eljeque

People here are much more interested in complaining about being victimized by perceived racially based dual pricing then learning basic Adam Smith economics. I think is due to the fact so many farangs come from protected economies and have never experienced the free market as practiced in Asia.

tH

"The markets in Asia are not free."

There is no shortage of townhouses available here on this West side of Sukhumvit.

Keep looking to find the most motivated seller for a unit which you like.

A market is made up of hundreds ofbuyers and sellers.

There are-and will be more very motivated sellers here as the world economy slows.

There is no need to grab something now.

There will always be another equally wonderful townhouse for you to purchase from an even more motivated seller.

Cashier's check or personal check. Siam Commercial Bank, or any bank where he has an account will genrally tell him 45 days, but will in fact have the funds available in his account in about 21 days.

The fee will be in the 500 baht to 1,000 baht range.

He does not make the deposit in the normal deposit and withdrawal line, but in the international exchange desk.

Sorry Poshthai, Agents cannot bump up prices at a whim. Prices, more often than not, are set by the owner.

Also, please bear in mind that Pattaya is a real international market. It does not seem to matter what is happening in the rest of the world, there will always be buyers in this town. Yes, it is quieter right now than i can remember it being over the last 2 years but there are still people coming into the office and we are still selling units.

I have had lots of agents over the past 18 years change the prices of my units upward.

My accountant charges the same prices.

Do not go to a lawyer. he will simply give the work to an acountant and then charge you a fee for the service.

PM me if you would like an accountant in pattaya whom I have used fo 18 years

In the price range you mentioned:

Look at Park Lane on Soi Watboon in Jomtien, 50 meters from the beach.

About 1 - 1.2 M for 34 meters new buildings going up.

Another place

Mountain Sea View Condos (or something like that)

You cannot see the mountains, may the sea a little (800 meters from the beach and 300 meters up another Soi, but for 32 meters, 880,000 baht, it is very reasoably priced.

PM me for details if you like

FOR PRICES: for 1.8M there are new condos (64 meters) going up 800 meters from Jomtien beach off Soi Chaiyapruk, or for 1M there are other 32 meter condos being built on Soi Watboon in Jomtien.

If you have to own property now, because it is in your bood, consider buying a property fund investment.

Being an absentee owner OVERSEAS is no fun.

I will likely retire outside of US, partly because of the cost of living in US, but mostly because I want to. I will eventually get both my Social Security and Private Pension, roughly $2000 US per month.

The odds are good I'll retire in LOS, but it's not for sure. With all the expertise here, I'm curious about some options I'm considering. Retirement is 10-15 years away.

Is $2,000 / month th amount in 15 years, or th amount now, and there will be cost-of-living increases over the next 15 years. $2,000 in 15 years is about $1,000 today which is not enough to comfortably live in Pattaya/Bangkok for 95% of the foreigners here.

1) Don't buy a condo in Thailand. Save as much money as I can and rent for a while after I retire. Maybe never buy, just rent.

Do not buy property if you do not live here. The idea that month after month you will be able to keep it rented and not get it trashed, and that the month to month rent will be a good return on your investment, is a risk bet. I think that in 10-15 years, prices will definitely go up a great deal in both dollars and baht, but you could invest elsewhere with less risk and worry. AND when something goes wrong like a tenant trashes the place and new furniture needs to be bought, you will not have to fly out to take care of it. The only thing the agents take care of is themselves. Deposits go missing, the agents are not bonded, etc.

2) Buy something not too expensive, say around 1-2 million Baht. Use it when I visit Thailand.

This means it is not being used when you are not here.... for about 10 months of the year. So, 10 months of the year you are receiving no return on your investment other than some price increases in the property which should rise with inflation.

Sell if I decide later not to retire in Thailand.

Property in Thailand is an illiquid investment. It is like a rare coin. It may be worth $1,000 to a collector, but it is worth only the metal content to the average joe. Finding someone who likes your property when there are so many properties available and many of them just like yours, is going to be a difficult task. I have sold a lot of houses of my own and for friends and it is NO FUN!!!

Could I safely rent it out to cover part of the payment?

Yes you could rent it out. NO it would not be SAFE.

There is no payment. You cannot get a loan. The payment plans offered by condo companies are throughout the build period, they are not property loans.

Would a condo in this price range likely turn into a slum?

It depends on where it is located. And, I have seen fo 20 years that over reasoably short period of time, most everything degrades here. That does not mean it will be a "slum". It does mean that what you thought was going to be bright and beautiful is no longer what you believed, and the next condo building going up is still new and appears as the brochures present it. Condos and housing developments, like cars, become used over time. Used item prices are less than new item prices. HOusing developments and condo buildings are not well maintained, and the management steals large amounts of the money for its own purposes. Don't think there are laws to protect you and that they will be enforced.

3) Look around and find a good buy on a higher end unit. What price range does it take to reasonably find a building that will survive 30-40 years?

The building wil not fall donw, but you have to have a building manager who is competent and above board. That is difficult to find. And, even if the buiilding is well cared for for 7 years, the management company may be bought out and a new manager comes in and does nothing to care for the building.

4) Bangok? Chaing Mai? Pattaya?

Live in each one for a while during all seasons.

I'm curious.......

I think you would be dollars ahead and have less headaches if you continued to invest elsewhere until you are ready to retire. At that point in time, you will have the time to perform more thorough research.

I have owned 7 houses here and made a good profit on every one of them but one, which I sold back to the developer as he never finished it. I will rent from now on as rent her is really cheap in comparison to the cost of the units.

Any amount of land that you buy is on the land title deed. 200 225 etc

Anything else is not being bought.

