ya5702

If you are depending on rental yield (from AirBnB) to buy real estate, then you cannot afford to invest in real estate. Stay away.

Country Road (1st bar at the Asok entrance of Soi Cowboy) plays C&W music, and other oldies.  

I saw this Sriracha sauce at the Central Food Hall on the 6th floor of Central World, Bangkok. It is made in California. It comes in three flavors/"colors" - red, green and yellow.

Think they would leave their money in the ATM dispensers?

In Singapore where they are a significant populace of Hindu-Indians and Muslim-Indians, mutton is sold as meat of the goat or the sheep. Same same. Goat meat is preferred by the Muslim-Indians, is less fatty, dryer and has a stronger flavor. Goat meat is more expensive.

Sheep meat, being fattier, is usually used for cooking Biryani (for obvious reasons.) Same for mutton soup.

Mutton biryani served in SE Asian restaurants is probably cooked with sheep meat.

Personally, I prefer the stronger flavor of goat meat in Biryani or in curry. Proof is in the eating?

I am doing this at MEA (Bangkok) once every 6 months. Pay in advance THB5000 which would cover my power bill for the next six months. (I doubt you can pay in advance at 7-11s.)

"Those evaporative water-cooled fan thingies" are humidifiers. They work well in dry environments like in New Delhi in Summer (40+ degrees C, ~50% relative humidity.) They don't work in high humidity areas like BKK.

And I would avoid breathing air containing a mist of water vapor. (Contaminated water - think Legionnaires Disease.)

Try this: http://www.bangkokcityinnhotel.com/

(Located across Central World)

It is not the Security Guards you should be concerned of too much.

You should be concerned, and be considerate, of your fellow residents (Tenants/Owners) every time you bring a girlfriend to the condo. I live in a condo (Owner). Frankly, we as residents (Tenants/Owners) would frown upon any resident who brings "short-time" girlfriends home.

Time for the ASEAN Ministers to meet again for a Conference at a seaside resort to set up a task force to study this problem. Don't you love these bureaucrats!

I believe your sale is called a "Reassigned" sale. You were assigned the original purchase contract from the Developer, and you are now reassigning the Purchase Contract to another Buyer.

I bought a condo in BKK under the same circumstance from the Seller (a UK citizen.) We split the THB100,000 "Reassignment Fee" 50/50.

I transferred my foreign funds in full for an outright purchase of the condo directly from my bank to the Developer's bank in Thailand. The Developer deducted whatever that was due to them, and paid the balance to the Seller. No middle person/Agent/Lawyer was involved. Easy and neat.

Work the sale through your Developer.

I had a similar problem with the scanner working one day, not working the next. Try this:

1. Unplug both the power cord and the USB cord from the scanner.

2. Now, plug the power cord first to the scanner , then the USB cord.

It worked for me.

I retired at 48. Worked at a job for twenty years which required traveling more than 200 days per year to/fro sixteen countries in the Asia/Pacific region, Thailand included. Loved Thailand during the late 1970/80's. Like it today but in a different way.

Still visiting Thailand 3 to 4 times per year. Bought a downtown condo 5 years ago in the Rajprasong area. (Nice to imbibe but don't want to live too close to the action just 3 BRT stations away.) The condo has appreciated in value (on paper) more than what the financial institutions on CDs.

Will continue to travel the Asia/Pacific region to visit old friends (literally). Having a good time.

Try it. You may like it.

(Just don't bring home anything you cannot pack in your bag.)

Do you know how many batteries are used for your safe? (Mine uses six batteries x 1.5 volts = 9 volts.) Most electronic safes have a hole on the underside of the door to accept a jack for an external DC power source. Go out and buy a AC/DC power source. Plug the DC power into the hole and open the safe. Good luck!

Are you referring to the Amphawa floating market?

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g1028071-Activities-Amphawa_Samut_Songkhram_Province.html

I had the same problem with two of the four remote controllers for my split-type air-conditioners. I believe the high heat, humidity or leaky batterie have oxidized the pcb. You can try resetting them. If that does not work, the easiest/cheapest solution is to buy universal remote controllers for air-conditioners. They worked for me. Make sure the replacement controllers are compatible with your Panasonic air-conditioners. (Recommendation: remove the batteries from the remote controllers during long periods of absence from home.)

To Admin. You explained the difference between Dry and Cool mode very well. Simple to understand.

However, from my observations of my Daikin split-type air-conditioners, the Dry and Cool modes work the reverse of what you said i.e. in Cool mode the compressor and the fan cut out at the preset temperature; in Dry mode the compressor cuts out and the fan continues to run.

