Firefan

Hi all, and happy new year!

Got friend arriving to Bangkok who after a car accident have been dealing w nerve damage in lower back. Can anybody recommend doc for such in Bangkok?

Cheers!

I tend to agree.I anyway need an additional box/computer attached to install various player softwares like Thaiexpattv, Ilikehd, XBMC (as most smart Tvs run their own operating systems) and while I thought that the "from router direct to smart TV" connection would increase speed, the lagging hardware (to keep TV prices down) can not keep up with a good computer/box, can not be upgraded - and I am not impressed with the Samsung interface either. Cheers!

Harry: who is Le Roy?

I just checked the YTD return of the SET here: http://marketdata.set.or.th/mkt/marketsummary.do?language=en&country=US

(scroll a bit down to the right). It's up about 1% year to date yesterday (up another 1% as I type this).

That is actually quite a bit better than most emerging markets - and I must admit that I find the Thai stock market incredibly resilient when comes to what goes on politically and financially in Thailand and internationally. Even with natural disasters, political turmoil, coups and civil "war" the markets bounce a bit around - but it seems that "everybody" now knows that the internal squabbles in Thailand is just that - nobody wants to see a total meltdown - so the markets act accordingly - seeing dips as buying opportunities.

The outflows of foreign investments is probably a question of lowering risk for when/if the tapering will come - emerging markets need new big loans for development much more than developed (EU/USA/Japan Etc.) needs them -so risk is taken off the table and money have moved especially to USA (up 20%+ YTD) - which also reduces currency risk for USD based investors/funds.

I am personally waiting for a good time to get into the Thai market again - so a drop down towards the 1000-1100ish for the SET would fit me nicely , I just do not see that happening.

Cheers!

Yes - cash is light and easy to have on ya agreed! Meanwhile the OP also mentioned other valuables that could be in the bag - and one could easily throw in the android TV player, the MP3 player, extra mobile charging battery, some SD cards, the diving watch and the back up sunglasses, and be out much more than the above amount - so I hereby thank the OP for his post - it will help me remember to pack a "cabin bag" for my next bus trip - and leave the thief to go through some sweaty football gear, my muay Thai groin guards and some underwear that might try to fight back!

Cheers!

A year sounds right (for me!).

Is about Baht 40k/mth.

Studio apt: 10000 Baht (near mrt/bts - w gym/pool)

Utilities/Inet/mobile: 2000 Baht

Transport: 3000 Baht (no home leaves - but trips to beach Incl.)

Health insurance/vitamins/OTC meds/dental: 2000 Baht

Groceries: 5000 Baht (Incl. foreign luxuries)

Above basic costs adds up to 23k/mth

Other: sports, sports gear, PC/phone repairs/upgrades, clothes all vary from month to month but let's say 5k to cover all and leave some buffer.

Remaining 12k is for entertainment, eating out, gifts and so forth. Heck - maybe even some savings!

Cheers!

5000 baht for groceries your having a laugh.. Double that food bill and add a few more thousand baht.. 175 baht for food per day is living like a homeless person..

maybe he means THB 5000 a week

As always with these sorts of posts we are back to defintions, in this case the question posed "living relatively comfortably in Thailand"

one person defintion of comfortably will be very different from another....if the question was could you live on $16k a year in Thailand if you had to, then my answer would be yes I could...but right now in my life I dont want to, I have established a certain "comfort" level which is akin to what I am used to in farangland and thats what i want

Good point Southpeel. I read it as having room for a bit of fun but nothing extravagant - others read it differently for sure!

As for groceries - more groceries in my above split - would hopefully mean a reduction in the 12000 Baht entertainment budget as then eating less out.

While above is not my personal actual split (I own my condo) - I would have no problem living with it - and I DO grocery shop for about that amount - mostly chicken,veggies, fruits, oatmeal, brown rice as base but also salami, pate, dark breads Etc. too. We are talking only ONE person here, and eat out quite a bit too. (as entertainment budget explains ). Cheers!

I had a chance to read some more small print and one thing to notice is that out patient diagnostics/analysis/tests leading to inpatient case (typically surgery) days later is not included in their most basic plan. A+essential plus adds that for up to $2000 which (with $1350 deductable) increases the cover for person in his 40ties to $358/year. Personally I would probably also increase cover to worldwide excl. US/Can (90 days emergency still there) and that will then be $500/year. Cheapest $1M cover (in-patient w deductable) I have ever seen, and without a bunch of sub limits as most Thai insurances have. Cheers!

