moonseeker

Definitely no bahtbuses  all day yesterday. With very few exceptions. Rogue drivers? However nighttime several bahtbuses seen. We will see today...It was a major discussion point amongst Thais and foreigners living along Bouakao yesterday. Regards MS>

Dr. Anna at BPH or Dr. Waraporn at PIC. Know both well and both are excellent. Prices are a fraction of what I paid in private clinics in the USA and still much less than in any private hospital in most developed countries. Dr. Anna is one of the reasons I am still alive 2 years after 2 serious cancers, 1 of them Melanoma and I would never try to save a few Baht to have any suspicious mole removed. Depending on procedure, histology ECT.  cost can be anywhere from 3-8K. or more if it is a serious situation. I was happy to pay 18K for removal of a cancerous mole, which was a 45 min. surgery.

You might play with your life....Good luck. MS>

11 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

This is not clear. Do you mean that you want to buy a Thai name unit owned by an American? If so you may be opening a very large can of worms. That said, if the owner is not Thai and the unit is Thai then presumably he owns it through a company structure. If so all you need to do is buy the company rather than the condo and the Land Office would not be involved. So see a company lawyer.

 

Personally I would not touch this with the proverbial bargepole, but that's not relevant.

My mistake sorry, missed a word.......Unit is in foreign name within quota......So, should be no problem there. Thank you all for the answers & for the correction.  Regards. MS>

Dear experts

I want to buy a condo in Thailand name/quota, owned by an American from Washington State. For health reasons he can not travel to Thailand, neither to the Thai embassy in LA.

1) Anybody could explain me the process and paperwork needed to be legalized at the Thai embassy in detail, please. What do we have to send him?

2) Anybody knows if this could be done by mail with the Thai embassy in LA?

Thank you for any advise how  to get this transfer resolved.  MS>

Excellent info & guidance. Thank you all. So, Colombia might be out. Watching critical YouTube videos, Panama seems to be a bit overrated, Coronada as an expats-area lots of crime-warnings, beaches not that impressive. Boca del Torros might be worth a trip, so. I really loves Brasil back then, but crime got bad and prices were getting crazy, but Rio might still be an option, or possibly further down Angra dos Reis, only problem there is the sooooooo cold sea, brrr.................

Vietnam, on my list to visit and spend some more time, but really not sure I want to stay in Asia. Have a nice Sunday.  MS>

By the way, good site. You all probably know already :-)   https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/

Thank you all. This gets interesting. I will concentrate first on Columbia and Panama, but at the same time keep the Portugal option open. Grateful for all personal experience and knowledge from all of you. Regards. MS>

THX. for the hint ref. income tax in FL. Need to look into taxes involved for foreigners, living in FL. Would not mind opening up another small venture, then visa-situation would be simple and easy. But by no means want any trouble with IRS :-)

Would even consider living on a boat again. Fantastic time and so many places to go and see. OMG, what a great time I had and ended up in this beauty of Pattaya....5555  MS>

Thank you to everybody and the great feedback. Pl. keep it coming.

A few answers, points: Used to live and do busisness in FL, loved it and should have never left 20 years ago. Big regrets there. Should have stayed and travelled once in a while.

USA today, even as non-American they can and will tax me for my ww. income after 183 days......

Brasil, I know well, lived in Rio, Recife & Fortalezza for 5 yrs. and am still pretty fluent in Portuguese. 

Portugal, an option, yes. Maybe slightly too cool, but good balance with touristy & non-touristy seasonal changes and great nature and very friendly population and quite affordable. Eu tax implications might be a problem.

Colombia is the one I hear most good things from friends and travellers, great advise by Craigt, who seems to be a very experienced traveller,  & yes, Panama is also on the radar.

Philippines I know well and have many friends there. Poverty, crime and now Gov. killings......stopped going there 2 years ago, as nice a time I used to have. 

Sri Lanka, been there once as a young guy, liked it to a apoint, but looked at it differently back then. Musty investigate more. THX.

SA, been told by friends is fantastic, will dig a bit deeper there. THX.

I dream about living my remaining time in a pleasant place with good people, love the boating/yachting/fishing communities. Absolutely adore and am very good with dogs and animals. Love the sea. I am rather modest and used to solve 3rd. world problems of pretty much any kind. Not worried about packing for the last time in my life and start new. But will keep my condo in Pattaya until a decision is made, also this town is pretty far from my dreams these days.

Thank you again for taking the time sending me ideas and advise.  Have a nice weekend.  MS>

Hi all:

I was about ready to start explore the world again and travel, to find a new place to live, after 20+ years in  Thailand. This was 2 years ago, when I got dignosed with lung cancer and was ready to leave this planet. After a few surgeries etc. I am quite OK. and still around, unfortunately still no wiser where to go to.

