Thighlander

letters (less than a 1/4 inch thick) are handled differently...mainly by machine for one thing.  Just don't activate it, until you get it.

I don't think USPS is going to forward anything to Thailand.....was it repackaged, and then sent?  I just got my new one yesterday, it had been sent to my parents house.  They took out the 42 page cardmember agreement, and sent me the rest....1.98 usd.  Would have been about 8 days without the holidays.  Activating was tricky, and I ended up calling them collect, and got the thing activated.  If you're a good customer, they will likely fedex you a new card on their account.  THe worst they can say is "no."  

Born on 5 August, as of Wednesday night.....this is in response to the naysayers claiming that the promo beers are old. 5 for 199 THB, before 8 pm. every day. SIngha is the same price, but those are now in 500 ml bottles instead of the 630 ml you get with Leo. Absolutely no ice needed. Could not have been any colder (or they would have been frozen).

then what exactly did you mean by "south American"? And if the Germans are so efficient and have these wonderful vocational programs for their youth; why not build it in Germany? And, of course, the Germans are the smartest people on Earth; just ask them.

30% of Americans have a negative net worth, when all is said and done........likely similar here, and a lot of other places.  Some will never get out of their student loan debt.  It is not dischargeable in Bankruptcy, nor death.  The baby boomers are in a position to inherit 20,000,000,000,000 USD...so we're not all poor, but you could easily classify people as "savers" or "spenders."  Broke people buy "stuff" (tattoos, alcohol), middle class people buy "liabilities" (boats, SUVs), wealthy people buy "assets" (real estate, stocks).

It has it's nuances...I've seen cases, where a property got points because it was next door to a bookstore.  Turns out it was an adult bookstore, complete with the booths and 25 cent movies.  I was shocked to see my place by CMU is rated as "car dependent," when in fact I have never seen a more walkable place, complete with two bars, a restaurant, and a coffee shop on the adjacent property.  The places in backpacker land will likely have the highest ratings.

I wonder why Mercedes is building their new plant in Mexico.

I've been to BKK many times over a 16 year period.  I used to like Sukhumvit, never liked KSR, Rachada is fine, Sathorn is nice but could be pricier than Sukhumvit.  Cold beer, good thai food, and friendly people will make me happy.  Looking to spend less than 600 per night on a Hotel.  I know the transit system well.  I've also been a lower end real estate investor for many years.  Are there any more undiscovered or lesser known areas worth checking out?

It makes you an easy target for an extortion attempt.  The guy with the lemons likely had a chance to make a donation; and refused.  Then there is always the music police.....I hope they don't resort to kidnapping, like the Mexicans and Colombians.....I won't even mention the Russians, since they are sub-human.

If you are insured, you could be fine on 900 usd per month.  28,000 THB is more than the median household income in the province.  28,000 is also about what a foreign teacher makes, and there are plenty of costs associated with working that you wouldn't have.  But to only be able to come up with 3-4000 USD after selling all your stuff makes me believe you are intellectually challenged and will have trouble adjusting, and will have trouble with immigration.  Suckremento is no place to be; that's for damn sure.

A "walkscore" is a score from 0-100 indicating how easy it is to do things on foot from any address you give it.  I was looking on Priceline for hotels in Bangkok, and I noticed they had integrated it into their site.  Checked on Chiang Mai, and it's there.  You can go directly to their site and type in an address and get a score;  www.walkscore.com   This has been around for at least five years, and people use this a lot in determining where to buy/rent/live.  If you feel your score is a lot lower than it should be; you can add local businesses, like coffee shops parks, libraries and that will boost the score.  It looks like the hotels have already made an effort to boost their scores by marking a lot of mom and pop businesses.  It improves itself over time.

bad driving habits and poor vision driving on the right; now they are attempting to do it on the left with a lot of other terrible drivers. No wonder Ram Hospital Stock has soared....

egg is 5 at most thai places.........

I was offered 230 per hour to teach SAT Math in Chiang Mai......bite me!

Some places seem to run infant care centers while they are cooking.  I cross them off in a hurry, especially with no running water around.  Not on my dime. 

There is a large contingent on this forum, many of whom have interest in selling hot dogs and eggs, etc. at Western prices, who constantly declare all inexpensive Thai Food as just another roadside foodstall, with no differentiation to their region, experience, or sanitation....They are all the same.  Drive up Suthep Rd. some night....there are probably 50 street places.  Some are packed; some are empty...and they are far from being the same.  Take a chance on a busy one, ignore the comfort food lovers....maybe it was their socialist brainwashing, maybe it was 30 years of cigarettes, maybe it's all too spicy for the sun deprived.....In actuality, you can have two places right next to each other, that can be as different as night and day.  See the light, find the good ones; they are out there, but I've never seen one sponsor TV.

