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gharknes

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Posts posted by gharknes

    Anyone Stayed At The Honey Inn

    in Pattaya

    Posted

    There are two wings side by side. Send them an E mail back and tell them 750 baht is too much. What is the persons name that sent you a reply. Was it Mai? Anyway the new wing has much better rooms. When are you coming. The standard price is 600 baht per night for the old wing and 650 for the new wing unless you are coming in December. If that's the case tell them to put you on a waiting list for the new wing. Pattaya is dead now. They try and get the most money out of you.

    Barry

    Barry thanks for the reply, I have only booked 1 night, if you know someone there I would very much appriciate if you could drop a call on my behalf, here is a copy of email including sender, my booking is under the name Geoff Harkness

    ----------------------------------------------------------

    Sinchai Wattanasatsaton [[email protected]]

    Thank you very much for your e-mail, we would like to inform your booking room on period 2nd October 2005 - long stay (you can expext for us), for 1 standard room in the old wing, the room rate @750.- on room only/ per night, this room rate, we are already disc. for you, could you please return e-mial to us again if you would like to book a room and let us know about what time you will be arrive to pattaya sir.

    Ps. We are thank you very for your friend he recommended our flipper house with you.

    We are looking forward to receive your ereply soon.

    Best regards.

    Reservation dept.

    ---------------------------------------------

    I don't know anyone in the hotel but I'm not going to get too excited over price but I am particular about room quality, if you know someone there could you give them a little call and make sure your friends are being looked after :o

    owe you a pint or 3 :D

    I Got A Bone To Pick With You Pattaya

    in Pattaya

    Posted

    Ok, I wish to voice a opinion that has been nagging me for a bit about our bigger brother to the South, Pattaya.

    I've learned today that the water in our resorvoir is being sent to Pattaya. Ok, fair enough... share and share alike, but then I thought... after water here was shut off after only 4 hours today, that perhaps Pattaya should rely on it's own resorvoir for it's water and not take ours...

    I'm reminded of the water wars that have occured in areas around the world, then I read about Rayong citizenry taking up protest to save water for it's household use and have been successful in getting concessions that no more water will be diverted to other towns... so I'm hoping my good friend the mayor of Sriracha will follow suit and deny water for people other than Si'cha people.

    Second gripe I got against Pattaya is to please keep your worst scum in that town and not export them to here. Over the last week, I've noticed a proliferation of the worst kind of Pattaya's foreign community soiling the good nature of this fair city.

    Just tonight, I witnessed some bad Pattaya influence in our clubs... grabbing and groping some decent women here.... stop it...before the citizens here get upset by the bad farang influence and strike back.

    Stop making the rest of us look bad.

    Quote ----))))and not take ours((((

    yours ?

    what a stupid thing to say

    Early Retirement Or Work Another 5 Years?

    in General Topics

    Posted · Edited by gharknes

    It took four pages, but here's a big problem; YOU CANNOT GET A RETIREMENT VISA AT THAT AGE.  Are you going to do 12 30-day visa runs every year?

    I held out to age 56, then retired early.  Been getting SSA since birthday 62.  I think you're not ready.  If you think you're bored now, you'll be crazy-bored with nothing to do in Thailand.

    If you don't intend to have more children but intend to be heterosexually active, get a vasectomy.

    Soryy but you sound almost disgruntled that you waited as long as you did to retire, I believe if you can do it at 45 then why not, holding out to age 56 is just downright depressing, I bought a house when I was 22, I worked my ass off for 5 years at the start with 3 jobs to pay the mortgage, I am now reaping the benefits, why the phuck shouldn't I or anyone for that matter if they can, sorry but 56 for me is old man status, I am retireing young and going to enjoy every minute of it, we are so programmed into the work ethic it is almost unbeliveable, the UK government believe that people now want to work until they are 70, I never wanted to work at all never mind 70, it is a means to return your hard earned money right back to the government to be wasted on a disfunctional NHS and squandered on ineffiecient government bodies, tax tax tax tax

    bored in Thailand - never bored and unhappy having to work till I'm 56 wasting my life away in the rat race churn, well I know the answer to that one

    As for getting a retirement VISA, well pretty much everyone is aware of the age limit, I have 3 VISA's "Mulitple O" to get before I'm 50, then I get a retirement VISA.

    If you are bored in Thailand why don't you go back to where ever you came from and work till your 70, then you can come here and die soon after.

    Early Retirement Or Work Another 5 Years?

    in General Topics

    Posted

    >> I'm thinking about early retirement. I'm 44 years old and I have around $400,000 altogether. $200,000 in retirement accounts and $200,000 in cash. If I stay another 5 years with my company, I'll receive $1200 a month in pension for life with COLA when I turn 60 but the problem is I hate my job and my boring life in the states.

