Airalee

49 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Prom Pong isnt quite as seedy as Asoke and Nana btw

“Quite”  being the operative word.  It’s just more discrete.

12 minutes ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

We have to ship some stuff by sea and by air anyway (company pays) but yes, I wasn’t planning to bring the sofas or mattress if we can help it.  

 

1 br way too small.  I need space for my painting stuff, preferably a separate room.

If the company is paying to ship it (plus customs), by all means bring the sofas (if you like them).  Good furniture here is ridiculously expensive.  Think Design Within Reach (dwr.com) prices for lower quality.  Mattresses aren’t so bad as they’re always on sale.

3 minutes ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

Lol....we have 2 sets of sofas plus a mattress from previous overseas transfers for the same reason so we could bring some with us...but they would take a while to arrive.

I wouldn’t bother shipping furniture.  Customs is a pain in the a$$.

If you can slum it in 60sqm (1br), Rhythm Sukhumvit has some pretty cool duplex loft condos on the backside so you won’t be beaten to death by the sun in the afternoon.

https://www.hipflat.com/listings/bangkok-condo-rbveeevn

3 minutes ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

Furnishings is important to me so I must admit I was tending to rule out the older condos because the furniture might be shabby

Furniture is gonna be a crapshoot here.  I have already bought new sofas (along with the obligatory mattress) for each of my places here in BKK.  The landlords love me for it. 

And as you golf....there is a driving range near Ekkamai

Just now, NewbieInBangkok said:

The Millenium is on the list that I liked too but it seemed a bit far from the BTS.

Ok....thanks for the info.  Not sure what size place you’re looking for and how healthy your budget is, but Sky Walk has a sweet place for rent (100k for 250sqm) at the moment.  Close to the Phra Khanong BTS.   The value for money spent gets much better just a couple stops past Thonglor.

https://www.hipflat.com/listings/bangkok-condo-chcgkhyp

If I had buckets of money, one complex that always looked interesting was the millennium residence (Asoke area)Don’t know how it compares to the other luxury condos but the floor plans aren’t as wonky as many I have seen elsewhere.

46 minutes ago, Time Traveller said:

Here's an idea. Instead of these overpriced insurance policiies, could you just have an extra 440,000 baht in CASH above the current financial requirements? 

I guess not, seems that this is only designed just so the insurance companies can make a profit.

Thank god I'm not affected for now, but if I had to be forced to buy these stupidly overpriced scam policies, this is what I'd do. Every year, I'd make sure that I get 400,000 Baht's worth of Treatment. Sick or not. I want 400k of mandatory healthcare. In doind so, it would drive up the costs for everyone else so this stupid idea collapses.

 

Agree with you that it’s basically a gift to the insurance companies.  Thailand is slowly becoming a FIRE economy. (finance, insurance, real estate).

However, I’d recommend doing the exact opposite of what you’re considering with regards to maxing out claims.  I suspect that like most policies, any claims will lead to higher premiums each subsequent year.  In my estimation, there is no way the government will let this collapse as it’s a cash cow for big business.  They will just assume that if we can’t afford the insurance will just head on home and use whatever subsidized system our respective countries have in place for the elderly.

Myself, I think the only way to fight the health insurance system (even while playing within the rules) is to be/get as healthy as possible and try to avoid the medical industrial complex as much as can be done in order to hopefully avoid skyrocketing premiums in the future. 

1 hour ago, Listree said:

Thanks. So I can do this with minimal paperwork? At the moment all I have is the bank slip when I made the redrawal. It shows 400 hkd 

I think it’s safe to assume that customs will have the necessary paperwork for you to fill out.  

Fly in.  Go to customs counter.  Tell them you need to declare cash above limit.  Sorted.

I have tried selling a sealed Valcambi bar and a Brittania in Bangkok.  Only one out of about a dozen shops (in various areas) would show any interest in it and the offer was 20% below spot.  The largest gold dealer in Thailand (from what I am told), Hua Seng Heng, will buy 999.9 bullion but only in Kilos...not ounces.

And FWIW, “scrap” is not the same as bullion.

A note to potential condo purchasers...

If you’re not embarrassed by your offer, it’s not low enough.

1 minute ago, overherebc said:

Can't have Joe Soap driving a nice car in Thailand ( 1.5 to 2.0 litres is enough for them ). How would the HiSo's show they are different.

You know....I have thought exactly that.   But how much of a baller can you be with a 4 cylinder Ford?  I can buy a brand new 2020 Porsche 911 (992) at Beverly Hills Porsche for less money.

49 minutes ago, dallen52 said:

It's an odd one for sure..

