longball53098

You should find this site full of good information.

Edge Info Here

The majority of Consulates require some kind of proof of the income . It's only the USA that hands this out without any proof.

Also a regular Swift transfer would not be very cost affective at £20/30 a time.

When I say "regular" transfer that could be as few as twice a year and some folks may choose the ATM method.

:D

I’ve been reading this string of posts as well as several others related to the retirement extension monetary requirements. I’ve come to the conclusion that most people have a great deal of difficulty wanting to put the required 800k into a Thai bank and keeping that money topped up every year at renewal time.

It seems everyone obviously has the funds but for one reason or another they hesitate to bring it into Thailand but they do it because of the requirement to show 800k in the bank.

For many of us we choose to use the income letter showing our income of 65k or more coming to us from abroad into a Thai bank. We validate this money by showing a letter to Immigration and a bankbook that we have a local account to use for our living expenses.

Many of the folks that have the 800 k in the bank will also say they do not have any income so getting a letter proving income is not possible. Well I may suggest that it is possible to show income if you do what I think may work for income. Of course all the critics will say it won’t work or this idea won’t work for “me”. I don’t know what can or will work for everyone. I only throw this idea out for consumption and the possibilities.

I certainly don’t know all the requirements of all the Embassies regarding the “income letter”. I can say I know the US system regarding the letter of income. For us to receive this notarized letter all that is necessary is for us to stand in front of a consulate rep and swear that the information we provide on this affidavit is true and correct.

The most important sentence for me on this affidavit is that I swear the funds I receive monthly from the US Government and/or other sources is equal to $XX.xx dollars. The wording does not specify what the source is. It does not say pensions or any other specific thing. It only states “other sources”.

Now taking that wording and using it to your advantage we should see that if you have a bank account in the USA and you have money in that account that can be transferred to Thailand a person could legitimately set up a regular transfer system from this USA bank account to the Thai bank account. The transfer method could be an ATM withdrawal and then deposit to a local bank or a swift transfer the goal is the same and that is to show a regular income of the required funds. This method would satisfy the requirement of having the needed 65k a month income for the retirement extension. Immigration does not care what the source of the funds is. They do not care if it is from a pension, investment income, or a business in the US or whatever. They only want proof that the applicant has at least 65k a month coming in to live here in LOS.

For all the folks that do not want to invest 800k here, keep the funds at home and draw on them monthly or bi-monthly or whatever. Get your income letter from the consulate and swear that you have that income. You’re not lying. I’m thinking this may be one way that someone can show an income from their home country. As I said earlier I don’t know the other countries letter of income and what proof you need to show funds for your consulate to certify your income so maybe my idea is bust but just food for thought.

I think if a person gets creative a solution to the guaranteed income and funds in the bank can be found.

Maybe not an hour I was just making the point that the AC will cool the room and then cycle normally so the compressor is not running constantly and potentially using more power than it should

For those aficionados I will time it next time

Just a thought but did you try removing or disabling the Thai language setup on the machine that is an issue, re-start it once and make sure it is now dis-abled, then re-configure the feature again and then re-start again. Maybe a 1 or 0 is set wrong in the registry somewhere and it needs a kick-start again

Try the luggage area of Mike's Department store? Maybe

Sounds nice. Do you have any pictures and what kind of cost is involved for all this?

I have been running a simple spreadsheet to track my electric use and cost for over 2 years. The average monthly cost has never exceeded 3.58 baht per unit and is never less than 3.27 baht per unit. This figure is based on the total at the bottom of the invoice which includes the fuel surcharges and any taxes.

I read my meter almost daily around 9 in the morning. If I miss a day or three than I just average the use over those days.

I live in a normal house, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 AC 13,000 btu run on average 9 hours a night in bedroom, 1 hot water heater 4500 watts used for at least 4 showers a day, 2 fans that run almost non stop but at least 14 hours a days, 180 watt water pump used on/off at regular times, 1 30 inch TV on at least 15 hours a day, one notebook and accessories on all day, normal fridge/freezer and second small old fridge, the usual lights on at night for at least 6 hours.

