BangkokAlan

Check with Toyota, I spoke with them recently when I has a service as I considered taking my Camry back to Europe as we are considering returning and asked them about a heater. They said that our aircon system has hot and cold facility and that there is a valve in the engine bay to switch from cold system to heat system. Not sure if your car has this facility but worth asking as retrofitting would be difficult.

8 hours ago, bbi1 said:

TM6 is the arrival card, correct? The airline basically gave us an A4 page similar to what the precious arrival carDS had for us to fill in. The immigration Lady didn't even look at that page. She gave it back to me at the end. Do we need to keep that page for applying for a 30 day extension?

Not required at the moment the completion of the form was suspended temporarily to speed up the arrival process at the airport.

Since they stopped the TM6 that showed your Thai phone number, place of stay and proposed leaving date some now resort to asking more questions but it's all dependent on the officer. Some ask questions and some don't.

There will always be a few cheap deals around, but I don't think that cheap any longer, prices are back at just below pre-covid levels now. 

I have my three units rented and all are just -10% of where they were before covid. But like the base they are good developments. You may get lucky if a local Thai owner has a lot of units mortgaged as these were the guys reducing rents by 50% during covid period just to keep the banks away but most of these are now on the anniversary of renewals so many people in Pattaya are going to get a shock when their rent doubles.

I may be wrong, but you will be lucky to find any modern developments at 6-8K in central Pattaya. 

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Hopefully can sneak quick question into this thread.

Did you also fly from Thailand into Vietnam.

What was required. 

Did you require a visa. 

I did fly from Thailand to Vietnam no vaccination proof was necessary but there was some confusion on requirements about whether we needed insurance. We decided to go without insurance and could buy at airport if challenged but were never asked for any insurance. For visa I am a UK passport holder, and we can enter for 15 days exempt and that's the method I used and stayed for 15 days inclusive of entry day and exit day. Hope this helps.

20 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

That website said they will conduct random checks in Thailand but maybe that's not true.

 

What COVID "records"? were they looking for. It sounds like Japan is the problem here and not even Thailand!

I came in from Vietnam last week we were asked at Check-in if we had vaccinations, but they never checked our records but on arrival at Don Mueng there were two staff waiting to check our vaccination status before heading to immigration. Both my wife and I had a hard copy of our European vaccination certificate. The check was no more than a glimpse.

Im not sure what is available in 1 bed bungalow bit there are some nice condos on Jomtien beach you can get good value and it has many 7-11 and family marts locally and is picking up in terms of restaurant openings it's a good value location and has the sea with a nice extended beach. can get busy at weekends with travelers from other provinces just generally quieter part of town You can get to Central Pattaya on a baht bus for 10baht in about 30 mins.

It may help if you suggest your budget as some parts of Pattaya are more expensive than others. Prices are going up.

Drainage is full of plastic bags and grease from street vendors cooking.

If you have a Tops Market local to you or a good big C they also sell prepacked mince with low fat to meat content and in larger stores with counters you can buy it over the counter. 

You don't pay agent fees the landlord does. Find a building you like, go to the juristic 9managememt office) and ask them if rooms available as owners leave some apt with them rather than agents

There is no check on  leaving Thailand, unless your onward country has a requirement to show covid CPR result. I don't know many places apart from HK and China that require predeparture PCR but most countries have abandoned all requirements and with rare exception may have some requirement to enter if you are non vaccinated. Check your onward destination and that will answer your query but no check to leave.

Just googled there are a few pest control companies in Samut Prakan who would deal with the issue for you. 

I suggest you go for the 2 year multiple entry visa and she can then fly back and forth every 6 months. Once you had a base with income in UK it should be easier to start looking at long term visa.

I think once you live outside Bangkok you will see that all provinces have everything Bangkok has. International food, quality restaurants and all the services needed to live in Thailand like driving license, immigration etc. If you have to travel for work to Bangkok that different but otherwise any province would be ok to move too but the east is easier as it only 1-2 hours. It all depends on how often you need to visit Bangkok.

I have owned a Camry hybrid for 11 years and serviced it at the same dealers garage that I bought it and I have only had one negative issue in all that time when my hybrid batteries needed replacing still within 10 years. I got a message on the dash about the battery fault and was in Pattaya so took it to a local dealer who for 300 baht did an inspection and said the batteries need replacing but I would have to wait 3 weeks but Toyota would pay as they have a 10 year guarantee. The inspection was required to show Toyota that the claim was real.

I was told I could drive to Bangkok on petrol only with no problem and my dealer could replace the batteries the next day. When I got to my dealer they asked me to do he same inspection but wanted 1000 baht even though the Pattaya dealer had shared the report online and I have also given them a hard copy. The Toyota dealer wouldn't accept the report so my wife called Toyota and they intercepted and all of a sudden the batteries were replaced without the inspection and I was given another 2 years guarantee which I though was exceptional.

My point is that you should contact Toyota direct as they own the brand and if cars are going out with wrong kick plates or with a poor add on they would be concerned about that dealers operation and impact on their brand and would intervene if what they have done is wrong.

The servicing is same for all dealers 3 years but pay for oil but any parts not associated with iol change should be free as they are most if not all are under warranty.

Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan and China not all SEA but this is where I would go.

China needs more time so much to see and places to visit.

BIDC Bangkok International Dental Centre on Ratchadaphisek Road. Good service and value for money. Been going there last 12 years with no complaints. I am sure there are quite a few options

I spend 50% of my time out of Thailand and rent apartments to foreigners and have never refused a deposit back. I ensure my apartments are immaculately clean and in good order in terms of decoration and repair as good landlords don't want continual calls about broken things. I also only  use good reputable agents who attract good tenants and good landlords.  Using local freelance agents is where the issue could arise with getting deposits back as hey have no weight with landlords.

Ask the agent how the apartment will be maintained while the landlord is out of town and what are the timescales for fixing things. If they cant answer walk away.

Agree in your contract that you get the deposit back on the day of contract ending and when you vacate the premises excluding a small fee to cover utilities but try and read the meters and get it all back on the day some landlords/agents may try to put in contract 1 month after hand back I suggest you challenge this.

Make sure you take photos of everything in the apartment to show any marks on paintwork, broken or damaged items so you wont be held accountable to pay for repairs or replacement.  Ask them to replace or remove damaged items before handover.  

If you rent a good apartment from a reputable agent you wont have a problem. 

Probably best to ask the bank to get a legitimate answer on what will be requited to release the funds to your wife should you pass away. 

The one I always use is The Beefeater Soi Diana, opposite Patrick's. Beefeater is more expensive than Patrick's but they both have good steaks.

Its quite simple once you enter your app and select pay bill you can either use the select payee section where you can set up the payment using your bill contract number or select scan to pay option and scan QR code. Just access your App and have a go. My MEA is set up and paid every month via the App. PEA should be the same.

DDproperty has local houses as well as expat style properties

When I did mine In April they specifically asked me if I had given new photos. As Joe suggests they require new photos each year.