In between Royal Guest House and the bookstore....where all the students park their motorbikes.....some of the best Thai food in Thailand.....owners are from Lamphun.  

Noodle shop about 40m N of original Kasem on Ratchawong.....

FACT

It is cheaper to live in florida than CHIANG MAI ! I know I've lived in both. Same climate. Food cheaper. Gas cheaper. Cars cheaper. Medicare. Golf cheaper. The list goes on? Most other things cheaper.

2 million baht....( thanks to a bubble )

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Florida is the Pattaya of the US; a large collection of crooks, con artists, and gypsies. Who needs a car in Chiang Mai? If you are in poor health; you are probably better off on Medicare...that has been discussed before. How much are your property taxes? Homeowners Insurance? Water/sewer/trash? More Jews than Israel; more Africans than Liberia.....Habla Espanol?

Regarding the "crooks, con artists, and gypsies", what kind of places do you hang out in? Regarding costs, some are higher in Florida than in Thailand, some are lower. The bursting of the housing bubble did create some bargains, and some are still there. Regarding the diversity, I think it's a good thing, Florida would be a dull state without it. Finally, while I'm badly out of practice, I do speak Spanish, and I can't begin to describe how much easier it was to learn than Thai.

Regarding investing in property where I'm reasonably confident of being able to legally buy and hold property with decent appreciation potential, I think that for a westerner who invests wisely Florida is a much better bet than Chiang Mai.

Texas has far better prospects than Florida. Energy, Technology, and Manufacturing sectors are much stronger than in FL.

Cable TV in Thailand? Who needs a cable; I get lots of English channels on www.ilikehd.com for 500 THB per month. I do it in 30 day blocks, so if I am out of town; I don't pay for it. Mobile cost me less than 2 usd per month.

My uncle told me.....think he might know?

FACT

It is cheaper to live in florida than CHIANG MAI ! I know I've lived in both. Same climate. Food cheaper. Gas cheaper. Cars cheaper. Medicare. Golf cheaper. The list goes on? Most other things cheaper.

2 million baht....( thanks to a bubble )

ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1407674769.900800.jpg

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Florida is the Pattaya of the US; a large collection of crooks, con artists, and gypsies. Who needs a car in Chiang Mai? If you are in poor health; you are probably better off on Medicare...that has been discussed before. How much are your property taxes? Homeowners Insurance? Water/sewer/trash? More Jews than Israel; more Africans than Liberia.....Habla Espanol?

UNM enrollment 27,000.....NM State enrollment 17,000.......Western NMU 3500......the number is close to 70,000 in Chiang Mai.

Their batteries seem to be excellent....but here is what I noticed with various Samsung Washers.......and these are coin op., but less than a year old...You get little pieces of rubber in your load...like it's bushings disintegrating...all it takes is one moran to put a king comforter in them, and they are never the same.

yawn.

been hearing this same topic of conversation from when I bought my first piece of real estate in the Kingdom in 1990 and have heard it every year since.

Still buying on average a property a year. Values still going up. Just bought another 2 condos this week while in town checking on the current tenants. Prices still rising.

You either got the kahooners to lay down some dough or you dont. Hopefully the status quo doesnt ever change and the 95% of people who talk about buying real estate in any foreign country find every excuse not to so something end up doing something. Lets the 5% of us continue to do so and to make our money.

Exactly....or you don't even have the dough to buy if you wanted to.....when prices dropped 75% in Las Vegas and Phoenix, a high percentage of the Renter Chorus still didn't buy. The sheep are always the last to buy and the first to get slaughtered. Bahahahahaha......they sure did jump at Obama's offer to go on 200 USD per month in Food Stamps.

Without Loy Kroh Road Chiang Mai is the Santa Fe NM of Thailand....

There are more University students in Chiang Mai than in the entire state of New Mexico.

but there are a lot of places around the World with similar stories on appreciation. I think the DOW is up 900% since 1980 +/-. The baby boomers are set to inherit 20,000,000,000,000 USD in the coming years......There's just a lot of candidates to keep the growth and appreciation going here in Chiang Mai.

THe USMC paid 25 USD per acre for El Toro Marine Base in 1942. In 2005, they sold it to a developer for 150,000 USD per acre. Close to 600,000% appreciation in 63 years.......just more proof that in the long run; renters get slaughtered.