in your name, as theese documents are you proof of ownership. Costs for a house depends of choice of materials and escpecially finish. As a hand rule you can count around 15,000 baht per square meter (10 square feet). A house in Western-level quality would rather be around 30,000 baht or little more per square meter. Luxury costs more than the double of that. A pool is often calculated as 1 million baht, but depends of size and finish (tiles). For solar panel, check other threads in AN-forums, there are numerous about solar panel, installation, benefits and costs. So, 150 square meters house with a pool might cost from a level around 3 million baht and up. A few advices from my experience with building a house in Thailand: Use areated congrete for walls for better insulation and lower power costs for aircon. Preferabkly double walls, which also will cover any visual parts of posts. The extra cost for this is easily earned back by lower power expenses and better indoor climate. Use "water proof" concrete to avoid cracks in posts, decks and plaster. The surcharge for water proof additive is only a few hundred baht per cubic meter. Get a separate quote from SCG/HomeMart's "roof experts" for roof construction. The will make a detailed drawing and give you quotes for free. They use galnanized steel construction, which means both a lighter roof and better rust protection. A water-proof roof is a must for a good house, and doing so requires more than placing some plates or tiles on a steel construction. Get a heat insulation foil under the roof tiles. Furthermore, avoid cement on a roof, cement cracks and water runs down. Preferably select "Neu Style" or similar roof tiles for best water protection. SCG's team will do it all and give you a 5-year warranty – a local building construction might have disappeared when you new roof leaks after one year – SCG/HomeMart is most likely still around. Make sure that sewers-pipes are big enough and have no 90° angles – only 45° – and correct fall to a drain well. Normally you will get 2" pipes for kitchen and shower, but 3" would be preferred for kitchen where Thai food with lots of oil is made. If you get longer stretch of sewer-pipes, make an 45° opening with a scew-cover, so you can mechanically clean the pipe with a spring, instead of banging a cement deck up to find where the pipe is blocked. Remember, in Thailand, you are a certified plumber, when you can cut and glue two blue pipes together...👍 Let (water proof) wall-plaster cure (dry) for at least one month – preferably three – before painting. Use sandpaper to remove looser particles off the surface before start painting: it's actually an easy job with great benefit. Make sure you get a good quality primer painted twice, before color. Preferabky use three colordecks outdoor. Don't save on paint, if you do will need to repaint the outside of the house after a few years. Use semi-gloss outdoor paint, it will fade in gloss after a year or even a few month, but gives you a long-term better surface protection. Don't make any too advanced stuff in house design, build a house in Thai-way-of-building. As my Thai architect said: "We can draw anything, but that doesn't mean you can built it!" Construction workers are uneducated – however, many have some experience from construction jobs – so, it basically up to a good forman to get a good built house. Therefore, make sure the foreman understand and know what he is doing. Aluminum window frames are good; if you choose wood it has to be very hard wood, which is expensice but worth the costs instead of doors and windows that cannot open in the wet-season and cannot close in the dry-season. It also counts for internal doors. If you wish to save money, than indoor plstic-doors are an alternative. Aluminum has the advantage that many locals can make them so the fit the holes in your house. Bying vinyl doors and windows on steel-frame are limited to the size from factories. If you are considering a European-style kitchen, then be aware of both humidity and termites – the latter loves the European gormet-dish – and if you are expecting to make Thai food, consider an outdorr or semi-open kitchan for that; i.e., you might wish two kichens. For pool, make sure you have easy access to pump(s) and sand filter. You will need to both maintain and exchange the stuff. You don't need to buy the most expensive imported pump, a cheap one can do the job and might even last longer than the three times more expensive imported. In general, think of maintenance and service. It's you that are going to do it – or find some that can do it for you – so make your life easy. I wish you good luck with your project...

Wow, I didn't even know that my government offers interest free loans... Many thanks for the tip, it's worth using...

You need the green book to register owner, pay tax and mandatory insurance. Without green book the scooter is both worthless and illegal. So, don't buy it.

So, can we presume that "elite tourists" is a now replacement of the former expression "quality tourists"... It's excellent business to focus on guests that can both afford and are willing to pay a high price for outstanding service, but you must also supply "outstanding service" to get the price, which includes that infrastructure etc. also are in the higher "elite quality" level.

I use coconut oil, healthy and fat as ghee. Don't need much oil for frying vegetables. You can steam them instead, or just put them in boiling water till the water boild again, if you like them crispy.

If you girlfriend use a public hospital, then it's free when being a Thai citizen. Some medicine might be extra at a low price. You can a most places rent a VIP-room for an extra fee. It's a private en-suite room, often with space where a relative can stay. There might be more than one VIP-level. It will cost from around 1,000 baht per day for the cheapest level and up to a around 5,000 baht per day; the latter is for the most expensive where I stay. If your girlfriend pays social security at her work, she might have a registered hospital. She will also be eligible for some pregnancy-care. You can read more in the English language leaflet HERE (pdf). [Edit: Seems like ASEAN NOW won't accept the link, so I give it here without ht...:// prefix and with spaces to be removed: ohrm. au. edu/ images/ service/ WelfareBenefits/ SSO_English. pdf ] When my girlfriend was pregnant we used a private clinic for monthly check-ups, it was quite affordable. If you opt for a private hospital, childbirth can be quite expensive.