A few years ago Ford and Australia did a deal on importing cars.

Thai built focus and Fiesta came to Australia. 

The Ford territory was to be exported to Thailand. 

Unfortunately the thai government put a caveat that the engine should be less than 3 litres.

Territory was a 4 litre six.

A $50,000 Territory titanium when sold in Thailand became a $100,000 vehicle..

FoA went out of business. 

They were to build the Focus. 

Thailand exports Focus and Fiesta's to Australia still.

 

I think Focus, was the right word. 

Well and truly Foc us, they did.

I think it goes beyond “odd” into the crazy territory.  Especially for sports models. 

2019 Ford Mustang Ecoboost (essentially new) ฿3,990,000

https://www.one2car.com/en/for-sale/ford-mustang-ecoboost-bangkok-metropolitan-liab-duan-ram-inthra-kasetnawamin/6112964

Same car in the US.  (New from dealer) ฿1,000,000 (including taxes)

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/773673515/overview/

That’s US$131,000 for a 2.3liter 4 cylinder mustang vs just over US$33,000

43 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Politics obviously IS part of it but it's not an agenda political screed movie. In my opinion, it's a work of art that will have different impacts and meanings to different people. That includes many people being bored by it. So what?

I never said it was.  I’m excited to see it myself this week.  I think Joaquin Phoenix is perfect for the role.  My comment was based solely on the desperate attempt for the reviewer to turn it into something political hence my comment on her “buzzwords”.  

You really should work on reading what people say in their comments rather than coming up with knee jerk reactions.

Listen more.  Speak less.

39 minutes ago, hobz said:

I thought incels are alt-right

29 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

You thought correctly. I think it's moronic to view this movie as a political screed for any agenda. 

If you both read my comment a bit more closely, you’ll see that you misunderstood what I wrote.  The reviewer (click the link in the OP) was the one grasping at straws trying to bring politics into it.

7 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

what the best hot dogs are (Sabrett, Sahlens, Hebrews)

They totally need to get some Hebrew National hotdogs here instead of the mystery meat I see everywhere.  Thais don’t know what they’re missing.

Can’t Jingthing rally the Jewish community and make it happen?

8 minutes ago, tjo o tjim said:

Heh... no, just someone who never thought all the condos under construction in 2006 would ever be sold. I am curious how many the developers own to keep the market looking solid though. 

Everything in your previous post was nothing but positive, hence my comment.  When I see 30-40sqm units asking close to ฿300,000 per square meter, I know that there is no way that the P/E ratio is even close to normal.  These units are being sold primarily for “investment” and I chuckled to myself on the BTS yesterday seeing a sign touting a “Guaranteed 20% return”.  When a unit isn’t rented out, the return is negative (not counting opportunity costs)

The bottom line is that prices have to come down.  They’ve been held up with low interest rates, loose lending standards (70% DTI) and hinky mortgages (Neg-am loans were being advertised at BTS stations about 2 years ago). Those will soon reset and recast.  People rushing to buy condos with these terms are the “dumb money”.

With Regards to location, there is no guarantee that a good location will stay good, or that a marginal location will get better.  It could just as easily go the other way.  

10 minutes ago, YoungBrit said:

Still fairly common in Chiang Mai too. 

Show me a ฿1,650,000 condo renting for 10k in CM.

Chiangmaiproperties.co.th

5 hours ago, tjo o tjim said:

Capacity always seems to get absorbed in time... just longer than the people with excess hope. Somebody looses, somebody gains, nature of the beast.
 

Exactly how many real ghost buildings are there in central Bangkok that haven’t been re-developed?  I can think of CK51 and the shell at the end of Suk13 both left from 1997, and maybe one or two along the Airport Link route, but all the miserable idea, who would actually buy here, way too much capacity, white elephant people seem to have been proven wrong over time. Sure, people and companies go bankrupt in the process, but it gets absorbed. 
 

The chicken coups under 30m2 in good locations will become short term rentals.  The places in bad (geographic) locations will become marginally better locations over time. Some places will start to look much shabbier, but they will still be around. 

Spoken like a true (r)ealtor

4 minutes ago, fruitman said:

I don't know who'll buy them, not me that's for sure.

 

Looking at many highrise condo's in BKK i'm so amazed about the thin legs some of them are standing on...sure it will be something special concrete but hey why so thin? The legs of the skytrain are much much thicker....and that's not 40-50 stories high.

 

 

I’m amazed at the “thin legs” also.  And the minimal amount of rebar used (compared to the highrise condos I watched them build in Seattle when I lived there) also makes me a bit leery.