Fortunateson

Any recommendations for a competent, knowledgeable, responsible electrican in the Bangkok area.  Thank you

On 11/9/2023 at 1:47 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

Would you prefer to pay a couple of 100,000 THB more and have the correct number registered?

Yes,

200,000 baht is nothing compared to the price of

 the condo

On 10/31/2023 at 2:57 PM, sikishrory said:

I'd use a lawyer and do due diligence.

I got a lot of benefit from using the lawyer and he picked up on things that I wouldn't have noticed.

It varies with different lawyers though. The developer in my case presented due diligence another buyer had supposedly done with another lawyer. Then my lawyer found a number of things he wasn't happy with and changed.

He also negotiated much better payment terms and discounts.

This is off plan.

I think if I was to buy an existing one I would still run it (the contract) by my lawyer for piece of mind.

For the bank letters I found dealing with the banks through calling and emails much simpler than trying to deal with actual banks which were trying to complicate things.

You call them and tell them you want the credit advice for a certain transfer and they email it to you.

For me personally developer kept saying to just transfer from overseas direct into their account. This is problematic if your transfer goes missing (it happens often) as you can only rely on the developer following up his side of it and you have no control. Also the I believe the developer gets the credit advice documents and not you.

According to my lawyer you may need those documents in future if you wish to transfer that same money out of Thailand.

Maybe some of this is not applicable to you but someone might find it helpful.

Could you please give me the contact details for your lawyer.  Thank you

My wife had a friend whose husband made a fortune fixing botched nose jobs

On 10/31/2023 at 9:00 PM, newnative said:

I have no idea what the calculated size of the condo you were considering has to do with your topic 'thai realtors never fail to amaze me'. 

Realtor represented condo to be 161 sq mtrs living area.  Only after questioning did they tell me that was not all living area. Contrary to your experience, in renting or looking to buy higher end properties in Bangkok, I have found realtors to be lazy and try to push properties that did not meet the requirements they were told I needed.  A common tactic, advertise a property for sale and once contacted, the response “it just sold, but I can help you find something else”.  This has happened repeatedly.   Recently looked at a condo that I leaned had a pending legal issue.  Realtor told me it was not a problem.  Subsequently spoke to the building manager who told me it was a significant issue.  Congratulations on finding good realtors.  My experience has been the opposite

Thanks for the information.  Now I know

6 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I'm flexible, and could live in either, I think.

I also lived in two European countries and while living in Thailand, we spend at least four months a year visiting other countries.  Place we lived in on the US east coast, people actually competed to get a “garden of the month” sign on their lawn.  

19 hours ago, Elkski said:

I bet not many in my shoes who have a nice house, and Thai wife, would consider moving to Thailand. 

US citizen married to a Thai, 20+ years younger than me and has US citizenship.  I lived in Thailand for 14 years, working on an expat salary for a US company.  After retiring, we moved to the US.  Spent two years on the west coast (legal marijuana available) two years on the east coast.  Had a 200+ square meter house in both places, an SUV and a BMW sedan.  Left the US for various reasons - poor health care (I have excellent health insurance in my retirement),  everything has to be bigger and better attitude of Americans, tired of seeing obese people shoveling down gargantuan amounts of food in restaurants, tired of people driving huge pickup trucks and SUVs complaining about the cost of gas, tired of shopping mall parking lots having more handicap parking spots than imaginable due to Americans not being able to walk 100 meters, tired of the racial bickering and tired of hearing about the constant shootings being defended by gun loving fools, etc., etc.,  etc.   Following the US, we spent two years in Europe and decided to return to Thailand a year ago, and have no regrets.  I also get my teeth cleaned in Bangkok by a dentist, not a hygienist, using the latest techniques

Over a number of years, I have seen university students in Bangkok, usually in malls, on the sky train, etc, but I have not visited a university campus so have not seen them at school.  What has me puzzled is that 99% of these students never seem to be carrying books or a laptop.  Can someone with knowledge of this please explain to me how the study process works.  Are computers not used in Thai universities?  Do they use books at all, or only at school?  Is homework or outside of classroom projects assigned?  I know that some of you will think that I am taking the pizzz, and I realize that a Thai university may not have the most stringent academic standards, but I am curious as to how the learning process works

1 hour ago, Walker88 said:

A few comments....

How do you implement a wealth tax? 

Can be implemented, Spain has a wealth tax

Thought the article was an early April Fool’s joke

59 minutes ago, Dljohnt said:

The coffee used in Thailand is for the iced and coffee shakes. Tons of sugar, ice and sweet milk added will take the sharp taste of the dark roasted (sometimes almost burned) beans. Not at all suitable for a nice hot espresso.

In the north of Thailand there are many coffee roasters who have light, medium and bold roasted beans. You can ask for all these different roasts. A good coffee roaster is Aka Ama calls the roastings like; city, Italian and dark roast. They grow and roast their own beans. Another one is Phupanna in Doi Saket.

Always check if you get Arabica and not a mix with Robusta beans.

From Phupanna I buy dark and bold roasted beans and mix them to find my taste of coffee.

I really like the Akha Ama City blend for expresso.  The founder of Akha Ama received a lot of training from Stumptown Coffee, a Portland, Oregon coffee shop

i will have to try Phupanna

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Roasted and packaged the same day after cooling.

Doesn't get any fresher than that.. super markets coffee is already days if not weeks old.

Actually, the consensus is that  beans should be aged 2-14 days prior to grinding, depending on what type of roast and filter or expresso.  See the James Hoffman video on YouTube.  Of course, this is all dependent on individual taste

Savannakhet does not have an embassy.  Consulate?

No car, so flooding not a major concern.  What is a concern is condos rented as air b&b.  Very common in Bangkok 

11 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

I used to be an owner at the 24 floor Floral Condominiums, I love the location and the size of the units (100 or 150 square meters). But the building is not new and the design not modern in the same way that Peaks is. Still worth a look, pool, gym, brilliant location, mix of farang, Japanese, American and Thai...great management.

 

https://www.floralchiangmaicondo.com/

Thank you.  Just looked at the website and will pay a visit.  I find the older buildings are a better deal in Thailand as long as they are well maintained 

Currently living in Bangkok and planning a move to CM next year.  We looked into renting at Peaks Avenue and liked what we saw.  For any of you who are familiar with Peaks Garden and other condos in CM, are there any other places you can suggest we look at.  Thank you

Got progressive lens eyeglasses from V Saim Optical, Sukhumvit near soi 26.  Brought my own frames

I received CooperVision progessive contact lens from Focus Optometry, Georgetown Malaysia and onl.ine from AC Lens.  Price comparable

I live hear Thonglor and have True 2 gbps internet. In the evening when I watch Netflix, it keeps needing to reload. Thinking about changing to AIS. Can anybody please tell me whether they have this problem with AIS. Thank you