LennyW

What i find amusing in all of this is that the PAD used the airport to protest against the man, Thaksin, whom without which, the airport at swampy would not have been built!! Makes me chuckle!

....when i was a boy I use to ride by bicycle 25miles to school, back then bicycles didnt have round wheels they had square ones, no gears, the seat was made from timber, then one day someone stole the bicycle, so i had to walk 25 miles to school and 25 miles home each day and my family couldnt afford shoes, so i was barefoot and the country was poor too, we didnt have paved roads and my feet grew blisters from walking on the rocks but we didnt have bandaids back then and the blisters becaume infected so we had to cut my feet off, back then we didnt have electric saws so we had to use a rusty old timber saw, ohh did i mention back then we didnt have prosthetic limbs so I used a branch from a tree......ahhh them were the days!

Bet you used to eat cold gravel too!!

Here's an idea:

Walk to the bar just after midnight with your pajamas on, hair messed up, and stand about 20m away facing the bar.

Put the sourest, angriest look on your face and cross your arms.

Shake your head and block your ears so they know you think it's too loud.

Stand there like this until the bar closes and they turn off the music.

Then put an overwhelming sense of relief on your face and shout, "Finally!"

Continue to do this night after night until they get the picture.

You mean act like a wifey then?

??? 36 does not go to Ban Chang, Sukhumvit (3) or 331 goes to Ban Chang??

I thought Carrefour were actually due to start building their second Pattaya outlet soon at the junction with Kao Talo and Sukhumvit??

Must be a mistake with the sign??

A strange one indeed???? It always Looks busy, but i guess as with a lot of thai malls a lot of people milling around without actually buying anything? Time will tell.

Call 1337, anyone with noise pollution problems is urged to do so as per article in Pattaya Mail a couple of weeks ago.

Dont forget to factor in what is happening in the UK.....BOE meet again soon for a likely interest rate cut....bang thats another few Baht wiped off the pound...BOT should devalue but unless they do the pound may be low for quite a while. 70 by Jan... ...that would be great but not realistic

Why should be great? All imported things, electronics, imported food, even gasoline would be twice the price if this gonna happen.

Things were not twice the price last time the pound was at 70, ???

It was sh''e when it opened and it is still sh''e, if we are comparing "foodcourts" the one at Carrefour is by far the best, although the supermarket itself is sh''e, if only we could have Big C value, Tesco's range and Carrefour's food court...............???

I have never been to Utapao airfield but considering it was a B-52 airbase during time of war, you would think the runways/tarmac/flightline could handle a few 747's. The problem would be the age of the runways, tarmac, etc....how well was it maintained over the last forty years?

I was thinking about coming to Thailand (very soon) for an extended period of time for surgery. I wonder what flights (if any) can be booked into BKK which actually land at Utapao.

Airfield - ha ha, it has one of the longest runways in the world, and it handles 747's on a daily basis, Thai airways use it as a base for the maintenainence of their fleet!

Because of the sh++e happening at Swampy, U Tapauo is now getting "media coverage", however it was decided a few weeks back to actually use it more for international flights, a move long over due IMHO, ironic eh? but good publicity none the less!!

As for booking, you need to contact your agent, a lot of flights have been diverted to UT, but as for actually booking flights to there - not sure??

Been through Coups, Ridiculous exchange rates, Bird flu, Sars, Tsunami, before no big difference for me, no worries.

It does annoy me though the impact this will have on some business especially at this time of year, its a dammned shame for some of those setting up new ventures in the hope of scoring in the high season, i guess in those circumstance the effects will be felt for some considerable time to come.

Lenny I think you need to take off those rose tinted glasses that you're obviously wearing

if you cannot tell the difference between the gravity of what is happening now and how it will permanently damage

the image and the economy compared to all the other things you listed then obviously to use the words

of John McCain " you just don't get it ". Haven't you seen another thread in the general section where somebody asks

what could happen to foreigners in the event of Civil War?

It's unnerving

Seen that, nothing more than speculation and scaremongering, no basis whatsoever, only fuelled by the ease of access to the internet.

I was just saying that it makes no difference to me, but thanks for your concern Midas.

Correct, but it has worked for me for a number of years now, and continues to do so thankyou very much!!

Just look at how much free advertising you get on this site....every time somebody posts saying they want to BUY a house or condo, hundreds of posters come out saying RENT RENT RENT!!! Magic!!!!

Lenny I don't envy you one little bit with all those property assets around your neck !

With the fallout from what is happening right now, where are your tenants going to come from in months to come?

