Dazinoz

People can live without them and some can not. I am one of the can nots, I do need my AC and in moving to Thailand I knew power bills would be one of my high expenses, especially considering I had a 3kw solar system in Australia and had not paid a power bill in over 2 year with a credit being added to most accounts and when we moved here I received a $870 credit from the power company, but that is beside the point.

I know a bit about ACs as I used to install split systems as a hobby (plus make a few bucks) back in Oz until rules and regulations made it impractical for me.

Rarely did I see a split system installed correctly in Australia so could imagine the quality of installs here, not saying that there are not any good installers here. I used t vac my systems down until very little moisture left then did pressure test them with nitrogen which is important for the new high pressure and smaller molecule refrigerants. I also used correct tools such as flaring tools that rolled the pipe instead of squashing it, tension wrench flare nut spanners to stop over tightening of the nuts and again squashing the pipe which is a common cause of leaks.

A split is the best way to go but at this point would prefer a window unit if I can get one. They can be installed easily and do not do any damage to the window if done correctly. Worst case is you have a lump of plywood to fit cover the gap where the window does not close. Does not look the best but in my case does not matter. when you leave you just take it out and close the window.

I have measured up a portable and it would fit in the window with a little stuffing around but as mentioned in my original post not sure how well the back is sealed against the weather, would have to have a good look before buying one.

I have a 12 month contract on the house with 11 months to go so definitely want something.

Failing the window or portable in the window I will see owner and get a split fitted. Would do it myself but had to sell my tools back in Oz.

If you are paying for it, the owner will be happy for the upgrade to his property.

True, but I don't want to goto the expense of getting a split installed. At least we can take the window type with us if we move.

Hi all,

We have just moved to Chiang Mai and have a rental house and have been looking for a window mount air conditioner. I have been to Tesco, Big C and Home Pro(?) but all have split type, portable or evaporative. I have use portables before but there is so much heat come off the exhaust tube it works against itself. I could probably fit one in the window so that it exhausts directly outside but maybe not sealed sufficiently against the weather. I don't want to go through the hassles of get the owners approval for a split install.

Does anyone know where I can buy one in CM.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Maybe an answer ended in your spam box? I have exchanged emails with AA Insurance, and always received an answer within a few hours.

Just received my first quote from AA.

I've had the same problem's i.e 2-3 day's before e-mail reply's, in the end I found e-mail insurance quote's to be lower coverage & more costly, if possible you have someone who speaks Thai let them call on your behalf it's seem's to get the job done I've found...p.s welcome to Thailand

Thanks for the info and the welcome.

My next problem seems to be getting a reply. I sent 2 online requests for a quote to Viryah, no replies. 1 to AA a couple of days ago, no reply. I am using a group to help you move and integrate into Thai life, sent them an email, no reply. I also text the Honda car dealer that is selling me the car, no reply.

Is this Thai culture? I tend not to phone as I have a little trouble with my hearing to English speaking people so I email or text or prefer to talk in person.

I would not recommend Viriyah, but opinions on that will vary.

Only tried them because of recommendations on here.

Why don't you just ask a broker to come up with a good solution for you? I have recently contacted AA insurance . on of the TV sponsors, and am happy with the service so far.

Will try them, thanks.

Thanks for the info so far.

Thought sounded too much. I have not paid yet as that is to be done when they deliver. Trying to get a quote from Viriyah but not answering web quote requests.

Hi,

My wife and I are in the process of moving to Chiangmai in Thailand to retire. Last week I returned from 2 weeks there and in that time I achieved a number of things.

One of the things I did was to order a new car to be delivered just after we arrive. It is a Honda Jazz SV-AT at the price of 715000Baht. The insurance quoted on the order form seems a little high compared to Australian standards and was just wondering what people think.

I was quoted 24918Baht. The sum insured is is 580000Baht. The company name on the form is HCT, Kumpaz.

I assume this would be Level 1 insurance but not sure if includes CMI. I have text the dealer but no replies.

What do people think?

Thanks in advance,

Darral.

