klikster

For those several here who had worthwhile comments about this project, a first version of the calculator is on the web. If you are interested in seeing it, please PM me and I will send you the URL.

Thanks and regards.

To all those who added a hotel name, I thank you very much.:D/\

To those of you who offered advice .. I may need it, but having lived here 10+ years full time, I'm not likely to take it.

To the guy who called me "pal" .. sorry, never met you .. but you sound really tough!

FYI, the list is for a website, not for my 66 year old supercharged libido. 'Nuff said?

Too bad this thread got turned into such a negative.

I'm trying to compile a list of Pattaya's girl-friendly hotels. Would appreciate learning which hotels are easier.

Unfortunately, the down wind direction is Prachaub, Pranburi and Hua Hin. 10 months of the year the wind blows from south-east direction.

Um .. not meaning to start anything, but is it more unfortunate that the wind may be blowing some emissions in your direction than in some other person's direction?

Hi Klikster,

I admire that your taking the time to develop a budgeting system that can not only help people already living in Thailand, but it will also be an extremely important tool for people who are considering moving here. This idea of yours is in my opinion, the one best tool that will be on this site. Please don't let anyone deter you from your goal. I can offer you a few styles from another site for you to review. This site is a Philippine site that I'm talking about, so I think it will be okay to state it here because thereis no dirrect competion or anything like that with this site and theirs. you can find the site on yahoo.com and go to the list on their that says groups and highlight thst, and then type in the nameofthe group you want, which is cebucitytoday . That board actually works together for allfellow members, andjust maybe, you can turn this siteinto something personal, and very useful for all of us.. Please let me know of how I can help;

Tom

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the nice words. I'll have a look at the Philippine group. And I'll be getting in touch via PM.

Regards,

The locals people in Thap Sakae have already been told not to worry about it, as it will affect the area further down wind.

Which is the increasingly popular resort area called Ban Krut .. whose citizens foiled on attempt at a power plant in that community several years back.

don't understand the OP's budget thing, but money was never my strong point.

Sort of like: assuming "normal" "baseline" rent is Bt 7, 500 in Bangkok Metro. In the party zone it's 2X=Bt 15,000. For "living well" = 2x resulting in a budget figure of Bt 30,000.

The spreadsheet isn't for my budget .. I have a very good handle on that .. it's for an online tool I'm making.

Has about 20 line items .. rent is only 1.

Don't forget to factor in the length of the string, the thickness of the thread, the strength of the thread, the color of the thread, its origin, its destination, and 987 other factors.

Including a line item for string won't be necessary as I do so little shipping / tieing that the cost of string is covered under incidentals.

klikster, that was my failing attempt at British humour, as in "How long is a piece of string?"

Enjoy.

I did get it. My attempts at humor are often a layer or so deep and sometimes .. um .. arid.

Well, if you don't smoke, drink or like ladies or boys, you should consider Kansas.

Didn't say I don't like ladies .. said I don't chase them (throwing wads of hard earned cash at them).

Smoking. That's a no brainer.

Booze .. almost as destructive.

Kansas? Hardly.

Although I do realize that a lot of expats consider a person doesn't belong in Thailand unless he lives a 24/7 hedonsitic lifestyle.

Hi, I wish to purchase some quality furniture ( I quite fancy the idea of Teakwood throughout) ... beds, wardrobes, side tables, dining table and chairs and sofa together with some patio furniture.

Has anyone got any suggestions, other than Home Pro and Tesco Lotus? Please give me an idea of quality and value for money, and a rough idea of where I can find them.

Many Thanks.

Take a trip to Den Chai (south of Phrae). You can actually get pre-built teakwood houses as well.

Hi!

I am coming to Hua Hin in this December (I will stay near Hua Hin, in Regent Chalet Hotel)

I was hoping to do a short trip/visit (maybe 2nights) to some nice "paradise" beach...

But any ideas what would be a good place? Is Krabi the nearest paradise beach?

I did read that Koh Tao island is nice, but in December the ocean can be very rough and the boats can't sail.... And also rainy weather....

