chickencurry

Apologies if this is not allowed on forum, but I've not been on here for a while and cannot remember the rules. That's my excuse anyway.

There's been many moans about lawyers in Phuket, and I've had a good moan about one or two in the past. However.... we recently sold our house in Phuket and the legal consultant we used, Ms Thanatorn Tongkaew (Oy) of Thai Corporate Consultants was absolutely bloody marvellous. She really deserves a plug on here. She is bright as a button, and refreshingly honest. An honest lawyer? Yeh, I never thought I'd utter that phrase. I can thoroughly recommend.

I no longer live in Phuket and the house sale was the last "connection" so I probably won't be around on here much in the future. Just to say Thanks to all who have answered my many queries in the past. Keep up the good work. If anyone wants any info on Penang (which has been my home for the last 2 years) I'll be glad to reciprocate. Cheers everyone.

I wonder if someone can enlighten me on taxes in 2012?

We've been trying to sell our property for yonks now. We have had various interested parties but unfortunately they always seem to want to buy the land freehold. This seems to be a problem. We have the house freehold, but have the land as leasehold. (We are expats) It seems that assigning the lease to someone else is very simple procedure and not too much cost involved. However, if we transfer from leasehold to freehold, even though the land is not ours, we get hit with Thai corporate tax of 30 percent. It's a huge amount.

We just had an estimate of costs from our Thai lawyer, which was a really horrible amount. The latest sale has just fell through once again. But our lawyer is now indicating that there may be tax changes in 2012 but she says she cannot tell us what. Has anyone any thoughts on this?

Thanks for that .... that's excellent. We're actually going to be staying overnight at Rua Rasada so may take a look in Tops as we'll be there anyhow. Noted re Krabi. Good advice. Cheers.

Hello. We're driving up from Malaysia to Phuket via Trang tomorrow. We're hearing that there's intermittent shortages of foodstuffs in Phuket (knock on effect from the flooding) and just wondering what the situation is in the South. Someone on the Phuket forum just said that the main Tesco is out of beer... mamma mia... what a disaster

I know there's a big Tops supermarket in Trang. Anyone know what the situation is like in the south? Thinking we might do a big stock up either just across the border at the new Tesco Lotus in Sadao, or even bigger stock up at Tops in Trang.

Thanks Peter, Pete.

So, Peterocket, where do we find locally sourced beer and wine then?

Can anyone advise what the situation is like in the south of island eg the essentials.... beer, wine water. How is Villa Market at Chalong stocked? I note some of the posts on here are a week or so old. An update would be appreciated.

We're driving up from Malaysia shortly. Just wondering whether to stock up on few things just over the border... or even bring in from Malaysia - bizarre idea I know, but no-one ever looks in car at border anyway. Any thoughts guys?

I always thought that if a farang is married to a Thai lady and if land is purchased in Thailand by the Thai wife or in her name that she has to prove it is bought entirely with her money and not from any funds given by the farang husband, especially if there is no company involved.

Also that the farang must not become involved with certain business pertaining from the land such as, agricultural, live stock, fruit or vegatable growing.

Not an expert but if true that is the most idiotic rule I have ever heard of. Congratulations Thailand! But, as far as I know, a farang can own the house but not the land that the house sits on (only in Thailand ) To "control" the land you can create some type of 30 year lease but a lawyer will have to explain how to do it.

Yes.

Why don't you just buy one in HomePro? They're not very expensive and quite handy for other things too - transporting bottled water, crates of beer.