My time is limited and major travels might be hard.

Many of you guys have been around the world, my experience is limited to FL, Brasil, some places in Europe, Cambodia, Malaysia, PP & Thailand.

Looking for a place not in the EU, not under US-tax laws and with reasonable retirement visa options. I need:

- Sun, but don't need to be hot all year round

- Good medical in reach for regular check-ups, have top-insurance

- Clean sea for swimming and fishing and boating

- Clean air and nature, the more tropical/exotic the better

- Love animals and dogs

- Option to buy home in my name, up to 400K$ and near sea

- I prefer a place that is at least seasonally touristy, just better atmopshere

- Nice to have some nightlife, but no need Pattaya-excesses anymore

etc. etc.

Been looking at Panama, some Carribbean islands, Columbia, back to Brasil?, Bahamas, would love FL, but impssible with their ww.-taxation laws, Ecuador????

Would like to stay within 5-8K$ for my monthly budget, after initial expenses of moving and setting up shop. Would not mind starting another business for the last 

success in my life, can't just sit around and am very! active. I am not worried about starting new and am very flexible and adaptable. Speaking E. German, Portuguese, Basic

Spanish & French and would learn fast.

Any feedback very much appreciated!

Regards.   MS>

Thank you kindly. Weird story, system has now been stabil for 24 hours. 

If any expert still online? Does anybody know of a reliable network-company in Pattaya? We are upgarding massively and 

just can't do it by ourselves. We think about adding a bunch of HS's, 2 new switches, Looking at D-Link 1210 or 1510, POE & Vigor 3900 Draytek as Router/Loadbalanance. 

We have 2 providers with 1 Gig & 200 Mb which seems more than sufficient and we have up to 75 users, but would like to add a safety margin.

Most of our AP's are Pico-Stations, we will start adding 5 GHZ in strategic locations & rewire all with CAT 6a.

Any feedbcak aas always mich appreciated.   MS>

Dear all

I need some expert feedback.

We run a 35 HS-System with IBM server, load-balance etc. etc.

This morning we experienced frequent disconnects of HS's, not being able to connect to HS's at all, even so they were showing, occasionally able to connect at terrible speed and then kicked off etc. etc. Resetting server etc. etc. etc. did not improve anything. WE kept trying. All of a sudden 2 hours into the last reset, all of a sudden was able to slowly connect to HS's again, first at terrible speed with kick-offs, within about 15 min. all of a sudden all HS's started working perfect again, very fats and all perfect. I did not change anything or restart/-wire anyting at all.....the last 1 hour for sure. 

We had a power outage early morning with main transformer/breakers off, too us 2 tries to reset.

We have a big UPS installed, still could off-voltage cause problems with POE-HS's and cause this bloody ghost like symptoms? Terrible not to know what is going on with a dozen people on my a..!

Thank you for any feedback!  Have a great Sunday!   MS>

6 pages of comments & opinions...???!!! On a minor a minor incident which , as we can see on reality shows, happens nightly numerous times and much more violent in Aussie & GB entertainment districts and certainly also in most other countries. There is a show TV-series

on Netflix that shows CCTV recordings in some GB-towns. Absolutely nuts......Overall Pattaya, with all it's negatives, is still relatively peaceful. I am out walking nightly for many, many years and see very few incidents, less than expected in this kind of setting and enviroment.   MS>

My friend with 2 small kids uses BPH, no specific Dr. and is very pleased. But I will ask him in case he has a favorite Dr. there and let you know. Have a nice Sunday.  MS>

Pollution in Pattaya is horrific. I have the proof with full histology report of partial lung and plenty of lymphnodes removed. Non-smoker and in town for 20 years. Dr.'s asked me if I had worked in a coalmine & next question was, where do you live in Thailand? BKK or Pattaya? And this was in a European University hospital. I am still in town, but only with proper mask if on road, as more and more people.

I was very lucky to have a "high-capacity" lung, been rerasonably fit and had fantastic rehab for several weeks in special clinic and was able to go beyong pre-op lung-volume within 3 months. Had I been smoking I would probably be on an oxygen bottle now. Visit one of these cancer clinics if you still smoke. Very, very sad to see these people suffering.  MS>

I was in a rush to get a copy for a bank stamped  as true-copy, which was done in moments for 50 Baht. Bank accepted.

The lady mentioned they do full notary-services and usally cost is 1'000 per document.. Please verify yourself.