    I am in a similar situation, bored at work in the US and would like to retire, so I empathize.  But I have to vote with the crowd that says stick with the job, Gary.  At your age you have a life expectancy of 30 years, but a 50% chance of living longer.  The chances that you will die young and miss out on retirement are negligible.  The risk that you will outlive your money is fairly high, in my opinion.  That would result in a wretched old age.

    Inflation is a big risk.  In the US 3% is a good long-term estimate, but it could run higher for periods as it did in the 70's.  The trailing 12 month inflation rate in Thailand right now is 5.6%, although the historical norm is 1% to 2%.  3% is a reasonable number to work with. 

    You can't get 5% on your money right now without taking risk.  10 year US bonds pay about 4.11%  right now.  But let's be generous and assume you do get a nominal 5%.  Your real rate of return, net of inflation, would then be 2%.  You still have to pay US Federal Income tax, but let's ignore that for now.  Let's also assume that both your pension and Social Security are secure, although SS is not and your pension  may be increasingly at risk of default.  Your company pension will be $1200/month in 2021 dollars which will be worth 61% of today's dollars after inflation.  (I assume your COLA adjustments don't begin until after you start collecting.)  SS adjustments do not keep pace with inflation, but let's assume they do so you collect just under $2000 per month in today's dollars beginning in 2023. 

    Will you have enough to last you the next 18 years until your pensions kick in?  Probably yes, under these favorable assumptions.  You current resources will provide you with about $2200 per month in today's dollars for the next 18 years after which nothing will remain.  (I am assuming you do unpenalized SEPP withdrawals from your retirement accounts before age 59.5.)

    However these calculations assume that the exchange rate between the USD and Thai baht remain stable, which is very unlikely.  The USD is widely regarded as overvalued right now, particularly against Asian currencies.  Many economists and investors believe it will have to drop in value until the trade deficit is substantially reduced.  If the USD dropped a modest 25% against the Baht you would lost $500 per month in purchasing power, requiring painful adjustments in your living standard.

    The reality is that you would be retiring, not to Thailand per se, but to Favorable-Exchange-Rate-Land, which would include Thailand initially, but perhaps not forever.  Over time economics would push you to relocate to countries then enjoying weaker currencies.  Exchange rate fluctuations are even harder to predict than inflation, but they would affect you more. 

    All of this assumes that you earn no income at all during retirement.  Normally, our wages are the best hedge we have against inflation.  Without that, your real income would be much more fragile.  Your job marketability would erode fairly quickly.  In my opinion, the chances are high of finding yourself in a desperate situation with a diminishing ability to improve matters.

    On the other hand some people have successfully retired early.  This fellow retired 20 years ago with resources like yours, lived and travelled with his wife since then, and now has twice as much:

    http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/5315/

    Good luck.  Please keep us posted about your thinking.

    Khun Pad Thai

    I am doing exactly what you are considering, currently 45, single, no dependants, have some cash and investments, can draw on a reduced company pension in 5 years, I arrive in Thailand 2nd of October on Mulitple O visa, it took me all of 2 mins to make my choice, either work for the next 15 years to 60 then retire an old man, or pack my job in sell my house and move to thailand. I have 5 years to get through until my pension kicks in, when that happens my money will be invested in a high interest account to subsadise my pension giving me about £18,000 sterling per year, more than enough to have quite a comfortable living in Thailand, I have worked out that £18,000 per year in Thailand would be similar to about £45,000 year in UK a ratio of about 1:3

    I belive you have more than enough to sustain a comfortable living in Thailand so "go for it" and don't look back.

    Anyone Stayed At The Honey Inn

    in Pattaya

    Posted

    well I went and booked it for a week before I read this thread, not happy, I may be able to cancel, Flipper inn looks good, I'm sure I can cancel booking, paid with CC

    god dam it

    That's the Flipper house on Soi 7. Remember thier are two Flipper Hotels Flipper Lodge on Soi 8 (Too Noisy), and Flipper House Soi 7 Very good. about your Visa, if the Honey inn or whatever agent you booked with does not answer your request or refuses to refund call your visa company and explain you have not used the service of that hotel yet, tried to cancel, and they refuse. Visa Guarentees evrything. They will take the charge off send you a form to fill out and then contact the agent. That's one of the reasons i use Visa. They are very good world wide.

    Barry

    Update, I have obtained a refund from Sawadee Plc. / SamuiNET Travel, they have agreed to refund me 5 days of the 7 I had booked and prepaid wihich I am very happy with, they do have admin charges etc, better than nothing, I have also booked into the flipper house hotel for 750 baht per night, only thing they said was that it would be in the "old wing" anybody know what the old wing is referring too ?

    Dying Girlfriend?

    in Pattaya

    Posted

    Thanks for the update Richard, hope things improve going forward.