Interesting...who is correct?

I bought a condo in BKK in the 49% foreigner quota. Paid in full with foreign-source funds. I received a Blue Book.

My friend, also a Foreigner, bought a house with land in Rayong with his Thai girlfriend. He received a Yellow Book.

Can anybody explain why so?

Can somebody please clarify why is it necessary to disconnect both (-) and (+) cables of the battery? Wouldn't disconnecting only the cable which is connected to the car's chassis (earthed) be enough? I have two cars which I alternate between Winter and Summer use. In both cars the negative (-) cable is connected to the chassis. I disconnect only the negative cable, and leave the positive (+) cable connected to the battery. Been doing this for the past 20 years without any problem.

All will be lost in the translation (figuratively and literally.)

Here's the deal. I live on Rang Naam in a 2-bedroom 80 sqm. apartment with a large balcony on the 17th floor with a great city view and directly overlooking a park, within stone's throw of multiple restaurants, businesses and malls, 5 mins. from the BTS station, in an extremely well-maintained building. My rent 20,000b/mth.  

My building being for rent only, a couple of weeks ago at the behest of a rather pushy agent I went looking at condos thinking I just might find something similar at a possibly tempting price. Well, not only didn't I find anything remotely close but what I did see and the prices I was quoted caused my eyes to pop. Without going into details, after that half-day outing, I came away convinced that my apartment, if it were for sale, would retail at least at 80,000b/sqm.  

So, my Casio tells me that I am paying 3.75% of the value of my place per annum as rent. Now, is this cheap money or what? In the US I was paying more like 10% of the value of my apartment as rent, and when ultimately I did buy, ended up paying mortgage and taxes to a total of just what I used to pay to rent, at the same time building equity. Another comparison: isn't the stock market in the long run supposed to return 6-8%?  

So, what's going on? Do Thais get incredibly cheap (sub 4%) housing loans? Even so, doesn't their ROI depends on the value of the property holding up?  

Looks all bubbly to me. Or am I missing something? I don't claim to be an expert on real estate by any means, having bought and sold only once in my life. Even less do I know of the Thai market. But I would greatly appreciate to be enlightened by wiser minds.

Your Casio is working. Your power of reasoning is perfectly normal. However, consider this:

For some people who have lots of cash in hand who are averse to playing the stock market (despite the 6-8% returns) or casinos, investing in real estate is the sensible thing to do. Especially among the Chinese-Thais....with children and grandchildren who eventually have to live in the city to study, to work and to play.

What else can these local people do with the spare cash which is earning a meagre 1% interest income from Financial Institutions? A 3.75% ROI from rental income plus the potential for making Capital Gains (longterm objective) make real estate investment attractive.

Gila is available in the US, not Canada. (US$45/roll measuring 4ft by 15ft. Not cheap but it works.)

What about Thailand ?

Checked around but could not find Gila in Thailand. If it is not available in Thailand, somebody may want to contact Gila to seek representation. There is a significant market for Gila products in Thailand.

My condo in BKK faces due West. I have self-installed "Gila" window film (http://www.gilafilms.com/en/Residential-Window-Film.aspx) on all of the glass windows. They work great in keeping the rooms less hot. Filters some light/glare too.

Select the function of the film (Energy-saving, Privacy, Glare) of your choice. In my case I use the Energy-saving Titanium film.

Application is quick and easy. It gets easier after the first film. See video on the Gila website. (Tip: avoid installation in the afternoon when the glass is heated.)

Gila is available in the US, not Canada. (US$45/roll measuring 4ft by 15ft. Not cheap but it works.)

Good luck. Keep cool!

Sitting in my garden chilling amongst the beautiful butterflies dancing around the trees and flowers is my idea of enjoyment,looking in a bank book never gave me that.No regrets.

What about mosquitos buzzing amongst the butterflies?

Oops! The last line should read 90 KWH, not 90 KW.

Consider doing viz:

1. Make advance payments in cash at MEA (Metropolitan Electricity Authority) every time you visit Thailand. Maintain a positve balance of say THB3,000, or an amount equivalent to the average monthly power usage x the average months of absence from Thailand.

2. At the MCB (Main Circuit Board) flip OFF all switches which are not used during your absence, save the switch for the refrigerator (or flip this OFF too if you have no beers in it.)

3. You should not have any outstanding power bill to pay (till December 31, 2010, that is) since the fridge does not consume more than 90KWH power per month.