Adagio

My friend who has leased a small plot has it written into the lease that he can sell it on. She got a lawyer to draft it though of course that does not always mean it's 'legal'.

I have been on the island a couple of years. I am not prepared to invest the amount of money it would cost to buy the 3-4 rai I want to build on and am seriously considering the 30 year lease option. Anything I build will probably fall down by then anyway A friend is paying 10,000 baht/year for the 1/4 rai her house is on and she has no view and is a fair way off a concrete road. Anyone have any info on what is the going rate around the island?

(also would Ko Tao fit my criteria better than samui?)

Try Koh Phangan instead as its closer. Alternatively, it sounds like Bophut or Maenam is more your scene on Koh Samui

You could stay a month on KPG on your budget for a weekend

I realise all sales have taken a bit of a downturn lately but in general, is there a resale market for leases? If I build a house on the piece of land I have rented can I sell it in ten years? or if I had 20 years remaining on a lease now, would there be a buyer?

I have also heard a few 'anti' comments about leasehold having loopholes. Just how safe am I from a dishonest landlord/freeholder?

Things are not always as straightforward as they seem. What people say is not always what people want or need. I know and my wife knows and his parents know that my brother in law can not affort to be a philantrop and spend 3 months of his time doing "Tham Boen" for his family.

I understand and repect his wishes to provide a home for his sister and me. I believe them to be genuine and I am grateful for that.

In the mean "the chimney has to smoke" and together with my wife and my parents in law we will find a suitable way to compensate in a "non offensive way". I very much respect the subtle way of dealing of my mother in law, so I have no worries there.

What I try to get a feel for is a suitable %. Suppose there will be compensation then it is important to do that in a proper way. Offering peanuts is the surest way to offend people

Why are you asking us for advice when you get on with your mother n law

I believe 10% of a build cost is standard in the UK.

Whatever you do though I agree with those who said earlier that something must be agreed, even if it's just with your parents in law, before the work starts. Later there would be room for real offence and bad feeling.

KPG is where all the freaks are

If you need a good dentist on KPG go to the one on the main road in Ban Tai, just before you get to 7/11 on the right, coming from Thongsala. She's slow but I am very dentist/pain phobic and even the injections did not hurt. 1400 baht if I remember rightly for a very large white filling.

Don't go to the new place in Thongsala. Looks fancy but when my friend went for a polish he came out with all his gums bleeding.

There's also the aquarium shop in Thonsala. in between the roads to had yoa/had salad and the central road to Chaloklum

this is my third revolution.

stay calm lads !!!!

Thanks for the note of calm.

I flew back to the UK a few days ago for a holiday and I'm not panicing yet about my return to Koh PhaNgan.

I am a bit worried I can't get hold of the one friend who's phone number I can remember. Rings but no answer. Has anyone else in the UK been able to call out?

Next year you should get a 9 volt battery and a few wires, you could give them a shock in more ways than one! I did this once as a kid but can't remember how now something to do with wrapping the wire round a nail, but you can make the equivalent of one of those electric shock things that stops animals straying from a field. Or you could just view this as an alternative to a charitable donation. As for kids here in London you'd be lucky they didn't rob you before you put the vessel in the water!

I suppose I'll have to play it my ear and see if I get charged with those other banks. I have an internet account so I can check after one withdrawal before I need to make another.

Dont know about the ATM machines, but if your account is with Nationwide (which are the only UK bank I know off that don't charge for overseas withdrawals) then there is no charge from the thai bank either, as my mother in law has hubbies Nationwide atm card & regulaly withdraws from it.

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Really! That's great news, even better than I expeced. Yes I am with Nationwide, I opened the account specially for my long stay in Thailand.

Does your mother in law always use the same Thai bank or does this appy to any Thai bank? I know some banks here in the UK charge while others don't.

I expect this question has been asked before but it's difficult to search on a 3 letter term.

I have bank account here in the UK that allows me to withdraw cash from an ATM in Thailand without (my bank) charging me. I expect the Thai bank will charge me though. Are there a selection of ATMs for me to choose from on Koh Pha Ngan? If so which has the lowest charges and are there any I should definitely not use? Do they take a flat fee or a percentage? Are any susceptible to fraud?

Hey brother, if I live in USA or England, can I get messages from the phone company sent to my phone in Norwegian if I choose Norwegian language on my phone?

Get real.

Do you think the hundreds of thousands of non-Thai and non-English speaking immigrants from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos should get messages in their own language too?  Or just you?

Cheers

NM

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But us english speakers think the world owes us a favour

See Woo in Greenwich

http://www.seewoo.com/

http://www.google.com/local?hl=en&lr=&neww...479563553476178

Where are you? I know of a good SE asian supermarket in Greenwich, London where you can get all the sauces, dried/tinned foods, fresh fruit and vegetables Sainsburys would never have heard of (even durian), good frozen food section, live fish and seafood plus a huge warehouse which mainly caters to the restraunt trade. I'd have to look it up in the yellow pages as I can't remember the name off the top of my head.

