stgrhe

Question 1. How much should I expect to pay in dowry to her grandmother if any? (mother and father passed away), she was married before and I understand first husband payed $100k baht.. I have been sending enough money for months now supporting her and her family and will continue to do so after the wedding. She has no formal education (college) nor trade skills.

As others have suggested a dowry is really up to you. Several postings suggest that you should not give any given that you are sending so much money every month, which by the way I too think is far too much. The dowry is, however, an important part of the Thai culture. Use common sence for you own sake!

Question 2. What should I expect at the village ceremony? She says small party (proposal to her and family, friends/family/neighbors/village elder/monks (maybe spend 10-20k baht on the party?) I will bring a ring for my proposal to her. Is that it, a ring, ceremony and party? Anything else I should expect? We plan to have a larger party later when we can do it the right way. I know this may include more gifts of baht, gold, food, drink, etc. etc). This will be done later next year upon our return from united states back home to Thailand.

"yorkman" has posted a lot of good information, which you can read about on http://www.apmforum.com/columns/thai15.htm. Another site of interest is http://www.weddingsinthailand.com/traditio...hai_wedding.php. With regards to the ring my suggestion you buy Thai gold instead. Two or three baht (The weight of Thai gold is measured in baht and one baht is a little bit more than 15 grams). Do not buy anything from the US with 14 carat gold as that is known as "cat gold" in Asia. Later you can buy a ring if you like and you may feel free to ask me for some advice. I am a gem colletor!

Question 3. Is the Amphur or Registry Office easy as an affidavit form completed notarized and translated into Thai and after that is completed we are officially married in Thailand? Is there anything else I need to bring besides my passport and affidavit and how long should I expect this process to take?

The cermonial wedding you are havingdoes not mean that you would be legally married. Check this out from Sunbelt Asia's site for more advice http://www.sunbeltlegaladvisors.com/Thailand-Marriage.php. You need to do some preparations first before you leave the US. However, my recommendation to you at this time is to wait with the legal part. In the eyes of the Thais the cermonial part is often regarded as the important part. And after all you two do apparently not know one another that well yet so it may be adviced to wait with the legal part.

I appreciate any input if anyone of you might have any. I want to ensure I have everything ready for my return to Thailand in January.

Thanks all, cheers, goodluck, thank you, chok dee kup, kop kun kup

My comment to your questions is above. Like some others I too like you to ask yourself if you really are aware of what you are about to be doing? Mrjih's posting (#25) is rather interesting and has a lot of common sence in it. Read it again and reflect!

First about the bar girls. I do believe there are both good and bad ones as it is withus farangs. Many such ex bar ladies have married into a hel_l by choosing the wrong guy. The same goes for many men, who later find themself without a wife and with very little money to spare. So my friend be careful and remenber that "it is easy to bring a girl out of a bar but difficult to bring the bar out of the girl". The quote is not mine.

Secondly, in a marrige you need to be able to meet on several levels, e.g.: 1) Emmotionally - I think you got that; 2) Culturally - Not so easy, and it takes a lot of hard work and a genuinely positive attitude from both parties, but can be overcome; and 3) Intellectually - How in earth are you two going to be able to satisfy your intellectual need when she has no education to speak of? In addition to that you have the language barrier as I suppose your fiance is not so well spoken in English.

I mean well and wish you good luck!

From your posting I take it that you do not like the Pattaya area very much. Apart from the noisy bear bars and gogo bars, which I have no intention to visit, can you please give me a clue of other things that are not good with Pattaya? I know of the water shortage problems.

Rgds, Göran

Actually I DO like Pattaya, I've lived here for 13 years, firstly as a bachelor so the bars were an interest but lately as a family guy and they are no longer of any interest. I was just trying to give you other options.

I live here now mainly as it's central for work in the petrochem industries but if I were retired and not interested in the bar scene and had no connections to the place then I doubt it'd be top of my list of places to live.

Haven't experienced water shortages as my condo has it's own deep well but traffic is getting to be a problem.

I understood that you meant well when you were posting your advices. I just wanted to know if in fact there was something, which could have an important impact in my decission making, that I might be able to pick up from you. Thanks anyhow for your advices. I need as much information as possible.

Why move to Pattaya?

There are plenty of beaches in close proximity to Bangkok that are better for family living than Pattaya. The only reason to be in the Pattaya / Jomtien / Nahklua area is the bars and nightlife.