And the big difference with the government employee plan is also that nearest family is included in the plan - which confuses many Thai married (to teacher/public servant Etc.) farangs into thinking they are getting the "free/30b" health care while in actuality covered under their Thai wife's/husbonds plan. Cheers!

Edit; just see that Terry covered my comment partly sorry - but I think important to add that farang married to Thai public servant covered too - as it causes a ton of confusion here.

Yes - it is really a no-brainer this month, with free shipping (only USD 4 normally) and if first time order; use of code YOQ460 (10 USD discount on top of free shipping) . Also remember to click "freebies" at the top of their homepage for an extra gift - I can recommend the organic lipbalms. Finally; keep the order under USD 65ish to avoid customs charges (and the hassle of going to the post office). Charges will normally be in the 30% range. If more is needed, then simply order more packages (Yes; I have had 2 arriving at the same time multiple times - no problem).

I have received more than 20 packages now from Iherb. Longest delivery was 6 weeks, shortest was 10 days. So be prepared for that.

Cheers!

I have received more than 20 packages now - and I agree with previous poster that even USD 60-70/package (not including shipping) goes through without customs (just had one at USD 66 come straight through). Btw I am always charged the 7 Baht.

And yes; this month even the USD 4 is free and code YOQ460 will get USD 10 of any (first time) order over USD 40. (disclaimer; will get me some points)

Cheers!

While I do not know the company - I must say that their South East Asia plan is VERY cheap! In-patient cover up to $500k/year for somebody in their 40ties for only $336/year if accept a $1350 deductible(annual). If no deductible then $1088/year. Since I buy my health insurance to protect me against catastrophic(and bankrupting...) cases - not the small stuff, I prefer a deductible if saves me $750 year. It DOES limit the hospital choices to basically Thailand, and maybe Malaysia/Philippines as the other countries hospital standards are simply not same standard.

If pay a bit more one can get worldwide excl. US/Can - that is around $460. Not bad at all.

It does cover emergency treatment worldwide for 90 day a year.

I will via AA Insurance consider them when time comes for my healthcareinternational.com renewal.

Cheers!

If you have no Thai clients, no Thai employees, no registered office/company in Thailand - and do your work regionally (outside Thailand) - you do in practical terms not need a work permit for Thailand.

If you DO (and who doesn't?) work on your computer in Thailand - you technically DO need a work permit (any work performed in Thailand) - but for people having contacted lawyers like Sunbelt about obtaining such a "work permit" - it has not been possible - even when they were willing to pay taxes Etc. Only route there is to set up a Thai company.

Reading your message you seem to be in above situation - and your main issue is to obtain a visa so the 3rd option is to arrange for a sponsored visa which I know Sunbelt does too. You basically have them sponsor(they supply documentation) you for a fee, it will give you a yearly multiple entry non im visa - gotta leave the country every 3 months. I believe Sunbelt still do those visas - but it could have changed.

Cheers!

The hurum is generally on sale for around 10.000 Baht +

It is not a cheap juicer, but it gets much more juice out of the veggies and fruits that it will be earned back over time. Not to mention the added health benefits by juicing this way vs high speed juicers. Cheers!

Tropo, yes bought here.

They do also grow beet root here. Even organic. I do not recall seeing them at fresh markets though.

Cheers!

My Hurom juicer holds up well after a year, some discoleration on the flanges/plastic parts though. Had 1 problem recently with the main bucket not wanting to disconnect from the base when wanting to clean it. Not sure what is on with that - seems to be fixed by rinsing some water through - but has caused a bit of a hassle recently. Cheers!

Nick, sure the small meal is 109 Baht - but it is a single small burger, it rotates between specials so you can not always have what you want - and there is no bacon, cheese Etc. finally the coke and french fries is bigger.

Now that said; for me the small meal is generally enuff - and when really hungry the whopper jr meal is plenty - so not a good deal for me either.

As was mentioned; notice the validity date of that Groupon - not valid for a couple of weeks.

Cheers!

U are welcome mate! Cheers!

Yes Naam, I meant ICBC - my mistake. Meanwhile the link you send is to China based ICBC with their gold options. I found that too in my search and agree those accounts are gold TRADING accounts with no interest and instead storage and trading costs. That is NOT the same as the Thai Gold SAVINGS account.

I will investigate further; but feel free to call the hotline to prove me wrong!

Wonder what their ATM charges are....?

