Sigmund

I always remind myself of the golden universal mantra of intelligence, Never judge by race or colour or similar. Get to know the person, chat a bit and then get your opinion. I have have great interactions, relations with Indians or Chinese who once I got to know them, they were the nicest, polite and most decent people I ever met (and were rich too .-) . You will have horrible, uncouth, rude, ugly and unreliable people from any country, should they be black, white, green or whatever.

Depending on which immigration office or mainly DLT office to attempt to get a thai licence, it can be a nightmare if you do not speak Thai. So an agent can help and sometimes, they have "contacts" at the office and with all respect to the law, your process speeds up. Remember, .the laws/administrative requirements in Thailand are often made up by the chap behind the counter and his/her golden wings and they can.. I said can.. be highly rude and impolite sometimes (without any generalisation). Using an "agent" who has the right connections at the place can highly improve the immigration red tappe and hassles.

Never understood some europeans who obviously did not make it back home in Europe, come to Thailand, get married or start a relationship with a thai lady, but continue to say impolite and nasty things against the Thai¨s. (and sometimes against other foreigners too). Do you think your partner is a fool ? She can understand and at the first occasion, she will cheat behind your back.

K Bank is far more foreigner friendly, depending on the Branch. But Hua Hin seems to have many banks that are stubborn and ask for far to many absurd documents from foreigners. Except the Bangkok Bank branches in HH that seem quite farang friendly. Bangkok is different and many banks are used to deal with foreign visitors and do not make a fuss.But not always a good idea to open an account in a citiy and live in another. They are still in the dark ages so depending what you will need, you will have to go to the branch where the account was opened to get the job done. On reading all the hassles of Thai immigration for retirement, it seems that if you go to Thailand say for 4 or 6 months in winter, you will be spending all your time just chasing the inefficient banks and the over zealous immigration red tape. Why remain in Thailand ultimately ?

If he is out of the game, it may make things easier to change regarding the absurd immigration requirement and all the harassment just to get a driving licence. Stop those absurd TM28, TM30's and 90 day reporting. Improve the online systems and have more user friendly instructions in english online. Have more english speaking staff at immigration offices in Provinces and cities Hua Hin or Phuket. Stop asking for those absurd residence certificates/proof of residence documents from immigration, when people can present a blue book or a lease agreement. Even to open a bank account in some Banks, or to get a Thai driver licence they just start to invent absurd rules as they are afraid to deal sometimes with falangs. Of course people will come up and say "but it all went fine for me bla bla"....great. But that is not always the case if you have not rented a girlie for a month to be your gf/translator/accountant ???? and will accompany you to deal with such admin stuff that is time consuming You don't like it so leave it ? Well if that's how they see, tourism will drop, the retirees with big pensions will leave elsewhere as the competition is high in Asia or even India now getting into the race to woe rich retirees from the west.

It maybe a harsh wake-up call for some, but the Thai's in general consider "falangs" and other "foreigners" the same. Some europeans, brits, aussies etc. think they are superior to the other foreigners say from the Middle East, India, Indonesia South America etc. But that is wrong as a falang and foreigner remain a foreigner in Thailand and are looked the same way. They both will need to do their 90 day reporting, no matter what their skin colour. A rich indian with money will definately get more respect in Thailand then some arrogant and broke european thinking no end of himself because of some absurd and outdated perceptions of light skin colour. The only colour would be attracted to, like many places else in the world, is the colour of money and good looks. Thai women at the end of the day could be more inclined to prefer a Thai man or a Asian man, then to have a relationship with some overweight european or american thinking he is Robert Redford just due to the current good exchange rate ! Then again no hard feelings as this is in general and absolutely not a generalisation. Naturally, many will come up with "mine's different". ????

What are you making up ? You think foreigners with good money (except the wealthy pensionners) come to Thailand ? Ever heard of Monaco, St Tropez, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Croatia or Ibiza ?

very true.....OP and others should consider other countries like Vietham or Cambodia instead of Thailand. Not to mention how prices are catching up with the west in many Thai cities.