May be easier to buy Leasehold? If you want to sell, just have to assign the Lease to the new buyers.

curious as to your costs, ( food,rent,eating out) compared to Phuket

To obtain the visa what did u need to show>

good luck selling the home here. seems phuket has a glut of condos/homes and they continue to build

Sold mine in 2009 and am sooo glad

I cannot compare rent as I wasn't renting in Phuket and, in any case, depends how big the unit, what condition, how old, and location. Food in supermarkets and markets comparable with Phuket pricewise. Locally grown produce from the Highlands quite cheap. Beer is more expensive in Penang though there is a black market supply if you know where to go I am told (Langkawi island which has duty free status is just up the road of course.) Wine prices in supermarkets are similar to Phuket, but they do tend to bump up the price in restaurants. Eating out is I guess about the same but, like Singapore, you can pay anything really. You can pay top dollar at some glitzy eateries in Straits Quay if you're inclined. We tend to eat in foodcourts mainly where you'll pay equiv 35 to 50 baht for a plateful. One other indoor eatery we go to (and with aircon) Laotian Laksa is equiv 130 baht, western pasta dishes and sausage dishes around equiv 160 baht. The Thai restaurants look a bit strange to me - I think they are all Pattani Thai. Yet to try them out. Petrol is currently half the price of what we pay in Thailand. Petrol is subsidised.

I would say that total costs overall are probably comparable to Phuket. Some things more, some things less. Very very nice to have power on full time - no powercuts or brownouts

Getting the visa is a VERY big subject. The Thai one year retirement visa is of course very easy. MM2H needs a lot of reading up and they twiddle with the rules from time to time. There's a government website all about it. Cannot remember the URL but it's easy to find if you google. There's also an independent forum www.my2home.info which is run as a hobby by a British MM2Her and I got a load of useful info from that website if anyone is interested. There's a lot you have to currently do. Put down deposits in bank, get medical insurance (though they will accept a rejection letter from any insurance company), bank statements, basic medical test (if you're breathing, you pass), forms to fill in, Letter of Good Conduct from the police (got mine from Bangkok even though I'd only lived in Thailand a couple of years). Yes there's a few hoops to jump through and some may not wish to go through it, but at the end of the day you get a lifetime visa renewable every 10 years. We're happy anyway, or at least we would be if we could flog this house in Phuket

Our bank (Kbank) told us we could only export what we had originally brought in and, even then, you need to have all the correct paperwork (records of the money coming in), and the official documentation about the sale. As we're now selling for less than we paid, we obviously won't have this problem.

I know of others who have sold at profit, taken the extra monies out of the bank in cash, converted at the moneychangers to whatever currency, and jump on plane with money... voila.... exported.

Hi BKMBKK, FWIW we bought our villa in Phuket 30+30+30 lease. We are now selling it and have been told by our lawyer that it's easier to "assign the lease" rather than someone converting to company owned freehold. I know there's opposing views on here about this, but just telling you what we have been told. Apparently our contract has it covered for easy assignation of lease.

By the way, you mentioned about landplots and know exactly what you mean about the crammed in ones on Phuket. Why do they do it? Our property is on an established secure estate in Nai Harn and the plots on this estate are bigger than most. We're on a land plot of 1,215 sq metres. The inbuilt area of the villa is 407 sq metres. Other bigger plots on this estate too, though of course I'd love you to buy our villa

Not been on here for a while. Wow... is this thread still going? What did JR Texas decide?

Well, we made our decision. We researched and researched, we applied for and got the MM2H visa, and we've now been living in Penang for 8 months.... and so far.... it's great - no regrets. More to do here (ALLOWED to do here) than Thailand. I don't have to visit Immigration for another TEN YEARS - just a slight improvement on 90 days. The local Penangites are great - very friendly, all speak perfect English. The food is good - surprised just how spicy some of the Hokkien dishes are. The Indian food great too. Western food available too of course. In the area I'm currently in, Tanjung Bungah, a good mix of retirees and workers. There are bars. There is alcohol. I have seen no crime in 8 months (though I'm sure there must be some). I am female, I walk about on my own - I have not been attacked, mugged or anything else. Like Singapore (though Penang is NOT Singapore) there's a good mix of old and new - nice old temples and other buildings. Lots of modern condos along the northern part of Penang. The new Straits Quay in Tanjong Tokong also very modern, with lots of eateries and pubs.... yes... Hello..... PUBS.

