Poppadom

I worked in SG for 5+ years and have my brokerage account there with Phillips. No capital gains tax, they handle multiple currencies on your customer account. Their Poems 2.0 interface is quite good. Can do most assets with them: stocks, ETF, CFD, FX, Unit trusts, etc. Used to use Citibank too, but their charges are ridiculous. If you are non resident, then you'll need to open a pre funded account, some of the charges:

0.7% for fund subscriptions (Citi had 3% initial sales charge!!!)

0.18% for SGX stocks (min S$25)

USD 20 flat for US markets (promotional fee - otherwise 0.3%, min USD 20)

Live market data for SGX is free, for non professional investors the rest are usually $2 per month, but for half a year now that's FoC as well.

Think if you execute min 2 transactions per quarter, they won't charge custody fees either.

Like them, no issues whatsoever so far.

Also you may want to as your potential new broker if they give you some rebate or special promotion for moving your assets to them. I know Phillips does cashback if you move unit trusts to them. Not big bucks though.

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A lot of Thai folks buy it to rent out, I know that the 69 car wash coffee place (terrible coffee though) guy bought 4 and tenting them out for 9,900 per month.

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A lot of good information in your post!

I think the guy that bought 4 units at 990K and is renting them out at 9,900/mo is very lucky. I don't know what your monthly CAM fees are, but 12% gross ROI is very good for this market. I think most of condo and house owners are lucky to squeeze out a 4-5% net ROI from their "investment".

It's not all hunky-dory though. He is still advertising one unit in his cafe and the others aren't 12 month rentals either, but think he does on a min. monthly basis and his tenants are Thai. But even with this occupancy, it should be more than 4-5%.

Living in dCondo Creek in Kathu. Unit is bought with g/f in addition to her house in Phuket Town _BUT_ only because the price was right. Wouldn't have paid more than the 0.99m promotion price last year and that includes 1 year waiver of management fee, unit insurance and all registration costs. This condo has 806 units, 10% of which is not sold and of course not occupied up to the difference of 90% - a lot less than that. A lot of Thai folks buy it to rent out, I know that the 69 car wash coffee place (terrible coffee though) guy bought 4 and tenting them out for 9,900 per month. Build quality is not quite good and noise wise other than the occasional door slammings, I have no complaints, but that's because the residents are pretty disciplined. From what I've seen mostly working professionals, young couples or students. And of course the occasional Russian and Chinese tourists, airbnb people, but let that be the problem of pool facing units. Our unit is facing the north (mountain side), nice, relatively cool throughout the day and quiet. Parking is a big problem especially after 7pm and you'd see a lot of cars lined up outside the condo.

Having said that, we don't really want another building in the city - had a look at Pruksa, etc, but I don't like the build quality at all. Rather pull up a nice house on her 4 rai in Phang Nga later... My advice is unless you get a really good price (ours could still be sold with an little margin) don't buy a unit, but rather rent - especially if buying would eat up your savings. Stay there and keep your eyes open for deals. You also have to ask yourself is what you want the unit for? If investment/profit taking then with current prices that will be a disappointment. Others have pointed out that there is too much supply and demand is not on par with that. However I have seen multiple units here advertised by the owner and actually sold. Guess also bought at heavy promotion price in the beginning.

We mainly got it to stay here or there and to have a place to put up sis/dad when they visit - not to rent out. Also don't be put off by Kathu. Yes, the shittiest beach is some 15-20 mins ride and the road can be quite dangerous on scooter, but Kathu has a lot to offer. I like the Thai Chinese neighborhood here, all the hidden food places, two golf courses, Bang Wad Dam area, two markets, etc. The condo itself has a big swimming pool (split into ~50m, wading pool, ~30m pieces), gym and they do take care of the surroundings. However at the last condo meetings a couple of issues have been brought up - hope those will be addresses. But I guess in a local timely fashion

Thanks heaps and sorry, was too blind to see. Asking the obvious before coffee...

Hi all,

New to the forum and could not find a dedicated photography buy/sell in classifieds.

By the way some of my photos are uploaded to flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacimarkus

Cheers,

Laci.

METVs are not available in neighboring Countries (to Thailand) , METVs are generally only available to people applying in their home Countries, although there are some Thai Embassys on Australia who seem to be issuing them to non residents

Luke - that is correct, but there seems to be no consistency whatsoever on the requirement front. Not even within AU...