Any ladies – not only Thais – with hairy legs are among the "turn off"-group...

Your limit is actually higher, as you have a personal deduction of 60,000 baht – 90,000 baht if you are retired – and 150,000 baht before taxable income; so, between 210,000 baht and 240,000 baht before you are income taxed. We don't know details – apart from starting 1st Januar 2024; i.e., last year as I'm replying in 2025 – but foreign transfers might be checked or reported. Furthermore, youy might still need to report an annual tax return-form. Hopefully we shall get details before the end of March, which is the limit for making tax return-form that is now done online.

Yes, Thais do indeed drink red Fanta, but preferably mixed with lao khao – local white spirit – the red Fanta actually makes the lao khao reasonable drinkable. Red Fanta with lao khao spirit is kindly offered to songkran humanlike spirits – look at the pale red color, it's hasip/hasip mix... For the spirit house servings there are answers, like "blood" and especially that young ghosts – i.e. children – likes the sweet strawberry taste. The habbit began with sweet red drinks – they are still used, the small plastic containers with a straw in my photo – and later carbonated stuff seems to be preferred by the aetheral beings; especially Fanta seems more in the ghosts' favour than the local Est-competitor, based on my statistic counts in front of several checked spirit-homes...

If this is not one of the two vets you have visited, you should try to give them a call and ask...

Hasip/hasip – both meaning and pleasure – "The purpose of our lives is to be happy"...

For data (only) I use AIS, they have a "5G max unlimited" SIM for around 1,200 baht per month; it of course also works with 3G and 4G...

Many dogs live from dry food, it's stated to include all necessary needs for a dog. However, all dry-food are not all the same. If a dog has a choice, it might select special brand-names or taste (smell). I think it's a pitty for a dog to get same food every single day – I would also be sad without a bit of variation – so I feed my Thai soi dogs with variated food. Remember, that a soi dog won't eat the same food all the time, when it is serching itself for something to eat. However, I do use dry food as a base – just like a human for example will use rice as a base – which might also give the dogs necessary vitamins etc. I buy minced chicken, which is about same price per kg as dry food, fry it in vegetable oil, divide it in samller portions – about 150 gram, but that might be depending of the size of the dog, mine are between 15 kg and 20 kg – and freeze it. For variation I use a small can of Mackarel in tomato – Makro sells own brand for about 11-12 baht a can – and boiled small soup rib-bones. If you only serve dry food for a dog, you need to add a bit og oil – or fat – otherwise their skin and fur might get too dry. I don't mix the "home made gourmet-dishes" with dryfood – dogs will try to separagted with the best parts to be eaten first, in case they get full – so I serve it separated in the bowl. Dry food-size is one cup. The best part – the home made food – is always eaten first. Some times a bit dry food is left, which shows that the dog is full. You can try different amounts of dry food and by that way find out, when it's enough. Bones are good to keep the dog's teeths in good condition, alternatively can be used teeth-cleaning goodie. Remember, you shall not give chicken-bones to a dog, it can kill them. A variation can be the mackerel in tomato, mashed and mixed with left over rice from dinner. It needs to be mixed, as boiled rice itself is not preferred food for dog; you never see a natural dog running around carrying a a rice-cooker...😉 I've always – also in my home country – only been feeding my dogs one time a day, which was recommended by their breeders and trainers at home. However, they get a goodie now and then, when deserving it for good behavior. They also get a goodie-stick as desert after dinner, and will nicely sit a wait for it; sometimes a bit of dry food is left to be eaten after the desert goodie. A goodie and your voice pitch is an excellent way to train a dog to follow your commands. Also goodies are different taste, so it's both a question of finding the right brand or type, and what the dog gets used to; sometimes it takes a little while for a net dog to get used to the house's gourmet-menu.

When I did it for my half Thai daughter, we used a translator and got the translation legalized by the Thai Foreign Office in Bangkok. The latter could be done with EMS after prior arrangement with the office. You might today need to use an authorized translator with an approved rubber stamp.

No problem, Thaksin is the government...

You pay tax of the sales price based on the period it's owned. Your tax could be in the area of up to around 180,000 baht, depending of house book registration, in a project and and appraised value. There is a property tax calculator HERE.

'Dad-Supported' seems like a quite correct expression...https://assets.aseannow.com/forum/uploads/emoticons/whistling.gif

Every opportunity for celebration must be taken advantage of... According to Visa, Thais spend more money on Xmas than any other holiday...

Surprise...

It is as I said: "If you stay for 180 days or longer in Thailand within a tax-year (calendar year), you are fully income taxable to Thailand." If you stay 180 days during a number of shorter periods within a tax-year on whatever visa, you are in principle liable as tax-resident; it's the same in numerous countries around the World.

If you are not aware of local traffic laws, you should not drive in that place. Unfortunately a number of younger foreigners on Samui seems to forget about traffic laws and good behaviour in traffic, so they don't harm others.

Not to my knowledge. There were talks about it some years ago, but that was for migrant workers from neighbouring countries. However, there are a number of Thai insurance companies that have relative affordable plans which can cover many, if not most, costs at government hospitals.