»Having learned a bit about taking money in and out of Thailand I think that basically we can only take out as much as we have brought in. Currently our investment is around 4 million Baht. Some of the money was paid by credit card but the majority was paid by wire transfer. My concern was that the company we paid the money to in Thai Baht was sent to their Hong Kong Bank so may not be recorded as being paid into a Thai investment. The company is quite large for timeshare particularly in the Patong area.«

When you invest in Thai property the normal procedure is, to have a form from the Thai bank where you state the money are going to be used for property. The Thai bank will register the form with authorities and you will receive a copy to keep for when you sell property and wish to take ‘the same’ amount out again. There is a time limit from transfer until form has to be submitted, if I remember right, it’s down to some weeks or month.

It is an often-used practice by seller to ask for part of the payment made to an offshore bank, to avoid taxation – may be everything above deposit. The price paid inside Thailand, may be the price registered in the books and/or at the Thai Land Department. When re-selling you can use same method for anything above the registered price plus normal increase. Presumed part-ownership of time-share works out pretty much the same way as ownership of a condo or house.

Your place looks very nice on the web site and the service sounds good. Many up-end places with good facilities will charge 1,000 Euro/week and up for a two-bedroom unit.

Thank you khunPer, one of the most direct replies to my original post .

I have checked my figures and we ended up paying 3.4 million baht for the 8 weeks. Not qite as bad as 4 but still high.

No disrespect meant, but you really need to get a grip on your finances. I'm not sure how someone can buy a share of a condo and not know whether they spent 3.4 m or 4.0 m. Didn't you notice you have an extra 600,000 in your account?

My original quote of 4 million was what I was told by Absolute that I should get if I sold now (last visit to Phuket in August). I was at work when posting the original post so could not remember exact figure of purchase as was nearly 2 years earlier. Having a look at my accounting software when I got home I noted the exact amount we paid after deposits, upgrades etc. As I stated in my original post i paid a couple of deposits on cards and other major upgrade amounts paid by wire transfers.

So I think I do have a pretty good grip on my finances just my memory at work on nightshift is not as good as my accounting software.

I am really wondering if this ThaiVisa Forum is of much benefit. This was my first post and a lot of the comments have been negative towards me from assumptions that people make without knowing the true facts.

A quote from SellMyTimeShareNOW.com website.

"And unlike traditional timeshares, if the property value of a Fractional appreciates (which, notably, is the current trend), so do the owner's individual shares. Notably, due to their high-desirability and exclusivity, many new fractional property units have risen from 12-14% in price. Unlike traditional timeshares, when it comes time to sell fractional timeshare, reselling can prove to be a very lucrative and profitable endeavor."

P""Yes, 8 weeks @ 3.4 million."" -not the penthouse though? How is this one place?

Sorry don't understand the question.

Just has a look on Asia Web Direct website and they are selling nights in a studio unit in my 8 weeks at 4380B/night or 30660/week or 245280/8weeks.

Posted before I saw your other replies.

So what are you left with now? 8 weeks in a studio costed 3.4million?

Still half rent and half stay is ok if you can't sell it.

Yes, 8 weeks @ 3.4 million.

Don't forget this is not just the time but an actual share of the cost of the unit so should go up as property values do assuming I can get the money from Absolute.

We own 8 weeks. The original 2 weeks were in the Penthouse which Absolute bought back off us. The 8 weeks are 7000/week or 56000B. If I can't sell and can rent 4 weeks at 14000 and use the other 4 weeks myself would be cost neutral (not counting what I have already spent.

Absolute still look after keys and the like as part of their service. If they get renters they take half. If we get renters we keep all.

I have checked my figures and we ended up paying 3.4 million baht for the 8 weeks. Not qite as bad as 4 but still high.

2 million each from 26 people = 52 million baht condo. It must be one of the best condos in the whole of Thailand.

It was very nice but obviously not worth 52M.

It was large with 2 bedrooms each with ensuite. You had spiral stairs to the roof which had an airconditioned viewing room. Outside was your own private plunge pool and spa with TV, shower and toilet.

When we first bought into it you were supposed to have a SUV and driver that you could use at any time. Also a 37 foot speed boat with captain that you could also use but you had to pay for fuel. We never did use them in the 2 weeks we spent there.

I'm assuming its a really special place for that price.

