wolf81

13 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Am I ready to take the plunge? Should I wait or get it now?

 

Pundits think it could dive down to below 10 dollars. Max Keiser says it could get to 500k dollars this year. It's a dilemma. 

 

One problem for me; if the dollar does go belly up, like many predict, how can bitcoins actually be purchased?

500.000 USD seems way too high for me at this short moment.

But I do believe Bitcoin could reach 100.000 USD value over the course of this year. I believe 500.000 USD should be achievable in a couple of years.

In the meanwhile Bitcoin might drop lower though.

11 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

hahahahaha....cut your prices bozos......ever heard of supply and demand?

Even if people cut prices ... most property won't sell I think. There's just too few buyers.

So perhaps it only makes sense to sell for a low price right now if you really need the money or you have no faith in the long term prospect of property in Thailand. 

This ad is brought to you by the Real Estate Brokers of Phuket.

Be quick or the property you might want to buy will be sold very very soon!!!

On 2/10/2021 at 12:06 PM, bronzedude said:

The smart play would be for Bangkok Airways to have 3 flights a week from Utapao to Hua Hin. This would give Pattaya, Rayong,  and Chantaburi residents a quick and economical way to travel there without the hassle of driving around Bangkok. I know I would take those flights 2 or 3 times a year. Even 2 flights a week would probably work since most people would go for a 3 or 4 day holiday. There is also the possibility of connecting with train service to the Southern provinces if they create a favorable scheduling connection.

From Chiang Mai to Hua Hin would also be nice.

Also, Chon Buri also has a ferry service to Hua Hin that should be much quicker than driving around BKK, that might be nice to try if you didn't know about it yet.

After reading this article I was wondering as a Thai Elite visa card holder ... did I spend as much money on average a day?

Actually a spent a bit more I guess. I stay in Thailand for 3.5 years now on Thai Elite Visa and in the time I've been here bought:

- A house for my GF (~1.5 million THB)

- A car for my GF (~1.1 million THB)

- Some land for my GF (450.000 THB)

- And our monthly spending is probably around 50.000 THB on average, so about 1.800.000 over the last 3 year.

Would make a total of 4.850.000 THB over 3.5 year (~1277 days).

4.850.000 THB / 1277 days = 3.797 THB per day

So yes, seems at least for me he's not that far off, I probably spent a bit more even. Though in the near future I don't have any plans anymore to buy a house, land or car, so hopefully my future spending will at some point just be limited to the average monthly spending of 50.000 THB (~1.666 THB per day).

To add to the discussion ...

My Thai girlfriend tells me when driving in the car: "Don't worry about people that drive behind you" (I worry a lot about tailgating, which 1 in 5 cars seem to do over here).

My Dutch friend (motorcyclist) tells me: "Better to have 10 idiots in front of you than 1 behind".

I have to say, I agree more with my Dutch friend than with my Thai girlfriend. I think most Thai people think the same as my Thai girlfriend and that is worrying. 

I am however getting my Thai motorcycle driving license tomorrow and probably will buy a 2nd hand motor in the coming month. I did drive for more than 2 years with a car on the road here and I tend to drive very defensively. I will do the same on the motor.

You might also want to get some experience in a car first, before considering using a motor. 

19 hours ago, Chandler said:

I am just trying to get data ahead as I have time before I retire.  I spend 3 or 4 months several times over the last 2 decades and usually not in tourist areas.  Im just trying to get ducks in a row in advance to make sure its viable

 

I don't live in a tourist area (Chaiprakan, about a 3 - 3.5 hours drive from Chiang Mai) and it was horrible over here last year. Same in Thaton closer to the Myanmar border). This year the air has been ok so far, but not sure if that's due to COVID somehow or maybe the burning season still needs to start.

Seriously ... if you're considering living anywhere in Chiang Mai / Chiang Rai, do make sure you have some money set apart to leave this area due to bad air about 3 months every year. 

I use April Insurance and it was easy to sign up for. Not sure if they’re any good though, haven’t been sick much in the last 3 years, so didn’t need any assistance.

7 hours ago, simple1 said:

Do any Dutch nationals on the forum know if the responsible bureaucrats will face criminal prosecution for the terrible injustice inflicted? Are those affected receiving compensation?

I believe the bureaucrats cannot face prosecution. One would need to read into the "Pikmeer-arresten" (English translation here) to gain a better understanding: 

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikmeerarresten

I think the key sentence is the following:

Quote

In previous judgments, the Supreme Court had already ruled that local authorities could not be prosecuted for criminal offenses committed in the performance of specific government tasks. This reasoning was partly based on the explanatory memorandum for the establishment of Article 51 Criminal Code. In 1987 this was explicitly limited by the Supreme Court to the public bodies mentioned in Chapter 7 of the Constitution. The Pikmeer I judgment raise

And families were promised 30.000 EUR compensation, but it seems the government / tax agency is already backtracking on this, which is possible since the cabinet resigned.

Most likely the current prime-minister (Rutte) who is most responsible for this mess will likely be re-elected in March. Perhaps he figured it'd be easier to get re-elected if he didn't have to deal with this mess during elections. 

