tangoll

Why don't the airlines just design a seat that has a fixed vertical divider that separates the seats up to the shoulder level? That should solve the problem of people whose upper body intrudes into the space of the adjacent passenger. If it's a question of too many dividers taking up too much weight on the plane, then do this only on a section of the plane, and all oversized passengers (pax of size) get assigned to that section and let them deal with fitting into their seat space.

PM me if you are interested in project Condo One X on Sukhumvit soi 26, 8 minute walk to PromPhong BTS, 1 min if by motobike taxi, 10 baht for locals, 20 baht for farang. 21/F, 1 bedroom, 51.77 sq meter, new building. Fits your price range.

tangoll

jimmym40, you are correct. The prices I quoted in my post are before tax and fees. But here is also another anomaly, the Thai tax/fees come to about 12,500; whereas the Eva Air tax/fees are stated as about 9,000 baht on top of the 48,000 baht fare, but if you took the 32,000 baht no mileage promo plan, the tax/fees come to only 6,500.

Since I rarely am able to make use of the mileage accumulated totals, I will likely go for the no mileage plan if the plan extends to the time when I wish to travel. The problem with the Eva Exec/Dlx seat is that it really doesn't recline all that much, and the 38 in pitch doesn't allow for all that much legroom and isn't even close to being able to lie flat.

Has anyone ridden on both Eva Air's Elex Dlx/Elite and Thai Airways Premium Economy classes, and if so, how do they compare against each other. In mid-2010 I will be flying BKK/LAX/BKK and the return fare for both are about the same, Thai being just a bit less expensive: for 6 months validity, Thai is baht 43,000 vs. Eva 48,000 baht. There are other special fares, such as Eva, 2 months validity, but no mileage accrual 32,000 baht, which seems like a pretty good deal. Eva makes a stop in Taipei with a wait of about 2 hours, whereas I think Thai's flight is non-stop.

I noticed that the Thai PE seat has a pitch of 42 inches vs. Eva's 38 inches. Thai seat has a width of 19 inches, but I'm not sure what Eva's seat width is, probably something similar.

Would anyone who has flown both care to give me your observations and experience?

Thank you.

In Bangkok, make sure your condo/home is cool when the buyer arrives. As a buyer, it's a turn-off for me if I enter a condo and it's hot. All I want to do then is to take a quick look, and leave.

If you want me to remove my shoes before entering your unit, please place a chair by the door so that I can at least sit down to remove/put back on my shoes. Not every buyer comes in clogs.

Turn on the lights, and open up the blinds/curtains, even at night.

Make sure there is no dripping at the faucets, and toilets/fixtures are clean and not yellowed or stained.

And if an agent brings the buyer, let the agent do the selling and talking. Refer any direct questions to the agent.

If you had looked a bit earlier on the thread you had just posted on:

<http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Opening-Bank-Account-Thailand-t260738.html&st=100>

my post there described how I got a real VISA Thai baht based credit card from Siam Commercial Bank, Siam Square soi 1 branch, without having a work permit but with Bangkok address and putting up 100,000 baht fixed deposit whose account document the branch keeps, and opened up passbook savings account with auto deduction of charges made from the credit card.

Have also set up that credit card with a PayPal account with a Bangkok address, but had to use a new email address.

If you are a non-Thai, each purchase of a condo must, at time of transfer of ownership, have presented to Land Dept originals of Foreign Exchange Transaction Form showing amount of Baht converted from foreign currency transferred into the receiving bank equal to or greater than the transaction amount being used for transfer of ownership.

This means that local funds generated from prior sale of a condo would not result in your being granted an FETF for those funds, and you would need to import fresh foreign funds for the purchase of the new condo, ie. your option 4.

A copy of a used FETF would not suffice for the purchase of the second condo.

You would need to export the funds generated from the sale of first condo, and then import those funds again after conversion to a foreign currency.

thai1234, why are you asking here about the bank draft? Why don't you ask Bangkok Bank first?

If the bank draft is already made out crossed with developer's name as payee, and Bangkok Bank refuses to accept the bank draft back, then you can ask developer to endorse the draft to you by signing on the back of the draft (sign it twice) which then makes it a bearer's cheque and you can deposit the cheque back into your own account.

But check with Bangkok Bank first to see if they will cancel the cheque, and failing that, if endorsing the cheque over to you will be acceptable to the bank for deposit into your account.