Cheers!

Mccw; translator? Ok - will do that - I send the bill to you? Presume you also want it certified by embassy, foreign ministry and a holy spirit? From opening accounts elsewhere I expect at least 10 closely written pages of stuff - probably more.

Yeah - it's spooky stuff indeed. I could not find there either (planned to use google translate to get me more info) Imagine a homepage not updated with correct info...and then in Thailand.... Maybe that Sathorn Branch is all fake too?

I did get a flyer from them (all in Thai) at last visit. That and the banner(s) are so far the only marketing I have seen for this account.

The flyer DOES however stipulate their hotline: 02 663 9333. Give them a buzz and ask about "ICBC (Thai) Gold Savings".

Cheers!

Somebody mentioned the small print, and think also that is what Naam hinted at with "no catches" and as you know well - when I go to open the account, all the prints, small or big, will be in Thai so I will probably not be able to read it anyway....

I will however sacrifice myself on the alter and open an account, and will report back if learn anything new in the process of that, or when holding the account.

Wish me luck guys!

Cheers!

Naam; I think mccw has a point. The new Basel rules make gold as good as cash as bank reserves - so there is really no difference in you getting interest on your cash deposit is there?

Cheers!

Naam, yes, my guess is they, besides usual embedded fees and bid/offer spreads, might lend out the gold (which in Thailand can be 2%/month...) - but the same is done with our cash deposits (but being FIAT money often ten times over) - so nothing unusual in that - at least they can (hopefully..) only re-lend it out 1 time in case of real gold...

In the end it still comes down to trust in the bank - I trust Bank of China more than most western banks these days.

Cheers!

Good morning to you Bruce...

I went there and to my surprise it IS actually 2.7% in interest/year, comes with a free debit card, and yes - your money is then in Thai gold - so interest is added as gold too.

It can be used just as a normal account as such. No lock ups Etc. Minimum is 10.000 Baht. Asked about fees/commissions and they claim there is none, but would think they will earn on the bid/offer spread - and who knows what other hidden fees - still - with an interest of 2.7% (was 2.9% before) I will be happy.

Most other ways to invest in gold (leaving out holding it physically which can be a good idea too!) will COST money in storage fees, generally have higher bid/offer spreads (Thai gold must have near the lowest bid/offer spread in the world). Other alternatives like ETFs, Closed End funds and similar comes with management fees and broker commissions. I.e. if gold price stays flat - the value of the investment drops - while here there will be 2.7% more on the account.

Some will argue that 2.7% interest is hardly worth it - considering the volatility involved with gold - and I agree in principle. This should be for a person ANYWAY wanting to invest in gold, and who do maybe not want to buy it all in 1 go. Spreading out the purchases dollar-cost-averaging into it bit by bit. If done with ETFs/funds that could become expensive in commissions, while here it can be done easily.

The debit card is an interesting touch! Besides being free it will when used, automatically convert gold to cash for payment in Thai Baht accordingly. As mentioned above this account has the best fit (for me) as a gold saving account - and using it day to day as ones normal salary account could probably lead to a few heart attacks as the gold price bounces around! I do however appreciate that it gives super easy access to my gold, in the exact amount I want to sell.

Forgot to ask about internet banking but with the ATM card it will be easy to track. Also forgot to ask about whether I can withdraw actual gold from the account (if at a certain size maybe) or whether any access to it will have to convert to paper money..... Will ask when open the account at their Sathorn Branch.

Cheers!

Some good comments here, but if you really want to import correctly the easiest way is to start by picking an international freight forwarder with offices here - they will know all about the initial info as to customs/taxes and licences needed. All such products have to have the Thai FDA approval (license) - and the freight forwarder surely will have contacts there too. After you have calculated all costs and fees you will understand how come pharmacies and GNC try to charge Baht 3000+ for a measly kilo of the FDA approved stuff (with the FDA sticker).

www.club-protein.com a MUCH better and simpler deal! A kilo of whey for only 750 Baht (when buy 2 kilo) - hard to beat. Pea protein even cheaper.

When I want other supplement stuff I order from http://www.iherb.com?rcode=yoq460 . They ship to Thailand for $4 flat, gives $10 of the first order over $40 with code YOQ460 at checkout (disclaimer; I get some points) - and they already have some of the cheapest prices online and a huge selection. Just keep the order under Baht 2000/order (shipping not included) and it will come straight to your door with no customs - but can take 2-4 weeks to get here.

Cheers!