Swiss1960

There is an underlying culture of violence against visitors in Thailand that is not acknowledged by the local safety officials that needs to be addressed.

Just not true... I never encountered any such negativity or attack against me in all my years that I come to Thailand... and Walking Street is on my program almost every time...

So, OP, maybe you should think about why such a thing can happen to you???

OP, Are you drunk.?

Maybe not... but probably forgot HIS common sense at home when he came to Thailand

khop khun mak krap to all of you! Got enough to think about and discuss with my GF.

when you arrive; each and every tourst agency has dozens of "tourist" leaflets/flyers of every excursion going........but why not try a "free" tuk tuk excursion.......it would be a shame not to share your experience with friends later..

Hehe... being new to Chiang Mai does not mean being Newbie to Thailand and it's tuktuk "society"

For all others: Thanks for the (mostly) valuable input.

Thanks in advance for giving me some ideas about things to do in Chiang Mai when I will drop by for 3 days in january. Will be there with my girlfriend and looking for the "must see" of this city. It's our first visit and just want to stroll around and see the main attractions. Any ideas and recommendations highly appreciated.

P.S.: no, not interested in night life and bars and clubs.

Lending money to a gambling addict is absolutely stupid, everywhere in the world...

Lending money to friends is dangerous, as you might have to decide whehter to say good bye to your money or to the friendship... sometimes both...

But from what I have seen how Thai (women) lend money to each other (giving and taking), not paying back on time is not really loss of face... loss of face is only, if the lender requests the money back in front of others... otherwise not paying back on time is seen as pretty normal...

Copy what?? There are no copies in Apple reseller stores in Thailand. I think you been reading too many novels.

Yeah... for sure... never heard of... that's why it^s so cheap...

Warranty problems

If the MacBook is legit and the OP get's the warranty papers stamped and signed, then he can get warranty in every apple shop. But then again... smuggling something and having documents to prove that you are smuggling is not so clever...

If UK customs checked every laptop carried in the queue would be so long there wouldn't be anywhere to park the aircraft.

True... but somehow they seem to smell the sweat of fear of people who smuggle stuff... specially first timers and the OP seems to be one... otherwise he would not need to ask

Sorry I got my sums wrong a little. It's actually (if you take into account the 7% tax refund) £400 cheaper than the UK price which means the actual laptop is the same price as everywhere else in the world but I'd be saving myself the 20% VAT I'd be paying if I bought it in the UK. (assuming I wasn't stopped in customs)

Just take it back with you. UK customs wont bother you, think about it, they would be asking for proof of purchase for every laptop, piece of gold, rolex watch.. etc etc they will not be interested,

It's the customs, stupid.... what do you think they do with all the people in the green channel that they check... tell them "oh, you have no receipt, you can't tell us anymore where you bought it for what price... but you have such lovely blue eyes, we belive you..."???

Giving an advice to smuggle something and risk a conviction is among the most stupid things I can imagine...

Don't know about your job, but i would not risk a criminal conviction for smuggling in my record, just to save few 100 pounds... buying (legit) electronic stuff does not make sense in Thailand, only in the US of A. And then, you can safe money even when you go through the red channel, but not if you buy in Thailand. Prices on legit brand staff is too high due to the high import taxes the Thai charge when the stuff comes into the country.

So... you REALLY think that you can get a MacBook Pro (wich range from £800 to £2'000 approx here in Switzerland) with £700 rebate and still hope to get a real one and not a "good copy"? You really expect any of the SW you get in Thailand to be an original and not a black market copy? If everything is original... well, maybe that machine fell off a truck by accident... That's for one

For your information: Every electronic branded item in Thailand - from mobile phones to cameras to computers - is at least in the same price range as if you buy it in your home country... normed by the brand... so every such special offer definitely is not legit.

With regards to bringing it to the UK, if they check you, the following can happen:

- customs checks serial number, it's a stolen good => will get confiscated and you're in DEEP shit...

- customs checks serial number, it's a fake => will get confiscated and you are in bit troubles

- customs checks, find's it to be new, charge you with VAT on the full UK price, not the Thai price, will charge you for smuggling...

And what ever you do... better don't have ANY buyers receipt or VAT reclaim copies with you... customs loves that kind of stupid smugglers who keep the receipts... and don't underestimate customs... you tell them you bought it in the UK, they will ask you where and ask for the receipt and if you don't have it... see above point 3...

Income has nothing to do with being rich... you can have a high income, but if you spend all, you'll never be rich...

Rich - for me personally - means to have enough money to enjoy doing all I want to do in the places I want to do it. Therefore "rich" as a $-figure is very personal IMHO.

$2M will be considered rich by most and not so rich by others and even poor by few...

Nah. You are a Chiang Mai guy for sure.

Soi 6 could be an option for him

I personally think it comes down to their weak status... lack of social security if they would be on their own again and mostly lack of own assets as well... so mostly I think it is fear of being left alone and not being cared for anymore...

And it does not take much... a mail from the wrong person in your case... not immediately picking up the phone when she calles... calling her 5 minutes later than promised... coming home later than expected (by her, even if you said nothing)...

And there she goes and blows...

Total proof that this is no longer a third world country. Otherwise a rock would have been used ! So sad that so many resort to violence to settle disputes. There should be a better way, and I would suggest something like the very successful "Small Claims Court" as used in U.S.A. which is free, speedy, and civilised.

Sure... according to the newest statistics of UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), the average homicide rate in the US is 4.8 / 100K (2010), same as in Thailand in 2011... so where is the success again of that small claims court???