It would indeed be interesting to know exactly what sort of place it is.

http://www.absolutetwinsands.com/en/

It's cheaper to rent a condo for a couple of weeks than buy a timeshare. I don't understand why people want to pay extra to go to the same place every year. Timeshares do not make sense on any level. You are paying massively over the odds for a condo. Example - buy a condo outright for 4 million, or buy a share with 10 people for 2 million each, meaning you collectively paid 20 million for a 4 million condo. Why? I just cannot get my head around why anyone would do this. I think your chances of selling it at 50% or more of what you paid is about zero. Sell for 100,000 Thai baht and you may find a buyer. I assume the OP has enough money to write this off. Only hope of selling is back to the company at below cost prices, so probably 100,000 baht. What were you told you were getting? How many weeks a year can you use it? How many of those weeks are in high season? Are you allowed t rent it - maybe your best bet. Are there any ongoing management fees?

As people have mentioned the company is Absolute. I did not mention it initially as was not sure if ok to do so.

We started off buying 1 week in any of their places in the world. We upgraded at a later date to Fractional Owners of a penthouse at Nakalay just outside Patong. We were told that we were on of 26 that owned that unit outright but managed by Absolute. Each fraction was for 2 weeks and was fixed time period. On a later visit the salesman asked us to consider off the plan in the new Twin Sands just south of Patong. They gave us 10% more than what we paid for Nakalay (obviously not cash). The new unit was only a studio unit so was cheaper and we ended up buying 8 weeks by adding extra money to the money from Nakalay. We have all of June and July in this unit. We can rent it out via them and they take half or we can rent it out ourselves. There is an ongoing maintenance fee off 7000B per week per year. This complex has just finished stage 1 last month and there are a two further stages planned for the complex. I am going to try and use my previous experience as a gullible person and stages 2 and 3 in the hope of getting most of my money back.

Peopel say "who in their right minds", "what were you thinking". Well if they have never made a mistake I would like to meet them. We ALL make mistakes, some are just more expensive than others. Yes, now I know I should not have dealt with them and will not deal again and, yes I could have bought a Condo. At the time the timeshare was suitable to us and seemed legit, well I was dealing with Pommies not Thias so had to be ok.

I am just about to retire and I can not afford to cut a 3.9 million Baht loss. This was part of my investment portfolio (don't bother saying it....yes I know, not a good investment.)

I know I have stuffed up and I don't need people to keep telling me, I just started asking out if anyone had similar experience and I really do appreciate any helpful information given here.

You might be advised in the first instance to consult a lawyer to ascertain the legal status of the fractional ownership property you hold and whether there is independent title which you can sell if you so wish. The second point is that if you have 4m investment, say 2m per fractional ownership, this will be exceedingly difficult to sell. Demand is primarily for complete ownership and for 2m this can be done. Your best bet might be a distress sale back to the developers (assuming they are interested) at a 50% discount ie 2m and write off 2m. If you intend retiring to Thailand then there is no logic to purchasing a time share anyway.

Thank you for that. At the time of purchase we did not intend to retire in Thailand.

I will seek legal advise when I get there in Feb.

maybe worth getting legal advice to see if its possible to get any of the recent money paid back off them there is a cooling off period i believe.

Cooling off period well over. Coming there in 3 weeks so am going to try a sell so may need legal advise if have problems there.

buying timeshares in Phuket! what on earth were you thinking?

Unfortunately we all have to learn sometime. I am just a slow learner at certain things.

Hi All,

This is my first post so please be gentle.

My wife and I have been travelling to Thailand for holidays for a few years now and we hope to move there for retirement this year. On our first visit we bought into timeshare. Later visits we upgraded to Fractional owner of a Penthouse at Patong and now Fraction owner at the new Twins Sands at Patong.

Having learned a bit about taking money in and out of Thailand I think that basically we can only take out as much as we have brought in. Currently our investment is around 4 million Baht. Some of the money was paid by credit card but the majority was paid by wire transfer. My concern was that the company we paid the money to in Thai Baht was sent to their Hong Kong Bank so may not be recorded as being paid into a Thai investment. The company is quite large for timeshare particularly in the Patong area.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?