prchunter

While this new law may not be for everyone, it might actually be a better opportunity then most think. Of course to play this financial game you need a min 3 mil usd min of net worth to play. Note that this will be a long term investment and I'm really just thinking out loud about this. I welcome discussions to adjust this model, but I will not respond to trolls. First off from my limited research locals prefer to buy land and build houses over buying condo's which are perceived by locals as expensive. (This is why it's difficult to sell 2nd hand Condo's even in prime Bangkok locations, but that's another topic). So land in prime areas are actually much more liquid then condos. Secondly people need to realize we are in a recession so despite Condo prices holding, land prices actually have fallen. Third point is the Thai Baht is actually at a multi year low. Many expect the baht to fall to around 42 to 1usd. As the world slowly recovers we might see 30 to 1 usd in 8-10 years time. That's a 40% gain. For the sake of math we will say 4% a year. The price of admissions is to invest 40 mil into something in thailand. This can be put into a stock investment for or a real estate fund. A basket of thai blue chip stock that yields cash dividends will net you somewhere in the neighborhood of 4% a year (PTT stock yields north of 7% so this is realistic). On top of that you can expect a 4-10% increase in share price per year just due to inflation. So you are looking at your 40mil investment netting 4% currency +4% div +2-5% capital increase = 10-13% per annum. The land itself let's just say you buy near Banga for another 40 mil. Land usually appreciates with inflation which historically has averaged 3.9% for the last 45 years. You are looking at 4%+3.9% for a steady 7.9% per year. For your 80 mil a blended return of 9%-10.5% a year. More if you get lucky with your land location for your stock picks. This is not for everyone but for a financial investor this is actually not a bad return for your efforts.

It really depends on if you have many friends in the country. Also how much money you can spend is always an issue (and affects the # of friends and girlfriends ????you can have.) In general it's going to be cheaper to live in Thailand vs. US by roughly a factor of 3. IE if a cup of java costs around 2 bucks in bangkok it's going to cost 6 in seattle.

There is an obvious disconnect between true immunity vs. Thailand perceived immunity. Unfortunately, if you want to play in Thailand you gotta conform to the Thai perception of immunity. Which means being double vaxed and having a certificate to prove this. It's simply easier to travel in Thailand if you have the needed papers. Not having this is simply more trouble then it's worth for most. However, if the OP is up to the challenge more power to him. We will all be interested if he's willing to share his trials and tribulations while travelling in LOS without this certification.

I realize you are probably immune from previously contracting COVID. Unfortunately, in the current climate it will be extremely difficult to travel around considering most check points request a proof of double vax which you don't have. It's simpler to just get the jabs then travel, that way you have your papers in order if you need them. Think of the double vax certificate as the new passport for the post covid era.

Actually the landlord can't unless he wants to breach the contract. The terms of the contract specifically states that tenant has to move out if the Landlord has sold the house (which he hasn't). Since the sale is fake, OP could have just lived there until the landlord produced documents proving the sale. Regardless, he found a better place so kudos to him.

If the other places I've been to is any indication. By the time you are done with testing and get to your hotel, it'll be waayyyy past 2pm.

If you look at the break thru infection numbers in China vs. break thru infection numbers in US and UK, Sinovac starts looking pretty good. Unfortunately, most people don't trust or want to understand the numbers and would rather China bash.

Just refuse to move out until house is sold (which it won't).

Basically it just means that money in the future is more expensive then money now. For example a Big Mac that costed $1 (just an example, I didn't bother to check the numbers）10 years ago. Now the same Big Mac costs $2. That would translate into something like 7% inflation per year. By the same logic, a plumber might earn $10 an hour ten years ago and now charges $20 an hour. Say he buys a condo and takes out a loan at 2%, his ability to service the loan increases by 5% a year (7%-2%) so the loan service requirements take up less and less of his income as the years pass by. The only problem with this is thai banks typically loan at around an 8% interest rate, so unless you can get a cheap loan, an 8% interest is pretty hard to beat.

Most loans I've dealt with in Asia are floating rates. However, they only change slightly year to year as the central banks don't want to deal with the problems that Yellowtail mentioned.

I was actually quoted a unit in Ekkamai called Noble Ambiance which is less then 200m away from the Ekkamai station that sold a 2br 43sqm unit that sold for under 6mil. Alas I decided to pulled the trigger a day late and it was snatched up by a rival buyer.

I also figure now is a good time to snatch up a condo in the heart of Bangkok. From what I've gathered from my research it is tough to resale your condo. Right now am just trying to figure out whats the best way to go about this. I would want a 2 bedroom that is no more then 200 m from a bts station. Ideally located between Asok and Ekkamai as I figure these condos tend to maintain their value even after a couple of years. Any advice?

I just went thru 10 pages of this thread and I still don't have an idea what the real estate market in Bangkok is like???? I do plan on visiting Bangkok around dec to start looking at apartments in between asoke thru ekkamai BTS. Ideally less then 200m away from the BTS station. Are there any resources online in english that can help with my research? My understanding is that it is currently a buyers market so the hope is to get a nice apartment building at a significant discount from pre covid prices.

If people think 100+mil is a lot for the chief of police for Thailand, they must not know how the world works. And I doubt 100+ mil is what the man is actually worth. You don't get to own a couple mil in watches, cars, bags and jewels and let it be over 1/10 of your net worth. This is just stuff that he couldn't hide under an offshore company or under some nominee.