    I sometimes wonder how whenever some people on here discuss "Thai" people that they almost put them into some kindoff sub category, almost like they are not fully paid up members of the human race "like we are"

    Richard had an ex girlfriend that happens to be Thai, he still has contact and they have mutual admiration and remain friends, I can relate to that very well as I have several ex girlfriends that remain very good friends, Richard lives far away and is concerned for her health, I got the impression from some posters on this thread that because she was Thai that he maybe shouldn't be concerned, OK I'm probably going to get a slating for this but reading through some posts I honestly got that perception, I also get the perception that some Thai woman are intent on creating scams to relieve the rich farag man of his bank account, well guys in my experience no matter where in the world you live there are women like that everywhere, they just have different methods of achieving the same, I found it very admirable of Richard to come on here "which I believe was the right thing to do" and ask for help/assistance, I find it even more admirable that people where chomping at the bit to help.............very touching indeed, this girl seems to be in very good hands, might I add I would do exactly the same myself.

    Oh and one more thing, hospital services may not be that good in Thailand but I have to say it is debatable whether it is any better in the the UK

    didn't read over my post - hope it makes sense

    Englishman Robbed At Gunpoint In His Jomtien Home

    in Pattaya

    Posted

    I must say that the insensitivity shown in this thread toward the victim of the robbery was surprising even for me, who thought I was well used to the disdain for gay people demonstrated by so many posters on this board.

    Remember , Mr. Jones was identified BY NAME in the report at the start of the thread. Given the fairly small size of the expat community in Pattaya, (and the gay community within that in particular) and the popularity of Thaivisa, the likelihood of the victim or somebody who personally knew him reading the thread would have been fairly high.

    I think unfortunately it shows the lack of empathy that many straight people have towards the gay people that live in their midst that it never ocurred to the posters above that the gay people actually read their board as well, and could do without that type of comment on such a serious incident that caused real human suffering.

    Sorry if some of you think that in saying this I am displaying an oversensitivity or lack of sense of humour. But it did annoy me.

    personally I have nothing against gays in general, I just find it distastful to see them perform in public, it should be kept well behind doors, it is niether natural or normal, just my opinion

    on another note, <deleted> was this person doing with that amount of cash and valuables lying around his house anyway.

    P.S. Does anyone know what sort of point Davethailand is trying to make with his rather cryptic post on the thread?

    Dying Girlfriend?

    in Pattaya

    Posted

    Sad indeed Richard, I can almost understand how you feel, my girlfriend rang me one day to say she was sick and not eating, very rare for her, then next thing her sister rang me and said she was in hospital, being so far away (UK) you really feel so helpless, she is fine now but i can understand to a point what you are going through, please let us know the details once u find out, now that you have posted on here

    good luck hope it's not too serious.

    Do I Need A Work Permit To Day Trade?

    in Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits

    Posted

    Hello! I am a 30-something American staying in Pattaya on tourist visas and 30 day stamps. I would like to know if I need a work permit to "day trade". In your house it's probably not a big deal but I would prefer to go to one of the trading rooms e.g. Thanachart in the North Pattaya Tesco-Lotus or the ABN AMRO near dolphin circle. Will I be paranoid that the boys in brown might show up to raid the place looking for illegal workers? The ABN AMRO is a little secluded but the Thanachart has big plate-glass windows into the mall.

    Thanks!

    I have investments outside of Thailand and access my portfolio online, can't see how looking after your retiremnt money could be interpreted as working, they are my investments personal to me, nobody else could do it for me.

    Use Of Swimming Pools

    in Pattaya

    Posted

    If you don't like the pool at Mikes, the i'm afraid that thier re no pools in Pattaya that would suit you. Mikes Shopping Mall has the cleanest pool in Pattaya, and does not use chlorine. Maybe your looking for something else?

    hard rock but it's expensive, don't know pattaya park, the harley bar might let u if you use the bar facilities while you're there.

    Wifi Hot Spots

    in IT and Computers

    Posted

    Living in the UK there are plenty of places now offering wifi, cafes bars coffee shops returants etc. It's a nice idea and is catching on at home, so my question, is this also the case in thailand ? are there internet hot spots offered to customers etc, I am also looking for info particular to pattaya as that's where I'll be living

    Boy Electrocuted After Stepping On Chord At Mall

    in Thailand News Headlines

    Posted

    Safety standards are important, they stop people/children being killed, electricity is dangerous but I find it hard to understand how this kid managed to get in contact with Live 240volts from a plug or socket, it is virtually impossible, I would suggest that either there was a faulty wire or cable that was exposing the live 240volts and the kid stepped on it or the rail that he had his hand on became live due to comming in contact with 240 mains, either way there is a very disturbing safety issue, people who carry out shoddy work or fail to meet safety standards (if there are any) should be held accountable both finacially and criminally.

    Filling Out The Form

    in Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits

    Posted

    It's ok, it's clearly obvious you're simply not able to see the big picture, but that's not unusual for newbies...

    Enjoy Pattaya... it suits you.

    Hey guys I asked a simple question about what I should fill in on a simple form, may I suggest to the moderators to delete any none relevent posts in relation to my question, should be just about all of them. Thankyou Totster and Thaiflyer1 for your help

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