On the other hand if you owned a house back in farang-land-home-country and leave it unoccupied, it that a better alternative ? Who will maintain the place ? A a house (or appartement) that is not occupied sometimes requires more maintenance empty, then when occupied. Mould or plumbing issues, limescale in the hot water boiler not used or the unused pipes, and plumbing ?.. .And the main issue is the risk of the place being squatted, usually by gypsy gangs who break in houses, change the locks and can only be expelled only after lenghty court battles, that can more or less last depending on which european country. But usually the lodgings are left in a war zone condition and unsanitary state. Not to mention the car. A car left unattended for months developps many flaws and issues that are not only related to the battrey. In conclusion, if one wants to go on long stay abroad, it's not a good idea to leave an unattended home back in the home country.

Medical world has arguments that over filtered water with Reverse Osmosis technology is not the best thing healthwise. Best alternative remains the XXXL water bottles that are not the best thing but rather the best alternative for daily use.

I would rather trust me pennies with an italian or a french Chef in that case...but tastes are like good BJ's in "very" happy soapy endings..they are all different????

What about Bunthavon ? Any good ?

This is Thailand, where you as a foreigner, should only spend in real estate, what you can afford to loose. I know this couple who bought a brand new house in Hua Hin, in which the entrance opening on the wall around the house was not aligned with the house, the upgrades paid were not done, cracks on many sides on the outside facade, and the electricity was full of short circuits with those fancy ceiling recessed bulbs that would fuse one after the other and never last more then a few weeks. Sounds hard to believe but unfortunately happens far to often, despite the exorbitant monthy common fees asked on the developpment. Naturally the developpers or real estate agents who are usually farangs, do not always admit their miskates or amend, knowing fully well that the foreign buyer would not want to enter costly or long court battles. Best thing is to spread the news, safely and anonymously from abroad, on social media, to avoid others getting caught in the Thai pool villa or condo mirage.

It is always rather intriguing and surprising when a supposedly rich country has millions of homeless slepping or dying in it's streets and yet hands out billions in military aid to foreign nations.

Good for the locals seeking mouth thrills in foreign food...but for foreigners who spend in Thailand, no interest to come here and eat foreign food.

Plus may come with a surprise tax bill to pay on basis of the new rules mentioned here, seeking to tax all pennies that come from abroad. In fact, why not also collect a tax on the money tourists bring in with them also ? ????

Read the article once again. Shake well, andread it again and afterwards repeat it 3 times a day. If you still do not understand, please do come back and we will try to help you. ????

A big business racket all over with these residence certificate requirements, that is a open door when a bank clerk is scared to open an account for a foreigner or a clerk in some government office does not have an idea how to handle something and needs some excuse to hush away the poor foreigner on the other side of the counter.

Drugs, drugs and again drugs are leading to chaos and lawless societies all over the world and in Thailand.

What to expect with the russian airlines that sell tickets for Thailand as low as 350 bucks. Great and unbeatable deals however with the Russian airliners, provided one arrives well on time and finds a port of embarkment outside Russia.

What to belive or take seriously from a country with absurdities like the 90 day reporting, TM30, bans electronic cigarettes, allows dual pricing against foreigners, asks for residence certificates for any absurd administrative requirement....let's hope however that the new administration will change these artefacts of the populism from the past ? ????

As they say, a nation gets the politicians it deserves....

Such dangerous situations occur on over relying on technology, be it in Thailand or any place else in the world.

I would start to conduct mandatory drug screening on any government official. Drugs are a plague that are globally destroying humanity But how can things change when top level politicians, policy makers, law makers, high ranking officials, law enforcement staff are drug addicts and this is destroying the west.

Not to mention many electrical flaws and issues in many modern HuaHin villas that naturally the europen developpers will never admit.