My problem with METV is that I have most of my liquidity in Singapore bank and brokerage accounts, but I am from Europe where I don't hold too much cash only own property. Moreover, in between jobs now so could use this visa to stay in Thailand and occasionally travel to SG and Malaysia to meet up with friends. So I have the time and the money, but no employment in Europe or EP pass in Singapore. A single entry visa is not quite okay for me as I would want to travel more frequently than 60 days.

SG embassy is adamant that I need to have an employment pass to apply, otherwise only single entry visa.

Melbourne would be okay, but I guess they don't want too many precedents and tend to redirect me to SG, but that's back to square one.

Perth now explicitly says that I need to have permanent residency down under to apply. (In spite of the requirements on their form) So an eVisitor (subclass 651) won't do.

Feel like a bit cornered. Any ideas? Thanks.

If you can't get a METV anywhere you could always buy/use a re-entry permit to keep your 60 day SETV entries alive.

Can I use the multiple re-entry permit with the 60 day SETV? Ie. obtain the SETV, get it extended and then apply the multiple re-entry? Thanks.

By the way it is the absurdness of the employment requirements that upsets me. Practically no employer will let you go on a 6 month vacation...

• You could but it's unlikely to be cost effective or practical. They cost 3,800 baht and are only valid for the remaining duration of your original 60 day stay or the 30 day extension. Single re-entries are 1,000 baht.
• You will only be able to extend the SETV stay within the last week or so. You can buy a re-entry permit that would cover the 30 day extension, but if you qualify for visa exempt entry it would be better to use that to re-enter or get a new SETV while out of the country.

I understand why you are upset, but plenty of people are able to take 6 months off work or from their businesses or are retired. The reason most countries ask for employment details is to demonstrate a reason for the tourist to go home after their trip. As I'm sure you know many people have used the tourist visa as a way to stay long term which isn't really it's function, and IMO part of the reason for change is to cut down on the numbers of tourists staying long term.

There is no limit on the overall number of SETV's you can have although individual embassies/consulates will have limits. So as long as you are prepared to apply in different countries you can still stay using SETV's, visa exempt entries and the occasional re-entry permit when practical.

You may have got me wrong... I don't want to stay for an excessive period and play the system, simply have a longer than normal holiday in between jobs with the freedom to hop over to Malaysia, SG, or Indo at my leisure. Thank for the info on re-entry stuff, it's really useful.

My problem with METV is that I have most of my liquidity in Singapore bank and brokerage accounts, but I am from Europe where I don't hold too much cash only own property. Moreover, in between jobs now so could use this visa to stay in Thailand and occasionally travel to SG and Malaysia to meet up with friends. So I have the time and the money, but no employment in Europe or EP pass in Singapore. A single entry visa is not quite okay for me as I would want to travel more frequently than 60 days.

SG embassy is adamant that I need to have an employment pass to apply, otherwise only single entry visa.

Melbourne would be okay, but I guess they don't want too many precedents and tend to redirect me to SG, but that's back to square one.

Perth now explicitly says that I need to have permanent residency down under to apply. (In spite of the requirements on their form) So an eVisitor (subclass 651) won't do.

Feel like a bit cornered. Any ideas? Thanks.

If you can't get a METV anywhere you could always buy/use a re-entry permit to keep your 60 day SETV entries alive.

Can I use the multiple re-entry permit with the 60 day SETV? Ie. obtain the SETV, get it extended and then apply the multiple re-entry? Thanks.

By the way it is the absurdness of the employment requirements that upsets me. Practically no employer will let you go on a 6 month vacation...

My problem with METV is that I have most of my liquidity in Singapore bank and brokerage accounts, but I am from Europe where I don't hold too much cash only own property. Moreover, in between jobs now so could use this visa to stay in Thailand and occasionally travel to SG and Malaysia to meet up with friends. So I have the time and the money, but no employment in Europe or EP pass in Singapore. A single entry visa is not quite okay for me as I would want to travel more frequently than 60 days.

SG embassy is adamant that I need to have an employment pass to apply, otherwise only single entry visa.

Melbourne would be okay, but I guess they don't want too many precedents and tend to redirect me to SG, but that's back to square one.

Perth now explicitly says that I need to have permanent residency down under to apply. (In spite of the requirements on their form) So an eVisitor (subclass 651) won't do.

Feel like a bit cornered. Any ideas? Thanks.