newnative

Curious what the 20 changes--one 'each year'--Immigration did that made the renewal process 'more difficult' for you. I've been here 15 years and I can count only one big change--the requirement for health insurance for my O-A visa. If I had an O visa there wouldn't even be that. Same 800,000/65,000 baht requirement--no change since I arried in 2010. That's probably the most surprising thing for me, that it hasn't risen at all in 15 years.

Another nothing story with another inaccurate headline, like yesterday's economic summit story between Thailand and the US. How has the 'grip' been 'tightened' when, other than insurance for one visa category, the requirements have not changes since I arrived in Thailand 15 years ago? Providing more visa choices is not tightening the grip, it's the opposite.

We have light blue and it looks great--both daytime and at night with the pool lights on. I've seen dark blue but don't like the way it looks.

Me, too.

Good riddance to Mr. Stocky. Thai prison should slim him down--and then back to the US for more jail time.

I would recommend using the BKK Bank branch at Central Festival. I would not use the one by Immigration--always way to crowded and it's very small. If you run into difficulties opening an account at BKK at Festival, there are all the other major banks nearby to try on the same floor. Spouse and I get good service at Yellow Bank, but we also have accounts at BKK.

I immediately thought of this ceiling, too, when I read this thread.

I totally agree with you. What the exact percentage of foreign buyers is I don't know, but I think foreigners represent a significant percentage of the property market, both with condos and houses. If that market dried up, there would be quite a hit to the housing market. And, the housing market is a big component to a country's economy. Pattaya would certainly take a big hit. Many of the condo projects have foreign quota filled or nearly filled so that is representing nearly half of the condos purchased in those projects. They would all be suffering without foreign buyers. And, even more so for housing projects. My current housing project has 28 homes. Likely at least 20 are in company name. This was also true for the other two housing projects I lived at--the majority of the owners were foreign buyers, with a number of them having Thai wives. Purely unscientific but on a personal note, my spouse and I have sold two condos in Rayong, both to foreigners. We have sold 1 condo in Bangkok, also to a foreigner. In Pattaya, we have sold a total of 18 condos and 3 houses. Of those 21 sales, 2 were to Thais and the rest were foreign buyers, some with Thai spouses.

Spouse and I noticed that ceiling last week when we were there. We hadn't shopped there in awhile and were surprised at how bad the ceiling looked--and unsafe. I don't know who actually owns the shopping center but Big C Extra and Home Pro, as the biggest tenants, should be demanding better maintenance.

Curious what bar you did your 'studying' in. There are farangs all over the Darkside with Thai wives, with many raising kids.

Tattoos Stray dogs Loud motorcycles Smelly farangs

Disaster. She can't even dress herself properly.

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.