sitta

Hi All,

I would like to drive from Surat Thani Airport to Chiang May in Nov. so that I can enjoy the Country a bit, Avis offers Toyota Altis 1.6 Auto for 7 days with No one way fee (drop the car in Chiang May) and includes: Local Tax (TAX), Collision Damage Waiver* (CDW), Vehicle Registration Fee (VRF), Unlimited Mileage, Is this car good enough to drive long distance in thailand?

Any Advice re; route to take from Surat thani, where to stop at night etc?

Thanks in advance.

Went back to Kasikorn bank and spoke to the branch manager who speaks excellent English at the airport plaza branch and got this clarification on the wisdom card program

Annual Deposit 800k

Pay for 6 years ; total 4.8 million

Guaranteed annual interest of $63,500 and principal sum

End of 15 years payout 6 million guaranteed plus insurance coverage of 150% principal sum

So a fair deal for those with time and spare cash ; on addition the wisdom visa card will be issued to you

- visa signature card highest level in Thailand

- priority pass which allows lounge access in 600 locations worldwide ( I have this card from standard chartered and is a life saver)

- free annual check up at Bangkok hospital / Chiang Mai ram / BNH

- free lounge access to Thai silk lounge regardless of travel

- fitness service

- free use of business centre in shangrila Chiang Mai

So you deposit 800k for next 6 years ONLY, but this money is locked in for 15 years!!!

"condominium building called Anket Pavilon, this 12 stories condominium is located to the right of the super HWY that leads in to CM, is in the small sub soi as you enter the city behind was used to be Carrefour super market (Now Big C) 10 Min to the center of CM"

Is this is a good area to live in?

Thanks for any info.

Loads of furnished condos in town for 5k a month + utils, no need to pay 15k (1 or 2 month minimum)

Baan Wangtaan is full of white people so they charge double the rental for everywhere else.

San Sai is worth a look, plenty of two or three bedroom bungalows for around the 5-8k a month price.

1 year rental is the norm for houses.

Any one has a 2 bed bungalows with garden and good kitchen for 6k in San Sai? Will sign for 1 year?

How about a condo in condominium building called Anket Pavilon, located to the right of the super HWY that leads in to CM, near Big C?

Any good to stay long term?

I presume that it's 8 months old? If so, a private sale would be of more benefit to you financially. Try the classifieds on Thai visa, and also your local paper. What make and model is it anyway?

Let me know the make and model no. of Km, and the price please?

Thanks guys, care to recommend a good and reasonable (cost wise) Solicitor via PM please?

I don't know how many 'Canadian Barry's' there are in Chiang Mai , but the one I know well, is seething at the moment as his idyllic retirement is about to be cut short by the Canadian government who are currently debating a new law that would require him (and all Canadian retirees) to spend at least 6 months per year in Canada or lose their pensions. Australians already find it difficult to access their pensions if they choose to live outside Australia and Brits get their pensions frozen if they move here. It seems that the retirees home countries aren't keen to see them take their disposable income to exotic foreign locations like Chiang Mai!

Any Australians out there living in Chiang Mai and still manage get age pension from Centerlink, please share your advise?

Hi,

Need to get an idea as how much would cost to furnish an 1 bed condo, say average fridge, Queen bed, microwave, small table with 4 chairs, 40" TV, a small sofa set, minimum cutlery's and may be few curtains etc, nothing special required.

Any idea, some of you out there must have done it in the past?

Also care to recommend a good solicitor to help me with condo purchase please?

Thanks in Advance..

Well, at least this post is in the correct forum now. Also, I'm in CM and have made following the local rules and regs related to retirement visas a kind of hobby.

The OP needs to get an account verification letter from his bank (charge should just be couple hundred baht max) and copy of all pages of the bankbook, passport photo page, departure card, and visa exempt entry (30 day stamp) to CM Immigration, along with a photo and completed TM 7 form. There is a copy/photo shop at the rear of the Immigration office that sometimes is totally swamped, but the longest I've waited there was 20 minutes for copies/photos. All copies should be signed and dated by the OP.

Then at CM Immigration, OP will apply to "convert" the 30 day visa exempt entry stamp into a 90-day O visa. Wait 60 days and then during the final 30 days of the life of the O visa, repeat the process of the above paragraph, only this time fill out the TM 7 form requesting a 12-month extension of stay due to retirement.

This is the so-called "two-step conversion process" and can be done in CM no problem. It isn't possible to do it in every province -- many will send you to Bangkok to do this.