My use tracks at about 11 to 15 units per day. The higher number is related directly to the AC use and how hot and humid that day was. I set the AC to cool to 26. On a "normal" night with the room at 30 and the AC started it will take about 1 hour to bring down to the set temp. From that point the compressor cycles about every 15 minutes or so depending on the outside air temp and humidity.

My average invoices range from:

1200 baht to 1700 baht per month. Most of this depends on the AC use and how hot the days/nights are. On a few occasions my bill was as low as 850 bt and as high as 2100 bt

I hope this added info will help some of you about your electric use.

If you live like Naam in his cool, comfort and style then I'm thinking you may need a bigger bank account. But he does live well.

I believe you are right.

D Max 3.0L = 4x4

Hi-Lander 2.5 & 3.0L = 2x4

No such thing as a D Max Hi-Lander

Dave( D Max owner)

I own a 3 year old 3.0L D-Max Cab 4 Hi Lander and it is a 2x4 drive

Hey Crossy do you still have a tester for sale? If so PM me your account number and I will take it

AIS Call Centre Here

1175 is the Thailand number for the AIS Call Center

Received our second electricity bill today, over 21 k... that's 21% of our rent, pretty steep. Wonder if we should expect that much at 6TBH per unit , for a 200sqm apartment including balconies, 6m high under ceiling in the living room,aircon switched on full time with temperatures set between 23 to 25, and sometimes less in the baby's room. More than I expected anyway, will encourage me even more to head back to Sathorn in an all inclusive serviced apartment deal...

Well, I'm relieved to see that I'm in the majority instead of the minority, although I think the original poster should have had a few more categories above 4,500. Mine averages around 11,000 baht when I'm being careful. In the hottest months the highest bill I've received was over 17,000 baht, and the lowest one I've ever received in my current house was above 7,000 baht. It is a big house, and it has eight aircons, and I run one in the room I'm in all the time, but, in Florida, which is almost as hot as here, I had central air (the entire house) running 24/7 at 72 (22 celcius) and my bills were half what I usually get here. I think electricity is high in Thailand, especially Hua Hin where I live.

I've said it before and I will say it again.

Learn to read your meter and figure it out. The average cost of a unit of electricity in LOS is about 3.50 bt. If you pay 6 then your rental company is charging you a service fee. But you can still figure it out if you READ THE METER YOURSELF daily if necessary

Yes Bangkok Bank does have a New York office and is chartered as a USA bank. You can transfer funds to Thailand using that office but in this case I would say what already has been said. Arrange to transfer funds from your current US bank to the account of the condo people.

On a side question you seem to be moving rather fast here. Are you sure this is all on the up and up?

Following my last mail. I didnt include anything on the footings.

Checked my photos and i dont have any good pics, but 4 below are related.

three show holes being dug one shows water. The fourth pic shows the area where I had to put ground tie beams under the carport and at a stairway area. Here You can see the outline of the pad footings.

The footings are conventional pads 1m to 1.8 meter square width&length. 250 to 400mmm thick.

Where I built I dug 4 trial holes, one at each corner of the plot, well before we started the house so I would know if we can build readily on the ground conditions.

This was particularly important because we have a large canal very close with only a dirt road and big ditch between the new house location and the canal.

I wanted to be sure that the land in the house area was original and had not been regraded during canal construction.

You always need to check what the ground is like. Bangkok and surrounding areas have very bad ground that may need piling.

The trial holes showed we had good ground at between 1 and 1.4 meters deep and one side of the area the water table was at about 1m which had created a weak layer of muddy ground for 0.3 to 0.4 m below. It was very messy getting this layer out.

When you dig the holes you can check the ground by using a wooden peg say about 1.5 inch diameter with a pointed end not too sharp - 45 degrees is ok and see if you can push in to the ground by hand. If you can push it down without too much effort then the ground is not satisfactory. If you can push it down with some effort then it should not go down much, say up to about one inch.

Just think that you will be placing a large load on the concrete pad. If you can push the ground down easily, what do you think may happen to your house?

If you have weak ground which seems to go down along way then get a long steel pin at least 1/2 inch diameter and see how far you can push this down into the ground. if it seems to hit solid then drive it with a lump hammer to check it is not just a piece of rock or similar. Check it gives the same results in a few places.

