Woof999

Two attempts and you still didn't answer the question.

From https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/election-year-politics-threaten-bipartisan-border-deal/story?id=106768345 Trump on Monday said that "a border bill is not necessary," blasting the ongoing negotiations. "As the leader of our party there is zero chance I will support this horrible open borders betrayal of America. It's not going to happen," Trump said. There are also instances of Senator Lankford, the Republican responsible for much of the bill, commenting on the pressures he was put under by GOP sympathisers to not put forward any possible border solution during the current term. Here, for example: Ignoring all the above, and lets assume Trump doesn't want to see the US on it's knees before the next election, the main (only) question I have is: If immigration is the #1 problem to solve in the US, why was this bill killed by GOP? Even if they think it doesn't go far enough, why kill a bill that would see immigration numbers reduced?

If immigration is the #1 priority for GOP then why did they kill the new immigration bill (that they themselves championed) last month on the orders of Trump? Trump has admitted that he wants to see the US fall to it's knees before the next election and will do everything he can to make it happen. Is this the Patriot you champion?

Nice land. I'll be heavily involved in the construction work. Once the workshop is built, during which I plan to be onsite as much as possible, I'll be physically living on the land and will be there 24x7. No hurry for the house to be built. If it takes 2 or 3 years then so be it. As for upkeep, we'll cross that bridge at the time. Yes good help is difficult to find but not impossible. Already found one decent bunch of workers (and seen many others that I wouldn't touch). Roughly a third of the land will become a lake. I'm not expecting it all to be beautifully landscaped. Further away from the house, apart from a well maintained pathway, an occasional trim by a tractor will be fine. This is all part of the journey. I often find the journey, the problem solving, the head scratching, the ups and downs, to be more rewarding than the end product. That of course may change as I age and am unable to do the physical things I used to do (and the bloody heat).

Far north east. Land cost varies dramatically. There is 6 rai just up the road from us (after the concrete road, power and water ends) that is on the market for 1.2M. Probably available for < 1M. We paid around 300k per rai. Land close by but on the riverfront attracts in the region on 1.5M per rai. Close to town (12km away) it rises dramatically. We were originally looking at a 3.5 rai plot that has an old (but saveable) sizeable house on it. Owners were in two minds whether to sell at 5M, not that I would pay so much.

What the absolute feck! They went from 500 baht fine to jail time. Total muppets.

Bear in mind that the price shown is the Land Office valuation of the land only, not any buildings that might already exist on it. Also note that it wont be that common to be able to buy at that price (or anything near it sometimes), although it all depends on the circumstances of course. Back to the land you're looking at.... upgrading a title to a Chanote would add SIGNIFICANT value to the land. If it were that easy, the seller would have already done it.

I believe the chances of an upgrade that stands the test of time are very close to zero. When I was looking, I only ever considered land with Chanote titles (there is only 1 type of title called a Chanote "Red Garuda"). Facebook Marketplace was OK, but ultimately we discovered that many small villages have a local "agent" that knows all the plots around. Make sure it's only a Thai that makes the enquiries. As soon as a foreigner is known to be involved the prices will jump significantly. https://landsmaps.dol.go.th/ was probably the resource I used the most, along with Google Earth. I spent a lot of time clicking on land plots that fit my requirements and then enquiring (the wife only, not me) locally whether the owner might want to sell. Be careful doing this as it can be quite insulting, apparently). On more than one occasion I saw ~50 rai plots on FB marketplace for 1M baht or so. They were all scams / waste of time.

What is your scenario? Have you been offered some land? Are you actively looking to buy land? I concluded this process just a few weeks ago and am happy to share what I discovered.

Be very careful. It sounds like you are giving more credibility to things that back up what you want the answer to be than those that don't. There is also a note on the link I sent you that says upgrades to land are being refused. Many people in Thailand have lost everything by buying land that was ultimately almost worthless.

Incorrect I'm afraid. Sor Kor 1 is near the bottom of the barrel. This page will help you if you've not already seen it. https://www.samuiforsale.com/knowledge/thailand-land-title-deeds.html

Fortunately enough my brother-in-law has a tractor (Kubota3xxx series) and lives just a few km away. Over the last few days he's been building a rake attachment Something like this but with MUCH stronger legs (half inch thick rebar) at my expense. He can keep it afterwards to make more money. We'll use that initially to pick up all the crop / tree debris. If it works, it cost about 4k baht in metal, paint, weld rods etc. If it doesn't, it was a fun little project anyway. I have doubts about the welds.... we'll see. About the excavator, funnily enough I've been scouring all the auctions / marketplaces recently for a bargain. The guy doing the land clearing has his own Kobelco SK200 but it's too worn and tatty for my liking. Occasionally a good Komatsu PC200-7or8 comes up for about 500k, sometimes a lot more. Ideally I want something around the 10-12 ton mark. 20 ton is just a little too big (and we can use the Kobelco anyway), and a mini digger just a little too small. Even 8 ton might do, but the smaller (8-15 ton) machines often seem to fetch the same money as the 20 ton ones. Got to be careful what you buy, very easy to buy something that needs a lot of heavy, expensive work (swivel bearing, traction motors etc). We'll need some heavy machinery to build the lake, but a bulldozer does the bulk of that. I don't really want to buy one of those, so a few days rental is on the horizon in the not too distant future. Those that know the land here say there is decent, water holding clay a few metres below ground level. That will be ideal and keep the costs down. Might increase the foundation costs though, but that is beyond my pay grade. The owners of the land behind us have asked if we want to buy it... not given a price yet and I'm not about to make an offer. We don't really need an additional 13 rai, but if it's cheap....

