madmen

21 minutes ago, james.d said:

Yes the Tesco's own chocolate is really great taste and value. I bought the dark chocolate with orange today.

what % cacoa ?

Not all dark chocolate are the same. True dark chocolate has a very high  % of cacao around 70 +

most supermarkets sell sugary low percentage crap

I herb have a good selection

https://th.iherb.com/pr/Valor-Intense-Dark-Chocolate-70-Cacao-3-5-oz-100-g/66579

1 hour ago, CaptainJack said:

Hi!

 

I forfeited my deposit on my apartment.  It was not a major loss.  All my furniture and accessories I gave to my girlfriend to use in her new apartment.  We got a truck and loaded everything the week before i left and her family helped us unload and get it upstairs.   I had been using Transferwise to move 65k every month to my bank at Krungthai.  That is another reason I has enough of the hoops to jump through.   I checked to see how my 9 months of transfers were coded, after reading about that issue.  Sure enough,  they are all coded as local.  Enough said on that. I'm gone and don't have to deal with that issue.  Still makes me angry though.  I need to let that go.

 

My remaining cash in my Thai bank account? It was about 20,000 baht. I could have drawn it out at an atm, but just used it to buy as many things my girlfriend needed and transferred the rest to her bank account.  

 

That is all of my assets in Thailand.  Oh, i donated all my extra clothing that would not fit in a Gregory 65 litre backpack.  

 

That was what i did.

You let all the small stuff build until you have a mountain and its all to hard and you get angry? Dude if your bank refuses to give you a letter stating the payments are international then get one that will !!!  This is a one off hoop and then you are set for life.

Ive noticed the same recurring theme in all your posts being either your to lazy or you just cant be bothered with even the small stuff and your post about your bank confirms this.

Im really surprised to see your a vet but some how your determination to succeed in a war zone hasn't carried over into your personal life.

Hope you get what Im saying and for sure the US is best for you as Im not sure you will succeed as an expat in any country, they all need work to make it and $$$

18 hours ago, CaptainJack said:

Thank you for that comment.  I have been preparing for this since the first week of December.  I even detoured for a month to visit Sydney and the Blue Mountains and three weeks exploring the south island of New Zealand.  I put on a good face, but it is hard.  I have battled depression (something I don't normally have) everyday since getting back.  I'm safe, with my best friend and his wife, secure, have money and a rent car.  I miss my girlfriend terribly and still, I made the right decision for me.

 

The psychological and emotional are the hardest. Today was a milestone for me. I have decided where to go, what is involved and have already got enough solid evidence and research it is the right place in Latin America. 

 

There is nobody I could talk to here, except my best friend that could ever understand.   I guess that would be my biggest contribution to the topic.  All the plans, logistics and strategic thinking did not save me from my emotions.   Anyone leaving needs to be ready for that, the best they can.

leaving your GF who you miss is a bad decision IMO. Real love is hard to find and I wonder why you didn't make plans to take her with you or you could have stayed as there are currently a few work arounds regarding immigration

1 hour ago, david555 said:

yes Asians like gambling …. tell that to those who bought in on that quality Bali Hai skyscraper ????

yawn zzzzzzzzzzzz

lets forget about the other one million condos completed successfully and focus on bali high. 

you think flops are Thailand only . check out this condo in Sydney Australia 5 star emergency evacuation while the whole building starts to crack . Money gone..can never resell and its first world !!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-29/opal-tower-crack-sparks-calls-for-broad-inquiry/10673134

29 minutes ago, david555 said:

Off plan ?  maybe because that ,because than there must not be paid the total sum ....., and having the time and possibility to spread over long period ….hence why later some try to resell them when they regret or find out they can not meet the final payment by unexpected facts 

Your forgetting Asians have access to bank loans. Sure there will always be fools that didn't think it through but its only a small percent. Most that sell are testing their luck at flipping especially if the development was a quick sell out

3 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

If the condo you are looking at is a real bargain with hundreds of people clamouring to buy it then you might be better off paying a small deposit for them to take it off the market, but how likely is that?

There are tens of thousands of condos for sale here and not many buyers.

Not the case with opening day at a quality development.  Went with the GF to buy hers and it was like a Christmas sale at walmart. All the studios sold out one month later when we went back on an unrelated matter

2 minutes ago, 1sickpuppy said:

Govts do not care about cronic pain & will give you nothing but Panadol for nerve pain cause there brain dead, if you get your tooth fixed you get novacaine but if you have nerve pain in your arms & legs you get jack shit

Problem is every time some idiot teen overdoses on a pain killer the knee jerk reaction is to have it placed on the controlled substance list straight away. Good luck getting it as an outpatient.