How about Koh Talu island?

Depends on what all is included as "paradise".

The best beaches on the gulf side are around Ban Krut .. which is at km marker 383 then 10 km to the beach. Sprinter (train) stops there. Lots of bungalows and guest houses .. try the Siripong GH (google Ban Krut Siripong) right at the 3 way by the beach .. Bt 10 by motorcycle taxi from the train station. Some of the buses stop on the highway and you have yo get a ride from there .. about Bt 80 - 100.

But the area is quiet .. no bars, go-gos, etc.

Koh Talu is near Bang Saphan Noi. There is 1 resort and I have been told that the beach is "captive". Some beginner level scuba diving and snorkeling there.

The water at Chai Talay, Bang Saphan (not Ban Saphan) is very dirty, mostly because of a deep-water port and a large steel processing mill.

Bang Saphan Noi is about 30 km south of Bang Saphan and the beach is not as good as Ban Krut aka Ban Krud aka Ban Krood aka Ban Kru-it.

Thapsakae is closer to you (by about 30 km) but the beaches are not as good. Jack Beach Resort would be 1 option .. walking distance to the Thapsakae Pier.

BTW, Ranong gets about 2 x the rainfall as Chumphon .. but that being said, lots of rainclouds seem to hang around Chumphon.

Don't forget to factor in the length of the string, the thickness of the thread, the strength of the thread, the color of the thread, its origin, its destination, and 987 other factors.

Including a line item for string won't be necessary as I do so little shipping / tieing that the cost of string is covered under incidentals.

Noel's very close friend advised me by email this morning of Noel's passing.

R.I.P. Noel. I didn't know you well, but admire and respect the work you did.

Journey well .. maybe we'll meet again in the next life.

Hi there,

Does anybody have some good contact/address of an importer for German or Dutch Potatoes? A Collegue would need quite a bit of it....

Thanks for the feedbacks or if you wish send me PM's

brgds,

rcm

You might try All in Hua Hin .. German guy (Kiel?) who sells lots of western food items. Sorry not to have his phone number handy.

He,he - this is certainly an interesting task you have given yourself!

Yes, it is a little tedious but there is a method to my madness.

A newer 2 bedroom(say 100-130 SQM), "western style" condo, with pool/gym/security in BKK can cost from 20k/mth up to 150k/mth(just recalling listings from memory). Such a big range is hard to cover with your "factors".

There are several layers of factors, but working them over one at a time seems the best approach. Another multiplier considers "quality" (bad choice of word but ..) .. like "budget" = .5, "normal" = 1, "living well" = 2, "living really well" = 4

I suppose I'll need a set of multipliers for "size" as well .. but that is yet another factor.

I think your budget sheet is an exercise in futility... - but hey; as long as you are having fun and it takes your mind of work!

Cheers!

I have a pretty clear vision about the application. I'm just getting the numbers set up so I can hand it over to a PHP coder.

I don't get it. To me, a budget spreadsheet would be for a specific location. Rental costs are just too variable, even from house to house, to even have a factor. Just yesterday, somebody from Chiang Mai said you can't get a decent sized condo for less than 10,000. And, he said housing in BKK is about the same as Chiang Mai. Then, how come I got an 85 sq.meter one for 6,500?

How are you going to coordinate all this? I think you need a separate spreadsheet for each city. But there are no set numbers. You won't even get a cocky Bangkokian to agree with the next one.

I'm using the spreadsheet to get my factors and formulas so I can make a budget tool. Yes, lots of variables on each and every item.

Co-ordinate?

You forgot Pattaya - 74.6

Sure did! *grumble* .. thanks, Buckwheat.

I'm working on a rather involved "Budget Spreadsheet" that I hope will take most things into consideration. One problem I have is that I'm an old bachelor with no kids, don't smoke, don't drink and don't chase the ladies .. or boys.

My spreadsheet has quite a number of functions but before starting on the formulas I want to resolve some factors.

One of the biggies is rent. I want to use multipliers for locations, with downtown BKK being the baseline.

