Peterw42

You may not see a doctor but they are still checking your history and signing off etc. Under 1,000 baht for 6 months supply of prescription medicine doesn't appear to be excessive. How much would a new prescription and supply cost back home (without gov healthcare)

With bars being closed, its very hard to get the expert figures on anything in Thailand. Its unfortunate but we have to rely on police reports etc, rather than a guy at a bar.

OP, rents have dropped dramatically, buying price not so much. There isn't a broad fire sale going on. Some people who are now unemployed and cant service the mortgage, people who have lost their rental income etc , may be selling up. Otherwise, most people who own outright have no reason to dump a property. Developers probably just mothball properties rather than sell them cheap. Unless you can identify a property that is greatly reduced from pre-covid sales (not asking) price, it may not be any sort of bargain. As others have said, for most, a mortgage is not an option. You may find a bargain, but you probably wont find a tenant or any decent rental return for a long long time. Dont be fooled by reductions in "asking prices". A 20% reduction on an asking price that was never going to be realised, is smoke and mirrors.

Not sure where you are getting your figures from, but Bangkok bank has 500 more ATMs than SCB. https://scb.banks.info/thailand https://bangkok.banks.info/thailand

In a condominium block, you essentially own two things, your condo, and a share of the common property, roof, external walls, hallways, lift , pool etc. You pay maintenance on your share of the common property. you own 5% of the roof you pay 5% for the roof repairs. If a block gets demolished tomorrow, the land gets sold and you get back an amount based on the percentage of the block you own. Think of it in terms of owning shares in Microsoft, if you own 10% of Microsoft, you pay 10% of Microsofts tax bill. its not spit equally amongst the number of shareholders, its split equally over the number of shares

Its based on what percentage of the block you own, if you own 5% of the block you pay 5% of the fees. Its the only equitable way of calculating fees, otherwise the guy that owns the 200sqm penthouse would be paying the same as the guy that owns a 20spm basement condo.

All the major Thai banks have online banking and branches in most towns, shopping malls etc. Bangkok bank and Kasikorn probably have the most branches and ATMs An ATM card from one major bank can be used in any other major bank ATMs. there are often minimal charges for using another banks ATM or even your own banks ATM in another province. The major banks are Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn bank, SCB Siam Commercial Bank, Krungsri. CIMB is one of the smaller banks with less branches and ATMs. As others have said, you may not have much choice , often it comes down to which bank will open an account without a long stay visa or work permit etc.

Google translate appears to disagree

OP, I think you will find its been hidden in plain site for years. If you find the little old lady selling bunches of herbs etc in the market or pushing a cart. I live in Pattaya and we had a restaurant, the lady who would come round with the cart full of basil, coriander etc, used to sell it. Our kitchen staff used to buy a bunch along with all the other herbs.

As others have said, it will come down to your local DLT and their current policies. And may vary between a local office and the main provincial office.

This was for Chonburi, so appears that office may have switched to auto approval.

I just did my 90 day report online and much to my surprise it was approved instantly. Input all the details, press submit, then below is the next window. No pending or waiting, instant approval. Is this new ?

Its not that difficult. Its possible to have lockdowns but still keep the masses reasonably happy. Let them buy beer to drink at home, let them look at porn on the internet, let them swim in the condo pool.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/portable-dvd-drive-external-drive-slim-portable-external-dvd-rom-for-windows-and-mac-no-need-to-install-the-dvd-writer-external-version-i2623612953-s9408971139.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.15.226a3e1aiqSZqX&search=1

Rubbish, nobody over 60 has been getting the sinovacc first shot. I was part of the initial over 60s vaccinations, it was AZ, and only AZ.

Im over 60 and was included in the first wave of vaccines in early July, that was for over 60s and exclusively AZ vaccine. It was widely publicised at the time. Even going forward, the default vaccine for anyone over 60 in Thailand is the AZ vaccine. Enquire with anyone you know over 60, if they have been vaccinated its exclusively the AZ vaccine.

People appear to think there is a conspiracy going on and sinovacc has been left out of the figures. Most deaths are people over 60, and people over 60 got the AZ vaccine. Sinovac vaccinations doesnt come into it. So by default sinovac wont be in the stats.

Take what agents say with a grain of salt, they are most often talking in terms of "if you use their service". Agent extensions, little to none of the seasoning rules apply. Some offices may not enforce the 400k minimum but technically its on the books.

I think you will find you are digging up sites that haven't been updated to include the 2019 changes.

Buy Buy Buy, its the fundamentals of the capitalist world will live in. BUY LOW SELL HIGH. These crackdowns are a good thing, at the moment Tencent has a monopoly on music copyright, DiDi Global pays the drivers low wages, Alibaba can do anything they like with customer data/privacy. The crackdowns are to control monopolies, force fair wages and conditions, protect customer data and privacy. No different to US antitrust laws. The only thing stopping me from buying at the moment is the hit I will take exchanging the south pacific peso ($AU) into HKD, CNY etc

I just did a marriage extension in Pattaya last week. there is certainly no option for agent involvement here.

Thai Gov: We realise you already buy heaps of cars , hardrives and shoes from us, and we dont buy anything from you, but can you help us out with some vaccines ? Aust Gov: Sure, we are on top of our vaccine situation, how many do you want ?

I have noted some imported things costing more, but to be expected as the baht is down, worldwide production and shipping is effected etc. For goods and services inside Thailand I have noticed the opposite, a reduction in many items. Living in Pattaya there is usually two separate economies, the local Thai economy and the 2 week millionaire economy. Given that the two week millionaire economy is gone, many things have reverted back to normal Thai prices for Thai goods and services. The shop selling a burger for 300 baht is gone, but the wet market selling meat, fish, vegetables, and the local Thai restaurant have normal and often discounted prices. Even taxi drivers now realise nobody is paying 100 baht for a 50 baht fare.

OP, the daily limits at your US bank can usually be changed, but otherwise an FET can be from multiple deposits. An FET (I think you will find its a letter nowadays) wont have a breakdown of separate deposits, the bank will ask what amount you want an FET for, usually add the condo details etc. Its just a confirmation that X amount of money has been changed to Baht. (it can literally be a combination of any foreign deposits over time) The money you actually hand over for the condo can be a different source of funds from a different account. I have used deposits from 2-3 years ago, even used my 800k retire funds to produce an FET. then paid with funds that I got from selling a car..

I don't get the irrational brand loyalty when it comes to air conditioners, there isn't much in an air conditioner, a compressor, a couple of fans, electronics, big capacitor etc. A lot of the components are identical inside different brands, the components come from the same suppliers and factories. They are all manufactured to a price point, cheaper usually means aluminium rather than copper, a cheaper compressor etc. If a unit is installed correctly, cleaned and serviced regularly, there is no reason to think similarly priced units will not have similar performance and longevity. I have had brand name units fail after 5 years and unbranded units still going strong after 15 years.