On 2/18/2019 at 12:06 PM, brommers said:

If the booze banners get their way and there is no alcohol on sale on April 13 you can bet your bottom dollar that tourists will not only stay away, they will switch to Cambodia, Laos etc where they can have a load of fun.

 

The rationale for a booze ban is to prevent road accidents. There will be no impact because the residents who have a good stock of booze will continue to drive drunk. 

switch to SEA"s armpit number one and two because of one booze free day? Has to be the most desperate attempt at thai bashing this year.

The Bangkok pollution when it was hanging around was terrible. I could taste it , just nasty but all good now. I have no idea how chiang mai expats can live in that smog for such extended periods. If BKK was long term I would leave no doubt about it

I would have diverted the interview and asked him to explain how they could legally stop issuing stat decs if only to watch him turn red and try to stammer through an acceptable explanation

49 minutes ago, Pravda said:

If I was buying a condo in Thailand (which I am not as risk/reward is unacceptable to me), I would only buy from a reputable developer. I would definitely not buy a used condo with no experience like yourself.

 

If I was buying a used condo, I would only buy it if I had an extremely reliable Thai person by my side to babysit me through every step.

 

I bought a condo from a developer back in 2013. It was an installment payment with a booking fee and monthly installments of 10,000b until competition. I managed to get rid of it after I saw some photos on Pantip from unhappy customers where kitchen shelves were falling off and roof leaking after 6 months. I managed to get rid of it before taking possession and made 30k baht. A mistake in hindsight as I would have made around 200k baht on appreciation, but the bigger thing is I would have made extra 25% on currency exchange alone.

 

So, yes, don't listen to be about condo purchase as unlike other real estate bears I will admit I am wrong. But I do hope you listen to me and buy from a reputable developer only. Preconstruction as it will give you time if you want to bail out. There will always be a buyer for your condo contract it seems. You may even make a profit.

 

 

This is normal. Thai developers build to a barely passable standard and then leave it up to the buyers to go through the condo and mark any defects. In my own case the current condo Im living in was delivered with a warped imitation wood floor so they refunded me 20 k which was perfect as I wanted tile anyway.

My GF just got her 5 million baht studio finished so I went to inspect it..no less than 20 items noted and on re-inspection everything was fixed.

Im on my second condo and have found developers to be very fair when requesting repairs before payment and even after if the defect was missed or water leaks etc. Its just the way it is in Thailand 

7 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Example from Lazada

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/fire-magic-smoker-i150275603-s175076302.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.43.96a757a0n3lyrY&search=1

Thats a very reasonable price. I grew up in an east European family where everything was home made eg sausages , smoked meats, pickled veges, wine , grappa. Miss that food and if I wasn't in a condo I would be smoking for sure

48 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Did Not Lose His Job, the show is sticking with him. Because basically he is right according to them.

until he loses in court

its normal for Thailand. I had a bad episode for months and then nothing for years.  Consider placing a cover over the drain as well as a monthly squirt from the bum gun. worked for me

5 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

There is none - best to start a new account at a branch in Bangkok to avoid out of area charges.  Current bank will prefer you leave some money in account as they hate to close as looks bad on books - so easy path is take out most and leave.  At some point you may want it again anyhow.  Always better to have too many accounts than none.

how much are out of area charges? 10 -20 baht? I opened a bangkok bank in pattaya but live in BKK. If I use a bangkok bank atm my charges show as zero

TCL Have problems with their smart Tvs with the smart part not working on some models and really clunky. However they are way cheaper and just as good a pic quality as the others

4 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Personally I think under the climate of a junta, the enforcement of any warrant would be refused and appealed.

why

looks like there is an extradition agreement or why else would hey bother

5 minutes ago, Khaeng Mak said:

All of my expat friends left already over the last two years.

 

3 Saturation Divers. 2 now in Indonesia and 1 in Malaysia (100K USD+ salaries)

1 guy who works online in server deployment for a massive tobacco company (250k+ salary). Now in Cambodia

2 wealthy self funded early retirees now in Vietnam

3 30 something teachers. 1 in Vietnam, 1 in Taiwan and 1 in mainland China

 

Fed up with Thai Immigration was the reason ALL of these individuals moved on.

 

I want to move however I have been here a long time, have family ties, am old, and in poor disrepair...

 

But the compulsory health insurance requirement that will be imposed later this year will be the hammer blow that sees me off for good.

That makes no sense , Point 2 is just nonsense for obvious reasons. You sure your not stretching the truth a bit there old boy ?

In any case bit of bad luck that EVERYONE you know all bolted at the same time..terrible luck ????