DURING MYBUILDING, Even though the builder knew I wanted him to get down to the solid layer underneath the men still dug to only about a meter and I had to keep checking with the peg to make sure there was not the weak muddy layer below. Several times they had to dig more to get to the solid layer. If they had left any of the weak muddy layer then I would be in serious trouble with foundation settlement.

They particularly did not like digging out the muddy ground where the water was and so kept me on my toes.

When we had to dig this out deeper with the water in the base of the hole we had to dig a sump(small deeper hole) wide enough for a bucket in one corner so we could extract water to keep the hole relatively dry while we placed a lean mix concrete ( less cement) to fill the hole to the pad base level.

jojo

jojo,

thanks for posting your pics and the pdf of the walls and the conduit planning. You must have quite a builder and the costs involved to get them to do this must have been quite a bit. Do you have a link to the finished product?

Thanks to all for posting the tips and information

Ok I will show compete ignorance here!

What is a "Gasoline-O-Meter" and "translate into baht"?

It's pretty clear that this scam has been going on for years. Someone mentioned it's just one or two bad apples at the place. Sorry, the management is running this scam. How can this be going on for years and only one or two people doing it? Are you telling me the same young kid(s) have been there for 4 years? I don't think so! The owner(managers) are in on this to make extra beer money.

BTW, I am not US, and happily so

We're glad too.

"ditto"

I am not a pump person but maybe if you are trying to draw and push water for a house and 4 rai of land you might need a heavy duty agricultural pump and not a domestic pump. I think the home type pumps are meant for cleaner water and less work.

Hi Longball,

It sounds like your house might be similar to our 2nd house we are starting to build.

Our was modified from 154sq. mtr. to 145 sq.meters. We were quoted around 1.5- 1.6 using all the pumps wells & septic off the old structure 8 months old. I will be doing the plumbing as I do not care for the low quality of standards here.

We are using red brick instead as where we live 45 minutes from you, We have a great breeze that keeps it cool year round (with the exception of 6 weeks in the year of hot season.) When it comes to putting in the plumbing in the double wall a lot of contractors are going to tell you can do & cut the walls to shreds as they have in the last double wall projects I have seen.

If you are going to be present best get an idea of if the plumber really can do (understand-you do not want your walls cut) A lot of the problem in Thailand is they are used to doing things 1 way & 1 way only.I have opted to put all my pipes exterior & put an expanded metal case (painted to match & look tasteful.) Within 15-20 minutes I can get access to all the pipes by removing the access cover. In the bathroom & kitchen (hidden ) all pipes will be in a channel with a grate I can lift up to access. our first house I put in a 4" pipe & ran the water 1/2 pipe through the channel easily. The contractor broke my fist line(he was a true idiot) & it only took 25 minutes to break off the 90 & install a new piece. The way he would have done it I would have needed to go through cement. My septic has a 5" pipe with the 4" pipe gong through it as well. Our first project has no crawl through & is built ground level. The best way to build will be to have easiest access points to all plumbing electrical & other assorted things you want. The new project will have a crawl through as the first structure was just to get us out of paying rent & living on the property.

Some most important things not discussed yet & are on coo-th site & the other site you will be on is the absolute importance of a very strict payment schedule. If you have a 3 or 4 different times of payment(IE: down payment- walls done- roof on-final or however you want to set up the pay schedule. Some people pay 5 payments.)

The Thai builder are unscrupulous up here & love to give an unrealistic bid. Than ask for extra draws along the way. That is a huge mistake if you give them advances. What happens soon the draw against all the available funds & when they are close to the end of the funds . They jet & let you fix the rest by yourself or pay the additional fees to have another team come in &

complete the job (at a higher rate- same as the U.S. Rework always cost more!)

It sounds like you are going about it right. The worse thing you can do up here is be an acting general contractor & hire teams a foreman .... usually nothing but problems if you are not a general contracter.

Even though I have built spec houses & refurbishing HUD houses & have my general contractor license, I would not dream of being the general as it is way different here in LOS. In the west you can have the crews do exactly the way you want & they are trained & well versed in many ways to achieve the same success in the end(That & they have to pass the certifications exams & be bonded & insured to work) Here their are no real tangible guarantees . Court is a joke!