Thailand has an appalling road safety record compared to most countries. The training required to obtain a license is lacking, the enforcement of laws is almost non-existent, the upkeep of a significant percentage of vehicles is way below par and the road design is old fashioned (u-turns on many major roads forcing you to go from outside land to outside lane). Nothing racist about those observations. Calling it out as being so is yet another hurdle in the way of actually doing anything about it.

Yep. Used to be semi pro with the jetskiing (earnings pro, ability semi pro) and taught it for many years. That was back in the 2 stroke days (miss the smell). The 4 strokes are already quieter. Definitely not looking to be a bad neighbour, but the karaoke complaints will probably outnumber those for water sports.

Lol. You seem to be reading my mind)

Fair points well made.... and who said I have enough money 😉 This will still be a stretch for me $$$, but I know I'll regret it if I didn't do it while the opportunity existed.

Yep, been here around ~9 years and have travelled up to this province from the Pattaya area many times. Not to say that the culture difference isn't still a shock though, but I kind of like the quiet life. Pattaya, even outside where I lived, was becoming painful. Traffic especially. Kudos to you sir. Hope you continue to enjoy it for as long as you desire.

No need to be. If it's something you'd like to do too, go for it. We're still looking for architects / builders, but I would hope we can get one structure up (workshop / office) this year and the rest 1 or 2 years later, money dependant. Land clearing is ongoing and will be finished in a couple of days. Then I want the land graded and compacted to give me some better visual cues on how to use the land. Compacting will be done not because it's necessary for the build, but because... well, maybe some dune buggy races in the short term? Front wall will be going up probably April / May, with barbed wire fence around the rest of the land to start with, probably around the same time. If all goes well, I hope to break ground on the first structure by June / July. I'll post here and I'm tempted to document everything on the YouTube channel. There will be plenty of ups and downs and it's probably worth me fully documenting everything. There is 3 phase power pretty much right outside. I'm not sure if the cable gauge is big enough for the power I'll need, but if not, the run to the main 3 phase poles at the T-junction is less than 300m. Yes we do plan on going solar. Whether that will be sooner rather than later we'll have to see, but the house and wiring will be designed to support at least hybrid electricity. The lowest part of the land is 30m above the river level, with the river >600m away. The land rises by another 4m towards the rear. There is no history with flooding there and, if it did happen, a lot of people will be in a much worse position than us. Not something to ignore though and I'll take advice from the builders. Thanks. Looking forward to making it.

As I stated earlier, I'm into this eyes wide open. I fell in love with a country that looks after its own but that doesn't mean I have zero rights. I'm about as legally safe here as I can possibly be, but there are still risks. Those risks are not unique to Thailand, and whether the property is or is not legally mine makes not one ounce of difference to how I will feel. A very good friend of mine was recently turfed out of a house he had just completed building in the UK. He is set to lose more than £500k. In reality he ended up with no more rights there than I have here (property wise at least). If everything went tits-up and I lost everything, then the total amount of money involved would be the equivalent of a 3 bed semi in Shepton Mallet. It's not something I'd regret. I'm not saying that it's peanuts, but once the risks are analysed and understood there is nothing to be gained by constantly focussing on them. Most people that I meet in life who dwell on the negatives (are glass half empty types) typically never really amount to much. All they see are the hurdles. Most really successful people that I meet have taken risks, have enjoyed the process as much as the outcome even when things go wrong and, if they do, they pick themselves up and go again. Much respect for those. I fully understand that there are risks involved. For me, they pale into insignificance compared to the rewards. For that reason, I will no longer comment on the matter. I appreciate the heads up from people, but there I will draw a line. If there is ever a need for a fire sale in the future, I'll let people here know and they can happily mumble "I told you so" while I get on with the next chapter in my life.

There wont be any crops nor labour costs. We bought the land purely for our house and wider living area. I can see us planting some pineapple and banana trees, plus maybe having a small vegetable growing area that will last about 2 months (at the outside) before the wife gets bored of it. Apart from that... it's a living / play area. I'm hoping that at least a third of the land will become a lake - jetskiing, rowing, swimming or whatever. The buildings and main day to day recreation area will take up... ok maybe only 1 rai... so maybe I'll have to have 2 or 3 par 3 golf holes rather than just 1... Go kart track could take up a fair bit of space too.

I've ordered from ATOTO on Amazon before and was VERY impressed. I'm currently looking at this for my Fortuner: https://www.belsee.com/belsee-tesla-style-vertical-touch-screen-car-radio-replacement-android-auto-head-unit-stereo-upgrade-for-toyota-fortuner-2016-2023.html

I suspect brake failure.

...and those that peacefully protested didn't go to court. You already say that it was "mostly" peaceful, which suggests that you agree that some of it wasn't peaceful. The perps got what was coming. Nowt wrong with that.

Planning to be on overstay when there is a legal alternative is, IMHO, a bad idea. Especially so with the current crackdown on anything even remotely illegal by a foreigner. At least one recent news article here about a tourist being arrested and detained while only 1 day over.

Your ramblings on this forum would suggest, at least to me, that you would be very dangerous in any kind of counselling role. They also suggest that you would likely first be better off being the recipient, not the giver of any mental health advice.