Xanthe

Why not just buy it in your Thai wife's name? No need for all the quota and money issue. The only issue is to check the quality of the condo.

Free if you buy something to eat or a drink. Never sat there without buying anything (at least a bottle of small beer). So don't know.

I cannot remember buying anything online for $5,000. Max I remember was $1,000. But I use credit cards and I can give one call to cc company and they will sort it out for me in hours and also CC companies provide fraud protections. Remember my uncle buying a car online (not Tesla. It was 10 years ago).

157,000 baht worth of items. That is a hefty amount for online orders.

What was the fraud? Funds missing from banks?

Most companies have manufacturing sites in China and most companies have their IT/software development centers in India.

That's why I said may be ROI does not make economic sense.

Why don't you check on the link posted above. You want somebody to check for you?

There are many empty spaces all over. Why not somebody (Or the city) convert them to parking and start charging a parking fee like 200 baht for all day and 20 baht by the hour. May be ROI does not make economic sense? I parked in Central or on the other mall a few times when I could not find road side parking.

A re-entry permit preserve your "permitted to stay" date. It does not depend on the type of visa or extension. I have got reentry permits on Tourist visa and also on extension based on Tourist visa to avoid IO hassle for visa exempt entry only after a few days outside Thailand. It costed me 1000 baht but it is a peace of mind.

Not a London resident but London has a vast network of metros and trains connecting to suburbs. When I was in London, I never felt the need for driving. I can take a few minutes bus ride to the nearest metro and hop in to travel long distance.

US have the lowest prices for electronics and when in Sales they will be unbelievably cheap. Can't compare US prices with Thailand prices.

If not thousands, hundreds of Caucasian Americans do the same through out the USA. Yes they are caught and prosecuted. So it is not a Thai mental make up. It is human mental makeup and some people can't resist it if they get a chance.

All bars are brothels.

PIN for credit cards never heard of that. All my transactions (even for $1 transactions) whenever possible (mostly outside USA, e.g. Thailand) are done using credit cards. Never heard anybody asking for PIN.

US International departure tax is $20 and International arrival tax is also $20, collected when you purchase a ticket.

I have been drinking gin for the last few years and I am still skinny. Before that I drank rum for a year and prior to that all my life I was a whiskey drinker. I am 62 years old.

IMF is predicting 3.7% for Thailand. IMF prediction for Asia is rosy, USA little over 1% and Europe is less than 1%.

My GF's aunt had a restaurant in Pattaya. She used to employ 10 people. In one year, she bought a condo and a car (may be on a loan but the restaurant enabled her to get the loan). Her clientele was 80% Chinese. It used ot be packed till midnight. She had to close the restaurant for three years. Now she is contemplating opening it again. I would guess she is not alone in Pattaya like this. Last year a fruit vendor told me that almost no business because her clientele was mostly Chinese and Russians. There may be hundreds like that all over Thailand.

I do.

Airlines don't ask for passport number when you book. It's only required when you travel international.

In twenty years of my visit to Thailand and keeping my laptop in hotel outside the safe (in my bag when I am out), I never had anything stolen.

80% tourists stay in hotels or resort type hotels where they do TM30. 20% Tourists stay in dodgy resorts that want to avoid taxes and fail to do TM30. SO it is not big problems.

For buying and selling motor cycles, an agent can do it without ever stepping foots in any office. They did for me. For opening a bank account, agents re there to help you.

The part that somebody returned the wallet. In another thread, a German guy took the sunglasses of a tourist left on a chair in the IO office. He thinks everybody is same like the German guy who is now charged for theft.