Well, my first choise is Hua Hin but my wife does not like that place since she prefers to have an easy access to the BKK airports. She is originally from Khon Kaen and is a nurse. Lately her mother has taken ill reumathism and my wife like to be able to leave for KK on a short notice. I on the other hand like, apart from being close to the sea, like to have access to western reastaurants from time to time and social clubs such as Rotary ets. A social life is important.

Can you recommend any better places?

Hua Hin has an airport, have you checked on flights availability from there to KK?

And if you need to be near an airport what about Phuket or Krabi? You could have flown to BKK / KK in the time it takes you to drive from Pattaya to BKK airport.

Well, the Hua Hin airport is not serviced in a way that I would regard it as a factor to concider. But as I said, I do like that place myself. Krabi on the other hand is in my opinion a nice holiday area but living there...I don't know? There are so many things missing there such as e.g. good hospitals and schools. Phuket is an option but it too has its drawback. I actually owned a piece of land there before but sold it ten years ago. Phuket has its drawbacks too although we consider the place as an alternative to the Eastern Seaboard.

From your posting I take it that you do not like the Pattaya area very much. Apart from the noisy bear bars and gogo bars, which I have no intention to visit, can you please give me a clue of other things that are not good with Pattaya? I know of the water shortage problems.

Rgds, Göran

if you would like a good agent,p p a on www.pattayapropertyagents.com and speak to michael,say geoff recomended you ,he was very honest.

but as others have said ,i wouldnt buy untill you are really sure you know where and if you want to.

as for living in pattaya ,dont listen to the its all bars crowd,if you live here with your familly you dont have to frequent them. also a good school is assumption in sri racha.

Thanks Geoff. At this time after reading the advices we will most likely go slow and rent first. Nevertheless, I shall call on Michel once we have arrived in Pattaya. Their web site is one of the better sites.

In my opinion I do not judge people and if some prefers the life of hanging around at the bars it is up to them but it is not my life stile nor would I have anything in common with them on an intelectual level but thanks anyhow for our concern.

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With your fixed direction of buying a house immediately, you would have more chances of making mistakes, especially in Pataya. Like many others' advices, rent a property first and get acquainted with physical residence and environment. Your past short stays even frequently had different mentality than when you intend to be a resident and an intended commitment of 10M. You need to judge on the long-term prospect, like expected development of the area. You don't want to end up in a dead-end situation when you cannot find one single buyer which is quite frequent in Thailand where second-hand houses are not that popular as in the west. (You might have a better chance with a condo.) To locate a right location to buy is an art and no one can teach you better than yourself. I learn by making mistakes and blaming myself for not being more careful and diligence.

Talk to all the agents you like but my recommendation is to start with Richard Ellis in Bangkok to learn from their viewpoints and their offered services. Promise yourself NEVER to commit to buy within the first six months of your stay though go around searching and talking. Your chance of making a mistake is greater because of your changed environment especially after your retirement. Your perception would be fresh and not yet coloured by the normal mistakes that other residents have experienced. It is better to buy when your mind is more settled. I am not even sure whether a six-month period is enough.

Thanks Irene. You and the others have already convinced me to rent first to try out the place. I remember when we moved to Sydney in the 80´s it took eleven moths before we finally decided to buy land and build a house. What we wanted we could not afford and what we afforded we did not want. I think this story must be familiar to many of you. Once again, thanks a lot.

Why move to Pattaya?

There are plenty of beaches in close proximity to Bangkok that are better for family living than Pattaya. The only reason to be in the Pattaya / Jomtien / Nahklua area is the bars and nightlife.

Well, my first choise is Hua Hin but my wife does not like that place since she prefers to have an easy access to the BKK airports. She is originally from Khon Kaen and is a nurse. Lately her mother has taken ill reumathism and my wife like to be able to leave for KK on a short notice. I on the other hand like, apart from being close to the sea, like to have access to western reastaurants from time to time and social clubs such as Rotary ets. A social life is important.

Can you recommend any better places?

Wait, a year or so,

to spend 10m in pattaya right now. is mad.

Rent a place.

Thank you for your advice. Others have recommended the same and this is most likely what we will do.