Been through Coups, Ridiculous exchange rates, Bird flu, Sars, Tsunami, before no big difference for me, no worries.

It does annoy me though the impact this will have on some business especially at this time of year, its a dammned shame for some of those setting up new ventures in the hope of scoring in the high season, i guess in those circumstance the effects will be felt for some considerable time to come.

The longer you can collect a rent on your asset the better!!

Lets say - you have a 5 M Bt asset rented out at 35,000 Bt / month, over a 5 year (long period) term you will have written down your asset to 2.9 M Bt, so even if you sell at the same price it cost 5 M Bt, (highly unlikely on a property), you will still have made a profit of 2.1M Bt.

Thats 8.4% ROI per annum, better than you will get with any bank meantime!

your statement is under these BIG assumptions:

1. you have tenants to rent your asset without interrution thoroughout the 5 year period.

2. you did not account for the agent commission or maintenance/repair cost for your rental property.

3. when you want to sale the property in 5 years, you can find a buyer.

4. the buyer will pay 5 M baht for that property that is already 5 years old. Keep in mind that rental properties get worn out fast. Also, if the real estate market takes a dive, who knows what the comparable market values of a 5 year old property is.

Correct, but it has worked for me for a number of years now, and continues to do so thankyou very much!!

Just look at how much free advertising you get on this site....every time somebody posts saying they want to BUY a house or condo, hundreds of posters come out saying RENT RENT RENT!!! Magic!!!!

ASTV reports troops are moving to important locations to secure them and prevent violence by mobilised government supporters.

This would suggest they are helping the PAD then??????????

Should draft in a load of Glaswegians to protect the airports, if they can foil an Al Qhueda attack at Glasgow airport then the PAD muppets should be a walk in the park!!

It is not supported. This is known. Sorry you don't like to hear about reality.

If I am wrong on this (HIGHLY UNLIKELY) surely someone who knows differently will pipe in. Its not my fault Thai immigration does loopy things on their website that aren't actually supported, NOW IS IT?

Also note, Pattaya immigration is now enforcing that all 90 day reporters submit PROOF OF RESIDENCE (for example a copy of a phone bill in your name, etc.) when reporting. Also not supported by that web page.

at least in the minds of our friends at Immigration

Now thats rich.

The fact that we have discussed it before is irrelevant

No, it is relevant if it is SETTLED and nobody has come forward since that time with a shred of evidence that anything has changed.

when i went the other day ,the lady at the desk just wanted a copy of my drivers licence,do we have to give a copy on every visit ,or just the once.

Last twice i have given copy of my liscense.

I was in department store in the morning late yesterday. A tall and big guy was rudely pushing his trolley in the supermarket, annoying some other customers. We have been at the cashier in the same time. He was throwing noisily big boxes of beer in his trolley, moaning against the small cashier who can't carry easily the big packs of beer….

Ten minutes later, a car hooted me aggressively, wanting to use the wrong lane for passing a few cars at red light… The driver had his big red stupid face at the window… Yes, he was the same guy.

A farang in my estate has bought several houses for renting out and his customers are European people in holiday. Because they are in holiday, they imagine they are alone on earth and shout, drink all the night. They definitively ignore other people living there.

Of course, my farang doesn't care. Money first.

For lunch, I was in the cafeteria of a dept store. A furious farang was howling against the waitress: "why are you working here if you can't speak English...?"

The guy had a terrific problem. He wanted ONLY half a glass of ice, and she had put a bit more.

I'm farang living in Thailand and often, I'm not proud of us.

Seriously, if you're a real resident of east Pattaya, come and visit Jomtien, between beach and Sukhumwit. 500 from the sea, 300 m to Sukhumwit, many shops everywhere, supermarkets at 5 minutes. And a so quiet and safe place.

Birds awake me in the morning, then I go to ride my bicycle along the beach, watching the little fisher boats coming back... Wonderful !

The best place in Pattaya.

It's only a couple of months since you wrote the above Geroc, i guess you are rapidly finding out about Pattaya / Jomtien CITY living!!!

To get back on topic.

Jameson's do a nightly weekday special, 3 courses for 199 Baht.

Kids meals 99 Baht any time including ice cream and soft drink.

Weekend carvery 350 Baht all you can eat.

Just to clarify, this is at lunchtime too ie: all day!

For a nation of people that have such a respect for the " loss of face", have they any idea what a sad bunch they look like to the outside world????

On the news ,on tv ,they didnt show any bullet holes in the vehicle so im just wondering was the his vehicle really shot at as could have just been a couple of teenagers blowing off a couple of rounds near his car........if someone saw them aiming at the car and they missed then i wouldnt really worry about them........as they must be a really crap shot!!

