bwanajohn

I guess it's time to get my glasses upgraded. I thought this was about erectile dysfunction. Was sure it read "bits not functioning."

After seeing what happened to foreigners allowed to buy land in Sri Lanka and Malaysia I always thought the Thai government did us a solid by not allowing foreigners to buy land here.

The marijuana issues is not about how dangerous it is. Its a civil rights issue. Why are people persecuted for using one substitute to feel some kind of euphoria and not another. Its like saying you can injure some one with a knife but not a brick.. Historical the prohibition against certain substances like pot and opium was to have a way to harass certain ethnic groups Specifically Chinese and Latinos and Blacks ,then artists and musicians. This whole idea of trying to compare booze to pot to opium etc as to it's inherent danger to society is a distraction. I remember having a discussion with my parents about this many many years ago .When the comparison with alcohol came up the accepted logic from the Media at the time was " just because you have syphilis you shouldn't go out and get gonorrhea ..NO that's not the issue ..the issue is persecuting one group of people for substantially the same activity. In this case wanting to use a substance to feel relax and feel good .

Unfortunately I paid them my car insurance for the year last week. On the phone yesterday they assured me there would be no problem . Hmmm

I read somewhere that one of the booking platforms themselves censored a just in passing comment by a guest that the hosts had mentioned they were not vaccinated. Information you as a guest might want to know before hand depending on your health status. I don't think our species has the ability to function in the rational environment demanded by computers. Maybe Vulcans could but not Homo Sapiens ....too emotional .

I was unaware that Airbnb was illegal in Thailand for less than 30 days. Is that not a bylaw off some condo regulations . A Thai lawyer also told me foreigners operating Airbnb's in Thailand not legal. Perhaps if renting for less than 30 days. My suggestion is that you speak with a lawyer..I just had a conversation with my lawyer about foreigner's having rental income here Airbnb ...booking .com and ordinary tenant situations. If the money goes into a foreigners bank account it's as usual not technically legal in some instances .

Thanks for the response. I believe it still falls into a grey area unless the rental is handled by a thai registered property management company or similar. and you as a non work permitted foreigner are not involved in the marketing management etc of the property but is an entirely passive income stream . would that be true? Im very curious about this as after almost 40 years here my wife and I are thinking of leaving as now we are retired from our import export business we are just bored and struggling figure out away keep busy and get some return on investments here. For instance if we had four rental properties could we supervise the maintenance ,advertise the rental .negotiate with the perspective tenants.

I have a property on a 30 year lease...after building the house we discussed whether to have the house registered separately from the land our lawyer with us as the owner (not as part of the property on a 30 yr lease .We were told yes can be done but complicates things when you want to sell. Also as we built a second smaller house for friends to stay in when visiting long term. We discussed renting this out with our lawyer. We were told its technically illegal as most foreigners do not have a visa etc that allows them to earn income in Thailand. If you have a thai spouse or adult child with Thai citizenship the rent can go through them. This also includes airbnb . I know many foriegners do it and we did as well with a condo some years ago. Its one of the issues I always see when the Thai gov.t talks about getting quality tourists to invest in property etc. Wealthy people didn't get rich by investing capital in instruments that they cannot realize a return on. Super yachts when not being used by the owners are often chartered . So if I buy a nice villa in Phuket and decide not to visit for a couple years it would be nice to be able to lease it to someone to off set the operating costs with out violating Thai law. I would be interested in how others deal with this conumdrum.

The skin is the largest organ of the body and performs multiple functions to keep our bodies healthy and regulated. .Can you imagine spraying some chemical on your heart or liver to interfere with its function. Never understood the use of deodorant.

I think the price reflects a certain punitive charge so people don't think the card is disposable. Then there is the cost of purchasing and maintaining the machine to encode and the cost to employ someone to be there when you demand anew one cuz you cant find the old one.

Lots of good advise in the above Remember that the SSW side of the house will get very warm at the end of the day so if those are bed rooms make sure that 3Mt deck runs along there. Use Bamboo blinds on the deck at the rail edge ,cooling and creates a lovely ambience. I use the blinds to block sun in the winter when its low and to block some of the heat rising up from the valley in the hot season. I prefer AAC block to double brick and I think it holds and transfers less heat. I vent the black water where it enters the house with two inch pipe up over the eave rather than the thai style of a 1 inch pipe out the top the septic tank. I think its more effective. Grey water I forgot to put P traps in the shower but was able to buy some very neat little rubber things that fit in the drain and look like a heavy duty condoms with the end cut off ,They open when water flows and close back up when empty . We had abit of smell before we got those. I actually think alot of the smell in Thai bathrooms is from the grey water not the loo, where they are separate systems. I agree with not going for security bars . With battery powered tools B&E is simple as these days, a battery operated saw in three minutes can cut the whole lockset out of the wooden door or make whole large enough to reach in and unlock it all. My neighbours are adamant there are no thieves in the village and all new faces are suspect, but they all have security bars. We have built several houses, 2 in Thailand one in NZ and 3 in Canada. The two in Thailand are in Chiang mai province at 1000metres above sea level so we have a very unique climate . A few nights in winter it gets down to close to frost 2C and lots of single digit nights and in the hot season it will hit 40. Not this year though because we had a very rainy April from the very first day, In the rainy season its consistently 19 to 21 at night and 26 to 30 in the day ...occassionally a couple degrees hotter if the sun is out all day. We wanted a house that needed no heat or AC . Thats worked out quite well. Our kitchen living dining is open air and in the dead of winter its too cold in the late evening in the open parts of the house so we retreat to the closed off rooms. Breakfast when its gone down to 2 at night is time to channel my inner Canadian spirit and put on my snugglies and a toque .It warms up pretty quick and we have a sunny spot on the back side of the house for morning coffee. Although not the most efficient use of materials a long narrow house one room thick allows great cross ventilation and the deck doubles as a hall ways. Rooms can be interconnected as per use. I think cavity walls would be the best and my next project will be a steel framed house with insulated cavity much like the stick frame they build in Canada. A lot of people think insulation is just for the cold but it aint so. I think you can easily get close to R 20 with this method and nothing else will come close to that. With AAC block our rooms stay about 6 to 10C degrees cooler than the outside if we are conscientious about closing up during the day and opening in the evening but at some point in March April it will get overwhelmed if we have a couple warm nights and hot hot days. I think our climate is unique here and so probably not everything will be applicable. I think our village has the highest above sea level hospital,high school and 7/11 Good luck and have fun. Dont build two storeys with out a convection chimney and preferably an outdoor covered stair case . I ve rented two and three storey houses here and with out AC the upper floors are hot hot hot almost all day all year. Plant trees lots of them My two satang ...hope it helps.

Find a sympathetic lawyer with good English skills and lots of experience with foreigners buying land.