I would realistically put away at least 25% over the amount quoted. within 2 months the prices have gone up drastically on supplies & I do not think this trend will change course. If you are going to use slate opposed to tile that will also increase your cost by up to 400+% pending on what you chose to build. The kitchen & bathroom can also drive up your cost if you o upgrade & will probably put you into a higher expense bracket. Last but not least: Look at some jobs the builder has done .

check for excessive cracks in walls. Straight walls(preferably some one who has a knowledge of T-squares & levels.)

Get at least 4 bids- Remember this is what you are going to be living in for a while, so take a little time & find out quality- any references from people in the houses you looked at. If you go 4 bids typically the first 1 or 2 will be to low & they will cost more as they are bidding to cheap. The 1 or 2 on the end will be to high as the builder is to greedy or has to pay the farang boss his cut & drive the price up. The one in the middle is your man If his work is clean & seems like he is easy to deal with. We asked owner of the house we like- how she liked the work. How easy is it to make changes(if done before walls are up) how the 2 year guarantee is. was the builder pretty much on time building completion. Does he provide the security for watching the supplies mixers. block etc. Most do, but do not take it for granted. Our house will also have 2.5 meters patio space all the way around. The roof will be extended to keep everything dry& shaded.

Remember to keep somewhat within your structured budget. Not uncommon to have a builder try to upgrade your design & drive your end cost up.

I have seen your posts on this site & you seem like you will do alright as you have the main ingredient..COMMON SENSE!

I made the mistake of building a 30 day wonder that was built by a metal worker that was not to good with metal- didn't know what square or level meant & used steel in the window enclosures. I am a wood tradesman and would have used wood enclosures or none for concrete as sliders are usually just installed into the cement. Unfortunately I was to busy taking care of the plumbing septic & landscaping to catch the steel enclosures( never hire a smithy to build a house.) LOL In the end our contractor underbid the house by 150,000 baht & Alisa & I reconstructed close to 40% of the house & it still makes a tick sound 6 times a day as the steel cools in the cement where the windows were installed. Next house I know just what to watch out for. This house was cheap to build-but the real house will cost a couple more baht as we are going for upgraded kitchen & bath as well(over the shell cost)

Good luck .....let us know how it goes.

beardog,

thanks for all the valuable info and tips. We're still 3 or 4 months from any hole digging and if the US economy keeps flushing down the toilet I may postpone it for more than a few months.

I will take all you have said into consideration for my build. I live here and within 10 minutes of the build site and plan to be there daily

You are one of those that is not afraid to act. I agree the beaches are really an eyesore and the local Thais don't seem to care.

Interesting post and something I have actually thought about.

I could certainly use the exercise.

I am the typical procrastinator and it takes me many hours of thinking before I act so I hope you keep it up and maybe I'll join you one day

I am a small bike rider (125) and driving around Pattaya takes all of your senses to be working all the time. If you drive a bigger machine at higher speeds and are not careful the risk of a crash is amplified .

Driving at night is another story altogether with the darkness and poor road quality.

Unless you drive the same roadway hundreds of times a day you will never know when a new hole shows up. Even if you crossed that spot in the morning the hole may have magically appeared that day.

The only real safe way at night is park the bike and stay home. Barring that slow down and don't drink.

If you have lived here long enough then you know the road conditions are poor. If your a tourist reading this then all I can say is be very very careful especially at night.

The roads are what they are will not get fixed anytime soon.

I think the website is outdated as the one Euro style restaurant that was outside the main entry has been torn down for something new. I don't know of any other farang food within a 100 meters or so. soi Arunothai around Shagwell is the closest I think

On my Hutch system where I see the problem using Skype voice is the upload/transmission side. The lower speeds for upload and the latency do not allow for a reliable outgoing transmisson of the voice but seem to be ok for the keyed chat message. I have no doubt the typed message is a packet much smaller than voice so the system can handle that much better

If using Skype is a very important factor in what you end up with I would seriously investigate this before you purchase anything.