I would say that was a good reason to be worried!!! dam_n stray bullets!

That sounds a good price for the Hard Rock Buffet

Thank You LennyW

Doy you know if they have a reduced price for children

I am sure they do have a deal for children, cant remember what it was though, under 12's eat free maybe - seems to ring a bell. The free flow includes soft drinks too, and yes the wine was very drinkable!!

If you are going to try it , dont forget as well as the huge buffet inside, there is also the BBQ outside, prawns n stuff mmmmmmmm.....

Update for you Wileycoyote, i just got the December prices through from Hard Rock, now 750 Sun - Fri and 950 Sat with the pig, quite an increase - dont know if it is just for Dec or not, i see they have added Whisky to the free flow though!!

We should really have a glossary on this forum for those of us not so familiar.

Coyote?

Bar fine?

Sounds like things I should know before I get there in January.

Most definately!!!!!!!

Ok, lets keep our rambutan and lychee straight. No mixing the apples and oranges.... I'm talking about Annuities in the U.S. and realestate in Thailand. Keep that clear! Now just to ad to the equation since I made this post I have had a long conference with my Merrill Lynch Acct Exec and the Annuity mkt will change some very soon. Does it change the picture, a little for me as I have annutized some assets and will add to the annutization but probably in different funds. I'll not get into that but just say things are good in the U.S. for active income from Annuities, (end of that story)

That was the rambutan here is the lychee.... Housing in Thailand, barring not being scammed (and that is a big stipulation in and of itself) unless there is a big market adjustment downward on sale price I hold on my position of getting more for you money considering that the Thai housing market holds poor liquidity as is the annuity games depending on the withdrawal restrictions..... Lot's of variables... Yep. How ever here is one that we know will be true. Since the building standards in Thailand are not as high as in developed countries it will likely require a much more cost of maintaing you property over the years (lower value due to long term costs)..

How much more, we <deleted> don't cause all these wizbang houses that are less that 5 years old have no imperical data on how long they will last..... OOOOOPs, mabey all this muck about 30 year leases is moot because these junk houses will fall down before the lease is up... I'm not a builder but I have looked at houses in Pattaya, Hua Hin, Phuket and one build to high standards in Issan and the Issan builder said, look, many junk house build cheap for farang not even rust proff the beams, have too small or no termite protection, lack proper circuit breakers which will cause fire. A Thai builder said that you have to spend at least 60% of the immediate sale value to get a good quality house made. Now, what is this about only 40% of the sale price is building cost?????

Wow, those variable annuities are looking pretty good! For what I see in the U.S. market that is!

Hope you all find this interesting and don't forget to not mix the rambutan and lychee is future posts!

Sounds like the ramblings of a right Richard Cranium!!

The location is not good - at the end of T-intersection ......It's believed that........accident(s) waiting to happen.

The cars may not see the house at night, or happen to loose the break and easily slam into your fense - due to the location of it.

Well anyhow ----it's all explained by the "fungShui principles" -and most thais use the principles in everday living, including picking out locations of various places.

Go buy the book about "fungshui", you will understand it all - very simple explaination really

It's all <deleted>, if you like the house buy it, if you don't then don't buy it.

That about sums it up!!!!

Dont know if any of you saw the episode of The Bullshit Detectives - re feng shui, took 3 different feng shui "experts" in to rearrange a sitting room in accordance with feng shui and guess what?? thats right all 3 were totally convincing and totally different!! result - Bullshit!

The same experiment was carried out on Penn & Teller - Bullshit - same result

Whether using fung shui or not - any home at the end of T-intersection is more prone to accident. In other words - PROBABILITY of having accident is increase. I see it again and again during snowing - thas is where the car endup - end of T intersection.

Most of Fung Shui book are garbage, and hard to understand & no explanation. You do not need fung shui if you only need to sell your home to westerner; however, selling it to Thai is different story. For me - if it helps selling the home faster and follow the LOGICAL THINKING, I use it otherwise forget it. By having a good architect to design your home - no need of fung shui.

Aye, a real problem them snowstorms in Thailand!!!!

That sounds a good price for the Hard Rock Buffet

Thank You LennyW

Doy you know if they have a reduced price for children

I am sure they do have a deal for children, cant remember what it was though, under 12's eat free maybe - seems to ring a bell. The free flow includes soft drinks too, and yes the wine was very drinkable!!

If you are going to try it , dont forget as well as the huge buffet inside, there is also the BBQ outside, prawns n stuff mmmmmmmm.....