Is she actually going to split off an additonal 25 + 25 talangwah from the larger plot of land?

How is this 25 tw connected to your land? In front, back, right side, left side?

Is the seller going to make all 225 onto one chinote or will you be buying a 200 tw chinote and a 25 tw chinote?

If a family member of the gf wants to borrow something, hold their ID card until they return it. They will always say they need an item for a short period f time, so it should not hinder their daily lives. If for some reason, they need to get money from the bank, then they need to do that first. If they have gold on their neck, they can leave that instead.

Asking Price does not equal Selling Price

All of the asking prices are for the properties which are not selling.

and only for condos

155 pounds

I often say the same thing about people on bikes

I had a gf many years ago who weighed 36.5 kilos

She had a 112 cc 2-stroke

With only her on it, it could fly.

Yes, the roads in Pattaya are very, very sandy, dirty.

I suggest that you use advisors in your home country as there are better laws to protect you there.

I like all the ideas except the NO2.

Thanks

I will get into these ideas soon.

I did change the muffler to a "free-flow", but not too noisy, on my 16-year old 100 Dream, after boring it out to 125. I did notice a good increase in power in the md to upper RPMs

I am not looking to be Joe-racer, but if I can gain a little here and there, I am happy to make the effort.

Thanks for our advice.

Thanks for the information

The TAT website shows 277,503 Russian visitors to all of THAILAND in 2007

" In 2007, 889,656 Russians visited Pattaya, up 84 per cent from the previous year, making them the leading market for the resort after only Thais, 1.51 million of whom checked into Pattaya hotels last year."

The TAT website shows 187,658 Russian visitors to all of THAILAND in 2006

I have a 1 1/2 year old Honda Wave 125i.

It runs just fine, exactly as it should, but I would like to increase its power a little if at all possible, without going hog wild and getting into the motor.

Can a change in the type of spark plug, exhaust, intake or ignition system result in a gain of 10% more power?

Thanks in advance.

East Asia for the most part, needed a couple of years after 97 to clean up the mess, before it could begin to improve. Most of the countries did very well from 2001 to 2005, so Thaksin does not deserve credit for this. It happened most everywhere.

Much of Thailand's growth was in credit. Borrow and spend.

His own company's stock boomed during his tenure. Surprising?

And by the way, he had 2,000 people killed extra-judicially.

eye for an eye

Let's see if they venture out in the same neighborhood where the crime occured.

I would bet that they will avoid the area like the plague.

Interested to see if this dead man's co-workers come out to play, too.

like the below..............

Leader of demolishers shot dead at Chatuchak Sunday Market

A leader of a group of men sent to demolish shops at the Chatuchak Sunday Market early Wednesday was shot dead.

Police said Samlee Yai-im, 50, was shot at his forehead while leading some 20 men to vandalise shops at the market at 1:00AM.

Police said they did not know where he bullet came from.

The market was owned by Thanasarn Sombat, which has been unsuccessfully trying to evict vendors.

The gunfire frightened the men who tried to flee the scene but they were rounded up by police who happened to arrive at the scene.

They admitted that they were hired by Samlee between Bt200 to Bt500 each to demolish the shops.

The Nation

Is there such a thing as a classy and polite Russians?

Yes there is "such a thing". My grandmother was one of many.

For those of us who are not in the Phuket area, please try to pick up any "literature" or drawings which he might have concerning his production processes.

There are a lot of Pattaya people who would be interested in learning how to do it as well.

Thanks

I am currently weighing up an offer to sell part of my land.

I purchased this land 3 years ago, via a Thai Limited Company. I initially purchased 2 Rai.

However it is proving more than adequate for my needs, and a friend has offered to buy 1/2 Rai from me. *around 2mTHB

Go to the land office and split the chinote into a 1/2 rai plot and a 1/2 rai plot. This is cheap... a few thousand baht.

Now, the company will sell the 1/2 rai chinote to your friend.

A.

I do not know if the tax implications will be (current valuation of 1/2 rai minus 3 years ago valuation of 1/2 rai) equals profit on which you will pay corporate taxes at the commercial office for the company, and also taxes at the land office.

OR

B.

Current valuation of 1/2 rai minus valuation of 2 rai plot 3 years ago..... silly thinking? being because the expense of buying land was wa undertaken on time, and not in smaller plots. I think that A above will be correct, but it is easy to go into the land office and ask about the land taxes. This will prvide you with information which the commerical office will use to determine your corporate taxes.

My friend sold a house 70 talangwah/132 meters in jomtien beach out of a company about 2 years ago. The buyer bought the company and then removed the lan from the company. It cost her 140,000 baht. He had owned the house less than one year.

TAXES ARE DOWN NOW.

Another friend of mine is doing the same, for a 60 talangwah, 140 meter house in Suksabai Villa , Pattaya. The taxes at the commercial office will be between 50 - 80 thousand baht(will know this week). The fees at the land office were 16,000 baht. The house is 18 years old, and the current land office valuation on it is about 1,680,000. The original price on it when he bought it 16 years about was 900,000.

I am a little confused as to the rate differences between company taxes, and am struggling to find out whether i have to pay extra taxes/fees for partially dividing my plot of land.

Could anyone help on this matter and provide reliable info on what taxes i am likely to encounter.

Many Thanks in advance. Bowig

You can PM me and I will be happy to have you contact my English-speaking accountant who I have used for about 18 years on 8 houses, and have had dozens of friends use her as well, with no complaints.

Where do you want to live?

Fish farms are good earners, but not for someone living in Bangkok.

Add some more information to make it easier for us.

Five million baht can go a long ways outside of the major cities and yield a very good, stable return.

What is your past experience?