On the muslim front - sure I see a few but, quite honestly, there were more in Phuket. Central Bt Ferringhi has a large and noisy mosque and attacts holidaymakers from the Arabian gulf, especially during the Summer months. The outer edges of Bt Ferringhi are more of a mixture racially and a quite high percentage of expats. West facing so some like the nice sunsets. Me - not too bothered about sunsets.

Nice to be able to go into shops, hairdressers, dentists, clinics and be able to communicate what I want in English and be understood. So... any questions... fire away on here or I'll answer your PMs.

Now, can anyone tell me how the hell we can flog our nice home in Phuket?

my only advice i can give..have a word with Eric Dohlan of E &I I nsurance brokers..he is a long standing Phuket based broker..who speaks..reads and writes thai he will give you some good advice

No this is an "old issue" we have with them. We no longer live in Phuket.

Stevenl, I looked at that website and got a couple of names and contact numbers from there, but not an email address unfortunately. I did see an email address for QBE in BKK so I think I'll try that one. They must know if Phuket has an email address I guess.

thanks folks.

My car used to be insured by QBE. Since I bought a new one, I have the one year free insurance with another company, no idea about the name.

After the one year I will go back to QBE, very happy with their service in case anything goes wrong.

A bit of an old thread this, so hope you are still around. I am trying to find a valid email address for QBE in Phuket Town and wonder if you might have one? If you do, could you send me a PM with it? Many thanks.

And yes, I have googled but the one that I found which was an @ksc.th.com email address does not work. And yes, I do have a couple of contact numbers, but I now live abroad so email is best, and I also want to get an answer from them in "black and white" for reasons I won't go into on here.

I would second the Thumrin Thana in Trang. Stayed there last month, 1,000 baht/night for 3+ star standard, including a quality buffet breakfast for 2. Google for full details. Can't miss it, highest rise hotel in town, cross railway crossing and first left, and left again.

Thanks for that. Does the hotel have a car park?

Thanks guys - that's useful.

We will be driving from Penang to Phuket in a couple of months time. We're wondering which is the best transit point between Malaysia and Thailand to use. It seems most folks go via Bukit Kayu Hitam as the Malaysian expressway hits that point. Just wondering about Wang Prachan crossing? Is that quieter (quicker??) for passing through?

We're also considering whether to break the journey somewhere in southern Thailand - maybe Trang? Or if going through Wang Prachan - maybe stop at Satun?

Has anyone any thoughts and experiences? If we do make a stop, we are not looking for a Hilton ;-) just a half-decent hotel for one night stopover with Thai food and a beer will suffice (and parking I guess).

Could it be end of the financial year as in some other countries, altho i thought Thailand was in April .

Well that's mighty strange isn't it? I just looked at the front of my diary and it says that it is a Bank Holiday but not a Government Holiday, so maybe the Banks are counting up their dosh or something. According to my diary, the only other holiday which is a Bank Holiday and not a Government Holiday is National Labour Day on May 1st. So there ya go..... I'm no wiser really

Never heard of it.

Well according to my diary (a Thai diary) it is a public holiday tomorrow.

I've been here a while now but still haven't worked out exactly what Mid Year Closing Day (tomorrow July 1st) is all about - and does everywhere close?  Can anyone tell me what it's all about?<br>

AJ's Also has the best view looking out over Ratcha Yai & Noi Also known as Rawai Beach IGFA Fishing Club

and the burgers are good

Looks like AJs it will be - cheers.

This may be RELAXIC ; muscle relaxant; you can search on MIMS Thailand in the pinned topics on this forum.

That's it !! Thanks. Got a magnifying glass out and it's a C at the end, not an O. Guess we need some new spectacles too LOL

Whenever we are prescribed any medicines we look them up on google to see what exactly they are. My other half has sprained a neck muscle and, amongst a bag of assorted goodies from the doc, he has been prescribed Relaxio. Just cannot find it anywhere on the internet. We are assuming a muscle relaxant but would be nice to know exactly what it is. Anyone know?

thanks guys