Failing even that (which I don't think will happen), you can pay the final installment to the developer as a prepayment without transfer, and when you do the sale to the new buyer with name change, the new buyer then does the transfer without further installment payment from him to developer as all installments have already been paid. The new buyer will have to pay the additional fees upon transfer such as transfer fee, sinking fund, management fee in advance, electric meter deposit, etc.

You need to check the purchase contract that you signed with developer when you first booked and bought the condo, to see if there is a "name change" provision in the contract. Probably there would be and you would be liable to pay the developer a name change fee. If this is possible, then it would be far easier for you to sell the unit before you transfer with the developer, do the name change, and then let the new buyer complete and transfer the condo from the developer.

If you transfer first, there's a lot more involved -- transfer process with developer, paying sinking fund and first year's management fee, and then when you do the resale with the new buyer, getting documents from juristic office, negotiating who pays transfer fees/tax, the sinking fund and paid in advance management fee, etc.

If at all possible, sell before transfer with developer.

If you have to do 2nd option, then check on dates of transfer -- the tax and fees would be greatly different if you do first transfer in 2009 and 2nd transfer in 2010, especially if after 28 March 2010 and the reduced rates are not extended by government.

This assumes you are farang and selling to either farang or Thai. If you are Thai and selling to farang, then 49% farang limit on ownership may apply.

I use Ladda Dental Clinic on first floor of Nana Square Building on corner of Sukhumvit and Soi 3. It's a small shopping complex right on the corner, with Starbucks, Burger King, etc in the building. It's not the bars, go-go complex on Soi 4, which is on the opposite side of Sukhumvit.

When you wire in money from overseas into Thailand, you will encounter no problems if you do following:

1. Ensure that name on the account receiving funds is the same name as on passport and on the title deed (chanote) to be issued by the Land Dept office. This assumes purchaser is non-Thai person(s).

2. On the transfer document from the overseas bank, that the purpose of funds transfer is for "purchase of condominium". No need to specify name of condo or by whom.

3. The foreign funds should be in foreign currency and exchanged into Thai baht by the receiving Thai bank.

4. The Foreign Exchange Transaction Form will be issued upon your application to the Thai receiving bank for amounts received in excess of the equivalent of US$20,000. This form(s) must be supplied to Land Dept office doing the transfer of ownership, and the total baht amount of the forms must be equal to or greater than the transaction amount stated on the documents used for the transfer of ownership. Ensure name on this form is same name as to be placed on title deed.

There are other ways to transfer money into Thailand for the purchase of condos, such as sending money direct to developer or lawyer, but I think the above is a far safer way and allows you to control the process.

Note also that in private purchases between seller and purchasers on already completed condo units, the taxes and fees as to who pays what is totally negotiable between seller and purchaser. Also on private purchases, the Juristic Office of the building must issue two documents: 1. a document stating the condo unit has no debt due to the building ownership, called a bai plod ngee, and 2. if purchaser is a non-Thai, that the ownership structure of the building after the purchase still conforms to the 49% restriction on foreign ownership.

To do the transfer process at the Lands Dept, it's best to have some Thai speaker who has some knowledge in this process to help you, such as a lawyer or experienced real estate agent.

If the purchase is of a newly constructed unit direct from a developer, the developer will do almost all of the work in the transfer of ownership, even for a non-Thai purchaser. Just follow their instructions as to what documents you must provide and how to payment the developer.

HB, thanks for the info. The link you provided doesn't work, but here is the link I found on 2bangkok.com

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/27396/scale-model-of-bangkok-goes-on-display

Can anyone give us the address of the City Hall in Din Daeng, in both English and Thai script please? And is there anyway to get there by MRT?

Thanks.

I read somewhere that some government department now has a table model of Bangkok city. Has anyone any info on this model -- which department, where it's located, and are we allowed to go see the table model, etc?

Thanks.

Over the Chinese New Year's period, I gave out red packets, each containing a crisp new 100 baht note, to almost every staff who worked in the condo building I live in -- management office, guards, maids, engineers, etc. -- all happily received it, and for the rest of the year, you always get a big smile and greeting and eagerness to help when they see you.

The 49 baht lunch special at Izumi in Century Movie Plaza is now no more. On offer is a 115 baht barbecue special for lunch, but there are a slew of other restaurants in that same mall, all with some form of lunch specials.

Just to update anyone who's interested in my being able to obtain a Siam Comm'l Bank/Sansiri VISA credit card: I picked up my card, had it activated, and have used it once at King Power duty free. No problems. Credit limit 50,000 baht.

I was also able to set up a new PayPal account with this card. To do this, I had to use a separate email address showing a Thailand address. It was not possible to have a single PayPal account with one credit card having a HK address and an added card with an address not in HK.

