newnative

We bought a condo from a seller with a mortgage and it was about as simple as any other property we have bought, with the exception that a bank official was also at the land office and the mortgage was paid off by the seller first before we purchased the condo. The fact the property had a mortgage made no difference to our buying it.

Of course you're trying to be negative. Just look at your lousy list. Nobody I know falls into any of your 10 choices. How about #11--normal guy living a normal life doing much the same normal things he did in his home country--except with better year-round weather and a much nicer roof over his head. That pretty much describes most of the expats I know, and myself.

Destroy the dangerous dog and deport the owner. Ridiculous they needed to have a meeting on this and, even worse, nothing to show for it. Useless.

It was cheaper building it ourselves but, as others have said, you need to be hands-on, even when you have hired someone, as we did, to do the actual build and be in charge of the construction. You need to be on hand to check the work, catch mistakes, and make sure you are getting what you have planned for. The big plus, for us, was getting a house custom built for our wants, needs, and tastes. Many pre-built homes these days have lots of built-in furniture, including beds, bedside tables, tv cabinets, etc. The bedrooms can end up looking like dorm rooms and the other rooms rather cookie-cutter. Also, lots of real or fake granite and marble splashed on the walls, huge, gaudy chandeliers, and so on. Not our taste. We have lots of art, some of it quite large, and antique Asian furniture to fit in, so many of the pre-built houses with mostly built-in furniture just don't work for us, as we'd have to tear out a lot we didn't like or want, unless we got in early on a build.

Spouse and I are doing a Celebrity cruise in November--a reunion with my 4 sisters and a couple of cousins, with two of my sisters having November birthdays. We have never been on a cruise so we'll see how we like it but it should be fun as its been several years since we all got together. Cruise is from Barcelona and makes some stops in Spain, France, and Italy.

Still very cheap here compared to the US. Housing, usually the biggest monthly expense, remains the biggest bargain here. Spouse and I just bought a very nice 3 bedroom, 3 full bath house with 2 car garage and swimming pool in the Lake Mabprachan area of Pattaya. Total price for everything, including all furnishings, appliances, electronics, drapes, art, etc. : 4.6MB. About $140,000. That would buy you absolutely nothing in the town I lived in stateside, where the average housing price is now $699,000. Zillow tells me the small 1 bedroom condo I owned there with a dumpster/parking lot view is now around $325,000. Imagine what you could buy in Thailand for that amount--a lot more than a small 1 bedroom no-view condo. Rents, of course, are also a terrific bargain with lots of selection at all price points, at least in Pattaya.

And, in 15 days there will be another delay. Keep kicking that can down the road.

Loose change under her sofa cushions.

You're right, it's definitely a scam. My spouse and I found that out when we ordered a tv and got a small package of 2 cheap stickers, as I recounted in an earlier post. Lazada should definitely be doing more to block these 'sellers'.

Where are these 50 cops when they are not doing this week's "look I'm working'" stunt? I only ever see 1 or 2 cops by the beachside crosswalk near Central Festival.

I love to read and read every day--especially for about an hour before I go to sleep. Like mysteries, suspense novels, crime/police novels, and World War II novels. Currently finishing the Ripley series. Love anything by Sandford, Connelly, Child, Kellerman, Grisham, Archer, Follett, Reich, Nesbo, Deaver, Elizabeth George, and others. And, now I am off to read my hour before I sleep.

Doesn't he have anything better to do--like trying to pull up the plunge he put the country in before it crashes into the ground?

Shhh. We're trying to keep AE&EK a secret.

"...long discussed...". Got that right. Just endless talk, talk, talk. Followed by more talk, talk, talk.

If you're in Pattaya I would highly recommend Dr. Somchai at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital.

You can just move if you are an owner, too. Spouse and I have moved about a dozen times in Pattaya and once in Bangkok--from condos we owned.

Misleading headline. Not all motorbikes, just 'ride-hailing' ones. Still, great the city is making a start--Bangkok and other Thai cities should take note and do likewise.

If they were really 'proactive' repairs would be under way already, or at least beginning. Instead, their 'proactive' just involves--you guessed it--'talks'. Which haven't even started yet. Always, talk, talk, talk. Or, in this case, talk of future talks.

Sticking with my original plan to keep my head down and do nothing until I am clearly forced to do something, such as provide a tax return in order to do my annual renewal.

Guess you missed the other news story of the Indian guy found with a plastic bag wrapped around his head on Koh Samet. The other day there was a story about a tourist running amok on Bangkok's MRT, guess you missed that one, too. Whether it's Pattaya, Phuket, Bangkok, Koh Samet, or any other tourist area, there will be tourist incidents. Par for the course.

That's not the way it worked with a recent return my spouse and I did.

A 1% drop is not an 'alarming plunge'.

That's not how it worked recently for a Lazada order we did. We ordered a tv and got, instead, a small package of cheap stickers. Obviously a scam--the sticker order # matched exactly the order # for the tv. We called Lazada and reported the scam. Lazada sent a delivery person to pick up the package of stickers. No 4 day waiting period, although I think Lazada holds payment to a seller for 4 days in case there is a problem--and a good thing they do. The tv seller wasn't involved at all and had no say as to whether the item could be sent back. Once the sticker package got back to Lazada, they could see it matched the tv order # and the charge was refunded to our credit card.

Surprised it's just for 4 days. Usually expos run a lot longer.

Some 18 international schools say otherwise--with another one, Highgate, scheduled to open next year. Regents celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Mind you, none of the international schools are on Walking Street. Nor are the vast majority of the families, who are all over Greater Pattaya in hundreds of nice housing projects, with many more being built.