Never been to Pattaya & from everything that I read on here, I never want to!!! Hope the poor guy is going to be ok

Am in Pattaya during every of my trips to LOS and never had such problems and probably never will, as I am thinking with my head and not my d...

I just wanted a pre-pay visa or mastercard card to pay for stuff online anonymously, like the vanilla gift cards you can get in America. ... Maybe they stopped it to prevent money laundering.

Being you want to be anonymous buying online I assume you are sending to someone other than yourself, and not to your address. It also questions the legality of what you're trying to buy.

If you know someone on the West coast in the USA have them go to a Safeway grocery store, get you a pre-paid Visa card, and top it up then send it to you. The cost is not cheap, but you will be able to remain anonymous.

Not true about being really anonymous: Quote from the VISA Prepaid Website: The activation process varies, depending on the provider that issued your card; however, all program providers are required to collect specific cardholder information prior to card activation.

In Theory, same should be true worldwide and yes, it has to do with money laundering and terror financing.

I m not usa c.

Nobody want pay tax so if I got problem with irs and they ask me money when this money would be enough for me to live with it in a cheaper country, I will resign my green card. I will go even further, I will look for non tax heaven countries like many eu citizen who are now leaving Europe. I think Thailand is expensive too.

Op: Read what Naam wrote about and forget about your stupid idea of becoming US citizen... you are much better off being EU citizen only... return your green card officially and tell the US authorities about leaving the country permanently. That's the only way to get IRS off your back, otherwise (as UC citizen), they will tax you life long for all assets (and possible income) that you have where ever in the world..

Why would you want to hold US citizenship anyway? Not happy with your EU passport? You write that you want to retire to Thailand, so all the US citizenship would give you is loads of paperwork and tax issues with IRS... none of which exists for EU citizens who live abroad (of course with the exception of withholding taxes for assets still in your EU home country).

Western food at 100-200 Baht a dish? You'll have to tell me where you get real western food at that price and you have to tell me how anybody in the world could serve you good quality (read: imported) beef at that price...

You're of course much farther ahead than most, probably over-planning if anything. 8-)

true... but it helped me through some tough situations in the past to be over prepared... I could actually move to Thailand pretty much right now and live comfortable with what I have now... but the additional (financial) security layer gives me a much more confident feeling and will also enable me to be much more free, i.e. moving around, travelling here and there just in case heaving is about to fall on my head

Seen too many guys without that financial layer who are stuck to one place and the same life day by day and who then really get pissed and start to drink until they finally piss themselves...

Most people who make their move don't realize that living a retired life is completely different from their current working life... you suddenly need to fill out 12 more hours every day with some activities...

but if I do die early, I'll die happy from too much drinking and too much fun with girls

Try to get any inclination toward excessive drinking under control while you're still working, it tends to escalate after retirement.

Re fun with girls, you'll have a much better time - not just from a financial POV - if you pretend to be much poorer than you are.

It's not actually a very challenging game anyway, so my most important advice - set up at least one major project that requires time energy and most of all your brain.

Just "enjoying yourself" is actually a waste of time, stressful and conducive to an early death. Set goals and work to achieve them, important ones not just busy work.

He'he... thanks for your consulting

No need to worry about me...

- no alcohol during week while at work and 1 bottle of fantastic Italien red on the weekend...

- experienced with Thai girls and already done all the mistakes a newbie can do...

- loads of books to be read while I enjoy my beer in a pub near the beach (NOT gogo and girlie bars..)

- already set up for lot of things to do when there, like play my sax in a band, involved in charity work, maybe look for volunteering in tourist police as I will be pretty fluent in Thai when I come (besides my other 4 languages)

Edit: all above the result of 7y coming to Thailand and 3y of planning my next move and looking at where I could or could not live...

Thanks for your reply, saving as we speak, you realise you will need to save nearly £2'000000.00 2 million pounds if you allow for 200k per month in thai baht ? For 40 years

Not so much for some, particularly if he's in the financial industry.

However if difficult to achieve for his situation, I'd agree this is taking preparation a bit too far, better to start enjoying life a bit sooner, I've seen plenty of guys drop dead within a couple years of stopping work and all those assets benefited the heirs only.

The money's a three tier mix: state pension kicking in when I reach 65, company pension fund which I will cash out and private savings / private pension fund... and yes, i am lucky to be en executive in the financial industry doing pretty well and all I'll have is from my own hands work.

And furthermore, I agree BigJohnnyBKK about the guys dropping dead, seen them myself... that's why I'll make my move way before the official swiss retirement age (currently 65) and will start living in Thailand being around 56... and I'll enjoy every single day here and I'll make sure, my heirs (which would be my two sons) don't get a lot when I die...

but if I do die early, I'll die happy from too much drinking and too much fun with girls

Most important you need to do is your financial planning

- will you or your wife be working here, what is your source of income when coming here?

- what kind of lifestyle do you want to have here, which are do you want to live

Once you have made up your mind, plan for the savings necessary for your life up to 90y old (you never know). That's what I made 3y ago and now I am working on getting the necessary savings to allow me to make the move in another 3-4y. My goal is to have 200K Baht avail every month for the next 40y so that I am safe for every situation, including expensive GF and medical emergencies.

Some of your questions really can't be answered now (or the answes will not help you in 6y to come), as you don't know what will change in your own country (i.e. laws about retirement money to be taken out) or in Thailand (political situation, Royal family, Visa laws, property laws, so many things could change)

Other questions can't be answered as too individual, i.e. how your wife will adjust to the new situation, how you will adjust to all the Thai girls around you, what you need for yourself with regards to returning and visiting relatives back home (i.e. will your daughter want to come with you or not) or how many real friends you have that you would want to come and visit you.