I am retiring 31/12 and will be moving to Thailand sometime in the first half of 2008 and I need advice about the real estate business in the Pattaya area. I have been coming to Thailand more than six times yearly in the past twenty-five years, mostly on business but occasionally also on leisure. I have thus learnt quite a lot about Thailand over the years and I am also married to a well-educated Thai woman, but I am quite a novice when it comes to Pattaya having maybe not spend more than three months there altogether.

The reason why we are considering Pattaya is that it is relatively close to Bangkok, its airports but mostly it is close to the sea. The latter is important to me since the ocean in one way or another has played an important role to me throughout my life.

For nearly four years now I have on weekly basis been monitoring the real estate business in Pattaya on the internet, and recently also with sincere interest taken part of interesting topics on this forum. I see many houses on sale that were on the market already then, and read about con agents. Therefore, any good advice that you ladies and gentlemen can provide would me most appreciated. My wife, our two children (14 and 9) and I will be looking for a house preferably with a chanote; definitely no lease. We are not prepared to spend more than 10k baht in the house.

What I primarily need help with is:

(1) Name an contact number of a good solicitor with good reputation;

(2) Name of a good western house building engineer who would be interesting in helping me surveying the house I would be interested to buy;

(3) Real estate agents that you can recommend. There are so many and the one I read about is mostly those who you people complain about. (Note, I would never sign a contract directly with an agent - only with the owner); and

(4) Good areas to live in, preferably close to the beach, safe but not necessarily close to the city. I do believe there are more factors than the price, which determine a good place to live in.

Rgds,

Göran

You would be better buying some land & having a house built, nice areas around Pattaya within your price range are, Hua-Yai & Bang Saray, some good international schools for your kids are Regents, or St Andrews, but both quite pricey!!

If you want help in building a house look at one of the Sponsors in the Pattaya news clippings section: -

"Rosegate Building Consultants"

clicking on the banner in that section will take you to there web site.

Or please pm me for further details?

For 10m baht your not going to get very much close to the sea, although you may a get a decent size new built condo around Bang Saray with the possibilty of a sea view?

You can also own a condo outright

Thank you for your recommendation. Yes I have heard about that company and I will keep it my mind should we decide to buy land first. However, it seems like others strongy recommend us to rent first and we will most likely do that.

We are not prepared to spend more than 10k baht in the house.

You may want to clarify this figure. 4 people will not do so well in what 10,000 baht offers.

Correct, my fingers slipped and I ment of course 10M baht and not 10K.

In January 2006 the rules changed and now, unless you have a work permit in Thailand, you need to have a letter of recommendation by your bank in your home country; or, if you have a Thai friend who has an account with your intended bank (works for Bangkok Bank) she / he can sign a recommendation form at the bank. You should then give the bank hers / his address as your address in Thailand.

The latter worked for me. Good luck, Göran

I am retiring 31/12 and will be moving to Thailand sometime in the first half of 2008 and I need advice about the real estate business in the Pattaya area. I have been coming to Thailand more than six times yearly in the past twenty-five years, mostly on business but occasionally also on leisure. I have thus learnt quite a lot about Thailand over the years and I am also married to a well-educated Thai woman, but I am quite a novice when it comes to Pattaya having maybe not spend more than three months there altogether.

The reason why we are considering Pattaya is that it is relatively close to Bangkok, its airports but mostly it is close to the sea. The latter is important to me since the ocean in one way or another has played an important role to me throughout my life.

For nearly four years now I have on weekly basis been monitoring the real estate business in Pattaya on the internet, and recently also with sincere interest taken part of interesting topics on this forum. I see many houses on sale that were on the market already then, and read about con agents. Therefore, any good advice that you ladies and gentlemen can provide would me most appreciated. My wife, our two children (14 and 9) and I will be looking for a house preferably with a chanote; definitely no lease. We are not prepared to spend more than 10k baht in the house.

What I primarily need help with is:

(1) Name an contact number of a good solicitor with good reputation;

(2) Name of a good western house building engineer who would be interesting in helping me surveying the house I would be interested to buy;

(3) Real estate agents that you can recommend. There are so many and the one I read about is mostly those who you people complain about. (Note, I would never sign a contract directly with an agent - only with the owner); and

(4) Good areas to live in, preferably close to the beach, safe but not necessarily close to the city. I do believe there are more factors than the price, which determine a good place to live in.

Rgds,

Göran