23 hours ago, darksidedog said:

That doesn't look good. The flightradar tracker shows it climbing steadily, then banking 90 degrees right and pretty much straight down. Thats not engine failure, its catastrophic loss of flight controls, as in something major fell off or seriously malfunctioned. Not good news for Boeing.

I RIP those on board in advance, because I doubt anyone could survive an impact of that velocity.

It could also be suicide by pilot.

I like the Zolito brand coffee from Makro, especially the High Mountain variety. It's about 270 THB for 500 gram IIRC. Occasionally it seems Makro has very steep discounts, at some point I've been able to buy this coffee for only 165 THB for a bag. So my advise would be to check your local Makro occasionally. Online Zolito is more expensive.

But recently found an even cheaper alternative nearby from a local coffee shop, 240 THB for 500 gram with Italian and French roast varieties. So these are the ones I will try next.

47 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

Bread yes....but please...Dutch cheese..really? Biggest con trick going....it is recycled plastic at best....or have I been eating the wrong stuff?

Are you from The Netherlands or not? In the Dutch city markets and cheese shops there are (in my opinion) excellent cheeses available. All the stuff you can buy in Thailand, even if it's labelled like Dutch cheese (e.g. Gouda, Edam) is often from German and tastes bad. It's labelled Dutch but not from The Netherlands. 

I'm sure in many other countries cheese is also sold as Gouda or Edam but not actually from The Netherlands.

- Good cheese; real Dutch cheese like Beemster as sold on Dutch markets.

- Good quality bread; Farmhouse sucks imo, more variety would be great, as would be some good croissants.

- A bit more pastry choices. In my area seems every shop sells cakes from the same factories; something like a "Gevulde Koek" would be nice. 

1 hour ago, Peterphuket said:

The sound car who drives through the street countless time to tell you who to vote for.

_{And I wonder if it even makes much of a difference. In my village some people connected to one candidate entered each house offering 200 THB if people would vote their candidate. Seems many people are ok with that offer and otherwise don't care much who gets in office. My GF told me every candidate has their own area of voters (e.g. the candidate in our area isn't allowed to bribe people in another candidate's area - every candidate his own home turf).}

7 hours ago, Lacessit said:

What kind of businesswoman allows herself to be defrauded of that much money?

In The Netherlands there was this business woman Nina Brink from WorldOnline who often visited a medium. I'm sure she paid quite a bit of money for advise. Didn't help much with WorldOnline though.

10 hours ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

2 Months ago they stated they had a vaccine, and it was in its third stage of trials,, so what happened to that vaccine, or were they just dreaming as usual... 

Maybe they were talking about AstraZenica that (as I understand) will produce the vaccine in Thailand

1 hour ago, edwinchester said:

Nothing to do with nobody wanting to buy the junk then?

Seems that got everything to do, since as written in the article:

Quote

“If we can’t get good prices for our NPAs, we will not sell them,” [Payong Srivanich, president of Krungthai Bank] said.

9 hours ago, Venom said:

 

Only, the rich don't need loans.

The extremely rich might not need loans, but debts are in most countries tax deductible and there might also be cash flow reasons.Very rich people might also use companies to buy property (again for tax reasons) and then using a loan might also make more sense perhaps.

People that are above average wealthy, but not extremely rich, might opt for loans in order to buy more property. Either use 100% to buy 1 property or buy 5 properties by paying cash 20% and making loans for the remaining 80%. 

I’m guessing with news on the vaccine, perhaps rich people think the economic bottom is (close to) being reached. So good bargains on lands is possible now from people in financial troubles. Rich people could use these loans to increase property assets, perhaps sell again in a few years at a decent profit.

1 hour ago, Grusa said:

There are none. Nor restaurants, karaoke, or brothels. 

Not even, despite the name, a good dentist.

Have more fun!

House points if you get it.

Not brothels in the normal sense, but there must be some short time hotels.

A Dutch guy I met told me he sees many high heeled ladies coming to the resort he stays in, in Fang area. He thinks the owner of the resort is some kind of mamasan. I haven't asked the exact location though, but yeah ... there seems to be some kinds of "entertainment" going on, but I'd guess this is mainly catered to Thais and these girls probably can't speak a word of English.

Kinda sad ...

It seemed like a beautiful hotel and I planned to visit it in the past, but it seemed very expensive though. Won't be able to go there in the future anymore it seems.

8 hours ago, Muzzique said:

 

 

Probably be the ones next door to a Gogo bar.

 

 

It's a place of worship alright.

16 hours ago, samtab said:

 

 

So many of you on the forum who owned benz, porsche, bentley, etc...

but still prefer a Japanese can...

Funny all you !

 

I'm not a car nut and so far only owned 1 car (Toyota Hilux Revo "Rocco"), but I believe it drives ok. Not the issue with the leg pain of the OP when driving longer distances (for me a long distance might mean 6-7 hours in a day). 

I prefer Japanese because they're affordable and cheap to maintain and repair. Also, I prefer to not be seen as rich in Thailand. Many people that own a BMW, Mercedes or similar car want to show other people that they're rich, but that might track unwanted attention (thieves to your house, people that want to lend money from you, etc...).