So I set up a separate email address with a Thailand address and then added this VISA card. No problems setting up the PayPal account.

So theoretically I can transfer funds from my HK based PayPal account to my Thailand based PayPal account and vice versa. This might come in handy in the future, but just not needed for my use right now.

While in the KingPower duty free shopping complex, I walked into the Cartier section to look at men's wallets, and the wallets, costing 10,000 baht up, are openly displayed on shelves. Yet in the 2 - 3 minutes that I was in the Cartier section (which are in sectioned off rooms), there was not one salesman/lady around. I thought how easy might it be to just drop one of the wallets on display into a shopping bag and walk out, but then I thought this must be a set up and there are probably video cameras trained on this specific area. So I gave up on any thought of a life of crime.

In Hong Kong, even in a showroom with several salesladies, small items like wallets and accessories are usually displayed in a drawer under glass, sometimes even in a locked drawer.

I went to the KingPower complex on Rang Nam road to buy some egg rolls for a friend from HK who requested them. While there, I saw a Panasonic video camera discounted 30% as it was the last and display unit. For both items, my total purchase exceeded the 5,000 baht minimum level necessary for the 7% VAT refund upon taking items out of country. So my total purchases of 6,100 baht qualified for a 406 baht refund. Upon departing at Suwanna, I went thru the paperwork process at Customs/Revenue office before check-in. And when I went up to the VAT refund window after check-in, the guy in the window put out 306 baht, there being a 100 baht service fee.

But then, when I asked for the original sales receipt for the video camera back, he said no, the receipt has to stay with the VAT application form. I explained to him that I need "my" receipt back in case I had to make a warranty claim on the camera, and the warranty conditions expressly state that the "original" sales receipt must be shown when making the claim. The VAT guy said, nope, no receipt turned in, no money.

So I told him to forget the VAT refund, and just give me back my receipt. They are potentially worth more than the 306 baht of the VAT refund.

So the moral is: when you purchase anything qualifying for the VAT refund, plus any potential warranty claim requiring an original sales receipt, make sure you make the retailer provide you with two original sales receipts.

I'm surprised no one has encountered this problem before. Plus I just don't understand why the tax office needs the original sales receipt. They can check it and then marked it so that it can't be used again.

I would guess that any Thai bank will give you a credit card as long as you are prepared to deposit an amount equal to 120% of your credit limit and are prepared to lose access to those funds for as long as you have the card, don't expect interest on the money either. That scenario is the basis of the HSBC Premier program here in Thailand where the 3 million Baht deposit gives you Premier status and a credit card with a credit limit of 2 million, credit limit is set at 2 mill but is reduced to the level of the amount actually on deposit when that falls below the required level.

chiang mai, the amount I had to put up at Siam Comm'l Bank is a lot more reasonable, 100,000 baht, than the 3 mil baht that HSBC requires. I think the interest rate on that FD is 0.6%, or 600 baht per year My main concern is whether that Visa card can be used in Hong Kong, and what exchange rate will be used to convert charges in HK$ to thai baht. Even though I mention in my previous post about linking the card to my PayPal account, I'm not sure how useful that might be, as I don't use PayPal all that much. Anyway, I'll pick up the card in mid-Nov when I am back in BKK.

At the time of transfer of ownership from developer to you, the developer will declare the transaction amount at the Land Dept office doing the transfer. You must deliver to Land Dept office originals of Foreign Exchange Transfer Forms which show amounts being transferred into Thailand in foreign currency whose sum total in baht exchanged is equal to or greater than the transaction amount being declared at the LD office. That's it, plain and simple.

If you can agree with the developer to declare some specific amount that could satisfy your ability to deliver FETF's of some figure, that would be workable. For example, if the developer would separate the total sales amount of the purchase into two components, say for the unit itself and an amount for the built-ins, fittings, and equipment, then the developer might declare just the amount for the unit itself.

This has happened to me once. A bank cashier's cheque with the payee's name can be endorsed to another payee by the original payee signing the back of the cheque twice. This then makes the cheque a bearer's cheque and the bearer can deposit the cheque into the bearer's account.

Why might this be done? A payee may need to prepare a cashier's cheque in advance of final negotiations over a sale/purchase of say a condo. If the S+P contract is signed, then the payee endorses the cheque over to the other party. If for some reason, the contract is not signed, then the payee is still holding the cheque in the payee's name and can then redeposit the cheque back into his own account without difficulty. If the cheque had been drawn with the other party's name as payee, and the contract ends up not being signed, then the drawer of the cheque is still holding the cheque with the other party's name, and the drawer must somehow get the bank to cancel the cheque and recover his funds.