No need to leave the country, no need for letters from the embassy for someone who has 800,000 baht in a Thai bank for the appropriate period. In this case that's 60 days prior to the time the O visa is extended for 12 months due to retirement. It may not even be necessary to have the initial bank letter, simply having the bank book could be enough for Immigration. But, the bank letter is easy to get and may save having to run back to the bank.

The only problem in doing this in CM is the need to arrive at CM Immigration at 6 am to get a queue number since only a small number of queue tickets are issued each day for visa extensions. You can make an appointment on-line for visa extensions, but they book up 6 - 8 weeks in advance which won't help the OP in converting the 30 day visa exempt stamp into a 90-day O visa.

An rental agreement not required?

Thanks for the info.

Hi All,

Is it possible to get a 1 year retirement visa for an Australian citizen 60+ with 800k already in a thai bank, if he arrived on 30day entry stamp to CM?

Any advise please?

Hi All,

Is it possible to get a 1 year retirement visa for an Australian citizen 60+ with 800k already in a thai bank, if he arrived on 30day entry stamp to CM?

Any advise please?

Yes, and when Barry 'falls in love' with a lady and buy her a house and a car and having a few more visits to the hospitals, he might reconsider his relocation.

How many of you "'falls in love' with a lady and buy her a house and a car" and lost out?

If you're a fairly new arrival in Chiang Mai then you probably want to stay a bit central; so that's mostly apartments then that are up for rent, and most of those will not have a whole lot of space, or may not have full kitchen. (Some do of course). 6 months rent is not usually an issue for an apartment rental, but many houses would rent by the year.

What sort of budget do you have, and which months, roughly?

Looking to spend around 8000TB, will NOT stay whole year, but would like to keep the place to myself. will sign up for one year, but must be fully furnished including TV, washing machine etc. Rent payment will be scheduled using Kbank. Leaving for Samui in Sept. So may be start in Nov.

What you all think?

Looking to rent a 1bed with living and kitchen for six months must be furnished, is it better to rent a small house or an apartment? Not too expensive but also better security?

I am being advise to buy an Townhouse in Samui which is Freehold (Foreign ownership is allowed) as per real estate agent, is this correct?

No No No you either have to have a thai ltd co or take it on a 30 year lease which can be renwed for another 30 years according to Thai law get yourself a good lawyer regardless of some comments I have used a good lawyer on Samui the only time I had problems was with a lawyer on Koh Phangan because the island is much smaller and they are all one big family. An agent will tell you what you want to hear times are hard business is slow do not sign anything or leave a deposit !!!!!

There is one townhouse development in Samui that does have a condo licence , why and how I don't know

Is it in Bang Rak?

They say the home is on a Chanote title (Freehold)!

I am being advise to buy an Townhouse in Samui which is Freehold (Foreign ownership is allowed) as per real estate agent, is this correct?

I am looking into buying a 1bed room condo in Maenam and need to transfer money from here in Aus, will I get better rate in A$ or US$?

I do have an account with Kasikornbank in samui,

Does anyone know a link to check the rate or know the current rate for A4 Us$ with Kasikornbank?

Thanks for any info in advance!

Cheers.

I didn't know there were any registered condo's in Maenam for sale to foreigners. As for transferring money from Australia sent it in Aus/dollars and it will be converted into Baht in Thai and receive a better rate.

Avxxxx Condominium in Maenam, Do you know anything about it?

I am looking into buying a 1bed room condo in Maenam and need to transfer money from here in Aus, will I get better rate in A$ or US$?

I do have an account with Kasikornbank in samui,

Does anyone know a link to check the rate or know the current rate for A4 Us$ with Kasikornbank?

Thanks for any info in advance!

Cheers.

""I wouldn't want to spend more than 1,000 tb a night. i understand that restaurant are quite pricy there.

Havn't made any reservation yet, would that be a problem? leaving on Wed.""

In my experience reservation before arrival always cheaper, but ofcourse there are exception!

Hi All, Thanks for the advice and info's, will stick to buying a 1bed room 40+ sqm Condo under 2.5Mil.

Will be Samui mid Sept.

Cheers.

So all points to buying a freehold Condo is safe bet?

""Owning the house is not the real issue - a foreigner can own a house. It is the land that needs to be Thai owned.""

Do I need a Thai partner to buy a house, can you advice about "doing it correctly"?

Thanks.

Buying a house using a Thai company can be troublesome, anyone here have any experience using a company to buy house?