Most of our home countries probably have their dangerous areas. Behave sensibly and keep your wits about you is good advice wherever you are in the world.

If there is an option of paying the deposit on a credit card that might offer more protection in the event that you have trouble getting the depsit returned. In fact if the company you are hiring from are reputable they may even allow you to authorise the payment on your cretit card but only take the payment if there is any actual damage. Obviously I have no knowledge of the company you are dealing with but you hear all sorts of stories about farangs getting ripped of so you are probably wise to be cautious but as the last poster says a deposit is perfectly normal when renting, and that goes for anywhere in the world, not just Thailand.

Any epidemiologist will tell you that another flu pandemic WILL hit the world it is just a matter of time. There was running water in Europe in 1918 and all running water improves is hygiene which was the point I was making about washing your hands (some viruses are airbourne, some are not), which side of that argument are you taking?

Sars would have spread much further and caused a lot more deaths if quarantine measures had not been taken. If it had gotten to Africa it could have been much worse. Fortunately it did not infect enough people to allow it to evolve into a more infectious form.

Any new diseases that develop today when there is fast international travel will obviously spread much more quickly. Viruses are not mutating any more quickly but there are a lot more of us around to act as hosts and so sources of infection. We are also all living more densely than ever before.

Having said all this you are right that there are bigger killers. Now that western countries are clamping down on tobacco the cigarette companies are turning their sights on Asia, and if the west does not stop pumping out so much carbon dioxide pollution the whole world is going to go to hel_l!

I find most of those online sites to be rather more expensive than ones you find yourself. Your best bet is to come here and check it out. These sites can promise lots of things but not necessarily guarantee it.

Fastest would be the closest to Thong Sala.

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Yeah that's pretty much what everyone is telling me, I suppose I need to find a decent (cheap) bungalow complex/hotel for a couple of weeks while I find a house. Can you reccommend a decent place with internet connection in the room (the job I do requires confidentiallity) I will have my laptop.

How will I go about finding a house when I get there? I'm not expecting it to be like here at home where there is an estate agent with lots of cards in the window or am I wrong?

It could be years away, it could be next week. all we can say for sure is it will happen. when it does one of the best and easiest to follow pieces of advice is to wash your hands obsessively and don't touch your face (especially your mouth).

I had assumed that if I kept my mouth shut that there was no way I could get caught. I need to be discrete in the job anyway so it will always be done in private. I was a little worried what might happen if I was caught which is why I made enquiries with the embassy and the consulate. Both told me that to get a work permit I would have to get a Thai company to sponsor me as my employer which, as I am not employed by a Thai company, is not possible.

I have found what looks like a good site for long term rentals on the island http://phanganisland.com/ and am waiting for them to get back to me. Can anyone recommend any other web sites offering long term accomodation or perhaps a particular resort/house?

MUST HAVE (genuinely) FAST INTERNET (256k) as I plan to continue my UK based internet job from the island (the embassy and consulate here in the UK have both assured me this is OK) I cannot use an internet cafe due to confidentiallity issues, I will be taking my laptop, I do not need a computer to be supplied.

induced reply..............no such thing as a multi entry 6 month tourist visa..........you can however apply and obtain easily a double entry tourist visa in Penang at present..........that/ll give you 180 days in Thailand at a push.

What you should of done is to apply to the Thai Consulate in Hull for a Non Immigrant O visa Multiple entry.............maybe next time eh!

I have just received a visa that runs until April 2006 which is valid for 4 entries into Thailand

I was under the impression (this is what it says on the Thai consulate Hull website http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/pdfs/Ea%20%20...Application.pdf ) that I had to be over 50 to get an 'O' visa AND have 800,000 baht in a thai bank account, As I stated above I am 38 and don't have that sort of cash aavailoable. I am not married and have no thaai dependents.

I have a job doing web site support for a company in London. I currently work from home and am planning to continue this job during my 6 month plus stay in Thailand.

The Embassy in the UK (London) and the consulate in Liverpool have both told me verbally (the consulate after having made checks) that as I am employed and paid in the UK there is not a problem continuing this work on a tourist visa. As I am not employed by a Thai company I cannot get and do not need a work permit. Neither of them were willing to put this in writing however and the Hull consulate started ignoring my emails.

Without wanting to be rude I'm sure lots of poeple will have an oppinion on this matter but I would really like to hear either from people that are allready in a similar situation or people that have had trouble when doing work in the kingdom for a foreign company and paid abroad. A journalist for instance or somone else doing an internet based job.

Thanks