condor001

Seems there should be two trains of thought here. Those that rely on that SS payment every month to live and those that dont. If you don't need the funds every month, then the most practical solution, imho, is to use a US bank and simply ETF over funds when you need them. In my case, that's once a year, $25 wire fee, and I watch the THB/USD rate, which just hit a 14 year low btw. I cashed in a few c notes this week and got 34.90. I use a US broker account, which has checking and a debit card. All funds go in there. If I need a few hundred to quick convert to Thai baht, I use the debit card. All foreign ATM fees are credited back. Never have to go to my Thai bank to get funds. If I make a trip to the US, I bring back some C notes, just to use money changers and get the best rate. Much better than bank rates.

Just received my annual "are you still alive" form from the SSA, filled it out with a resounding YES and will post it tomorrow.

Other folks also receiving this form?

Mac

Yes. Interesting story here. While at the Bangkok US Embassy, waiting patiently outside while my Thai wife had an appointment inside, a frustrated 65 yo Thai lady approached me with questions. She had been told at the window to wait and that was over 2 hours ago. She had that "Are you alive "form. Spoke very good English. She said her US husband died several years ago and she could not read English. Turns out her husband was retired Navy, both had lived in USA and she in fact had become a nurse working in the VA for a while. Our Embassy window obviously did not look at her form, nor ask her any questions. She was needlessly waiting and stressed out. I simply filled it out for her, witnessed it with my signiture and told her to send it snail mail, no more than 50 baht back to the USA. She already had a Bangkok transfer account and had been receiving payments. She clearly had been receiving survivor benefits thru Bangkok Bank for several years. Needless to say she was very happy and on her way. Lovely lady.

How many times has everybody said on this truly wonderful site advised- never get involved in buying houses- a foreign owned condo at the moment is fine- never ever ever buy off plan.

The guy's sunglasses probably cost more than your house- never trust anybody.

Rent- yes it costs a lot for a nice property- but there you go.

Obviously your opinion, not fact. If you do your research on the developer and he has successfully completed other developments, then buying off plan can get you a substantial discount. There are many reasons to buy vs rent, the most obvious is doing the math. Can be much cheaper in the long run. But I can't convince non-trustworthy people to trust another party, Lol! They think everybody is out to cheat them. I just say, do the due dilegence and if it makes sense, buy!

Why doesn't he use the money from his "other business activities" to pay the loan, instead of milking more from the owners?

Because any reasonable business person sets up a company for each project. He protects his other assets. He therfore has some leverage with the bank, assuming he has no personal guarantees.

On a positive note, I just saw a TV expose' about a limbless guy who travels the world as a motivational speaker, and has books out. This chap was last in Korea, speaking to very large audiences.

There is more to be gained under marshall law. Crying we are losing tourists is shortsighted. Has draconion methods hurt Singapore or taken it to new hights that are the envy of democratic nations? There will be a time to let up, but right now this country needs strong autocratic leadership. Keep the hammer down.

The OP is correct. Used car prices are crazy. Damn close to new. And new are cheap if you buy domestic made toyota, mazda, dord, etc. We quit looking for a good used, because we don't want to chase down an expat desperate and leaving. The idea that high resale prices are a good thing is just plane silly. We plan on driving ours until the wheels fall off, hopefully 10+ years. You cannot explain the crazy used prices because of duties, or loan values IMHO. They are just crazy. And then I hear Thai's don't want to buy used houses. Must have new. I stopped trying the figure some logic here. I just try to use the system to my advantage where I can save a buck in the long run. We bought used pool villa and new car on the new buyer program. Both were much cheaper than I could buy back home.

resurecting this topic. Just returned from the States to find we have had zero Rawai city water in over a month. Zero! We live in Saiyaun Med Village. It's been raining since we got here a week ago, plus rainy season, so must be something else besides reservoir being low. Anybody else? One month! Paradise ain't the same without water and I really don't want to put in a tank if this is temporary. We just filled up from the preverbial truck.

Anyone who says the shopkeeper is racist is taking a wild leap. The guy had a knife. How does the shopkeeper or anyone know he had a knife? Because he pulled it out. A tourist would not do that. Pretty easy to see who was the aggressor here. The rest needs to be sorted out. We don't know. We do know he is not denying he had a knife.