onebir

1 hour ago, Airalee said:

This is currently the least expensive condo for sale (on hipflat) in Bangkok....฿169,000

'Yes, Paypal will do nicely'

Serious is this right? Or are some of the listings confusing price and downpayment?

11 minutes ago, Barnabe said:

solid fiscal discipline, especially when compared to the western countries, very low debt, favourable balance of trade

Bear in mind the 'trade balance'* is being boosted by gold exports, due to savings of gold being sold off & exported. This has to end sometime (eg when financially stressed people run out of gold savings &/ cease to be financially stressed.)

*'trade balance' because net trade in gold is arguably largely financial & a form of capital flow.

On 10/17/2020 at 8:30 AM, Airalee said:

for whatever reason...the good stuff never seems to be offered up for sale to normal purchasers.

Possible reasons:

- lower loan-to-value ratios on the 'good stuff', so smaller loan loss provisions required

- banks are more confident 'good stuff' will hold/regain value, so hold it longer

- banks expect the price slump to deepen, so they get rid of the sub prime properties, which are likely to take bigger %age hits first (for the previous 2 reasons)

On 10/17/2020 at 2:23 AM, scubascuba3 said:

A good time to go to auctions, a friend just picked up a popular condo for around 750k, bargain, resell refurbished 1.5m

Which city was this in? (Looking at the property websites, the selection under 1m in major cities seems really small...)

1 hour ago, overherebc said:

Free if you're a welder. ????

Full face sunglasses?

6 minutes ago, ChakaKhan said:

Covid will make you feel invincible and 20 yrs younger.

Dexamethasone will make you feel invincible and 20 yrs younger.

FTFY

A friend of mine in China had one of these scooter style scooters (possibly even that model). She loved it. (Except when she forgot to charge it; then she hated it ????)

They can do maybe 20km at about 15km/h; fast enough for the breeze to be cooling but not too dangerous (unless ridden stupidly). The standing position makes sun shielding easier & improves visibility. & they weigh ~15kg, so not too difficult to carry up/down stairs, stow in a car boot etc.

On 9/18/2020 at 3:35 PM, Lacessit said:

I understand the problem with electric cars and presumably electric bikes is the battery life of 8 - 10 years, and the replacement costs can be eye-watering.

There's a lot of battery tech research going on; it's quite likely batteries will be far better/cheaper in 8-10 years.

On 10/17/2020 at 4:38 AM, rooster59 said:

"I came to the Philippines on 9 March on a round trip ticket to supervise a Masonic Youth group on a hiking trip to Mt. Pinatubo. A trip which the group had spent the last two years raising money for. 

I'm curious about the Masonic Youth group hiking trip! (And so are the Qunits...)

18 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Apparently sand is a difficult substance to walk on with balance issues... it can be if you do not have them. And one cannot get to and from the damp sand without crossing the loose stuff. Wasn't there a 2 foot drop to negotiate there too recently .....

If rough sand is a problem, some people might be more comfortable negotiating it with walking poles, and still get some benefit from the sand forcing them to pay more attention to their footing etc (esp if walking barefoot).

6 hours ago, BigStar said:

Besides that I have a pair of dumbbells, yoga bands, loop resistance bands, a TRX suspension trainer, and a furniture mover strap. It will all fit into an average apartment.

Worth considering a kettlebell or two; in many exercises the kettlebell tends to pull you off balance, and you're forced to activate muscles in the soles of your feet (and other places) to resist it, so I think they have an edge on dumbbells for developing/maintaining balance/stability.

Small metal kettlebell aren't too expensive; it's wise to start light. There are also adjustable sand-filled ones which are safer if dropped, though they can a bit awkward to use.

TRX is good, but I'm not sure all apartments have good anchor points (eg if the doors are not very solid). Furniture mover strap can be used for exercise??

Open a new tab; if you can see a little gear wheel (top right) click it & make sure 'top sites' is checked in the 'Firefox Home Content' section.

If not, that same settings section is available from the Firefox menu (3 horizontal lines top right on browser tool bar, under 'Preferences' (also with a gear wheel icon).

On 10/16/2020 at 5:38 AM, Lacessit said:

I had an American friend in Chiang Mai ( deceased now, sadly ) who was a really nice guy. Post retirement, he had done about 30 courses on subjects such as the Black/Scholes formula, the function of the Jesuits in the Roman Catholic Church, and the mating habits of African baboons.

Result: the world's first Jesuit baboon troop option pricing formula.

10 hours ago, rooster59 said:

French broadcaster BFMTV reported that the suspected attacker was 18 years old and born in Moscow.

This seems strange...

3 minutes ago, Leaver said:

Who is really over leveraged, NOW? 

People who over-leveraged themselves THEN... (or took on what seemed like reasonable leverage, but now have much reduced income).

23 minutes ago, chrisandsu said:

The cash bought/foreign quota can sit there for years on the market

Not necessarily, if Chinese buyers (for example) end up needing cash to keep businesses going in China. IDK how likely this is.

27 minutes ago, Hayduke said:

Good luck with the get-away guys….hope you make it out of Thailand.

There's a fair chance you're wishing jihadis godspeed (not that I condone the approach China's taken to the problem).

8 hours ago, webfact said:

7. We believe that Covid-19 has disrupted the country’s tourism strategy. Thailand is shifting its focus from the volume of tourists to value, while decreasing its dependency on a single market.

ie China... where are the celebrations???

(&/ schadenfreude!)

7 hours ago, Grumpy John said:

"It sucks to be on the outside looking in"  That's a homeless hungry person looking in a restaurant window.  I am guessing here but now the folks in Britain who want to come back have the same feeling....just not necessarily hungry! ????  

"homestuck horny person"

FTFY

On 10/14/2020 at 3:58 AM, alien365 said:

I usually use my aeropress now for a cleaner taste but the French press still comes out for some of the beans I buy. 

With the (possibly not v good) ground coffee I can get round here, aeropress coffee (with the metal filter disk) always tastes better than french press.

3 hours ago, Surelynot said:

Was thinking of dumping the running and upping the swimming......I might give that ago for a few weeks......hate to give up the squash and badminton though.

Might be worth doing some joint mobility exercise, if you don't already. (For a long time I thought this was a newfangled word for 'stretching' but it turns out it's a bit different.)

Just now, chainarong said:

Only one H/S track in China makes money, all the rest are not expected ever to make any profit , great piece in Asian Times  a few years back , titled , "Whatever You Do Don't Mention the High Speed Railways" 

Most HS routes in China have been facing serious competition from domestic airlines since they were completed, so this could change if domestic route networks are cut back.