I was in a hurry, after hitting 3 other offices with: - laywer holiday, lawyer court, lawyer only work afternoon.... :-)

Hope this answers the critical questions. Just trying to be helpful, as this question comes up often.  Regards.  MS>

Thought I share this quickly, as I just had it done: fast, painless & friendly. Doing simple, immediate &  certified copies and also fully notarized versions.

Pl. inquire yourself about prices. Friendly and helpful lady.

PTY Office, lower third Soi Post-Office, right side, coming up. Small office with small sign outside. 

183/20, Moo 10 Soi Post Office

Mobile: 081-762 22 93   LINE: Probably under mobile number....      Email: [email protected]  & [email protected]  Other phone: 033-043 900  Fax & phone: 038-410 042

Hope this helps someone. Good night.  MS>

5 hours ago, MaxLee said:

 

Irreparable brain damage and elimination of any human dignity and common sense via propaganda from a very young age.

+ 1 and I am sure every friend of mine adds his/her +1. No hope left......Sadly..............And getting worse in most respects....A total lack of respect for humans, animals, nature....We should not generalize, but why don't take the good ones action? Starts at home......MS>

Thank you for the enlightenment, so early in the year. Language might be a factor in pronunciation. Or like so many, just call it paradise (lost). Regards. MS>

Are they still available somewhere over the counter¿ Have a friend of age, who is on a budget and spends too much to get something similar every month, you know at which hospital. Anybody pm me this would help this old guy very much. He is 76 and fully aware of the addiction part, but just can't get any sleep without. Thank you. MS>

Good links here for pretty realiable forecasts for people interested:  https://www.tmd.go.th/en/thailand.php

&  http://www.marine.tmd.go.th/thai/ships00-eng.html

Happy New Year.  MS>

I have been actively looking for a 150sqm + condo in good location for a good price, meaning a "reduced, below market price". 6 months and all but 1 offer with about 20% of "regular price from a Russian developer in a building with very few occupied units and admin. situation being very unclear. On the hill in medium location. I think all these super-deals are more or less a phantasy of the people who probably don't have much of an idea and are probably renting, because they could never buy a real condo themselves. I am paying around 2 Mio. for rental units near the beach with around 30sqm and still need to redo them. And, yes I did my home-work and know the market quite well after 15 years of being actively involved. So, please any super-deals, send me a message. 150sqm+, in good location, preferably shell or unit that needs total remodel. Regards and My Best Wishes for 2017.  MS>

11 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

 

Ebola. Absolute and utter failure. Had it not been for the intervention of the US and Canadian governments Africa and western Europe would have been under quarantine and  seen millions dead.  China and Russia, the Arab world, did nothing and contributed nothing.

 

 Sex crimes. The UN has refused to take action against its peacekeeping units and personnel involved in wide scale  sexual abuse of children and others in Africa. It is the  a pressing issue that was  covered up by the UN until it could no longer be suppressed.

 

Darfur. The UN stood by as the  Arabs  undertook a genocide against  black Christian Africans.

 

Syria. The UN's 2 top slime lords, Russia and China vetoed  the condemnation of  Assads' massacres including targeting of civilians.

 

Cholera epidemic in Haiti.The UN caused the death and sickness of tens of thousands when its personnel from Nepal introduced cholera. No apology or restitution was made.

 

+ 1

32 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

Is the lawyer fee for probate more or less a flat fee or a is it a percentage of the estate value?

Thai firms quote flat fee or percentage of Estate mostly. I deal with 2 firms now, which are foreign owned and prof. lawyers and they charge by the hour, with detailed accounting. Really need to pick the right people and be ready to provide them with the docs and support they need. I pers. have stipulated in my Will who is to be doing my probate, incl. some more details. Regards.  MS>

Yes, there is a probate, which needs to be initiated by a lawyer. Yes, best make a Will, stipulating it applies to all your Estate in Thailand only. Incl. copies of bankbook, chanods etc.  If there is no Will, a probate for your Thai estate can still be done, but is slightly more involved. Yes, be very careful, who is named the executor/administrator, as he will be able to give or take whatever he wants without any restrictions or supervison by any law. Best make a trusted friend the executor and pick one of the few known reliable law-firms to go through probate. Cost should be around 100-270K, depending  on case. The 270K was the highest I ever paid for a 1/2 Mio Euro- and rather involved probate. Time frame is around 6 months and usually straightforward. BTW. If you die outside a hospital, your body will be automatically sent to BKK Police Hospital for autopsy. Might as well get cremated in BKK then, unless you want a service at a temple in Pattaya. I have a couple of posts up with strong recommendations of a very good and affordable funeral-service company. Happy New Year and many years to live I wish you.  MS>

That is great. Heard it is quite good. Thx. MS>