What I have so far is:

bangkok party zone - 2

bangkok metro - 1

bangkok outskirts - 0.6

chiang mai downtown - 0.5

chiang mai outskirts - 0.4

phuket - by the beach - 2

phuket - inland a bit - 0.7

koh samui - by the beach - 1.5

koh samui - inland a bit - 0.5

hua hin / cha-am - by the beach - 1.25

hua hin / cha-am - inland a bit - 0.4

most other places - 0.4

I have lots of other items to resolve, but one thing at a time.

Feedback and guidance appreciated. /\

To be honest the rules and regulations here are already very lax even after the recent crack down on VOAs, I only hope that this will weed out the wasters and allow the rest an oportunity to make amends for the reputation that the 'farang kee nok' have left us with.

I am not targeting anyone in this thread, just stating my opinion.

Rant Over

Not all the "wasters" are visa runners.

(not a visa runner .. not sure about being a waster)

In answer to some of your questions:

The plan is to rent for a while, then buy a condo either outright or through a loan.

You might want to go a bit slow on buying. Bangkok is a great place to live .. for awhile.

But it can also be a pain, and get downright unpleasant when the shine of the nightlife wears away.

As for a car. I lived in BKK for a year. In that year I put 1,500 km on my car .. about 1,200 of those looking for a place to park.

Near the end of that year, I also got a severe case of chemical bronchitis.

Cashing a monthly ssa check at bangkok bank should be no problem. There will be a delay. I don't get regular checks but did cash one once at bangkok bank and there was no problem but I think the delay was about a month. If you did this every month I'm sure it would become routine for you and the cashier at your bank after just a few months. There is some charge but I can't remember how much.

Let's face it....if you can only receive your ssa money either through a check or a wire then you will need the services of a bank to convert it into cash....I really can't see any way around it.

I know that .. I just don't want to use the Bangkok Bank SSA direct deposit if I don't have to.

On that account, you can't have an ATM card, you can't transfer the $$ to another account by ATM. The only way to get the money is to go in person to the bank .. during banking hours.

While that is no really big deal, I'm 15 km from the nearest BKK Bank. And I have been told that regional banks can't even accept the checks for deposit.

That's why I am looking at alternatives.

While I can deposit company checks in my ATM account (I do so every month), they will not accept a Social Security check.

I and my better half like seeing the sunset over the water better. So any of you have any problem with the sunrise, since the beach is facing east?...Is it still as beautiful even without seeing the sunset over the water?

In addition, I'm not so hot about living in the center of tourist area anyway and don't mind a bit distance from the spot because I can fairly speak and write thai at the level of any thai high school kids.

Go farther south .. somewhere like Ban Krud. Better beach, cleaner water, less traffic, fewer tourists.

But you will have all the moans that you see from folks in HH .. and a LOT MORE if you are looking for western shopping, ADSL, hospitals, etc.

But if you like seafood and a real Thai community ...

If you teach, go to Bangsaphan .. some great opportunities there and some good income/cost ratio, so I've been told .. and commute .. since BS beaches are really dirty because of the port.

Absolute Wreck diving has an office in Ban Krut (T. Tongchai). They can set you up with a Koh Talu trip.

What I have heard, it's pretty shallow .. pretty much a beginners' site.

As for snorkeling .. if you have your own mask and fins .. go to Kamana Pa's Restaurant near the big (not on the hill) temple and have him help you rent a longtail. He knows all the fishermen.

About 300-500 m offshore and just south of the temple on the hill is an exposed pile of rocks called Ko Lumra/Lamla. Coral all around and the boat drivers/fishermen know them. Half a day boat for about Bt 1,200 .. can take 4 people ..

Sorry is this has been hashed. I searched the forum and couldn't find any threads.

Situation/Preferences:

-no US bank (and don't want one)

-prefer not to use BKK Bank direct deposit because of all the silly restrictions

-Thai friend whose mom retired from US Embassy told me about problems cashing her pension check

Solutions?

TIA