I was able to get a Siam Comm'l Bank/Sansiri VISA credit card, Thai baht based, auto deduct monthly from baht savings passbook account opened at SCB. Had to put down a 100,000 baht fixed deposit account as guarantee, with account document held by the bank. No work permit or tax/salary statement req'd; only showed that I own a condo unit in BKK, by showing title document, tabien baan, or if not yet transferred, a purchase contract would have been sufficient. SCB branch in Siam Square on soi 1.

For those interested in getting a baht Visa credit card, and only on a 30 day exempt visa status, and with no work permit or salary/tax paid in Thailand, this is first instance I've heard that such a credit card has been allowed.

I'll try to link my PayPal account to this credit card later once I pick up the card at the branch when I next return to BKK.

The real estate agents that I have dealt with in BKK would all initially ask 3% commission from sellers for selling a condo. However if a deal is imminent, most small agents would cut their commission to secure the deal. On my last sale, an agent took a commission of 80,000 baht on a sale of 5.65 mil baht. The big agents like CBRE or Jones Lang would not budge from their 3%.

A rip off is where a sale of a purchase contract occurs on a project still under construction and not yet transferred ownership. The agents all ask 3% on the unit's calculated sale figure even though the actual sale value, or the amount received by the seller, is much less than the contracted sale price that will be eventually transferred. This is a big rip-off by the agents.

I booked a one bed unit on 30th floor of the Address Asoke project, facing east direction. Price after presales discount of 50,000 baht came to 5.2 mil for 45.1 sqm, net 115,000 baht per sqm, fully furnished except for no tv, but otherwise bed, curtains, rods, frig, washer, cooker/hood, bed, tables, etc all included. Project will complete by 2012, with 18% of price being paid by installments, and 82% payable on transfer (I think this low installment portion payment is also an attractive feature for many buyers.)

By the time I booked, I would say about 65% of available units had been booked -- all the smaller 1 beds, 35 sqm, 100% booked, and most of the larger 1 beds, 45 sqm, facing north overlooking new airport express station (nothing will build on top of that) had been booked. In the unit that I booked, all the lower floor units in that line had been booked, 30/31 st floor were only units left in that line, plus maybe one or two other units higher up still available.

I asked agent why many of the prospect buyers are young Thai's and she said because there's no interest being paid on money in the bank, so buyers just want to put their money to some possible good use. She thinks maybe 20% of those booking are for their own use. Maybe 5 - 10% additional are buyers thinking of unit as weekday use for job in vicinity, returning to another home on weekends.

Actual sales campaign with official opening began just yesterday 12 Sept, but all the attractive units have already been snapped up by then. To keep prices reasonably low, developer has downsized unit sizes (65 sqm for 2 bed, 35 - 45 for 1 bed units, 125 sqm for 3 bed unit, but then added fully furnished as a selling feature.

I wonder when the airport express line will actually begin operation? Anyone know?

To answer the question of what is the general trend, one has to say, "well, it depends..." Mainly it depends on location, age of building, popularity with local folks, etc. Speaking only of Bangkok and condos. If the project is in a good location, prices have held up well, and even gone up some. You can check my other thread on recent sale at Siri@Sukhumvit. I'm still getting calls from agents asking if that unit is available, as they have a client offering slightly higher price that what I actually sold at.

Today I went to see a new project Address Asok, on Petchburi Road right next to new airport express station, by AP, with smaller sized units, 2 beds at 65 sqm, 1 bed at 45 or even 35 sqm, to be delivered fully furnished except for TV's, at prices 100,000 - 110,000 baht per sqm. Of 44 floors. about 15 units per floor, probably total 400 units, even before actual launch, I would say about 50% of the units already booked for purchase. All the small 35 sqm units have been booked. What I found interesting in looking at the prospective buyers in the showroom, almost all are mid-age Thai's.

Of course, I have also heard that some buyers like doctors have booked 5 - 7 units in that project in one shot.

AP will have a new project launching next week on Sukhumvit soi 28, but at much higher price 140 - 150,000 baht per sqm.

The top developers are all launching new projects in well located areas, and they are selling (booking).

The farang real estate analysts on this board may be quoting general economic trends, but these trends don't apply when talking about a specific project in a specific location at a specific price. I doubt if any of the buyers in these projects have read anything about what these trend analysts are projecting, nor do they care. You could follow their advice, but then you would end up staying in bed all day.